Hello Lunar Chronicles Fandom! I come to you with this first story. I have some details I didn't get to fit in the description.
-This is an AU. In which Cinder, Scarlet, Thorne, and Iko are all a part of a CIA team, don't worry their cannon pairings will appear soon enough give it a chapter or two.
-The cover is just the same image they used for the later copies of Cinder, (I have the original artwork which honestly I like better but I digress) I DO NOT OWN the image.
-I am new (ish) to the Lunar Chronicles fandom although I have read the series a couple of times I am in the midst of another reread currently. I can not help when the inspiration strikes.

Disclaimer: Don't own these characters, they all come from the wonderful brain of Marissa Meyer who has my respect and love.

That's all the housekeeping bits, for now, I hope all of you enjoy and don't forget to RR!

Chapter one

Cinder didn't like bars. The food was usually mediocre in quality and the patrons of the bar were not much better off. Sometimes the decorations were interesting but that was a rare sight. She liked smaller hole-in-the-wall places, they usually felt homely, of course, the bar she was in now was the large popular one that was in the dangerous part of town. She sipped from her drink again wincing at the taste.

She wasn't a stranger to being in places that she found uncomfortable, working with the CIA for ten years put her in some less-than-desirable situations. Like the time in Bejing when she had to pose as a stepdaughter for a potential crime family, her sisters had been tolerable but her stepmom… Cinder almost shot the woman.

Her team was really what kept her together, she briefly scanned the bar looking for her target, and she noticed Scarlet across the bar sitting at a table with one of their "members." She had been working with Scarlet for the better part of eight years and watching the fiery redhead squirm at being hit on yet not being able to retaliate was somewhat enjoyable. Thorne was by the door leaning against the wall and attracting the attention of several women, who gazed at him with lust-filled looks. Typical Thorne. Cinder knew that while it may look like he was busy trying to see how many pants he could get into his mind was focused on the mission. At least to the degree required for a successful mission.

There, at a table adjacent to Scarlet was their supposed fearless leader. He knew them as three guns who were hired help, (which in a way wasn't wrong). They had participated in a job moving some illegally obtained 'high-value cargo' from the docks to Danto's warehouse. After they pulled that off without so much as a phone call Danto was quick to try to get them on his team. They had spent months as a part of his crew, bodyguards, and drug runs, there had been a close call with some officers but Cinder had managed to incapacitate (not kill them). All to earn his trust specifically to be brought along for this meeting. Danto wasn't even their real target, the crime lord he was meeting with, Amiery? That was who they were looking for. He was in charge of many misdeeds, and possibly a whole human trafficking scene she had wanted to blow open for ages.

"Cinder? The others are in place, find the slime ball yet?" Iko's voice chimed over the comm in her ear.

Iko, the fourth member of their little infiltration team.

Without nodding she quickly waved the bartender down motioning to her empty glass.

"Another margarita off the rocks." She said calmly. A quick nod of acknowledgment from the bartender and he whisked off to make her drink. He paused by the cash register and Cinder's well-trained eyes caught him mouthing words, it looked like, from a glance he was talking to himself. After he moved off to the back –presumably to make her drink– Iko's voice sounded in her ear.

"Alright, hang tight he should be there any minute now. Having fun at the bar without me?" She could hear the smirk in her voice and resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Before she could glance around again she felt a man slide up close to her his words slurring together as he half sat half collapsed in the seat next to her.

"Heyyyy darling," he cooed already making Cinder frown hard.

"You here alone tonight?" Naturally, her hand drifted down to her Glock strapped to her waist, but she decided against flashing that this early and instead pushed his hand away from her.

"No I'm actually waiting on some friends," she said politely.

Something flashed in his eyes and he seemed to let off leaning backward on the bar counter. Cinder remarked that if he hadn't been under the influence he might have been a sweet man who she would be actually interested in. Truthfully it didn't matter if he was the nicest man on the face of the planet and treated her like a queen. The job always came first, nothing could come between her and her mission, she had been doing things that way for the last ten years and she wouldn't change anything now.

"Well, how bout I keepyoucompany while you wait?" His words were even worse than the first time. Obviously, drunk Cinder put a little more distance between them.

"No, I think I'll be quite ok." She responded hoping to convey her disgust in her voice.

"Awwww." He said something else but Cinder didn't hear him and quite frankly didn't care because as she looked up Aimery walked in the door.

He looked exactly like the profiles described him and although his hair was more faded than in the picture there was no doubt it was him. Two men accompanied him but it was understandable that he would have guards. She doubted the two were the only guards he had, and probably a good amount of extra security had tagged along.

Aimery took a seat at the same table as Danto just like they had planned. The bartender swung by with her drink and Cinder tapped the bar with her payment he quickly slid the money off and whisked it back to the register.

A moment later Iko chimed in her ear:

"Team is on their way keep him there. You got thirty seconds till breach."

The man next to her said something akin to 'Let me pay for your drinks,' but Cinder ignored him and quickly found her partners with her eyes.

Thorne shooed away the women who were approaching and stalked across the room making sure Danto didn't see him. Scarlet said something to her booth partner and slid out, her eyes making contact with Cinder they exchanged nods and then moved toward the same part of the bar.

Cinder tracked Aimery's two guards one of them had stood next to the bosses his feet snapped together in attention. The other guard had stayed by the door and when Cinder confirmed his location she was concerned to find out he was staring right back at her.

Twenty seconds she mentally chimed

She looked away and slid off the stool but she made the mistake of checking the guard by the door again. He was still staring at her, and her looking at him had been enough to cause suspicion, now he was watching her closely.

Movement caught her attention and suddenly the guard by the door was moving in her direction. She would not let this be the undoing of months of undercover work. Looking for any sort of distraction to stop the man from meeting her she just had to stall for fifteen seconds it wouldn't be hard.

