One light lunch later, Kess headed back to the workshop. As she turned the corner, she looked up to see Redding coming towards her from the other direction.

"Hi, Will! We meet again," Kess said pleasantly.

"Ha, I was just coming to see you. Lambert said you'd most likely be in here. I'm going to go over our arsenal with you so you can prepare your loadout to suit your needs. Sam's already set up. If you don't mind, I'll make a few suggestions on what would be best to take, but in the end it's your call."

"Sounds fine to me," Kess said.

""Ok then, I'll get you to follow me to the armory and we'll have a look-see."

"Lead the way," Kess told him, and he headed down the hall with Kess following beside him.

"So, has Sam been a little nicer to you?" Redding asked her as they walked.

Kess sighed. "Yes and no. He seems to have these mood swings. If it wasn't so obvious that he was a man, I'd suspect he was having his period."

Redding laughed. "That's typical Sam for you." They came upon a steel door with a card reader on the side. Redding slipped his ID card in, and a green light appeared on the reader. Redding pulled the handle and the door opened silently.

"By the way, you have clearance for the armory as well, if you didn't already know," Redding mentioned to her as he entered and flipped on the lights.

"I figured I did, but it's good to know. Thanks." Kess said appreciatively.

Redding smiled and motioned around the room. "Well, here we are. Feel free to browse."

Kess stepped through the door. The room wasn't incredibly large, but had a lot of weapons packed in there. A wide assortment was hanging up and lining the wall-to-wall shelves: knives and machetes, uzis, shotguns, revolvers, police-issue handguns, tasers, even trank guns. Kess was intrigued and closely examined the many weapons.

"Wow…is there anything you don't have here?" She asked incredulously, as she eyed a portable rocket launcher propped in one corner.

Redding smirked. "Not much. We even have a lot of…shall we say, less sophisticated weapons. You know, the kinds that aren't showy, but quite effective in certain situations." He lifted a blackjack in one hand and a pair of brass knuckles in the other as he said this.

Kess laughed. "I think I'll pass on those. I'll leave the gorilla jobs to Sam."

Redding grinned and put down the weapons. "That's the route I would take, too."

Kess looked around for a few more minutes and then said, "It looks like I have a lot of choices. Let's hear what you recommend first."

Redding rubbed his hands together. "Alright. Your advantage is that you're small and quick. You can fit into places that Sam can't, and do some things a bit faster than him. Because of this, I don't want to fit you with anything that's going to give you unnecessary bulk. Sam can sling around the SC-20K pretty well, but I think it would be a bit more cumbersome for you – correct me if I'm wrong."

"You're right," Kess agreed. "I can use it effectively, of course, but it is a rather large weapon for me."

"Ok then. In that case, I would suggest the SC pistol, 5.7 ammo – this is the same kind that Sam uses. Small, versatile – it has an optional laser sight as well as an OCP jammer – and quiet." He picked one up off the shelf and held it up to display the fitted suppressor.

"I'll take it," said Kess.

"Done," Redding comfirmed. He put the gun aside. "Now, in the event that you run out of ammo or the gun becomes jammed, you want to have a backup. See any knives you like?"

Kess looked over at the knives. "I've always had a soft spot for Ka-Bars. Especially ones with a partial serration."

"Good choice," Redding said, lifting a Ka-Bar in its sheath off the wall and setting it with the pistol. "Sam actually uses a Ka-Bar as well, but his blade choice is smooth. Well, that's really all I had in mind for you. Anything else you'd like?"

Kess scratched her chin for a moment, thinking. "I don't suppose…nah."

"What? Come on, don't be shy." Redding prompted her.

Kess looked a little embarrassed, but asked, "I've had a little Ninjitsu training in the past…I don't suppose you'd have any shruiken?"

"Do I!" Redding exclaimed with a grin. He grabbed a box off one shelf and opened it to display an assortment of throwing stars inside.

Kess laughed. "You really do have everything! Set me up."

"Can do," Redding assured her. He put the box aside, then looked at his watch. "Oh, Lambert also wanted me to tell you. There's another meeting-slash-briefing in about 10 minutes from now. We might as well head down there."

