*New York, 1994*

Chandler sat in his office researching his previous case when his chief supervisor, Mr. Kinson, entered his office.

"Something I can do for you, sir?" Chandler asked.

"Yes there is, actually.our replacement for Henderson just showed up. I was wondering if you would show him the ropes, give him a tour?"

"I didn't know we would be replacing Henderson" Chandler replied thinking of Mark Henderson's untimely death.it seemed all too familiar for Chandler. Chandler and Mark had been on assignment together in Bangkok. Chandler let his mind wander back to that day. Their team had met in the lobby of the hotel, all they had to do was get the target's laptop and replace it with a decoy. Chandler and Mark were sent to do the job while the rest of the team waited in the van outside where they had set up a control center. Something went wrong, they had been told that the hotel room would be empty, it wasn't. When they broke in they were surprised to find three men sitting around the bar. Within seconds guns were pulled in all different directions. Chandler couldn't remember who fired first, but by the end of the shoot out all five of the men ended up shot. Two of the other men where shot dead, the third shot in the leg. Chandler had been shot in the arm and Mark in the chest. Mark had died on the way to the hospital. The reason why Chandler was notorious for being such a good agent was because despite the wound to the arm and the loss of a team member, he went back that night and got the assignment done.

Mr. Kinson noticed the uneasiness in Chandler's voice and regretted telling him that the new guy was Henderson's replacement. "Well, you two will be working together on the next case, just thought you might like a chance to introduce yourself," Mr. Kinson continued.

"Yeah, sure," Chandler agreed. "Where is he?"

"He's sitting out in the entry hallway," Mr. Kinson informed him before leaving Chandler's office. It was a shame, Doug Kinson had had his share of losses working with the agency, but none hit quite as close to home as Chandler's had. He wondered if that was what made him such a good agent, the fact that Chandler Bing had nothing left to lose.he brushed the thoughts of Chandler's history away and continued back to his office.

*****

Chandler found Henderson's replacement sitting in the hallway where Mr. Kinson said he would be. The man, in his mid-twenties, stood as soon as he saw Chandler approach him. Chandler quickly extended his hand and introduced himself, "Hello, my name's Chandler Bing," he introduced himself politely.

"Hey, I'm Joseph Tribbiani.," Joey replied. When his former boss back at the CIA had told him they had something exciting in store for him, Joey had no idea that he would be getting himself wrapped into an underground agency.

"So, I see you got through security in one piece," Chandler tried to joke, "how about a tour?"

"Yeah, sure," Joey replied following Chandler through the entry hallway and into the main corridor. "So," Joey began, "what is it you do here?"

"I'm a fifth rank agent here at ARES, basicallyI just do what they tell me to." Chandler replied, trying not to give too much away to a stranger.

"Say, what does that stand for anyway, ARES?" Joey asked, he had just learned of this secret agency, and had not really been given any background information on the agency yet.

"Well, it doesn't stand for anything really," Chandler started as they continued towards the main conference rooms, "Ares was the Greek God of war, the Greeks feared him, the Romans celebrated him. After several embarrassing losses in the War of 1812, General Jackson and the Secretary of State designed and set up an agency that could protect the United States from foreign enemies through intelligence. Not even congress knows we exist. We operate solely on the orders of the President and The Secretary of State, however, sometimes they don't even know what we're doing." Chandler watched Joseph's face as he opened the door that led into the main conference room.

Chandler had given Joey the grand tour, he had seen four out of the five underground floors of the agency, and when he had asked about the fifth Chandler had told him that a secret agency needed to have some secrets of its own sometimes. Joey didn't really know what to make of it all. He suddenly felt somewhat uneasy, maybe taking this job wasn't such a good idea. He wasn't sure if he liked the idea of all the secrecy involved. "How do you do it?" Joey asked.

"Do what?" Chandler asked him, unsure of what he was looking for.

"Well, I mean, what about your family and stuff? How do you manage to keep it a secret from them? And what are you supposed to do if they find out?"

"Uh, well there is a policy plan, where if family and friends do figure it out there are several ways the agency can take you off the map. Or you always have the option of quitting." Chandler informed him.

"What do you mean "take you off the map", like they fake your death for you?" Joey asked.

