《The Red Army》 Chapter 1: The Choosing Day Three years later¡­ {George} It''s been three years since my sister-in-law Eve destroyed a meteorite and saved Earth from total destruction. Not to mention she gave birth to a beautiful daughter who looks like a mini version of Eve. Eve named her daughter Zoey. The good thing about Eve being married to an outsider would be that Eve''s child won''t be trained in the congregations on anything until she turns sixteen. Or at least that''s what I''ve been told. The thing that''s going to make it harder for Zoey to stay protected is that she''s already showing signs of having powers. Zoey is able to turn into a cat. Well since she''s a toddler she turns into a kitten. It''s so adorable but it surprised Eve and Levi when it first happened. But Eve seems kind of worried about it now and I don''t blame her. On the other hand things for me have gotten quite interesting. I''ve developed more abilities like I can manipulate the element of wind. That''s pretty cool because I can use that ability in order to fly. Another ability I have is that I can turn into a Puma. I can still turn into a black house cat but I like the idea of being able to turn into a Puma better. Today is the Choosing Day. It''s actually graduation day for Boot Camp cadets like me. We don''t get a diploma or anything like that. We''re just given our Agent ID''s in accordance to whatever congregation we get assigned to. As I got dressed in my uniform that was given to me for today I was nervous as hell. "You''re going to be fine," Jerry said as he put his arms around my waist. "I''m going to miss you but that''s why we only had a friends with benefits relationship." I nodded. "Yeah I know. But there is one other guy that caught my eye, but I never said anything because there''s a strong possibility that we won''t be in the same congregation. On top of that, I don''t even know if he''s gay or not or if he''d be interested in me." Jerry looked like he wanted to say something as if he knew something that I didn''t. I narrowed my eyes. "What is it? What do you know?" He smiled. "Oh nothing. I can''t say a thing." "About what?" I asked. He smiled and shook his head. "Nope. Not saying a word." He let go of me and patted my ass. "Come on let''s go or you''re going to be late for the ceremony." Once we got to the venue where the ceremony was going to be held, I took my seat in the front row reserved for me marked: Cadet George on it. The venue was soon filled with other Cadets and they sat at their assigned seats. When I looked at the stage there were five different people sitting dressed in their soldiers'' uniforms. They each had different symbols on them to signify which congregation they were from. There were two females and three males sitting on the stage. The first lady looked like she was at least in her late forties, early fifties. Her symbol on her uniform was the letter A in the middle of a circle. Based on that symbol I''m going to assume she''s the leader of A-Circle, one of the highest ranking congregations. A-Circle is where all new cadets come from after they''re tested on. The second lady who looked like she''s getting to the age of retirement had the symbol of a crow sitting on a tree branch on her uniform. Based on the symbol she''s from the Crow Birds congregation. That''s the second highest ranking congregation because that is where all of the cadets training to be an Elder or for a higher rank come from. There was a man sitting next to the lady from Crow Birds and he had a symbol of an open purple daisy on his uniform. Based on that symbol I''m going to assume that he''s the leader of Purple Flowers and that''s the congregation where Eve came from. I wished that I could be in that congregation but it is very likely that I won''t be. Another man who was sitting next to him had a symbol of a red flag on his uniform and I''m going to assume that guy is the leader of the Reds. The Reds are one of the lowest ranking congregations but they have a reputation for being tough guys and girls. The last person sitting on the stage had a symbol of a shield on his uniform and I''m going to assume he''s the leader of the Army. They''re the lowest ranking congregation. But at the same time they have the same reputation as the Reds. They''re tough guys and girls. If something needs to get done that doesn''t involve a high ranking Agent then that''s when the Reds and the Army congregations are called in. I''m not sure how I would feel if I was assigned to the Reds or the Army but since I''m an outsider it''s more than likely I might be placed in one of two congregations. The guy that I''m interested in his name is Branden and he''s often said that he''ll be assigned to the Reds. But for some reason the leader of the Reds never chose him. The leader himself pulled him to say that yes he was on the list for the Reds he was just waiting for another Cadet to graduate. Whatever that means. I felt bad for Branden because he had to get held back because of another Cadet. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. The ceremony started when an older man who was the one who ran Boot Camp went up to the podium. He cleared his throat and started his speech. "Gentlemen and Ladies can we get a round of applause for the Cadets that are graduating this year?" Everyone in the room clapped for a moment or two until the guy put a hand to silence us. "To those of you who are getting ready to be shipped out to a congregation, I wish you good luck as your congregation leader will pick you and the cadets that are graduating up. I will have each leader who is sitting on the stage with me tonight come up one by one and announce the cadets that will be going back to the congregation with them tonight." He turned to the people sitting on the stage and nodded. When he stepped back he allowed the leader of A-Circle to take the stage and announce the cadets going with her. Of course my name wasn''t announced and it wasn''t for the other two congregations either. I expected that. But at the same time I was sitting on pins and needles wondering if my name was even going to be called. I''ve heard of some cadets'' names not being called on their graduation day because they failed graduation or in Branden''s case the leader''s waiting for someone else to graduate. Yes apparently you can fail Boot Camp. I don''t see how you can fail Boot Camp because it is about the easiest shit one can ever do. The leader of the Reds, his name is Triple X, took the stage and started listing off names of the cadets who would be going to his congregation. When Branden''s name was called I wanted to jump for joy. But when I looked over at Branden he looked at me and he seemed worried about something. Then when my name was called I looked at Branden and he breathed a sigh of relief. While I was jumping for joy on the inside that I was picked at that same I was puzzled as to why Branden was relieved that I got picked for the same congregation that he was in. After the last leader took the stage and listed off the names of cadets he was taking to his congregation, the person who ran Boot Camp took the stage again. "Congratulations to all graduating cadets! I wish you all good luck on your journey!" After that we were ushered into another venue where the celebration for the graduating cadets was to happen. I went over to the food station because I was hungry. The food station was set up buffet style so I could pick and choose what type of food I wanted. There were workers monitoring the food to make sure to fill up the food that was out. I grabbed a plate and piled on some food. I brought my plate of food to a random empty table and sat down. I didn''t really feel like hanging out with someone at the moment. I just wanted to eat. After I ate I walked around aimlessly and stopped short when I saw Chloe standing off to the side by herself with a scowl on her face. What the hell is Chloe doing here? I thought. I went up to her. "Hey Chloe. I haven''t seen you in awhile. How have you been?" "You haven''t seen me because I made two of the biggest mistakes of my life," Chloe growled. I paused. "Two?" "Well the first one is I tried to kill Agent 36 when I worked for Levi. Actually, I tried to kill her several times but apparently the fucking butler stopped me," Chloe said. My eyes went wide. "You tried to kill Eve? And Levi didn''t have your ass thrown in jail?" Chloe shook her head. "Nope. He just blacklisted me from ever getting a job from any of his companies." I snickered because I knew Levi pretty much owned the whole town except for places like McDonald''s and fast food places. Not to mention Levi''s friends with the store owners and they won''t hire someone that Levi doesn''t like. So if Chloe wanted a job she''d have to move to another town or city someplace far away from Eve and Levi and that nobody knows her to get a job. I doubt she has enough money to do that. "It''s not funny George!" Chloe snapped. "Oh I think it is! Because Levi could''ve done a lot more than just keeping you from getting a job. Trust me, I know. So what''s your second biggest mistake?" I said. "Becoming a cadet," Chloe growled. "It was a moment of weakness for me. I needed a job and didn''t know where to go. I figured something was better than nothing. So I was recruited and now I''m here. I failed Boot Camp because I don''t want to participate in whatever this is!" I rolled my eyes. "Well you''re going to be stuck here for a very long time!" "Good! I don''t care!" Chloe snarled. She had some tears fall down her eyes and I would''ve felt pity for her had she not tried to kill Eve. I shrugged. "Alright then. Have fun being disciplined. Bye!" Before Chloe could respond I walked off as fast as I could. I wasn''t going to hang out with someone like Chloe before I left for the Reds. Not on a joyous day like today. *** {Branden} I''m so happy that George got selected to go to the same congregation I''m going to. I wanted to jump for joy the moment his name was called. I was even happier when I found out that I would be staying in George''s cabin! When I got to the cabin that George and I would be staying at, I looked around. There were two beds, one on one side of the room and the other on the other side of the room. It was a small cabin big enough for two people to share. I know I didn''t get chosen until today but I knew I was going to the Reds because the leader pulled me off to the side and said that I had to wait another year to get chosen. He said he was waiting for another cadet to graduate before he could choose me. I had a feeling that he was waiting for George to graduate and I don''t blame him. George is a looker. He has brown hair and gray eyes. He looks like he''s been training to be a bodybuilder. Most Agents are pretty strong by default but I''m pretty sure George has a nice little six pack. He definitely has muscles that I wouldn''t mind squeezing during sex. I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard someone clear their throat. "Are you just going to stand there and stare at my bed all night or are you going to get settled in and unpack?" George asked. I felt my face turn red and I shook my head. "Oh, uh sure of course. Let me get unpacked and then I''ll probably take a shower because we will probably start our jobs tomorrow." George nodded. "Yes. We will." Without another word I unpacked my stuff and took a shower and got settled in for the night. I wanted to try and hold a conversation with George when I got settled in but he was fast asleep when I came out of the bathroom. I got into bed and drifted off to sleep dreaming about one day sleeping with George and having a relationship with him. But for now that would have to wait. I''ll get him eventually just not now. Chapter 2: A Bully Move {George} It was dark. Wherever I was it was dark. I tried to move my hand and when I realized I wasn''t tied down to anything I looked around. Okay¡­ Am I dreaming? I thought. I heard people cracking their knuckles and laughing. "Damn! Triple X picked some good ones this year! And this one is a real hottie!" A light turned on and I was able to see a group of people surrounding me readied their fighting stances. One of them threw a punch at me and I dodged it. I grabbed the person''s hand and used my magnetic powers on them as I grabbed another person and they stuck to each other. I used my wind power to try and fly away but some of the people in the group had the same type of power. I''m going to assume that these people are Agents because they flew up and grabbed me in mid air, yanking me down to the ground. After I crashed I got to my feet. "Get up! Show me why Triple X was so interested in you before you even graduated!" I looked up and saw an Agent sneering at me. He looked like he hated me and for what reason? I had no idea and I didn''t care to find out. I got to my feet and tried to fly again but this time when the Agents that could fly tried to grab me I used my magnetic power and those Agents stuck together as they crashed to the ground. The Agent who was sneering at me turned into a snake and he charged at me and I used my firepower and launched a fireball into his mouth as he tried to eat me. He immediately turned back into a human and coughed and howled in pain. The other Agents watching us fight couldn''t stop laughing at the Agent who was coughing and howling in pain. "That''s enough," I heard someone say. Then I saw him. He was the man from the choosing ceremony. It was Triple X but he wasn''t in his soldier uniform he was dressed in a white t-shirt and green camouflage jeans. He had a tattoo of a small red flag on the side of his neck. He walked over to the Agent who was still coughing and handed him a bottle of water. The Agent drank from it and Triple X had a look of amusement on his face. "Agent 2B, what the fuck is your problem? Let me guess you told these Agents that I ordered you to have them test Agent 722, right?" Agent 2B looked up at Triple X and snarled. "What''s so special about this guy anyway?" Triple X looked around at the other Agents and sighed, "Alright you guys show''s over." He looked at me and Agent 2B. "You two, come with me." Agent 2B got to his feet and crossed his arms like a defiant child. "I''m not going anywhere with a slut like you!" My jaw dropped in disbelief as to what I just heard. No one in their right mind would dare insult their congregation leader unless they had a death wish. Triple X turned around and looked at Agent 2B and snarled. "Excuse me? You wanna run that by me again Agent 2B?" "I''m not going anywhere with a slut like you!" Agent 2B said slowly. "Is that clear enough for you darling?" I blinked. Are these two having relationship problems or something? They need to keep me out of it! I have no idea what''s going on and I don''t want to know. What happened next happened so quickly I barely had time to blink. Triple X put Agent 2B in a chokehold and held him there for a moment. After that happened I heard a little click and when I looked up I tried not to laugh because Agent 2B had a dog collar around his neck. "You''re lucky we''re friends or I would''ve had you fired right here and now. You dared to disobey me and humiliate me in front of my Agents. The fact that I favor you has gone to your head hasn''t it?" Triple X sneered. "I don''t know what you''re-" Agent 2B started. Triple X grabbed his neck and squeezed. "You need to remember who calls the shots around here, Agent. And that''s me. And when you''re in my presence you behave just like every other Agent is supposed to behave. Got it?" He let go of Agent 2B''s neck and Agent 2B just snarled at him. He squeezed Agent 2B''s neck again. "I''m expecting you to give me an answer, Agent!" "Alright fine then!" Triple X snapped after Agent 2B refused to answer him again. "We''ll do this the hard way. I''ll drag you back to my office and you will be in pain and humiliated for your actions. I call the shots around here and you will come with me whether you like it or not." Triple X grabbed Agent 2B''s collar and then looked at me. "Come along Agent 722! I have something to discuss with you after I deal with this idiot." I nodded and didn''t say a word as I followed him to his office. *** {Triple X} I couldn''t believe that my second-in-command named Liam would go so far as to disobey my orders and try to bully George. I swear being in a relationship with him is starting to make things more complicated than what they need to be. Once we got to my office I escorted Liam to the backroom that''s attached to my office. I made sure to have room so that there were no windows or vents so that an Agent can''t escape. That is where I take Liam to punish him if he disobeys. Lately I''ve been thinking about firing the guy but I want to hang onto him just for a little while longer. At least until I get the two people that I want to be with to fall for me. A lot of my Agents know that I don''t just commit to just one person. I''ve been with multiple people at the same time and I always tell the people that I''m with that upfront. So if they don''t like it then they can choose not to be with me. I have no idea why but suddenly Liam has decided that he wants me to be in a monogamous relationship with him and him alone. I guess he didn''t like the fact that I was also dating another Agent. I tried my best to spend as much time as I could with both of them. Not to mention the other Agent was completely fine with it. That is until I saw Liam give the cadet money and told him to never come see me again. He even threatened the poor guy if he did come to see me that he would track his family down and kill them. Ever since I saw Liam do that I made sure to tell any Agents that were friends with him that if they followed an order about killing someone''s family that I would do the same thing to them. The other Agent did come to see me because he rejected Liam''s money and Liam did try to have the Agent''s family killed when I stepped in. I had the other Agents that tried to carry out Liam''s orders fired and their memories wiped. At this point I''m leaning towards firing Liam and having his memories wiped as well. When I escorted Liam to the backroom I dropped him down on the bed. He tried to pull me closer to him so that I would kiss him but I refused. "Nope. That''s not what you''re here for. You''re here because you''ve been a bad boy disobeying my orders. Tsk, tsk, I expected you to be better than this and not let the fact that we''re in a relationship get to your head. Well, I''m going to fix that for you. Our relationship ends today." "What!" Liam gasped. "Why?" I rolled my eyes. "Why would I want to be with you after the many stunts you''ve pulled to keep other men away from me? I told you from the very beginning that there would be more people involved in the relationship. It seems that you''re not okay with that. You''ve used your relationship with me to bully people until you get what you want. Did you think I didn''t notice that? Well, as I just said, we''re no longer dating and you''re going to stay here until I feel that you''ve learned your lesson." "You can''t do that to me!" Liam shrieked. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I smirked. "I can and I will! At least you have a blanket, a pillow and a mattress right? You should be fine. I''ll bring you something to eat later." I closed the door and immediately Liam started to bang on it with his fists shouting, "Let me out of here!" "I call the shots around here and you''re not getting out of here until I say so! So goodnight!" I shouted. I couldn''t stop laughing as I heard Liam continue to bang on the door as I walked out to my office. *** When I went out to my office I saw George sitting across my desk looking completely confused. I chuckled as I took a seat across from him on the couch. He turned to look at me. "Uh, what''s going on? Did I do something wrong?" I shook my head. "Nah, you didn''t do anything wrong. But my second-in-command''s just jealous that I put you on my list before you graduated." He tilted his head. "Why?" "Because of how quickly you developed your abilities. I watched you spar with other cadets and your fighting style is rather interesting. A little rough around the edges but interesting," I said. "And before you ask I was able to plant a mole from my congregation to watch you and other cadets that I feel should be a part of my congregation. I''m not the only leader that''s done this. As a matter of fact, every leader does this. And seeing how you fight now it seems like you might need a mentor to help you hone in on your abilities." "So exactly what is my job here?" George asked. "You''ll be a regular Agent just like your sister-in-law Agent 36," I responded. "Have you ever killed anyone before?" He shook his head. "No." "Well you''re going to have to deal with that. Sooner or later, you''ll get so used to it that it won''t even bother you anymore. And you have to keep in mind that you''re just following orders," I said. "I see," He said. He looked at me as if he didn''t know what to think. But then he regained his composure. "So, who''s going to be my mentor?" "I can only think of one person who is the best in the business for the Reds," I said. "His name is Trainer Shawn. He''s got no bias for you and no bias against you. He always takes a neutral stance with the Agents he trains. It''ll be hard but I know you can prove yourself. You''ll be a low ranking Agent of course. But with hard work you''ll make it to the top. Even though you were once an outsider?" He raised an eyebrow. "I was an outsider?" I rolled my eyes. "Well duh! You''re a part of a congregation now. So I think the term outsider no longer applies to you." He nodded. "Makes sense to me." "So, you''ll report to your mentor tomorrow morning at 6am!" I said. He looked at the clock. "But it''s only noon!" I shrugged. "You can chill out for the rest of the day. Besides with that stunt Agent 2B pulled this morning I think you''ve earned some rest. Because tomorrow, the real work begins. You''re dismissed." "Yes sir," George said. He stood up and left the room. *** {Branden} When I got to the caf¨¦ during my lunch break I got my tray of food and sat down at a spot where I thought was going to be quiet but I guess not. Two other instructors decided to take their seats right next to me. "So you''re the new boot camp instructor huh?" One of the instructors said. She was a young woman about probably in her early twenties. She had her blonde hair up in a ponytail and wore the standard uniform that all instructors wear. That is a white t-shirt and olive green jeans along with black steel toe boots. I nodded slowly. "Yeah. I''m Instructor Branden, and you are?" "Instructor Olivia at your service!" Instructor Olivia said proudly. The man that sat in front of me and rolled his eyes. "Seriously? We''re all in the same job so I don''t think we have to be so formal on our lunch breaks." He turned to me and smiled. "Anyways, I''m Instructor Ben. But please just call me Ben." Instructor Olivia snorted. "Fine since we''re in the same job just call me Olivia." "Okay then, just call me Branden," I said. "It''s nice to meet you." "Hey Olivia, did you hear about that stunt Agent 2B pulled yesterday morning?" Ben asked. Olivia shook her head. "No, what did he do this time?" "He tried to beat the crap out of a new Agent. Triple X had his eye on the new Agent before he graduated boot camp!" Ben said. "I bet that pissed off Agent 2B with his fucking jealously." She shook her head again in dismay. "Well if that''s not a bully move I don''t know what else is! Why does Triple X continue to let him get away with that shit?" Ben shrugged. "I have no idea. But from what I heard the new Agent sure put up a good fight. I also hear he''s a total hottie!" Olivia gave Ben a suggestive look. "Oh, a total hottie huh? I''ll be the judge of that, where is he?" Ben looked at the watch on his wrist. "It''s almost 1pm so he should be training right now. And don''t go getting any ideas Olivia, he''s gay!" Olivia snorted. "As if that''s ever stopped me before." She stood up and took her lunch tray with her. "You know what, I''m kind of curious too," I said. "What was the ID number of the new Agent?" "Agent 722," Ben answered. My eyes went wide when I heard that. "That''s George, my cabin mate!" I stood up abruptly. "I''m going to see him train while I can, it was nice meeting you. Maybe we can have lunch together at another time?" Ben chuckled. "Sure. See you later." *** {George} I charged at Trainer Shawn again and he dodged me effortlessly. Trainer Shawn groaned in annoyance. "Seriously? Yes, just keep throwing noodles on the wall to see if they stick with that move! Do you expect to get anywhere in a fight with a move that obviously isn''t working?" This had to have been at least the fifteenth time I''ve tried charging at him. But what was I expecting when I was fighting a seasoned Agent and not a regular cadet? "Pause for a second and think about your next move before making another silly mistake like that again," Trainer Shawn said. I did as I was told and started charging at the guy to catch him off guard. "Ser-" He started to say when I jumped and did a backflip over him. I used my wind power to make a small tornado. "Not bad, but not enough," He said. Right when I was going to claw at him while turning into a Puma, he grabbed my tail and yanked it. I fell to the ground and changed back into a human. "Ow!" Trainer Shawn chuckled. "You know what they say, no pain! No gain!" I got to my feet. "Tomorrow, you''ll be going on a mission and you''ll have a partner of course," Trainer Shawn said. I perked up. "Really? What''s the mission?" He shook head. "I don''t know. But I guess you''ll figure it out when you meet your new Boss at Cornwall Security Agency. If you''re going to be a regular Agent you''ll report there." I paused. "Wait a minute. Cornwall Security Agency? Isn''t that the same Agency that Agent 36 comes from?" Trainer Shawn nodded. "The very one! But you''ll be in a different division because you''ll be what''s considered a low ranker because you''re just starting out. But when you''re not on a mission you train with me." I nodded. "Yes sir!" Trainer Shawn dismissed me for the day and to say I was excited was an understatement. I was super excited because I would be reporting to the same place that Eve reports to. Although I''m not really sure that she reports there anymore considering she''s an Enforcer now. I was so happy that I didn''t know that Branden was back from his job sitting on his bed reading a book until he looked up at me and said hi. "Well there''s the Mr. Hottie Agent that Agent 2B is already jealous of!" Branden said. I paused. "Huh?" "The little stunt Agent 2B pulled yesterday morning. That jerk! But everyone seems to think that you''re pretty hot. And you''re not bad on your fighting skills either," Branden said. I frowned. "I don''t understand. Why is this such a big deal anyway?" Branden''s jaw dropped. "Seriously? Agent 2B is dating Triple X and Triple X has let Agent 2B get away a lot of shit because of that. From what I hear Triple X actually punished Agent 2B this time around. It makes me wonder what you did to make Agent 2B jealous like that?" I thought back to the conversation that I had with Triple X yesterday. "I think it might''ve had something to do with the fact that my name was on Triple X''s list before I graduated from boot camp?" "Yeah that would do it. He probably thinks you''re a threat to him or something like that," Branden said. "Anyway, what''s got you so happy right now?" "Oh, I found out what my job is! And I''m going to be a regular Agent!" I cheered. "Well that''s great news!" Branden said. He paused. "Have you ever killed anyone before?" I shook my head. "Nope. But I''m pretty sure I can deal with it when the time comes." "Wow, I''m glad I only trained to be a boot camp instructor! I mean sure it''s not the most glamorous job but at least I don''t have to worry about killing anyone," Branden said. I nodded. "I know. But I''m so happy I can''t wait to start my job." There was a short silence when I broke it, "So what''s your job like?" He shrugged. "It''s not glamorous or anything like that. I just train new cadets during boot camp. I put them through the paces, make sure their fighting forms are correct and that they have basic knowledge of different weapons that could be used on the battlefield, etc, etc¡­" "Sounds¡­ Interesting¡­" I said. He snorted. "Yeah." "I got an idea," I said. "Let''s play twenty questions." Branden raised an eyebrow. "Why?" "Well we are cabin mates, don''t you think we should get to know each other?" I asked. He shrugged. "Yeah sure why not." That''s what we did. It wasn''t like we had anything else to do anyway considering we just got off from our jobs a few hours ago. Chapter 3: Georges New Partner {Blade} I sighed once again as I watched the news reports about things that happened with my daughter Eve throughout the years. It seems that Eve is doing pretty well for herself. But what my mole has told me, she''s an Enforcer now working for the Council. The Council is a group of people who call most of the shots in the Organization. They do have someone over them named Queen Amore who will give them orders if need be. True, the Elders have some power to make decisions but if an order is handed to them from the Council they can''t refuse. However, the leaders of each congregation are the same. In order to get the Council to consider doing something about the leaders it has to be a serious issue that needs to be reported and an investigation is done. Most of the leaders get reported because someone has a beef with them so the matter doesn''t get looked at unless it''s an Elder that does the reporting. The fact that Eve works for the highest people who govern the congregations tells me that she won''t walk away from her job ever. "Boss? Are you okay?" I heard Jeremy ask. I rolled my eyes. That was another issue I''ve been dealing with recently. I should''ve never promised that scumbag that he could marry Eve. Now the plans have changed, big time. Eve''s married to a wonderful man who''s a famous billionaire named Levi Harriman and they look like a really happy couple. Not to mention now they have a child. A daughter. I gave Jeremy a tight smile and said, "I''m fine." "Oh, okay so I wanted to ask you something," Jeremy said. "And what might that be?" I asked. "I was wondering when you were planning to give me the go ahead to get my bride?" Jeremy asked. I grit my teeth. "And who is this bride that you''re talking about?" "Well, it''s Eve of course," Jeremy said while giving me a look as if to say ''duh.'' I groaned. "I hate to break it to you but that ship has sailed. And it sailed far, far away into never never land." Jeremy''s jaw dropped. "What! But you promised!" "Oh I know what I promised Jeremy, but your bride is already married now. And she has a child," I said. I took the USB that had the footage of Eve''s wedding and plugged it into my laptop. I motioned for Jeremy to come towards me. "What''s this?" Jeremy asked. I smiled. "Footage of Eve''s wedding." As Jeremy watched the footage he looked like his soul left his body. Then he had a look of rage on his face. "You fucking promised me! And you let her stay married to that bastard?" I stood up and picked Jeremy up by his shirt collar and squeezed his neck. "Listen punk, I know what I promised but I was lying! And if you think I''m going to let a scumbag like you marry my daughter you''re sorely mistaken. You''re the one who pulled the wool over her eyes letting her believe that you were single when you were married didn''t you?" I let go of his neck enough to let him answer. He wheezed, "Yes but I was going to divorce my wife for her. I-" I squeezed his neck again. "You were going to divorce your wife for Eve? Too bad I had one of my moles inform her of your treachery." I dropped him on the floor. "Wait, you already knew about me?" Jeremy asked while giving me a look of disbelief. "Then why did you promise her to me? What''s your plan?" I laughed. "What do you think? I just need people like you who either want to pursue Eve in a romantic relationship or want to be like Eve to join my army. I had to get to you before the recruiters of those congregations got to you. Yes, you won''t have any super hero abilities like Eve does but you''ll be fighting on my side. This is a civil war we''re talking about here- well more or less a secret civil war. But I''m going treat you just like the congregations would treat a traitor if you try to backstab me." Jeremy made a face and I continued, "If you try to backstab me or back out in any way keep this in mind. I''m tracking your family and all I have to do is give the word to one of the many mafia boss''s that I work with and you and your family are dead." Jeremy gulped. "You''re not serious, are you?" I got down to his level and looked him dead in the eye. "Do I look like I''m joking? I''m dead serious. Because once my army takes over the world, I''ll put the human race to where it''s supposed to be. Now, get lost before I smash your face in." Jeremy got up and ran out of the room as fast as he could. I laughed and went back to my laptop and started typing up more plans. I didn''t want the congregations to go away. I had plans for them. True the congregations wanted world domination and I wanted the same thing. But I didn''t want it to happen in the shadows. I wanted it to happen out in the open. I wanted the Agents within the congregation to get credit where credit is due. That''s why I left my post. True part of the reason why I ran wasn''t because of fear but the other reason I ran was because of anger. The Elders and the Council refuse to allow Agents to take credit for a job well done. I doubt they''re letting Eve take credit for destroying that meteorite three years ago. But when I start ruling the world, things will be different. *** {George} I couldn''t keep my excitement at bay when I showed up at Cornwall Security right on time. When I walked into the building the secretary looked up at me and smiled. "Let me guess, you''re a new Agent aren''t you? Can I see your badge Agent?" I nodded and took my badge from out of my suit jacket. My badge looked like a badge that one might wear on the police force. Only it doesn''t say ''protect and serve'' on it. It just says Agent and then whatever the Agent''s ID number is. My ID number is Agent 722. The uniform that I''m wearing is a standard black suit with a black suit jacket that has a white shirt underneath it. I also wore a black tie, black dress shoes and black sunglasses to complete the look. It was the same type of uniform Eve wore before she became an Enforcer. "Alright Agent 722," the secretary said. "Your division is on the tenth floor. Take a right after you get out of the elevator and your Boss''s office should be down the hallway fifth door to the left. Good luck!" I smiled and followed directions. When I got to my new Boss''s door I paused in order to see the name on it. The name on it was: Father Duke Head of Division 325. I knocked on the door. "Come in!" When I entered there was a man sitting at the desk. He looked old enough to be in his mid thirties and that meant he was possibly older than me. