Shadows of Yesterday
CHAPTER FIVE: (UN)FAMILIAR FACES
After Caleb had left, Duo and Sam merely spent several minutes just staring at each other. Finally, Duo twitched—and they both broke down laughing, for reasons as of yet unknown.
"That," Duo gasped as he finally gained control of his laughter. "Went a lot better than expected."
"Can't agree more," Sam replied as he also gained control of his laughter. "Do you think they'll all be—"
He was cut off as Duo's hand abruptly covered his mouth, as the braided man shushed him. "Don't say it!" he hissed. "You'll jinx it!"
Sam nodded, wide eyed, and Duo removed his hand.
"So," he said conversationally, "Who's next?"
Sam leaned forward over the table, plucking a file from the stack sitting their. "Hmmm..." he murmured as he flipped it open. "Looks like it's a woman, and her name is..."
"Summer Hyden!" a voice from the doorway screeched, and both of them froze.
"Please don't tell me..." Duo whispered in horror, and Sam nodded, a similar expression on his face. "Oh god."
Slowly, ever so slowly, they turned to face the doorway. The sight that met them was just as terrible as they imagined.
Someone had obviously made a serious—actually, several serious errors with Summer's file. The woman in front of them was nothing like the calm, smart, well-trained agent the file had portrayed Summer Hyden to be.
Her hair—brown in her ID photo—was a bright, dyed platinum blonde, her face a caked mess of makeup. Her nails were long, sharp, and painted bright red; and finally, the feature that took the proverbial cake—
She was dressed in pink. Bright, neon pink.
Entirely dressed in bright, neon, pink.
Duo's first thought was, Even Relena has more fashion sense than that, and she wears practically the same thing!
Sam, unfortunately, had not had the exposure to the lesser-known monstrosities that the female gender were apparently capable of, that Duo had. His eyes were glazed and distant, his mouth slack.
"So...much...pink..." he whispered.
Duo nodded.
Finally, they gained enough coherency to actually speak. One look at each other was enough to confirm their thoughts.
"Ah, yes, Miss Hyden," Duo said, as politely as he could manage given the circumstances. "You are here because of the job offer, yes?"
"Like, duh," she said, examining her nails as she flopped gracelessly into one of the chairs. "So, like, what is it? Do we get paid a lot of money? Why am I talking to you two, anyways? Lady Une said I was meeting with Commanders Maxwell and Tahary, which you two obviously aren't. So where are they?"
"Actually, Miss Hyden," Sam said frigidly, having recovered from his surprise. "We are the commanders. I am Tahary, and he is Maxwell. And I believe we both agree when I say that we won't be requiring your services, today or any other day. Thank you for coming in."
It was obvious that he had to physically contain his anger to be able to speak in a polite tone to this woman.
She scoffed. "You two are the commanders? You're younger than I am! Who the hell made you commanders? And how dare you judge me! I've been working for the Preventer's since they started!
"Lady Une made us Commanders, Miss Hyden," Duo said, even colder than Sam. His tone when he spoke her name clearly said that he would dearly love to call her something less...savory. "We judge you because you are nothing like the person we thought you were. You have obviously changed, and not for the better. Now leave, Miss Hyden, before we are forced to call security to remove you!"
She stood, tossing her hair. "Fine. Like, whatever. Like I need your stupid mystery job. See you on the flip side, losers."
She stalked from the room with as much grace and dignity as she could manage—which was not much.
The room was silent for several minutes after her departure, until Sam finally broke it by saying sarcastically, "Well, that went well. Who screwed up with her file?"
Duo shrugged—before reaching over to smack the other upside the head.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"I told ya not ta jinx it, ya fuckin' idiot!"
Fifteen minutes later, the two were rubbing their heads and silently cursing the name of Une. Their third interview had gone even worse than the one with Summer Hyden, if such a thing was even possible. The man had only had to walk in the door for them to know that he wasn't was they were looking for. He had a cocky, reckless, arrogant, I'm-the-best air about him, exactly what they didn't want.
Unfortunately, he was also the type that thought he was god's gift to man—and women—and that if they were rejecting him for this obviously only-the-best job, something must be seriously wrong with them, because there was obviously nothing wrong with him at all. He was perfect.
They actually did have to call security after ten futile minutes of trying to convince him to leave. He was dragged out still spitting profanities and insults at them.
Thus the headaches and Une feeling suspiciously like her days were numbered.
"Don't think I can take much more of this, Tahary." Duo muttered, wincing as that action provoked yet another stab of pain to his head. "And we're only on the fourth one out of fifty!"
Sam nodded, and then winced as well.
Any further talking—not that they wanted to talk much—was cut off by a soft voice from the door. "Ummm...are you two all right?"
They looked up and were met with the sight of what seemed to be—in their eyes—an angel.
It was a woman, by her appearance their next interviewee. Honey hair in a bun, concerned hazel eyes, dressed in a black pleated skirt and a white blouse, bag on her shoulder and—the proverbial halo and angel's wings—a bottle of Tylenol held in one hand, obviously in the process of being put back into her bag.