"Well, yes, but its only to keep your family safe. Of course you don't HAVE to follow the policy plan, it's only an option. Or, like I said, you could quit."

"What about your family, do they know?" Joey asked.

Chandler immediately looked down at his shoes, unaware that it was something he often did when he was uncomfortable, "I don't really have much of a family," Chandler replied after several seconds.

"Oh," Joey said, not really understanding, "are you an orphan?"
"No, my family is dead," Chandler replied.

"All of them?!" Joey questioned, not realizing how uncomfortable Chandler really was.

"Yeah, look.can we talk about something else?" Chandler asked, noticing Joey's eagerness to find out the details.

"Oh, yeah sure, no problem." Joey said, suddenly feeling awkward again, "so does the cafeteria here have any good food?" he asked.

"Yeah," Chandler laughed as they headed to Joey's new office, "good sandwiches."

"Really?"

*****

As Chandler headed back to his small apartment in the village he let his mind wander to the place he normally avoided. His family. Chandler's father was one of few who ignored the ARES policy plan and was open with his family about his job. Probably because he hoped one day that both of his boy's would follow in his footsteps as he had with his father. His mother often worried about their safety, but paranoia and caution was something that the family had grown accustomed to. Chandler's older brother, Troy, had been eager to become an agent for as long as Chandler could remember. His younger sister, Tara, had wanted to become the first woman agent to work for ARES. He could remember her disappointment when ARES had let on the first woman agent in 1986. His father had been good, the best, he was often told. During his career alone, Chandler's father had successfully completed twenty-two assassinations and had helped in uncovering several major international and foreign plots and secret affairs. "All in a days work" his father used to say. Chandler used to think that he wanted to do this, to become an agent like his father and grandfather. Then it happened. Something went wrong, Chandler didn't even know the full details now.he didn't want to know, he wanted to avoid thinking about it at all costs. It was August, 1987nobody saw it coming, not even his father. Chandler woke up to the sound of their family's security system going off. His father wasn't stupid, he knew that there was always a possibility that they would find them. That's why they had the security system, that's why they had a plan to meet in the guestroom if it were ever to go off. Chandler raced out of his room and met up with his brother in the hall, they ran to their sister's room to find that Tara was already gone. They raced to the guestroom and met up with their parents and their sister there. From there it was through the window and straight to the car. Once they were all safely out the window they quietly headed to the car in the garage. Then Chandler heard it, the gunshots.he looked back and saw his father fall. He saw his mother scream as she quickly picked up Tara and began to run, two more gunshots and she fell to the ground. Chandler ran back for his sister, he had to pull his mother's dead body off of her only to find that the second bullet had lodged itself in Tara's neck. That's when he saw the headlights, he figured that this was it, they were going to finish him off by running him down, but the car quickly slowed down and the passenger door popped open. He looked in and saw his brother Troy behind the wheel, yelling at him to jump in. Chandler didn't hesitate and practically flew into the car as his brother sped away with Chandler's legs sticking out the open door, gunshots ringing behind them. From there they went to the only place they knew they would be safe, the agency. The agency had set Troy and Chandler up with a small apartment in the city. Troy immediately was offered a job while Chandler was to finish high school. His brother was good, maybe too good. Troy grew cocky, a bad quality in an agent. Within two years he was dead, shot down in Dubai. Chandler was by himself. The agency made him get his associates degree before letting him join, cautious after letting his brother join at such a young age. At his brother's funeral Chandler made a promise to himself. He decided that he would never fall in love, he couldn't bear to watch another family die. As Chandler absentmindedly headed for his apartment he bumped into someone and knocked whatever it was they were carrying out of their hands. "Sorry," Chandler mumbled as he bent down to pick up the fallen papers.

"oh that's okay, I wasn't paying any attention," replied the voice.

Chandler looked up and saw the most beautiful pair of blue eyes he had ever seen in his life.

"Hi. I'm Monica Gellar, I just moved in here. I live in apartment 20.

"Oh, I guess I live right across the hall from you then, my name's Chandler," Chandler said as he extended his hand, trying to get a better look at her eyes without looking like a creep.

"Well, its nice to meet you.I guess I'll see you around then?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Chandler said as he watched her walk away. There was something about her that caught his attention, everything about her caught his attention. He shook his head as he headed to his apartment and closed the door behind him.