The man stood on the balustrade overlooking the training down below, both hands secured in the pockets of his suit jacket while his feet rested exactly shoulders-width apart on the floor beneath him to steady his position. Everything about him was perfectly precise, from the fit of his suit, to the careful styling of the gray and white hair that fell just above his brow. But none of that mattered very much at all when compared to the intent gaze of his cold blue eyes as he watched the young woman below successfully disarm her opponent, and pin him beneath her on the mat. A muffled quip, and a sharp laugh reached his ears, its familiarity provoking a small twitch of the lips that might have been a smile, but for the fact that it never reached his eyes.

He knew that anything other than the briefest flickers of an emotional response would only be a liability…

With such a thought in mind, the man turned his attention to the agent that had come to stand at his side with barely a sound to herald her coming, blue eyes meeting brown for a moment of silence before the newcomer spoke.

"She's good."

"Of course she is, Martine. What else did you possibly expect?"

"Honestly, sir? I'm not entirely sure," The blonde replied, glancing down at the woman in question, and pursing her lips into a frown. In the time since she had first arrived, it appeared that the two combatants below had managed to stand once more, the slight shove that the taller of the two gave his companion provoking another laugh in response. It would have been a lie to pretend that she understood the reasoning behind her superior's decision to use the young woman as a part of their mission, such as it was, even with her own mistrust of the new 'asset' removed from the equation entirely.

To her, the girl was nothing but a pretty face—a distraction, regardless of whether she seemed capable of handling herself, or not.

Still, Martine was not prepared to bring her own personal opinions to the forefront, at least not yet, particularly given her superior's apparent fondness for the girl. In truth, discovering that she had been with him since she was just a young child was startling, given that what little she knew of the man standing beside her seemed so utterly at odds with the act of caring for a child. But regardless of her own misgivings, Martine knew better than to question the decisions of the man standing beside her.

Many others that had come before her had done so, and paid the price as a result.

"Do you believe she is ready?" She asked instead, risking a glance at her superior, and noting that he had been regarding her with some curiosity during the entire duration of her brief foray into her own musings. The intensity of that blue gaze no longer unnerved her as it once had, years of experience with the man in question providing her with some sort of certainty in the esteem he held for her, if nothing else. And although some small part of her knew that even asking the question she just had might have been a risk, given the man's sometimes unreadable moods, Martine could not entirely bring herself to regret the decision, her brown eyes remaining fixed upon her superior's blue ones as she awaited his reply.

"I believe so," He confirmed, allowing his gaze to return back to the woman in question, while another faint twitch at the corner of his mouth belied his mild amusement over the easy confidence that seemed to emanate from her as she moved toward a small wooden bench and reached for the water bottle resting upon it with a fluid sort of grace he had only seen in a few agents before, "You still have doubts."

"I'm not in the business of questioning orders."

"Except for these," The man pressed, turning to face the woman standing beside him, and observing her face carefully to discern what her reaction might be to what he was prepared to say next, "I seem to recall you were a budding trainee, once. Not so very long ago, in fact."

"I was."

"And look at you now. Raw potential, more often than not, can in fact be turned into a valuable asset."

Pursing her lips to keep her intended reply from being spoken, Martine instead managed a curt nod before turning and preparing to depart so that she might complete her own tasks for that day, only to find the act thwarted as her superior addressed her once again. As always, she turned back towards him, her expression rearranged into the familiar cool mask that would render her true feelings unreadable to nearly everyone that looked upon her face.

Of course, that tactic was very nearly pointless, when employed against the man who stood before her, now…

"Samaritan has a plan for Katherine, Martine, much the same as it has a plan for you," He began, once again regarding the woman's reaction carefully, and finding himself pleased to note that she appeared to simply accept his words at face value, at least for the moment, without protest.

"Together, I believe the two of you will be capable of great things."

…

(Seattle, WA, June 2002)

"I said give it back!" The girl demanded, standing in the center of the alleyway, while a chill rain pattered against the already damp fabric of her sweatshirt and jeans. The boy she faced was two years older, and already towered over her slighter frame, though she did her best to avoid letting that realization cause her to back down. Of course, she knew she likely would not stand a chance against him, if things turned to a more physical altercation. But even that certainty did not seem to be enough to persuade her to alter her course, her blue eyes flashing their defiance as she squared her shoulders, and tilted her head back despite the renewed onslaught of rain against her upturned features so that she might look her adversary in the eye while he replied.

"I don't think I want to. And you don't really look like you can do anything about it."

"Then you're just as stupid as you look."

Somewhat pleased by the utterly enraged expression that had stolen over the older boy's features, the girl used his momentary distraction to her advantage, propelling her smaller frame against his until they both tumbled to the ground. A loud grunt served as ample proof that the act had succeeded in temporarily rendering the boy breathless, thus granting the girl enough time to knock the object he still held in his right hand out of reach. But before she could manage to extricate herself from the tangle of limbs that had formed as a direct result of her impromptu tackle, the girl found herself emitting herself a startled yelp as the boy's hands came up to latch roughly upon her arms, so that he could flip her over and pin her on her back beneath him.

"Not so fun being knocked on your ass, is it, bitch?"

Choosing not to reply, the girl set about the task of relaxing her arms and shoulders beneath the steady pressure of her adversary's hold, a small wince stealing over her features as he pressed them back until the rough gravel of the alleyway scraped against her skin through the thin fabric of her sweatshirt. The boy appeared to take the bait, a slow grin toying at the corners of his mouth as he gave in to the belief that he clearly had overpowered her. And that was all the incentive the girl required to jerk her knee up until it connected with the boy's groin, her own satisfied grin only growing while the boy's turned into an open-mouthed grimace of pain.

Able to shove him away from her and scrabble backward as his hold upon her arms lessened significantly, the girl forced herself to her feet while her companion's coughs and groans echoed through the alleyway, one foot extending to kick the object he had stolen behind her before he could make any attempt to grab for it again. It was then that she heard it—the soft sound of an outside party stooping to pick the object up as they came to a stop behind where she stood. And although some small part of her knew that the gesture just might be futile, the girl found herself whirling on a heel to face this newcomer, one hand already balling into a fist until a far gentler hand reached out to latch upon her wrist.

"Well well well…what have we here?"

…

Hello there, lovelies! And welcome to yet another unexpected foray into a brand new story! I must say, POI appears to have latched onto my various muses with far more persistence than I had initially anticipated. So I do hope that such a thing isn't a problem…because I don't appear to be fully capable of stopping it, to say the least.

As always, my heartfelt thanks go out to each and every one of you that has taken the time to give this little exposition chapter a chance! It is my sincerest hope that it seems intriguing, at least to some! And as per usual, I encourage any and all feedback that you are willing to give! Hopefully you find something to enjoy here, at the very least!

Until next time, angels…

MOMM