Chapter Two
Emily Hunter tapped her manicured fingernails on the desk impatiently, occasionally glancing at the clock hanging on the wall. The time was now a quarter past five and she had been sitting in this cramped office space for ten minutes, waiting for a certain agent whom Whitcomb had described as being very capable at arriving on time.
"I'm ever so sorry Miss Hunter, Agent Sands should be here shortly, he's probably been held up in traffic or something." Whitcomb offers in way of explanation as to Sands' lateness.
"Held in traffic for an hour, I didn't realise it was so busy around here." Emily replied as she raised her eyebrows and proceeded with her tapping. 'Held up in traffic my ass' she mused wryly. She sighed lightly as the minutes seemed to drag by, she had been late herself but only by five minutes, enough to make a fashionable appearance. It seemed that the agent she was to be meeting who was apparently to become her partner was not as reliable as Whitcomb had made out. He had talked to her a week back, told her of the agent who needed a bit of help with understanding the rules of the CIA and she had readily accepted the challenge to take him under her wing. She had not been part of the CIA for long herself but it seemed that she had a bit more self-discipline than this other agent apparently had, although all in all he was a great guy Whitcomb had rushed out, trying not to make Sands sound so awful that she would say no. Emily liked a challenge, it was the reason she had become an agent, and she knew she was a good one at that. Still she had not had a chance to get her teeth into anything too meaty since she had joined the CIA, they had kept her back from the big jobs fearing she might crack under the strain after what happened to her family, it was something that she regretted as she was stronger than most of the agents male and female alike in this place and she knew how to keep her personal life separate from her business as an agent.
The door to Whitcomb's office suddenly swung open and a grinning Sands stepped through, obviously very pleased with himself as he kicks the door shut and stands looking between Emily and Whitcomb.
"Sorry I'm late, caught in traffic." He says as he takes off his shades.
"That's exactly what I was just saying to Miss Hunter here Sands." Whitcomb says rather grumpily, standing up in recognition of Sands entrance.
"Miss Hunter?" Sands asks in a seemingly confused fashion turning to look at the woman seated opposite Whitcomb's desk. "Ah yes, Ellie is it?"
"Emily." She corrects, offering her hand to be shaken. Sands takes it and proceeds upon bending to place it to his lips.
"Charmed." He says, an odd mischievous glint in his eyes.
"I'm sure." She replies with no attempt to hide her already apparent disdain for the man. Taking her hand away she does not hesitate to wipe the back of it on her trousers, an action that Sands doesn't seem to mind at all as he is instead seemingly observing the woman before him with great interest. Letting his gaze wander quickly over her he took in as much as possible as she was sitting down. She looked to be a few inches shorter than him, 5ft 6" or 7" possibly, with a slim line physique that had been attired in a pair of tight fitting jeans and a black, relatively low cut top which showed off not enough breast for Sands liking but it was still a pleasant sight. Her face was perfectly appealing though with dark grey-blue almond shaped eyes, rimmed by dark, long lashes. Her lips were full and currently pulled into a curt smile showing Sands just how annoyed she was that he was late. A few strands of chocolate brown hair rested idly around her face, the rest of it pulled back into a pony tail tied with a charming little pink striped bobble.
Ignoring Sands lecherous eyes she shifts in her seat and waits for Sands to finish at which point he takes a seat next to Emily in the remaining chair and proceeds to put his feet upon Whitcomb's desk.
"Sands could you please at least show a little respect." Whitcomb says through narrowed eyes. The day seemed long enough already and being kept waiting by Sands was always a sure fire way of getting Whitcomb to the end of his tether, especially when he was late for a meeting as important as this. With a roll of his eyes Sands removes his feet from the desk and crosses one leg over the other, looking from Whitcomb to Emily as if waiting for someone to fill him in.
"So now that you've finally arrived shall we get on with our little meeting?" Emily asks, glancing to Sands meaningfully to show him that she did not approve of his antics and so far he was off to a bad start in her books. From the cocky smile she gets back from him it seems that this action is wasted and he doesn't particularly give a damn.
"Indeed, we're late enough as it is to begin so we'll just have to scratch it down to the basics I'm afraid." Whitcomb agrees as he shuffles some papers on his desk. "Sands, I take it you're paying attention now?"
"To you Whitcomb? Always." Sands replies with yet another cheeky grin.
Whitcomb rolls his eyes and makes an apologetic glance towards Emily. She smiles her thanks and allows him to start what was to prove to be a most discouraging first impression of the assignment.
