Life on the Edge
Chapter Two
Once the room was silent Van Houtem began speaking. "As you all know, quite well, that this is the seventeenth year. We have all been here, working and training together for seventeen years. No more, no less. That is a long time for anyone to be cooped up, caged off from the rest of the world."
Sofie looked over at Elizabeth with a frown. Most of the room was curious now; she could hear the nearly silent whispers that went around each table. The older man cleared his throat, his piercing eyes scanning the room.
"You, the trainees, have been locked away in this house for far too long. After consulting with the other senior agents we have come to the conclusion that you are all ready for the next step."
Gasps echoed through the room and Elisabeth wondered how they hadn't all sucked the air from the room. The woman smiled to herself and inwardly chuckled at her would-be family.
"That's right everyone. I've made a request to the Bureau and they have accepted. There will be bus coming tomorrow morning at nine o'clock sharp to take each of you to Brussels."
Sofie looked back her friend with wide eyes. Elisabeth couldn't help but grin at the sight of her best friend. She looked absolutely flabbergasted.
"Did you know about this?" the other woman whispered. Elisabeth laughed softly and nodded her head, brown curls bouncing with the action.
"The last few days have been tests to see who would be best at keeping everyone under control. Elisabeth Mas will be the team leader for this group of agents. You will all listen to her. All orders will go through her to you. I know that we have trained you all very well. There is no hesitance in my mind that each and every one of you will become valuable assets to our cause."
With that Van Houtem sat once again, watching the expressions of his 'children'.
Sofie stared at her friend with mild shock written across her face while the other woman stared at Van Houtem with wide eyes. It was no secret that Elisabeth was the best of them. She had taken to training and her studies very early as a child and had engrossed herself in it until she was eighteen. After that it had just become routine.
"Congratulations!" Sofie shouted before launching herself at the brunette. Elisabeth laughed, pushing back her unease for the moment.
"Thanks, Sofie," she said quietly to the other woman before pulling away.
Sofie was a petite woman with surprising strength. She could push off a full grown man and then finish the job within moments. Her pin straight hair was cut to her chin and was the colour of wheat. She didn't like long hair, saying that it always got in the way during training. Her hair framed her heart shaped face nicely and made her dark brown eyes stand out more. Her body was a perfect mixture of lean muscle and petite curves.
"It's definitely a good thing they picked you. I mean, not like I don't like the guy, but Antonie wouldn't have done a very good job as leader."
Sofie's eyes flashed to the table across from out where Antonie Richard sat with a few of the other guys. Elisabeth nodded and shivered inwardly.
"I don't even wanna think about how badly we would be run into the ground if they had chosen him," she replied honestly.
Antonie was a pretty good guy off the training mats but when he got into his fighting mode there was no stopping the guy. He was reckless, cocky and didn't bother to watch out for his partners. He was the best fighter out of them but he was also the most dangerous.
"Holy crap! We aren't even going to be in this old place for another twenty-four hours. That's almost depressing," Sofie suddenly realized.
Her eyes lost their excited light as they stood from their table and went over to the food table. Assortments of main courses were set out along with bowls of side dishes.
"I know what you mean," Elisabeth started.
She grabbing a box of Hawaiian roll sushi and setting it on her plate with chop sticks. Sofie scrunched up her nose at the brunette's food choice and reached for the large bowl of spaghetti.
"After dinner we should probably start packing up out rooms." Both women gave a sigh in unison before chuckling at each other. "I'm going to miss this place."
Once dinner was finished Elisabeth and Sofie left the mess hall, walking together down to the West hall. Most of the other trainees had the same idea. All down the hall doors were open and sounds of rustling or the occasional grunt came from each one as they passed. When they reached the other end Sofie gave Elisabeth a quick wave and a sad smile before going into her room.
The blue-green eyes woman turned to her bedroom door and sighed heavily. Even thought they were finally free from the mansion there was an air of sadness and depression hovering through the hall. This was the place that all of them had been raised in by the older agents. They had childhood memories in this big old mansion that would always bring smiles or frowns to their faces. It wasn't something any of them would forget.
But Elisabeth had even more on her mind than just the thought of leaving the Van Houtem mansion for the first time in all these years. She also had to worry about the large responsibility that had been dumped onto her shoulders. She hadn't had any idea that they were planning on putting her in charge of the group. She wasn't even sure if she was ready for that much responsibility. Elisabeth opened the door of her bedroom and walked in on quiet feet. There was a duffle back under her bed that she had been waiting to use just for this day.
Elisabeth ran a hand through her dark hair and sighed again. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. But then again she had good reason to. The woman sat down on her bed and reached under, dragging out the dusty duffle and shaking it out. She was sure a few spiders fell from the bag and onto the floor but she was more concerned about the dust layering it. Shaking it out once more Elisabeth opened the duffel bag and began packing away her things. There wasn't a lot. Elisabeth's possessions included her two week supply of clothing, her hygienic products, bathroom toiletries and the few things off her desk.
