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This chapter is a bit shorter but I hope you still like it anyway.
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Chapter
3
The Swan Headquarters
Washington, D.C.
4:58 PM
After an exhausting training session in The Swan mission field simulator, Derek showered and was ready to go home and take out his aggression on a delicious homemade sandwich, hold the tomatoes.
He'd just left the shower room wearing a fresh change of clothes and damp reddish-brown hair sticking to his face when he bumped into something hard.
"Sorry, Derek. I didn't see you there." Benjamin Blake apologized, placing a hand on his shoulder to steady him.
"You going to tell on me for that too?" Derek growled sarcastically and pulled away from his grasp.
Ben let out a sigh and looked the former hockey player in the eyes, "Look, man, I had nothing to do with you getting suspended. Yeah, I was pissed at your behavior the other night but I didn't go to Inez about it."
"Then how would she know everything that happened on the mission?"
"Our whole mission gets recorded and sent back to headquarters, Derek. We learnt this in our first week of training."
"That was two years ago."
"They also remind us before every mission." Ben replied with a very unimpressed facial expression. He crossed his arms against his broad chest and shook his head with a sigh. "You know what, Derek; I think Inez was right putting you back into training. You're obviously not cut out for the field yet."
"Oh, of course you take her side!"
"I don't doubt you have the skills to make it as a spy but you lack conviction, Venturi. You need to get your head out of the clouds and really start focusing."
"That's easy for you to say. You've been a spy for years. Your mind was built for this kind of job. Everyone loves Agent Benjamin Blake!" Derek scoffed loudly, not caring who overheard their conversation.
"Would you just take it easy? What's gotten into you? You and I have become good friends over the past couple of years. Hell, we're even roommates, Venturi! You've never spoken like this before."
Derek shook his head with a wave of his hand and turned to leave, "Just forget it. I'm hungry and I'm exhausted. See you whenever."
"Derek, talk to me, man."
"You better get back to work, or they'll miss you."
Ben chose not to go after him and let whatever was eating at him go for the moment. They would be discussing it later though, even if he had to beat it out of him, and he would; Derek was still no fighter when it came to him. For now, he'd let him go home, get some food into his stomach and sleep. The guy needed it.
"Ben?" A familiar and sweet voice that the handsome secret agent knew all too well called out from down the hall.
"Hey." Benjamin replied as he turned to the voice and saw his girlfriend, the woman he'd fallen madly in love with over the past couple of years, approach him with a concerned look upon her beautiful face.
"I just ran into Derek and he completely shoved me off, without so much as a glance. He's really taking this suspension hard, isn't he?" Karma said with a shake of her head, her golden blonde hair falling across her face and shadowing her light blue eyes.
"I think it's more than that."
"What do you think it could be?"
"I don't know. Has Casey said anything?"
"Not that I can recall. Her mind has been so wrapped up in this case, and it's about to get worse."
"What do you mean?"
She tucked some of her hair back behind her ear as she spoke, "She talked with Taiki and apparently The Collective want something from him. It has to do with his brain."
"The kid from Japan is a link to The Collective? How is that possible? Can we even trust him?"
"Casey seems to think so. He wants the agencyto undergo some tests on his head to see if they can figure out what happened to him when he was a kid. He thinks it has something to do with them."
"Where is Casey now?"
"Taiki demanded that the tests be done at once and asked Casey to stay with him."
"They've already begun?"
"Yes, that's why I came to find you. Olivia insisted we be there as well."
"What does she think we'll find?'
"I'm not sure, but she isn't taking this lightly, especially since it involves The Collective."
"Let's head over to the medical lab now." He said and grabbed her hand. "I have a feeling there's more to this about to unfold."
(=)
Medical Wing
5:33 PM
Casey watched with rapid interest from behind a large rectangular window, which was actually a two-way mirror from the other side, as The Swan's best doctor, a handsome Irish man in his late thirties, continued to scan Taiki's brain for any signs of something unusual or misplaced. The twenty-one year old Japanese man sat down on what resembled a dentist's chair while a blue light shone down from a machine in the ceiling and circled his head. A hologram image appeared in front of the doctor showing the inside of Taiki's brain, even naming each individual part of it.
"That's some impressive tech." Ben spoke from beside her. "Has the Agency thought of introducing it to hospitals and other agencies?" He turned and asked Olivia Inez, who was also watching the examination intently.
"No one even knows we exist, Agent Blake. What our scientists and inventors create stays here for our use only."
