A new way to get your revenge by MrsJohnReese

I looked over the file given to me by Agent Snow for what must have been hours that night; and woke again the following morning, putting a pot of coffee on and curling up in the chair by the window to continue my commitment of the documents to memory. Apparently the CIA was searching for a device that could predict acts of terror; in addition to other nefarious deeds that may warrant government intervention. To me, however, this device; for all its mystery and intrigue into the world of intelligence and spyware, paled in comparison to the man we were to hunt along with it.

Apparently an agent by the name of John Reese had previously been trusted with this assignment prior to it coming to me; but all of the information in the folder suggested that he had gone off the grid, killing a fellow agent and attempting to run off with the device himself. He had been unsuccessful in the latter, but it appeared that his intentions of murdering his partner, Cara Stanton, had gone off without a hitch. Since then, he had disappeared; and had been presumed dead until quite recently. Rumor had it that a man matching his description had been sighted, reigniting the search for the fugitive; which was where I came in.

As I looked at his photo; I had to admit, he looked like the type of man who could very easily overpower another agent and disappear wherever he liked. His personnel file from other assignments backed this opinion up, and I saw that he had been a part of enough projects gone bad for there to be a reason for his roguish behavior. I knew enough of the distasteful things that could occur when in the line of duty for one’s country that a small part of me almost pitied him for what he must have been through…almost. But a larger part of me knew that along with those sometimes horrific occurrences came the knowledge and responsibility that you should conduct yourself in a manner befitting of the uniform; or in his case the suit you wore.

A knock at my hotel room door startled me out of my thoughts; and I got up from the chair I had occupied, stretching as I moved to answer the door. I jumped back in surprise when I saw who stood outside.

“Morning sunshine” Agent Snow said, eyeing me with appreciation as he took in my rumpled and “just out of bed” appearance. “I was going to call; but I figured we’d both do better with another face to face meeting.”

I stepped back from the doorway, wondering how in hell he had figured out where I was staying, and blushing at being caught by a federal agent while still in my pajamas. I allowed him to come into the room, attempting to hide my surprise as I shut the door behind him. Trying to regain my ability to speak, I turned to the center of the room to face him; but was spared the trouble of initiating a conversation when he said:

“So, did you get a chance to look over the file I gave you?” he asked, while perusing the small room I was dwelling in as if to try and glean as much as possible about its inhabitant from the contents alone.

“I did, sir” I responded, running a hand through my tangled hair as I drifted over to the coffee pot. “Would you like anything?” I continued as I poured myself a cup.

“No, thank you Ms. Gerard. And you may call me Mark. I find all the ‘sirs’ can be somewhat…tiring” he said, turning to face me and smiling with seeming warmth before continuing. “Have you come to a decision regarding my offer?”

I took a swig of the coffee to calm my rattled nerves before answering:

“Yes I have. But I’m curious how you think I can help you acquire both the device and the man. The device itself may be simple enough to find, but it seems as though Reese is very adept at making sure he stays hidden. What makes you think I would be able to locate him over anyone else that you could recruit?”

Mark laughed, sitting down on the edge of my unmade bed before answering:

“I suspected you would ask me that. I have it on very good authority that you were quite skilled at navigation and flushing out suspected terrorists in your time overseas. I have no doubts that your skills will be of similar value in this task.”

I gazed at him from my place by the coffee pot, trying to figure out whether I was honored that he had this much faith in my abilities; or scared that he appeared to know so much about my time overseas without even broaching the subject in our conversations. I decided to go with honored; and gave him a smile of my own before setting my empty cup down and returning to my seat in the chair by the window; bringing my knees up so I could rest my chin on them. I brought up a hand to push an unruly strand of hair behind my ear before addressing him:

“So, if I did take this job; when would I start? I would need to get word to my Commanding Officer that I wouldn’t be returning to active duty when expected…”

Mark held up a hand to silence me, saying:

“We will cover communication with your CO as soon as we get your acceptance of the offer. As for when you would start; the job begins as soon as you agree to take it. We need to move quickly if we hope to catch up to Reese in time.” He looked me over again as he continued:

“How do you feel about going to China?”

I fought to keep my facial expression neutral as I swallowed this change in gears. “China. You suspect that Reese is still there?”

“We have reason to believe that he may still be lurking around; yes. At any rate, even if he isn’t there; we can try and trace where he may be headed to next by asking around. I trust you’re trained in interrogation techniques as well?”

“Oh, I have some rudimentary skill I suppose” I said, giving him a smirk as I internally gaped at myself for my odd behavior. What in God’s name was I doing sounding for all the world as if I was flirting with him? He was a federal agent, for Christ’s sake; and I barely knew him! I attributed my unusual behavior to my loneliness both physically and emotionally; but even so, I knew better than to throw myself at someone, especially as this particular someone was about to become my boss. I tried to remind myself that he was only here to offer me a job; nothing more, but upon seeing him looking at me once more with that strange glint in his eye, all hope of that fell through the cracks. Mark Snow was an enigma to me; and unfortunately for my romantic history, I had fallen for “enigmas” all too frequently. I shook my head slightly, attempting to ward off such musings when he jolted me once more from my thoughts as he said:

“I have no doubt that you possess many skills, Ms. Gerard; all of which I intend to explore thoroughly.” He smirked at me as he stood once more, and took a piece of paper (a plane ticket, I discovered, upon seeing it close up) out of his coat pocket before saying:

“Meet me in the parking lot here at 6am tomorrow. This is your ticket for our flight to China. Oh, and Ms. Gerard? Be sure to wear something…appropriate. We’ll be going in as a wealthy businessman and his mistress; so be sure to look the part.” He handed me the ticket and, with one last look at me, he was gone.

Great. Just bloody perfect; I thought to myself as I slowly shut the door. Here I was, seemingly without very much in the way of consideration; about to go across the world with a perfect stranger under the pretense of being his mistress. To make matters worse, I found myself (much to my chagrin), all too interested in my new “boss”; and the get-up that we were to assume was not likely to dissuade that interest any time soon. I could, of course, hope that his interest in me would remain only professional; and thus relieve me of my fear that things would soon get complicated between us. However, if his looks at me throughout our meeting were any indication; he felt at least a small interest in me as well; and I knew all too well what that may lead to.

I sighed, walking into the tiny bathroom of my hotel room and turning on the faucet in the shower. Perhaps if I cleaned up and spent the rest of the day touring the city; I could distract myself from my current predicament.

If only I could be so lucky.