One and a half hours have passed since Whitcomb started drawling on about Sands' and Emily's upcoming mission and she is beginning to wonder if Sands is even awake and also pondering how she actually is. The man that Whitcomb had assigned to be her partner in her first task for the CIA was sitting, slightly more slumped in his chair with his shades now covering his eyes. As Whitcomb's voice goes on and on about CIA policy, rules and regulations, how one was expected to perform in the field and in the office, she takes the time to study Sands features. He seems attractive enough, dark hair teamed with dark eyes that she had noticed a depth to earlier, and a firmly sculpted jaw and cheekbones. All in all he was nice sight to behold, it was just a pity about his personality.
All ready Emily had become acquainted with Sands quick comments, smart remarks and jokes and general air of flirtatiousness. If one could remove all of that from him she would have quite liked him and might have even looked forward to working with him but from what she had seen so far their alliance was going to be nothing more than tedious. He had no care for the rules, just like her, but this is where the similarities seemed to end. He was downright rude whereas she at least tried to be polite and tactful and he was far too cocky for his own good. Whitcomb had warned her in their previous conversation on the phone that Sands might try something, that he had more thoughts in his head about fulfilling his sexual needs rather than anything assigned to him by the CIA, but he'd also said that this attitude was not irrevocable. Emily had agreed to take on this asshole of an agent due to the fact that she had not yet been allowed to do any fieldwork since joining the CIA and if this is what it took to get some respect around here then so be it. Work from the bottom upward, it may be a slow process but it was a far more stable one.
A slight snort from Sands makes her jump slightly and Whitcomb doesn't seem to appreciate it too much either.
"Will you just hit him or something!" he growls and Emily can't help but laugh at the superiors decidedly peeved tone. Now that certainly wasn't something one would expect from the tired man that sat before them!
"Hit him?" she implores, making sure that she heard right.
"Yes, hit him, make the bloody bastard wake up. I've had enough of this, I apologise for my lack of decorum Miss Hunter but I am reaching the absolute end of my wits so please, relieve some of my misery."
Emily grins, not needing to be asked twice as she brings her hand to slap Sands firmly around the chops, it was something she certainly wasn't going to have any qualms in doing. Before her hand can connect with Sands visage he has a tight grasp of her wrist and with the other hand has pushes his sunglasses on top of his head.
"Now Whitcomb, instructing Miss Hunter to do something so vile is really quite despicable. I would have thought better of you I really would, and you, Miss Hunter, I wasn't really under the impression that you particularly paid attention to orders, why are you starting now especially when you know it could really prove detrimental to our forthcoming relationship?" Her eyes widen slightly with surprise at the fluid speed of Sands movements but she manages to return her face to its steely appearance within a short moment.
"I felt it would be necessary if I wanted not to be the only one who knew what was going on with this assignment we are to be undertaking." Emily replies, removing her hand away from Sands reach as he lets go of her wrist.
"Well you see you're not the only one, Whitcomb knows too."
"Yes he does but he won't be with us in the field." She replies, trying to remain calm and collected even though Sands seemed to be quite efficient at stoking a raging inferno inside of her that was just screaming SLAP HIM!
"He won't no, how unfortunate. As much as you may think me incompetent sweet cheeks I do know what we are supposed to be doing and I do know the jist of what's going on so if you would please now refrain from using your own little tactics to make me pay attention when I already have been then we can wrap this meeting up and go our merry separate ways. Comprendé?"
Emily rolls her eyes and looks to Whitcomb who seems utterly bemused by Sands little speech. It wasn't very often that Sands would say anything without including a witty remark but it seemed that there was something that Emily ignited in him too and he was actually trying to make some kind of effort to seem intelligent.
"So Sands, could you please tell me what your assignment is, just for verification that you do know what's going on." Whitcomb asks, feeling quite confident that Sands would not be able to recall anything he had said in the past hour. Sands shuffles in his chair slightly, sitting up slightly straighter though still in a slouched, lackadaisical position.
"Our mission is as follows: Miss Hunter and myself are to be travelling to a small town named Sal Amradés on the outskirts of Guerrero. There we shall be staying for two weeks whilst we gather information about the latest shipment of cocaine being sent to LA from Raoul Alvarez's own personal plantation. Miss Hunter here shall work her feminine charms to gain such information and I shall be doing all the heavy work."
Emily scoffs at this, this seriously was typical. Not only do they put her on an assignment with a chauvinistic, flirtatious pig, but this pig is also stating that he is going to be doing the hard work whilst she flutters her eyelashes. Not a chance.
"During the two weeks we shall keep in regular contact with our handler, Agent Cranbrook if I remember rightly, and a plan shall be formed as to how we shall intervene the delivery and capture Alvarez. This shall be carried out and then we shall be on our merry way home. Do correct me if I'm wrong."