But this angel obviously had steel. Muscles, grace, a hardness to her eyes present in anyone who had seen battle.
"Lily Tanner?" Duo asked hopefully.
She nodded slowly. "Yes...are you Commanders Maxwell and Tahary? The ones who are offering some sort of secret job?"
They both nodded back. Duo spoke again. "Lily, let's make a deal here."
She cocked her head to the side, a bit of wariness coming into her eyes. "What kind of deal?"
They grinned, and Sam was the one that answered her. "You give us that bottle of Tylenol, and you get the job just on general principle."
She looked at the bottle in her hand in surprise, as though she had only just remembered that it was there. "Oh, that! I took some just before I got here—nerves, you know. You can take it, but should you really just give me the job like that? I'd like to know what I'm getting into, and for all you know I could be some secret serial killer."
They gazed, wide-eyed, at the woman in front of them, who was merely looking at them with an innocent, curious expression her face.
"Are ya?" Duo asked.
She smiled mysteriously, and it was at that moment that they knew that any innocence she had was faked. This woman was evillll. "I don't know. Am I?"
Duo let out a barking laugh. "Say, Lily, how'd you like to join a super-secret black ops division?"
She cocked her head again. "Well, that's not blunt," she said with a giggle. "But what would said joining entail? I'd love to join, but I've got a husband, you know."
"Well..." Sam hedged. They hadn't quite figured that part out yet—the potential agents who had families. He decided to wing it and hope Duo wouldn't murder him later. "You'd probably vanish for about the next six months, due to our planned retraining program, with limited contact with the outside. After that, though, we're not quite barbarians, you know. It's not like we're going to hold you captive in some super-secret underground facility and only let you out for missions. There'd be phone-calls, letters, emails, long weekends to visit, breaks and vacations, etc. You'd just have to keep the true nature of your job a secret."
A look at Duo was enough to tell him that he had said the right thing. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"Hmmm," Lily murmured. "Six months, you say? Well, I have been thinking about taking an extended vacation away from home...I may have a husband, but he's a bit of a dreamer, head always in the clouds...maybe a bit of distance will do us good. You know what they say; absence makes the heart grow fonder. This isn't exactly a vacation...but it'll do. Gentlemen," she said, sitting up straight and looking them in the eyes. "You have yourself a deal."
They both grinned. "Great!" Duo crowed enthusiastically. "We'll be hammerin' out the rest of the details in the next few weeks, squarin' everythin' away and such, so you've got time ta do the same. Don't call us—we'll call you. If ya have any questions, just ask Une...she'll answer, probably, or if she can't she'll call us."
She smiled at them and stood. However, just as she was about to make her way out, Duo stopped her again. "Wait," he called after her, and she paused.
"Tylenol?" he asked, hopefully, and Sam was making puppy-dog eyes behind him.
She laughed and with a shake of her head pulled the bottle from her purse and tossed it at them, before leaving with a wave of her hand.
Let's just say that Conference Room 1C was once again being avoided, for fear of rabid dogs.
Duo and Sam, now blissfully medicated, were surprised when instead of their next interviewee walking through the door, Lady Une did instead.
"Lady Une?" Sam asked, confused. "What are you doing here?"
"Your last interview for the day flat-out rejected. Said they were perfectly happy with the job they had, didn't even want to know what was being offered. So, I'm here to see how it's been going. Any progress?"
They looked at each other. "Depends on how ya define 'progress,'" Duo replied, leaning back in his chair. "We're two for four, if that's what ya mean."
"Really?" Une asked, curiously. "Who rejected? Or, more aptly, who did you reject?"
"Summer Hyden," Sam said with a shudder. "And...some guy I can't even remember the name of, had to be taken out by security."
Une raised an eyebrow, and decided not to comment. But she made a mental note to check the files of the people they had interviewed so far—specifically, the psyche profiles.
"You'd be better off askin' us who we didn't reject," Duo continued. "Caleb Adara—nice guy, ya really should have given him a promotion before now. And Lily Tanner. Ah yes, Lily Tanner..."
"Goddess, she is," Sam added.
"She gave us Tylenol," Duo said to Une's once again raised eyebrow, as though that explained everything. And, considering these two, it did.
"So, Lady Une," Sam said, changing the subject. "I have a question."
"Yes, Tahary?" she asked.
"You said earlier that you were planning on bringing in experts to help us with training. To reiterate Duo, who are you planning on bringing in?"
Duo nodded in agreement with the question.
She smiled, that shark smile again. "Well, we're still having a bit of trouble finding the people we plan on bringing it, so until we do, I'm going to keep that information to myself. Rest assured, though...they are good at what they do."
In her head she added, One of their results is sitting right in front of me.
"Aw, c'mon Lady! It's not fair ta keep secrets, ya know!"
"Have you ever heard of the pot calling the kettle black, Duo?"
"Yeah, but..."
