Agents and Operatives

by KnighteWolfe

A preview of what is to come. Chapter 4 isn't finished yet but its still being worked on.

4. Chapter 4

Totally Spies

Agents and Operatives

Chapter Four

Eighteen year old, Beverly High School student, Dominic Calvin James sat in the darkened living room of the house he shared with his two friends and listened to the song, 'Burn One Down' by Styles P as he contemplated his recent discovery about the three girls he and his friends Justin Timothy Bolan and Sean Matthew Lyons had made friends with and ultimately started dating. Dressed in a pair of baggy black fatigue pants, a grey and black pair of high top tennis shoes, and a dark green polo shirt, D.C. was going between two mental extremes.

He was disappointed because Alex didn't yet trust him enough to tell him where she and the girls had been going right after school, but Dominic chalked it up to their still finding out about each other in this relationship. Second, he was pissed off because Alex and the girls worked for the same organization he and his friends worked for, but that could be passed off because of the need for secrecy. Continuing his thoughts in the same vein, Dominic was worried about how Alex would react when she found out that he knew about their secret. D.C.'s final thought was two-fold. One, he knew what kind of training went on the island the girls were presently at and hoped that Alex wouldn't be scarred for life by it. And two, D.C. feared what Alex and her friends Sam and Clover would do when they found out about how the Seductress had trained him and his friends during their time on the island and how she'd punished and rewarded them whenever they either made a mistake or their actions pleased their instructor-slash-mistress.

"Oh god, I hope that Teresa keeps those videos of her 'training' sessions with us away from the girls. If they found out about them and actually watched one; the repercussions could be…dangerous.", thought Dominic as he caught sight of the black duffle bag sitting at his feet.

Soon, Dominic was lost in thought again but this time he was imagining the things Alex would know after this training was over. When the images started getting to descriptive and lewd, the six foot two and a half inch teen violently shook his head to squelch his thoughts and block the direction they were going. Making a decision, Dominic reached for the phone and picked up the handset while dialing a number he rarely called unless he had something serious on his mind. Listening to the phone ring, he imagined the reaction of the person on the other end of the line when he picked up. He thought it had been a long time but in reality the ringing on the other end of the line was cut off when the owner of the phone picked up and answered in his gruff voice.

"Whadda ya want?", came the borderline rude greeting.

"Hello dad. I'm coming home. I got something on my mind and I need to do some thinking. I'll be leaving here in a few minutes and should be there no later than ten thirty. Will the range be open?", asked D.C. while hiding the hope in his voice.

"Yeah, it will be. I gotta practice. Got qualifications coming up in a couple of days. I'll have your M-63 Stoner prepped and ready. See you when you get here. Goodbye.", came the gruff reply before the connection was cut.

Pulling the handset away from his ear as if it was a poisonous snake, Dominic stared at it with an intense glare. Slamming the object down, he turned to grab his bag and leave. D.C. stopped when he saw the concerned faces of Justin and Sean. Recognizing the questioning gazes and not really wanting to answer them at the moment, Dominic started to brush past his friends only to stop when Sean grabbed his arm.

"What's going on D.C.? Why're you going south?", asked the blonde quarterback.

"Got something on my mind. Have to think it through and I don't want to talk about it right now.", grumbled Dominic as he tried to step past again.

"It doesn't work that way, my friend. We're teammates; we talk everything out between us. Not go running off to our old stomping grounds when we got something to think about. Plus, if you haven't already forgotten, your ex lives there and we have it on good authority that even though she's seeing someone else, she still wants you. If you go down there, don't be surprised if she shows up out of nowhere for a one time thing.", stated Justin as he crossed his arms and gave D.C. a concerned frown.

"Yeah, yeah I know. I'll deal with that problem when it comes up. I have to leave now if I'm going to make it by the time I said I'd be there. Leave me alone for now.", growled D.C. as he jerked his arm from Sean's grasp.

Sean, knowing that if either he or J.T. pushed the issue the consequences wouldn't be nice, let his friend go and stared at the back of D.C.'s head as he walked away. When their friend reached the door of his car, he turned his head and told them he'd see them at lunch the next day.

"I'll probably miss the first half of the day tomorrow but I'll be there."

"Yeah, we know. We'll see you at lunch and we can talk about this."

D.C. shook his head and started to climb into the FTO as he dumped his bag on the back seat. Situating himself in the drivers' seat and buckling up, D.C. started the car and backed out. As he passed his friends, they heard him say something that took them a moment to understand. But before they could ask him about it, the 2.5 liter, twin-turbo, V6 engine sang its beautiful song as Dominic trod heavily on the gas pedal. Sean turned to Justin and asked if J.T. had heard the same thing he did. Seeing Justin nod, Sean lapsed into silence.

"He knows who Ice Dancer is? Why won't he tell us? We need to know that information. Dammit Dominic! What are you thinking?", thought Sean as he watched the ruby taillights make the turn at the end of the street and disappear.

With Dominic out of sight, Sean turned to J.T. with a questioning look in his eye. Justin saw the look and just shrugged before turning around and heading back inside the house.

---

At the same time D.C. was speeding away, the convertible carrying Alex, Sam, and Clover was heading back to their villa. Seductress had canceled training for the evening and had sent word via one of the pilots of the Catalina flying boat. Alex was driving while Sam and Clover tried to figure out the reason for the cancellation. Clover was speaking.

"I dunno Sam; I don't think Seductress, Temptress, and Siren would suddenly get called away on a mission like that when they're supposed to be training us. Temptress and Siren aren't even active WHOOP agents anymore due to their infirmities and Seductress halted doing fieldwork to concentrate on running the training facility. I think this cancellation has something to do with Foxfire Lead arriving just as we had a class around the outdoor pool. If you remember, when Vixen showed up and told Seductress what had happened, our instructors' face changed and she turned the lesson over to Siren before storming off.", commented Clover as she leaned back and propped her arms up on the tonneau cover.

Sam disagreed from her spot in the front passenger seat and turned to face Clover with her theories. Alex ignored the interplay as she paid attention to the traffic and maneuvered the car accordingly. Focusing on the flow of traffic, Alex let a part of her mind think back to that moment and agreed with Clover. Something was fishy with this sudden cancellation and Alex too, believed it to be connected to the arrival of the mysterious leader of the team they were going to work with. Alex thought about it some more as she made a turn into the parking lot of a popular ice cream salon.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm dying for an ice cream sundae. You girls want anything? My treat.", said Alex as she waited for one of the employees to take note of their car and roller skate over to take their orders.

Both Clover and Sam were whisked away to the hauntingly familiar naughty dreamscapes of their imaginations for a moment as the tantalizing images of dripping ice cream brought back memories of another lesson with their instructors. Shaking themselves out of their respective sensual trances, Alex, Sam, and Clover went ahead and ordered. Once the waitress skated away to fill their orders for their chosen treats, our three spies relaxed a bit and turned their attention to their surroundings. Numerous teens and several of their classmates hung out either in pairs, groups, or by themselves as they enjoyed the ice cream.

A little while later as the girls were finishing up the last of their ice cream, a familiar midnight blue car pulled up to the stoplight right in front of the ice cream shoppe. Sam spotted it first and brought it to the attention of her friends.

"Hey, isn't that D.C.'s car over there? Where could he be going?", asked the Bev High Student Body President.

"I dunno, Sam. Want me to try and get his attention?", replied Clover when she saw that Alex wasn't going to answer.

"Clover, don't try it. I can tell by the look on his face that he's thinking about something and I don't think he wants to be disturbed. Otherwise he would've stopped by when he saw our car.", cut in Alex before Sam could answer.

The blonde and the redhead gazed at their friend and wondered how she knew that her boyfriend had seen and recognized their car when he wasn't even looking in their direction. The looks on their faces betrayed their curiosity so Alex explained to them the reasoning behind her statement.

"First things first, D.C. saw us as we pulled in. He was up the road a bit but he did see us as he approached the light. I caught a glimpse of his car out of the corner of my eye. Since we made the turn in front of him, he had ample time to see and recognize the convertible. Secondly, this ice cream shoppe is right on the corner and he knows that most students usually park on the supposedly 'cool' side facing the street. Since he's at the light, Dominic would only have to turn his head to the right only a little bit and we'd be in his direct line of sight. Let's leave him alone for a bit and I'll call him later to find out what's wrong.", explained Alex.

Clover and Sam nodded and turned their attention back to their melting ice cream cones. Alex kept her eyes on her boyfriends' car as he waited at the light. Seeing him reach up over his head, Alex interpreted that as him reaching up to hit the switch that opened his sunroof. She congratulated herself on her correct observation as the music from his car stereo blasted out in to the surrounding area. Cocking her head to the side when she heard the thumping bass-line and fast-paced beat, Alex wondered what was causing D.C. to listen to one of his techno CD's. In the time she'd known him, Alex learned that Dominic only listened to techno while he drove when he really needed to think about something. Shrugging her shoulders and letting her thoughts taper off, Alex brought her attention back to the conversation between Clover and Sam.

Alex was correct in surmising that Dominic had seen the convertible. He'd spotted it as he was approaching the traffic light and they were making their turn into the ice creamery. It had taken all of his self-control to keep him from cutting other cars off as he changed lanes to pull in behind them before jumping out to find out if what he found out the other day was true. Gritting his teeth and hating himself for it, D.C. trod heavily on the throttle as the light changed and he peeled off to the accompaniment of screeching tires. In his rear view mirror, D.C. could see the smoke still rising from where his tires had scrabbled for traction before hooking up and hurtling him aggressively away from his beloved before he could do something extremely stupid.

A few minutes later, Dominic merged onto the southbound freeway and turned on his Valentine One radar detector before accelerating through the gears until he was well above the speeds most California Highway Patrol cruisers could achieve. All he had to do was watch out for the unmarked CHP pursuit vehicles and D.C. considered himself pretty good at spotting the Camaros and Mustangs along with the occasional Pontiac GTO's.

"I just have to watch out for those dammed Mercury Marauders and Dodge Hemi Charger SRT8's. Those are a real pain in the ass to get away from.", thought D.C. as he cast a quick glance at his speedometer and saw that he was doing about a buck sixty* and then some.

[Author's Note: buck sixty = 160 MPH for those not in the know. D.C. had the speed limiter on his car removed when he had the Engine Control Unit reprogrammed.]

Sighing to himself, D.C. allowed his long-tome familiarity with his car to put his body on automatic as his mind thought about other things. By his seat of the pants reckoning, Dominic figured he'd be in San Diego well before the time he quoted to his father.

Back at the ice cream shop, the girls were pulling out of the parking lot in silence. They were in awe of what they and the other patrons of the shop had just seen when the midnight blue twin-turbocharged RHD Mitsubishi FTO had burned rubbed while peeling out. The trio of girls had never seen so much tire smoke produced by one car in their entire lives. Even with Clover attending the underground urban street races with her boyfriend the sometime street racer and seeing the smoke produced by the other racers, she never knew that the car of Alex's boyfriend was capable of doing what it did. A comment by said friend brought Clover back to the present. She'd missed it so she asked Alex to repeat her words.

"If D.C.'s peeling out like that, then he must be really pissed off about something. That wasn't one of his accidental burnouts. That one was purposely done! He meant to draw attention to himself. Usually he prefers to flying under the radar. If I were to hazard a guess, D.C. wanted us-or to be more specific-me, to see him.", commented Alex sourly.

"What did you do to rile him up that much Alex? Seduce him and leave him unsatisfied or what?", stated Sam.

