JUNE

2237 hours.

Dakota.

"And you must be June."

Her voice is thickly accented, throaty and rich but with an air of pretentiousness that is impossible to miss. When she speaks my name she takes her time drawing it out like molasses. The features of her porcelain face are just as relaxed making it clear she knows she has the upper hand.

My eyes never leave her as I analyze our position. We are too close to the corner of the room, a terrible place to be in a gunfight since there is a statistically higher probability of stray bullets ricocheting into corners. We outnumber her two to one but neither Day nor I could reach our weapons before the woman could shoot us. From the positioning of her body and the way she holds her gun it's clear this woman knows what she's doing, any obvious attempts to disarm her would be dangerous.

So I won't be obvious.

I let the ache in my hip and the exhaustion I feel from spending hours out in the freezing cold wash over me, my shoulders slump and I sway slightly on my feet my eyes flit around the room as though I'm frantically looking for an escape. Next to me Day's brow furrows in surprise and concern, he leans into me slightly trying to prop me up. Fortunately he isn't the only one who notices the show of weakness.

"I have heard so much about you June." The woman's eyes wander over me and her full upper lip lifts in a sneer. "I must admit I'm disappointed Blue, from the way you describe her I thought she would be a little more…impressive."

"Aw Jessa", Day says and even though his muscles are coiled to spring his face is a mask of calm arrogance "Be nice. You don't want her to ruin your pretty face, yeah?"

The woman laughs but her eyes flash and despite the dim light I see a hint of color creep into her cheeks, whatever history she and Day have must be complicated and apparently unresolved. Her gun still covers us both but she no longer thinks of me as the primary threat, her eyes linger on Day for a moment too long and that is all I need.

I launch myself at the woman grabbing her arm in one hand and twisting the gun out of it in the other. With her balance offset I easily pull her forward and my knee connects with her diaphragm. She is startled and winded but she is not an amateur, she twists away from me and her forearm comes up to block my next punch just as her long leg kicks out. It is exactly what I would have done, so of course I am prepared. I side step the kick and catch her leg in my free hand using her own momentum to redirect her body's path. Before she can regain her footing I strike her hard across the face with her own gun and she collapses instantly to the ground where I train the weapon at her head. There is an ugly gash above her left eye, Day was right the effect does not enhance her beauty.

"So, Daniel. Tell me, who is our lovely guest and why does she call you Blue?" He shifts his weight awkwardly from one foot to the other and his eyes travel back and forth from me to the woman at my feet.

"Her name is Jessalyn, she's… she was my partner…. At work, I mean. We work together…did work together… She's an agent. Blue is a codename…because my eyes are…um."

"An agent? " I raise an eyebrow and stare down at the agent's unconscious form, "How did she find us?" He pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger and shakes his head.

"Because I'm a goddy idiot. I stayed here before….with Jessalyn. I should have known the Antarcticans would send her after me…. June, I'm sorry."

"Alright…"I sigh and shake my head to clear it. I have a few questions about some the details he glossed over but now is not the time, "We should tie her up before she wakes. There are handcuffs in my bag." I roll her over with my foot and Day finds the handcuffs and clamps them to her writs before lifting her up and setting her into a chair. We have just finished strapping her down with our belts when her long dark eyelashes flutter and her head rolls back.

"I guess your commander isn't nearly as useless as she looks?" She croaks. The words are barely above a whisper but her tone is still haughty…I can't help but admire her for it.

"I told you Jessa, you never listen." He crosses his arms across his body, "Why are you here?"

"To find out if you're a traitor of course." She replies, suddenly fully awake.

"And why would anyone think I was a traitor Jessalyn?" He asks warily.

"Because I told them you were Daniel." She snaps.

"What!" His composure is gone and his hands fly out to the sides "Why!?"

"Because you were too close to the action." I interject, "You had all the information and ample opportunity. You were the only one with knowledge of the organization here in Dakota and access to Anden. Who else could have known what restaurant we would go to the other night?"

"June!" Day practically shouts, "You can't think I'm blackmailing your Elector?!"

"No, I do not." I respond calmly, "But it's perfectly reasonable, logical even that she might come to that conclusion. I assumed something like this had happened when the AIA froze you out." He begins pacing the length of the room his hands tugging at his hair. "What I don't understand is how you followed us." I say turning my attention back to Jessalyn, "I swept the train thoroughly. Twice. I would have noticed you."

"I didn't follow you June." She sneers, "I didn't have to, as soon as we realized Daniel had left the Republic I came here. I knew he would head back to Dakota and this little place has a lot of history for us you know… He's such a creature of habit isn't he?"