Kess nodded and stepped outside into the hall, waiting for Redding as he turned off the lights and made sure the door was locked. He then led the way to the meeting room.

When they arrived, Grim and Sam were already there. Sam was slouching in his seat, absentmindedly pulling at a loose thread on the neckline of his shirt. Grim was typing away at her laptop as usual. "Come and have a seat, guys," She said without looking up. "Lambert's just getting us some coffees. He'll be back in a minute."

Redding sat down beside Sam, and Kess chose to sit beside Grim. As she sat down, Sam briefly looked up from his thread at her. Kess gave him a little smile. Sam just stared at her for a moment, expressionless, and then went back to fiddling with his shirt.

Interacting with him is a little like Russian Roulette, she thought with slight amusement. You never know if you're gonna get an empty chamber or a bullet.

Presently Lambert entered, carrying a tray of coffees. He set it in the center of the round table and said, "I wasn't sure what everyone likes, so I just got them each with one cream and one sugar."

Everyone nodded their acceptance and reached out to grab a coffee. Kess wrapped her hands around the warm paper cup and commented, "Doesn't matter to me, as long as it's coffee."

"Now there's someone who's easy to please," Lambert said. "Ok then, now that we've all got our caffeine fix, let's get down to business. Will, did you get a chance to go over everything with Kess?"

"I did," Redding affirmed. "Her loadout will be ready to go in the morning."

"Excellent," Lambert said. "If you could, Grim, could you show us what the plan of action is?"

"Certainly," Grim said. She clicked her mouse a few times, then turned her laptop around so that everyone could see the screen, then shifted over so she could look around the side of the screen. On the display was a simple, gridlike drawing of a bulding. The main structure was green, but some areas were shown in other colours. Grim pointed to a series of red lines at the top of the structure. "Insertion will be on the roof. There's a door that leads to attic space up there, and then inside the building. It seems that the uppermost level is storage and very rarely accessed. There's a small pump house on the roof that should be suitable for Sam and Kess to sleep in. The pump house is almost never accessed unless something breaks. That possibility exists, so make sure you keep the door locked behind you when you're in there. Kess, you and Sam will both have PDA devices with you that you can access the building map with. We have a remote satellite link that will display your current location within the building as well."

Kess nodded.

Grim went on. "Kess, we've had a sneaking suit made to your measurements, as posted in your file. You'll have a pouch belt to carry rations and other necessities. The suit is water-resistant, so if you encounter any wet environments you should remain mostly dry. You'll find it in your room when you return. All equipment you need will be ready in the Osprey tomorrow. Please put your suit on first thing tomorrow."

Kess nodded again. Grim looked over to Sam. "Sam, is there anything you want to add?"

Sam shook his head.

"Well, then. Lambert?"

"Thanks, Grim. Okay, that's that, then. You're all dismissed for the day. I suggest you turn in early tonight, as you'll need to be up for 0400. You'll be on the Osprey by 0430 and ETA for insertion will be around 0500. Any questions?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Very well. See you all tomorrow." He began to straighten up the pile of paper he'd brought with him as everyone stood up and started to leave, then he said, "Oh, Kess?"

Kess turned around and looked at him expectantly.

"I thought you'd like to know that we have a pool just beside the gym. I go for a swim sometimes to wind down – I don't know if you like to swim but I thought I'd mention it, in case you wanted to take a dip and relax before the mission."

"I would, actually. Thanks," Kess said. I think I need to more kick some frustration out than relax. I'll probably sleep better afterwards.

She went back to her apartment and finished her coffee before digging her swimsuit out of her drawer. It was the style of suit that Olympic swimmers wear – Kess had preferred that style ever since a harrowing incident as a teenager, when she had dived into a busy public pool in a bikini and her top had come off.

She found a clean towel and headed for the gym area. A bit down the hall from the large double doors was another door marked "Pool", leaving little room for doubt. She pushed through it into a split corridor that signaled the men's changeroom to the left and the women's to the right. Kess went in the appropriate direction. The room was completely empty. There were lockers but she had no lock with her, and she wasn't too worried about her stuff since nobody was there, so she changed and put her things in an empty locker, and went into the pool area.