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. He also had the same type of uniform that I had on. He smiled at me. "Hey there newbie! I''m Father Duke, your new Boss. And you should be meeting your partner today." He looked at the nearby clock on the wall and rolled his eyes. "That is if she decides to obey orders today. That woman has really been treading on thin ice right now. She''s already been demoted from being a high ranker for not following orders and on probation. If she doesn''t get with the program soon-" "I''m here!" I heard someone shout. I turned around and tried not to laugh as I saw a young woman who was probably about my age standing in the doorway panting as she had run a marathon. She was wearing the same uniform I was and she had black hair and black eyes and tan skin. She also looked like she slept the previous night in her uniform because her hair and her uniform looked completely disheveled. Father Duke groaned. "Ah, Charlotte, so nice of you to grace us with your presence this morning." "I''m sorry sir I can explain-" Charlotte started. "Save it!" Father Duke snapped. He took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay, George, meet your new partner Charlotte. Her Agent ID is Agent 54. Charlotte, meet George, your new partner and his Agent ID is Agent 722." Charlotte paused and then frowned. "You''re pairing me up with the new guy? Seriously? Look I know I got demoted from being a high ranker but-" The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "Once again, save it! You will follow orders whether you like them or not," Father Duke snarled. "Is that clear?" Charlotte hesitated when Father Duke snarled again, "Either this is clear to you or I could just fire your ass right here and right now." Charlotte gulped. "Yes sir, everything is crystal clear." "Good, now I shall hand out your first assignment," Father Duke said. He pulled out a file and handed us two pictures from it. The pictures looked like a bird''s eye view of a mansion. "These two pictures are of the Darlastate Mansion," Father Duke explained. "You are to meet up with two other Agents at the location that you will be dropped off at. They already have the main target hostage and your job is to extract as much information as possible from the hostage. The hostage is a mafia don who has been accused of harboring traitors who left their posts from the congregation." "Alright! A torture mission!" Charlotte cheered. Father Duke face palmed. "Don''t overdo it this time Agent 54. You know good and well that only time you kill a hostage is if after three days of torture and they won''t give you any information. Got it?" Charlotte nodded. "Yes sir." She muttered underneath her breath. "Killjoy." "What was that?" Father Duke asked. "Nothing, nothing at all sir," Charlotte said. "Good. You two are dismissed. And George, good luck!" Father Duke said. I chuckled a little as Charlotte and I left the office. *** Once we got down the hallway in the elevator Charlotte turned to me. "Look, let''s get a couple of things straight since we''re going to be partners for the time being. I don''t like you. So don''t go getting any ideas." I snorted. "You don''t have to worry about that because I''m gay." Charlotte frowned. "Well damn way to bruise a girl''s ego! I was just kidding." I rolled my eyes. "Uh-huh sure you were. You looked dead serious to me." Charlotte groaned. "Why did I do so wrong that I had to get paired up with a newbie Agent who''s really hot and totally my type? Why universe? Why?" "Listen, we don''t have to like each other to be partners. Let''s at least be civil with each other," I said. She nodded. "Okay, fine. I can do being civil. So¡­ You''re the new guy, huh?" I nodded slowly. "Yes, we''ve already established that. And?" The elevator dinged signaling that we had arrived at the parking garage. Charlotte seemed to know exactly what vehicle to go to because she went up to a black SUV and pressed a button on the driver''s side door. She turned to look at me. "You coming?" "Yes," I said. I sat in the passenger seat up front in the car and looked around. It looked like a normal SUV that could fit a family of four comfortably. "This vehicle is State of the Arche and it''s built to survive any type of gunfight and even grenades. I''ve heard rumors that it could possibly survive a nuclear bomb, but uh that''s just rumors," She explained. "This vehicle is outfitted with every type of weapon you can think of, oh and it can fly but when we fly we turn on the invisibility shields. The government doesn''t want people getting wind of the fact that they have flying cars already." I shrugged. "Makes sense to me." As soon as we left the garage and got on the road Charlotte gave me a mischievous look. "Ready to fly?" I paused but before I could say anything Charlotte pressed a combination of buttons on the car''s dash and the car took off like a rocket. I never thought I''d get motion sickness on a flying vehicle before but I did. Most of the aircraft that I''ve traveled on have been private jets that go slower than the speed Charlotte was going. I swear this woman has a lead foot. Once we landed at the spot we were supposed to meet the two Agents I immediately got out of the car and found a place to empty the contents of my stomach. "Oops," Charlotte gave a nervous chuckle. "Sorry about that. I tend to have a lead foot. I forgot that first time rides can be hard on a new Agent." "You don''t say?" I said after I finished puking. Charlotte handed me a bottle of water and I drank it when I heard two people laughing as they came out of the shadows. "Seriously Agent 54?" One of the Agents said. "You really need to stop overdoing this. You should be like me and actually go the speed limit set for those vehicles. Because my first time flyers don''t get sick!" Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah whatever Agent 003. Just because you''re still a high ranker-" "That''s the thing," Agent 003 said. "I''m still a high ranker." He looked at me. "You must be a newbie." "Is that obvious?" I asked. Agent 003 nodded. "Brand new uniform, no damage from a gunfight or anything like that that I can tell. I tend to be pretty observant. That''s part of the job." He gave Charlotte a sideways look. "And looking out for your partner is another part of your job Agent 54." Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah whatever." The other Agent standing next to Agent 003 said, "Shouldn''t we get going so that our target doesn''t escape?" Agent 003 shrugged. "Sure, let''s go." We followed Agent 003 and his partner into the mansion and down the hallway into some sort of basement. When we got to the basement I was surprised to see a woman tied up with a blindfold over her eyes. Agent 003 rolled his eyes. "What? Don''t look so surprised, Agent. Uh, what was your ID number again?" "Agent 722," I answered. "Yeah, there are women who are traitors just like there are women who work for the congregations doing various jobs and whatnot," Agent 003 said. "Just like there are women who are Agents. This woman is our target and she''s a traitor." He tied the blindfold and she glared at him. He laughed, "Aww that''s cute! Little kitten has her claws out." "You''re stupid because you''re on the wrong side of this war," the woman said. "When Blade starts ruling-" Agent 003 slapped her hard and I wouldn''t be surprised if she saw stars from that slap. "If I hear that traitor''s name one more time." "Tell us what we want to know!" The other Agent snarled. "Go fuck yourself!" The woman snarled back. Agent 003 took off his suit jacket and handed it to his partner. "Fine then, this is going to be fun." "Oh! Can I join?" Charlotte asked with a little bit too much eagerness. Agent 003 paused. "I''ll think about it. If we can''t get anything useful out of her in the next hour then maybe." Charlotte pouted, "Aww, no fair!" He chuckled. "Since when is the life of an Agent fair? You guys go up front and be on the lookout in case the calvary is called to rescue this traitor." Charlotte grumbled and followed orders. I went with her and guarded the exit. Charlotte groaned. "Ugh! This is so boring! I hate this part of the mission sometimes." "We''re on the lookout, anything can happen," I said. "True, but most of the time, nothing happens. Unless the target is of such high value to the enemy that reinforcements arrive," Charlotte said. Even though we were just outside the door I could hear the woman screaming and yelling curses at the two Agents torturing her. After an hour or so the screaming stopped. I paused. "Is the target dead?" Charlotte shook her head. "Nope. This is normal. Once the target starts running out of steam for the day the policy is that Agents are to take a break with them and go back at it the next day. And on the third day if the target refuses to talk then the target is killed. And the newest Agent in the group gets to do the killing." I gulped. "So if the target doesn''t talk then that means¡­" Charlotte smiled and nodded. "Yup! It''s possible you might get to do your first kill on this mission! Don''t worry you''ll get used to killing people over time. It''s part of the job." *** It took three days to torture the target and she still didn''t talk. What I was afraid would happen, happened. I was called into the room and the woman sitting across from me tied to the chair glared at me. "Do you think I''m afraid to die, newbie?" The woman growled. Agent 003 came up to me and handed me a gun. It was a semi automatic hand held. The type of gun that a regular police officer would carry. He looked at me and said, "This is an order Agent. Don''t answer her. She wants to have the last laugh before she dies." He gave me a sinister smile. "One shot to the head and one shot to the heart." "Or we could have him kill her slowly," Charlotte interrupted. Agent 003 facepalmed. "Seriously Agent 54? Get outside now!" "But I was just trying to help!" Charlotte whined. "That''s an order Agent!" Agent 003 snapped. Charlotte left the room and I tried not to laugh at her antics because this was a serious situation. Once Charlotte left, Agent 003 looked at me and nodded. "Do it." I grabbed the gun and pointed it at the woman''s head and pulled the trigger. After I shot her in the head I pulled the trigger again and shot her in the chest. Agent 003 ordered his partner to untie the woman''s body and it fell to the ground off the chair. Strangely enough, looking at the dead body I felt nothing. I didn''t feel any sadness or thrill, I felt nothing. I frowned. "I don''t get it." Agent 003 raised an eyebrow. "Don''t get what?" "Am I supposed to feel anything after I''ve had my first kill?" I asked. He gave me a wary look. "Most agents at least feel some sort of horror or dread after their kill. Why?" I shook my head. "I don''t feel anything." His eyes went wide and then he quickly regained his composure. I tilted my head. "What''s wrong?" "Nothing. Just make sure that you get plenty of rest on your days off after this. That''s all," He said. *** A couple of days later when I had to report to Trainer Shawn for my training I had trouble getting out of bed. "Hey George," Branden said. "Do you have to go to work today?" I groaned. "Yeah I''m getting up. Why?" "You don''t look so good," Branden said. I looked up at him to see him frowning and shook my head. "I''m fine. Just give me a minute." After a moment I got up and took a shower and got dressed. I didn''t get a chance to say anything else to Branden because he had already left for work. When I got to the training area Trainer Shawn frowned. I looked at him. "What''s wrong?" "I should be asking you the same thing," Trainer Shawn said. He sighed, "Of course the newbie is going to try and push himself when he''s sick." I took two steps forward and practically did a faceplant on the ground. Trainer Shawn helped me get to my feet. "Alright soldier, you''re going to the medics and more than likely you''ll be sent to the hospital." I didn''t get a chance to answer him when the world started spinning on me and I passed out. Chapter 4: Agent Flu {Eve} "Come on, come to mommy!" I said as I watched Zoey try to run again. She just started walking a few months ago and before that she showed me signs that she was developing powers by turning into a cat. It happened after I had put her down for a nap and I had gone back into her to find a cat in her bed instead of Zoey. I freaked out and called Levi thinking that he was probably trying to play a prank on me or something. When Levi came into the room he knew the cat was Zoey. With some gentle coaxing Zoey turned back into a human. Since she was still a baby Mother Terra suggested that I get her an earring that could help her suppress her powers until she learned to control them. The last thing I needed was to be at a family dinner and have Zoey turn into a cat while sitting in her high chair. Zoey took a couple of steps and then broke into a run. It was a short run before she decided to get down on her knees and turn into a cat. I groaned. Then I heard Levi laughing as he entered the room. "That''s not funny Levi!" I growled. "I think it is! It''s funny because it''s cute. Although I would prefer that she had more control over her power," Levi said. "Yeah I know," I said. "Eve! Eve! Levi! Are you guys there? Where''s my grandbaby?" I heard Mom call out. Even though it''s been three years I''m still getting used to calling Levi''s Mom, Mom. "Stall her please," I whispered. Levi chuckled, "Coming Mom! Eve will be with us in a moment." Once Levi left I scratched Zoey behind the ear. "Turn back into a human. Grandma''s here." After a moment she did change back into a human and I picked her up. Since she was already in her regular clothes I took her to go see Mom. "There''s my grandbaby!" Mom said as I handed Zoey over to her. Zoey cooed and said, "Mama!" "Aww, that''s so cute!" Mom said. "But I''m not your mommy. I''m your grandma though." I chuckled. "She calls everyone Mama. It''s her first word after all." "Too bad her first word wasn''t Daddy," Levi grumbled. Mom snickered. "Oh don''t worry, she''ll be calling you daddy in no time at all." Before I could say anything else my cell phone rang. I picked it up. "Hello?" "Yes, this is the Cornwall Security I''m calling to speak to Agent 36," someone said on the other line. "Yes, this is Agent 36 speaking. Hold on just a moment," I said. "Okay." I looked up at Levi to see him frowning. "This is an important call Levi. I''ll take this in the other room." Levi nodded and I stepped outside. "What''s going on?" "Well I''m calling in regards to George Harriman, your brother-in-law. His Agent ID number is Agent 722," the callers said. My eyes went wide. "Wait, Agent ID number? My brother-in-law is an Agent now? Did I hear that correctly?" "Yes ma''am!" The caller said proudly. "He''s a new agent working for the Reds. He just had his first mission a few days ago. He got sick when he came back and is in the hospital. Which is why I''m calling." My eyes went even wider because I couldn''t believe what I was hearing. "What did he get sick with?" The caller sighed, "Agent Flu. He got sick right after he got back from his mission. Which means¡­" "Fuck!" I cursed under my breath. "That means he''s had his first kill." "Um, when can you come visit him? It would probably be a good thing if he woke up to someone familiar," the caller said. I nodded. "Alright, I''ll be down there as soon as I can." After I hung up the call I called for Levi to come into the other room. He looked at me with concern. "What''s going on?" "It''s George, he''s in the hospital with Agent Flu." I said. Levi paused. "Wait, George is an Agent now? And what the fuck is Agent Flu?" "Yes, George is an Agent. Trust me I was just as surprised as you are. He''s got an Agent ID and everything!" I said. "What''s his Agent ID?" Levi asked. "Agent 722 and he''s a newbie at that. Which means he''s a low ranker," I answered. "And to answer your second question, Agent Flu is kind of like getting the flu for normal humans. Only it depends on when the Agent gets sick. If an Agent gets sick after a mission it could be due to some trauma. If an Agent gets sick randomly then that means they might be developing a new power. And this sickness can apply to anyone within the congregation. Not just Agents. "But most of the time it happens to Agents, hence the name of the sickness ''Agent Flu.'' Since George got sick after his first mission, it means something happened and the mostly likely scenario is that he had his first kill." Levi took a seat on a nearby chair and had a look of disbelief. "My brother¡­ My brother who wouldn''t harm a fly¡­ Killed someone¡­" I squatted down to his level and grabbed his hands. "Listen, I know it''s a hard pill for you to swallow but it''s a part of the job. At least he wasn''t assigned to be an Enforcer like me. When someone joins the congregation they have no say over what happens to them. George is a grown man and he made his choice." "I know that. It''s just hard to believe though. Is Agent Flu contagious?" Levi said. I shook my head. "Not that I know of. Like I said it either happens due to trauma or developing a new ability. Why?" "I was wondering if it''s safe for us to take Zoey with us? I''m sure George would love to see her," Levi said. "About that, what if she changes into a cat at the hospital? The Elders will be on her so quick-" I said. "You worry too much, you know that? They said they wouldn''t bring her in for anything until she turns sixteen," Levi said. "That''s exactly what they told my mother before she was killed in action. And I had my first kill at the age of seven because of that!" I growled. "Well, if it makes you feel any better we could just leave her with Mom?" Levi suggested. "I''m sure Mom would love to spend some more time with Zoey." I thought about it and nodded. "That''s a good idea. I''d rather have Zoey change into a cat in front of Mom than at the hospital." "Okay then, when are we going?" Levi asked. "As soon as possible. The hospital thought it would be a good idea for him to wake up to a familiar face," I said. Levi stood up and we went back into the living room where Mom was playing peek-a-boo with Zoey. Zoey clapped her hands and giggled. "Hey Mom," I said. "I have a favor to ask of you." Mom nodded. "Sure it depends on the favor dear." I chuckled. "Of course. Something came up and Levi and I need to pay a visit to the hospital. It''s nothing serious. We just need to visit someone. Do you mind watching Zoey for a little bit?" Mom''s eyes lit up as if she were a kid in a candy store picking out her favorite treat. "Oh I''d love to! You know me, I never miss a chance to spend time with my grandbaby!" I leaned down and kissed Mom on the cheek. "Thanks Mom." After that, Levi and I headed to the hospital. *** {Levi''s Dad} Three years ago when my daughter-in-law Eve got pregnant, I started looking into the company that she worked for. Mostly because I was curious, what kind of boss orders their workers to get pregnant by someone? Not even I would go that far! Now my son George is working for the same company that Eve works for. So naturally I did a background check on the company and only found out the basics. Cornwall Security was an Agency that had the best security guards around. They had many high profile clients including the President of the United States! The fact that they had such a high profile client for sure made their reputation pretty solid. Cornwall Security is also a military recruitment agency. But that''s all I could find out. I even used a couple of my connections in the FBI to see if they could find anything else out but not much. The only thing they were able to find out was that Eve was a high value soldier. Three years ago she went on some super top secret mission and the information on it is classified. That''s pretty much it. I must say Eve is one hell of a mother. Almost territorial when it comes down to her daughter Zoey. It reminds me of how my wife is with our kids. She was worried sick when George just disappeared without a trace. But Levi seemed to know where he was. Levi told us that George had signed up to enlist in the military to do the same type of work that Eve was doing. When George returned home for his birthday he seemed different. He was more built than he was before. Kelly the middle child had brought some of her friends with her to his party and they were fawning over him and practically throwing themselves at him and he didn''t even bat an eye. I knew that because he''s gay he didn''t look their way. That was fine by me because I didn''t want any of my children to feel as if they had to change who they were just to be in my good graces. My wife feels the same way. I was snapped out of my thoughts when the intercom on my phone buzzed. "Hello? Yes, what is it?" "Mr. Harriman," my personal assistant said. "Your wife is here and she''s insisting that she see you!" "What about?" I asked. Before my personal assistant could respond I heard the cries of a baby in the background and I chuckled. "Alright Owen, send her in." "Yes sir," Owen said. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Isabella opened the door and she had Zoey with her. Zoey was being a little bit fussy and that''s when the smell hit me. "Uh, dear I think Zoey needs a diaper change." Isabella sniffed and pinched her nose. "Ew, she must''ve just done that because she wasn''t that fussy before." She grabbed the diaper bag and started searching for a clean diaper. Zoey''s cries went from being fussy to restless. I don''t blame her, I''d be restless too if I took a dump in my pants and couldn''t do anything about it. Isabella finally brought out a clean diaper and went into the bathroom that''s attached to the office with Zoey. "I know, I know Zoey. Don''t worry, I got you." After Zoey was changed she quieted down a little bit. It was funny because she looked at me and said, "Mama!" I chuckled. "No, I''m not mommy but I am Grandpa! Can you say Grandpa?" She reached for me and said, "Mama!" Isabella chuckled. "According to Eve, Zoey calls everyone Mama. It is her first word after all." "I bet Levi isn''t too happy that her first word wasn''t Dadda," I laughed. Isabella nodded. "Agreed. But she''ll learn how to say it in due time." There was a knock on the door. I called out, "Come in!" Owen entered and he looked slightly annoyed but then his gaze softened when he saw Zoey. "She''s cute and she looks just like Mr. Harriman''s wife." "Yes she does, because that''s her daughter," I said proudly. Zoey took one look at Owen and for whatever the reason decided she didn''t like him because she cried after she saw him. Isabella moved to try and console her but her cries got louder and louder to the point where her cries shattered the glass doors in the office. After a moment Zoey quieted down, sucked on her thumb and fell asleep. Isabella and Owen looked just as stunned as I was. "Um Hudson dear," Isabella said. "I think we need to call Eve and Levi. I''m pretty sure they''ll want to know what''s going on with their child." I nodded in agreement and did just that. Little did I know I was about to find out something about Eve that I never thought could happen in real life. *** {Eve} Levi and I went to visit George in the hospital and George was already awake. He was talking to another guy sitting at his bedside and I could tell whoever the guy was he really cared about George. George perked up as soon as he saw me. "Eve! Levi!" The guy sitting next to George stood up as soon as he saw me. "Eve? As in-" I rolled my eyes. "I''m Prodigy Evelyn aka Agent 36. Nice to meet you!" I held out my hand and the guy shook it. "I''m Instructor Branden. I work as a boot camp Instructor for the Reds. I''m also George''s cabin mate." He looked at George. "I have to go. I just realized I have something to do so I''ll see you later." George chuckled. "Sure I''ll see you later." Instructor Branden walked out of the room as fast as he could. Levi smirked when he saw that. "So George, he seems nice." George rolled his eyes. "Don''t start! You sound a lot like Dad! I have no idea how he figured out that I was gay before I did!" I snorted. George sighed, "Besides, the guy doesn''t even notice that I exist. I mean, he notices me as a friend and all but nothing more than that." I smiled. "Oh I think you might be wrong on that. I didn''t see how you two act around each other for very long but I can tell he really cares about you." "Please he cares because I''m his cabin mate and friend, that''s it," George said. I gave him a pointed look and raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh." "Okay that''s enough about George''s love life I think we should talk about how he feels about getting his first kill," Levi said. "Oh¡­ That¡­" George said. "Honestly, I thought I was supposed to feel some sort of horror because of it but I felt¡­ I felt nothing¡­" I looked at George with understanding because that''s how I felt when I got my first kill. It wasn''t until much later that I felt some type of way about it. "Well, you might not feel anything now but later on you will. Trust me, I know. I got my first kill when I was seven. It wasn''t until a week later that my powers went out of control and I started to feel resentment and a little bit of anger," I said. George gave me a puzzled look. "Anger and resentment? Why would you feel that?" "The anger and resentment wasn''t necessarily about the kill, it was more towards who made me do it," I said. Suddenly George''s eyes went wide. "Wait, you had your first kill at the age of seven? But you didn''t join the military until you were eighteen!" I sighed, "That''s the story the government wants you to think. The congregations work closely with the President of the USA himself. The operation is done in the shadows." Before I could say anything else my cell phone rang. When I saw it was Mom calling I was instantly worried. I answered it. "Yes, is something going on with Zoey?" "Uh, yes well, it''s hard to explain¡­" Mom started. "Isabella, let me talk to her," Dad said. Mom handed the phone over to Dad. "Okay, what''s going on with my daughter?" I asked. Dad gave a nervous chuckle, "Well your daughter has a set of lungs on her that''s for sure. She cried so loud that her cries shattered the glass doors in my office!" When I heard that I felt the color drain from my face. "Uh, Eve? Hello?" Dad said. "I heard you. Um¡­ Just bring her to the hospital, I''ll deal with her there," I said. "Okay, we''re on our way," Dad said. Levi looked at me with concern. "Eve? What''s wrong? You look like you''ve seen a ghost!" "Well it looks like Zoey is in the process of developing a new ability!" I said. His eyes went wide. "What!" "Yeah apparently Zoey cried so loud that she shattered the glass doors in Dad''s office," I said. Levi''s eyes went even wider and he had a look of horror on his face. He regained his composure. "So what do we do now?" I shook my head. "I don''t but I think it''s time we let them in on the loop. They''ll have to sign NDA''s because of what they witnessed." Levi laughed, "Why does that not surprise me? I mean I had to sign one before I married you." "Seriously?" George asked. Levi nodded. No sooner had I said that two agents alone with Mom and Dad entered the room. Mom handed Zoey off to me which was easy to do because Zoey was asleep. "The Council has been notified of what''s going on with your daughter Agent 36," one the Agents said. "That''s nice, and your Agent ID number is?" I said. "Agent 24," the Agent responded. "And I know this is speaking out of term but just be grateful that you''re married to an outsider. Because if you weren''t the years would be numbered as to how long your child would be with you. Just like what happened to you." I narrowed my eyes. "Excuse me, Agent?" I handed Zoey off to Levi and got right up in Agent 24''s face and stomped on his foot. "You will do well to hold your tongue. It is not your place to tell me what could or couldn''t happen with me or my child. As you said so yourself, you knew you were speaking out of term. So go fuck yourself." I took my foot off of Agent 24''s foot and he snarled, "You''re going to regret that!" "No she won''t! Stand down Agent 24!" I heard Elder Lewis roar. Agent 24 turned around and saw Elder Lewis. "Elder Lewis but she-" "She will not be punished because she is doing what every other agent of a higher rank and status would do to those lower than her that do not know their place! It''s a shame that you let your jealousy get the better of you, Agent," Elder Lewis said. "But-" He started. "You''re dismissed," Elder Lewis said. Once Agent 24 started to walk past him, he made Agent 24 as he put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it a little. "You will be dealt with after I''m finished here. Wait for me outside." Agent 24 did as he was told and the other Agent that was with him left too. I noticed that Elder Lewis had a briefcase with him and tried not to roll my eyes as he closed the door. He took the only chair that was left and sat on it while the rest of us were sitting down too. Elder Lewis sighed, "Good grief! I hate dealing with Agents who can''t keep their feelings in check when they''re on the job! Anyways, Agent 15 notified me of what happened with Zoey after the very moment it happened." "Wait a minute! There were only three of us in the room when it happened! Me, my wife and-" Dad paused. "Owen''s Agent 15 isn''t he?" Elder Lewis laughed. "Yup! Did you really think that we would leave Agent 36''s in-law''s unprotected even if you didn''t hire us for the job?" He looked at George. "I hear you''ve just become