here's chapter 1!


Chapter 1: Agent Hino Meets Agent Yuy


Natalia rearranged her auburn hair on her head. Suddenly, the door to her office slid open and she looked up and saw Rei come in.

"Good morning, Agent Hino. How are you?"

Rei scowled a bit. "Okay, I guess. You called?"

Natalia raised an eyebrow. "When I phoned you, I expected you to answer."

"I screen calls. So what?"

Natalia sighed, gathering her wavy auburn hair into a bun. "Well, you're going to answer the phone in your room, from now on."

Rei didn't answer her boss. Instead, she went on to say, "Well? Why did call me down here?"

"To give you your first assignment."

"What? I thought I was supposed to get training."

Natalia's lips curled slyly. "Well, then you were wrong. Have a seat," she said, motioning to the chairs facing her desk.

Rei tucked her short skirt under her as she sat down on the blue upholstered chair. She tucked her long hair behind her ear and watched Natalia, who began clicking away on her keyword, her thin brows slightly furrowed in concentration. The sound of the door sliding open startled Rei as she turned around to see a young man walk through.

His brownhair was unkempt and he had such deep blue eyes, one could get lost in them. Rei looked away. She certainly didn't want to get lost in them.

"Ah, Agent Yuy, I was expecting you."

He gave a slight grunt and settled himself in the chair next to Rei's. He gave a short glance toward Rei. She has really long hair, he thought. And that was as far as his distractive thoughts took him.

"Agent Hino," Natalia declared, "this is Agent Heero Yuy. And Agent Yuy," Natalia continued, indicating Rei, "this is Agent Rei Hino. You are two of the four agents I have recruited for Starks. I must make myself clear, here. I do not accept inappropriate conduct or laziness. You must always keep the mission at hand clear in your mind. Starks is not the place for you to pursue your personal endeavours; it is a place where skills are honed and crime is fought. I expect cooperation and respect."

She reached over to the side counter and reached for a packet of sugar. "You two are assigned partners," she added, dumping the contents of the white paper packet into her coffee. "You will complete all missions together. Understood?" she asked, raising her head and eyeing them through their glasses. She had her suspicions putting those two together, but from her research and observation, she was pretty sure that they would work well together.

"Understood," Rei said. This guy was, admittedly, kind of cute and mysterious. He didn't seem like the kind who would talk much, but she could deal with that.

Natalia faced Heero, prompting an answer from him. All she got was a grunt. But she took it as a yes and focussed on her now, less bitter coffee. Setting down the mug, she opened the middle drawer on her filing cabinet and pulled out a folder. She placed it on the desk.

Rei tentatively leaned over and opened the folder. It was their first assignment.

"Agents Hino and Yuy are to recover a missing piece of Emilio Case. A set of important documents has been reported missing from the vaults of Exeter Corporation that contained classified information on Casey Emilio," it read. Rei shifted a little. Heero leaned a little closer, but awkwardly far from her. Reiwent on reading.

"Um, Miss Hernandez?" Rei asked.

"Yes, Agent Hino?" Natalia answered.

"It says that we are to be provided with communicators?"

"Oh yes..."

Natalia reached down and opened a drawer of her desk and produced two shiny, black-painted, communicators. Rei took one and weighed it in her hand. It was the size of her cell phone. She flipped the top and examined it. It really did look like a cell phone.

Heero reached for his. He could probably hack into it later with his laptop and fish out some more details on Starks and the Emilio Case. His thoughts were interrupted by Natalia's voice:

"These have tracking chips in them. That way the Agency knows where you are and you know where each other is. Also, do not let anyone else use your communicator. It only responds to you. And always use this when dealing with Agency business. These are connected to a protected network which prevents anybody, including the government to tap into it. I think you'll grow attached to these gadgets," the woman said, showing her first warm smile since the two agents got there. "Now," she said, changing her tone abruptly, "if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do."

At that, the two agents got up and exited Natalia's office.


Outside, they made their way down the hall. Heero laid his hand on the identification panel outside his room and the door to his room slid open. He walked. Rei stood at the doorway and kept the door open with her hand.

"Do you mind if I come in?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Heero turned and gave a slight shake of a head and Rei stepped into his room.

As Heero booted up his computer, Rei settled herself on the lower bunk of his bed.

"You really, don't talk much do you?"

Heero grunted.

The girl tossed her communicator from hand to hand. She racked her brain for small talk.

"So, do you like your room?"

Heero grunted again.

"I think mine's too drab and boring. So I decorated it. I think it looks better with some colour." She paused. "Why don't you decorate yours?"

Heero grunted yet again.

Rei was out of patience, even though it hadn't been very long since she knew this guy.

"You know you really have to start talking, you know. How the hell do you expect me to understand all your stupid grunts?" she demanded, standing with her hands on her hips.

"You're understanding them fine," Heero replied dryly, not bothering to turn from his laptop.

"Excuse me? I don't understand anything! Just talk! And get used to it, 'cause we're partners now."

"Fine."

Rei sighed. Half giving up, she settled back down on the mattress and started to explore her communicator. She went through all the obnoxious ring tones, blaring them loudly in the silence of the room. When she got bored she got up again and stood beside Heero.

He had his communicator plugged into his computer and was hacking into the system.

"Are you sure we're allowed to do that?"

No answer.

"Answer me."

Heero shrugged. He didn't understand this girl. She was very demanding. She was very bossy. And he didn't really want to talk.Yet she was egging him to talk. He didn't want to be egged into doing anything. But he felt like needed to say something, which was totally out of his stoic, reserved nature. So, he added a "Don't know, don't care."

She raised her perfectly shaped eyebrow at him again and hunched over his desk. "Then let's work on the case," she suggested, considering that they were in Starks' mainframe anyway. She decided that they might as well dig around a bit. If Natalia ever found out, she wouldn't get into trouble, Heero would.


Inside her office, Natalia smiled. They were an eager pair, alright. They were already down to business. Her instincts about this pairing were confirmed. They would work out.