A/N- Guys. Guys. I am infinitely sorry that it took me so long to do this. What with starting high school, homework, writer's block, getting a new computer, lack of free time… The list goes on and no matter how many excuses I provide you with, it won't show you how sorry I am that this took so long. If anyone is still here, please give me your feedback on this. I've been taking a Creative Writing class to try to improve, so… thoughts?
"Follow me," Sue said in a clipped tone as she strode out of the door. Puck and I stumbled over our own feet in an attempt to get out of our chairs and to the door in a matter of seconds. We trailed behind the imposing woman to a door two hallways down. Sue scanned her palm and the door clicked open softly. We peered around her to see a classroom half-full of girls and boys around our age, and the curly haired man Kurt had previously identified as Will.
"Hello, William. I thought I detected your unmaskable hair product. Here are your two new trainees, as promised, and I suppose they're ready for you." Sue said crisply.
"Thank you, Sue. I can take it from here," he responded just as frostily. I glanced around the room uneasily, getting the feeling that there was some bad blood between the two.
"You do that, William." Sue spun on her heel and marched stiffly out of the door without another word. Puck started toward the desks, hoping to slide in unnoticed, but Will stopped him. "Face the wall, Noah." Scowling, he did so. I attempted to step nonchalantly past the pair, but failed. "You too, Blaine."
I paused, but didn't turn. Was this a test not to let our guard down in unfamiliar surroundings? If it was, I didn't want to fail. I had no idea what to expect from this place that was expected to be my home for the next few months.
"Turn. Around." Clearly, he wasn't used to being disobeyed. Clenching my jaw, I turned on my heel swiftly.
"Good." Will seemed satisfied. I could hear him pacing behind us slowly.
"Blaine, I want you to tell me everything you remember about the people in this room."
Oh. Crap. "I… I wasn't paying attention."
"You must have seen something when you came into the room." He stopped pacing.
I squeezed my eyes shut, but I was drawing a blank. I usually prided myself on being observative, but under pressure, it was different. "There's a bunch of people, girls and boys both. They're all wearing white uniforms, just like me."
"What else?" Will pressed.
I took a deep breath. "There are four rows of people. There are eight people in all, two boys and six girls." I paused, thinking.
"What do they look like?" Will resumed his pacing.
"There's a blonde girl in front, with short hair. There's another blonde girl behind her, but with longer hair. Behind her is… she has long, black hair… she's… she has cat ears… She's a Liashin." Liashin were a species of humanoid, cat-like, and relatively peaceful aliens that were protected under the Human-Alien Alliance Act. It struck me as odd that one was here, in an alien fighting camp.
"Keep going." Will prompted.
"…In the next row, a brunette, Jewish girl… and an Asian girl behind her." Another feature stuck out in my memory. "She had blue streaks in her hair. There's another Asian boy sitting next to her… and a Black girl too. There's another boy… with glasses? He has brown hair."
"Are you sure?"
No. "Yes." I said with bravado.
"Good. A bit slow, but very good." Will patted me semi-harshly on the shoulder and I winced. The man didn't know his own strength. "Now Puck. You've had a while to think about it. Tell me about the room itself."
"Erm…There's a projection screen in the front of the room, just like in the other classroom. The floor is made out of silver tiles… and the walls are painted white."
"You can see the floor tiles now. That doesn't count."
"There are… four rows of desks, and a bigger, teacher's desk in front of the projection screen."
"How many desks?"
"I don't know." Puck sounded slightly frustrated.
"Yes you do. Think." Will commanded. I crossed my fingers, hoping he wouldn't mess up.
He shrugged. "Twenty?"
"Wrong. Turn around and count them. If those desks had been aliens, you'd be dead."
He turned and counted. "Twenty-one! I was close!"
"Close is not good enough. Close will not keep you alive. Close will send you to an early grave. Sit down." Will commanded. Puck and I scurried to our seats like good, frightened little mice. I opted for a seat up front, next to the Jewish girl, while my roommate chose a seat in the back, beside the Liashin girl.
"From now on, whenever you enter unfamiliar surroundings, you will memorize every detail. Every single one. A single detail can save or end your life, remember that." Will said, striding up to the front of the room. "Welcome to Alien Anatomy 101. This," he gestured around the room, "is your team. They are your partners, your backup, and your support. So I want you to take a few minutes and get to know each other before I start the lesson."
The girl on my right turned to me, smiling brightly, and stuck out her hand. "Hi! I'm Rachel Berry!"
I took her hand gingerly and shook it. "Nice to finally see you, Rachel," I smiled back.
"Oh! So you're Blaine…?" Her head tilted curiously as she let go of my hand.
"Yes, ma'am," I grinned cheekily.
"You're much cuter than I thought…" She trailed off, and I blushed, beginning to remind her. She shook her head, giggling. "No, no, I know you're gay. I'm not trying to come on to you, I swear."
"Berry, will you shut up?" The dark-skinned Liashin called from the back row. "Even without enhanced hearing, you're annoying."
"I don't have to answer to a Liashin," Rachel spat spitefully. "You're probably in the last 100 of your race anyway. Pretty soon, we won't have to even look at you."
I was stunned. "Rachel! Don't be so rude."
"Why not? She hates me."