"But don't you think that kind of thing could benefit the whole world?"
"Don't we benefit the whole world?"
"Well yeah, but…"
"Ms. Inez, I have discovered something," Dr. Shepherd interrupted from inside the examination room through the speaker on the wall. Casey had to admit that hearing his accent always caused a pleasant tingle to run down her spine. There was just something about a man with an accent that drove any woman wild.
Too bad Derek doesn't have an accent. She thought to herself with a slight smirk. He's lucky I love him anyway.
Olivia pressed a button to reply, "What is it?"
"Come and take a look."
"Is everything alright? What did you find? I knew there was something wrong with me!" Taiki spoke hurriedly with a fearful look on his face.
"Agent McDonald, you better come with me." Olivia told Casey, snapping her out of her thoughts, as she opened the door to enter the room. "I need you to keep him calm while the doctor explains what he found."
Casey nodded and followed her boss into the examination room, closing the door behind her where Benjamin and Karma would continue to listen through the speaker box and watch through the window.
"Casey," Taiki perked up immediately when he saw her. "I knew something was wrong, I just knew it."
She took the young man's hand in hers and squeezed it reassuringly to calm his nerves, "Don't worry, Taiki. Just let Dr. Shepherd explain. We'll figure this out."
He nodded anxiously and gripped her hand tightly in apprehension.
Dr. Shepherd focused the blue image of Taiki's brain on a tiny red speck in the centre. He zoomed in with his hands and pulled it out. The computer couldn't identify what exactly it was as orange letters were displayed across the screen reading: Unknown Integrated Circuit.
"What does that mean?" Casey asked.
"It means there's a chip in my head." Taiki answered with wide eyes before the doctor could open his mouth.
"A chip? How did a chip get inside your head?"
Dr. Shepherd replied, "According to the scan, I found a scar on the back of Mr. Kaito's head. If I am correct, the chip had been injected into his brain at a very young age."
"Can it be removed?" Olivia asked.
"I am afraid not," the doctor shook his head sympathetically. "It seems to be a part of his brain now. If we removed it, Mr. Kaito would surely die."
"But what does it do?" Casey questioned.
"We would have to do some extensive tests in order to even know what it is, let alone what it can do."
"Do you think they did this to me; The Collective?" Taiki asked with a grimace as he gripped Casey's hand so tightly that she winced in pain.
"I don't know, but I can assure you, Mr. Kaito, that we intend to find out." Olivia said. "For now, we will have you staying here in our living quarters while I assemble a team of highly qualified people to gain knowledge of what that chip inside your head is capable of."
"So I'm a prisoner here?"
"No, you are a guest that will be taken good care of."
"You will be safe here, Taiki." Casey assured him with a smile.
"I don't even know where here is."
"And it's best that you don't." Olivia replied. "We have examined your brain, just as you asked, Mr. Kaito; I hope you will stick to our agreement about the file."
"I can give it to you right now if you have a computer handy."
Ben entered the room with a laptop in his hands and handed it to Taiki, "Here you go."
"Thanks."
They all watched in fascination as Taiki began typing rapidly on the keyboard, recording data, dates, times, and places all from his memory. Even Ben was astonished.
"There are some pictures too. I can draw them if you'd like." The young Japanese man said when he finished typing.
Dr. Shepherd handed him a notebook and a pen from the counter and again they all watched with eyes wide and jaws ajar as he began sketching out very detailed pictures of people and buildings, including written facts and equations underneath them.
"Even I can't do that." Ben admitted with a shake of his head.
"That's all of it. File 74235C6, or at least all that I have."
"How did you get this information in the first place?" Casey asked.
"I don't know." He shrugged. "It was just in there. When I saw you typing it out on Kimiru's laptop in search of it, it suddenly just appeared in my head. I can't explain it. It's just always been like that for me. I'll see a name of a place or the title of a book and know everything about it in minutes. It's like it gets downloaded to my brain."
"No wonder The Collective wants you. You may very well be just what we need to take them down once and for all."
"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Kaito." Olivia said as she shook the young man's hand. "With this information, we will be able to find the people responsible for your past."
"I hope so."
"For now, you should get some rest." The redhead turned to address Ben who was still staring at Taiki's drawings in wonder. "Agent Blake, will you please see to it that Mr. Kaito makes it to his new living arrangements with no problems?"
"Of course." Ben nodded.