an Agent recently too, huh? It''s not everyday that we see an in-law join one of the congregations. What''s your Agent ID?" "Agent 722 sir," George said. "My name is Elder Lewis and I''m Agent 36''s Boss," Elder Lewis said. Dad looked at me. "Let me guess, you''re Agent 36?" I nodded and said proudly. "Yes I am!" "Okay now that we''ve gotten the formalities out of the way, I''m going to bring out the NDA''s and nothing that is said here today leaves this room. Got it?" Elder Lewis said as he looked at Mom and Dad. They nodded and Elder Lewis brought out two contracts. "Wait, don''t I need to sign one?" George asked. Elder Lewis shook his head. "Nope, you''re an Agent now and you know better than to go yapping about what you do to outsiders, right?" "Yes sir, I won''t tell anyone sir," George said. Elder Lewis snorted. "Good boy." He handed Mom and Dad their contracts and they signed them. After the contracts were signed Elder Lewis''s hand glowed and I knew exactly what he was doing. He was using his silencing powers to put up a silencing shield. A silencing shield is a shield that controls the volume around the room. Agents with Silencing Powers can control how much noise gets heard and how much noise doesn''t get heard. It''s a very powerful and useful ability to have. Especially when you''re behind enemy lines. "Just an added insurance that nothing that gets said in this today doesn''t leave this room," Elder Lewis said. He sighed, "Alright where to start? I guess I should explain the basics of what this organization is. The organization is made up of five congregations: A-Circle, Crow Birds, Purple Flowers, The Reds and Army. The organization has been around for centuries. And the organization doesn''t have a name as the Council never agreed on a name for it. "The purpose of the organization has always been one thing all around the world¡­ Super soldiers. Soldiers that are stronger than the average human and can follow commands swiftly and efficiently. Although the formula for testing on people has changed over the years Super soldiers are still the end goal. And we want world domination along with it. "Even though the organization is made up of five congregations, the organization is very large and very complex. Kind of like a hydra. A very invincible and immortal hydra. Cut one head off and four or five more pop up. "The organization has also found out that the younger the person is that''s being tested on, the better. So a lot of times the soldiers that we have within the organization start out as children. These children are raised to do a specific job when they get older. Prodigy Evelyn is a good example of that." He turned to me. "You know your background story better than I do. I say why go ahead and tell them." I nodded and started to explain what happened to me. I was born with most of my powers and along the way I developed more powers and that included my Demon Power that I used to destroy that meteorite three years ago. I even told them about how I got my first kill at the age of seven and started being trained to be an Assassin aka Enforcer. Mom and Dad hung onto my every word as if they couldn''t believe that something like this was happening in real life. I don''t blame them. I''d probably do the same thing if I were in their shoes. After I finished telling my story Elder Lewis looked at Dad and asked, "Did Zoey cry with her eyes open or closed?" Dad gave a puzzled look. "Closed, why?" "That tells me everything I need to know because if she cried with her eyes open her eyes would''ve turned red meaning she had Demon Power but since she cried with her eyes closed that means she developed Stunning Power," Elder Lewis answered. He looked at me and narrowed his eyes. "It''s a good thing you at least reported your daughter being able to turn into a cat to the Council. At least you know how to follow protocol." I bit my tongue because I didn''t like the way he said that last comment. I knew I was one of his ''prized agents'' because of my status but I didn''t like him making comments like I''m some sort of pet. Elder Lewis smirked. "You might want to wipe that look off your face Agent 36." I raised an eyebrow. "What look?" "The look of contempt that you have for me," Elder Lewis said. I opened my mouth to say something and then shut it because I knew that I might just say something that I''d regret. Elder Lewis''s hand lit up again and he stood up. "Well that''s all that needs to be said right now. I''ll leave you guys alone so you can finish up with your visit." When Elder Lewis left I turned to Levi. "What were you saying about worrying too much?" "My point still stands, you worry too much. What Elder Lewis did is beyond your control. The contracts are beyond your control. What type of ability Zoey develops is beyond your control. Stop worrying about things that you can''t stop from happening. Do you see where I''m going with this?" Levi said. I groaned and ran my hand through my hair and yanked on my ponytail. "It''s funny because according to Mother Terra, Elder Lewis had been gunning for me to be an Enforcer ever since I was born. It''s a good thing the Council told him to wait until I get to a certain age to start my training. I mean seriously, how on earth can you teach a newborn how to kill someone? Although with how much technology has progressed I wouldn''t put it past the Council to find a way to make that happen." George looked at Zoey and laughed. Zoey was knocked out in a blissful sleep sucking on her pacifier while she slept. She had her left arm laid back next to her head much like how Levi is when he''s asleep. "Man, Zoey is knocked out! I thought she was dead there for a second, but she sleeps just like Levi does!" George laughed. Mom smiled and nodded. "Oh yeah when Levi was a baby he could sleep through a tornado. He did that one time. We were headed towards the shelter underneath the house and a huge gust of wind went past us and Levi was just sleeping away like nothing was going on. The only time he woke up was when we were in the shelter and he needed his diaper changed." We had a little bit of a laugh at that. Suddenly I started to feel really dizzy. I looked over at Levi and I was seeing double. What the hell is going on with me? Levi stood up and the last thing that I remember was him calling out my name before passing out. Chapter 5: Eve develops a new Ability {George} I wanted to get out of bed when I saw Eve pass out but I couldn''t because of the wires and stuff that was attached to me. Good thing Levi caught her before she hit the ground. Levi frowned when he looked at her hand. "What''s up with the black spots?" "I''m calling the nurse in," I said. I pressed the call button. "I''ll be there in a minute!" The nurse answered. As soon as the nurse came in and saw Eve passed out she quickly called for a couple of other nurses and a doctor to take care of Eve. Levi went outside in the hallway to see what was going on. When he came back into the room he sighed, "Eve has Agent Flu but not for the same reason you do." I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" "Eve is gaining a new ability," Levi explained. "The doctor seemed awfully excited when that happened because usually seasoned Agents like Eve don''t really develop anymore abilities when they get to be her age." That was when Zoey decided to wake up and start crying. Levi took her out of her car seat and held her. "How long has it been since Zoey last ate?" Levi asked. "Since you guys left her with me to go to the hospital," Mom answered. "Let me guess, she''s hungry isn''t she?" Levi nodded. "I''ll go talk to the nurse and see if I can get her a bottle." He went out into the hall again and shortly after he came back a nurse came into the room with a bottle for Zoey. Zoey took it as if she hadn''t eaten anything in days! "Wow, she really was hungry!" I said. "Yeah, um George? I gotta go take care of Eve. I''ll be taking Zoey with me," Levi said. I nodded. "Of course, I totally understand. I''d do the same thing if I were in your shoes." Once Levi left Dad sighed, "You know what, I think we should get going too, son. I don''t know about you but I''ve had enough excitement for the day." Mom snickered. "You''re getting old Hudson. I''m surprised you didn''t have a heart attack with all the excitement happening today!" Dad rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah whatever." He looked at me. "I''ll see you around." Mom nodded and followed Dad out the door. I breathed a sigh of relief when they left. After everyone left, the room was quiet. Now that I finally had a chance to process the bombshell that was dropped on me about Eve I couldn''t help but feel somewhat sorry for her. "Poor Eve," I muttered to myself. "No wonder how she''s able to do her job so well." "You talking about Agent 36?" I heard someone say. I looked up to see Triple X standing in the doorway with a look of concern on his face. I sighed, "Yeah but I can''t really say much about it though. Other than the fact that somehow, she got Agent Flu and it''s because she''s developing a new ability. The rest of the story falls underneath the Agent Code of Conduct." Triple X whistled, "That bad huh?" I nodded. "Yup. There were contracts involved that my Mom and Dad had to sign and apparently my brother signed a contract before he even married Eve." "I do know a little about Prodigy Evelyn''s background because we went to the same boot camp before being shipped out to different congregations," Triple X said. My eyes went wide. "Really?" Triple X chuckled. "Oh yeah. A couple of my friends and I were kind of jealous of her because Elder Lewis was taking special interest in her or whatever the reason, so we decided to gang up on her after training hours. Prodigy Evelyn didn''t take us bullying her lying down and she handed us our asses and sent us packing." "Wow, you were jealous of her because of Elder Lewis?" I said. He nodded. "It wasn''t until later on that was stupid of me because she would come back from training looking like she was somebody''s punching bag. Although the wounds she had were gone the next day it made me think that Elder Lewis taking a special interest in you probably wasn''t a good thing. Not to mention from what I know of Elder Lewis had her training underneath Trainer Michael. That guy is often referred to as the Devil Trainer for a reason. "He''s even trained future congregation leaders. That''s the job I was being raised to do. And yes, I did wind up training under the guy. Trainer Michael would often have me spar against Prodigy Evelyn." "Did you win any fights against her?" I asked. He shook his head. "Nope. She kicked my ass, every. Single. Time. Why she wasn''t trained to be a congregation leader was beyond me. But nope, she was being trained to be an Enforcer this whole entire time. And my friends are evaluators for Enforcers and from what I hear she''s doing to a pretty damn good job. Of course, she''s on break because of giving birth to her child." "Yeah Zoey''s adorable!" I said. "She looks like a mini Eve! But she has the same sleeping habits as her father." I chuckled, "She''s a deep sleeper and I mean a really deep sleeper! With all the commotion going on in my room she was knocked out cold. I thought she was dead at first but she was just sleeping away. The only time she woke up was after Eve passed out and she was hungry." He snorted. "Wow. Anyway, from the looks of it you''ll be out of here in a couple of days." I frowned. "Why? I feel fine." "That''s exactly what all Agents say when they first wake up," Triple X said. "It''s just for observation and if nothing goes wrong you''ll be free to go back to business as usual." "I see," I said. "And I''m pretty sure Branden will be by to visit you again," Triple X said with a smirk. "You know he really cares about you right?" I paused. "Um¡­ Okay?" "And I know that you have your eye on him," Triple X said. "When you two finally get the nerve to confess to each other, I approve. Anyway, I just came by to check on you. I have to get going." I stared in disbelief as he walked out the door. What just happened? *** {Eve} The next time I opened my eyes I was lying on a mattress. I stretched out and noticed something different about me. When I looked down I saw that my hand wasn''t a hand anymore. It was a giant paw! That made me pause. What the hell? "Good morning!" A nurse said as they walked into my room. Once they turned on the light I realized that I was in a hospital room. The bed that I was on was an extra wide bed. I looked over and saw that Zoey was asleep in a crib right next to my bed and Levi was sleeping on the small couch in the room. I blinked. "What the fuck happened to me?" The nurse smiled. "You gained a new ability! And it looks like you can turn into a Lioness now! It''s so cool that Agents can still talk like humans even when they''re transformed!" I blinked again. "What?" "Oh and I saw your daughter turn into a baby Lioness in her sleep! She''s so cute!" The nurse said. "Alright enough gawking at the patient!" A doctor said as he entered the room. His name tag said Dr. Larry on it. The nurse turned around to look at him. "What? I couldn''t help it!" Dr. Larry pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. "Agent 36 and her daughter aren''t animals in a Zoo! If you want to spectate animals in a Zoo then go to an actual Zoo during your time off! And if you can''t be professional while you''re in here then send in another nurse who can!" The nurse put her hands to say she surrendered. "Okay, okay I can be professional." Dr. Larry nodded. "Good." He looked at me. "How are you feeling Agent 36?" "Totally and utterly fucking confused!" I declared. He chuckled. "That''s understandable. I''d be confused too if I woke up transformed into a cat. It doesn''t surprise me that you developed this ability because it runs in the family for you. Your mother could turn into a Lioness and your father could turn into a Lion. Just like you inherited your Demon Power from your father. I''m just surprised that you developed the ability this late in life." Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "I see," I said. "Can we show her what she looks like as a Lioness? Please?" The nurse asked, while giving Dr. Larry puppy eyes. Dr. Larry rolled his eyes. "Fine because she''ll be turning back into a human soon anyway." My jaw dropped. "How do you know that?" "It''s part of my abilities," Dr. Larry said. "It comes in handy when you''re a doctor. It''s called a Sensor Power. I can sense people''s emotions and when they''re powers are going to go out of whack among other things." "Cool," I said. The nurse pulled up a mirror at the foot of my bed and I stared at it in shock. I looked like a Lioness alright! I had huge paws, broad shoulders, and a long fluffy tail. I was so shocked that my hackles went up and I hissed at my reflection. "Alright, alright calm down," Dr. Larry gave the nurse an annoyed look. "Take that mirror away before it breaks." Right on cue Zoey woke up and started crying and that caused the mirror to break because of how loud her cries were getting and that caused Levi to abruptly wake up. Levi stared at me. "Okay, why is there a Lioness in my wife''s bed?" "Uh, Levi? Can you calm Zoey down first?" I asked. Levi looked over at Zoey when she let out another loud cry and moved to take her out of her crib. "It''s okay sweetheart. I know you just woke up. Alright, you need a bath, a diaper change, clean clothes and a bottle." "I can help out with the bathing and changing her clothes if you want?" The nurse asked. Levi shook his head. "Nah, I got it. I''ll just need a bottle after she''s taken care of." The nurse nodded. "Alright then." Levi looked over at me again. "I have no idea why you''re transformed into a Lioness but you look pretty cool as a cat." I rolled my eyes. "Ha, ha very funny." Levi went and took care of Zoey and while he was feeding her he made a call for someone to bring him a fresh change of clothes and his laptop. That meant he planned on doing some work from the hospital today. That thought made me smile. How did I get so lucky to have such a kind and caring husband like Levi? Once Levi took care of everything that''s when I noticed myself starting to shift back into a human. "Nurse Padin! Get Agent 36 a medium sized hospital gown, now!" Dr. Larry ordered. She nodded and did as she was told. Dr. Larry left the room along with her and shortly after that I changed back into a human. I grabbed the hospital gown and changed into it. "How did he know you were getting ready to change back into a human?" Levi asked. I shrugged. "Apparently, it''s a part of his abilities. And changing into a cat runs in my family. The doctor told me that my mother could turn into a Lioness and my father could turn into a Lion." "Interesting, is that why Zoey can turn into a cub?" Levi said. I nodded. "Yup. I guess this is a family thing. Why I developed this ability so late in life is puzzling though. It''s bad enough that I''m barely getting the hang of controlling my Demon Power. Of course being on break because of having a child helps me focus my training more." Levi sighed, "Yeah you know you don''t need to train as hard as you''ve been going lately right? When you go back you''re still going to be the best Agent ever!" I felt myself blush. "Um, thanks Levi." "Okay let''s take care of your vitals, and we''ll run some tests just to make sure things are okay," Dr. Larry said as he came into the room. I looked at him and nodded. Dr. Larry did his job and then smiled at me. He was ready to say something when we heard a tiny roar coming from Zoey''s crib. We looked at Zoey''s crib and sure enough, Zoey was sitting down turned into a lion cub. Levi chuckled. "That will always be cute." "She''ll be changing back in three¡­ Two¡­" Dr. Larry said. Zoey slowly but surely turned back into a human. "Looks like I''ll have to take her vitals too and possibly run some tests on her. She won''t like it though," Dr. Larry said. My eyes went wide. "Let me guess, blood draw?" He nodded. "Blood draw." "You have to do blood work on my daughter? For what reason?" Levi asked. "A routine check for children that develop abilities like your daughter did. Agent 36 was the same way. She developed her Demon Power right from the moment she was born. She cried with her eyes open and they turned red and she almost leveled the building. I was able to deduce from her blood test results that she would gain another ability by the time she turned two and she did," Dr. Larry said. "And what ability was that?" I asked. "Your electricity ability. You loved zapping me every single time I had to work with you even if it was just to do a routine check-up," He laughed. "It got so bad that I had to resort to using rubber gloves instead of the regular latex. Although I should''ve done that from the start. Agents that have the electricity ability as a toddler or even a newborn rubber gloves are required and me being the idiot that I was at the time I thought that that rule was just plain stupid." Levi laughed; he got a real kick out of that with his laughter. After a moment he regained his composure. "Wow, Eve was a handful even as a baby!" Dr. Larry nodded and said proudly, "Yup! That''s exactly what happens when you have a child who''s destined to be an Enforcer." At this point in the conversation Nurse Padin came in with the necessary tools to do blood work for me and Zoey. "Um, do you mind if you take my blood first? That way I can take care of Zoey when you''re poking her with a needle," I said. Dr. Larry nodded. "Sure, yeah even though I can help somewhat with my abilities she''s definitely going to cry. I find that the mother comforts the baby more so than the father. At least how it is for Agents. Not sure about the Agents that marry outsiders." Levi snorted. "Eve can handle it. She''s one heck of a mother. If anyone can calm Zoey down it''s her." I didn''t say anything to that comment because I had nothing to say. Nurse Padin did my blood work and that didn''t take long when she turned to Zoey and when Zoey saw the needle she started crying. I went over to her and started making funny faces and talking to her in a baby voice. "Zoey, look at me! Oh, I know what will work!" I looked at Levi. "Did you pack her favorite toy by chance?" He smiled. "When do I ever not pack it?" He went over to the diaper bag and pulled out Zoey''s favorite which was a stuffed Lion that she likes to cuddle with. When he handed it to me I held the Lion up and said, "Hey Zoey! It''s Harry the Lion! Please stop crying, you''re making Harry sad." Sure enough Zoey looked at the stuffed toy and giggled. But then the needle went in and she started crying again. I tried everything in my power to console her but I had to wait until after the blood work was done so that I could pick her up and hold her. "I know, I know it hurts doesn''t it?" I said in a baby voice. "It''s okay you''re fine now. Shhhh¡­" I rubbed circles on her back to comfort and after a moment she calmed down. I put her back in her crib and she looked at me and did grabbing hands and said, "Harry? Lion?" I nodded and handed her her toy. She took it and cuddled with it and shortly after that she fell asleep. Levi smiled. "It''s about time she added more words to her vocabulary." I smirked. "Yeah and I''m sure it''s just a matter of time before she says Daddy." Dr. Larry chuckled. "Alright you guys. I''ll leave you alone now and the test results should be in by tomorrow. Of course you''ll be staying here for a couple of days and as long as everything looks okay you''ll be able to go home." "Thanks Doctor," I said. "No problem," Dr. Larry said and he left the room. The rest of the day passed with nothing major happening. Levi worked on his laptop and then he went home for the night. *** {Branden} I''ve been trying to keep my worries about George being in the hospital at bay so I could focus on doing my job but it was hard. As I sat down to eat lunch Olivia and Ben came and sat down next to me as usual. "You seemed rather distracted in class today. What''s wrong?" Olivia asked. I sighed, "I''m just worried about George. He should be out of the hospital today. I went to visit him yesterday and he seemed fine." "Okay if he''s fine then why are you so worried? He''s a grown man and he can take care of himself," Ben said. Olivia gave me a pointed look and raised an eyebrow. "Unless you like him? And I mean like, like him!" I sighed, "Yes I do. I really do! And I know he likes me because he''s giving me clear signals that he does. I just think he''s a little clueless about what he''s doing." "So how''d you find out he likes you? Has he confessed?" Ben asked. "Well not exactly but I did happen to overhear him talking to his sister-in-law about me and he admitted it in that conversation," I said. "Maybe you should just go ahead and confess to him?" Ben suggested. Olivia rolled her eyes. "Really Ben? Love needs to grow slowly. I mean how many women have you confessed to?" "Plenty and that includes my wife," Ben growled. "It''s easy! Just go up to George and tell him maybe ask him out on a date?" "Easy for you to say! You''re married!" Oliva said. "Here''s an idea Branden, why not try and show off for him?" "Show off? How am I supposed to do that when George is an Agent and I''m just a Boot Camp Instructor. That''s why George was in the hospital. He had Agent Flu," I said. Ben gasped. "Was it his first kill or did he develop a new ability?" "First kill," I answered. "Even better!" Olivia declared. "You could give George your shoulder to cry on and when he has nightmares you can console him. When in doubt you could just peacock it!" I paused. "Huh?" Ben burst into a fit of laughter. He laughed so hard he almost fell out of his seat. "Peacock it? Seriously Olivia?" "What do you mean by peacock?" I asked. "You most certainly probably have a nice little six pack of abs underneath your shirt like every other male boot camp instructor does, so why not walk around the cabin naked? I mean not like a full birthday suit naked (unless you''re comfortable doing that) but at least with your shirt off and in your boxers. Maybe you can tempt him into confessing?" Olivia suggested. ¡°Tempt him?¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Olivia shrugged. ¡°You¡¯ll never know until you try something.¡± ¡°Hmmm, I¡®ll think about it,¡± I said. Later that night George came back from the hospital and he seemed to be doing okay. ¡°How are you feeling today?¡± I asked. He sighed. ¡°I feel fine for now. I talked to my sister-in-law about this and she said didn¡¯t start feeling some type of way about her first kill until later on. So maybe I¡¯ll feel something? Maybe I won¡¯t? I have no idea.¡± ¡±I see. You know if you need to talk I¡¯m right here, right?¡± I said. He smiled. "I know and there''s something that I want to confirm." He sat down on his bed and motioned for me to sit down next to him. "Okay, what do you want to confirm?" He leaned closer to me and without warning kissed me. I didn''t resist the kiss at all. I leaned into it and the next thing I knew into a full blown make out session and I loved every bit of it. We didn''t stop kissing until we needed to breathe. "You know you''re lucky I like you because most would''ve kicked your ass just for kissing them alone," I said. He chuckled. "It appears I''ve been a clueless idiot this whole time. Just like I was when I was coming to terms with my sexuality. My friend Jerry helped me with that when I was still in boot camp. We were just friends with benefits. So we weren''t really dating." I paused. "Wait a minute! I thought you were dating Jerry. Usually Jerry''s known for sleeping around even if he was in a relationship. It''s funny I was trying to drop hints that I liked you even at boot camp." He facepalmed. "Yup, I''m definitely a clueless idiot! Even my sister-in-law saw that you liked me and I totally thought otherwise." I chuckled. "It''s okay. So with that in mind would you like to start a relationship with me?" He nodded. "Yeah, I would like that." I leaned over and started kissing him again. Being with George made me the happiest that I''ve ever felt and I had no idea that in the near future I''d be even happier adding another person into the mix. Chapter 6: George Jr {Triple X} It''s been a week since George and Branden started dating. George seemed to remember the conversation that I had with him when he was in the hospital. It was as if he picked up on my little hint about wanting to be with both of them. I was going through some paperwork when I heard a knock on the door. "Come in!" George entered followed by Branden. For whatever the reason Branden was smirking at me. George looked at him and rolled his eyes. "Before you say anything, no, this wasn''t my idea because apparently I''m a clueless idiot when it comes down to picking up hints," George said. Branden snorted. "He said it, I didn''t. His words. Not mine. Just to let you know, he even said that when he was confessing his feelings for me." I blinked. "Okay?" "I told Branden about what you said to me in the hospital when we got together to come and talk to you and he told me that it was a huge hint that you were interested in us. Now, is Branden wrong or right?" George said. I smiled and nodded. "No, Branden was right. I want both of you. That is, if you''ll have me?" George and Branden shared a look and then nodded. "On one condition however," Branden said. I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what might that be?" "Agent 2B isn''t anywhere near us or our beds," George said. "If you still want to be with him that''s fine but he''s not sleeping with me or Branden." I smirked. "That I can do! Agent 2B has been out of the picture for a while now. As a matter of fact I don''t even call him into the office anymore for anything because I don''t want to see him. I told him we were done the very day he decided to pick a fight with you George out of jealousy. He''s done that before with my other partners because he wanted me for himself. The very day I got together with him I told him that I would have more than one person because I''m polyamorous. He said he was fine with it but as time went on he showed me that he clearly wasn''t." George grinned. But before he could say anything else my phone on my desk beeped. I rolled my eyes and picked it up. "Hello?" "Yes, is Agent 722 available right now?" My personal assistant asked. "Yes he is, why?" I responded. "There''s a lady in the visiting area demanding to see him. She has a little boy with her as well. She says that little boy is his child," My personal assistant said. My eyes went wide. "Oh okay, yeah sure I''ll tell him." I hung up the phone and sighed, "As much as I would love to take you both into my private room and have my way with you, George it looks like you have a visitor. Apparently a lady with a little boy is here demanding to see you. She says the boy is your child." "Fuck, I know exactly who that is!" George growled. "She tried to pin the child on me two years ago when she first found out she was pregnant. Once she gave birth I asked her for a paternity test and she lied and said it wasn''t mine. I knew the child was mine just by looking at him. It''s a dead giveaway because he looked just like me. Before I could stop her she took the child and ran. I tried tracking her down but couldn''t find her." "Well, if you take a paternity test and find out that the child is yours, you''ll have two choices: you can demand that she hand the child over to you and if she doesn''t we''ll give you a lawyer to help get the child. Or you can choose to leave the child in her care. But note that if you leave the child with her we''ll work something out so she doesn''t bother you again for child support or anything like that," I said. He nodded. "I see. I''ll think about it." With that he stood up and left the room. *** {George} May came to me two years ago and she told me that she was pregnant with my child. I was so happy because I was getting ready to propose to her. I thought I loved her but even back then I had a bit of a wandering eye. But my wandering eye wasn''t for other women, it was for men. Not to mention I hired a couple of men to work at my company knowing that they were gay. Now that I think about it I wanted to get married and have a family, the white picket fence and everything because I looked up to Levi a lot back then. I was with May and I thought she would be the one to help me settle down and banish whatever thoughts I had about men out of my head at the time. May did kind of look like a guy and she was a tomboy. She didn''t like wearing dresses and she dressed more like a guy than a girl every time I saw her. Maybe that''s why I was attracted to her? She was easy to hang out with as if I were hanging out with one of my guy friends. It was the day after we had sex that she told me she was pregnant. I was so happy that I took the ring that I had been carrying around in my pants pocket for months and got down on one knee and proposed to her. She happily said yes and I slipped the ring on her finger. I''ve heard plenty of romance stories about once a guy puts on his true love''s finger the rest of their life is set in stone. Not to mention there''s a spark there and it feels like Christmas Day and you''re opening up presents. After I proposed to May and she said yes, I didn''t feel anything like I thought I was going to. True, I felt happy but the next day after we told my parents about our engagement the happiness I felt wore off really quickly. While May and my Mom were busy planning the wedding I was busy trying to sort out my feelings. I had proposed to her yes, but was getting married to May the thing that I truly wanted? The wedding was set to take place six months after she gave birth to the child. But about a month before May was due to give birth my Dad sat me down and talked to me about asking May for a paternity test. When I asked why Dad said that Mom had noticed that May had started showing signs of pregnancy long before the day we had sex. I talked to May about this and I told her that once the baby is born I will do a paternity test just to make sure the child was mine. However, once the baby was born there was no question in my mind that the baby was mine. He looked just like me! But my parents insisted on the paternity test just for legal matters. Just when I was going to do the test May had left the hospital and took the child with