Whitcomb stares at Sands in utter shock, it seems that he is quite taken aback by the fact that Sands actually knows what he's on about. Sands however just sits with that ever present cocky smirk on his face, glancing to Emily quickly only to receive not the slightest of reactions. She wasn't going to show him that she was surprised herself, nor that she might have an inkling of admiration and respect for him forming. As it was it still didn't make much of a difference to how she thought of him, it just showed him not to be quite as stupid as she originally thought.
"Well… that's about the jist of it yes." Whitcomb stutters as he regains the ability to speak. "You shall be leaving for Sal Amradés in two days so I would advise you both to go home and get everything ready for your departure."
"Already done." Emily announces quickly, causing Sands to raise his eyebrows in a fashion that she just knows means he's laughing at her eagerness.
"Ah, good. You have been through all the training necessary, correct?"
"I have, I was in MI6 Agent Whitcomb, I did actually go on some field assignments, they didn't keep me stuck in offices."
"Yes Miss Hunter I am quite aware of that but you haven't been part of MI6 for many months now and I am aware that some skills may need some fine tuning. I do not mean this as a snub upon your own personal capabilities but we do need utmost efficiency."
"Then why are you assigning him to it?" She snaps, suddenly the feelings of being thought of as a weakling woman returning. Sands however just chuckles besides her and Whitcomb draws a long breath.
"I'm sorry, I'm not insinuating anything, I just wanted to make sure that you felt you were ready to be taking this task on hand."
"If I didn't think I was then I wouldn't be here." Whitcomb smiles and manages to make her soften her cold gaze at him. He didn't seem all that bad, it was just Sands she might have a problem with. Silence ensues for a moment until Sands abruptly gets up from his chair.
"Well, if that's all I think we're all sorted and I would rather like to get out of this shit hole you call an office, apologies Whitcomb but your taste in décor leaves a lot to be desired." He says, looking to Whitcomb with that smug, satisfied smirk as he rolls his eyes.
"Yes, that'll be all Sands. Please just make sure that you are ready, you'll both be meeting here at 5am Friday morning."
"Have faith in me!" Sands chuckles. Emily rolls her eyes, doubting that any faith entrusted in him would be put to good use, and stands up herself.
"Well if this meeting is adjourned then I shall return to my hotel. Thank you for your… hospitality Agent Whitcomb, you won't be sorry that you've assigned this job to me." She announces and holds her hand out for Whitcomb to shake as he stands up also.
"Ah, how pleasant." Sands drawls and with a flick of his wrist in a gesture that might resemble a wave he leaves.
"I truly am sorry Miss Hunter but I do think he will be a good partner, ignoring his less pleasant attributes." Whitcomb says as he shakes Emily's hand.
"Such as the cocky, flirtatious, asshole manner that he exudes?" she asks mischievously.
"Exactly that. Feel free to contact me about anything, I will be updated regularly as you carry out the assignment but you're quite welcome to contact me before you depart."
"Thank you." She replies with a smile and a nod, withdrawing her hand from his grasp. "I shall be sure to keep that in mind." With that the pair bid their goodbyes and Emily leaves Whitcomb to unceremoniously plonk down in his chair as she shuts the door behind her.
"Need a lift?" a familiar voice drawls as she looks to the owner leaning against a wall.
"No, thank you." She replies coldly.
"Are you sure? I'm sure I could be going your way if you needed me too, we could have a chat." Emily raises her eyebrows at this. So here it seemed was the side of Sands all the women were in such a flurry about.
"A chat? About what exactly?"
"I don't know. You, why you're here, things in general."
"Things in general huh…"
"I'm quite interested to know why it is you got chucked out of MI6…" Emily slits her eyes at this. She knew he had to be up to something; even he didn't seem stupid enough to be making a pass at her.
"Well that Mr Sands is something for me to know isn't it, now if you don't mind I am going to go and call a taxi."
"Cab darling, you're in America now."
"Mexico actually." And with that she turns on her heels and walks down the hall towards the lifts with as much confidence as possible, whilst trying to ignore the fact that she knows a pair of eyes are fixated firmly upon her posterior.
"Mantis… definitely." Sands mutters and walks down the hall in the opposite direction, he didn't need to be home yet and Katherine could usually be found hanging about the labs around now…
Authors Note: Updates for this probably won't happen very often as this is originally one of those interactive 'you' fics. I have it posted in that format on other websites and it currently goes up to chapter three if anyone wants to check it out. You can find out information about it in my profile. I'm not sure how well this chapter will have worked out as I have basically gone through it changing the POV and not a lot else but hopefully it reads ok. Reviews are as always appreciated so I look forward to hearing from people with their feedback :) Ciao for now!