Without a moment's warning the man from the bar appeared in front of her, she almost bumped into him but stopped herself just short.

She was about to reprimand him but he quickly tugged her arm closer to him, the contact was unnecessary and foreign but she welcomed the distraction it had forced the guard to stop short just enough time.

Ten seconds

"Your search for Levana is more important than you could know." The man from the bar whispered, Cinder tried to push him away but he had her arm in an iron grip.

"You don't know me yet but my services will be of need." Cinder glanced once at the guard who was now watching the two of them, but she kept her gaze mostly focused on the stranger. His eyes lost the drunken cloud and his voice was oddly stable for a supposedly drunk person. He seemed to be completely sober now.

"Don't lose this." She was unsure of what she was supposed to not lose but in the same manner, he had appeared he disappeared before she could try to find him again the guard once again stalked towards her, his hand reaching for his ear to warn his colleagues no doubt.

Five seconds.

Thorne was in place by the door waiting for the signal.

Four seconds.

Scarlet was somewhere behind her reaching for the assault rifle.

Three seconds.

The guard's hand was a moment away from his earpiece it was too late it wouldn't matter.

Two seconds.

The Glock flashed into her hand the weight natural and practically unnoticeable.

One second.

The safety clicked off and the trigger was pulled at the same moment, the shot was no more than fifteen feet in front of her easy, impossible to miss

"Breaching-" Iko's voice could be heard the rest being drowned out by gunfire.

The bar room erupted into chaos. It seemed like every single window in the room was broken at the same time. The front doors were slammed open, black SWAT vests pouring into the room, the few actual bar patrons fell to their knees or made for exits but a majority of the bar got up guns in hand either for the gang, Cinder was technically a part of or Aimery's in disguise guards.

The nearest table was flipped over and she hopped behind it, popping up she took in the scene.

The guard she had shot was all the ground no doubt crippled and wouldn't be causing problems anytime soon. Several people were on the ground either dead or dying. She aimed at several hunched-over men exchanging shots with pinned-down swat members. With the sudden additional gunfire, they quickly hid for cover giving the team time to hop over. Cinder ducked behind the table and pulled her badge out of her pocket clipping it onto her shoulder the gold a stark contrast with the clothing she had worn. She put another comn in her ear this one with a microphone.

"Scarlet? Do you have eyes on Aimery?" She demanded, reloading while she asked.

"Negative Cinder, I got his guard and Danto is hiding, Aimery was last seen heading towards you." The response sounded in her ear and Cinder cursed.

Months of undercover work were about to go to waste.

"There!" Thorne's voice sounded in her ear, "By the east exit, he's got a guard with him careful Cinder."

Looking up she saw the exit door swing closed and was pursuing in a moment, bullets pinged off next to her but she trusted the rest to be handled by her team and the police.

She braced her shoulder against the door and threw it open ducking behind kegs of alcohol as Aimery's guard shot at her.

"I'm in pursuit of the target, I repeat I'm in pursuit of the target." She called into the open channel.

Popping over the keg she fired shots down the hallway forcing the guard to duck around the corner and Cinder pushed forward. When he peaked around the corner again he wasn't quick enough as a well-placed shot to the arm caused him to drop his gun. Sometimes Cinder wished for an actual challenge she mused as she slid around the corner and heard the door she had come through open as Scarlet yelled "This way!"

As she shoved the door to the outside alleyway open she saw that no one covered this exit. It led to a back alley, with a dumpster, one direction led to the street where the police had already set up a barricade and the other way was straight into a dead end. Smirking she followed the path to where Aimery held a gun, his hands were shaking but a stray bullet could still kill Cinder the same as a well-placed one so she threw her hands in the air and stopped approaching him.

"W-who are you?!" Aimery cried his voice equally as shaky as his arms.

Cinder sighed and reached for her gun again reloading it as Aimery shakily pulled the trigger the bullet whizzed by her and Cinder looked at him unfazed. Her shot hit him in the arm and cause him to drop the gun, "Listen snake." She spit as she approached the gun never being trained away from him.

She crouched to eye level with him looking into his terrified eyes with a small ounce of pity, "Where is Levana?" She asked.

Aimery's eyes darted around, but Cinder nudged him with the gun to get him to focus back on her.

"Where is she?" She repeated the barrel of her gun empathizing with her point.

She acknowledged that Scarlet and the rest of the team were right behind them as she heard them round the corner.

Aimery gulped and glared at her his fear seeming to dissipate ever so slightly. "Nightmare squad." He spits venom in his voice.

"That what they call us nowadays?" Scarlet asked as she appeared behind Cinder.

Cinder flashed a smirk and Aimery and seeing that the Swat had held back shoved the barrel of the gun into his chest once more.

"You have three seconds." Cinder's eyes narrowed in distaste. "Where is your boss?"

Aimery didn't get a chance to respond. A bullet pierced his forehead his blood splattering over Cinder.

"Sniper!" Scarlet called whipping around.

Cinder followed the bullet path and saw a man atop the roof just over his gun laying over his shoulder. His stance seemed familiar but Cinder couldn't place where she was supposed to know him from. He quickly disappeared, further into the roof, she guessed. On pure instinct, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of folded paper, one that hadn't been there before she left for the bar.

On the front were the words 'Call me when you need me' and a phone number. The back had a fancy-drawn R on it. Cinder tried to remember when she received the paper and thought back to the man from the bar and her stranger encounter with him just before the firefight broke out.

Cinder clenched her fist.

"Who the hell was that!?" Thorne questioned as he moved by the Swat team.

"I'm fixing to ask the same question," Scarlet growled crossing her arms.

"I don't know," Cinder said quietly tucking the paper back into her pocket. "I don't know."