Kess stepped through the door into the pool room and looked around. The pool was fairly large and looked very clean. There was some Muzak playing softly over the speakers, but no one was around. This is kinda nice, she thought. She walked around the edge of the pool to the deep end and dove in. She surfaced and did a butterfly stroke to the other end of the pool. When she reached it, she took a moment to catch her breath, then turned over and did the backstroke back to her starting point. She repeated this a few times, going as fast as she could. On about her fifth lap, as she was backstroking, she suddenly blundered into something. What the…? She turned around to see Sam treading water behind her.

"Oh, it's you," She said, not bothering to hide the dismay in her voice at having her alone time interrupted by him. Where'd he come from?

"Glad to see you too," Sam remarked sarcastically, but with a grin.

Kess hadn't seen him bare-chested before and couldn't help but notice that he had a very nice build. His muscles were noticeable enough through his clothes, but now she could really see how solid his pecs and biceps were. He had broad shoulders and a well-defined sixpack as well. He had a bit of hair in the center of his chest, some of which was graying, and a darker trail of hair that began below his navel and disappeared under the waistband of his shorts. She realized she was staring at him and quickly looked away, frogswam over to the ladder and climbed out.

"Leaving already?" Sam asked.

"No. Just taking a rest." Kess said. She wasn't about to let Sam drive her away, and this was a good opportunity to catch her breath. She bent down to touch her toes to ease her thighs and calves, which were becoming a bit tight from the effort of kicking. She looked up momentarily, and to her horror saw that Sam was staring with fascination down the front of her suit.

Kess straightened up and shot a withering look at Sam. "Enjoying the view?" She asked condescendingly.

Sam was unfazed by her attempt to shame him. "Nice rack," he replied.

Oh Jesus. I didn't realize it was possible to be repulsed and flattered at the same time. Kess moved behind a bin of floats to obscure his view, and still standing, bent over backwards and placed her palms on the floor, making an arch shape with her body, and stayed like that for a moment to stretch her abs.

Sam paddled a little further down the pool so he could see her better. "Damn, you're flexible. Even I can't do that." He commented.

Kess straightened up and glared at him. "Did you come here to exercise, or pester me?" She demanded.

Sam said nothing, only grinned at her.

Kess rolled her eyes and did a few more stretches, completely ignoring Sam, before jumping back into the pool. When she resurfaced, Sam was right in front of her.

"Christ, Sam, will you leave me alone?" She asked in exasperation. She began to sidestroke to the other end. Sam followed along beside her. Kess swam as quickly as she could, but he was more muscular and faster, and had no trouble keeping up with her. She reached the other end and grabbed onto the edge for a moment to catch her breath. Sam glided up beside her and said, "You look good in that swimsuit."

Kess glanced at him suspiciously, waiting for the backhanded part of the compliment, but he had a sincere expression and didn't say anything else. She dropped her gaze to the water, blushing a little. "Thank you," She mumbled.

She heard Sam lift his arm out of the water and then looked back up at him in surprise as she suddenly felt his hand gently touch her cheek. "You're…" he began softly.

Kess blinked a few times, waiting for him to finish whatever he was saying, but he didn't.

Instead, Sam stared at her for a moment, then bent down until his lips were just brushing her neck. He slowly moved down, along her shoulder, then back up, not kissing, but his lips were always just barely brushing her skin. What is he doing? Kess was bewildered, but was actually finding his actions very arousing. She could feel his warm exhalations of breath on her. Instinctively, she wanted to back away, but whatever it was he was doing felt so nice.

Then, just like that, Sam turned away and began swimming laps. Kess stared after him, confused. He reached the opposite side, then turned around and came back. Before reaching the edge, he stopped and glared at her. "I need to do my laps now. Could you move to a different lane?"

Aaaaaand there's Mr. Hyde, Kess thought indignantly. She glared back at him and decided she'd rather just leave. She swam over to the ladder and climbed out. Before she entered the changeroom, she looked back at him over her shoulder. He was continuing to swim with no notice of her.


Chapter 9 coming soon!