Alex cast the redhead an evil glare. There was no way she'd do that to Dominic. If she was going to seduce him, Alex promised herself that she wouldn't stop halfway and would follow through with her actions. She'd seen how grumpy Justin got when Sam pulled that move on him the other day while the six of them were hanging out at the villa lounging about in the pool. Deciding to change the subject before it delved in a direction that she really didn't want it to; Alex asked Clover if she was going to be running for Homecoming Queen this year.

'Yeah, I'm gonna run. Mandy beat me last year by one vote. I want this year's Homecoming to be one I'll remember for the rest of my life. If I win, I'm not gonna run for Prom Queen. I was that last year while my rival was one of my attendants. That was the high point of our junior year.", replied Clover emphatically.

"Speaking of Homecoming, aren't we supposed to be going with the guys to their friend's homecoming this week? If we are, when is our flight?", asked Sam.

Neither of her friends knew the answer to that question and Sam sighed in consternation. She'd have to call J.T. to find out the exact date and time of the flight. For the umpteenth time, Sam was extremely happy that since they were under the direct supervision of Nastasya and the DILJO Division, the spies were exempt from any new missions from Jerry. During the middle of their second week of training, their boss had made a surprise visit to the Island and informed them of their status. Jerry had told his spies that he'd assigned a new team of spies to fill in for them. They'd finished some of their extra training and started doing missions around the same time that she, Alex, and Clover had started their training regimen under the members of Belladonna.

Deciding to stop by and see Justin when they got home, Sam leaned back in her seat and watched the landscape as the convertible sped by their hometown landscape with Alex at the wheel.

---

There was a palpable sense of dread wandering the halls of Beverly High School. The student body could feel it and they didn't know who or what the cause of the dread was but many of the students in the know said that it was linked to the definite chill in the relationship between Alex and D.C. Not counting their friends, those who were close to the couple whispered about the helluva verbal row the two had had three days previous.

On that day, the entire school had been surprised when Dominic had arrived at school during the middle of lunch. The bellow of his car's exhaust had punctuated his arrival thirty minutes into the lunch hour. This had relieved many of his classmates who'd been walking around on Alex and her friends as if they were on eggshells. Alex had arrived at school in a concerned mood that quickly turned to anger when she found out her boyfriend had gone home to San Diego from his friends. During Sean and J.T.'s explanation, Dominic had called Justin to tell him that he was going to be later than he thought at first.

Since Justin had put his cell phone on speaker so that Alex and her friends could hear D.C., it was a shock when in the background Sean and Justin had heard a voice they'd recognized. The two had looked at each other in shock before Sean shook his head at Dominic's idiocy. The person they had warned him about before he left was, at that very moment, sitting across from him as he talked to his friends. From what they could gather before their roommate hung up, Dominic's ex-girlfriend had indeed caught wind that he was in San Diego and, as they'd feared, had sped over to his family's house to try and win him back and if she failed, try to seduce him as she was wont to do. Luckily, D.C. had caught the act and cut her attempts short. She'd pouted until he'd relented enough to have breakfast with her before he drove back up to Beverly Hills. All this was explained during the telephone call.

Needless to say, Alex had been less than thrilled with her boyfriend's actions.

After the conversation, Alex had requested (actually more like demanded) the reason why Sean and Justin had warned D.C. about his ex-girlfriend. What followed had been a lengthy explanation about Dominic's ex-girlfriend and the things she'd done to try and keep his attentions after he caught her with another guy. This before school conversation had been punctuated by increasingly loud cursing coming from Alex that had ended when she heard about Dominic's ex, Sheila, trying to pull the 'I'm-pregnant-and-its-your-baby' stunt in her efforts to rekindle their relationship after they'd broke up. Before she could give further voice to her frustrations, the bell rang and all five teenagers headed for class with Alex muttering dire imprecations about what she was going to do to her boyfriend when he arrived after telling his friends that she'd bring him the information on what he'd missed so far that morning.

When D.C. arrived at school in the middle of lunch, the first person to see him was Tommy Kurtzmann who immediately dragged him to the office to explain his tardiness to the attendance clerk as well as the vice principal. Tommy had wanted to make sure that his friend was safe and urged him to make haste to his class after he finished in the office. Hoping to avoid the scene he knew was coming, Tommy had told Mandy to keep her mouth shut and go about her business as usual. For once in their secret relationship, Mandy flouted that and immediately went searching for Alex. Ten seconds after Mandy had 'inadvertently on purpose' spilled the beans about Dominic being in the office and Tommy having a hand in hiding him, Alex was dashing in that very direction.

With the speed that had engendered her legend on the soccer field, Alex arrived at the office just as D.C. was exiting with Tommy. When she got there, the two were in a conversation about some inconsequential thing or another (or at least Dominic was. Kurtzmann knew who was on the way and was hurrying D.C. along). The conversation stopped as Alex slowly walked up to Thomas, slapped him hard across the face, grabbed D.C. by the front of his shirt, and literally dragged him to a secluded corner to give him a piece of her mind.

Three minutes after her actions in front of the office, Alex's voice was heard arguing rather loudly and vehemently with her melodic alto in counterpoint to Dominic's smooth baritone as he tried-and failed-to get his point across. The argument got so heated that the two missed the bell signaling the end of lunch before Sam and Clover could pull their friend away in a flurry of arms and legs. As the blonde and redhead dragged her to class, Alex got lucky and one of her flailings caught Dominic on the side of his face. He was extremely surprised and agitated enough to respond and he did so in the most unexpected way.

"Dammit Alex! That's the second time you've slapped me for no good damn reason!"

Incensed at the way she was being dragged away, pissed off at D.C. for putting her in such a spot with his actions, and insulted by his harsh words, Alex replied with her own verbal blast.

"You Two-Timing Sonuvabitchin' Bastard, Dominic; what the fuck is your problem?"

Everyone in the area winced at the rage in Alex's voice. It promised quick retribution.

All that drama had happened three days previous, it was now Thursday and Beverly High was getting ready to play football against Justin, Dominic, and Sean's old school. By his own request, Sean had asked the coach if he could skip that game since he still felt a loyalty to his old school. The coach had acquiesced and Sean had been put on the list of players not playing that game. Right now, Sean sat in a boutique waiting for Clover to finish making her choices for their upcoming trip to the town where their friend Slick had invited them to come to his last high school homecoming game. Wearing a pair of black slacks, a white casual shirt, some leather shoes, and a lightweight leather jacket with a multitude of patches; Sean cut quite the dashing figure. Clover considered herself lucky to be his significant other.

When they had arrived at the mall, the blonde spy had rejoiced as she caught the unconcealed looks of jealousy cast their way by some of the single college students either hanging out or working at the mall. Leaning her head against the leather, Clover sighed in comfort. Ever since Sean had received this jacket after ordering it online, she'd wanted one similar to it and hinted at it every chance she would get. When he mentioned that the jacket had cost him almost a thousand dollars, it didn't faze her in the least.

Looking at her figure as she stood in the fitting room wearing only her panties and bra, Clover thanked her trainers on the island for their almost manic insistence on their charges to keep fit. Clover's speed and stamina had increased as well as her endurance. She was now stronger and faster than when she first entered high school. Glancing over at the pile of outfits she'd picked to try on, Clover chose to purchase the two sets of jeans, a pair of long-sleeved shirts, and a cashmere sweater vest to wear at the football game. Redressing herself in the skirt and blouse combo she'd worn to school today, Clover opened the door to the dressing room and walked out to show her boyfriend her choices.

Stepping in to the waiting area where she'd left him, Clover looked around for Sean. It took her a second to find him since he no longer sat in the seat she'd left him in. Sean had gotten up and was leaning on a counter talking on the phone to somebody. As Clover approached, she could see that whoever was on the other end of the line was not making her boyfriend happy. Sean had a scowl on his face that could cut glass. Just as she stepped up beside him, Clover saw Sean hang up the phone and blow a frustrated breath of air through his pursed lips. Wondering what had caused the frustration, Clover asked him if anything was wrong as he saw what she intended to buy.

"Oh it's nothing much. I just got word that somebody wants to challenge me to a race. I told my contact to tell them that I'd get back to them later. He did so and assured me everything was fine. A little later he calls back and tells me that the person making the challenge didn't agree and said that the guy had insulted me. To top it off, he demanded that my contact tell me that the race was set for tonight and if I didn't show up, he'd be sure to ruin my reputation.", growled Sean with a worried grin on his face.

Clover knew that in the street racing world, after the safety of others; Sean cared about his reputation. He took many hits for caring more about safety than his reputation but he was unswayable on that part and had refused to race several challengers when they couldn't assure him of the safety of the course. That part of his personality is what drew Clover closer and closer to him and made her love him all the more. Giving a contented sigh, the blonde spy looped her free hand through Sean's arm and rested her head on his shoulder. When he smiled that roguishly caring smile of his, something that Clover had been pondering for awhile cleared up and she made a decision that would change the way her friends looked at her. Gently tugging on Sean's arm, Clover led him over to the check out counter where one of the salespeople was ready to check Clover's chosen garments out.

"Sean, why don't you wait for me outside, there was something I needed to get. I was so caught up in that I forgot to get it off the rack. I'll just be a few more minutes, okay?", gushed Clover as she gave Sean a push.

"Hmmm, oh, okay. I gotta call Dominic and Justin and let them know about the challenge I received. They may want to watch the race tonight. I'll wait for you. Don't make me wait too long thought. If you do, my eyes may wander.", replied Sean with a teasing lilt to his voice.

With his face looking so innocent, Clover could do nothing but laugh at his words. The cheerleader knew that he wouldn't go astray. He was too faithful for that. Returning his teasing fondly, Clover tossed a wink his way.

"Your eyes can wander but if they wander too far and your hands follow, somebody will be in a lot of pain and it ain't gonna be me!", replied Clover saucily.

She watched as Sean nodded and headed out the door of the boutique. Once she saw that he was occupied with his phone call, Clover told the clerk that she would be right back with one more item. The friendly girl said okay and Clover could see the jealous look in her eyes as she unabashedly stared at Clover's boyfriend. Letting the irritation slide, Clover went to the part of the store where she knew the object of her search was located. Once in that area, the blonde cheerleader reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. Punching in the seven digit number she knew by heart, Clover placed her call.

"Hello.", answered the familiar voice.

"Sam, hi; it's Clover. Can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah, as long as it isn't too daunting a favor for me to do, what is it you need?", replied her redheaded friend.

"Can you and Alex if she's there, bail for a few hours. I made a certain decision and will need the villa to myself for ohh a couple of hours. Is that too big of a favor?"

"No it isn't. If I may ask, why do you need the villa?"

"Umm, I just need it okay!"

On the other end of the line Sam took the phone headset away from her ear and gave it a curious look. Clovers' request had caught her at an extremely bad time. She needed to study for an upcoming test and those few hours Clover was asking for would cut in to her study time. Wanting to know more, Sam asked Clover to elaborate on her request. Back at the boutique, Clover had found the item she was looking for (and wonder of wonders, she found it in her favorite color) and was making her way back to the front to pay for her purchases when Sam asked for her to give an explanation for her request. Gritting her teeth so hard it was painful, Clover mentally ran through her litany of excuses until hitting on the one she was sure Sam would understand.

"Sam, I decided to take some advice from a…a… mutual acquaintance of ours.", replied Clover leadingly.

It took a moment for Sam to catch the hidden meaning and reply.

"Advice from a mutual acquaintance; what mutual acquai… oh, I get it now. Okay, I'll grab Alex and we'll go do something. How long until you get here?", asked Sam as she recalled whom Clover was presently with."

