La Femme Bella

Chapter 2: Section material?

"How are the level two recruits progressing?" Operations asked his right hand, Esme, while they were having a civilized cup of Darjeeling tea in his office.

The furniture in the room was modern and sparse and the walls were white with a few colourful screens showing the current progress of different missions all over the world. One of the walls was made of secured, tinted glass. Because of this window he had a near perfect view to the heart of his domain without being seen if he didn't want to, and the areas that weren't visible from there were spied on and recorded meticulously with the aid of the highest technology and the best personnel.

Operations fit well in this cold room with his well taken care of physique, very blond hair and deadly calm demeanour. His eyes were grey, cool and old beyond their years. At least they appeared so, as it was nearly impossible to determine his exact age. Still, the power he exuded made sure that not many people underestimated him. And no one underestimated him twice.

"Mister Lang is still too aggressive and happy on the trigger; we may have a problem with him. Christine is starting to control her emotions better and focusing on her job. She's turning out to be fine Section material. As for Miss Swan, Edward has confidence in her but her progress is still slow."

Operations looked thoughtful for a second and sipped some more tea.

"Do you agree?"

Without any hesitation – she never hesitated- Esme answered with a quick and empathic "Yes. To an extent."

"What does her psychological profile say?"

"Bella is reserved, even shy. She shows her emotions on her face. She is concerned for her future here and for her lack of progress, and how she feels she is failing her trainer. She wishes very much for Edward to not only accept her but also like her and declare her competent."

"Is that something we can use as a motivating factor?" Operations asked.

Esme replied with a confident smile. "I think so."

"Good." Operations smiled back and pushed a button opening a comm link, asking for Edward to come and join them.

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I really, really, really despised computers. In fact I was scared of them. Way too many ways to screw up, I guess. I'd never had the chance to either use them or get used to them until I came here, and Newton was not the most patient of teachers. I knew his job was beyond complicated and not something that just anyone could do, but he insisted on talking in terms I didn't understand. For awhile now I had been having nightmares about the Section standards for what Newton called "basic computer skills". Newton was near my age or younger, maybe nineteen or so. He had short blond hair and baby blue eyes and he looked too young to be this good and definitely too young to have been recruited here. I had often wondered how he came to Section One but I knew better than to ask.

"No no no!" Newton cried, "You just killed the whole damn team!"

I collapsed in my chair, instinctually trying to hide behind my brown locks of hair.

"Sorry." I was barely able to get the word out.

"Morning Bella. How are you doing today?"

I gave a start and turned to look at Edward, pushing the hair away from my face. His expression seemed open and…kind. Not at all what I was used to seeing on his rather handsome face.

"Not that great." I answered grimly, leaving it at that.

"Computer sequencing is hard. You'll get the hang of it." Edward said, smiling, and walked away to talk to another female recruit.

What was that? Edward being considerate? Edward being lenient? To me? That was a first. Come to think of it, it was probably the last. I felt like I was missing an important piece of the puzzle. Billy's voice came back to my mind, telling me to start watching my back.

"Get back to work, Bella." Newton ordered harshly, bringing me back to the present. "You still need to find a way to fix the slight error of getting everyone killed in the sim."

"Sir, yes sir!" I said, and although I meant my reply to be rebellious, it came out as meek and subservient. If I didn't learn this, I would find myself in even deeper shit than I already was. "Could you just show me the sequence one more time?"

Newton sighed a sigh between exasperated and weary but showed me the sequence, and this time he did it much slower.

"Wait, wait! If I want to do an extra sweep of the perimeter, do I do this" I asked, demonstrating to him a combination of keystrokes, "or this?"

He looked annoyed. "Neither. Look, you are getting better but you just need to pay close attention, all the time, or you're never going to get this."

I drew a deep breath and gave him my most pleading look. "Newton…please. I will get my act together. I don't get computers really but it's not that I don't want to learn. I do want to. I just need you to be patient for a little while longer."

Newton sighed. "Okay. We'll start from the top. But I can't and I won't cover for you if I'm asked how you're doing."

"That's all I can ask. More, even. Thanks Newton." I pecked him on the cheek lightly and to my amazement he blushed. I guess I wasn't the only blusher in Section One, but unlike me, Newton wasn't or wasn't supposed to become a field operative.

oooo

I had been living in the streets for over a year when it happened. Living like that was just as bad as you'd think, but it still beat living at home...by a very thin thread.

My crazy mother, already having had a string of boyfriends, all worse than the one before, had found herself a real keeper. James was different than all the others. Dark, sinister, disturbed…to put the long story short, I couldn't stand him and what he did to my mom or what he tried to do to me, and in turn he decided he couldn't stand me, being on his way. My mom preferred James over me so I had to leave and since my father had died soon after I was born and he had had no family, I was on my own.

For the most part, anyway. Anyone living in the streets soon finds out that you need a friend or two, but even the best of friends I had while I was there weren't the kind I'd trust enough to turn my back. Everyone looked after number one. Still, there was strength in numbers and we did take care of each other in our own way, just because it helped all of us to survive. Not everyone did, of course. Many died a drug related death, and some just...disappeared.

As for how I ended up here and in this mess in the first place...I was in a very wrong place at a very bad time. I had just walked into an alley looking for some scraps to eat and a semi-safe place to rest my weary feet when I literally bumped into a huge, mean looking guy who had just stabbed a uniformed cop. Understandably the guy got very upset when he saw me and while we fought he thrust the knife at me and as the sirens started to get closer he ran, leaving me at the scene in hysterics, holding a bloody knife in self defence. No one believed my story of the guy in the alley, not even my jaded court appointed attorney. My mother didn't bother coming down or answering my calls. I was found guilty, and a date was set for my sentencing. Before my sentence was ever read tough, I went to sleep in my cell one night and woke up here. And the rest was my reality.

Edward was set as my trainer and for the past year we had had a restrained relationship. At least that is how it felt to me. Esme kept emphasizing that Section One would be my only family from now on, but at the same time I wasn't supposed to get too attached to anyone and just focus on my job. And Edward! He sure didn't come off as a person who was even capable of becoming attached. Billy had warned me, discreetly, more than once about trusting anyone too much.

To sum it up, I lived in a spy novel, and I was becoming more sure with time that I lacked the skills to become one myself. Both the physical and the mental.

I would have to change myself completely to be able to become what was expected of me and to become the operative Edward wanted to see. I wanted to believe that he was right and that that was something I was capable of. Maybe I was just a late bloomer, I tried to console myself.

I wasn't totally stupid though. I knew I would have to excel from now on or my time in Section One would be very limited.

oooooooooooooooo

Glossary:

Operations= Head of all operations, The Boss of Section One

comm link= Communication link, a fancy closed circuit phone

sim= simulation

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AN: If you read this story and like it, please leave a review. It hasn't gotten any notice at FFnet (yet?) and very little notice on the other archive I have been posting it. I would love to hear any feedback, god or bad!