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"Can we talk?"
Frank looked up to see Monica standing in the doorway to his office. "Sure. What's on your mind Monica?"
Monica looked around, then closed the door before sitting down. "I'm worried about our newest recruit."
"Don't be."
Both of her eyebrows raised and she gave her boss an incredulous look. "Don't worry about Agent Cage?"
"What part of that did you not understand Monica? I talked with her, I got a feel for her. I think she'll be a good addition to the team."
"When…?"
"When?"
"Yeah, as in WHEN will she be a good addition to the team? Because right now all she's doing in scowling and ignoring all three of us. Cody and I are working on the information that Alex and Jake are bringing in for us and the very least she could do is get current on the file!"
Frank blinked. The last time he'd heard this kind of hostility from Monica was the dirty cop case a while back. "Calm down Monica. Look, give her more than two days. She's still adjusting. Think about it – Everything she knows is back in Virginia. She's here, in the Crib, no home of her own and no personal belongings other than a suitcase of clothing and other items for a sleep over. She didn't want to be here in the first place and we've essentially forced her into a position she didn't want to be in. Give her a bit more of a break, will you?"
Monica rolled her eyes and sat back in the chair. "It's more than that."
"What else is it?" He leaned forward and braced his elbows on the desk.
"She's… I don't know. She's different. Jake, he's got an attitude problem and an authority problem. Alex… has issues of her own. You… have a superiority complex a mile wide. Cody… is Cody. I got a grip on all four of you within the first five minutes and got your mindset down pat within 5 days. But this woman? She's cold, locked away. One minute she's human and the next minute she's a machine."
"But you yourself told us she'd developed a machine mode. Every field agent has that safety zone that they put up to protect their own sanity."
"Is that what she's doing?"
Frank opened his mouth to speak, but thought about it for a moment. Was she nuts or protecting what was left of her sanity? "I wish I knew what she was doing Monica. It's going to take some time to get used to her."
"Time is something we don't have Frank. If she doesn't start acting like part of the team, then she could be our downfall. We're a team, we have to act like it and watch out for each other. Cody and I watch out for Alex and Jake, they watch for each other, you… somehow… oddly enough, keep an eye on us all."
Frank nodded as Monica got up and left his office. Monica was right – Agent Cage would have to come around and do it soon. It took everyone else a few months to warm up to him and it was difficult in that time period. Eventually they learned to trust in him and to trust his decisions. He in turn learned to trust them as well. That took time and he was asking - no, forcing - Cage to do that in just a few days. It was a near impossible undertaking.
He stood up and looked out of the window behind his desk. Cody had left early already and Monica was just now leaving. That left him and Aja alone in the Nest. Troubling thoughts plagued him when it came to Cage. Folding one arm across his chest and popping his other thumb between his front teeth and thought about it more. Why did he have the strange and nagging urge to watch her constantly? True, he'd promised to help her battle her inner demons. But that didn't entail getting personal. The last thing he wanted was to wind up in a situation like Alex and Keller.
'Hmph'-ing to himself, Frank turned and headed down the stairs. His intention was to leave for the night and give Cage some space. But the sounds coming from the gym gave him pause to stop and listen. She was at it again, mauling the punching bag as if fighting for her life. Leaning against the doorway, Frank watched her.
She balanced easily on the balls of her feet, light steps and motions. Tell-tale signs of someone who's agile, quick and decisive in their actions. He watched her closely, mesmerized by her movements. They were graceful in their lethal flow. Sort of like a cobra's sway before he struck… Without realizing he was doing it, he drifted in to just behind her.
Aja had been focused on the punching bag - this time with Frank Donovan's face on it instead of Vadim's. He'd been grating on her nerves the last day or so, always watching her like a hawk. She couldn't even burp without him seeing it. 'Bastard. You've got no right to look at me that way.' Where did that thought come from? Aja paused a brief second as she thought it over. When did she think things like that? With another snarl, she renewed her vicious attack on the bag. But the hackles on the back of her neck started to rise. Someone was there.
Frank had almost missed the switch in momentum. However, he snapped back out of his reverie in time to see an elbow thrown at his head. He dodged to the side, his hands coming out and shoving Aja into the bag in front of her. "Stop Cage!"
Aja whirled around after she bounced off the bag. It was on now. The bastard decided to sneak up on her, then had the balls to tell her to stop? She angled back, shifting her left side forward as she put her heavily taped hands up in front of her.
"Agent Cage, stop it right now." Frank reached for her shoulders intending to shake her out of it. It appeared to him that she was still 'In The Zone' of her workout and hadn't distinguished him from whatever demon she was pummeling. But as he connected with her shoulders, Aja dropped her hands and wrapped them around his wrists. She hooked an ankle behind his knee, ducking and twisting at the same time. In a matter of seconds, Frank found himself on the floor, Aja's grip around his wrists as he looked up at her and her foot pressing down on his throat.
Aja smirked at the astonished look on Donovan's face. He hadn't expected her attack and looked a slight bit embarrassed over it. However, in her gloating, Aja missed Frank's long fingers curling around her wrists before she was jerked over his head. Her breath was crushed out of her chest when she landed on the floor with a hollow thud, her breath further cut off by Frank Donovan sitting on her chest. She snarled up at him, struggling to get her hands free of his steely grip.
"Settle down Cage. I'm not moving until I know you're in the real world and not fighting some inner demon."
"Fuck you Donovan."
"No thank you Cage." He smirked and leaned down until his mouth was an inch from her. His lips curled as she froze under him. "You're just not my style."
Aja's vision filled with a red haze as his words filled her ears. For some inexplicable reason his taunt hurt. She wasn't angry as much as her feelings were hurt. Tears filmed over her eyes, blurring her vision to Frank getting up and hauling her up fluidly.
"I don't want to have this 'discussion' again Cage. I've had some complaints that you're not taking part in the work around here. We've got an assignment that is very dangerous. Perhaps you remember what it was like undercover? Alex and Jake are counting on us to help them with this and keep them safe. I expect you to help with that. If you can't, then get the hell out of my Nest." Frank turned on his heel and left. He shouldn't have even gotten that close to her. The salty scent of the sweat on her skin was beginning to burn into his mind. It was also burning elsewhere. What the hell was he thinking?
He didn't… He just… Aja gaped after him as he left. How dare he come in here, interrupt her, taunt her, then slap her in the face verbally. That bastard was the one who forced her into this job and now he had the gall to tell her to shape up or get out? Aja snarled in frustration, ripping a left hook at the punching back as Frank left the gym. One of these days she was going to get him alone…
let out the beast
that you're trying to hide
step right up and be a part of the reaction
get your game face on because it's time to play
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Excerpt from the lyrics to "Violence Fetish" by Disturbed. CD titled "The Sickness" all rights reserved.
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