"Think you can pull the fade in about thirty minutes, if so, that'll be good enough."

"Sure, no problem; I hope you have fun and we'll have to talk about this…..'advice' later tonight."

Clover blushed as she caught the hidden meaning in her friend's words. Sighing in relief and promising herself that she'd owe Sam big time for this favor, Clover thanked her and hung up before paying for her choices (and ignoring the knowing look from the sales girl as she saw the last item Clover had bought). Thanking the helpful girl, Clover grabbed the bags carrying her purchases and walked out of the store. Before she got away from the counter, the girl called out and told her to have a good evening, the double entedre very much present in her words. Blushing again and muttering an 'okay', Clover hurried out of the store and made her way over to where Sean was finishing his phone call.

"Have you finished your shopping Clover?", asked Sean as he closed his cell phone.

"Yeah, I'm finished. Let's go home."

"Okay. Home it is."

Once again looping her arm through his, Clover let Sean lead her from the busy mall. As the pair walked out of the mall, Sean didn't know the mental battle his girlfriend was fighting with a part of her consciousness.

---

Across town, while Clover was thinking about the ramifications of her decision, Sam was desperately trying to persuade Alex to go grab a bite to eat with her. Unfortunately, Alex was being stubborn and did not particularly want to leave the house to get something to eat when she had a Stouffer's dinner in the microwave.

"Come on Alex, quit being so stubborn. Your dinner will still be here when we get back. I just want to spend some time with you.", pleaded Sam with an eye on the clock.

"No, Sam! I'm hungry dammit and I haven't had anything to eat all day! You can run to the store and get something but I'm staying here and enjoying this meal. I've been looking forward to this plate of lasagna all day! Now leave me to my pasta passion!", growled Alex as she impatiently tapped her foot on the kitchen floor.

"Of all the… damn Alex can be the quite the stubborn bitch when she wants to be. Especially when it comes to food and she hasn't eaten all day. Shit, Clover will be home with Sean in twenty minutes, what can I do to get her outta the house? Crap, I hope Clover has what she needs! If Clover gets home and Alex is still here, I won't hear the end of it! Shit, shit, shit, shit what can I do?", Sam fumed as she cast another worried glance at the clock.

Sam was saved by a knock at the front door.

"Who is it?", she called out.

"Hey Sam it's D.C., is Alex there?", replied Alex's boyfriend from the front.

"Yeah, she's here, come on in. What's up? You need her for something?"

"I just dropped by to see if she wanted to come and work out with me for a bit. I'm headed over to the park to see if I can catch a pick-up game of soccer."

Before Sam could answer, a dark blur brushed past her on its way to the door. Sam called out to the figure who rushed past but as she expected, she was ignored. Taking a few steps into the living room, Sam heard Alex replying.

"D.C.! Sure, I'll go and work out with you. Gimme a minute to grab my gear!", Sam heard Alex reply giddily.

"But, Alex, what about the dinner you have in the microwave?", yelled Sam as she stepped into the living room.

"Oh, you can put it in the fridge. I'll grab a bite to eat with D.C. while we're out. Talk to you later, Sam!"

Sam sighed as she heard the thump of Alex's footsteps as she ran upstairs to grab a set of her workout clothes. Five minutes later, Sam watched as Alex hurried back down the stairs attired in a pair of old sweatpants and a long-sleeved t-shirt. Noticing that her friend had the bag containing her shin guards, cleats, and other sundry workout gear slung over her shoulder, Sam gave a sigh of relief. Giving D.C., a look that spoke wonders (and left him confused) Sam watched as Alex gave her boyfriend a hug before heading out the door with Dominic in trail. Watching the pair for the couple of minutes it took for them to make their way to D.C.'s car, Sam closed and locked the front door before grabbing her keys and heading for the garage. If she timed everything right, Sam figured that she could run to the nearest convenience store, get what she thought Clover would need and drop it off at home before heading back out to let Clover have the villa for the time she requested.

"Hmm, I wonder what Justin is doing? Maybe I can talk him into going out for a bit.", mused Sam as she left the house.

Thirteen minutes later, Sam had returned with the package she'd gone to get. Double checking the clock to see how much time was left before Clover got home, Sam dropped the package on Clover's dresser with a cd and a pair of scented candles that she'd found in the second floor utility closet. Gazing at Clover's well made full-sized bed, Sam let her thoughts run away from her for a bit before she brought her attention back to the present and headed back downstairs. With one last look at the clock, Sam saw that she had maybe three minutes before Clover made it home. She could almost hear the unique sound of Sean's Audi TT coming down the street. With one last look at the house and a mental prayer for Clover's decision, Sam started the car and backed out of the driveway. Going up the street, she saw the familiar grey car as it made its way down to the villa. Giving the car a quick flash of her headlights since it was starting to get dark, Sam chuckled as an acknowledging flash came back. Pulling to a stop at the corner, Sam shifted her mind into finding someplace to eat. Making her decision, Sam made the turn in the direction she wanted to go and accelerated. With her mind made up, Sam's thoughts turned back to her blonde friend.

"Clover I hope you know what you're doing and I hope you've made the right decision. Moreover, I hope you have an enjoyable few hours. I'll want details when I get back. Enjoy yourself girl. You caught a live one!", thought Sam as she headed off in to the darkness in her search for sustenance.

Back at the villa, Clover watched as the taillights of the convertible the three of them shared merged into the darkening night and sighed. Things were looking up. Feeling the relative motion of the car stop, Clover brought her attention back to the man sitting next to her. Opening her door and climbing out, Clover waited for Sean to unlatch the trunk so she could get her new outfits into her closet.

"Come on in Sean and give me a minute while I put these things up. I'll be right back. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen.", commented Clover as she unlocked the front door and made her way to the stairs.

"Alright, thanks Clover. I'll just grab something to drink and wait for you to come back.", replied Sean as he closed the front door and headed in to the kitchen.

Placing Clovers' keys on the hook provided, Sean opened up the refrigerator and helped himself to a bottle of Coke before heading back into the living room to wait for his girlfriend. Upstairs, Clover saw the package Sam had left and thanked her friend for remembering as well as for the candles. Taking her new outfits out of the bags, she hung them all up in the closet except for the last outfit she'd bought. Clover snipped off the tags before stripping out of her school clothes and slipping into the new outfit. Taking a look at herself in the mirror, the blonde teenager liked what she saw and again mentally thanked her trainers on the island for toning and firming her body up. Making some last adjustments, Clover returned to her closet and looked at the multiple pairs of shoes arranged on the floor by style and color. Picking out the pair of heels given to her by her trainer, Clover slipped her dainty little feet into them and made her way back to her vanity.

Gazing at her appearance in the mirror, Clover applied a light covering of make-up and dabbed a cotton ball lightly dipped in perfume on the hollow of her neck and behind her ears. Giving her body one last look, Clover retrieved the two candles and headed downstairs to her guest.

Downstairs, Sean had taken a position on the love seat and was finishing his soda. Checking his watch and wondering what was taking Clover so long; Sean leaned back in his seat. Hearing the familiar flare as a match was struck, he looked around to find the source.

"Sean, could you come give me a hand.", called Clover from the top of the stairs.

"Sure, here I come.", replied Sean as he got up from his seat and made his way to the bottom of the staircase.

"Be careful, I forgot to brighten the light when I came upstairs."

"Okay."

Sean placed his hand on the railing as he stepped on the bottom most step. Looking up the stairs, Sean was about to comment on Clover's faux pas when he saw a vision of beauty lit by the soft glow of the candle she was carrying and his breath caught in his throat.

Clover was wearing a soft peach teddy with matching garter belt, panties, and high heeled shoes.

In the dim light from the flickering candle, Sean could barely make out the sparse blonde thatch the guarded the entrance to her interior. Feeling a relentless pull he could do nothing to stop, Sean slowly climbed the staircase. As he reached the top step, Sean could feel the sudden tightness in his loins and gazed down at the nearly naked woman in front of him. He couldn't speak but his eyes asked the question. His angel nodded and reached out a delicate hand with well-manicured fingernails painted in the soft pink he knew she preferred. Without words, Sean accepted the hand and allowed Clover to lead him to her bedroom.

As he stepped across the threshold, the stricken man watched as his beloved knelt down and placed the candle holder on the night stand. A growl of appreciation ripped from his throat as he watched the g-string panties she wore tighten with the movement. When Clover rose from her position and turned to face him, Sean saw the wanton look of desire on her face and idly wondered if it matched the one on his.

Clover saw the look on Sean's face and beckoned seductively for him to come forward. When he got close enough, she reached up and found her soft lips being plundered by his harsh ones. Letting her own feelings take her away on a cloud of sweet bliss. Throwing caution to the wind, Clover slowly lowered herself to the bed and tugged Sean down with her. Placing his hands on the shoulder straps, Clover looked up into his eyes and read the question there. Nodding once, she answered the unspoken request.

"Yes, I am sure."

Minutes later, the sounds of a couple in the throes of passion filtered through the villa shared by the spies in harmonic counterpoint to the soft music being played.

---

Across town, D.C. and Alex were both stretching as they got ready to run a few laps around the field. All around the park, lights were shining and there were many things going on. Over at the playground, several young children enjoyed the equipment while their parents watched with a cautiously relaxed eye while chatting with each other. Several bikers were speeding around the track at the velodrome as they prepared for an upcoming competition. On the tennis courts, several recreational players were involved in friendly games that sounded like their version of Wimbledon. There were several people walking dogs, riding bikes, roller skating, and just all out having fun on this crisp autumn night at the park.

Looking at everything with a grin on his face, Dominic returned his attention to the nearest of four full-sized soccer fields where there was a mean game going on. It was a game he was about to join as he finished warming up his muscles and slipped out of his sweat pants before sitting down to don his shin guards and cleats. Tying a multicolored bandanna around his forehead to use as a headband, D.C. pulled his sweat shirt over his head to reveal a warm-up t-shirt from his old soccer team. Turning his attention to Alex as she slipped out of her own sweatpants beside him and placed them in her bag, D.C. pointed out the guys doing laps around the field in preparation for joining the game when the time came.

"Let's jog around the field to loosen up a bit before we join the game."

"Okay, Dominic. That sounds like a good idea."

D.C. nodded before walking towards the track. On the way over, Alex observed as he greeted some of the other players before starting his lap. She joined up with him and together they set an easy loping pace around the field. For the first few laps, the couple was quiet as they set their own rhythm. It didn't take long for them to unconsciously synchronize their breathing during their jog. Some of the other runners they passed, both male and female, did notice and often times would smile warmly at the couple as they passed by.

After five laps, Dominic and Alex slowed down and started walking. It was getting close to the end of the game and several of the other joggers had slowed to a walk as well. Alex turned to D.C. and asked a question.

"I take it from your greeting to some of the others that you've been here a few times already?"

"Yeah, I started coming awhile back and they made me feel welcome. I enjoy playing here against these guys. These guys are good and going against them helps me improve my skills as a player. I think you'll enjoy it. A couple of our teammates come all the time. Ahh, there they are, over there.", commented D.C. as he pointed to another teenage couple finishing their laps.

Alex glanced in the direction Dominic indicated. At first all she could make out was a mop of flaming and unruly blond hair held back by a headband. As the owner of the hair got closer, she saw that he was attired in a bright orange shirt, black shorts, orange socks with black stripes, and black cleats with orange trim. Walking next to the orange attired young man was a pale-skinned girl around Alex's age with her long black hair tied up in a ponytail. It took Alex a minute to recognize the odd couple but when she did, she laughed. There was only one couple at Beverly High that was so mismatched yet so perfectly right for each other: Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki.

