I looked up at the bank, feeling dark nostalgia at walking on the same sidewalk I had been shot on. A little farther ahead was the small edge of the sidewalk where I tripped and made the bullet miss my heart. If that bullet went a couple inches over….

Well, I wouldn't be standing here.

Ben stood next to me, silently comforting me. While I do love Eagle dearly, sometimes I just needed a fatherly figure to help me out. Ben had been working with MI6 for many years, and he knew firsthand the manipulations that can happen at the cost of the agents. As much as Eagle has experienced, he hasn't felt complete betrayal time and time again at the hands of the ones who should care for him.

And I'm glad he didn't. If such an emotional guy felt that he had nowhere to run, and no one in his corner, he probably wouldn't be the same ever again.

Ben nudged me, telling me not to get lost in thought right before a meeting with MI6. Right, I have to be fully engaged, or I might not survive this one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Linebreaker~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zara looked over the report that Mac had given her. He didn't seem too pleased with it, so she was a bit on edge. As she read over the overview, she noticed that there were 2 people that were unassigned. While it had happened before, she wasn't sure that this was a good omen.

"Mac, why didn't you assign these two high roles yet? Are you waiting for some black shirts to accept, or maybe some navy shirts? Mac didn't reply for a while, which clued her in that something was up.

"Zara, I'm sorry." He took a deep breath. "Just, finish reading. You'll see why I had to step in."

Mac rubbed his forehead, and kept his head bowed.

"But-"

"No. Just read. Then you can ask me. I won't answer until you read it." He looked up with a serious look, before sighing and looking away.

Zara stared at him, before flipping the page and studying the mission parameters. After a few minutes, she looked up at Mac and stared hard. "This mission is a lot harder that what we're typically given. CHERUB tends to focus on reconnaissance, not field missions. We prep the rest of MI5 with the information that we can get, before they deal with the issue themselves."

Mac waited for her to continue, frustration and worry bleeding into his expression.

"Those two agents, they are using our agents as glorified cover? They won't even be involved in the mission? Who even are they?! What right do they have to demand our agents just to keep a cover and do nothing, while they complete this kind of mission?!"

The mother bear in Zara was growing, and he wasn't sure she could restrain it now. She had let it reign free because no one would stop her, and she had no higher up to put her back in line for many years.

"And, yes, I DID read the part where we are REQUIRED to send agents HAND-PICKED by those two MYSTERY agents THEMSELVES!"

"Zara. Stop. I did not have a choice in this matter." Mac stopped her as she geared up to fight down with him. "I was given this by MY higher-up, and they got it from someone pretty high on the totem pole in MI6."

The look in Zara's eyes told him that she knew what MI6 was geared for. All the missions that MI5 either turns down, or are under qualified for, goes to MI6, with some exceptions of course.

"So you aren't going to pull some strings?! I know you have enough connections to at least-"

Mac shot her a look, freezing her demands. "Do you think I didn't already?!" He grit out. "The best I could wheedle out was the kids involvement and locality to the target."

As Zara opened her mouth to protest, he cut her off with a final statement.

"My hands are tied. There IS no better option. We have no other choice that to line up our young agents like a lamb to the slaughter."