She is baiting me, I smile like I pity her but I can't quite keep a flare of jealously from rising in my chest. Of course Day would have been with other women, probably many over the past ten years. He's Day! He is a deadly mix of charm and ego with something a little dangerous and a lot of alluring. Not to mention that heartbreakingly beautiful element of goodness he has, a light really, no dimmer now Than it was when we were teenagers. I wonder if he loved her? It shouldn't matter. It doesn't matter.

"And what was your plan once you had us?" I ask without missing a beat, "Turn him into your government? I can't imagine you have any grounds for arresting me."

"You mean other than unauthorized border crossing?" She deadpans.

"That wouldn't hold up and you know it." I reply.

"I don't think she was going to turn us in." Day says, rejoining the conversation.

"Oh? She was just holding us at gunpoint for a friendly chat?" My voice comes out more harshly than I had intended and I'm not sure why. Day looks uncomfortable and Jessalyn smiles, my hand twitches while I briefly consider how she would look with a gash across the other eye to match the first. What is wrong with me? I take a breath and catch Day's eye silently apologizing. He walks over to me placing a hand briefly on the small of my back before turning to Jessalyn.

"You followed us today?" He asks.

"I did." She purrs, "You should be proud really, I even lost you two for a while which is impressive… you know how good I am." Her head tilts head coyly, exposing her long white neck. Day ignores her and turns back to me.

"If she was going to report me she would have done it already, I think there's a reason she came here and waited for us." He says.

"And you think we can trust her to tell us the truth? Do you trust her?" I ask. We stare at each other, silently passing thoughts back and forth. He knows I don't like the circumstances. But he also knows I will trust him if he asks me to, it's how we have always operated an unwavering truth at the heart of our relationship.

"You two are so serious, you know that?" Jessalyn says breaking the silence. "You're hardly any fun anymore Blue. He used to be so much fun June." I think I despise this woman and I don't even feel particularly bad about it.

"But I'm right, yeah?" Day says leaning forward, "You had plenty of time Jessa, but here you are. Why?" Jessalyn purses her lips and her eyes close her coquettish smile is gone. She looks serious and for the first time I notice a fine web of lines around her mouth. I wonder how old she is, early thirties perhaps?

"I got here a few hours before you did I followed you from the hotel and watched you all day… I expected you to… well, you didn't do anything I expected and honestly just bringing June with you made me doubt myself." She looks at me and her bright blue eyes are fiery again, "No offense kitten but you have quite a reputation for being a good little Republic solider, definitely not a traitor. Besides I didn't think you'd be the type get those pretty hands dirty in a mess like this." She's one to talk! I have never once worn lipstick to track someone.

"Ok" Day says, "So you were wrong, why not just tell the bosses? Why come in here with a gun? Someone could have been hurt!"

"You mean June could have been hurt" she hisses, "I didn't say I thought I was wrong, I just said I had doubts. I never said I trusted you or that I don't think the whole thing is suspicious…"

"It is." I say my thoughts starting to whirl. "It's all conveniently suspicious." Something isn't right. I'm missing pieces of this puzzle but I feel like if I could just take a few steps back I'd see the whole picture and it wouldn't matter.

"Lovely, glad we agree darling. Now that we are all on the same page you'll be thrilled to know I've decided to help you break into the warehouse." She says.

"Excuse me?" I say a little take aback. "Why would we agree to work with you? You just said, not thirty seconds ago that you don't trust us."

"I don't." She shrugs. "So it only makes sense for me to go with you."

"Sorry Jessa." Day says, "I think this is a closed operation."

"Oh really?" She asks, "And you two are perfectly prepared? You have access to the game and you managed to hack into the network those thugs are using to fool the system? I suppose your commander speaks perfect Antarctican and your accent miraculously improved sometime over the last week?"

Sometimes I despise my affinity for logic it makes rational arguments impossible to ignore even when they're thrown in my face soaked in sarcasm.

"She's right." I say swallowing my pride, "She can access the game and if she really has hacked their system it could make a huge difference to us… It would be foolish not to accept her help". I turn to Jessalyn who watches me.

"But if you do anything to cross us, anything… I won't even hesitate, I will kill you."

Hi there lovely readers! I am trying something new here so please let me know how it works for you… My DAY/JUNE chapters for this section just seemed way too long to post together so I've decided to split them up in hopes that they'll be easier to read… ?

I've been trying to keep the chunks of narrative together that tell a specific part of the story so that things flow well. I'd love to know if splitting things up like this is better or worse... or if it doesn't make any difference?

Either way…I'm sorry there was a longer than usual delay in updates but I'm being a bit nit picky about things now that June and Day are knee deep in plot. (I'd be very sad if there were super big holes I didn't notice) Either way I'll try to finish edits and post the Day section later tonight. Thanks in advance for your input!