"Gray"
The Baha Bar March 1, 2008, 0900 hours Paige opened the door and entered the somewhat dim interior of the Baha Bar. The middle aged fellow that stood behind the bar drying a glass off, rose his head when she entered. "We're closed, come back later," he said amiably enough. Paige arched an eyebrow and walked to the bar, "I'm Paige," she said flatly. He grinned sarcastically then his face cleared, "I'm Gray, nice to meet you. We're closed." Paige cocked her head, "No," she said evenly, "I just got in from a very long flight and the driver dropped me off here." He put the glass down and leaned on the bar. "Joshua send you?" "Yeah..." she said quietly getting over her initial shock of hearing an 'outsider' speak Joshua's name. "Section One, right?" he continued, an amused smile on his face. She looked around then, was this a trap? She took a step away from the bar suddenly feeling very vulnerable without a weapon. "It's ok, relax, you've got the right place," he said moving towards the end of the bar and ducking under a passageway. "Follow me," he instructed. She remained where she was for a moment before following him at a safe distance. He led her into a small office and using a security card swiped a small box that revealed a larger, plusher office behind it. "Take a seat," he offered gesturing towards one of the two large chairs that were position in front of a large desk. He sat down himself though she made no effort to sit. "Sit, you're making me nervous," he smiled. She looked at him for a moment then sat down, prepared still, for anything. "Ok, let's see," he said softly tapping at the computer before him. "Ok, Paige Flanigan...Section One..." his voice trailed off as he read, what she assumed, was her bio, though she did not know the extent of what he read. "See? If I had your memory I'd know who you were," he looked up to her smiling. She sat passively, giving nothing to him in way of a response. "I have to admit, this is my first dealing with Section One ops and you seem...stuffy," he said scrunching his face in a humorous way. "Are you all like this?" "Who are you speaking of exactly?" she asked. Hell, maybe he'd give her some intel on who else was given this offer and had taken it. He grinned, "Nice try." She returned the smile, "No, I'm probably the least stuffy of the lot." "I see, well then I have my work cut out for me. Tell me about yourself," he asked leaning back in his chair. "What do you want to know?" she asked back on edge, but satisfied, at least, that others were coming. "I dunno. What did you do in Section? What was your expertise?" His voice seemed curious enough but her Section training refused to allow her guard down. "Level 2 Field Op and Med Tech." "And...what did you do?" he pushed. "I did level 2 field operative things and...med tech stuff." He looked at her for a long time though she did not feel uncomfortable under his gaze. "I suppose I can't blame you for being reluctant to tell me anything, after all? Who the hell am I? Well, let me tell you about us, then. Maybe that will loosen you up." "I doubt it," she offered. "You think?" he asked surprised. "I know," she said evenly. "Ok, then let's get down to business. Joshua spoke well of you. He told me your performance was within standards, which are very high, in comparison with others, but your talents, as he called them, would be utilized better elsewhere." She stared blankly at him. It was as if she were back at Section, sitting in that room as Joshua stated those exact same words. Who was this person? And was he privy to that very meeting? He took a deep breath and continued, "You're an emotional operative. Attempted escape multiple times. Stole money by transferring bank notes into open accounts and withdrawing all of it in Cozumel, Mexico, which I assume is still there?" "I spent it," Paige said flatly. "Uh huh," he said doubtfully, "no matter, I really don't care. You were involved in a covert mission in California gone bad, effecting your judgement both mentally and physically..." "We were betrayed by a mole," she said quickly, too quickly, before realizing her mistake. "You know that's not true. The mole was acting under orders..." "What's your point?" she asked flatly growing tired of this game. "Just want to let you know that we know everything about you and have been forwarded all your reviews, physical and mental, from Section One." "Then why ask?" she challenged. "Wanted to see if they were accurate. We've never dealt with Section One before. It's a new resource for us, a new pool from which to recruit competent agents. Until three days ago, we didn't even know it existed." She gazed at him evenly then her face softened. "It's no secret to you then...I wanted out." "Well, you got what you wanted. As of now...you know longer work for them." "But I work for you, and they are overseeing this in a manner of speaking." "In a manner of speaking yes, but we aren't like them nor do we strive to be like them. They back us financially and we do our own thing. There's something to be said about red tape." Paige smiled, "and here I thought red tape was a pain in the ass." "Yes, well, as Joshua says, 'things have a way of working out in the end'." "Yes, he does say that a lot," she smiled though her curiosity peaked as to how well this 'Gray' knew Joshua after all. "I hope that's the case with you. I feel you will be a valuable asset to our taskforce. We've never had access to someone with a photographic memory and it should, I hope in time, help us out with some problems we've been having." "So, then I do work for you?" Paige asked, still confused and mesmerized by the intricacy of this agency with Section One. "Well, so far, so good. We have some tests and some training, some briefings and meetings, but if all goes well, yes, you will work for us." "Ok," Paige said absently wondering what she would be doing before remembering what Joshua had told her. "You can follow me, there's someone