her. I tried to use Dad''s resources to find her but she didn''t want to be found. I left Triple X''s office and took the long walk or what felt like a long walk down to the visiting building. I was dreading seeing May again. What was there left to say to her? If she did want to leave the child with me then what? As soon as I got to the lobby area of the building I checked in with the receptionist. She looked up at me and smiled. "Name and ID Number please." I sighed. "I''m George Harriman and my Agent ID number is Agent 722." She typed something into her computer and the printer behind her printed something out. She grabbed it and handed it to me. "Here''s your visitor''s badge. Your table is in room 5A. Have fun!" I snorted and muttered underneath my breath. "Have fun indeed." When I got to room 5A I paused when I saw her. It seemed that motherhood did her body well. May no longer looked like a tomboy, she looked like a fully grown woman. She had curves and she came dressed in tight yoga pants and a crop top as if she had just come from yoga class. Her long brown hair was let down in waves and her piercing blue eyes looked at me with a smile in them. Did she really just come from Yoga class or is she dressed like that to show off for me? I thought. When May saw me she stood up and hugged me. "George, I''m so happy to see you! It''s been so long!" I stiffened at the hug and she released me. I sat down at the table across from her. "What are you doing here? And who''s the kid?" "Now George, don''t be like that! He''s your kid!" May pouted. She gave me a mischievous smile and I knew what that smile was about. "In case you haven''t noticed, I''m more filled out than what I used to be. If I knew having a kid would make me look sexier then I would''ve done it a long time ago." "Let''s cut the bullshit May," I snapped. "If I recall correctly, you told me two years ago that the child wasn''t mine and took him and vanished without a trace." "Okay I lied but can you blame me? You didn''t trust me enough and you wanted a paternity test. Usually guys that do that do it to prove the child isn''t theirs and they can kick you to the curve," May said. "Wow, sad that you thought so low of me to do that. Not every man is like that. The reason I did that was because I''ve had women try to pin a pregnancy on me only to find out that the child isn''t mine. So when Dad mentioned that you had pregnancy symptoms before we had sex so he had his suspicions. But with you¡­" I took a deep breath and let it out. "At that time I was in love with you." "So¡­ Would you have raised my child as yours even if it wasn''t yours?" May asked. "At that time I was willing to do that. I was ready to try and settle down. But now I''m glad you did what you did. Because now things have become so clear and my life has gone in a different direction," I said. "Yeah I heard you''re gay now and you joined the army," May said as she rolled her eyes. "You''re not gay George. You''re just confused. Joining the army isn''t going to solve your problems." "No see, that''s where you''re wrong. I am gay and I joined the army because I wanted to. And I''m not quitting just because you decided to show up suddenly," I said. I paused. "That''s my other question, why are you here?" "I thought it was time that you started taking care of your responsibilities. The child is one of them. I''m tired of being the only one stuck with him," May said. I bristled at the way May said that. She said it with so much contempt. The fault lies with her on this one because if she hadn''t left she would''ve had me by her side taking care of the child with her. "Oh don''t give me that look George," May snapped. "You helped create the problem, now you take some responsibility for it. And don''t you want to know his name?" I groaned. "Fine then. What''s his name?" "I named him after his father. I named him George," May said. "I want you to take care of the child. I know rich people love to have heirs to pass down their legacy to so he''s better off with you. But to make sure that I don''t come back if I''ve changed my mind I need you to pay me two years worth of child support." When I heard her give that absurd request I couldn''t help but laugh even though I knew she was dead serious. "It''s not funny George! I took care of the child for two years on my own because you didn''t trust that the child was yours. Don''t you think it''s fair that I get compensated for it?" May growled. I stopped laughing and snarled, "That was your choice to take the kid. Not mine! If you hadn''t made that choice you would''ve had help. What makes you think that I would pay for your choice. You have no one but yourself to blame." "I could take you to court over this and because most judges are very in favor of women they''ll agree with me-" May said. I cut her off, "So that''s what this is about? Money? Okay fine then. But there will be no money exchanged until after the paternity test results come back." "Really George how can you be so immature-" May started. "No, I think I''m being more than mature because I''m not taking care of a child that isn''t mine. I might''ve been a fool back then to think that I would''ve been okay with that but now I''m not," I said. "Or, you can take Junior with you and raise him by yourself like you''ve been doing? Just know that if you decide to leave with the child you''ll never see me again." I stood up to leave and pressed the button on the door. The door buzzed and when I left the room I let out a sigh of relief. When I got back to the lobby area Triple X and Branden were waiting for me. "So how did it go?" Triple X asked. I groaned. "Terrible. She wants me to pay her for two years worth of child support because of a decision she made. She''s the one who decided to take the child and run. I know the child''s mine because he looks just like me but I don''t want to see him until the paternity test results come back. Speaking of that, how do I get that done?" "Oh, that''s easy, you can go to the hospital and take the test there," Triple X said. I nodded. "Alright then I want to get that taken care of by the end of the day." So I headed over to the hospital and took the test. *** When the results came back it said that George Jr was in fact 100% my child. I wasn''t exactly sure how to feel about it. But I was waiting to see what May was going to do. Once the test results came in Triple X called me into his office and May was there with a little boy who was a toddler. The boy looked just like me. When May saw me she immediately took Junior out of his stroller and tried to hand him over to me when I stopped her. She frowned. "What? The child''s yours, the paternity test says so!" A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "It just means we have some other things to talk about," I said. "And what might that be? Am I getting my money or not?" May snapped. "Would you just sit down and act like an adult right now? And put Junior back in his stroller please," I said. "Oh I am acting like an adult!" May snapped again. "I''m doing what''s best for my child and hand over the money! You said-" "That''s not how things work! It might work like that in the outside world but not here!" I snarled. "What do you mean in the outside world? You-" May argued. "That''s enough, you two are giving me a headache!" Triple X said. He sighed and pressed a button on his phone on the desk. A voice answered. "Yes, Leader Triple X?" "Please send a Nanny Agent to take care of a child while the adults duke it out. I can''t have them shouting while a child is in the room, that''s unacceptable! Oh and bring the outsider''s lawyer here (at least she was smart enough to bring one). And bring Agent 722 and Agent Lawyer as well," Triple X ordered. "Yes sir," the voice said. He pressed the same button again and hung up the phone. He glared at May and I. "Now you two sit tight and shut up until your lawyers get here so you two can talk this out like reasonable adults." "Excuse me?" May growled. "I am being reasonable. I''m leaving the child with his father because he''s better off with him! I need that money!" "And why do you need it so bad, huh? You''re better off asking Levi for it because I''m not in that business anymore," I said. "Once I joined the army I signed my company over to him because I knew that I wasn''t coming back." May''s jaw dropped. "Why the fuck would you do that?" "Okay that''s another thing!" Triple X snapped. "I would appreciate it if you stop swearing with a child in the room! Your child is of the age to where he can start talking at any time and children his age can pick up on anything." May stood up and got right into Triple X''s face. "Oh yeah? And what the fuck are you going to do about it?" "Lady, you don''t want to know what I can do about it," Triple X snarled. Without warning May leaned over and kissed Triple X. I shrank back in terror because I could feel the anger radiating off of him. Triple X pushed her back. "You are the most immature outsider I have ever seen! You better thank your lucky stars that you''re not an Agent or I would''ve backhanded you without a second thought! Just for that sexual assault alone I can have you shipped to A-Circle Labs against your will! But I won''t do that because you can have a connection with George. If you didn''t, you wouldn''t have the option to leave." "You can''t do that!" May said with a smirk. "That would be considered kidnapping and that''s against the law." Triple sat down and had a smirk of his own on and crossed his arms. He didn''t say anything. He didn''t need to because May seemed to understand Triple X and she lost her confidence and sat back down. Even with the smirk on Triple X''s face I could tell he was still angry. There was a knock on the door. "Come in!" Three people entered the room. There was a young woman with blonde hair and hazel eyes. She wore a uniform that consisted of a black suit jacket with a black skirt. She had black dress shoes on her feet and the outfit was very simple. She didn''t wear a tie or sunglasses like a normal Agent would. She stood at attention and gave Triple X a soldier''s salute. "Leader Triple X, Nanny Agent ID 4270 at your service. I understand there is a child here that I need to watch over?" Triple X nodded. "Yes there is a child in the stroller that needs to be taken care of while the adults figure who the child will leave with today." Nanny Agent 4270 didn''t need to be told twice about what to do. She took George Jr in his stroller and the diaper bag from May and exited the room. The other two people that entered the room definitely looked like lawyers. They were dressed in business suits and had briefcases in their hands. The first guy was an older man who looked like he was in his fifties and he had glasses on. The second guy looked like he could be my age. I''m only thirty-one years old at the moment but this guy looks like he just graduated from law school. Although I''m pretty sure if he''s an Agent he probably studied law ever since he learned how to read and talk. He was probably raised to do his job just like Eve was raised to do hers. The young guy did the same thing that the Nanny Agent did. He gave Triple X a soldier''s salute and said, "Lawyer Agent, Agent ID Lawyer 552." Triple X looked at the other lawyer. "And you are?" "I''m Attorney Robert Handson," the man said. May''s Attorney took a seat beside her and my Lawyer took a seat beside me. "Now, before this meeting begins let''s put on the record that this lady here-" Triple X started. "My name is May!" May snapped. He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Let''s put on record the sexual harassment done by May by giving me an unwanted kiss." Lawyer 552 nodded. "Noted." "Hey you know you liked it!" May had the audacity to say. She turned to me. "And George, you''re not gay! You just think you are!" I shook my head in dismay. "No, I don''t think I know I''m gay. You are so immature. Just because we dated in the past doesn''t mean you can assume what my sexuality is!" "For the record, if I liked your kiss then I wouldn''t have pushed you away like I did," Triple X said. Lawyer 552 looked at Triple X and asked, "Would you like to press charges?" Triple X shook his head. "Not at the moment. But if she keeps pushing it I might just change my mind." May stood up and got in Triple X''s face again. "Ms. Mandaz, I suggest you stop-" Her Attorney started. But he was too late. May was acting like the May I knew when I was dating her. When she knew she was pushing your buttons she took it to the extreme until you gave in and gave her what she wanted. She kissed Triple X again but he immediately pushed her away. May stumbled backwards and fell over. "Ouch! Did you see that? He pushed me! I want to press charges for assault! I''m going to sue him for everything he''s got." I wanted to say something but I held my tongue. I knew for a fact that she messed with the wrong person this time. Triple X wouldn''t be an easy person to intimidate with the word ''sue.'' Triple X laughed as if May had told the best joke ever. When he finally stopped laughing he said, "No you will not! See I know how entitled people like you think. Let me guess, you always get your way when you throw that word around? Not this time. If anything I have grounds to charge you with sexual assault. I didn''t like the kiss the last time and I didn''t like it now. What I did was in self defense." Much to my surprise both lawyers nodded in agreement. "Like I asked earlier, why do you need the money so badly?" I asked. "Because my insanely rich boyfriend left me a year ago! And it''s your fault. He said he shouldn''t have to raise a child that isn''t his and that the real father should step up and raise his own child!" May responded. "Oh and the guy was right! But that''s not his fault and that''s not my fault either. Did you forget to tell him that you were the one who left me?" I said. "I did tell him that. When we first got together he said it was fine that it wasn''t his child. He said everything was fine until he stopped giving me what I wanted. Why do men have to be such assholes?" May said. I snorted. "Actually I think the common problem with all of your relationships was you. I remember even before you were pregnant you would badger me all the time until I gave you what you wanted. And if I didn''t do that you''d go and complain to my parents about me not giving you things. Fortunately I had reasonable parents that took my side." "And that was the biggest issue of all! Your parents never told you no-" May started. "Ms. Mandaz!" May''s Attorney said, "I would suggest that you stop talking. You don''t have much of a case here has it is. If it weren''t for the money you paid me I wouldn''t be here at all today." My Lawyer looked at me and said, "Agent 722, I would suggest you stop talking as well." I did exactly what my Lawyer told me to. I just wanted to get this crap over with and for May to be gone from my life once and for all. My Lawyer sighed, "Because of the sexual assault done on Triple X. I''m going to suggest that May Mandaz drop her case against George Harriman." May crossed her arms and shook her head. "Nope. That''s not happening." "Okay then you have a couple of choices to make," My Lawyer said. "And what might that be? I think I made it very clear that I want George to have his child in exchange for money," May said. "So would you be willing to sign your parental rights away in order for Mr. Harriman to take care of his child to the best of his abilities?" My Lawyer asked. May nodded. "Sure if it means I get rid of the kid and can go about my life without any responsibilities and I get the money. Hey, I say that''s a win-win for me." I couldn''t help but give May a look of disgust. It was clear that she only kept the kid to use as a bargaining chip for her own gain. I wanted to say something so bad but I just wanted this meeting to be over with so I said nothing. My Lawyer nodded and opened his briefcase and brought out two contracts. He handed one to me and one to May''s Attorney. "The parts that are highlighted are the ones that you need to initial and sign," My Lawyer said. I read over the contract and it said what May''s case was about and I took a deep breath and let it out to keep myself calm. May wanted to sign her parental rights over to me in exchange for $200,000! Again I kept quiet. Once I signed the contract, I handed it back to my Lawyer. May signed the contract and handed it to her Lawyer. "So from this point onward, the child will remain with Mr. Harriman and any rights that you might''ve had to the child are null and void," My Lawyer said. He turned to Triple X. "Do you want to press charges on Ms. Mandaz for sexual assault?" Triple X nodded. "Oh yeah, but don''t worry about me, I have my own Lawyer Agent." "You can''t do that!" May growled. "You pushed me!" "After you kissed me! That was self defense," Triple X said. "And I do believe there''s a couple of witnesses in this room that agree with me." My Lawyer and I nodded and on top of that May''s Lawyer nodded. May looked at her Attorney and gasped, "Hey, you''re supposed to be on my side!" Her Attorney shook his head. "Nope. I''m only to help you with your case against Mr. Harriman now that that is settled, I''m not your Lawyer. You need to pay me for each case you want me to help you with. I will not be your Lawyer for free." May groaned. "How much do you need?" "Remember what you paid me before?" Her Attorney asked. Her eyes went wide and she shook her head. "No way. That''s taking all of my money that I just got!" Her Attorney sighed. "Alright then. Good luck." When he stood up to leave he handed Triple X his business card. "In case you need me to testify against Ms. Mandaz." Triple X nodded and shook his hand. After May''s Attorney left Triple X pressed a button on his phone again. "Yes, sir?" "Please send security up so that they can escort Ms. Mandaz to the police station. I''m pressing charges for sexual assault," Triple X said. "Yes, sir I''ll send them up," the voice on the other line said. May crossed her arms. "Once I get a good lawyer I''m going to sue you for everything you''ve got! You assaulted me and have the nerve to send me to jail for sexual assault!" Triple X rolled his eyes. "Yeah you''re the one who gave me the unwanted kiss. What I did was in self defense. I''m sure a Judge will agree with me on that one." May didn''t get a chance to say anything when there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" Two Agents entered and Triple told them to arrest May and what for. May left the room kicking and screaming. When she was gone I let out a sigh of relief. My Lawyer stood up to leave. "I guess that''s for me today. Let me know if you need anything else." He shook my hand. "Mr. Harriman, it was a pleasure doing business with you." After that, my Lawyer left the room and it was just me and Triple X. Triple X sighed, "Good grief that woman is a real piece of work." I nodded. "Yup. I''m glad she''s gone now." Triple X looked at me and smiled. "I think we need to do something to blow off some steam, don''t you?" I gave him a flirtatious smile. "Oh? What do you have in mind?" "I never got a chance to do anything with you when that crazy lady came in and started causing problems. I already slept with Branden and for whatever the reason he is eager for me to sleep with you," Triple X said. He beckoned for me to come close to him. The next thing I knew I was sitting on his lap kissing him. I felt myself get hard and I wanted him. He didn''t stop kissing me when he picked me up in his arms and placed me on the couch in his lap and straddled my lap. The only time he stopped kissing me was when he went to unzip my pants and he took off his clothes. I went to take off my shirt when he stopped me. He shook his head. "Nope. Your clothes come off when I say they come off. Right now, your dick is going inside of me." I gulped but didn''t say anything. "No need to be nervous my dear, but I will warn you, I''m not the gentle type," He said. I nodded and he stroked my dick making it even harder. I moaned as he did that. "That''s it, I''m going to give you so many orgasms you''ll be begging me to stop," Triple X panted in my ear. I didn''t do anything but moan because I couldn''t think straight. Then I climaxed and as I came down from that he started getting me hard again and he guided me into him and he started thrusting on me. He kept his promise about what he said he was going to do to me. By the time I walked out of the office it was closing time and thank goodness for that because I was having trouble walking. *** The next day, I went to see my son. He was lying in his crib giggling while the nanny was making funny faces at him. I cleared my throat. The Nanny looked up at me and smiled. "You must be here to see this adorable little guy!" I nodded. "Yes I''m here to see him. He''s my son. My name is George Harriman and I''m also Agent 722." I handed her my badge so she could verify my identity. An alarm went off and the Nanny nodded. "That means it''s time for him to feed. I''ll go get his bottle and let you spend some time with him." Once the Nanny left the room and I walked over to Junior''s crib. He looked at me and giggled and then he reached for me and I picked him up. "Hey little guy. I''m your father but of course you probably don''t understand that." The Nanny returned with a bottle. "Oh uh there''s a chair over there so you can sit down and feed him. He usually eats just fine. Let me know if you have any issues with feeding him." I nodded. "Alright." When the Nanny left the room I sat down and put Junior on my lap. He reached out for the bottle and I gave it to him. He ate his bottle and then started to cry when he was finished. I panicked and called the Nanny in. The Nanny laughed, "First time father huh?" "Yep," I said. "He needs to be burped and then later he''ll probably need a diaper change and then a bath. I''ll walk you through everything because I''m pretty sure once you get your cabin set up for him, he''ll go with you," The Nanny said. The Nanny walked me through how to burp him and when he burped he was pretty loud. She laughed, "That''s one manly burp for a toddler!" She paused. "Oh crap! Let me get you a towel." That was when Junior decided that it would be a good idea to spit up on my shoulder while I was holding him. Ew, no wonder why May wanted to get rid of him so badly! I thought with sarcasm. I sat Junior down on my lap again and smiled at him. "Maybe I should''ve brought an extra shirt?" "Yeah you probably should have but that''s okay. A lot of first time Dad''s tend to be clueless about these things," the Nanny said as she handed me a towel. She took Junior from me so I could wipe my shirt off. The phone on the wall rang and the Nanny answered it. "Yes¡­ Okay I''ll let him know." She hung up the phone and looked at me. "Your boss Father Duke wants to see you in his office. He also knows that you''re visiting your son and he wants you to stop by your cabin and change into clean clothes. No need to change into your uniform or anything like that." I nodded. "Okay then." I looked at Junior. "Don''t worry little guy I''ll be back when I can." Junior looked at me and giggled. I smiled and left the room. *** When I got to Father Duke''s office I paused and knocked on the door. "Come in!" I entered the room and Father Duke perked up when he saw me. "You called sir?" "Ah yes, I wanted to talk to you about your new living arrangements," Father Duke said. "Here take a seat." I did as I was told. "Now that you have a kid a couple of things need to be explained on how that''s going to work," Father Duke said. I raised an eyebrow. "Um¡­ Okay?" "The Organization recognizes that it''s not easy to be an Agent and raise a child. So they made provisions for that. Living in a cabin is too small a space for a child. So you''ll be given a house instead of a cabin. You can have other people live with you as well. But the limit is five. There will be a Nanny Agent sent to the house to watch over your kid when you''re on a mission," Father Duke explained. "Um¡­ I do have a partner now so I would like for him to live with me," I said. Father Duke nodded. "Sure, that can be arranged provided your partner agrees." He reached under his desk and brought out a file. "Just fill out this form and talk it over with your partner and get this back to me by the end of the week. Until everything''s decided you''ll be training and not on mission''s. Got it?" I nodded. "Understood." "You''re dismissed," Father Duke said. With that, I stood up and left the room. Chapter 7: Housing Arrangements {Branden} George didn''t return to the cabin until later at night and he didn''t look too happy. I don''t blame him because from what Triple X told me George''s ex-girlfriend was quite a handful and she sexually assaulted Triple X by giving him an unwanted kiss. He sat down on his bed and sighed. I frowned. "So how did it go?" He groaned. "Horrible! I knew May was full of herself before but she''s gone from full herself to downright arrogant! She had the nerve to kiss Triple X in front of everyone and included the two Lawyers who were there! I''m glad she''s down at the police station now. That''s where she deserves to be at the moment." "Well damn, that sucks. I heard you have a kid now, what are they like?" I asked. George smiled. "He looks just like a mini version of me!" Then he rolled his eyes. "And his mother named him George. Go figure." "So we''ll just call him Junior," I said. "Not to mention Father Duke isn''t going to be sending me out on any missions until the living situation is sorted out. Speaking of that, I told him that I had a partner and he said it was okay for you to come live with me," George said. "That is, if you want to?" I perked up at that statement. "I would love to keep living with you!" "Great," George said. "I''ll have to fill out the rest of this form and I think there''s a section for you to fill out. Apparently Junior will be staying at the house and there will be a Nanny to look after him when I''m out on missions and stuff. And I have no doubt that he''s going to be tested on. He''ll probably be raised to do a certain job assignment like Eve was." I nodded. "Standard protocol unfortunately. Since he came to the Organization as a toddler he won''t be marked as an outsider. He''ll be tested on and since he''s young the testing won''t be so hard on him." He laid down on the bed with his legs hanging off the side where he was lying. "I hate this. It''s one thing to have my dream job which is being an Agent. It''s another thing to put a child into the mix. I have no idea what I''m doing although I''m grateful to have a Nanny help out. Most parents don''t even get that, they have to figure things out on their own." I stood up and sat down on his bed and rolled over on my side to face him. "Don''t worry I''ll be with you and can help take care of Junior while you''re gone and even when you''re at home. My job is pretty basic so I have more time on my hands than you do." "Are you sure you want to do that?" George asked. I nodded. "Yes I''m sure. And now I can''t wait to meet the little guy!" George snorted. "Thanks." I pulled George closer to me. "Everything will be fine okay?" He smiled. "Yeah, let''s hope so because I have no idea how to be a father." "Alright why don''t you get settled in for the night unless you''re hungry? The cafeteria is still open," I said. He yawned. "Nah I''m good for now. I''ll go get changed and chill out for the night." He took a shower and once he got settled in for the night I motioned for him to sleep with me in my bed. I was already settled in so got underneath the covers next to him and held him. "Hmm, this feels nice," He said. "Uh-huh," I agreed. He didn''t say anything else because he fell asleep. After a moment I followed suit. *** {Triple X} I woke up in the morning and smiled because I had both of my boys lying next to me. Okay call me a creep because I stuck into their cabin while they were sleeping and had my men bring them over to my house. I knew that George was going to need to move into a house soon because of his child but I''m going to propose that he and the kid live with me. There''s plenty of space for all of us plus the kid. Even if we wind up breaking up for whatever the reason, George and Branden will be able to still live there although if they prefer not to that''s fine too. But I don''t see us breaking up, not if I got something to say about it. Once Liam and I broke up he immediately moved out. He said that he didn''t want to see any new boyfriends that I might bring home. That was a smart move on his part because he already picked a fight with George and if he set eyes on him in the house he might''ve tried to kill him. Liam still has his second-in-command spot though. He''s good at his job and I see no reason to fire or demote him. I just keep sending him on missions just so I don''t have to see him as much around the office. Branden stirred in his sleep and slowly opened his eyes. He sat straight up once he realized he wasn''t in his bed. "What the fuck! Where am I?" I chuckled. "Easy there, you''re with me in my house." "But how? Last time I checked I was in my cabin," Branden said. He looked over at George completely confused. "Unless George and I sleepwalked here somehow?" "Aww you so cute when you''re confused," I said. "Nah, I just stuck into your cabin and had my men take you here for me." He blinked. "Okay, that''s weird and creepy." I laughed, "What? Never had a boyfriend kidnap you in your sleep before?" "No, I can''t say that I have although I''ve had exes stalk me before. Hopefully I don''t run into any of them in this congregation," He shuddered. "No thanks, I don''t need that drama." "Well at least you don''t have to work with yours," I said. We were quiet for a moment when George slowly woke up. He looked around and then looked at us and frowned. "How the fuck did I get here?" "Triple X decided to kidnap us in our sleep," Branden said. "We''re at his house." "Crap, what time is it?" George asked. I looked at my cell phone sitting on the nearby nightstand. "It''s only 7:30am, why?" He breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh good, usually on the days that I''m not on missions I don''t go into training until around noon. And why the fuck did you find it necessary to kidnap us while we were sleeping? That''s creepy." Branden snorted. "I told him the same thing." "Okay, so what''s this all about?" George asked. "I''m sure there was a good reason for you to kidnap us while we were sleeping, other than just being creepy right?" I nodded. "Yeah I do. I''ll call a maid to get breakfast ready and we''ll talk. And don''t worry I brought some clothes over for you two." I got up and left the room so I could get ready for the day and George and Branden could get ready for the day. *** "You want us to move in with you?" George asked, giving me a look of disbelief. "But we just started dating. Don''t you think this is a little bit too soon?" I shrugged. "That''s up to you to decide. But I think it would be very helpful to you. You''ll have your own room and a Nanny will help you out on your days off." He scratched his head. "I don''t know. Can I have some time to think about it?" I nodded. "Sure. You have until the end of the week when you turn in your file to decide where you want to live." "I think it would be best if I live with Triple X," Branden said. "And don''t feel compelled to live with him just because I''m living with him, George. Do what you think is best for you."If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "I see," George said. I smiled at him hoping that my smile looked reassuring. Knowing the kind of person George is he''s probably going to want to live with me because I''m living with Branden. He seems to be the type of person who wouldn''t want to be too far away from his boyfriends. I think him living with me is a good idea because becoming a father out of nowhere is going to be stressful along with being an Agent. George, Branden and I talked about a couple of random things and got to know each other better and then it was time for Branden to go to work and it was for me to go to work and it was time for George to go to training. *** {George} I knew Branden would want to live with Triple X the moment he offered. Branden just seems like the type of guy that wouldn''t want to be too far away from his lovers. Even though I''m more inclined