The blonde on her left snorted softly. "Get used to it. Man-Hands here is the human embodiment of rudeness and annoyance."
"Regardless, you all are a team." Will said calmly, making the pair flush red. "You will work with all sorts of people during your time as an agent. Learn to like them. Learn to work with them."
"But she's an alien!" Rachel blurted. "I thought this was a camp for us to learn how to fight aliens, not work with them." I heard a low, growling hiss from the back row, and turned to see the Liashin's hair standing on end, with the blonde in front of her looking worried.
"She's non-predatory. If you can't deal with it, you're free to leave." Will gestured to the door, and I raised an eyebrow. They would just let us walk out? But Rachel didn't move, looking embarrassed.
"I'm sorry," She whispered feebly. I heard another low growl from the back, and a muttered "You better be."
"Good. Now that this is settled, I want all of you to stand up and introduce yourselves." Will walked back to the front of the room and sat cross-legged on the silver teacher's desk.
The sarcastic blonde girl next to Rachel stood first. "I'm Quinn, and I'm here because my mother knows a guy. She wants me to do what she never could."
The blonde behind her was next. "I'm Brittany and the unicorn led me here by accident." We all gave her a strange look, not being able to tell if she was serious or not, but she looked it.
Finally the Liashin behind her stood, a smirk on her whiskered face. Tail flicking agitatedly, she spoke. "My name is Santana, and I'm here because I like kicking ass and taking names." I raised an eyebrow but didn't speak. "Especially from those who like to refer to me as anything other than my name." Her ear twitched angrily and her eyes narrowed in on the brunette beside me. Santana's furry parts were striped dark brown tabby, and she looked pretty human besides the ears, tail, whiskers, and elongated pupils. I'd heard rumors that some of the Liashin could walk through solid objects, but I had no idea if Santana could or not.
Rachel stood primly, smoothing her shirt down. "I'm Rachel, and I…" She trailed off, looking lost. "I'm not really sure why I'm here."
The Asian girl behind Rachel stuttered out her name. "I-I'm T-T-Tina," she glanced around and I noticed a blue trident tattoo on her left cheek.
When it was Puck's turn, he stood, stretched, and smirked. "The name's Puck." He winked at Quinn, who rolled her eyes at him, in no way enchanted by his 'charm'.
Then the pendulum fell on me. "Um, hi, everyone." I smiled nervously. "I'm Blaine, and I was dragged here kicking and screaming." That got a laugh out of almost everyone, but I was serious.
We all turned to the Asian boy behind me, who reluctantly stood. "Hi… I'm Mike, and I'm here because my dad wanted me to be." Quinn sighed sympathetically.
"I'm Mercedes, and I'm here because I kick ass." The black girl behind Mike proclaimed confidently.
Finally, there was the bespeckled boy. He waved. "Hi, I'm Artie, and I would stand up if I could…" He gestured to his wheelchair. Everything I thought I knew about AIR was beginning to seem contradictory. Liashin agents? Paraplegics? It didn't make any bloody sense.
"Alright, now that everyone knows the names and is all settled, let's start the lesson." Will hit a button on his remote and the projection screen slid out behind him. "If you'll look on your desks, you'll see a box." I glanced down to see a slightly raised rectangle attached to the surface of my desk. "Place your hands on it." We did so, and a few gasps resounded as a hologram screen and keyboard appeared. "Take notes. They'll be printed in your room as you type."
Brittany raised her hand. "What if you spell something wrong?"
"Correct it later. There is no backspace key." Will stood and grimly smiled at us. "You might be wondering why you're all up so early. Most crimes, human or alien, occur at night. These will be your prime working hours, learn to love the night. You'll be up earlier than this, so get used to it." He clicked the remote and a picture of a beautiful female Arcadian popped up. "This," Will gestured to the screen "Is an Arcadian."
We all began to type furiously as Will lectured us on what distinguished Arcadians from humans, (pale skin, white hair, violet eyes, and increased height), the location of their airways, their dependency on Onadyn for purely deoxygenating purposes, and their occasional psychic abilities, such as pyrokenisis, mind reading, and telekinesis. My fingers began to cramp from typing so much in a short amount of time.
Will finally ended the lecture, letting the projection screen snap back up. "You'll all be heading down to the cage with Kurt. Get on the lift and go to the bottom floor. I'll see you all later."
The cage? Bottom floor? Kurt?
This was going to be good.
All ten of us trainee's piled onto the lift, and I pressed the button for LL36, or lower level 36. I was momentarily stunned that there were 36 lower levels and only two upper levels, but thinking about it, I guessed that AIR headquarters would have to be underground.
"So… has anyone else been in the cage before?" I spoke up after a few seconds. A chorus of 'no's sounded through the lift.
"I've seen him though. Yummy." Mercedes spoke up. I glanced at her in disbelief. Did this girl have any semblance of a gaydar?
"I heard Blaine here fought with him," Quinn said slyly. Exclamations of "Really?" and "Wow!" were heard briefly.
"It's no big deal," I blushed, ducking my head.
"It's a huge deal!" Puck clapped me on the shoulder. "You're an asskicker extraordinaire. I'm proud of you."
Suddenly, the lift shuddered to a halt on LL36. The doors opened to reveal…
Blackness.
A lot of it.