"And Agent McDonald, I'd like a private word with you in my office as soon as you are ready." Olivia said to Casey before collecting the laptop and drawings and disappearing through the exit.
The young agent's stomach dropped at those words. Somehow, she knew everything was about to change.
(=)
Women's Living Quarters
9:42 PM
Derek paced back and forth in front of Casey and Karma's dorm room door impatiently. He'd been waiting for his girlfriend to return home for hours now and she still hadn't.
When the team joined The Swan, one of the many regulations they were to follow was that they stay in the living quarters assigned to them. All agents were required to live there while working for the covert agency. It kept them close in case there was an emergency mission and made it easier for them to train. The men and women's dorms were separate, unless you were married, so Casey and Karma shared a place and Derek and Ben shared another, despite Derek's protests about wanting his own space.
The dorms resembled a two-bedroom apartment, complete with furniture and appliances, so it wasn't too horrible living at the headquarters, however Derek needed to get away sometimes and inhale some much-needed fresh air. Living underground in close quarters wasn't exactly paradise either.
They were of course allowed to spend holidays such as Christmas with their loved ones, but even that special time was short-lived due to the urgency of their job. Derek had to admit that he missed his family. Seeing them for a few days out of the year was definitely not enough. His younger siblings were growing up and his father was even starting to bald. He was missing it all. Yes, the world needed them, but so did the Venturi-McDonalds.
How does Casey do it? He wondered with a frown. She's been living this kind of life for six years now and never complains. I've only been a spy for two and am already falling apart.
"Derek?"
The distraught man spun around at the sound of his name and saw the woman of his thoughts approaching down the narrow hall towards him. She looked exhausted and he could tell something was bothering her by the crease in her forehead and the way she bit her bottom lip nervously.
"Hey, Case, where have you been all evening?"
"Olivia needed to speak to me."
"Is everything alright?"
"I…" She hesitated and then shook her head. "I just need some sleep. It's been a long day."
"You sure that's it?"
"Yes, Der. I'm fine."
He frowned and noticed she continued to look anywhere but at him as she spoke.
"Casey, I can tell when something is eating at you. You're great at masking your emotions on the field, but not when it comes to family, and I know I'm technically not on the case anymore, but if there's something I should know…"
"What about you?" She interrupted, obviously trying to change the subject. "Ben told me about your conversation earlier, or lack thereof."
Derek groaned and rubbed the back of his neck, looking at her remorsefully, "I didn't mean to get so angry with Ben. He's my friend and I had no right blaming him for my suspension. I was just so pissed and lashed out."
"But it's more than that… isn't it? You've been acting like a child the past few days, always whining and complaining and refusing to acknowledge orders given to you. You want to know what's bothering me? Well I want to know what's bothering you."
"I just…" Derek's shoulders slumped forward as he struggled with the right words to say. "I sound like such a girl when I say this…" He groaned, "but I… I miss you."
"You see me everyday."
"It's not the same. We hardly ever get time to be alone here, or go out on a date because there's always another mission, or more training for us to do. And now, with my suspension, I'm going to be seeing even less of you."
Casey smiled at his honesty; it took a lot for Derek to admit his feelings to her even after being together for two and half years. She also grimaced inwardly at the dreadful irony she now faced. Instead of answering him, the young woman grabbed her boyfriend by the scruff of his collar and kissed him passionately, showing him how much he truly meant to her.
"Whoa! I wasn't expecting that." Derek smirked when she reluctantly pulled away. "Not that I'm complaining."
"Derek, there's something I have to tell you."
"There's something I have to tell you too." He replied as he pulled her in for another kiss. "I love you so much, Case, and I don't want to live with Ben anymore. He's a great guy, but I don't want him to be the first face I see every morning; I want it to be yours."
"Derek…"
"I know this is by far not how you've imagined it and it's definitely not a romantic setting but I have to get this out of my system before I combust…" He said and began to get down on one knee.
"Derek, wait…"
"Casey McDonald, will you mar…"
"I'm leaving for six months!" Casey suddenly shouted.
The former hockey star was caught off guard as he shook his head and stood slowly to his feet, "What… What do you mean?"
Casey pinched the bridge of her nose and bit her bottom lip as she stared down at her feet. This was so not how she wanted this conversation to go.
"Casey, speak to me. What are you talking about?"
She finally looked up into his eyes as her sapphire blue orbs misted over with tears, "I'm going undercover as an assassin in The Collective."
Please Review your thoughts or theories or just anything at all! I'd love to hear from you!