waiting for you," he said. Her guard went up again though she tried to squelch it. It wasn't easy though, and it wasn't until this moment that she realized how much Section had influenced her and molded her into what she was now experiencing. It wasn't until she was in a normal (as much as could be expected) environment did she realize how abnormal she really was. They entered another door, which she had noticed upon entering the room, and proceeded down a rather longish tunnel. It was brightly lit and fresh paint of a pale cream color. It would have been almost cheery if it wasn't a tunnel. When they had reached the end, another swipe of the card, another door, and right into a lift. A few pressed buttons by Gray and they were heading up (not down, like Section). "No music?" Paige said absently looking around the interior of the elevator and noting nothing unusual except for the absence of a long row of numbers to designate floors. In it's place, instead, was another swipe box and a key pad. "Not yet...we're new tenants," "Fresh paint," she said running a finger along the far wall. It was cool to the touch. "What else?" he asked. "This part of the test you spoke of earlier?" she smiled at him. He shook his head and remained silent. The elevator stopped as Paige guestimated somewhere on the 17th to 19th floor range. He allowed her to walk out first into another hallway and finally into a brightly painted...waiting room, she supposed. An older woman entered from Paige's right and smiled kindly at her. A chill ran up Paige's spine as the woman's smile reminded her of Madeline's 'in charge and I know it' ways. She inadvertently shifted her weight her brain rushing as to how to get out of in between them. "You certainly are tense," she spoke evenly in a British accent that reminded Paige of Saf. But Paige simply stared at her, waiting for the bomb to drop. "Rebecca Dorta," she extended her hand, "Director of the Security Intelligence Agency, fully commissioned as of," she smiled warmly, "February 4, 2008." Paige stared at her making no effort to take the offered hand. Security Intelligence Agency? What the hell was that? "My dear when a hand is offered to you, I expect you to take it...surely Section One taught manners, no?" Paige opened her mouth but couldn't speak, it was difficult making sense of all this. Through the haze however she extended her hand taking the older woman's within hers. "That's better. Come, sit, let's see what's in your envelope," she said moving gracefully to one of the chairs that flanked a coffee table in the center of the room. Paige followed glancing at Gray who was busy talking softly on his celly and checking his watch. Rebecca Dorta extended her hand clearly asking for the envelope to which Paige handed it over. "You haven't even opened it," she commented easily. "I had other things on my mind," Paige said softly, sitting down across from the woman. "Yes, we'll get to that soon enough," Dorta said softly as she sorted things out on the table, nodding every now and then. Paige gazed at the woman evenly...what the hell was that supposed to mean? Dorta looked up and settled in her chair with her back as stiff as an upper class snob would have it. "Since you didn't bother to even open the envelope I wonder how many other things are inaccurate in your file." The challenge was explicit to Paige and she fought the urge to tell her off. "Perception is most often skewed within the boundaries of the one who watches," Paige said evenly. "Oh," Dorta said interested, "how's that?" "I was never told I could or should open the envelope, only to come here," she said evenly. Dorta smiled, "Whatever the case may be, you will have time now to go through everything. I ask, only that you keep an open mind and be flexible, we are as new to you as you are to us." Paige nodded understanding, that of course, coming from her previous conversation with Gray, "what of the others?" Dorta, "I knew you would be curious about them. Come, I have many that will soon become a few," she said as she walked towards the way she came from. She turned to Paige before she reached it though. "There are two phases of testing. The first, should be...a cakewalk, as they say, for you. The second phase, I'm sure you will excel at as well. You understand we can not offer too much information about our group until you have successfully completed both. There's always a chance you won't finish either." "And then?" Paige asked, although somehow she already knew the answer. "You will be returned to Section One," she said evenly. Paige bit her lip. What Dorta really meant was cancelled. She didn't want to say it...but that's what she meant. "I understand," Paige said softly. Dorta nodded then turned to open the door, "Read through the materials you have, the others," she looked at her watch, "will be along shortly." "Ok," Paige said though she was dying to know who else was coming from Section. She sat down near the middle of the table on the other side so she could have a clear view of anyone who came in and they would have a clear view of her. There were others in the room but she dutifully ignored them. She didn't recognize any of them and if her mind was that god damn curious as to who they were, well it would just have to work on its own then. Paige sifted through the material, passively memorizing it but not really concentrating on it. Her thoughts always came back to the same question – who from Section was going to be here? Or maybe they were toying with her? To keep her here to do god knows what? Maybe they were gonna experiment on her, make her do silly mind games like Madeline did. She shivered trying to push that particular thought away and tried to concentrate on Saf coming. The envelope. She got to keep her first name, her last name had been changed to Casey. She wrinkled her nose, why Casey? "Paige Casey," she tested it out speaking softly. "The horror," she replied after hearing it. Return