"Pot. Kettle. Shut up and quit while you're ahead, Duo."
"Shuttin' up."
"Thank you," she said, smiling smugly, while Sam looked on in amusement. "Now, I was wondering if you two had any suggestions as to who might help you to train? It is your division, after all—anyone who might be able to help, so long as they meet certain standards of approval."
Sam merely shrugged. "Former desk jockey, here. Don't know many high-level people. No real friends in Preventer's, either—or at least any friends that could make it in a black-ops division."
Duo, however, looked thoughtful. "I could definitely get in contact with Howard and the Sweepers...this kind of covert stuff is just up his alley, or at least it used ta be. In any case, they're a valuable intelligence asset...and I might have some other friends from the war and on L2 that could help. There are a couple of people I remember, not Preventer's or anythin', but damn good at what they do...and maybe we should revisit a couple of files we passed over, now that I think about it. Wish old G was still around...this was really his thing..."
Neither boy noticed how Une twitched at that. She covered it easily, though.
"Well Duo, if you think they'll be willing to help, go ahead and get in contact with them. Be careful, though—we don't want too many outsiders knowing, if they're not going to help. Tread carefully, test the waters before you make any offers. Are there any other details you boys have figured out?"
They looked at each other and shrugged.
"In all honestly, we're planning on leaving the smaller stuff like name and codenames and uniforms and symbols and stuff till later," Sam replied.
Duo continued, "We figured ya have somethin' figured out for facilities and such, but right now we need ta focus on the agents themselves, and designin' the trainin' regime they're gonna have ta go through. That's what's important right now."
She nodded. Well, at least they were capable of prioritizing...she'd had a couple of doubts after earlier events. "Very well."
"Was there anything else you needed, Lady Une?" Sam asked curiously.
There was that shark smile again. "Ah, yes. Glad that you asked. You see, since your last interviewee opted out, I took it upon myself to procure another one."
"Another candidate?" Duo asked. "Are they one from the list? Did they happen ta end up on this base today? Are they one of the maybes?"
Lady Une shook her head in the negative. "No, they're not on any of your lists, Duo, nor are they in Preventers, but I'd still like you to give them a chance. She's very well trained, and has connections in very high places. Please don't let any preconceived prejudices stand in the way of that."
"She?" Sam asked, while Duo focused on the 'preconceived prejudices' part. Une made it sound as if they knew them...and not in a good way.
"Yes. She," a voice came from the doorway, and both of them froze, before slowly turning around.
Standing in the doorway was a girl, with pale blue eyes and long blonde hair in a bun. She was dressed oddly in a black sweater and a pair of black dress pants, a strange black collar-looking necklace around her throat. She leaned against the doorjamb, arms crossed.
The strangest thing about her was her eyebrows, Sam though. They look like they're...forked...
Duo, however, was staring at her in poorly concealed horror.
"I recognize you," he whispered. "I'd recognize those damn eyebrows anywhere...you...you're..."
"So glad to see that you remember me, Mr. Maxwell," said the utterly calm form of Dorothy Catalonia.
Well, as I type these words, because I decided to type this before finishing the chapter so I wouldn't forget anything, it's approximately midnight and I am 20,000 feet above the ground in a tiny plane, with no internet and very little space, on the way home from vacation. Today's flight itinerary sucked—our first flight was delayed majorly 'cause of weather on the other end, and we already had a tight connection. Somehow we made it 20 minutes before the next flight, ran all the way from B43 to B81, found out it was at B71, ran all the way back down the terminal almost to the forties before realizing it was back again, down a flight of stairs, and a really long hallway to get to B71. And waited over an hour for the plane to take off waiting for clearance. FAHOOY. So yeah, the actual chapter is being finished about a day after these notes. Sorry for the shortness.
Now that I've finished my travel woes, other brief points of interest. First off, according to the Atomic Bomb Museum, one of the 828 bombs tested at the Nevada Test Site was codenamed Maxwell. Thought you'd all enjoy that. To Anonymous Void—I have discovered the true pink hotel. Circus Circus, Las Vegas. Your line made it in, too, thought not in the usual way...
To everyone to suggested characters, a big thank you—you have helped immensely. A special thank you to Tatsu Satsuki who gave me a suggestion for Kelly McManus—Kelly now has a big part! Later, though. She's also the inspiration behind Dorothy's appearance.
The cliffhanger in this isn't what I originally had planned, only Dorothy instead of the others I was going to bring in...but still, you get the point. The original one will come later, and you will all hate me...it is hinted at pretty obviously here.
I feel like I'm forgetting something but it's dark, late, my ears are popping, and I don't care anymore. Oyeah—updates might be sporadic for the next few weeks. I have three books to read and annotate for school—school—which, alas, starts two weeks from Wednesday. Pity me.
And remember—what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
Ciao! (AND EFFIN' REVIEW! I SEE ALL YOU PEOPLE FAVORITING AND ALERTING, YEAH! DON'T THINK I DON'T!)