Hinata Hyuuga was the pale-skinned elder daughter of a local businessman. Her father was the Chief Executive Officer of a Fortune 500 Company based here in Beverly Hills but with offices all around the world. Hinata had a sister who was five years younger than she was. Hanabi Hyuuga attended Beverly Hills Junior High School just up the street and-like her sister-was a soccer player. Alex had first met Hinata back when they were freshmen trying out for the team. Both of them had made it, Alex as an all-state midfield while Hinata was an all-state second team striker.

Naruto Uzumaki was an aberration. At Beverly High the majority of the student body came from wealthy families. Naruto on the other hand came from a strictly blue-collar family background. Since his parents had died in a car accident when he was younger, Naruto lived with a distant uncle who kept him on the straight and narrow. Naruto was a brash and loud student. Everyone knew he was the instigator of most of the practical jokes that happened around campus on a regular basis, but the faculty couldn't prove it and in the four years he'd been a student, Uzumaki had lived a charmed live. Naruto was also one of the smartest kids in school although he did downplay his intelligence on occasion. Alex had a sneaking suspicion that if the brash blonde ever focused his attention on his studies more, he would rank higher than her friend Sam on the principal's honor roll.

The story of how the quiet Hinata and the loud Uzumaki got together was a legendary one. It was a story that Alex had played an integral part of during their sophomore year. In his usual brash way, Naruto had asked Alex out and on a whim, Alex had agreed. During the date, Alex had spotted Hinata sneaking around watching them everywhere they went. Cornering the extremely intelligent but quiet girl in the washroom at the movie theater Naruto had taken her to, Alex had found out that Hinata had had a crush on the loudmouth since junior high school and was desperately trying to get his attention. Deciding that, as a teammate, she could help Hinata get her man; Alex told Naruto to gather six of his friends and challenged them to an indoor soccer game. If Alex and her team won, Naruto would have to fulfill one request made by Alex and vice versa. The brash young man had accepted the challenge on the spot and the game was set. Of course being ever so conniving, Alex had made double damn sure that Hinata was on her team. During the game, Alex had Hinata guard Naruto every chance she could. It had frustrated the boy to no end when each time he though he was free to either pass or shoot, there was Hinata guarding him a bit closer than the rules allowed (Alex had bribed the ref to not notice when Hinata 'accidentally' tripped Naruto up and landed on him).

In the end the pair had gotten together and from all reports, everything was smooth sailing.

"Naruto, Hinata how's it going?", called D.C. as he waved to the pair when they approached.

"Fine, D.C. , fine. I'm glad you were able to find my house to return my car the other day. I was surprised to see that you had filled it up and washed it.", replied Naruto as he stretched.

Alex remembered that next to Hinata, Naruto babied his pristine orange and black Honda S2000 incessantly. She was curious why D.C. had borrowed Naruto's car though.

"It was no problem, just my way of thanking you for the favor.", replied D.C. calmly although Alex could hear a slight nervous undertone to his voice.

"Naruto really liked your car, Dominic. It took him a second to get the shift pattern right but he managed. We both loved the leather seats and the stereo was a real eye-opener.", commented Hinata in her soft voice.

"When I got my car back, I could tell you'd liked the seats, Hinata.", replied D.C. with a grin that had the pale-skinned girl turning a dark scarlet.

The teenagers chuckled as they turned their attention to the game and waited to get picked by either side. Alex had caught the insinuation and remembered that in addition to making her open up more, Naruto's influence on Hinata had brought about a surprising, and wholly unexpected, change that became apparent when the couple celebrated their six-month anniversary. The day after that in their locker room before a game, Alex remembered that Hinata had been asked about how she and Naruto had celebrated their anniversary.. By the time the team headed out of the locker towards the field, Hinata had embarrassed every girl on the team by the candid discussion of the anniversary celebration.

Hearing her name being called, Alex saw that she had been picked to be on the same team as Hinata and Naruto. Making her way to the team captain, Alex stood beside her two friends and waited for the picking of teams to be finished. Upon finding out that Dominic was going to be on the other team, Alex felt a thrill run through her. She was going to be playing against him and could use this game to analyze his every move.

"Alex, go ahead and mark, D.C. I talked to the captain and he said it was alright. Be careful though, he's very good.", commented Hinata as together they jogged out to their chosen positions on the field with their team.

"How good is he exactly, Hinata?", asked Alex as she did a few more stretches to loosen up.

The dark haired girl thought for a moment before replying. Her reply made Alex stammer a denial. She chuckled at her teammate before heading to her striker's position. Behind her, Alex could hear the braying laugh of Hinata's boyfriend and figured that he must've known what Hinata was going to say and had been waiting for Alex's reaction. Shooting him the finger behind her back, Alex turned her attention to the other team and waited for the whistle to blow. When it did, the star of the Beverly High Women's Soccer Team didn't focus on anything else except the game she was playing in. Within minutes after the game started, Alex was treated to a first hand experience as her boyfriend blew past her with the ball at his feet.

Ultimately, Alex had to concede the point to Hinata and take her advice. Dominic was damn near unstoppable on the field. By half-time, Alex was winded and trying to figure out a way to stop the man who'd already scored once and had a couple of assists. Jogging over to her bag where her Gatorade was, Alex passed Hinata.

"I told you, Alex. Dominic is good. You'll have to mark him like I marked Naruto our sophomore year.", teased Hinata.

"Don't remind me 'Nata. At least we've scored a few times.", answered Alex with a grunt as she guzzled some Gatorade.

Hinata nodded and the two returned to the field for the second half. This time, Alex was ready for Dominic and had adjusted to his ability. She kept him from scoring twice more and was able to get past him once on a breakaway to score a goal. As Alex passed D.C after scoring, she grinned and gave him a pat on the backside.

"Next time, watch me and not the ball. Okay baby?", Alex teased.

"Oh, is that a taunt! There won't be a next time, doll!", Dominic returned good-naturedly.

As the second half of the game progressed, the taunts between them got more and more risqué. It didn't help that Hinata was egging her on and supplying Alex with some good ones. Some of Hinata's suggestions even caused a lifted eyebrow from Naruto.

Finally with one minute left in the second half of this game with a tie score and both teams battling it out to get the last goal, Alex was witness to the true athleticism displayed by her boyfriend. And it all started with a misplayed ball. The play had started with a goal kick by Dominic's team that put the ball right in the middle of the field. Keeping an eye on D.C., Alex had rushed in to retrieve the ball and pass it on to Hinata who was lagging a bit up front. The ball bounced off one of her opponent's heads and in her direction and Alex had headed it to Hinata. Hinata misplayed it and in the following scrum, the ball got past one of their teammates. Looking for the ball, Alex had taken her eyes off of Dominic for a millisecond.

And that was all it took.

One of Dominic's teammates got the ball and immediately sent a pass up towards the net. The ball took an awkward bounce and Naruto almost missed it. Instead of getting the ball full on to clear it, he caught it on the side of his boot and popped it up. As she was racing to the ball, Alex caught a fast moving blur out of the corner of her eye that resolved itself into the speeding figure of her boyfriend. Dominic reached the ball two seconds ahead of her and he headed it straight up. As the ball started its descent, Alex watched vainly as D.C. stopped, saw he was about to overrun the ball, and twisted his body so that he had his back to the goalie and caught the ball right on the toe of his boot before sending it past the diving goal keeper with a perfect bicycle kick to score the game-winning goal. Struck dumb by the move, Alex could only say one thing:

"Damn, He Is Good!

Two hours later, Dominic and Alex were packing up their gear like the rest of the players on the field. It was closing on ten o'clock, the time the park closed for the evening. The couple had played another game with another group of players. This time, Naruto and Dominic had been teammates. The second game, Alex had marked D.C. closer and tighter than before and he was only able to score once on a lucky shot. In addition, Alex was able to take advantage of some miscommunication on the field after a corner kick and was able to score on two separate occasions. In the end, the game had ended as a draw and everyone decided to call it a night. At the moment, D.C. was sitting on a bench talking to Naruto.

"Whatcha got planned for the rest of the evening, Naruto?"

"Not much. Maybe go home take a shower and watch some TV while studying for my test tomorrow. What about you?"

"Gonna take a shower, and hang out with the street racers. Sean got challenged by somebody and his reputation is on the line. I'm riding out to make sure nobody causes any problems. Wanna come?"

"Yeah, Hinata and I will come. I've always wanted to see how fast that TT of his runs. You gonna race?"

"Probably not. I usually don't race unless there is a good reason for me to race. I got enough of the grudge matches back in San Diego. "

Naruto nodded as he finished putting his gear away. Looking over to where his girlfriend waited patiently, he got up from his seat and headed in her direction while slinging his bag over his shoulder. Turning once to ask D.C. to call him when they headed out, Naruto waved goodbye with his left hand while wrapping his right arm around Hinata's shoulders. Dominic smirked as he saw the shorter woman reach behind Naruto's back and stick her hand in the back pocket of his sweat pants. Tying the laces to his sneakers, D.C jumped when the presence of an ice cube made itself known by slipping down the back of his shirt. Knowing who the guilty party was, D.C. turned around and chased after his laughing girlfriend. It took a few minutes but he caught up to Alex and wrapped her in his arms before dragging her to the ground.

Once Alex submitted to his tickles and promised that she wouldn't do it again between gasps of air, Dominic got up and pulled Alex to her feet. Embracing her in a hug, D.C. buried his nose into Alex's neck and inhaled the scent of dried sweat as it mixed and mingled with Alex's own smell. He was cut short when another ice cube found its way into his collar. This time Dominic retaliated and dropped several of his own ice cubes down the front of Alex's shirt making her shriek in delight.

D.C. stepped back as Alex quickly took off her shirt and shaking it to get the recalcitrant ice cubes out. Observing the exposed smooth brown skin and closely fitting sports bra Alex was wearing; Dominic felt the pull of his libido and lost himself in his fantasies for a moment before coming back and realizing that Alex was looking at him with a hunger in her eyes. The two stepped closer to each other until they were chest to chest. If D.C.'s phone hadn't picked that moment to trill with the sound of an incoming call, who knows what could have happened. The lust-filled moment vanished and the two blinked at each other before D.C. turned to answer his phone and give Alex the privacy she needed to slip her ice cube free shirt back on. When D.C. turned back around he saw that Alex had replaced her shirt and was slinging her bag over her shoulder. The two gazed one another and saw the subtle shock of their actions etched into each other's face. A few minutes later, the pair were seated in Dominic's car and headed home. Dominic asked if Alex wanted to come out and watch the races tonight.

"Yes, I do. I'll pass the word on to Sam and Clover when I get home.'

"Clover may already know. I'll call Naruto and have him bring Hinata over here so we can convoy out to the spot. I'm also gonna call Tommy Kurtzmann and see if he wants to join us in watching the race."

"Okay. He might bring Mandy with him though. Oh well, hopefully Clover won't go off the hook."

Dominic nodded and made the turn on to their street. Pulling up in front of the villa, he stopped the car and leaned over to kiss Alex. As he did, he was able to taste the dried salt on her skin and for some odd reason that, along with her combined scent of sweat and Alex's own natural smell, enflamed his passions. Dominic expressed that feeling of passion through his kiss. Alex felt the kiss grow progressively deeper and fought a mental battle to keep her from succumbing to the latent promises coming from his lips. Gently pushing Dominic away before things got out of hand, Alex looked at her boyfriend face and saw the disappointment expressed therein. That look of disappointment tore at her heart and she almost gave in but her control reinstated itself.