Once she was packed there really wasn't much to do. Elisabeth had left out clothing for herself for the next day and all that was left was her nightly routine. She got up from her desk chair and went back to her duffle back, tugging out the travel bag with all of her bathroom toiletries. She left the room and went down to the woman's bathroom. She quickly brushed her teeth, brushes out her hair and used the toilet. As she was washing her hands another woman walked in, a downcast look on her face.
"Are you alright Nicoline?" Elisabeth questioned quietly, trying not to startle her.
Nicoline looked over at Elisabeth, eyes bright with tears. The brunette smiled sadly and turned off the tap, wiping her hands on the loose t-shit she was wearing. She went over to the woman and pulled Nicoline into a hug. Instantly her hands came up, clinging to the back of Elisabeth's shirt.
Nicoline Anker was one of the more sensitive of the trainees in the mansion. She had been pulled out of an abusive household before being brought to Van Houtem. The woman was taller than Elisabeth by a good inch, her head coming down on the brunette's shoulder. Nicoline had lovely mousy brown hair that she normally had pulled back in a braid. It was always a mess of curls and waves but one of the other women had taught the Nicoline how to tame her hair better. She had sparkling blue eyes that were always filled with emotion. Her frame was tall and lanky rather than curvy like most of the other girls.
"I'm going to miss this place so much, Elisabeth," Nicoline murmured into the other woman's shoulder.
Elisabeth smiled softly and ran a hand through her friend's hair.
"I know. We're all going to miss it here," she whispered to Nicoline.
After a few more moments Elisabeth pulled away and smiled at the other woman.
"Go do your stuff and get to bed. We're all going to need the sleep." Nicoline nodded and wiped her eyes before turning to the stalls.
Elisabeth let her smile fall and left the bright lights of the washrooms. She went back to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. It made a soft 'click' before the woman went over to her bed. She stripped out of the baggy sweat pants, tossing them to her duffle bag and climbing into the bed dressed only in a tank top and her underwear. She fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
The next morning was chaotic, even for them. People were rushing back and forth down the halls, pulling down shirts or buttoning up jeans while trying to get down the hall to the mess hall. Breakfast would be quick and then they'd need to bring all of their things outside to be loaded into the bus.
Elisabeth covered her mouth as a large yawn came over her. When she had woken up it was seven thirty. She had showered, changed and actually put on shoes for the first time in a while. There was a bit of a problem with tying up the laces of her old sneakers but she eventually got it. Elisabeth moved down the hall with the others, finding a spot in the mess with a bowl of freshly made oatmeal.
As she was scrapping the bowl for the last oats there was a hand on her shoulder. Elisabeth looked up and found Van Houtem standing behind her, cane in hand. He smiled to her before sitting down in the chair beside her.
"How are you this morning, Mas?"
Elisabeth yawned once more, covering her mouth again. She gave the old man a sheepish look before setting down her bowl.
"Tired as hell, but I can get a bit of sleep on the bus."
He nodded and looked down at the table. When he looked back up there was something new in his blue eyes.
"I'm sorry for assigning you as leader before asking first. But, there isn't anyone I know here that would do a better job than you would."
The brunette woman stared at her mentor for a long while before shrugging.
"I don't like the idea of looking after all of them but I know it has to be done. I guess I'd rather it be me than anyone else," she replied.
During her morning routine she had thought about the responsibilities she now carried and had come to that conclusion. She knew that she'd do her best to make sure they all came back at the end of the day and that was all anyone could really ask of her.
Van Houtem nodded again and reached over, patting the woman's knee.
"I will be staying here. I'm getting too old for all of this now," he sent her a tired grin before standing up.
Elisabeth followed, carrying her bowl in one hand.
"Guess this is good bye then," she said with a small smile. The grey haired man nodded, his grin changed into something sad.
"Yes it is but I know that you will be fine." He gave her arm another pat before he moved out from the mess hall.
Chapter two already? Yes, I'm a tiny bit addicted to writing this fanfiction.
I'm really hoping that everyone is loving Elisabeth as much as I'm loving writing her. I have a lot of plans for this character. Soon we'll see more of her personality. Her strengths and weaknesses, her likes and dislikes and all that crap!
So, I forgot to put a disclaimer in the first chapter. I figured I'd do it now since I'm to lazy to go back and do it.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Marvel characters. Though, the Dutch spies are all mine and I am proud of my babies!
Anywho, hope to see you guys reading my story and hopefully I'll have another chapter out tomorrow. HOPEFULLY.
LOVE YA!