to live with Triple X as well, there''s still fear of the unknown in the future. Like what if we break up? What if we have a fight and I need some space? From what I saw of the tour that Triple X gave me there would be plenty of room for us to have space if we need it. He did say that if we broke up I could still live with him regardless. His offer for me to live with him seems pretty solid. I still can''t help but worry for my son but the what if questions won''t do me any good at the moment. I''m not letting us break up if I got something to say about it and I have a lot to say about it. When I got back to my cabin later at night I saw Branden packing his things. I raised an eyebrow. "Someone seems rather eager to be with Triple X. I thought we were going to live together." "But we can live together if you choose to live with Triple X," Branden said. "Why are you so hesitant about living with him? This should be a no-brainer for you." "Well excuse me but I now have a kid to deal with," I snapped. Branden sighed, "Let me guess, you''re overthinking this aren''t you? Stop doing that, I get it you have a kid and I still want to help out when I''m not working." I sat down on my bed. "I know that. It''s just if I choose not to live with you guys then what? Will we drift apart?" Branden frowned. "You''re very indecisive right now. Why not flip a coin?" I was taken aback by that suggestion. "Seriously? This is a life changing decision and you want me to flip a coin?" He shrugged. "Why not? You can''t decide then let the coin decide for you." Even though his suggestion seemed rather absurd I decided to do it. I grabbed a coin from my wallet. "Okay if it''s heads I move in with you guys. If it''s tails I don''t move in with guys. Best two out of three seals the deal." Branden nodded in agreement. I flipped the coin three times and two times the coin landed on heads. After I flipped the coin I took a deep breath and let it out. "Well, it looks like I''m moving in with you guys." Branden grinned at me and at me and pulled me into his arms. "Stop overthinking things. It''ll give you a headache. Life likes to kick people in the ass sometimes and when that happens you get back up and kick life''s ass." I chuckled. "That''s an interesting way of looking at it. It''s like if someone''s bullying you you kick their ass and send them packing." "Exactly," Branden said. *** {Triple X} I gave Branden a puzzled look when he told me that George flipped a coin in order to make his decision about moving in with me. I thought it would be a no brainer choice for him and Branden thought the same thing. "You know what I think?" I said. Branden tilted his head. "What?" "I think because there''s a kid in the picture now, George is overthinking things. He''s a first time father and he needs all the help he can get," I said. Branden and I were sitting outside on the balcony that was attached to my room in my home. Of course, being the leader of a congregation, my house is a mansion. I have plenty of workers and room for a family to live in. "That''s what I''m thinking too. We need to figure out how to stop him from overthinking so much," Branden said. "Hmmm, well sex might be a way to do that or knock some sense into him when he does that? I can already tell that he''s going to be an overprotective parent like most Agents are," I said. "Good thing he''s not a mother. Mom Agents are the worst when it comes down to being overprotective." Branden snorted. "Yeah my Mom still comes to visit me and makes a fuss about everything even though I''m a grown ass man and have a job assignment." "And Eve is very overprotective about her daughter," I heard George say. He walked out onto the balcony and I looked at him and he didn''t look too happy at the moment. I frowned. "What''s wrong?" He shook his head. "Honestly, I don''t know. I''m just irritated I guess. I could do without the Nanny Agent hovering over my shoulder and trying to flirt with me when I''m taking care of Junior." "Trying to flirt?" I asked. "You know, the whole batting of the eyelashes, adding more sway in her hips as she walks away. I swear I think she makes Junior cry as soon as I step out of the room just so I''ll come rushing back in for whatever the reason," George said. "Yeah when I get Junior settled in here I don''t want that type of Nanny Agent. I need one that''s serious about their job and not using it for a chance to pick up a date." Branden burst into laughter. When he composed himself he said, "Dude, I don''t blame her for flirting with you. You''re hot, who wouldn''t take a chance to flirt with you? George rolled his eyes. "I guess. Our relationship is still new so not a lot of people would know that I''m taken." I smirked. "And you think that''s going to stop people from flirting because why?" He deadpanned. "Good point." Branden snickered at that thought. "Yeah, my friend Olivia couldn''t stop drooling over you as she watched you train one day. I told her you were gay and she didn''t give two shits about that. So if I were you I''d just ignore it. People will flirt with you because you''re hot." "Honestly, I think a lot of male Agents are hot around here. And yes, there are male Agents who are Nanny Agents that are straight. Maybe I can recommend one of those for you?" I said. George shrugged. "I don''t know. I just want a Nanny Agent that will do their job and not gawk at me. Being a first time father is stressful enough as it is." I nodded. I was going to say something else when my cell phone rang. I picked it up. "Hello?" It was my personal assistant named Josh on the other line. "Yes sir, um there''s a lady at the office who''s very instant on seeing you. She said something about going on a date with you?" I paused. "Huh? What''s her name? Because I don''t date women." "Well that''s what I told her and she wasn''t having it. Her name is May," Josh said. I groaned. "That woman again? She probably wants me to drop my case against her." I sighed. "I''ll be there in a little bit." I hung up the phone. George frowned. "What''s wrong?" "It''s your ex May. She seems to think that I''m going on a date with her," I said. He groaned. "I feel bad for you. You''re on her list now and if you drop your case against her she''s going to think that means you like her. I can''t believe that I put my dick in someone so crazy!" "Well at least she''s not stalking you," Branden said. He paused. "Wait, what if she''s going after Triple X so she can keep tabs on you George?" "Yeah like that''ll ever happen," I said. Then I thought of something. "What if we go on a date and show May that you''re taken, George? We could even make out in front of her." "And how would that work?" George asked. "I mean the woman seems to be the type that doesn''t care if you''re taken or not. She''ll just think you''re playing hard to get." Branden gave me an evil smirk. "I have an idea." I raised an eyebrow. "And what might that be?" "Let''s say that you and George go out on a date with May and make her feel like she''s the third wheel so to speak. Once she complains about that, tell her that the only way you''ll date her is if she goes to work for A-Circle Labs as a Lab Rat," Branden said. "Knowing her, she''ll take the bait and she''ll probably fail miserably as a Lab Rat. If she doesn''t you can blacklist her from joining the Reds." In order for an Outsider to be placed in any congregation they first have to go through testing as a Lab Rat through A-Circle Labs. It''s dangerous because half of the outsiders that get tested on, depending on their age either die or don''t develop any abilities at all. When that happens they fail as being a Lab Rat and are rejected from the program. The outsiders that don''t die from being tested on that are rejected oftentimes become breeders and whatever children they create belong to the organization. The children then get tested on and most of the time children from breeders are very successful at being Agents. They become Cadets and get their job assignments just like other children that are born within the organization. The outsiders that become breeders live out the rest of their days in A-Circle Labs in a cell. It''s a sad life for the outsiders that fail at testing but we can''t have humans out in the wild that know too much about us. "Now that sounds kind of cruel because she is the mother of my child, but¡­" George said. "She''s an ex and she needs to stay in the past. If she knows what''s good for her she''ll fuck off and leave you alone after the date. But knowing how she is now¡­ She''ll probably take the bait." He sighed. "But if it will get her to leave us alone then it''s worth a shot, I guess." "Stop that," Branden growled. George looked confused. "Stop what?" "You''re overthinking again. If May falls on her ass then let her fall. It''s her choice to go after Triple X and she''ll deal with the problems that come along with that choice," Branden said. I snorted. "Professor Branden is absolutely correct. Like you said, if she knows what''s good for her, she''ll leave. Now let''s go take care of that pest. The sooner the better." I picked up my cell phone and dialed my office. "Yes sir?" Good thing I have caller ID installed in my office phones instead of the old fashioned ones! I thought. "Yes, tell May that I''ll be over there by 2pm today. She''ll have to leave and come back for our um¡­ Date," I almost gagged when I said the word ''date.'' "Please book a reservation for three people at Chlides for 2:30pm." "Yes, sir," Josh said with a hint of surprise in his voice. He knows I''m gay like everyone else does so he''s probably surprised about the fact that I agreed to go on a ''date'' with a woman. I looked at George and smiled. "Let''s go get ready. We only have a couple of hours to get dressed." I summoned one of my drivers to take us to a place that can have tailored suits made for us, I heard Branden laughing, "Have fun you two! And I want a threesome when guys get home!" Chapter 8: A Date and Mays Job Opportunity {George} I almost cringed when I looked in the mirror at the suit place. I didn''t look bad, the tailor fit my suit in a matter of minutes. I didn''t look bad as a matter of fact I looked pretty damn good. With the way the suit fit me it made me think that Triple X wanted people to flirt with me. When I came out from the dressing room with the suit Triple X confirmed my suspicions by whistling at me. "Well, well, well! Mr. Hottie got even hotter!" "Why do I get the idea that you want people to flirt with me?" I asked. Triple X chuckled. "Oh yeah. I want people to see that you are off the market. You''re mine and Branden''s so no one has a shot with you period. I can''t wait to see the jealous look on May''s face when she sees us making out." I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?" He nodded. "I''m dead serious! You belong to two people and I don''t think you''re up for taking on more partners than that." "Yeah you''re right I''m good with just two partners," I said. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me. I smiled in the kiss when I felt him getting hard. When he let go of me he said, "As much as I would love to fuck you right here we''re going to be late if I do that." "Yes and my dressing room isn''t a hotel," I heard the tailor grumble. I snorted. "Yeah let''s go." When we got to the restaurant it was one of those restaurants that catered to mostly rich people and celebrities. It reminded me of the type of restaurant that I took May to on our first date. Now that I think about it, May is the daughter of a rich family. She was always spoiled and didn''t really care for the finer things in life when I dated her. Or maybe she did? I just didn''t pay much attention because I thought I was in love with her at the time? She dressed as a tomboy and didn''t care if I took her to a fancy restaurant or a McDonald''s down the street. Or at least that''s what she told me. I had half a mind to be petty and tell Triple X to just cancel the reservation and take May to a McDonald''s for the date instead. But we''re already here so that would be stupid. "Why are you giving that evil smirk?" Triple X asked. I blinked. "What are you talking about?" "You were smirking like a psychopath," Triple X said. "Whatever it is about, tell me later. However, keep that smirk it''s perfect for when we greet your ex." As soon as we rounded the corner we were greeted by the hostess and Triple X told her the name the reservation was under. She escorted us to a table that was a booth at the far corner of the restaurant. May was sitting there grinning as she saw us walk up to the booth and sit across from her. "Well looks like I get two for the price of one!" May declared. I gagged and threw up in my mouth a little. May didn''t pay that gesture any attention because she licked her lips. "George you clean up nice but Triple X cleans up nicer." She batted her eyelashes as she looked at Triple X. "Even your name sounds pretty badass." Triple X grabbed my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze and then made sure to have the same hand sitting on the table while he held it. He scoffed, "I''m afraid I''m just not into you. Arrogance is a turn off for me." "I''m not being arrogant," May said defensively. "I see what I want and I go after it until I get it." I groaned. "And they say rich men have egos." "Excuse me?" May said. "Because if I recall correctly you took me to a fancy restaurant like this on our first date George. It''s a shame you didn''t keep that up as we continued dating. You know how many times I disagreed with my parents about breaking up with you because you decided that you wanted to be cheap and take me to McDonald''s instead?" "It was our first date! Of course I was going to treat you to something special!" I argued. "You want to know why I left after the paternity test? Because my parents helped me see that you weren''t worth it if you weren''t going to trust me about the child being yours. And honestly, I stopped taking my birth control pills long before we had sex," May said. My right eye twitched in annoyance. Did she really think she did something by getting pregnant by me? "So you wanted to trap me in a relationship because of you getting pregnant? My Dad was right about you." May tilted her head. "Really?" "Oh yeah, he didn''t trust you and told me to dump you while I still had the chance to. But you made it easy for me," I said. "You proved my Dad right by running away like you did." May scoffed, "And you proved my parents right when you wanted a paternity test." "Well either way Junior will be better off with me and not being used as a bargaining chip for whatever scheme you cook up next," I hissed. Triple X cleared his throat, "Enough with the arguing you two. Aren''t we supposed to be on a date here?" May went from looking annoyed to giving Triple X a flirtatious smile. "Yes, we are on a date." The waiter came and took our orders. I didn''t have much of an appetite so I didn''t order much. Triple X frowned when he saw my food. I looked at him. "What?" "You need to eat more than that. You''re an Agent now and you''ll burn more calories than a normal human would," He said. "I don''t have much of an appetite with this creature sitting in front of us," I responded. May didn''t say anything but I''m pretty sure she figured out who I was talking about. She glared at me. Triple X winked at me. "Don''t worry, I''ll make you work up an appetite later. For now, I guess what you ordered is fine." I looked over at May''s meal and noticed that she ordered a grilled chicken salad and rolled my eyes. That''s exactly what she did when we were on our first date. I asked her if she was still hungry afterward and she said yes and that she believed a woman shouldn''t order steak and potatoes on their first date if they wanted to impress the guy. I thought that was one of the dumbest things I''ve ever heard but I kept that thought to myself. So in the end I wound up taking her to a McDonald''s and ordering her a cheeseburger before I dropped her off at her house. We ate in silence for the most part although Triple X insisted on feeding me my food. I wanted to tell him that I could eat on my own but then I got the point that he was trying to make May jealous. So I let him feed me. "Triple darling," May said. "This is supposed to be our date. Why''d you bring him along? Don''t you think you should be feeding me instead?" Triple X scoffed, "No I won''t feed you and actually this date is for me and George. You''re just tagging along." "But-" May started. She paused and then smiled. "You it would be so sexy if you feed me too. I want everyone to know that you and George are off the market. I''ll take you both." Triple X raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? I''m not your boyfriend and neither is George. George is my boyfriend." "But you agreed to go on a date with me," May whined. "So I think that makes you my boyfriend." I could tell Triple X was getting annoyed because his jaw clenched. "No, you insisted this was a date when it isn''t a date. I''d never go out with a woman like you! As a matter of fact-" He stopped himself from saying what he really wanted to say. I looked at him in disbelief because I couldn''t believe Triple X was actually going to go along with Branden''s idea. May tilted her head. "As a matter of fact what?" "I have a job opportunity for you. I don''t date women who don''t work and only date people for a meal ticket," Triple X said. "And what makes you think that I don''t work?" May asked. "Well first of all, you sold your kid for $200,000 and you said that the only reason that you need the money is because your insanely rich boyfriend dumped you," He answered. "And why should I have to a meaningless part time job when I have or had a partner who has a job with enough money to support the whole family?" May growled. "Oh I''m sorry, every person that I''ve ever dated had a job. George has a job, my other partner also has a job, if you want to date me then you have to have a job. Got it? That is a dealbreaker for me," Triple X said. May paused. I could see the wheels in her head starting to move. I knew at that moment she was serious about dating Triple X. Damn it! She just had to take the bait¡­ I thought. "Okay, so you want me to work, huh? What job do you have for me?" May asked. "Well there''s a company called A-Circle Labs and I have connections there that surely get you hired," Triple X said. "Why can''t I work for your company?" May asked. "Because I''m not looking to hire anyone at the moment," Triple X said. "But A-Circle Labs is always looking for new hires. They''ll even give you a place to live and pay for it. So not only will you get a job you''ll get a place to live and won''t have to worry about food either." May nodded. "Okay, I''ll do it." Triple X pulled out a business card out of his suit jacket and handed it to May. "Call me if you have any problems getting hired. And I think that ends this date today."This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. I scooted out of the booth and Triple X followed suit. "Wait!" May said. Triple X turned around and looked at her. "What?" "So if I take this job then you''ll consider dating me?" May asked. "I''ll consider it, no grantees though," Triple X said. With that, he guided me by the small of my back out of the restaurant. *** {May} I sighed when George and Triple X left the restaurant. I had a lot to think about in the following days. I already got rid of the kid so I don''t have any real responsibilities now. I decided to return home to live with my parents again. I kept thinking about how hot George looked in his suit. He was always a hottie but damn I guess being in the military did his body wonders. The suit that he was wearing gave a hint of what might be underneath his clothes. I''m pretty sure he still has a six pack of abs because he was pretty fit before. I don''t blame Triple X for wanting to be with him. That got me thinking, George was mine, what if I try to win him back? Surely, if I take the job that Triple X offered me I can show him that I''ve matured? I mean who wouldn''t want a woman that''s mature? I am sexier now because I have curves ever since I gave birth to Junior. Once I finished my meal I found out that Triple X had already paid the bill. When I left the restaurant I summoned an Uber to take me back to my parents house. My parents'' butler was the one to open the door after I got through the gates. He smiled. "Ah, young mistress May! Your parents have been waiting for a visit from you. Just didn''t expect you to turn up so late at night." I nodded. "Yes Mr. Hans. I''m here to see my parents. Can you let me in?" Mr. Hans nodded and stepped aside. I entered the house and smiled. It hasn''t changed in the two years that I''ve been gone. I ran off the moment I gave birth to Junior because I didn''t want George to take the baby away from me. If I didn''t have my child then I wouldn''t have the means to live a good life and take care of a kid. Call me a heartless mother but as long as I have money and a roof over my head I''m good. But there''s not way in Hell that I''m going to be a middle class woman or lower class woman working a part time dead-end job. No thank you. Since it was so late at night Mr. Hans told me that he would escort me to my old room and I smiled when I saw it. Nothing had changed in the past two years that I was gone. I took a shower and got changed into some clean clothes and laid down. I knew for a fact that my parents weren''t too happy with me and that they would want to have a very serious discussion with me in the morning. *** The next morning I woke up and I got dressed and went down to the garden outside the back of the house where I knew my parents would be sitting. They were there sitting at a table enjoying breakfast. I cleared my throat to get their attention and that''s when Mom looked up at me. "Well, it looks like our daughter finally decided to come home dear. May, show me your hands." I raised an eyebrow and then I knew what she wanted to know. She wanted to know if I was engaged to anyone again and if she could help me with wedding plans. Ever since George happened I haven''t been inclined to get married to anyone. So I did as I was told. Mom shook her head. "Tsk, tsk, you''re not engaged again yet?" She gave a dramatic sigh, "Such a shame too. I had high hopes for you and George and I regret telling you to run because of that paternity test. You would''ve been taken care of very well regardless of the results. I also had high hopes for you and Stanley." Dad rolled his eyes. "Martha, give it a rest. Let''s have our daughter enjoy breakfast first and then talk about this." Mom perked up. "Oh that''s right! We had the chef make your favorite!" I sat down at the table and saw that the chef had made pancakes, eggs and sausage along with a glass of orange juice. "By the way, where''s our grandchild?" Dad asked. "He''s with his father¡­ Permanently," I said. Mom snickered. "So you actually signed away your parental rights like I thought you were going to. You''re so very irresponsible you know that." They didn''t say anything as they let me finish my meal. Once I was done eating, Dad said, "Don''t worry dear, you''re still our daughter and you''re in luck! We already have a new suitor for you! Unless you brought home a suitor yourself?" I shook my head. "No, I don''t have anyone worthy enough to bring home yet. Um, wow I barely set foot in the house and you already have someone for me?" Dad smirked. "Oh we already had a suitor for you on standby just in case Stanley didn''t work out. Actually we''ve had several suitors ready to go. You know, just in case one of them got married or got into a relationship." "We hoped we didn''t have to use them for you because we wanted you and George to work out because you got pregnant with his child and were already planning for a wedding," Mom said. "Honestly, I was hoping you''d prove me wrong by not running away and attending to your responsibilities," Dad said. "But you said that I shouldn''t be with George because he didn''t trust me because he wanted the paternity test," I said. Dad sighed, "Yeah and we realized we were wrong because he was just playing smart about things. We looked into it and you want to know the number of women who tried to pin their pregnancies on him when they didn''t even have sex with him?" I raised an eyebrow. "How many?" "Three, he had three girlfriends before you and they all got pregnant by different men but tried to say that the child belonged to George," Dad said. "But I know for a fact that this time the pregnancy did belong to George. I mean the kid looked like a mini version of George when I saw the kid there was no doubt in my mind that the child was his." My jaw dropped. "But why didn''t you say anything?!" "Because I wanted you to make your own decision," Dad said. I fell silent for a moment and then I realized that my parents just want to tie me down to someone. I didn''t want that. I wanted to be free to date whoever I wanted to date. I wanted to be free to do whatever I wanted to do. That made me think of Triple X''s offer for me to get a job in order to date him. "I actually have someone in mind that I want as my suitor," I said. Dad raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Who is he?" "Well, um¡­ He''s George''s new boss and he offered me a job," I said. Mom snorted. "Offering you a job and dating you are two totally different things silly." "Well he said the only way he''d date me is if I had a job. And I''m thinking about taking the job he offered me," I said. Mom burst into laughter. "Oh that''s funny!" She said in between her laughter. "You''re going to get a job?" She composed herself. "You''re getting a job just to date someone? Are you serious?" I nodded. "Yes, I''m serious. Why do you think I don''t come home often? Because you guys want to run my life by tying me down to someone that I may or may not like." Dad shrugged. "Alright if that''s what you want, then go for the job. Who knows? You might actually learn to be responsible for a change and not have us make choices in order to get you to be responsible." I crossed my arms and said defensively, "I can be responsible!" Dad gave me a pointed look. "Uh-huh sure you can. Just like you ran off and hooked up with Stanley after giving birth to your son. Just like how you gave your kid to his father so you didn''t have to take care of him anymore. I have no idea what type of deal you worked out with him but I''m going to assume there was some type of money involved. But sure, go ahead and take the job and show us that you can be an adult finally." I stood up abruptly. "Thank you so very much for taking the time to talk to me but I don''t think I can stay here any longer. Love you guys, but I must go." I didn''t say anything else as I left the house and summoned an Uber to drive me to A-Circle Labs. *** {George} "What do you think you''re doing?" Branden asked as he watched me get out of bed. It''s been a couple days since we moved in with Triple and we each had our own rooms like he promised but today Branden and I were spending some time in my room. I was kind of anxious to see how Triple X was going to set up my son''s room but I think he told Branden to keep me busy because Branden wasn''t letting me get out of bed except to go pee. "I have to go pee and yes, I really want to see how Triple X set up Junior''s room," I said. Branden shook his head. "Nope. It''s not-" His cellphone rang and he picked it up. "Hello?" He had a short conversation on the phone and smirked when he hung up. "Well looks like your son''s room is ready and your son is already in his new crib!" Just when I was getting ready to run out the door Branden stopped me. "Oh no you don''t! We just had sex and I''m pretty sure you stink because of it. So we''re taking a shower and getting changed into some clean clothes before we go meet your son." So after we took a shower and got dressed we headed down the hallway to see where my son''s room would be set up. My room was on the first floor so I figured my son''s room would be on the same floor. I was right. I heard the sounds of my son giggling as I rounded the corner to see his room set up. Triple X was holding him and making funny faces at him. I looked around the room and saw that the walls were painted a light blue color and the crib was set up next to a dresser and there was a rocking chair next to the crib. Triple X was sitting on the rocking chair while he was holding him. "You''re so cute you look just like your father! Yes you do! Yes you do!" Triple X said in a baby voice. Junior looked at him and giggled. Triple X looked up at me and smiled. When Junior saw me he reached for me and then he said his first word, "Dada!" Triple X and Branden gasped. "Oh my goodness! That is so cute!" Branden said. Junior reached for me again. "Dada!" Triple X handed Junior to me and I took him in my arms. Triple X stood up and I took his place at the rocking chair. That''s when Junior started crying. I sniffed his diaper to make sure he hadn''t pooped but nothing was wrong there. I frowned. "Has he had anything to eat yet?" Triple X shook his head. "I don''t think so. I''ll go get a maid to see about getting him a bottle." He left the room and returned shortly with a bottle and handed it to me. Judging by the way Junior ate he hadn''t eaten for the day yet. Thankfully the Nanny Agent that I had before I moved in with Triple X walked me through what needed to be done after Junior ate. So when he was done eating I burped him and he settled down and went to sleep. "Well damn, I wish I could fall asleep that fast after eating," Branden said. Triple X laughed, "Yeah that makes two of us. Unfortunately the adults have to work." I sighed, "Yeah I got to report to work tomorrow now that everything is settled." "Speaking of reporting to work," Triple X said. "It looks like May took the bait after all." He looked over at Junior who was now sleeping in his crib. "Alright you two I need to speak with you outside. We''ll sit down in the living room and talk." Branden and I followed him to the living room and took our seats on the couch. "So, she took the bait?" I asked. Triple X nodded. "Looks like it. She came into the office at A-Circle Labs and looked kind of panicked, that''s what the Recruiter Agent told me." "So did they hire her?" I said. "Yeah they did. They''re not testing on her right away because they''re waiting for her to calm down a bit first," Triple X said. "You know how the first phase of testing goes right?" I flinched. "Yeah and it''s not pleasant. I remember not being able to eat for two days at first. Taking that medicine they gave me was nasty too." "Uh-huh and they''re giving her a light sedative first. Once she''s calm she''ll go through the same thing you went through. And you know that even if you pass being a Lab Rat you have to go through being a Cadet next," Triple X said. He groaned. "And I don''t feel like having another Chloe clone walking around." I raised an eyebrow. "A Chloe clone?" "Yeah Chloe is a Cadet who''s failed boot camp and she refuses to do what she is told," Triple X said. "Oh yeah that''s right! I used to know her. She was crushing on my brother for the longest time, even tried to get an arranged marriage with him. From what I know of Levi fired her for whatever the reason and she went to work for A-Circle Labs as a Lab Rat. The last time I saw her was when I got chosen to be in the Reds," I said. "So she''s still not doing what she''s told?" He sighed, "Yeah she won''t, she was supposed to go to the Army congregation but since she''s failed boot camp, she''ll have to wait another two years for that. But if she keeps refusing to do as she''s told then she''ll be removed from being a Cadet altogether." I frowned. "So what will happen to her after that?" He deadpanned. "You don''t want to know." From the looks of it the rest of Chloe and May''s life was up in the air and their future''s looked pretty grim. "Stop that," Triple X said. "Stop what?" I asked. "You feel sorry for them don''t you?" Triple X said. I nodded. "Yeah, I mean I used to know them." Branden shook his head. "I wouldn''t worry too much about them. They''re in the past now. They made their choices. What you should worry about is us, your job and your son." I smiled. "Yeah you''re right. Worrying and overthinking things isn''t good." "Like I said, when life kicks your ass you get back up and kick