Whatever morons were running this exercise in stupidity had decided that today they would break up the established teams and assign them to work with a group of strangers. Twenty groups of 10 or 20 strangers, all of whom were in professions that required them to have a healthy dose of discretion.

Yeah, that was going to work well.

They gave them an hour to make their way to their assigned tables and make nice before the "fun" would begin. Unless the "fun" included using the overly perky MC for target practice, Jo doubted she was going to enjoy it.

Reluctantly, she and jack had split up to hunt down their individual groups. She located table 5 with little trouble and glanced at the little, folded place markers. Seemed like there would be 10 people at the table.

Several of the seats were already occupied. A sliver haired man in his 50's seemed to be having a stony faced staring contest with the 40-ish, black clad blonde guy. Another man in his 40's, with brown hair, khakis and a navy polo shirt was turned around in his chair, looking across the room, mouthing something that looked like ,"Behave!"

A young, excitable looking man with dark hair was wearing a suit (probably in a failed attempt to look older) and chattering away at a quiet, 30-ish brunette man. At least, compared to the kid he seemed quiet, as he had yet to say a word, merely nodding while wearing a bemused expression.

Finding her name card, Jo took a seat.

Blondie and silver broke their staring contest long enough to nod at her, offering a "Miss," and "Ma'am," respectively, before resuming silent hostilities.

Mr. Polo Shirt was, by now gesturing at someone, attempting to be subtle as he hissed, "Neal! Damn it, I know you can see me. Behave!"

The kid leaned over the empty seat between them to offer Jo his hand. "Hi there! I'm Lance Sweets. I'm and FBI psychologist."

"Deputy Jo Lupo," she replied, loosening her grip when hi flinched. "Eureka Sheriff's Department."

"A deputy? Interesting. Already a diverse group…"

"Tim Gutterson, Marshal Service." The quiet guy spoke and she felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle in recognition even before he continued, "You were a Ranger, right?"

She nodded. "Thought I recognized your name. Sniper?"

"Yes, ma'am. Demolitions was your specialty, if I recall correctly."

Well, at least one person in the group would be tolerable. Tilting her head toward the starers and Mr. Polo Shirt, she silently asked what their deal was. Gutterson shrugged. Clearly, he didn't think it was any of his business.

Just then, another blonde man arrived, sitting down to the right of Blondie. The new arrival was 50-ish and smaller than black clad Blondie, but he still managed to radiate an impressive amount of disgruntled menace.

After a moment, she realized the new arrival was Jack Bauer. The man was a legend in the field of counter terrorism.

Huh.

She thought he'd be taller.

Again, Dr. Kid played the role of greeter and Bauer replied in a low, gravelly voice. He seemed good natured enough, humoring the kid's babble, which was surprising given his reputation.

Another two men arrived within moments of each other, both tall and blonde (what was with all the blonde guys?), one leaner and the other more muscular. Both were attractive and Jo blinked. They looked like they could have been brothers or living Ken dolls…and also kind of like Jack.

Very weird. She'd have to ask him about his parents. Maybe they'd been involved in one of the earlier genetic research studies. It wouldn't shock her at all to discover they shared at least some DNA.

"Hey, Eddie Arlette," the muscular guy said with a pleasant grin.

The other man nodded. "Tom Baldwin."

Neither of them seemed inclined to the sort of happily benign babble that the kid was spouting, but they seemed equally disinterested in glaring at each other or anyone else. Frankly, they both looked kind of resigned to this whole, stupid thing.

That was probably a popular opinion.

With just a few minutes left to their 'get to know each other' time, a final man, also blonde (of freaking course) made his way to the table, holding a dog's lead. "Is this table 5?" he asked, turning in their general direction without actually looking at anyone.

Clearly, he was blind. Jo was curious how a blind man could work as a cop, but she pushed the question off to the side to say, "Yes, it is."

"Empty seat at your 5 o'clock," Silver said, still engaged in his unexplained staring war.

After taking his seat, the new arrival said, "Jim Dunbar. NYPD and this is Hank."

The big German Shepherd looked up when he heard his name, then proceeded to make himself comfortable under the table.

Before anyone else could comment, a young woman in a pink polo shirt and headband (Where the hell were they finding these overly pink women? It was unnatural, but at least she wasn't quite as offensive as the MC had been) bounced over to their table and said, "Hi, I'm Mitzi and I'll be your group facilitator today! I'm sure you all have been chatting away, but for the sake of this exercise, lets all start by saying our names, what branch of law enforcement we represent and how happy we are to be here!"

Even the enthusiastic kid was put off by that display of unbridled inability to read an audience. Silver and Blondie reached a compromise and turned their angry glares at Mitzi while Gutterson shook his head and Mr. Polo Shirt blinked in disbelief. Bauer heaved a sigh of annoyance and the genetic experiments (she wasn't going to call them clones, 'cause she knew clones and they weren't them) looked mildly amused. Even the blind guy blinked and turned his head toward the facilitator as though to stare in shock.

From the echoing quiet in the room, it was clear that most people were having a similar reaction to their group leaders.

It was the kid who shook off the surprise first (or rather, he was the only one willing to actually respond). "Well, hi everyone, I'm Dr. Lance Sweets. I'm a psychologist with the FBI and I'm interested in meeting a diverse group of people from other branches of law enforcement."

Earlier, he had seemed enthusiastic, but after the intensely focused, almost manic excitement of Mitzi, he was down right subdued.

No one else was inclined to respond, so Mitzi scanned faces, showing a surprising display of self preservation by avoiding Silver, Blondie and Bauer all together. Finally, she zeroed in on Dunbar, probably because he wasn't glaring at her. "You!" she declared, jabbing a finger in his direction. "Why don't you tell us about yourself?"

Unsurprisingly, he didn't answer, but as the silence stretched on, he got the hint. "Is she pointing at me?" Dunbar asked, sounding equal parts amused and incredulous.

While everyone else just gave the happy harpy looks of disbelief, Gutterson drawled, "Indeed she is."

"What?" Mitzi said, obviously confused. "What am I missing?"

Heaving a sigh, Jo pulled out her phone and held it under the table, texting Jack.

Do you think anyone will mind if I throw the table at Mitzi?

His reply was quick.

Mitzi, huh? Ours is Binky. One of they women in my group is already messing with Binky's head…not that it's much of a challenge.

She smirked, then typed:

Were your parents involved any genetics studies back around the time you were conceived?/I

WHAT?

With a grin she replied:

I'll tell you later.

JO!

Huh. Maybe she could have some fun at this thing after all.

TBC...

Comments, pretty please?