Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or its characters. All rights go to Richelle Mead.

"Meredith's been sent in."

My head snapped up at the words. They came from Eddie who leant against my door frame.

"What?" I asked stupidly.

"May I come in?" he asked.

Rolling my eyes, I nodded. Always the polite one. He walked in and took a seat across me

"I came in early this mor-"

"-Of course you did," I muttered. Eddie was extremely committed to this job and whilst I applauded his love for the FBI, I had yet to feel as much passion as him. That was probably because he didn't his mother breathing down his neck. That or that he actually chose this life for himself.

Ignoring me, he continued. "-ning. I head Croft, your mom and Alto talking. Apparently, the assessed Meredith yesterday and she's working her way in today – hey, speaking of which, did you get assessed?"

"No," I shook my head. "Why? Did you? Did Mason?"

"No, and that's the weird thing. They were only assessing people for like four hours before they called it a day. They would have only managed to assess, what? Like five people? If this assignment is so important, why are they rushing into this?"

I sat up straighter and frowned. He had a good point.

"Maybe she was really convincing?" I suggested, not even managing to convince myself. Don't get wrong, Meredith was a good agent - she had to be to work for the FBI – but she had a more hands-on approach to her work. She wasn't someone that I'd recommend for undercover work. Give her a gun and she'd have on the floor in a pool of your own blood before you could blink; but asking her to lie and sneak around for an undetermined amount of time? Yeah, I wouldn't bet on it.

"Meredith? Really? You and I both know she's not undercover material. She's never worked undercover before – how the hell is she meant to spend every day working for these people without cracking? I once asked her to guard my lunch from Mason while I went to the bathroom and when I got back all my food was gone," he told me.

"She's not a security guard, Eddie," I pointed out.

"No," he agreed. "But when I asked her where it all went, she turned red and told me that in the three minutes I was gone, she got really hungry. She told me she ate it when Mason was sitting right next to her with my drumstick halfway in his mouth. I'm telling you, Rose, that girl cannot lie for the life of her."

"She may have to," I said grimly. None of us really knew what we were up against with this 'Zmey'. Meredith literally may have to lie for her life.

"My point is, they're being hasty. There are quite a few people here who are better suited for this job. I just can't believe they sent her in without assessing the rest of us," he shook his head, his light brown hair flopping into his eyes.

"You need a haircut," I told him absentmindedly. "It must be pretty urgent if they've already dispatched her. It's the only reason I can think off," I told him.

"They're just handling things so weirdly and they won't even tell us why! I mean, what was the deal with that thing about sending multiple people in? What kind of person risks an operation and agents lives by sending in so many people? Everyone knows that the more people you send in, the riskier it gets!" Eddie yelled. I flinched a little but I didn't blame him. Eddie lived and breathed his work – I could understand why he was frustrated.

"Look," he began, calmer. "Could you maybe speak to your mom? Ask her a bit more about it?"

"Do you not know who my mom is?" I asked incredulously. "Eddie, she won't tell me shit."

"Could you at least try?"

I sighed and rubbed my forehead in agitation. No, I really didn't want to try. I didn't want to speak to Janine for a second longer than I had to but Eddie was good friend and if our roles were reversed, he would have done it for me.

"Fine," I groaned. "I'll speak to the beast but you're buying me lunch."

"Deal," he smiled. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet. Thank me if she actually tells me something useful."

"Who was right? I was right! The fucking bitch wouldn't tell me anything!" I huffed as I stormed into the office Eddie and Mason shared.

Two sets of eyes moved to my face and I froze. One set were amber and most definitely belonged to Eddie. The other were a dull brown and most definitely did not belong to Mason.

Fuck!

Oh well. Too late to take it back. Better play it classic Hathaway style – charming, bold and funny.

"Special Agent Croft," I smiled sweetly at Hans. "I didn't know you'd be conducting interviews in our own offices. I thought it'd be more formal, you know like facing a disciplinary committee. You, Janine, Agent Alto all sitting at like a greater height and interrogating us. I can see that I was wrong. What's that smell? Oh my goodness, are you guys having Thai?!" And sure enough, they were. 'Thai-time' takeout containers rested between the two on Eddie's desk.

"Why would we resemble a disciplinary committee, Agent Hathaway? You are all grown, capable adults. Are you telling me otherwise?" he didn't look impressed at all. Before I could answer he continued. "Now if you'll excuse us, we're in the middle of something."

Oh, right. Eddie's assessment. I'd almost forgotten that that was what I'd walked into. I was pretty sure I'd hear from Eddie about that later.

"Oh right, my bad," I laughed as I moved in closer to the desk. Croft frowned at me, probably because he'd pretty much just asked me to leave and Eddie gave me a what-the-hell look. I grinned at them both before swooping up one of the 'Thai-time' containers and booking it for the door.

"You did say you'd buy me lunch!" I sang over my shoulder before hightailing it.