"Coming Out of the Dark"
	Michael handed the disk to the man in the military uniform. "I think you will find this information useful." "What is this about, Michael?" the voice from the computer screen asked. 'I heard you were meeting with Mai today. I don't believe you were given access to all of the pertinent information about her." "We have access to all of her files," the General replied. Michael glanced over at the general and then away, "Information about the experiment she was a part of?" "Experiment?" "I don't believe you've seen these particular files. If I'm mistaken I apologize." "Well, let's look at it," said one of the other two men. "But I tell you, Michael, the girl's just chosen retirement over the new agency." Michael's face remained carefully blank. "What did you offer her?" "The standard. The opportunity to work for the agency, more freedom - more of a life than she'd ever be able to have here. No offense intended." "None taken," Michael replied with an air that said offense might not have been taken, but the comment wouldn't be forgotten. "My God," the general breathed, looking at the data that was coming up on the screen. "This can't be right. The others turned to look at the information and began to look equally horrified. "Is she even sane?" asked the quiet one in the corner. "She's one of our best operatives. You've seen her numbers." Michael gave the smallest of shrugs. "However, until recently her emotional stability was uncertain at best." "What changed?" demanded the voice from the screen. "She's developed a relationship with a fellow operative. It was sanctioned by Madeline for her own purposes, but the end result has been quite beneficial for Mai, as well as the other operative, I believe. His efficiency has also improved." "This Davenport mentioned here, I suppose?" the General asked. Michael nodded. The room was silent for a few minutes as the four men took in the new information they'd been given. Finally there was a sigh from the man on the screen. "We would really like to recruit her for our agency, Michael. She has exactly the blend of skills we need. But if she can't function on the outside…" "If I might make a suggestion?" Michael interjected. "We're all ears." ******************** Some time later Michael turned to leave the room. "Michael?" The quiet man in the corner stopped him. "I'm sure we all appreciate your help, but I have one more question for you. Why? Why have you taken such an interest in this particular woman?" Michael's eyes appeared to be looking at something far away, "Because it is my fault that she is here." "Explain," snapped the voice from the screen. "Before she was recruited into Section, Operations overheard me discussing her case with a Stony Man operative named Athos who was involved in tracking down the one hitman Mai didn't kill at her house that night. Operations did some checking on his own and decided that she was a perfect candidate for the psychological experiment he and Madeline wanted to conduct. So she was taken into Section." "Sounds like standard operating procedure," the General replied. "Except that an appeal was in process. Athos told me it was a given that her conviction would be overturned. She would have been exonerated and released within a few months." The room was silent. "If it were not for my actions, Mai would be a free woman today. And none of this would ever have happened. This is the least I can do for her." 'Thank you," said the quiet man, "We'll see what we can do." Michael nodded and left the room. The general pushed an intercom button. "Joshua, please bring Mai back in." The frustration on Joshua's face as they entered told them that his efforts had been in vain. Mai had not changed her answer. The general called Joshua over and spoke to him quietly for a few minutes. Joshua looked shocked then slowly nodded in understanding and headed quickly out of the room. "We have a slightly different proposition for you, Mai," the quiet man said. "We'd like to revise our offer. After some discussion we have decided that you would be most effective working in tandem with another operative. Therefore we would like to suggest that you and Dante Davenport join our agency as a partnered couple." Mai was stunned. They were offering her freedom again, but with Dante by her side. She couldn't make herself speak. "You understand, of course, that entering in this fashion means that if either of you refuses to join you will both be retired immediately. Likewise, if either of you fails to make it through the early stages of the testing process, both of you will be returned to Section and retired at that time. Your decision now no longer affects only yourself, but Mr. Davenport as well. As his will affect you. Think carefully before you answer." "I don't need to think about it," Mai responded. "I accept your offer." "And now if Davenport is equally willing…" The general touched another intercom button. "Is Mr. Davenport there? Good. Send him in." Davenport entered the room and looked curiously at the men gathered there. His eyes softened as he saw Mai and he smiled. The general quickly repeated the terms of the proposal. Davenport looked over at Mai and saw the hope in her face. This was their chance to be together, to have the chance of some semblance of a normal life. He was willing to risk almost anything for a shot at that. "I accept," he said quietly and put an arm around Mai to pull her close to him. "We both accept." "Why the change?" Mai asked the men. The gentlemen in the room looked at one another. "Michael Samuelle was… quite persuasive," the quiet man said finally. "You have him to thank. And now, if you'll go with Joshua, please." Joshua had returned quietly to the room and handed each of them a stuffed envelope. "If you'll follow me?" The two of them were ushered to a black sedan with dark windows and driven to the airport. Neither had spoken on the short drive, they'd simply held onto one another, knowing the time for words would come later. Once on the plane, Mai had finally dared to ask if he thought they'd made the right decision. "It can't be worse than anything you've already been through, and if they were half as straight with us as Michael told me they'd be… This could be our chance. No more manipulation, no more of Madeline's mind games… Yeah, I think we made the right decision." "And… you'll be with me. You won't leave me?" Mai said tentatively. "We're in this together. I'm not going anywhere," he said firmly. ******************** March 14th, 2008 SIA testing center In the office far above the bar they entered through they met Rebecca Dorta and became Mai and Dante Alves with a marriage license saying they'd been married 6 months previously. They read through the material detailing their new lives before they were directed to another room for stage one of the testing process. Both passed the first phase of testing without a problem and moved on to the second. They were paired with another man and woman and given blindfolds and headsets. Mai found that the time she and Dante had spent together had left them with an odd sort of connection which let them breeze through the maze work - well enough to receive a raised eyebrow and encouraging nod from Gray. When all the groups had completed the testing only 8 candidates remained. Dante, Mai, Helena, and Niall were assigned as Beta unit and given instructions to prepare for departure to an un-named location. However, given the equipment set out for them, it was pretty easy to guess that Phase II was going to involve some desert survival. Return