"I'm sorry D.C. but let's slow down a bit. Things almost got out of hand there. I know that on other occasions our actions could be construed differently, like the other day after school when we fell asleep in my room during our 'study' session, but I want to wait until the right time for us to progress much further along in our relationship.", sighed Alex as she opened the car door with much reluctance.

"I know what you mean, Alex and I agree with you most wholeheartedly. Like you, I want the time and place to be right when our relationship advances to that point. But do you know how hard it is to control myself when I'm around you? It's extremely hard!", D.C. returned with a grimace.

"Yeah, it is hard to control myself whenever you're around. I keep thinking back to that time in the library when we were sooo close and campus security stopped us from going further."

Dominic laughed as he remembered that incident and it released the thick sexual tension in the air between them. Leaning in for one more kiss before Alex climbed out of the car with her gear bag on her shoulder, D.C. grinned at his guardian goddess and promised her he would wait and let her make the decision to advance their relationship to the almost inevitable conclusion. Alex agreed and turned away from his FTO to head into the house. D.C. kept an eye on Alex until she unlocked and opened the front door before turning around and blowing him a kiss. Watching her close the door, D.C. turned his car around and headed up to the house he and his buddies shared.

Pulling into the driveway, Dominic shut his engine off and wearily climbed out of the car. Grabbing his gear bag from the backseat, he wearily headed inside to take a shower and change clothes. Just inside the door going into the house, Dominic met up with Justin. Seeing what his partner had on, D.C. nodded.

"Good idea to wear some of our Freelancer gear. That should keep things legit. By the way, while I'm taking a shower, give Tommy a call and let him know that we're meeting here first. Oh yeah, Naruto and Hinata will be joining us. We'll meet them somewhere on the way."

"Alright boss, I'll take care of that call for you. I nuked a couple of hot pockets for you since I'm positive you haven't eaten since earlier.", replied Justin as he headed out to the garage to check on his car.

D.C. nodded his thanks and continued his trek to his room. Discarding some of his clothes as he climbed the stairs, D.C. made it to his room and tossed his gear bag into the corner. Going over to his dresser and opening the top drawer he grabbed a pair of boxer briefs before making his way to his bathroom. Turning on the faucet, D.C. waited for the water to reach the right temperature before jumping in to scrub away the sweat from his exertions. Fifteen minutes later, he climbed out and proceeded to dry off before sliding his boxer briefs on and striding out into his room heading for his dresser. Pulling the third drawer open, D.C. looked for his pair of stonewashed black jeans. Finding them and sliding them up his legs, he went looking for a belt and a shirt.

Once he'd acquired those items, D.C. put them on and opened his top drawer again looking for a pair of socks. Finding the pair he wanted he grabbed them and walked over to his closet where he grabbed a pair of size fifteen Piloti driving boots. Taking a seat on his bed, D.C. put the socks on and slipped his feet into his chosen pair of shoes. Since it was getting a bit chilly, he went back to his closet and grabbed his lightweight Freelancers jacket. Checking the pockets, Dominic was surprised to find the string-back driving gloves he'd been missing for a month or so and slid them into his pants pocket opposite his wallet. Now dressed, Dominic headed downstairs to eat his hot pockets and wait for Sean.

Over at the spies' villa; Alex was recovering after getting the shock of her life. Looking back at the circumstances, she realized that she should've been expecting it but she was still surprised.

Alex had finished her shower ten minutes previously and, after drying off and putting on a new pair of panties and a bra, Alex had gone over to Clover's room to borrow her brush. Seeing that the door was closed, she'd knocked and was rewarded with a gruff acknowledgment. Hearing Clover's words, Alex had told her friend she was coming in to borrow her brush and had started to open the door. Reaching in to flip the light switch when she saw the room was dark, Alex waited for the light to come on. When it did she entered the room, took three steps, and halted as a familiar scent filled her nose.

Recognizing the scent for what is was (the redolence of the aftermath of vigorous sexual activities as explained by Seductress), Alex had turned her head to face the bed and nearly had a heart attack as she saw a naked Clover looking at her with wide eyes. Lying next to Clover (and equally naked) was Clover's boyfriend Sean. It took Alex a second to realize what was going on and another second to tumble to the fact that she was nearly naked herself. Needless to say, Alex's reaction was textbook:

Covering her nearly nude form with her hands to the best of her ability, Alex ran out of the room with a look of pure embarrassment on her face and words of apology streaming from her lips (on a privately owned island, three former assassins were laughing uproariously at the tableau as they watched on their monitor).

So here it was, several minutes later a morbid (and fully dressed) Alex sat on the couch listening to Clover (now also fully dressed but with the added touch of the after sex glow) as she read her the riot act. Poor Sam was in the middle trying to get everything under control. It took until the guys pulled up in the driveway to pick up the girls to straighten everything out. As Sam answered the door, she groaned as she saw the smirks on Dominic and Justin's faces as they teased Sean about everything. Fortunately Sean was giving as well as he got and was in fact looking a bit like the cat that ate the canary.

Once everything was straightened out and everyone was ready (they had to wait for Sam to rush upstairs take a quick shower and change her clothes) the three couples headed out. As they pulled out of the villa's driveway they noticed a Toyota Altezza pulling up to the curb in front of the guys' house. Before anyone could disembark from the vehicle, Sean pulled up beside the driver and stuck his head out the window and passed on the info to the driver. The Altezza swung into line behind the other three cars and followed them out of their subdivision. On the highway, the vehicles maintained a steady speed so that they cruised under the radar. Midway to the spot, a bright orange Honda S2000 with the top down pulled up behind the Altezza and the now five car convoy made its sedate way to their destination.

Once at their destination the five cars ended up parked next to a black Mazda Protégé MP3. The driver of the MP3 pointed over to where a large crowd of people and cars were watching another race and letting their enthusiasm show for the favorites. As expected the camps were again divided into those who preferred domestic cars and those who preferred imports. Sean climbed out of his car and talked to the driver of the Protégé before making his way over to where another crowd was waiting. After exchanging a few terse words (Dominic held Sean back to keep him from attacking his challenger), Sean made his way to his car and pulled it around to the line next to a Mustang Cobra where more words were exchanged and money changed hands.

When everything was ready, Sean talked with his friends for a bit before putting on his gloves and climbing into his car. Everyone hushed as the two drivers revved their engines and prepared for the start. Those in the loop knew that this was a grudge match pure and simple. The driver of the Championship White Mustang Cobra had been talking trash about the smoke grey all-wheel drive Audi TT and how he could utterly defeat the new competitor on his turf. Sean had been quiet during all the before race hullabaloo and wasn't about to speak ill of his competitor. He believed that actions spoke louder than words and set out to prove that theory on the blacktop.

The starter stepped out in front of the vehicles, two lit flashlights in her hands. Checking with each driver to make sure they were ready and receiving acknowledgment from both, she raised her hands. The crowd waited with baited breath for the half second it took for the starter to drop her arms and start the race. When her arms came down, both cars took off. Off the line the TT Quattro smoked the Cobra and pulled out to a six car length lead. One of the radio guys communicated that to the others scattered all over the course and requesting the status of the race as they passed by each checkpoint.

It soon became readily apparent that for all of his bluster, the cobra driver could back it up. The checkpoint reporters were passing along the information that it was a close race with the lead switching between the two vehicles just about every other checkpoint. At the last checkpoint, the spotter said that the Cobra had a slight lead but the Quattro was right on his ass. Everyone at the start/finish line turned their attention up the road to catch a glimpse of the dueling headlights. When they became visible, the domestic crowd was in atwitter, their guy was leading. However on the import side, Sean's friends knew that the race wasn't over till the first car crossed the finish line and they were betting that the TT Quattro would be that first car across.

In the end, the bystanders watched as the driver of the Audi made a daring move and cut around the Cobra six lengths from the end of the course and crossed the finish line two lengths ahead of the Cobra much to the delight of the import crowd. That night those who witnessed the race said they'd never seen such a good race before. The many who were there celebrated while those who weren't would wish they had been.

That weekend, Nastasya and the members of DILJO received a hot tip that some of the Tortoises inner circle were going to be in a country friendly to arms dealers so they could have a good time for a bit. Since the criminals in question were already marked for death, Nastasya assigned Ice Dancer to complete the mission. Seductress agreed but with one caveat:

Belladonna was to be Ice Dancers handlers for this hit.

Nastasya agreed and passed the word up the WOOHP Chain of Command to Jerry who approved the mission. While the top level communication between Nastasya and Jerry was going on, Teresa de Aquitaine made a discreet call to the leader of Team Foxfire and passed on the mission information. Of course, the leader of Foxfire had gone straight to his boss and complained about the choice of teams. That argument got out of hand until Nastasya agreed to let Foxfire observe and back up Ice Dancer.

Foxfire Lead agreed to that then headed home to tell his teammates to pack their gear.

---

Sam, Alex, and Clover waited patiently in their seats as the Learjet they were aboard landed at the municipal airport in the middle of the city where their targets had made an appearance. All three were conservatively dressed as businesswomen on a jaunt away from their significant others. On the third finger of their left hand, each of the girls sported a respectable diamond ring. Across the cabin of their transport sat the members of Belladonna as they again went over the plan for the elimination of the targets.

"Anemone, Aphrodite, Antigone listen up. I know you're tired of us going over this plan again and again but the continuing repetiveness increases the odds of you surviving this mission. The three of you have already seen pictures of your targets. I hope you studied and memorized them because you will not be taking them with you. An assassin who keeps a picture of his target with him or her during the hit is not a good assassin, remember that. Now I want each of you to go over your part of the plan with us verbally.", stated Seductress as she adjusted her eye patch again.

The trio of spies mentally groaned as they prepared to go over their respective parts for the mission. Sam went first as she described her part to their instructors. The run through lasted until the members of Belladonna were satisfied with the knowledge that their students were as ready as they would ever be. By now the plane had landed and had taxied to the area of the airport reserved for private flights into the country. The three spies followed their instructors down the stairs and got their first impression of their location.

"Damn its hot here!", exclaimed Clover as she tugged on the front of her blouse.

Sam and Alex nodded as they watched as Seductress surrendered her passport to the customs officer for inspection. They missed the cash that passed hands to facilitate their rapid clearance through customs. Once the customs officer gave them the clearance, the three girls followed their instructors to the pair of waiting Mercedes SUV's for the ride to the safe house. As the two luxury vehicles left the airport and mingled with the traffic, the three spies were astounded at how the local drivers basically ignored all safe and sane driving practices as they sped up and down the rough highway. Twenty minutes after arriving, the pair of M-B G500's pulled up next to a guard shack positioned at the end of the safe houses' driveway.