life''s ass," Branden said. Triple X chuckled. "Well that''s an interesting way of looking at things. Life can be a big bully sometimes." Branden and I then nodded in agreement. Mostly because that statement is absolutely right. Chapter 9: Why They left Her {Eve} Ever since I developed my ability to change into a Lioness I''ve been having the same nightmare. I thought that nightmare had left me years ago but it started happening again. Tonight was no different. I laid in bed next to Levi and usually after we have sex I''m fine and I''m out like a light. But this time I was tossing and turning trying to sleep. When I finally did fall asleep, that''s when I had that dream. It was the day after my seventh birthday that the Elders came for me. Everything seemed fine on my birthday. My parents had a birthday party for me and everything. But then the next day apparently Mom had to go on a mission and got killed because she was ambushed by the enemy. That was also the same day that my Dad left his post. The Elders came for me and I was immediately taken to an orphanage. Just when I thought I was at least going to get a chance to digest the fact that my parents were gone I was woken up abruptly in the middle of the night by one of the Elders. Elder Lewis was the one who took me on a mission with him and I didn''t realize that would be the day that I would get my first kill. I was escorted into an abandoned warehouse and into a room that had someone tied up to a chair in it and they had a bag over their head. I looked at Elder Lewis completely confused as to what to do. "What''s going on?" "This man needs to be killed, he is a traitor to the Organization. This will show you what happens to traitors. And you are going to be the one to kill him," Elder Lewis answered. My jaw dropped because I couldn''t understand why the Organization would want a seven year old to kill someone. "I don''t understand, why can''t an adult kill him? Why does it have to be me?" Elder Lewis gave me an evil smile. "Don''t worry about that my dear. You will understand why when you get older. Right now, you must follow orders. A good Agent always does what they''re told to." I shook my head. "But I''m not an Agent yet." He chuckled. "Of course you''re not my dear. But it is the job you will do once you become of age. You know you''re not the only child that gets raised to do their jobs. Why do you think most Agents are very efficient with their jobs?" "Because they''ve been doing it since childhood¡­" I said. Elder Lewis nodded. "Exactly." "I see," I said. "As I just said, your order today is you need to kill this guy. You won''t be able to get any sleep until you kill the guy," Elder Lewis said. I gulped and that''s when another Agent entered the room with a tray that had a couple of weapons on it. One of them was a handheld semi automatic gun and the other weapon was a knife. I paused because I realized this is what I was going to be doing with my life for the rest of my life. I looked at Elder Lewis. "I want to see his eyes." He paused. "Huh? Why would you want to do that?" "I¡­ I want to see what he''ll look like when he dies," I said. "He''s a traitor right? I don''t think he should get the luxury of having his eyes blindfolded before he dies." He scoffed, "Interesting way of looking at it. But okay, if you can take it." I nodded. "I can." He ordered the Agent standing beside him to take off the blindfold and as soon as the guy saw me he frowned. "I''m insulted that you''re having a child kill me." Elder Lewis shrugged. "Why does it matter? You''re going to be dead soon anyway." He looked at me. "Choose your weapon." I looked at the tray and knew that I wanted to kill the guy with the knife. I took a deep breath and walked up to the traitor and grabbed his neck. Once I grabbed his neck I squeezed it and plunged the knife into his chest right where his heart was. It only took me two stabs with the knife to kill him but just to make sure I slit his neck. As the light from the traitor''s eyes faded I watched him die. I didn''t know if I was supposed to feel something but I felt nothing. No sympathy, no horror, no shock, nothing. I frowned and looked at Elder Lewis. "I don''t get it, am I supposed to feel something?" "Interesting, I''ll be monitoring your condition tomorrow," Elder Lewis said. After Elder Lewis said that was when I woke up. *** "Are you okay?" Levi asked as soon as I woke up. I shook my head. "No. I had that stupid dream again." "The dream where you get your first kill?" Levi said. I nodded. "Yup. I mean what was I supposed to feel? I didn''t even get a chance to process that my parents were gone. My Mom had just been killed on the job and my Dad had just left his post. Of course the next day I got sick with Agent Flu." I sighed, "Not to mention I start work again tomorrow¡­" Levi smiled. "Well on the bright side, at least I got birthday sex from you. And Zoey is still the best birthday present I''ve ever gotten!" I chuckled. "Of course she is. And at least I got to be there for her first word and her first steps. I got more than I bargained for when she figured out that she could turn into a cat. And not just any cat, a baby Lioness and apparently it runs in the family. Nice." "I think a baby Lioness is called a Cub. And you''re definitely a Lioness in the bedroom," Levi said with a smirk. "Okay that''s cringe and I cannot believe you just said that with a straight face," I said. He laughed and then pulled me into his arms and kissed me. After he let go he said, "I think one more round of sex will do because you need to sleep. You said it yourself you have to go into work tomorrow." I flipped him over so that I was on top of him and gave him a mischievous smile. "If you say so. Your wish is my command." *** {Blade} "Hmmm, now this is an interesting development," I said. I was looking over the report that one of my informants had given in regards to Eve. "I wonder why it took so long to develop this ability?" I was puzzled when the report said that Eve had developed the ability to turn into a Lioness. I would''ve thought that would''ve been one of the first abilities that she would develop. But no, her Demon Power that she inherited from me came into play. I smiled. "I''m glad that I left her. It seems that was the best decision for her." I remember that thirty years ago it was the week before Eve''s seventh birthday when her mother told me the news that she was going to be a leader for one of the divisions of Agents. Eve''s mother''s real name is Lauren but I knew that once she took over her leadership position her name wouldn''t be Lauren anymore. I wouldn''t know what her new name would be or what division she would be in. I also knew that meant she would have to fake her own death. Till this day I have no idea why the Council makes Agents who are selected for leadership positions fake their own deaths. It''s one of the dumbest protocol''s ever. Especially if the Agent has a child. It was thirty years ago when Lauren came home from work. She looked happy and concerned at the same time. I was sitting in the kitchen looking at Eve''s drawing that she made for me. It was a simple drawing of two tall stick figures and a small one. Of one the stick figures had long hair on it and the other tall stick figure had short hair. The small stick figure had long hair on it. The caption underneath the drawing was: My Family. I had been thinking about leaving the Organization at the time and I thought about taking Eve with me. But having a child with you while you''re on the run wouldn''t be easy and I knew I couldn''t do that. I thought that at least Eve would have her mother with her but that was when Lauren came home from work and dropped a bombshell on me.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Hey hubby!" Lauren said as she hugged me and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. "What''s up?" I asked. "You got home awfully late today." "Oh yes that was because the Council summoned me," Lauren said. My eyes went wide. "Really? What for?" "It was for something good," Lauren said. I paused. "Okay?" "You might want to sit back down for this, but I''ve been chosen to be a leader for a division for the Agents!" Lauren said. My face paled when I heard that. I knew I should be happy but I just couldn''t feel it. "You do realize what that means right?" Lauren sighed, "Yes I know. I have to make Eve believe that I''m dead. The Council wants me to do it after Eve''s birthday. And when I ''die'' you''ll have to submit papers for divorce even though I''ll be ''dead.''" "That''s the dumbest policy ever! Do you know how hard this is going to be on Eve?" I said. "I know you can''t refuse the job but still¡­" Lauren narrowed her eyes. "Eve will still have you right? So no-" I shook my head. "I''m leaving too. And I won''t be back." She gasped, "What!" "And don''t worry our divorce will be finalized by the end of the week," I said. "I already asked the Elders for a divorce last week." "What! Why? I thought we were good, we haven''t been fighting as much- Have you been cheating on me?" Lauren said. I shook my head. "No, it''s not that. Um, I had been wanting to leave the Organization for some time-" "You can''t do that! You know what happens to traitors right? You can''t leave Eve alone! You do realize that once you leave Elder Lewis will take her and-" She paused and did a facepalm. "Fuck! Of course they would select me to be a leader for a division. Of course it makes perfect sense now! You asked for a divorce and you knew good and well that once the divorce is finalized we''ll be separated. You''ll be sent to another congregation and Eve will be all alone. And¡­ And¡­" Lauren didn''t finish the rest of her sentence and I didn''t blame her. "But you''re leaving the Organization! You do realize that once you leave I''ll have to report you. You can''t leave! Don''t do this to her! Don''t do this to your daughter. At least if you''re still here and just sent to another congregation she won''t be so mad at you. I''d rather you leave because you''ve been cheating. But not this. Not this way." "Then what do you expect me to do? Take her with me? There''s no way I can take care of her that way!" I cried. "Look at least wait until I have to ''die,''" Lauren said. "Think about it during that time and please try to change your mind. Eve needs you." "Elder Lewis was going to have her training for the job that she''s been selected for sooner or later anyway and it won''t matter if I''m there or not," I said. "Eventually over time she will become an Enforcer. It''s what she''s been selected for, we can''t change that. The only reason she hasn''t started training for it yet is because the Council is blocking Elder Lewis from taking her-" I couldn''t finish my sentence when there was a knock on the door. "Who the hell would be knocking on our door so late at night?" Lauren answered it and an Agent was standing there with a letter in his hands. "The Council has sent me to deliver this letter to Mr and Mrs Reid. This is in regards to Evelyn Reid Lab Rat 36502." Every time I hear the Council refer to a child as a Lab Rat it makes me want to bash someone''s head in. But I kept my composure. "I am Mr. Reid, Evelyn Reid''s father." The Agent nodded and handed me the letter. I opened it up and I was seething when I read it. The letter read like this: Dear Mr. Blade Reid Agent ID Agent 26 and Mrs. Lauren Reid Agent ID Agent 31, This letter is in regards to your child Evelyn Reid Lab Rat ID 36502. This upcoming Friday will be her seventh birthday and she''ll be of age to start her training to become an Enforcer. Most Enforcer Agents start their training before the age of seven and now that she''s turning seven the protective order against that is now null in void. Two Elders will be coming to pick up Evelyn Reid the day after her birthday to start her training. You cannot refuse this order, make sure that the child is ready to go by 7am on Saturday the day after her birthday. Sincerely, The Council Queen Amore- Agent 001 Tears fell from my eyes as soon as I read the letter. "So, it doesn''t matter if I''m here or not. They''re going to take her." "What?" Lauren said. I handed her the letter and when she read it she gasped, "No! Fuck, of course, they want us out of the way. Even if you were here Eve wouldn''t be living with you. She''d be living at the orphanage. You''d be able to visit her but that''s it. They wouldn''t want you to distract her from her training." I sat down on a chair by the kitchen table and scoffed, "So that''s it. I''m leaving and you''re dying." Lauren sighed, "Yeah¡­ That''s it¡­" I wasn''t going to change my mind about leaving the Organization and Lauren knew that. So the day after Eve''s birthday before Eve woke up I left and Lauren told Eve that she had to go to work and Eve had to go with the Elder''s that showed up at our door for a little bit. Till this day I still have that letter with me. Every time I read it I get angry all over again and sometimes I wonder if I should''ve taken Eve with me. But now that I look at her life she seems to be doing well for herself and she''s excelling at her job. Someone cleared their throat and that snapped me out of my memories. I rolled my eyes when I saw Jeremy standing in the doorway. "Yes, what do you want?" "I''m not here to bug you about Eve. I see that she''s happy where she is and that would be cruel of me to take her away from that. I''ve been thinking, what if I join the Organization and become your mole?" Jeremy said. I scoffed, "You really think that you have what it takes to become a mole? The reason my moles are Agents is because they went through the testing for the Organization and they weren''t satisfied with working in the shadows like me. That''s why I left. I disagreed with the way things were done. And I know eventually they''ll send an Enforcer after me. Why they haven''t done that now I have no idea." "Maybe they just want to see how big your army has grown in order to figure out if you''re a threat?" Jeremy suggested. I snorted. "Or maybe they just haven''t found me yet?" "Actually the rookie is correct," I heard Diego say. Diego''s been my right hand man for years now. He''s a former Agent just like I am. I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What do you mean?" "I didn''t want to say anything because I figured you''d find out soon enough," Diego said. "But the Council has been watching you for years now. They haven''t made a move yet because they didn''t think you were a threat and they were waiting for a certain someone to become an Enforcer." My eyes went wide. "You mean to tell me that they''ve been waiting for Eve to become an Enforcer to send her after me?" He nodded. "Yup." I laughed, "Wow. I can''t wait until we have our little face off. This outta be good! Until then keep sending our informants to watch her. Oh and it looks like you have another test subject!" Diego tilted his head. "Say what now? Who?" I pointed to Jeremy. "He wants to be a mole." Diego laughed, "Seriously?" Jeremy nodded. "I''m dead serious. I want to become a mole. If I can''t have Eve then I want to be like her." "But you have to do it step by step. Do you think Agents become Agents overnight? No they don''t. Some Agents start training for their job as soon as they can walk. I don''t know why the Council blocked Eve from being trained as an Enforcer until she turned seven but they did. From what I know of, Enforcers start their training at the age of three," Diego said. I sighed, "I know why." "Why?" Jeremy asked. "When Eve was born she inherited an ability called Demon Power. It''s one of the strongest abilities an Agent can get. She cried with her eyes open and they turned red. That isn''t normal for a baby," I said. "Elder Lewis wanted to take Eve away from us right off the bat. But the Council feared that overloading a child with too much power would kill her before she reached the age of three. It was hard for her to keep it under control. We would oftentimes have to make her sleep and chain her to the bed with a silver chain." Jeremy gasped. "That''s horrible!" "Yeah I know but we had to help her keep that ability under control somehow. Demon Power is strong enough to level a whole building! Strong enough to cause an earthquake!" I said. "But once it''s under control Agents can accomplish amazing feats with it. I know because I have that ability and I have it under control. I was once a top Agent in the Organization but I left." Jeremy gave me a puzzled look. "If you were a top Agent why''d you leave?" "Because the credit for all of my achievements was going to someone else who was merely the face of the Organization as a whole. His name is Karl Reinheart," I growled. "And I''ve been wanting to kill the guy for decades now. But I can''t at the moment because I''m waiting for the right time to strike." "Wait, Karl Reinheart? That''s the guy who does the non-profit organization. He''s also America''s top soldier! Or at least that''s what he''s been named as. Every time there was some sort of crisis he solved it!" Diego said. "No, he didn''t solve it!" I snapped. "It was due to the efforts of me and other top Agents within the Organization, The Council insists on working in the shadows and giving all the credit for things to someone else. I have no idea why but when I finally take over I''ll make sure that my soldiers get the credit that they deserve and I''ll kill Karl Reinheart once and for all!" I sighed and reached into my pocket to pull out the letter that was given to me concerning Eve the week before I left. "This is the letter I got the day Eve''s Mother told me she was picked to be a leader. This is the letter that turned Eve''s life upside down. It wouldn''t have mattered if I had stayed. Eve would''ve been sent to the orphanage regardless!" Diego''s eyes went wide. "Wait, is that what your tattoo on your shoulder is about?" I nodded. "Yup, that date that''s beside my brand mark of my number is the day that I got that letter. I bet Eve has her brand by now. I heard her Agent ID is Agent 36 now." Diego nodded. "Yup! And you''re right she does have a brand and a tattoo on her neck confirming that she is indeed an Enforcer now." I chuckled. "I still can''t wait until we have our little face off. This is going to be so much fun." I turned to Jeremy. "You still want to be a mole?" Jeremy nodded. "That little story just made me want to become a mole even more!" I rolled my eyes. ''Well alright then. Diego, you know what to do." Diego grabbed Jeremy''s hand and led him out of the room. I looked down at the letter sitting on my desk and scoffed, "We will meet again Eve and I can''t wait to see how much you''ve grown." Chapter 10: Evaluation Time {George} Most of my missions lately haven''t been that eventful. I mean Charlotte and I did manage to help the local police arrest a few people and we had to do an investigation for a case in another country. A couple of my missions I did get to use my fighting skills. Of course when that happened the people I went up against just about beat the crap out of me but I turned the tables and came out as the victor. Charlotte also stressed the point of not overusing my abilities like a lot of the high rankers tend to do. A lot of times when High Rankers overuse their abilities they get sick and have and have nosebleeds and sometimes cough up blood. Although from what I know a seasoned Agent can overuse their abilities at most two to three times. Since I''m not a seasoned Agent I''m not even going to try that if I can help it. "Ugh!" Charlotte groaned. She does that every time we have to go on a mission that she thinks is boring. "I hate recon missions! I''m bored." I snickered. "Of course you are. I know it must be hard if you can''t sit still. It''s not that bad." "It''s not that I can''t still it''s that there''s nothing happening and boring missions irk me for that reason," Charlotte whined. I was getting to say something when there was a loud crash and we looked in the direction of where our target was to see that a window of their house had been smashed. Charlotte smirked. "Now this just got interesting!" I rolled my eyes as we made our way into the building. The building was an office building. It looked similar to the office building Levi owns but it''s not his because we''re currently in another country. Now we''re in Canada. We walked down the hallway and paused when we heard voices. "Man, I hate being a guard dog!" Someone groaned. "Well at least you can''t turn into a dog," Someone else joked. "Being a guard dog is so boring!" The other person from before said. I tried not to laugh because them complaining about their mission was the same thing that Charlotte was doing a moment ago. Charlotte gave me a look as if to say ''don''t start'' as we made our way down the hallway. Charlotte paused when we got in front of the door to see two men sitting on chairs with a fold out table in between them and they were playing a game of cards. Off to the far side of the room was a young man tied to a chair. The young man watched the two men playing cards like he was bored out of his mind. "Can I play?" One of the men paused. "Nice try kid. You''re going to sit here and wait on the Boss until he decides what to do with you for trying to escape." "Well they always say a dog is a man''s best friend," The young man said as he rolled his eyes. The other man at the table laughed. "Kid''s got a sense of humor on him." "Really Rome?" The man said. "Now is not the time for jokes." "What? As I said before, having to guard this guy is boring," Rome said. "Why can''t you just stay put and do as you''re told, Artie?" The young man rolled his eyes again. "I told you I want no part of this anyway!" "Well you agreed to it and you can''t back out now," Rome snapped. He looked at the man next to him. "And Max go check on the people who were supposed to be meeting us now." Charlotte looked at me and motioned for me to stay behind her. She opened the door and walked in. Rome looked up at her. "Who are you?" "Hi there, my name''s Cherry and I''m here to meet you to pick up the boy," Charlotte said. Rome and Max shared a look. "I guess I must have the wrong room then," Charlotte said. I did a facepalm. "No, I think we have the right room Cherry." Rome and Max laughed. "Wow you guys must really think we''re stupid. Never thought we''d run into a couple of Agents while waiting for the Boss," Rome said. He shook his head. "Yeah no, you guys got the wrong room." Charlotte gave a nervous chuckle. "Oh is that right?" She looked at me and grabbed my hand as she started to push me out the door. "Come on Greg, we seemed to have been mistaken. Let''s go! We''re looking for someone else!" We paused when I heard the sound of a gun cocking. I looked over at Max and Rome to see that they had their guns pointed at us. Charlotte laughed. "This mission just went from boring to very interesting very fast!" I looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" She didn''t say anything but her right index finger twitched and when Rome and Max pulled the trigger on their guns their guns fell apart. She smirked. "Since you know we''re Agents then you know what we''re capable of right?" No one made a move at first but then Rome charged at Charlotte and she dodge him and tripped him. He got back up and threw a punch at her that she dodged effortlessly. I figured she''d have no problem taking care of Rome so I turned my attention to Max and Artie. I knew I had to figure out a way to get past Max and save Artie. Max just stared at me. ¡°Well?¡± ¡°Well what?¡± I asked. ¡±Aren¡¯t you going to make a move?¡± Max growled. I hesitated still trying to figure out my next move because my wind and fire powers won''t help me unless I want to burn down the building. I doubted turning into a house cat or a puma would help me either. So that left me with my magnetic powers. I knew that all I had to do was to get close enough to turn this guy into a magnet and pin him to the wall and that should give me enough leeway in order to save. Before I could make a move Charlotte had somehow managed to toss Rome onto the card table effectively breaking it. I used that distraction to throw a punch at Max who blocked it. But what he didn''t know that''s exactly what I needed. I just needed one touch in order to stick him to the wall. So that''s what I did. It turned his hand into a magnet and with brute force I swung him around and pinned him to a nearby wall. "Oh! Magnetic powers! Cool!" Charlotte said. "Now let''s save Artie!" I heard Artie groan. "No need to save me, I''m fine." I looked over to see that Artie had freed himself from the chair he had been tied to. I gave him a confused look. "Huh? If you could free yourself then why didn''t you just do that in the first place?" Artie grinned. "Because I was doing my job." He dusted himself off and before he left the room he turned around and kept his grin. "By the way you both passed! Tell Father Duke that Evaluator 937 said hi!" He walked out of the room laughing as if he had told the best joke ever. While my jaw was dropped I looked over to see that Charlotte was seething. "A hostage situation? Seriously? That''s what they used to evaluate us with? Good grief that''s child''s play even for a newbie like you!" "Well at least we passed," I said after picking my jaw up off the floor. "I''d hate to think of what might happen if we failed." "But still, a hostage situation?" Charlotte said. "I''m kind of insulted that they chose something so easy." "Actually I would think when dealing with a hostage situation things can go south very quickly no matter how easy you say it is. While it''s nice to have something easy. But it could be easy and it could be hard at the same time," I said. "Wow, that was deep. But I guess there''s no use in crying over spilled milk. Let''s get back to Headquarters," Charlotte said. I shrugged and we left the room and went back to headquarters. *** As soon as we got back to headquarters Charlotte marched over to Father Duke''s office and knocked on the door. I followed her out of curiosity to see what she was going to do. "Come in!" Father Duke shouted. Charlotte and I entered the office and took seats across from Father Duke''s desk. He smiled at us. "First of all, congrats on passing your evaluation." Charlotte frowned. "Yeah about that, did you really have to use a hostage situation for that? That''s child''s play!" Father Duke rolled his eyes. "It might be child''s play to you but things can go south very quickly when you''re trying to save a hostage. If you don''t do things right the hostage could die. Had Evaluator 937 died then you guys would''ve failed." "But still-" Charlotte started. "I could have the Evaluators set you up with an ambush situation next time and see how well you do with that," Father Duke cut her off. Charlotte opened her mouth and closed it. Father Duke gave her a pointed look. "Uh-huh not so cocky now are you? Oh and the monthly evaluation for Agents is coming up too. It''s different from how the Organization evaluates you on job. And after that is the two day run that only Agents do." "A two day run?" I asked. "Yup!" Charlotte said. "We run from one end of the city to the next end of it and back all within two days. It''s awesome because a few years ago the deputy''s decided to add in some dodge balls so that Agents who have developed new abilities can test out their new abilities during the run. It sounds like a lot of work but it''s actually fun!" Father Duke chuckled. "Yeah it is. I remember my days out in the field before I got picked for this position. So, the monthly evaluation will take place this Thursday and the two day run will take place the following weekend. You''ll have the week off in between that." He looked at Charlotte. "Charlotte, now that everything''s dealt with you can leave I need to speak to George alone." Charlotte nodded and left the room. "What did you want to talk to me about sir?" I asked. He nodded. "It''s about your cover job." I paused. "Cover job?" "Yes, every Agent has a cover that they do while they''re not out on missions. A cover job can be anywhere from a CEO''s personal assistant to just a regular cashier at a grocery store," Father Duke said. "And yes after you get off work you''ll be returning to your house like every other Agent does. I''ll give you your schedule for when you''ll train with Trainer Shawn. And you''ll still have time to spend with your baby and partners." I nodded. "Okay then." "You''re dismissed, I''ll contact you when everything''s been taken care of," Father Duke said. "Yes sir," I said. I left the room and headed back home. *** {Triple X} I laughed as I watched Branden moan with pleasure underneath me. I love dominating my partners in bed, it lets them know that I call the shots and they understand. Lately Branden and I have been worried about George because it takes so long for him to finish a mission when he''s overseas. He got sent to Canada this time. I even considered having him get a microchip but since he''s not my spouse yet I can''t do that. The Organization does allow same sex marriages. It doesn''t matter to them as long as you follow their orders. I think Branden''s more worried about George than I am. I know George can handle himself. It''s his job and it''s what he was trained to do. He pretty much held his ground when he went up against Liam so he''s got this. Although I''m more concerned about his partner than him on the job. Mostly because from what I was able to find out his partner is a woman named Charlotte who got demoted from being a High Ranker and is now a Low Ranker. High Ranking Agents are the ones that go on top priority cases. Most of the time those cases have to deal with taking out certain mafia''s in the underground and sometimes working with the FBI and certain cases that might involve national security. Low Ranking Agents are the ones who do cases like gathering intel on something, dealing with the mafia''s of the underground and sometimes they work with the FBI too but not with cases that involve national security. