Heart of Fire, Chapter Three – Captain Jade

By Lucky Racer

Sitting in her large and perfectly square cubicle at the headquarters of section 13, Jade stared wistfully at the bottom of her coffee cup, wishing desperately that it would refill itself. "A long, bad, boring morning" wouldn't even come close to describing the day that she was having; which included her first cup of coffee being spilled all over her lap. I won't go into detail of the other things that went wrong. Jade's co-workers seemed to understand that she was in a bad mood, steering clear of her at all costs, especially when she blew up at Thomas for "humming too loud while walking by my office", as Jade put it.

Jade would never admit it even to herself, but perhaps a certain Dragon Demon had caused part of her bad mood. Drago had been particularly sly as of recent. He seemed to always be able to avoid the Section 13 slammer, even though Jade had been so close last time. So close, in fact, that she had resolved that next time she saw him, Jade would smack him upside his thick head and give him a taste of a maximum security cell that had been calling his name for more than ten years.

A soft 'clink' snapped Jade back to the present, it was the sound of her door being opened. Immediately she soured – who did that person think they were, busting in on her?

She saw a mop of black hair poke through the door, and then a head. It was Marcos, her friend from another division of Section 13. She paused to study him… he looked eager and excited… he must have good news.

Marcos walked fully into her office and smiled at Jade. "I have big news."

Jade cocked an eyebrow at him. "Usually, people don't intrude on me while I'm working, so, yes, I hoped you'd have something important to say…"

He grinned, showing off perfectly white teeth. "Always the impatient one, weren't you, Jade?"

She scowled – everyone said that to her.

Marcos seemed to notice her bad mood, and continued, "Captain Black has stepped down from his position at Section 13. Jackie and Uncle are both too old to take his place, so he names you the new Captain. I'm sure you must be very excited, of course; but do try to remember that it's a big responsibility. You have different priorities than Mr. Black, but I think you'll do fine anyway."

Jade's eyed widened as she took in this information. It brightened up her horrible day instantly. Now, catching Drago didn't look too far off. Jade was so happy that she got up out of her chair and kissed Marcos on the cheek, beaming.

"A kiss from Jade Chan? Are you cracking, new Captain?" Marcos asked, surprised and happy at the same time.

"Far from it," She replied enthusiastically.

Not much more then a millisecond later, a red alert communication box popped up on her computer screen. Gasping, Marcos and Jade ran over to her desk check it. It was Mr. Black, wearing his usual dark suit and red shirt. His weathered, wrinkly face had deep worry etches on them, which made him look even older than he was, if that was possible.

"Captain Jade… err... Chan? Which would you prefer?" He asked her.

"Jade is fine," the new Captain answered proudly.

"Anyway, we have a red alert. A party of four is closing in on Section 13, and moving fast. They're believed to have the shadowkhan with them," He replied with a hint of sarcasm. "Sound familiar?"

Her eyes hardened."Drago,"Jadesaid, her breath catching.

A/n: I know, not very long, but expect more soon! I'm starting to type the next chapter right away :D Please R&R this story right now, if you've read it. It doesn't take that much time or thought, but gives me improvements and great suggestions. Thanks in advance!

Kudos to all my lovely R&Rers :)

Until next time,
Lucky