Before their recent weapons training, the girls wouldn't have recognized the Glock pistol holstered on the guard's right side. Nor would they have recognized the Fabrique Nationale FNC covering the vehicles carried by the guards' partner from a short distance away. Upon seeing the way both guards carried themselves, Alex commented on how familiar the weapons were to the two uniformed men. Clover and Sam agreed with their friend's pronouncement and tried to visualize the actions the pair participated in on behalf of WOOHP. Not being able to imagine their thoughts, the three girls shook their heads and returned to their previous actions of looking out the window at the scenery

Minutes passed before the guards were satisfied that papers of everyone in both vehicles were in order and allowed the pair of G500's to entire the grounds of the safe house. Up in the lead vehicle, the members of Belladonna scarcely paid any attention to the grounds of the smallish estate owned by WOOHP through various cutouts and shadow companies while their protégés gazed at their surroundings in awe. Off to the right there was a respectable yard being take care of by a local landscaping company. In the distance the spies could see a small private lake where a pair of jet skis sped across the mirror-like surface. As the SUV carrying the girls pulled up the circular driveway and parked in the shade of the covered portico, the spies were able to make out the disguised state of the art antennas off in a subtly isolated spot and guessed that a full digital and satellite communications network complete with dish were hidden nearby. Before they could comment on it, a previously unnoticed radio squawked and the trio heard Seductress as she told them that it was clear for them to climb out of their vehicle.

"Sorry about making you wait. We have to be ever alert while we're staying here. Occasionally, enemies unrelated to our business here have attacked this estancia for one reason or another. Our friends have been able to repulse the attacks but a couple of them were close. You probably can't see it with just a glance but in addition to the obvious guards out front we have multiple defenses hidden on the grounds. We should be safe for the short time we'll be here but in case of an attack, I'll show you where the armory is. Plus I'll point out the locations of hidden stockpiles of weapons and ammunition so you'll know where they are. First and foremost thought, our mission is to eliminate our targets. Now let's go inside and relax. There's an Olympic size pool in the back along with a few cabanas where we'll be staying. You could walk over to the stables and go horseback riding if you want. Dinner is in a few hours and after that, we'll go and check out the sites. I want the three of you to see your locations and get a feel for the area. See you at dinner, ladies.", Seductress said before going inside with her luggage.

Alex, Clover, and Sam watched as the other two members of Belladonna followed their leader into the house before entering the place themselves. As they entered they looked at their surroundings and felt the familiar mission excitement start to come over them. Although they were veterans of thousands of missions before now, this was their first mission where the three of them would be going directly against enemies of WOOHP. The actions of the three over the next two days could have a lasting effect on events in the world. Clover turned to her friends with a big grin on her face and asked a question.

"Are you girls ready for this? If our mission succeeds here, our careers with WOOHP will take off."

Sam and Alex glanced at each other before looking back at Clover. They were ready to do everything they could to make the world safer. In the back of Alex's mind, she wondered if she could take a life and not be affected by it. Alex also worried what her boyfriend would think if he knew she'd killed a person. Then she chuckled to herself and reasoned that since he didn't know she was a spy, Dominic had no need to ever know there was blood on her hands.

"Since WOOHP is a top secret organization, Dominic will never know what I've had to do to keep the world safe. At the end of the day, I can count on him to dismiss my nightmares about what I will have done.", mused Alex as she followed her two friends to the backyard.

Unknown to Alex, both Clover and Sam were having similar trains of thoughts. It was three slightly troubled young women who entered the cabana set aside for their use. From their location by the plate glass window of their cabana, the members of Belladonna saw the looks on their protégé's faces and knew exactly what or to be more precise, who they were thinking about. Temptress turned to Seductress with a frown on her face.

"Those girls look so innocent; I don't want to burst their bubble about the lives of their boyfriends. When they find out, they're going to be devastated. I hope that both J-Dawg and Trigger Zero have people to talk to them when they return home. Once they find out the identities of Foxfire, this mission is going to become extremely hard for them. Especially when they see that their guys don't react openly to the quiet and covert taking of life they do."

"Carmine, you don't know D.C., J.T., and Sean like I do. When they undertake a mission and complete it, they may look casual about it but underneath the sunny personalities, those boys feel every death at their hands deeply. They don't like to kill but they do it because they know that they are protecting the innocent and doing a job others can't do. Snowcat trained them well and instilled an unbreakable code of ethics within those boys. I've observed them on missions before without their knowledge and watching Foxfire is like watching Snowcat reincarnated. Those three boys are growing into strong men right in front of our eyes and we're privileged to see it. Now all we have to do is train those girls so they can keep up with their loved ones. That is all we can do.", replied Teresa without facing her friend.

Behind her friends, Isis Tabitha Arsenault saw the reflection of Teresa's face and guessed that she was watching her student, Anemone. As she watched the three younger women, Siren saw Anemone stop and cast a look in their direction. Siren knew that the window was tinted so that those outside couldn't see in the cabana but it still caused her to stiffen a bit. Siren started to shift her attention to other matters but couldn't resist looking back at the reflection of Seductress in the window and although later that night she wasn't sure, Siren thought she saw a lone tear of pride trickle down Seductress' face from her remaining eye.

A few hours later, the women of Ice Dancer and Belladonna entered the secured basement and gathered around the lone table in the middle of the room. Spread out on the table was the equipment indigenous to the operation. Hands free communications units, maps with separate escape routes, a selection of razor sharp fingernail files, small caliber arms for protection and assassination, etc. In short everything they could possibly need were scattered around the table. Seductress waved the girls to take a seat and indicated that they could inspect the weapons and pick the ones they planned to carry with them that night for the dry run. Since her part in the mission was different from the parts her two friends would play, Alex asked of the location of her primary weapon. Seductress answered.

"Anemone, the weapon you are to use is secreted in another location. We couldn't bring it here because of security concerns. It will be ready when the time comes."

"I understand. I'll be prepared for it.", replied Alex as she took her seat.

Looking around the table at her friends and her charges, Seductress gathered her thoughts. Now was the time to tell Ice Dancer about the change to their back-up. When she was ready to speak, Seductress cleared her throat.

"Ice Dancer, earlier today there was a change made in the choice for your back-up. Since I and my team are out of practice, in her infinite wisdom, the boss decided that it would be better if Foxfire were your back ups instead of us. Siren, Temptress and I have been relegated to observing you and confirming your success. Before you start complaining, everything else is the same. Tonight we will be accompanying the three of you to the club frequented by Aphrodite's target for our run through. If we see your target tonight, Aphrodite, we are not going to take action. You'll just observe his actions and how he interacts with the others in the club. There is also the possibility that Foxfire may be in attendance tonight but since the three of you don't know the identities of the team, their cover should be safe. Any questions?"

Alex raised a hand as she heard Sam and Clover mutter about the sudden change. When her trainer called on her, Alex asked her question.

"If Foxfire Team is to be our back up, why aren't they staying here with us? Wouldn't it be better for them to be able to go over our plan? Is Foxfire even in country?"

"Good question, Anemone. To answer the first part of the question, yes it would be better if they were actually physically present at this location to go over the plan. However, it could also blow their cover if they were spotted coming here. Some of our enemies already suspect this is a WOOHP safe house and do occasionally keep surveillance on this estate. Some probably have already recognized my team and are wondering about the three of you. Back during our active years, Belladonna had several missions that brought us here and those who survived our actions are justifiably nervous about our arrival. To answer the second part of your question, Foxfire flew in three hours ahead of us on a commercial flight and the three of them are presently billeted in one of the major hotels downtown. For now the three of you are not to know about their location. When time comes for you to carry out your missions, that is when you'll be given the name of their hotel and the number to Foxfire leads room in case things go wrong and you can't come back here. Is that understood ladies?"

Alex and her friends nodded their understanding and Seductress got down to the brass tacks and made them run through their mission again. However, in the back of her mind, she wondered what the three members of Foxfire were doing at that very moment. Unknown to her at this present time, Foxfire had just received a tip about an unrelated target that had unexpectedly shown up in country.

---

Dominic glanced at the screen of their laptop again as if trying to banish the file and picture that had popped up when they set up their travel network and logged on to the secured DILJO website.

"Aww shit! That throws a monkey wrench into our plans for the evening. This mark just had to show up and ruin everything for us! What had promised to be a strike at the three members of Tortoises' organization just got that much harder. Now we have to take him out as well as back up Ice Dancer for their hits. That more than triples our exposure here and the guys in Tortoises' organization ain't complete fools. If they even catch a whiff of our presence here, they'll pull the fade job and we'll miss the chance to thin the herd. Dammit, dammit, dammit, damnitalltohell!", D.C. snapped as he paced their suite of rooms angrily.

Sean and J.T. agreed with their friends' assessment. This was not good. Clasping his arms over his chest and tilting his head into his chest, J.T. tried to come up with a way they could mitigate this disaster in the making. Looking at Sean, Justin could see the weapons they had bought from a local arms dealer as well as the handguns they'd smuggled into the country spread out across the table. At the far end sat the rifle set up for Anemone's use on Sunday. Hearing an explosive sigh, Justin jerked his head around as Dominic threw himself into the chair in the foyer of their suite.

"Somebody has to call Seductress and let her know of this wrinkle and we know that WOOHP won't do it so as not to compromise security. We can't make the call from the phone in our room or our cell phones either. One of us will have to go and use a payphone to pass the word on.", commented Sean.

"Sean, don't tell us the obvious! We know what we have to do. I don't want whoever makes the call to be unprotected though; they're those here who'd kill us for such a thing. I also know that since we need J.T. on the laptop, one of us has to make the call. Fuck, this sucks! I don't want to blow the cover of the safe house and I don't want to let that asshole get away.", growled D.C. from his seat.

"Look, the quicker we decide who gets in touch with Seductress, the quicker we can formulate a plan to off this guy and get back to our original mission. While you guys are out, I'll query the boss and see if she can get Intel to send us a more detailed packet on our guy so we can plan his elimination. If all possible, I want to keep the weapons Ice Dancer is going to use sanitized until they make the hit. That way the officials can't tie the murders together. Let's hope that once we take out this prick, we can dispose of his body where it won't be found until after the other hits have gone down.", stated J.T. as he indicated the photo on the monitor of their present pimple on the abscess.

Sean and D.C. nodded and grabbed their jackets from where they'd tossed them when they'd arrived. D.C. retrieved the keys to their rented Porsche 996 while Sean picked up two of the 9mm pistols on the table and passed one along with two extra magazines over to D.C. His friend checked to see if his pistol was loaded and a round chambered before slipping the compact piece into the rig under his left arm. Sliding the two extra clips into the carrier on the opposite side to balance everything out, Dominic slid his arms into the sleeves of his leather jacket. Once he was sure everything was snug and the bulges under his arms weren't visible, D.C. glanced at Sean and saw that he was ready before heading towards the door to their suite. Before he could take more than a couple of steps, he heard J.T. call out to Sean. Out of the corner of his eye, Dominic saw Justin point to a gym bag sitting on the counter and indicated that Sean should take it.

"Two fully loaded Steyr's inside, with four extra mags apiece. Just in case of ambush while you're on the phone. Make the call and get back here. We still have to be ready to watch Ice Dancer's back when they do their run through.", commented Justin as his friends made their way out of the room.

"You got it. Keep our other rentals under wraps. I don't want to burn them now. We're using the Aston Martin tonight and the Caddy tomorrow night. The truck won't be used until Sunday afternoon. If everything goes well, we'll be able to return them to their respective dealers and the nobody will tumble to the fact that they were used.", replied D.C. with a shrug.

Sean nodded and the two young men left their suite. Once they were gone, J.T. grabbed one of the Beretta 93R's on the table and loaded it in case somebody with ill intent came a knocking.

A few minutes later in another part of the city, a brown 996 pulled up to a gas station to fill up. While Dominic filled the car up, Sean walked over to the decrepit pay phone and made the call. When the call went through, he passed on the new information on to person who answered and hung up. Returning to the vehicle, Sean climbed in and waited with one hand inside the open bag carrying their Steyr's prepped and ready for immediate action. Dominic finished filling up the rental and climbed in to the driver's seat before firing up the engine. Shifting gears, he pulled off and headed back towards their hotel in a roundabout way. Both men knew that Seductress wasn't going to be happy about the new wrinkle in their well-laid plans.