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Branden moaned when he came down from his climax and gave me an annoyed look. I raised an eyebrow. "What?" "I thought we were using sex as a way to not worry about George so much when he''s out on a mission," Branden said. "Clearly from the look on your face you''re in Auto Dom Mode." I snorted. "Auto Dom Mode? Seriously?" "You are such a Dom in the bedroom naturally that you can do it without even thinking about it. You''re worried about him aren''t you?" Branden said. I rolled off of him and sighed. "Yeah I am. I mean I know George can handle himself. I''ve seen him training before and he''s getting better despite not having very many abilities. He''s a good fighter and is quick on his feet, but I''m concerned about his safety because of his partner. From what little information I was able to find, his partner is a woman who''s a demoted High Ranker." "So that means she''s a Low Ranker now? Wonder what she did to get demoted?" He asked. I shook my head. "I have no idea. I''m going to assume she did something reckless and didn''t listen to orders or something like that." I paused and used my tracking abilities to see if George was at least headed up the steps now and this time he was. I smiled. "Looks like George is getting ready to walk into the house." "I wish I had tracking abilities," Branden said. I smirked. "I know right? Pretty cool huh." Branden laughed, "Show off." "Of course you guys decided to fuck in my bed while I''m gone," I heard George laugh. "Why am I not surprised?" I looked over to see George standing in the doorway dressed in his uniform. He had taken sunglasses off and he was smirking. He shook his head. "You guys are something else." I got up from the bed and walked over to him. "Why don''t you come here and join us?" George grabbed me and kissed me. "Sounds like fun." I took his clothes off before he had time to react and tossed him on the bed. Branden grabbed him and thrusted into him from behind without warning. He moaned as I got on top of him. "Hmm, why don''t we play a game?" Branden said. "What kind of game?" I asked. "Let''s see how many orgasm''s we can give George until he passes out," Branden said with a mischievous smile. "That''s not a bad idea," I said. "George you have tomorrow off right?" "Yeah, because the monthly evaluation for Agents starts on Thursday," George said. "Monthly evaluation?" Branden repeated. "We''ll talk about this tomorrow," I said. Branden nodded. "Alright then." When we started our little game we gave George climax after climax and eventually he begged us to stop but we kept going. Agents tend to be pretty tough soldiers because of their stamina. It took pretty much the whole entire night and a little bit into the morning before we finally got George to pass out. "What was the count?" I chuckled after I rolled off of George and held him in my arms as he slept. "I counted at least thirty," Branden laughed. "He''s out like a light and it''s a good thing too because he needs to rest. Now what is the monthly evaluation for Agents about?" "Well it actually with whatever Evaluator observed George on his job and I''m curious as to whether or not he passed that. I guess we''ll find out after he wakes up. The next part of the evaluations takes place on Thursday when the Deputy''s check to see things like, how fast does an Agent recover from an injury and how fast do they recover when they''re knocked out, and how well their abilities are holding up. Then the last part of the evaluation is the two day run," I explained. "The Agents run from one end of the city to the next in a span of two days. During that time Agents are allowed to test out their abilities and try out different attack moves." "They run for two days?" Branden asked. "Without stopping?" I shook my head. "Nah, they take a break every two hours and then go back at it again. As you can see, Agents have a lot of stamina." I looked at the time at a nearby clock on the nightstand. It was 6am! "I mean it''s 6am right now and we started as soon as he got home. Which was around about 8pm." Branden whistled. "He''s a tough guy but I still can''t help but worry about him." I chuckled. "Same here it''s because we love him and want what''s best for him. He''ll be fine." Branden shrugged. "If you say so. It kind of makes me glad that I''m just a regular Boot Camp Instructor." "Yeah, not everyone''s cut out to be an Agent," I said. "We''re picked for our roles for a reason. George just so happened to excel pretty well as a Lab Rat and then as a Cadet. That''s why I had my eye on him before he graduated boot camp." "Seriously?" Branden said. I nodded. "Yup! The same thing goes for you. You also excel at your job. I wanted to wait until you both graduated so I could have you at the same time." Branden''s eyes went wide. "Wait a minute, you were waiting until George graduated in order to have me shipped out to the Reds?" He shook his head. "I suspected that might''ve been the case but still. Whatever you do, don''t tell George that. He''ll probably feel bad thinking he held me back." I shook my head. "That''s the thing, he didn''t hold you back. I held you back. You were always going to be shipped out to the Reds sooner or later. It just so happened to be later." Branden smiled. "You know you still could''ve had me shipped out when I graduated. I did get picked on a couple of times for that because people thought that I didn''t graduate when I knew the truth." I was going to say something when George snored lightly. I laughed and shook my head. "He''s cute when he''s sleeping. I still can''t get over how much his son looks just like him." "I know right?" Branden said. "He''s so cute he''s a mini George. And he''ll be a heartthrob when he''s older." That was when I started to feel a little tired myself. I yawned. "Thank goodness I have today off and you do too. That way we can all rest together." Branden yawned. "Uh-huh. I think I''m good on sex for the day. And George has been thoroughly fucked." I snorted. "You can say that again." Branden and I settled in underneath the covers as we both held George in our arms and eventually I fell asleep after Branden did. *** {Branden} I smiled as I watched George sleep. I know he can handle himself with his job but much like Triple X I worry about his partner more. She could put him in more danger than necessary. As Triple X and I were having breakfast out in the garden George stumbled in looking rather grumpy. Triple X laughed, "Well for someone who had sex all night you look like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed." George rolled his eyes. "You''d be grumpy too if you woke up in pain from thoroughly fucked in the ass." I burst into laughter and Triple X joined in. "Ha, ha very funny," George said as he sat down. He winched a little and that only added to my laughter. Triple X regained his composure before I did. "So grab something to eat. I had the chef make your favorites." On the table we were sitting at had pancakes and eggs, bacon and all of the traditional breakfast foods. Knowing George he was probably going to eat most of it because most Agents tend to eat more calories than normal people. I''m going to assume that''s because when an Agent is out in the field they burn more calories because they''re always on the go. "So, did you get an on the job evaluation yet?" Triple X asked. George nodded. "Yes and I passed." He chuckled. "Although my partner wasn''t too happy about the situation we were evaluated in. I told her to just be happy that it wasn''t worse." Triple X raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What was it?" "A hostage situation, Charlotte got mad and told Father Duke it was child''s play!" He laughed. "Father Duke got her to shut up by saying that he could her up with an ambush situation next time. I told her that even though it seems easy, things can go south fast." Triple X nodded. "Yup, I totally agree with that. When I was just in training to become a leader I got evaluated on the job too. Everyone gets evaluated. Even Boot Camp Instructors get evaluated." He looked at me. "So if the Agents are getting evaluated on the job this month then it stands to reason you''re going to get evaluated soon too." "What happens if you fail an evaluation?" George asked. Triple X shrugged. "I have no idea, But I don''t want to find out." "That makes two of us," George said. "And that makes three of us," I said. That''s when I looked at George''s plate and saw that he had piled on a lot of food. He had at least two stacks of pancakes, eight pieces of bacon, I''m going to assume at least fourteen eggs (I can''t really tell because they were scrambled), two omelets, and one piece of steak. I whistled. "Wow, someone''s hungry today!" "Well when you get thoroughly fucked until you pass out, it kind of helps you work up an appetite," George said with a smile. He started eating and he practically shoveled the food into his mouth like he hadn''t eaten in days. "Whoa George, you might want to slow down on the food. It''s not going anywhere," Triple X said. "What?" George said through a mouthful of food. "I''m hungry." "Yeah I can see that," Triple X said. "I''m also going to spend some time with my son today," George said. I nodded. "Of course. If I had a kid to take care of I''d want to be by their side as much as possible. I still can''t get over the fact about how much Junior looks like you!" Triple X nodded in agreement. "I totally agree with that too! He''s adorable and starting to be a little bit stubborn." He was going to say something else when a maid came running up to us. He looked at her. "Yes? What''s wrong?" "Junior won''t stop crying and throwing things! He keeps asking for his father but I don''t know what to tell him!" The maid cried. George abruptly stood up. "Alright, take me to him." The maid nodded. "Yes sir." I got up along with Triple X and we followed the maid to Junior''s room. The maid wasn''t kidding about the kid throwing things. His room looked like a tornado went through it! There were toys thrown about everywhere and sitting in the middle of the mess was Junior crying his eyes out. George walked over to Junior and gently picked him up. "Hey little buddy, It''s okay I''m here now. Shhhh¡­" Junior stopped crying when he heard George''s voice. He looked up at George and giggled. "Dada!" "Yes, it''s Daddy," George said. "Now that I''m here we''re going to clean up this mess." Junior shook his head. "No! No clean Dada!" George laughed and shook his head. "Nope, you made the mess so we''re cleaning it up together." Junior paused and I could see the wheels in his head turning. For a toddler Junior seems rather smart but that is true of most kids who grow up in the Organization. The fact that he''s already trying to figure things out despite his age tells me that he''s being tested on. Although I am rather curious about what type of abilities he''ll develop. Junior smiled and stared at the toys scattered on the ground and small tornados appeared underneath the toys. He looked up at George. "Dada, down?" George seemed to understand what Junior meant because he put him on the floor and Junior sat down and looked at the toys again. He crawled towards the toys and stood up. He took a couple of steps towards the toy chest and flicked his finger. After that happened there was a small gust of wind and the toy chest opened. The toys then flew into the chest and he closed it. After that happened he sat back down and clapped. "Dada I walk!" George looked stunned. "What the-" He looked at me and Triple X. "Are those his first steps?" "Yes, those would be his first steps!" We heard a maid gasp. George turned around and looked at her. "Are you sure about that? How would he know what walking is?" "Well, Master George, I''ve been showing him videos of people walking and telling him what they''re doing," the maid said. Triple X nodded. "Yes, that''s standard protocol for Nanny Agents that take care of kids when their parents are gone. Junior''s a smart kid even when he wasn''t walking. He figured out how to stand up on his own and somehow he''s figured out how to pick locks." "So he can get out of his crib on his own?" George asked. Triple X nodded. "Yup. I''ve seen him do it once. Thankfully I caught him before he fell. I think it might be related to one of his abilities. And I think I know what ability that is. It''s the same type of ability the Agent 36- no let me correct myself, Enforcer 36 has. It''s called Tracking Ability. An Agent who has this ability can see how many people are in a room and who is outside the room and within a one hundred mile radius. Actually I have that same ability." "Really?" George asked. "Yup, so that means your kid is pretty smart. I''d be proud of him if I were you," Triple X said. George smiled and picked Junior up again. "That''s good little man! You walked!" Junior giggled. "Yay!" Triple X looked at me. "I think we should let these two spend some time alone. Father and Son bonding time." I chuckled. "Alright then." When Triple and I left the room I heard Junior giggling. I can already tell that kid is going to make a fine Agent one day that is if that''s what he''s selected to do. *** {Charlotte} The next time I opened my eyes I felt rather groggy. I looked around and found out that I was blindfolded. "What''s going on? Where am I?" "Relax Agent 54," a voice said. "This is how we''re doing the testing this year. Making you guys stand in line was somewhat efficient but not as much as we thought. So you''re being tied down to a testing table and let me take this blindfold off." The blindfold was removed and I looked around to find that I was in a lab much like A-Circle Labs. There two other people tied down to tables next to me and next to the tables were trays that held all sorts of weapons and surgical tools. On the far right corner of the room were water tanks. The water tanks are large round tanks made of clear glass so you could see the person inside them. I have no idea what the water tanks are for but I really don''t want to find out. "In case you''re wondering, the water tanks are new this year. Because we have so many Agents to get through, the Agents in those tanks are put to sleep until we''re ready for them. Does the guy in the tank now look familiar to you?" Someone asked. When I looked at them I noticed they looked like they were about my age and they were a woman who wore a white lab coat that said Auntie 21 on it. She had brown hair and brown eyes and she wore glasses. "What do you mean?" I asked. Auntie 21 rolled her eyes. "Look at the tanks again." When I looked at the tank my eyes went wide. "That''s George!" Auntie 21 grinned. "Yep! Even though he''s sleeping right now he''s being tested on as we speak. Outsider Agents don''t heal as fast as Agents who grew up within the Organization. But he''s healing just fine." I looked closer to notice that George was hooked up to an IV bag. Auntie 21 must''ve noticed that I was staring at the IV bag when she said, "We hooked him up to an IV bag to help him heal faster. Don''t worry he''s doing just fine. Now, let''s get started with your testing, hmm?" I gulped. "Sure." "Don''t worry everything will be just fine," Auntie 21 said. I couldn''t help but be worried about George during the time I was being tested. He''s my partner and I don''t want anything bad to happen to him. I mean sure I tend to jump into situations head first without assessing things but still. I hope everything goes well for him and he''s back out in the field with me soon. *** {George} When I woke up I looked around to find that I was in water. I panicked a little, feeling a bit disoriented. "Relax, you''re fine," a voice said through an intercom. "We just put you in the water tank because outsiders who become Agents tend to heal a bit slower than Agents who grew up within the Organization. We''ll be moving the tank to a hospital room and soon we''ll get you out of there." I wanted to say something but because I had a breathing tube in my mouth I couldn''t. "Oh yeah, we placed a breathing tube in your mouth so you could breathe. We don''t want our Agents dying on us while we''re testing on them," the voice said. I paused. Testing on me? I thought I was already tested on and they were letting my abilities develop naturally? "Ah yes, we''re doing something different this year for the monthly evaluation of our Agents. We figured out that tying the Agent down instead of letting them move about freely during the tests gives us better results, And sometimes the Agent that''s been tied down develops a new ability," the voice explained. "Oh where are my manners? I guess I should introduce myself." A person stepped in front of the tank and she was a young woman who wore a white lab coat with the name Auntie 21 on it. She had brown hair and brown eyes and she wore glasses. "Hello there, my name is Auntie 21 and I am Uncle 42''s right hand woman so to speak. Nice to meet you!" I wanted to wave to her but I couldn''t because my hands were tied behind my back. Auntie 21 chuckled. "Don''t worry you''ll get out of there soon. I think it''s time for you to sleep again. I just woke you up so I could say hi. I said hi now I say goodnight." She pressed a button on the outside of my tank and before I knew it I was beginning to get sleepy. It didn''t take me long before I drifted off into a dreamless sleep. Chapter 11: The Water Tank {Eve} "Hey, get back here!" I said as I ran after Zoey. Since she was transformed as a cub she was a lot faster than me because I didn''t get a chance to transform as I ran after her. She giggled. "Mama run! This is fun!" When I paused to catch my breath I transformed into a lioness. "Okay, you want to run then let''s run! Besides, it''ll hopefully tire you out enough to take a nap finally. Good thing I have the day off today." Zoey giggled again. "Fun! Fun! Let''s go! Let''s run! This is fun!" I was running after her down the hallways of the house, well it''s more like a mansion that we live in. Levi insisted that we stay at the mansion he lived in after we got married and I wasn''t about to change his setup considering I''d be gone a lot because of my job anyway. When I first moved there Levi made a request to the Elders that he can hire mostly Agents to be the house staff and it was granted. So the nanny who helps take care of Zoey when I''m away is an Agent. The chef and his staff are Agents. Levi''s new PA is also an Agent. So yeah there are Agents around us 24/7. So everyone knows what''s going on and to not freak out if they see a lion cub walking around. Although there are a couple of Agents that fawn over Zoey when she''s transformed into a lion cub and she loves the attention. Zoey took me by surprise and jumped over the balcony over a set of stairs and landed on her feet and ran off. So I jumped off the balcony and ran after her. She ran around into the garden behind the mansion and back into the mansion again. She went up and down the stairs several times. She just kept running. I wasn''t getting tired or anything, but she had to settle down and take a nap somehow. I always worry if she''s getting enough sleep through the night because of how much energy she has. Then I got an idea. I started to herd her towards Levi''s office because I knew he was home today. Levi somehow is able to get Zoey to calm down a lot easier than I can. She always wants to do things that keep her from sleeping when I''m around. I wonder if it''s because I''m gone a lot? When I got Zoey towards the door to Levi''s office thankfully it was open. Levi was on a phone call and before Zoey could jump into his lab I grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and picked her up. Levi looked at us and smiled. "Yes sir, we can look at the contract again tomorrow. Alright then I''ll talk to you later¡­ Yes goodbye!" Levi said. He hung up the phone and stood up. "Hey there! Looks like someone has way too much energy today again!" I put Zoey down and she transformed back into a human and jumped into Levi''s arms. "Daddy!" "Hey little one! Are you giving mommy a hard time?" Levi chuckled. Zoey shook her head. "Nuh-uh, I ran with Mommy! Mommy''s fun!" Levi snorted. "Well at least one of us gets to be the fun parent. You like spending time with Mommy don''t you?" She nodded. "Yes, because she leaves a lot." Hearing Zoey say that kind of broke my heart. I had my answer of why she''s always so hyper around me but there''s nothing I can do about it. I transformed back into a human and sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to me. "Come here Zoey." Zoey did as she was told I sat her down on my lap. "Listen, I think it''s time we had this conversation. I leave because I have to work." She frowned. "But Daddy works! He stays home." I nodded. "I know. It''s just his job allows him to work from home. My job doesn''t. And no, I can''t quit my job. I''m sorry honey." "I don''t want to take a nap everyday!" Zoey whined. "Naps are stupid!" Levi burst into laughter and I glared at him. "That''s not funny and it''s not helping either!" Levi regained his composure. "I''m sorry dear. I just never thought I''d see the day when a three year old would talk about how bad naps are." "But it''s true!" Zoey protested. "Even when I go to that one place Daddy drops me off at the other kids there agree with me." I know where Levi drops Zoey off when he has to go into the office. He drops her off at the same daycare that''s inside the orphanage that I grew up in. Another arrangement that Elders have worked out with us in order keep people from being surprised about seeing a lion cub walking around. Mostly because even though she has earrings that are supposed to help her control her powers she still doesn''t quite know how to control them yet. "Oh really?" I said. Zoey nodded. "They''re always crying wondering when their Mommy''s and Daddy''s are coming back. When they do come back they get really excited about it. Tommy and Clairia can do some really cool stuff." "And what can they do?" Levi asked. "Tommy turns into something called a bat and Clairia can play with something called electricity in her hands," Zoey answered. "I see," I said. "Alright Zoey, I know you think naps are dumb but it really helps you store up more energy so you can run more later," Levi said. Zoey tilted her head. "Really?" Levi nodded. "Yup. Even Mommy and Daddy take a nap sometimes because every human needs a little extra sleep." "Okay, I''ll sleep," She looked at me. "But can Mommy sleep with me? Please?" She gave me those cute little puppy dog eyes and how could I say no to that? So I nodded. "Sure Mommy will sleep with you until you fall asleep." "Yay!" Zoey cheered. Levi and I took Zoey to her room and I slid underneath the covers next to her. She snuggled up to me and surprisingly it didn''t take her long to fall asleep. "Honestly, I think you should take a nap too," Levi said. "I''ve often taken a nap beside Zoey but I can''t sleep in a child sized bed all night so I got another bed next to hers." He pointed behind him and there was a regular adult sized bed next to Zoey''s. I got out of Zoey''s bed and sat down on the adult sized bed. I looked at Levi. "You really think I should take a nap too huh? Sure, I''ll take a nap if you take one with me. We''ll nap together like one big happy relaxed family." Levi chuckled and then yawned, "You know what? That sounds like a good idea." Levi took off his suit jacket and his shoes and laid down on the bed next to me. Soon after that I drifted off to sleep. *** "Annnd time!" Trainer Michael shouted. That was after I finished running around a football length track transformed as Lioness. I stopped in front of him and transformed back into a human. "What was my time?" He sighed, "One minute. I know you can go faster than that. Heck there are normal humans who could probably run circles around you!" I hung my head. "That''s not good. Before I had to worry about controlling my Demon Power and stuff like that. Now I have to worry about controlling this? Although this is an easy power to control, but still."The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Trainer Michael laughed. "I never thought I''d see the day where the overachiever get upset about not being able to achieve something." I sighed, "So what''s the expected time for someone who has this ability to do?" "Under thirty seconds at least," He said. My jaw dropped. "Seriously?" He nodded. "Yup! I''ve trained Agents with this ability to run under fifteen seconds before! And you saved the world by destroying a meteorite with your Demon Power so you''ll get up to speed in no time at all! Pun intended." I groaned. "Okay." "Okay let''s do this again and then we''ll focus on your other powers," Trainer Michael said. We trained for another six hours and then called it a day. How long the training was didn''t surprise me. Trainer Michael had been pushing me even when I was off work because of Zoey. When I was off work we would train every other day. Of course Levi complained about it but Trainer Michael pushed me even harder. He said he didn''t want to take a chance on me becoming lazy. As if that would ever happen. I''d never want to be lazy because I want to keep excelling at my job 100%. *** {Triple X} When I heard George had been placed in a water tank during evaluations that scared me. Auntie 21 gave some bullshit excuse about because he''s an Agent that came from the outside he takes longer to heal. I don''t buy that excuse, not one little bit. To me if the Elders felt the need to put an Agent in a water tank it only means one thing¡­ They''re testing on them again. "I don''t get it," Branden said as we sat in the waiting room at the hospital. "Didn''t he already pass being a Lab Rat?" I nodded. "He did. I think it means they''re looking for something. I have no idea what they''re looking for." I figured after I visit with George I''m going to have a meeting with Elder Lewis and see what he can tell me. But before I could even get to doing that Elder Lewis came walking down the hallway towards us. Speak of the Devil and he will appear! "Ah yes, I need to speak with both of you, follow me," Elder Lewis said. Branden looked like he was going to protest but he kept his mouth shut. He probably wanted to visit with George as much as I did. Elder Lewis led us into a nearby office and we entered. When he sat behind the desk he looked at us. "Close the door and take a seat." We did as we were told. "Before you say anything, yes Agent 722 is still in the water tank," Elder Lewis said. "But why?" Branden asked. "True the water tank helps an Agent who used to be an outsider heal faster but we''ve started a new program. But we''re only able to test on Agents that have a certain genetic mutation. And we''re only testing on Agents, no one else is included in the mix and that includes Congregation Leaders and Boot Camp Instructors," Elder Lewis said. "We''re looking for Agents to become the next Agent 36." My eyes went wide. "You mean you want George to be able to handle Demon Power?" Elder Lewis shook his head. "Oh no, that power is so rare now that no Agent has had the ability to take it. So we''re going with the next best thing which would be Stunning Powers. The name of ability is pretty much self explanatory. If Agent 722''s genetic abnormality takes the power then he''ll get extra training. Depending on how well he does with the ability he''ll get picked for another job." "You mean he''ll get trained to be an Enforcer?" I asked. "Will he be moved from the congregation then?" Elder Lewis shook his head again. "Nope. He''ll stay right where he is. His trainer will come to him. He might not like killing people for a job but he''ll get used to it, just like Agent 36 did. But right now it''s just a waiting game. He''ll go back to being a regular Agent after the two day run this weekend and he''ll be assigned his cover job. Don''t worry he''ll know what''s going when he wakes up and he knows he''ll have to cooperate or¡­" He stood up. "Now I''ll give you guys some time to process things before you go visit with Agent 722. Have a good day." Without another word he left the room. *** "I don''t get it. Why do things always have to be harder for Agents? Every other job that the Organization has isn''t that hard. But for Agents?" Branden said as we walked down the hallway to George''s room. We saw him lying on the hospital bed and he looked like he was asleep. He slowly opened his eyes and when he saw us he smiled. "Hey guys." Branden and I reached over and kissed him one after the other. "So how are you feeling?" I asked after I grabbed a chair and sat down by his bedside. "Better now that I''m out of the water tank," George said. "Being in that tank makes me feel very disoriented! I don''t know which way is up or down in there!" I shuddered because even though I was raised to become a leader I was tested on just like everyone else is and being in a water tank is no joke. Without warning George looked like he was going to puke and he grabbed the trash can next to his bed. Sure enough, he threw up in it. Branden gave him a look of sympathy. "Poor thing." I looked at the buzzer to summon a nurse and pressed it. "Yes?" "Uh, your patient is throwing up," I said. "Okay then, we''ll be there in a moment," a voice said and the intercom clicked off. It didn''t take long for a nurse to enter the room. I got out of the way so the nurse could do her job. "Alright Mr. Harriman, we''re going to give you something for the nausea. Just a moment." She left the room and came back with a tray that had a needle on it. She waited patiently for George to stop throwing up when she had him sit up after taking the trash can away. After she gave him a shot she had him lay back. "The medicine should kick in soon so just lay back and close your eyes. If you need to barf again there''s a small bucket sitting next to you." George closed his eyes and groaned. "Thanks." "So, when did the doctor say you''d be able to come home?" Branden asked. George shook his head. "I don''t know. He was only there for a moment when they pulled me out of the tank and then he left." "I see," Branden said. He looked at the time on his phone and sighed, "Well I have to go into work soon so I can''t stay long unfortunately." "That''s okay," George said. "I''ll be fine and then hopefully I can go home soon." A half hour later Branden had to leave for work and I stayed longer. Visiting hours were almost over when the doctor finally showed up. Surprise, surprise George''s doctor was none other than Uncle 42 himself! My jaw dropped. "Uncle 42! I thought you would''ve retired by now!" Uncle 42 snorted. "Yes, I''m old I get it and how could I retire after making another breakthrough with Agent 36? She finally managed to tap into her Demon Power after all these years! Then after discovering that Stunning Power is just as strong Demon Power that''s when I began to look for who could withstand that ability. There have been a few candidates and no I''m not saying which ones." He glanced at George and then gave me a look that told me that George was probably one of those candidates. He looked at his watch and smiled. "Oh would you look at that! Visiting hours are over which is good because I need to talk to my patient in private. Have a goodnight Leader Triple X." "Alright then," I said. I leaned over and kissed George on the cheek and after I did that I gave Uncle 42 a rather dirty look before I left the room. *** {George} Once Triple X left the room I looked at Uncle 42 and gulped. Uncle 42 gave me an evil smile. "I think things are going rather smoothly with your testing don''t you think? Let me see your hands." I did as I was told and Uncle 42 grinned. "Perfect! You have black dots on your hands meaning you''re developing a new ability and your genetic abnormality is taking hold. Excellent!" "So what does that mean?" I asked. "It means that we''ll keep you here for a couple of days for observation. And I''m not sure that you''ll be able to do the two day run in this state," Uncle 42 shook his head. "I want to make sure that the ability I attached to your powers takes hold completely first. You might pose a danger to the other Agents on that run if that doesn''t happen. I think if everything goes as planned you''ll be just as strong as Agent 36 is. Or at least that''s what I hope considering you came from the outside." "But why? Agent 36 was born with her powers, I wasn''t born with mine," I said. "Why was I picked?" Uncle 42 took a seat in one of the chairs by my bedside. "Every Agent has a specific genetic abnormality that determines when they''re going to develop abilities and sometimes it determines what type of ability they''ll develop. Your genetic abnormality has made it so that you''ve developed magnetic abilities, animal changing abilities, and elemental abilities like being able to use the elements of wind and fire. "I have been using the blood samples of Agents to see if I could attach any more abilities to them and it turns out that I can! I do the same thing with every woman who has a child through artificial insemination. "Agent 36''s mother got pregnant by artificial means at a very young age like right after she turned eighteen young. She graduated boot camp at the top of her class right along with Agent 36''s father. They ordered to be married after I figured out Agent 36''s father had Demon Power and her mother had Stunning Power. "From the looks of it you''ll be developing Stunning Powers very soon." He laughed a wicked laugh. "You look scared. Relax, you have nothing to fear¡­" I gulped. "H-how can you be so sure of that?" "I''ve been doing this for a long time and I know when things are going to go south my little Agent," He said. "And from the looks of it things are going to go north for you. So get some rest and you''ll be able to go home in a couple of days, okay?" After that he stood up and left the room. Once he left the room I was alone with my thoughts finally and the thoughts just kept running through my head. I have the genetic abnormality that could cause me to be the next Agent 36? Should I be scared about this or excited? I know I wanted to be like Eve but being exactly like Eve? Rising up to her spot and being treated as an equal to her so soon? Is this a good thing? Will I be able to handle the same type of pressure Eve''s dealt with her whole life? Little did I know I had nothing to be afraid of in the process of developing my Stunning Powers. But what I will be afraid of is the fact that Uncle 42 will want something more from Eve and not just children. He''ll want Eve to be the greatest super soldier he''s ever created. But he''ll go about doing that in the most sinister way anyone could ever imagine. Chapter 12: More Testing {Uncle 42} "Why?" Elder Lewis asked. I looked at him. "Why what? I''m working so you''d better have a good excuse for barging into