They were right. At the safe house where Seductress was going through the different means of escape, she was interrupted and passed control of the strategy meeting over to Siren. Leaving the basement, Teresa made her way into the kitchen. Receiving the message, the one-eyed assassin went into a quiet rage and ordered one of the caretakers to bring her laptop into the secure room so she could contact the members of Foxfire directly. Reentering the room, Seductress let Siren continue the meeting and dropped into her seat with a pronounced glare on her face. When the laptop was brought in and connected, she stopped the meeting and directed everyone's attention to the computer.

"Alright ladies, listen up. I just got some bad news from Foxfire. A target unrelated to our mission has popped up on WOOHP's radar in our neck of the woods and the boss wants the mark taking an eternal dirt nap. Foxfire is scrambling to come up with a plan so to take care of that particular thorn in our side so that our operation isn't uncovered. I'm about to initiate VOIP contact so they can give us a rundown. Ah, here they are now.", stated Seductress as she sat down in front of the screen and focused the built-in webcam on her person.

The three spies leaned in to see the screen for their first glimpse of the mysterious team they were going to be working with on this continuous mission. They weren't surprised when the image that popped up was blurred so security wasn't compromised. Nor were they surprised when the voice that came over the line was filtered to remain anonymous.

"Belladonna Team, are you connected?"

"Yeah, Foxfire, we're connected. We have Ice Dancer here with us so they're kept in the loop. I just received your message and am current on the thorn in our side. Can you send me the file on the mark?"

"It's on its way over to you as we speak. The home office just faxed us the extra stuff and we're throwing a plan together to take the target out tonight and hope it doesn't compromise your operation."

Seductress nodded and indicated that the figure on the other end of the line should continue. The shadow figure complied and quickly explained the plan they were working on. The fax machine hummed and spit out several sheets of paper containing the information Seductress had requested. It wasn't much but from what she could see when Siren passed the sheets to her, the target had a weakness they could exploit. She mentioned that to the member of Foxfire on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, we saw that as well and we want to take advantage of it however we can't get the right stuff without compromising ourselves. You know how the cops keep an eye on such things around here. If we dug into our stash and bought the stuff, we might as well have a neon sign flashing over our heads that Ice Dancer's targets can not ignore."

Tapping a well-manicured finger against her lip, Seductress came up with an idea.

"You don't worry about that. I'll take care of purchasing the necessary items. Where do you want to do the exchange?"

There was a muted conversation on the other end of the line before the voice came back.

"Since you and Belladonna are known to the underworld here, have one of the members of Ice Dancer bring it by our hotel and leave it at the concierge's counter. Tip him well and send us a message letting us know the items are here. Once she's taken care of that, have her vacate the premises as fast as she can without drawing attention to herself. She should make up some sort of story as to why she is leaving the package. Foxfire Lead will be waiting in the vicinity and once Ice Dancer departs, he'll pick up the package. No matter what happens we're gonna take care of this problem tonight. It'll probably be after the run through though so as not to compromise anything else."

"I understand, quick question; mind if we observe your actions from a safe distance to confirm the status of your target?", asked Seductress.

More muttering from Foxfire on the other end of the line, slightly louder than before.

"Foxfire Lead is against it but we convinced him otherwise. We'll pass the information to you later tonight. As well as the information where Ice Dancer can retrieve the weapons they're going to use."

"Alright, we'll see you tonight."

"No you won't but we understand the sentiment. Foxfire out."

"Belladonna out.", replied Seductress as the link was broken.

Temptress checked her watch and held up five fingers (indicating the duration of the call) for Seductress to see. Seductress nodded. Hopefully the communications were short enough that if anyone was listening they wouldn't be able to triangulate the positions of those in the conversation. Checking her watch to check the time, Seductress finished up the meeting and told the girls to go and get ready for their night on the town.

A couple of hours later, the six women were seated inside the club one of their targets frequented when he was in country. Alex and her friends had already received a quiet admonishment from their instructors when the trio ordered their drinks. The ladies of Belladonna had given them the gimlet eye before changing the order to something more appropriate for the image the teenagers were trying to portray. At the present moment, Alex was slowly stirring her rum and coke with the little cocktail straw provided while across from her Clover drank a little from her Long Island Iced Tea. Next to Clover, Sam was finishing her apple martini and looked ready to order a second.

Alex sighed and glanced around the room. Seductress was on the dance floor with some guy she'd met at the bar. The older assassin had told her three charges to have fun and just enjoy themselves. Next to Alex, Siren heard the sigh and turned to the younger woman with a curious look on her face. Ever since they'd entered the club, Anemone hadn't been her usual self. She'd become withdrawn and most antagonistic. Putting her beer bottle down on the table with the intention of straightening the young girl out, Siren was interrupted when Temptress cleared her throat. Turning to her teammate to ask her what was her problem; Siren clamped her mouth down on her angry protest when she caught the eyes of Temptress.

"Cool it, the target's here. He just entered the building. Casually look towards the bar. He's wearing a dark grey suit. It looks expensive but I can't tell if it's wool or silk from here.", Temptress side out the side of her mouth as she lifted her glass to her mouth.

The three spies at the table came alive with Temptress' announcement and the members of Ice Dancer leaned forward and started looking for the target. When they caught sight of the man, Siren and Temptress could see the intense scrutiny their charges put the man under. To their credit they weren't too obvious about their interest in the lone man. Temptress wondered if Ice Dancer spotted the pair of bodyguards shadowing the target. She was about to mention it when Antigone piped up and mentioned them to her friends.

"Okay, the target has a couple of shadows behind him; looks as if he's being careful about his protection for his night out on the town. The shadows are trying to act as if they aren't what they are but they ain't very good at it. One has on a pair of pleated slacks with a dark shirt. Ughh, he's got it open and showing his chest hair, that's just gross! At least the other guy has more sense. He's wearing a long-sleeved shirt with a vest. Both bodyguards are walking just behind the main target trying to act casual.", quoted Antigone as she got the attention of the micro-skirt and fishnet shirt wearing waitress.

Alex spotted the three men in question and watched the three men as the main target strolled around the club with his two tails. It became readily apparent that he was a regular when he waved to a few of the bartenders as well as the four men watching the door that led into a back room. When the target finally sat down, he was immediately joined by several of the scantily clad waitresses who giggled and laughed at what he was saying. His two-not as invisible as they thought-bodyguards sat down at a pair of tables a short distance away from their primary but still close enough to protect him if he was attacked. Turning to face the dance floor and crossing her legs as she did so, Alex saw that the arrival of the mark hadn't gone unnoticed by Seductress. The smile she was giving her dance partner wasn't reaching her eyes and she had moved so that she could keep an eye on the target while still dancing.

Returning her attention to the other occupants of the almost filled to capacity club as she raised her glass to her lipstick-covered lips, Alex froze in mid-move as she saw a familiar mop of closely cropped brown hair making its way through the crowd. Slamming her glass on the table-much to the surprise of the others- Alex hurriedly got up from her seat and started towards a point that intersected the line of travel of the suspiciously familiar brown hair.

"If that is my boyfriend, then what the hell is he doing here? His appearance can screw this whole operation up!", fumed Alex mentally as she pushed through the crowd.

As she stepped onto the dance floor, Alex lost sight of her target for a second. She reacquired it a few moments later when she stopped moving and looked around. The mop of hair had changed direction and was heading towards the bar. Just as she was about to move in that direction, two more familiar looking heads of hair caught her attention. A low cut mop of blond was standing next to the stage to her right while a heavily moussed bush of usually wavy brown hair lounged at the end of the bar chatting with one of the more attractive waitresses who wasn't a part of the target's giggling fan club. Stopping to ponder if she was really seeing what she thought she saw, Alex was surprised when somebody grabbed her arm. Reacting as she had been trained, Alex whirled with a cocked fist prepared to strike her assailant but stopped as she registered the firm grip of her instructor. Turning around, Alex saw that Seductress was addressing her dance partner of a few minutes previous.

"….I'm sorry for interrupting our dance before the deejay played a slow song, but I have to get my little sister before she makes an ass out of herself. Catch up with me before I leave and we'll have that dance, okay? Alright, cutie that's a date. See ya in a bit.", came the voice of her instructor.

Alex heard a muffled acknowledgment from the jilted guy and was about to speak when she felt herself being jerked in the direction of the ladies room. Digging the heels of her shoes into the floor, Alex prevented Seductress from dragging her more than a few feet. Placing her hands on her hips when the pressure on her arm released itself, Alex glared at the one-eyed older woman as she turned in her direction.

"What the hell are you doing and how the hell did I become your 'little sister'?", Alex growled at Seductress as the older woman crossed her arms over her bust.

"First off, I don't want to answer any questions out here in public right now. Second, if we're going to discuss your mistake privately and rationally, you need to calm down and follow me!.", snapped Seductress in answer to her students' challenging glare.

Alex didn't answer verbally but bobbed her head once in angry agreement and started to follow her 'big sister'. Without a backward look at the table where her friends sat, Alex trailed Seductress to the ladies lavatory and powder room. At their table, Siren and Temptress just shook their heads while Clover and Sam looked on.

"Anemone damn near fucked everything up.", commented Siren.

Confused and concerned, Sam looked at her teacher. The redhead was getting the feeling that something wasn't right. She knew her friend well enough to know that Alex wouldn't go off half-cocked. Even with her previous actions of slamming her glass down and rising out of her seat, Alex wouldn't have done that if without reason. Before she could ask about it though, Sam's teacher told her to pay attention to Clover's target. Gritting her teeth in frustration at what was going on; Sam did as she was told while taking an angry drink of her refreshed martini.

Unlike their two students Antigone and Aphrodite, Isis and Carmine had seen what Anemone had seen. Anemone had seen the leader of Foxfire Team as he walked across the room. The two retired assassins had also seen the other members of Foxfire seconds before Anemone spotted them. Isis had taken a healthy gulp of her beer to cover her reaction while Carmine had grumbled about young agents and their screw-ups under her breath.

"Seductress is going to read the leader of Foxfire Team the riot act when they make contact. And it ain't gonna be pretty.", commented Isis.

`"Yeah, come on let's go, looks like she's finished with Anemone's lecture.", replied Carmine as she finished her drink.

Twenty minutes later, Siren and Temptress watched as their friend and her student reentered the club area proper. The two chuckled as they saw that Anemone's dress and hair were mussed and her eyes were glazed over. Their companion was reapplying lipstick to her lips while checking her efforts out in the compact she carried.

Alex was a bubbling cauldron of hormones as she continued to tug her dress back into position. As she followed behind Seductress, Alex wondered what in the hell had just happened. First, Seductress was giving her a lecture about blowing her own cover or something like that. The next thing she knew, Alex was being sexed up by her instructor. Seductress had suddenly muttered something before dropping her lips on top of Alex's own in a crushing kiss. Alex had tried to fight off her reaction but that fell by the wayside when she felt Seductress' hands gently lift her dress up to her hips and maneuvered them both into one of the stalls in the women's rest room.

For ten minutes, Alex's lips were plundered by the soft full lips of her instructor. At the same time, Seductresses fingers played an anthem on Alex's nether lips alternating between bringing her to the edge of climax and slowly letting her come down from her peak. Alex could only offer up lust-filled groans as she fell into a familiar state. Finally, when Alex could take no more of this sweet torture, Seductress gave Alex the sensual release she'd been striving for during the session of foreplay. As she tumbled over the peak, Alex's legs gave out and it was only the gentle strength of Seductress that kept her on her feet. With a loving grin, the older woman had given Alex a sweet kiss and reminded her student to not repress her sensuality like that.

"Che, clean yourself up il mio piccolo incantevole colomba (Italian for: my enchanting little dove). You don't want everyone in the club to know about me ravaging you in the ladies restroom, do you? I believe you'd be a bit embarrassed about that getting around.", teased Seductress as she retook her seat in the booth.

Alex shook herself out of the satisfying lethargy and slipped into the booth opposite her instructor, not worrying about tugging her wrinkled dress back down for modesty. Leaning forward, Alex cast a glare at her instructor; gritting her teeth in frustration as Seductress ordered another drink.

"Dammit Seductress; why'd you do that? You made me feel like a common harlot with loose morals?", hissed Alex.

"Because Anemone, you need to loosen up. You almost blew the mission right there by going after whomever you're going after. I am not about to let you screw your team's first mission up. I'd kill you right here in this club to keep you from blowing the mission. The three of you have to learn that when you're observing a target, you can not get distracted by something. What if that had been Foxfire team and they were here closing in on a target of their own? You would've blown their cover and screwed up not one, but two missions. Think before you act dammit! If you don't think before you act, you'll find your sorry ass dead quicker n' shit.", snapped Seductress with a penetrating glare.

Alex swallowed her additional protests and was about to reply when Seductress added an after thought.

"Anemone, you and Antigone are both too uptight for your own good. You two need to get laid. In fact, when we return to Beverly Hills, I want the both of you to make it your business to seduce your boyfriends and carry out that seduction to its set conclusion. Aphrodite can give you pointers if you want her to. She's the only one of your trio who's had the guts to go that far.", growled the older woman in a no nonsense tone of voice.

Alex and Sam were shocked; so shocked that their head instructor would speak of such an important step in their lives in such a blasé manner. The pair was so stunned, that for the remainder of their time in the club they were almost anti-social. Speaking only when spoken to, barely acknowledging their companions; both lost in thought. Sam and Alex were so lost in thought that it took Seductress and Temptress five minutes to get their attention and let them know that they were leaving to observe Foxfire and confirm their hit.

---

In the darkened streets of the city, a British Racing Green Aston Martin cruised towards its date with the target of opportunity that had presented itself to the members of Foxfire. A couple of car lengths behind the Aston was a black Range Rover with tinted windows. Seated in the front passenger seat, Alex fidgeted as the weight of the suppressed Knight Armaments Company 6x35mm Personal Defense Weapon sat uncomfortably across her knees. Behind Alex sat Sam with a matching weapon. Both girls had trained extensively on the carbines with their ten-inch barrels heavy with the custom suppressors earlier that day while Clover (who just happened to be a better shot) practiced with her assigned 6.8 SPC caliber AR-15 Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR).

Shifting in her seat, Alex turned to see her blonde friend preparing to open the tinted moonroof so she could get into position. All three girls had night vision devices sitting on the tops of their heads ready to be dropped into place with a quick movement of the hand. Alex sighed as she noticed the nervous sweat glistening from Sam's face. The trio of spies had talked their coming actions over after they'd left the club and each had expressed a concern for what was about to happen. During their discussions, the girls had been relieved when their instructors had left them alone to talk.

"Calm down Sam. Everything's going to be okay. We're the backup; Foxfire is the primary on this hit. If we're lucky we won't have to pull any triggers tonight. I know you're nervous. Hell I'm nervous myself. In all of my time as a spy for WOOHP, I never imagined any of us being asked to take a life like this.", Alex said quietly.

"I know, Alex. I know. It's just that I was raised to believe that murder is a sin. In my eighteen years on this planet, I've always believed that yet I know that to save the innocent, on occasion, the lives of the guilty need to be ended. I also know that given half a chance, those who WOOHP have assassinated are irredeemable and can't be salvaged by a stint in prison. It's just that in twenty-four to forty-eight hours, I'll be a killer. I'll be somebody's executioner and for what reason because they work for an arms dealer whose goods have taken innocent lives and who raped one of our instructors and mutilated the others. I don't understand it and I'll never understand it.", growled the kind-hearted redhead as she gripped her weapon so tight her knuckles turned white.

Alex was about to answer when Temptress cut in. The one-handed former assassin drove the BMW 1 series coupe pulling up behind the Range Rover while Seductress maneuvered the big sport utility vehicle into position.

"Antigone, get over it! This is what we do and what we have done. Foxfire's done this several times and they're the same age as you. Be aware and quit bitching. Tomorrow night it'll be yourself and Aphrodite as the primary hitters. Deal with it.", snapped Temptress over the communications headset.

Sitting in the Range Rover's driver's seat, Seductress nodded in agreement as she listened to her teammates lecture. When it was complete, she changed the radio over to the private channel the members of Belladonna were using to converse. It would also connect them to the members of Foxfire if either of them thought breaking radio silence was necessary. Watching as the boys climbed out of the car in front of her hiding their suppressed weapons within the oversized jackets the three of them were wearing, Teresa offered up a little prayer for the safety of her boys.

"Seductress, if things go to shit and Ice Dancer has to pull the trigger tonight do you want give the base a call and have the prepare the after mission medicine?", asked Siren from her position seated next to Temptress in the chase car.

"Yeah, I have a feeling that these girls will need it tonight. We might need to have a therapist on hand as well when we return to base. Though the only ones pulling the trigger tonight is Foxfire, it would be better to have one on hand to talk to the girls. If that fails, we might have to do what we discussed earlier.", replied Seductress with an odd tone in her voice.

Temptress nodded as she caught the hesitation in her friend's voice. Like Siren and Seductress, Temptress knew that to get Ice Dancer to not dwell on their actions the three members of Belladonna might have to bend the rules a bit and reveal to their charges the identity of their mission partners before the appointed time. And like her two teammates, Temptress was strongly against revealing that information because of the possible ramifications of such an action. Feeling a tap on her arm, Carmine shifted her head to her right and saw that her partner was indicating that the guys were casually entering the location where their target was believed to be.

"Foxfire has entered the building. I'm monitoring the police band and so far everything is clean. Everyone keep your eyes peeled. We aren't in the safest of areas out here. Anemone lower your window just enough so you can bring your weapon into play if needed without any problems. Antigone, use your binoculars to scope the building out through the window. You're the observer and will probably be the first to notice if things go wrong. Aphrodite, go ahead and position your weapon. Use the starlight scope as needed. Also, chamber a round and engage the safety. Let's do this the right way and pray that nothing happens during this side mission that requires action on our part. This is Foxfire's show; let's make it as painless as possible. Siren out.", Isis spoke into her headset as she shifted her gaze to her laptop and monitored the airwaves for any report about their operation.

Inside the building in question, D.C. and his teammates were quietly edging their way up the stairs to the designated apartment of their target. Sean was walking point; Justin was six yards behind him while Dominic was tail end Charlie. If the intelligence was correct, the target that had popped up on their scope often times stayed here whenever he was in town.

With Justin walking point, the three assassins made it to the correct floor. Opening the stairway door, J.T. looked out in to the dimly lit hallway. Glancing left and right, Justin used his hands to indicate where he wanted his two teammates to post up. Getting nods of acknowledgment from Dominic and Sean, Justin stepped into the hallway as if he lived there. Affecting a drunken stumble, Justin ambled his way in the direction of the target apartment. In his peripheral vision, the basketball player watched as D.C. took up a position where he could look out the hallway window and keep an eye on everything happening outside. While D.C. was settling in as watchman, Sean was putting his ear against the doors of the other five large apartments on the floor and listening for anything unusual. With nothing but the muted sounds of televisions or sleeping tenants floating through the doors, Sean looked at J.T. and nodded once before taking a seat on the decorative antique bench sitting against the wall in the middle of the hallway.

Seeing the nod, J.T. reached into his pocket for the object secreted there. Pulling it out the eighteen year old assassin inserted the thin end of the lock pick gun into the door lock and pulled the trigger. With a quiet click the lock tumblers released and Justin was able to quietly rotate the doorknob to gain access to the target's apartment. With the muted 'click' the door unlatched and Justin slowly pushed the door open. Alert for any creaking from the door that would alert his target, J.T. eased his way into the lavish living room and gazed around for any sign of their target. Seeing that the room was empty, the assassin closed the door as carefully as he'd opened it. Since this would cut off his line of sight to the main hallway, Justin was now wholly dependent on radio contact with both D.C. and Sean to alert him if anyone came his way.

Clearing the living room with his suppressed pistol leading the way, Justin slowly and efficiently went through the apartment looking for any information that may be of any use to WOOHP. Finding a few sheets of paper, Justin tucked them into his pocket. Moving along, he checked the modern state-of-the art kitchen. Returning his weapon to its holster, Justin used his gloved hands to open the cabinets, drawers, refrigerator, and the oven. Once again seeing nothing of any interest, J.T. contacted his teammates on the radio.

"Nothing to report, J.T., Belladonna is reporting that everything is copasetic from their location. Traffic is very thin and nobody is paying them any attention.", D.C. reported as he continued to watch out the window.

"Hallway is still clear. Nothing's stirring. How are you doing on time?", questioned Sean.

Justin checked his watch and saw that he was a couple of minutes ahead of schedule and reported it. Receiving acknowledgments from his friends, J.T. continued on with his slow and methodical search for information.

Five minutes later, Justin came to the door leading into the master bedroom where the target lay sleeping. During his search for the target, J.T. had quietly checked out the other rooms in the apartment. All had turned out to be empty and Justin was feeling a bit suspicious at why the target didn't have his usual retinue of bodyguards on hand. Even one bodyguard would've made Justin's job much harder but would've made him feel a whole helluva lot better with his infiltration.

Gently placing his hand on the doorknob, Justin eased it open just enough to disengage the latch with a muted sound. Once the door was loose, J.T. slowly opened it up to allow him admittance and slipped inside. Once inside the room, Justin re-closed it as gently as he'd opened it. Standing still for a short moment to allow his eyes to adjust, Justin tapped the 'transmit' button on hic headset in the prearranged pattern that informed his two teammates that he was approaching the target.

Since he was in close proximity to his target, Justin slid his microphone away from his mouth so as not to alert the soon to be deceased that death was danger close. He could still hear the others but he couldn't verbally reply. So far everything was going according to the plan the three had fleshed out in the Aston Martin on their way over.

"There is no way in hell this hit is going to be that easy! I'm really not liking this at all, something ain't right here.", Justin thought as he stealthily approached the bed as his discomfort grew.

Because he was getting a bad feeling, Justin wasn't surprised when D.C.'s voice came over his earpiece. And it heralded bad news.

"J.T., be alert. Two crew wagons just pulled up and started discharging several flashy guys with nefarious intentions. Sean, get down to the lobby and let me know if they come upstairs. Belladonna, keep us informed as to what they're doing. I want at least a 5 second advantage in reaction time for Foxfire Two if those goons bust out their steel.", ordered Dominic as he watched the men gathering around the two full-sized sedans.

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Once again, please enjoy this Christmas Present from me. As it was with the new addition for 'Return of the Razgriz' this chapter is not completely finished. I hope this tidbit enthralls you enough to keep the faith that the complete chapters will be up soon.

I hope everyone here has ha a Merry Christmas and has gotten god loot. Ta Ta For Now, my friends!

Knightewolfe

Knightewolfe's Den

25 December 2011