my lab like this!" I was at my desk looking at different eggs that I got from different Agents so that I could manipulate the genes in them. This is exactly why I ask that our Agents be artificially impregnated for their first child at least because certain Agents have just what I need to create the perfect super soldier. "Why? Things are going so well naturally! Agent 36 has even developed a new ability! Why do you want to test on her again?" Elder Lewis said. I rolled my eyes. "Because we made a breakthrough three years ago with her when she destroyed that meteorite! Think of how much stronger she''ll be with more powers. And of how strong her future children will be! Honestly, at the moment she is the most valuable Agent I have. And a close second is her brother-in-law Agent 722!" Elder Lewis''s jaw dropped. "You''re kidding right? The reason I insisted on training Agent 36 to be a Enforcer right after she was born was because you told me that you infused her egg with as much Demon Power as you could-" I cut him off, "And I did! Look at what she has become! She is the top Agent and it''s thanks to her that I''ve been getting more lab rats to test on! I''m looking for the next Agent 36. She''s lucky her husband''s an Outsider or I''d go after him next. Because he gave me his sperm sample to impregnate Agent 36 with, I found that he has a natural genetic abnormality that could attach to Stunning Powers. Fortunately his brother became an Agent and I saw this as my perfect opportunity to test on him. And as we speak he''s in the process of developing Stunning Powers." Elder Lewis backed up and sat down on a chair across from my desk. He looked stunned and then he shook his head. "I still can''t get over how crazy you are! You''re literally playing God with these people!" I chuckled. "I know. And I''ve been called worse names than crazy. My plan from the beginning was to continue my family''s research into making the perfect super soldier! And I will succeed where my ancestors failed." Elder Lewis raised an eyebrow. "You feel you haven''t succeeded yet? Seriously? Agent 36 destroyed a meteorite and saved Earth and somehow managed to survive after she fell from space. And that''s not succeeding in finding the perfect super soldier, how?" I gave him a sinister smile. "Because I recently found out that Demon Power isn''t really a sustainable ability to give all of the top Agents that could deal with it. No matter how hard I tried I couldn''t get that ability to attach to any more Agents." He paused. "Huh? Demon Power, won''t attach to anyone else?" I nodded. "You heard me. It won''t attach to anyone else." I don''t know why but saying that made me pause and then I got an idea. "Lewis, you''ve given the Organization how many kids now?" Elder Lewis''s eyes went wide. "Ten." "Your children have graduated at the top of their class and are high ranking Agents and Enforcers. I''ve tested on them and two of them are candidates for the program to become the next Agent 36," I said. "So I think you should be able to give the Organization another child." He gulped and his face went pale. "You¡­ You don''t mean that¡­ Do you?" "Oh yeah, I do. Even though you''re an old man I''m pretty sure you can give the Organization another child. You know the drill, you can either do it willingly or I could go to the Council and have them make you do it," I said. "Heck, I allow you to pick whoever you want to fuck as long as they aren''t married just like with the last ten children." "So you seriously want a child from me for your program?" He asked. "Did you not just hear anything I just said?" I asked. He nodded. "Yeah I heard you. But why? Aren''t the two children who are candidates for your program enough?" I sighed because I knew why he was hesitant. The tenth child that Elder Lewis gave to the Organization it was with Auntie 21. Auntie 21 loves Elder Lewis sincerely, but Elder Lewis doesn''t love her. Elder Lewis was in love with a male Agent at the time and when it was time for his partner to give the Organization a child his partner refused. His partner was then fired by having his memory wiped and shipped off to a different congregation. I know where his former partner is. He''s the ex-boyfriend of a congregation leader named Triple X. Even though they''re broken up he''s still Triple X''s second in command because he''s good at his job and I know why. It''s because he used to be an Elder. However, since that''s happened a lot of rules and policies have been changed. Like, if the Organization asks you to give them a child and you refuse instead of just getting fired, you''ll get disciplined first. The Council doesn''t like taking a chance of losing a high ranking Elder, Enforcer or Agent so they''ve decided to discipline the offending Agent to the point of breaking so that they''ll agree. If that doesn''t work then you get fired. From what I can tell that seems to work. I tilted my head. "So are you going to follow orders or do I make use of the means I have to make you do it?" Elder Lewis sighed. "I''ll do it. But there''s no way in hell that I''m fucking Auntie 21 again. Nope, she''s the reason I lost Lucas. It wasn''t because he didn''t want to give the Organization a child. It was because he didn''t want to get Auntie 21 pregnant in order to do it." I thought about it. "Hmm, what if I let you fuck a guy in order to give me a sperm sample instead? It doesn''t have to be a direct pregnancy nowadays. I can artificially impregnate them and that allows me to mess with the eggs'' genetic code in as many ways as I want." Elder Lewis gave me a wary look. "You mean it? I can fuck a man instead of a woman this time?" I nodded. "Yup. You know how things work around here Lewis, you came to the Organization at the age of ten because your father and mother who were Outsiders sold you to us because of your behavior problems." Elder Lewis smiled. "I still remember the looks on their faces when I got my revenge after I became a Council Member. As a matter of fact, it was the Council that encouraged me to get revenge on my parents. I wonder if they knew it was because I would unlock more of my abilities that way?" I shrugged. "Probably. You did develop more abilities after that. But anyways, I want you to give the Organization another child and I''ve already gone to the Council to get them to give me authorization to test on Agent 36 again. Don''t worry I won''t be taking her away from her family. I just want to test and see if I can add more abilities to her." "Out of curiosity, what''s the most number of abilities an Agent has been able to develop?" Elder Lewis asked. "Good question. At the moment the Agent with the highest number of abilities is the former leader of A-Circle, Leader Dominic with thirty different abilities. The Agent with the lowest number of abilities is the current leader of A-Circle, Leader Lieutenant 32. She only had six different abilities," I answered. Elder Lewis whistled, "Wow, no wonder why A-Circle is the highest ranking congregation!" I nodded. "No kidding. So I have a batch of Lab Rats that have been designated as breeders because they won''t corporate or they somehow managed to flunk being a Lab Rat. I don''t understand how you can fail being a Lab Rat, but okay. A few of these Lab Rats are men so I''ll send them your way and you can have your pick. Does that sound good to you?" "It does. Is this going to be the last child you need from me?" Elder Lewis asked.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "For the moment," I said. "I look forward to seeing your future child. You''re dismissed and don''t you ever barge into my lab like this again or I will have to discipline you, got it?" Elder Lewis nodded. He stood up from his chair and left the room. When he left the room I laughed to myself because I knew that with this next generation and even in the current generation of Agents I will have my super soldiers and I''ll get them if it''s the last thing I do. *** {Eve} "Excuse me?" I said. "They want to do what with me?" I couldn''t believe what Elder Lewis just told me. But the fact that Elder Lewis came to visit me at my home on my day off tells me that this is true. Elder Lewis nodded. "I have the order from the Council with me. They think it''s time to start testing on you again. They just wanted to wait at least until your daughter turned three. Just be thankful that they''re not going after your daughter because of the policy change on that. So she''ll have a childhood at least." I gave him a look of disbelief as he took out of his briefcase a letter and handed it to me. The letter read like this: To Agent Prodigy Evelyn, Agent ID Agent 36, It has come to our attention that you have developed another ability. The ability to change into a Lioness. With this in mind the Council has had a unanimous vote that it is time to do more testing to see how many more abilities you''ll develop. Please report to A-Circle Labs at 7am on Monday April 24th. If you do not show up then it will be considered treason and a fellow Enforcer will be sent after you. Sincerely, The Council and Queen Amore- Agent 001 I gasped when I saw that the Queen of the Council had signed the order. I know for a fact that if the Queen herself signs an order the Council means business and an Agent cannot refuse the order or appeal it. "Queen Amore signed this!" I gasped. "But why? Why now when they could''ve done it plenty of times before?" Elder Lewis shrugged. "I have no idea and I''m on the Council. The Council doesn''t always call the shots. From what I know of, if Queen Amore sends down an order then it doesn''t matter how the votes go to approve it, it has to go through." "I see, so I have only the weekend left before I go for testing huh?" I said. "Can I tell Levi about this?" He nodded. "Yeah." He stood up to leave. "So I''ll see you at A-Circle Labs on Monday." After that he left the house. *** Once Elder Lewis left, Levi came around the corner with a look of concern on his face. "Did I hear that correctly? They want to test on you again? Why?" I shook my head. "I have no idea. But it seems that they''ve been alerted to my new ability that I''ve developed. But on the bright side, at least I have the weekend off." Levi frowned. "That''s not funny Eve." "Does it look like I''m joking?" I growled. "I''m not." Levi scoffed and shook his head in dismay. "So what are you going to do now?" I looked at him and smiled. "I''m going to spend as much time with my family as I can this weekend! It''s going to be so much fun, especially for Zoey. I''ll let her run circles around me as much as she wants." He grabbed me and pulled me into his arms. "Hey, hey don''t talk like that." "Like what?" I asked. "Don''t talk as if you''re going to die," Levi said. "You''re not going to die, are you?" I buried my head in his chest and cried. "I¡­ I don''t know. But what I do know is testing is dangerous for Agents alone. Some Agents have died from testing." "It won''t happen to you. If anything you''ll gain new abilities and become stronger," Levi said. "I mean hell, you survived destroying a meteorite and falling from space into an ocean when you should''ve died from that. If you can do that then it stands to reason that you''ll live through this right? Exactly how does the testing go?" "Well they do different tests, wait to see if you develop a new ability then give you some time off for that to be completed. Then when you come back from your time off they test again. Testing can be painful and from what I know that''s just part of the process. Remember when I developed my fire and ice abilities?" I said. Levi nodded. "Yup. You were out of it as if suffering from a really bad case of the flu. I knew you weren''t going to die then and I know you''re not going to die now." "Who''s not going to die?" I heard Zoey say as she walked around the corner. I wiped my tears and looked at her. "No one''s going to die Zoey." Zoey frowned. "Then why do you look so sad?" I hate lying to Zoey because I know she wouldn''t be able to understand what I''m about to go through. But I know it''s for the best. She''ll understand when she gets older then I''ll be able to better explain things to her. I sighed. "I''m sad because I have to go back to work Monday morning. But you just cheered me up so we will spend so much time together. It''ll be so much fun!" "Yay!" Zoey cheered. "Why don''t we start having fun right now?" "What do you mean?" I asked. Zoey didn''t at first but then she changed into a Lioness Cub and said, "Let''s go for a run! Catch me if you can!" I laughed. "And there she goes. I think I should go catch her." Levi nodded and let me go so I could change into a Lioness. When I ran off I could hear Levi laughing. When I said I was going to make this weekend fun I meant it. *** {Uncle 42} "Interesting," I said as I observed the water tanks that I had Agent 36 and Agent 722 in. The water tanks are big enough to fit one person and their height is from the floor to the ceiling. Agent 36 was in one tank and Agent 722 was in the other. The reason I put them in the water tanks was because they refused to let out the excess energy that their new abilities have created for them. Some Agents have no problem doing this and then other Agents have problems doing that for whatever the reason. I wonder if it''s because they''d rather bear it until the pain passes? Maybe I need to explain why they need to release it? I shook my head and muttered to myself, "No that wouldn''t work. They''re both stubborn." "Who''s stubborn?" Auntie 21 said. I rolled my eyes. "Who do you think I''m talking about?" "Oh, Agent 36 and Agent 722?" Auntie 21 said. I nodded. "Yup." "Should we start the electricity again?" Auntie 21 asked. I nodded again. One of the things I''ve figured out with attaching abilities to the Agents is that electricity helps stabilize things. It might be painful especially for Agents like Agent 36 who have electric abilities but it''s good for them in the long run. Auntie 21 rattled off the checklist on things that need to be done before the electricity is turned on and flipped the switch. Agent 36 and Agent 722 both moaned in pain as electricity flowed through their veins. They couldn''t really because they were under water and they had a breathing tube shoved down their throats so that they could breathe. As that was happening I took out a handheld recorder and hit record. "This is journal entry number 154. The date is Monday April 24th and the time is 10:15 am. This is the third test of the day and we just turned on the electricity in the water tanks to help Agent 36 and Agent 722 stabilize their abilities. "As of now it seems that the tests have been successful. Agent 36 can now use the element of earth to complete her Elemental abilities. She can also use Matrix Abilities meaning she can slow down time and disable her enemies weapons in the blink of an eye. "Agent 722 also has Matrix Abilities and he now has developed Stunning Abilities completely. "I''ll be letting both Agent 722 and Agent 36 out of the water tanks within an hour and then I''ll collect a sample from their bellies where Agent flu resides. They won''t like that and I''ll be curious to see how many insults they''ll hurl my way." I chuckled. "That ends this journal entry for today." I stopped recording and put the recorder down. Once I signaled Auntie 21 to turn off the electricity she came to my side and showed me the notes she had taken down. "I don''t understand why those two are so stubborn. They know they need to release that extra energy even if it means killing one of the Lab Rats to do it," Auntie 21 said. She gave me a mischievous smile. "Should we order them to kill the Lab Rats in order to get them to release that extra energy?" I shook my head. "No, I think the electricity is working just fine. I might be heartless but I''m not that heartless." Auntie 21 snorted. "Of course you''re not. At least you lost all that weight to take better care of your health. I kind of miss that pot belly of yours." I rolled my eyes. "Must you mention my weight at a time like this? That pot belly you were so fond of was getting in the way so I got rid of it." I gave her a sinister smile. "And I have no problem getting rid of anything that gets in my way." Auntie 21 gulped. "Understood sir." I looked at my watch and it was exactly fifteen minutes after the electricity had been turned off in the water tanks. I nodded. "Alright let''s drain the tanks and put them in a hospital bed so that they can rest." "When are you going to collect the belly samples?" Auntie 21 asked. "Soon," I said. "But I want them to rest first. Drain the tanks and hand them off to the hospital staff so that they can rest. I''m going home. See you tomorrow." Auntie 21 nodded. "Yes sir." Without another word I left the lab wondering how many abilities I would be able to attach to my Agents. Belly Sample {George} I woke up gasping for air and realized that I could breathe without a breathing tube because I was lying on a hospital bed. "How are you feeling?" I heard someone say. I blinked when I saw Elder Lewis standing in the doorway of my room. "Um¡­ I don''t know. I just woke up." He sighed and sat down on a chair beside my bedside. "Yeah I know there''s been a lot of uncomfortable stuff going on lately. Believe it or not I recently got put in the water tank myself. Uncle 42 just can''t help himself. He wants to make the next Agent 36." I scoffed. "Why would they put you in a water tank? You''re an old man, aren''t you supposed to be retiring soon?" Elder Lewis snorted. "Yeah I am. But they want me to give the Organization another child and I did. I have a feeling that when they''re born they''re going to be one of the strongest Enforcers ever in the next generation. I came to visit you because more than likely you''ll be working for me once you get done with your training. You should feel honored." I raised an eyebrow. "Why?" "Because there''s only a handful of Agents that get picked to be Enforcers. True, there are regular Assassins and they work for different Elders but every Enforcer works for me," Elder Lewis said. "And yes, there Enforcer''s who have been raised to do their jobs. Agent 36 is one of them." I paused. "But I thought she was raised to be an Agent?" He shook his head. "Nope, she was raised to become an Enforcer. But for whatever the reason her former Boss, Mother Terra was against it and some of the Council Members were against it and they blocked me at every turn. I knew it was only a matter of time before she became an Enforcer and she is one and the best in the business. She''s at the top of her class at everything she does. "Thankfully Queen Amore agreed with me that Agent 36 was to be an Enforcer and lifted the protective order finally." "Queen Amore?" I asked. "Yup. Queen Amore is the one who has the final say of what goes on. Even if the Council is all for something she can override an order. But most of the time that doesn''t happen. She''s the type of leader who prefers to be hands off unless she needs to step in. She knows the rules the Organization goes by and she can''t really change them. The Council are the ones who make the rules. Queen Amore can decide which rule needs to go or stay. And I''m pretty sure her successor will do the same thing. They''d better or the Council will find a way to keep them in check," Elder Lewis said. "So this time even Queen Amore agreed that you and Agent 36 should be tested on and there''s nothing anyone can do about it." "So you came here to introduce yourself as my new Boss?" I said. "Something like that," Elder Lewis said. "So once your testing is done it''ll be official and you''ll be working for me." He looked over at the doorway and smiled. "Looks like you have visitors. I shall take my leave now." After he left Triple X and Branden entered the room. They surprised me by having Junior with them. Junior practically jumped into my lap. "Daddy!" "Hey little man," I said. "Are you being good for Triple X and Branden?" "Yeah I have!" Junior said. "They''ve been helping me out with my new ability! I can turn into a cat! Wanna see?" I paused. "Say what now?" Triple X nodded. "You heard him. He can turn into a cat and it''s the same type of cat you can turn into." Junior hopped down from my lap and he turned into a Puma Cub. I blinked and deadpanned. "So this is going to be a family thing? From what I know of my sister-in-law can turn into a Lioness and her daughter can turn into a Lioness Cub considering she''s about the same age as Junior is. And I can turn into a Puma. I used to just be able to just change into a regular house cat at first." Triple X laughed, "Yeah Junior''s been really excited about showing you what he can do. I don''t blame him. You haven''t been home for a while because of being tested on." Junior hopped back onto my lap while still transformed into a Puma. "You''re sick Daddy? Is that why you''re in the hospital?" Before I could answer, Triple X answered for me. "Yes he''s sick but don''t worry he''ll be able to go home soon, okay?" Junior turned back into a human and hugged me. "Okay I miss you Daddy! I just want you to come home soon. So get better so you can come home!" "Aww that''s so cute!" Branden said. "I still can''t get over the fact that you have a mini version of you walking around." We visited with each other until visiting hours were almost over and then Uncle 42 showed up just as they were getting ready to leave. "Okay, looks like your lab results are pretty good for now. However, there is one more thing that needs to be done before you can rest for the night," Uncle 42 said. He looked over at Triple X and said, "You guys were just leaving right?" Triple X nodded while giving Uncle 42 the side eye. "Yes, we were just going." Uncle 42 smiled. "Good. Because you guys don''t need to see what''s coming up next. I just need to get a belly sample from Agent 722 and then he''ll be able to rest." Triple X''s eyes went wide. "What!" Uncle 42 rolled his eyes and ushered Triple X out the door before he could say anything else. He turned to me. "You remember getting belly samples done when you were a Lab Rat right?" I gasped. "No!" A belly sample is taken with one six inch needle and I have no idea why it needs to be so long. Personally, I think Uncle 42 just loves to torture people. Anyway, the belly sample gets taken and then another needle follows but this needle is just a shot that goes into the shoulder. It helps whoever''s getting the belly sample sleep afterward. "Why don''t you do this while I''m asleep?" I asked. "Because the samples don''t give me what I''m looking for," Uncle 42 answered. "And that would be?" I questioned. He smirked. "That''s for me to know and for you to never find out." I narrowed my eyes. "You just love torturing people don''t you?" He chuckled. "Just be grateful you''re not a woman or you''d be getting four needles and not just two." I flinched. "Why?" He shrugged. "Again for me to know and for you not to. Agent 36 will be waking up sometime soon. Poor thing I wore her out with all that testing. She''s sleeping like a log right now."Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Is she out of the water tank?" I asked. He nodded. "Yes she is." He didn''t say anything else when three nurses entered the room carrying three different trays with them. One of them had the six inch needle and the other needle that follows it. The third tray had rope on it. I gave Uncle 42 a wary look. "What''s with the rope?" He gave me an evil smile. "Ah, yes, that. It''s because Agents just love to fight me no matter how many times I tell them to stay still. As a matter of fact, we''ll start with the rope first." Two of the nurses held me down while they tied my wrists down with the rope. I tried not to fight them but I couldn''t help it. You''d fight them too if you saw a big ass six inch needle that was going to go in your belly. Once that was done Uncle 42 grabbed the needle and angled it towards my belly. When the needle pierced my flesh I started screaming every single curse word at him that I could think of. He chuckled as he slowly put the needle in my belly. "That''s it. Keep the insults coming, it''ll help deal with the pain." "Fuck you you crazy psychopath!" I shouted. He laughed. "Yes. Yes I am." When he finished with the belly sample I don''t really remember getting the other shot in my shoulder because I was in so much pain. After the shot I drifted off to sleep. *** {Triple X} As soon as I heard George screaming curses at Uncle 42 because of the belly sample I wanted to puke. Junior stopped walking and looked back towards George''s room when he heard him screaming. "Why''s Daddy screaming so much?" I went to the waiting room and sat Junior down on the chair next to me. I sighed. "Junior, you know that sometimes when people get seriously sick they have to go to the hospital right?" Junior nodded. "Yeah I know. That''s why Daddy''s here." I nodded slowly. "Exactly. And sometimes the treatment for whatever illness is happening can be painful." I stood up from the chair that I was sitting on and made sure to get down to Junior''s eye level. "And make sure you never repeat the words that your Father is screaming right now. People only say those words when they''re being rude or impolite. Never say those words around adults because not only is it rude, it''s disrespectful and you''ll get disciplined for it if you do. Got it?" Junior nodded. "Yes Mr. Triple, I will not say the words that Daddy said." Branden snickered and I gave him a sideways look and he stopped laughing. "Good. Now you run along with Mr. Branden, I need to go check something before I go home," I said. Branden raised an eyebrow. "And what might that be?" Before I could say anything Levi Harriman, Agent 36''s husband walked into the waiting room and he didn''t look happy at all. He had a little girl with him who looked like a smaller version of Agent 36. I approached him. "Mr. Harriman?" Levi nodded slowly. "Yes? Who are you?" "I''m Triple X, leader of the Reds congregation and one of your brother''s partners," I said. He looked surprised. "Oh, so George has more than one partner? I mean, I knew he liked someone but wow he''s got game." I gave a small chuckle. "Yeah I guess you could say that." Before Levi could respond the little girl next to him pulled on his pant leg. She looked up at him. "Daddy, I''m hungry and I want to go see Mommy again." Levi looked down. "It''s okay Zoey. We''ll go home and get something to eat and see Mommy again tomorrow." Zoey frowned. "Really? When will she come home? She''s always gone." I felt kind of sorry for the kid. I know what it feels like to have your parents gone all the time because they''re Agents and out on a mission. There was a short silence and it was broken when the ground started to shake. Levi''s eyes went wide. "Oh crap! That''s Eve! Come on Zoey let''s go!" Levi grabbed Zoey and picked her up as he walked as fast he could towards Agent 36''s room. Out of curiosity I followed them. I heard Agent 36 had something called Demon Power and if it''s out of control it can level a building. I saw a handful of doctors and nurses running towards Agent 36''s room and that''s when I heard the screaming. "GET OFF ME! GO TO HELL!" I paused when I saw her struggling against the doctors and nurses holding her down. Levi held Zoey in his arms and Zoey looked away. "Daddy," Zoey said. "I want to leave. I can''t stand seeing Mommy hurt." Levi sighed. "Yes, let''s go." He turned around and walked the other direction away from Agent 36''s room. He walked right past me without so much of a glance and I could only assume that he wasn''t paying attention because he had his daughter with him. I sighed and I also left and headed home. *** {Eve} The next time I opened my eyes I woke up in a cold sweat as I remembered what happened before I fell asleep. "The belly sample," I muttered to myself. "I hate that." I went to move my hand and I found that I was chained to the bed. Levi had been sitting next to me nodding off. As soon as I moved his eyes shot open. "Eve, how are you feeling baby?" "Thirsty," I said. "And I feel like I got hit by a bus." "Oh, yeah you''ve had a pretty hard week with all the testing and stuff going on," Levi said. "According to your doctor who''s name is Uncle 42 (that''s a weird name to have) he''s wanting to see how many abilities you will gain from the testing." I scoffed. "Go figure. He''s probably going for another record." "And apparently George is now dating two people. One of them is a congregation leader," Levi said. "What!" I said. "No way." Levi nodded. "Oh yeah and that Branden guy was there in the waiting room with him so I''m assuming that''s the other guy George is dating. I also found out from Dad that George''s ex-girlfriend May dumped his child on him. More like she traded the child for money and gave the kid to George. And get this, May named George''s child after him. George Junior." My eyes went wide. I couldn''t begin to fathom a mother trading her own child for money. "Yeah I know," Levi said. "But it seems like the kid''s doing well. He''s smart just like Zoey is. And he can turn into a cat as well. He can turn into a Puma." "How are you able to find out this information?" I asked. "I keep tabs on George at his job just like I keep tabs on you," Levi said. "I have my ways. But my resources for that can only go so far unfortunately." "I see," I said. "You know what I hate the most about testing?" "What?" Levi said. "That stupid belly sample. I swear Uncle 42 just likes to torture people," I growled. Levi nodded. "Agreed. Oh, Zoey should be coming here with Mom and Dad soon." Right on cue Zoey came into the room and practically jumped into my lap. "Mommy!" "Zoey, take it easy, You''re Mom just woke up," Levi cautioned. I giggled. "It''s fine Levi. She hasn''t seen me in a while so of course she''s excited." Mom laughed. "Yeah she couldn''t stop talking about how she couldn''t wait to see you again." "We would''ve come sooner but we went to see George earlier. Apparently, he has a kid now. And here I thought May was a cheater. Guess I was wrong on that one. But the fact that she handed the kid over to George in exchange for money just says something about her character," Dad said. "Oh yeah, Mommy guess what?" Zoey said. "What?" I responded. "I meant my cousin who is Uncle George''s son and he can turn into a cat too!" Zoey cheered. My jaw dropped. Of course I forgot about any child that gets handed over to the Organization gets tested on. That''s what May didn''t realize that by handing the kid over to George and being an Agent she pretty much handed the kid over to the Organization. I deadpanned. "I wonder if this is going to be a family thing?" Dad titled his head. "What do you mean by that?" I sighed. "I just recently developed the ability to turn into a Lioness, Zoey can turn into a Lioness, last time I checked Goerge can turn into a cat and now his son can turn into a cat and apparently both of my parents had the ability to turn into cats too! What type of cat can George turn into, Levi do you know?" "I know," Dad said. "And he can turn into a Puma. At first he could only turn into a regular house cat but now it''s a Puma and his son can turn into a Puma as well. George told us about that." "I see," I said. There was a short silence when someone broke it by saying, "Well as much as I hate to interrupt this little family get together. I just wanted to tell Agent 36 that her test results turned out just fine and she''ll be able to go home after she eats something." I looked at the doorway to see Uncle 42 standing there. However when Zoey heard that I could go home she perked up. "Really? Mommy can go home today?" Then she narrowed her eyes. "You''re not going to hurt her anymore?" "For the moment no," Uncle 42 said. He gave her an evil smirk. "I know needles aren''t fun to deal with but a necessary evil when it comes down to testing." You asshole! I thought as I grit my teeth. "It''s okay Zoey," Mom said. "Sometimes when someone goes to the doctor the doctor has to do things that aren''t pleasant to help people feel better." "But Mommy''s doctor is evil!" Zoey said. "Yesterday he put a big needle in her belly and it looked like it hurt." Dad frowned and looked at Uncle 42. Uncle 42 just shrugged. "It''s all a part of the testing my dear. And we''ll be unchaining Agent 36 from the bed soon after she is served her lunch." Uncle 42 didn''t say anything else when he turned around and left.