Shit she was going to be late. Serenity mentally kicked herself, she knew she shouldn’t have made that last stop but as she passed his street to head towards the private air strip the C.I.A used she knew she couldn’t help herself. Jacob was becoming a problem, the job she does is not just for her but also for the people around the world who needed her, they needed her not Jacob. She was going to have to have a talk with him about their relationship, or lack of one, and explain that this can’t go on. He would argue, she knew he would but she was doing what was best for him and her heart.

Pulling up to the air strip Serenity pulled her helmet from her head and shook out her hair. She put it up just to defy Jacob when she knew he was right, her hair was one of the few things that she loved about her appearance. Parking her bike near the running jet she grabbed her things and made her way toward the waiting flight attendant.

“You’re looking simply lovely today Ms. Hall,” complimented the slouched over attendant as he relieved the bags from her hands.

“Thank you Stewart. How is Ally doing?”

“Much better actually, she told me to tell you thank you for the blueberry muffin basket you know there her favorite.”

“No problem, you know you and Ally are like family to me if there is anything you need all you have to do is ask,” Serenity replied with a smile patting Stewart on the shoulder. Stewart and his wife were one of the few people she trusted with her life, considering they have both saved it a few times it was trust well earned. Never doubt the 63 year old half retired agent, his appearance may be feeble but he was nothing close. He and his wife were the best snipers the C.I.A had to offer before they went into hiding after a mission gone wrong in Russia. After returning to the United States five years after their disappearance they established new names, social security numbers, and identities since they had been pronounced dead years before by the C.I.A. Working as simple escorts were their occupations now, with a side of the occasional mission when their expertise were needed.

Leaving Stewart to handle her luggage she made her way up the stairs to the inside of the plane. Looking up she came to a screeching halt.

“Red?”

“At your service darling,” Red answered giving her a sly wink, that Scottish accent coming out on his flirtatious mouth.

Placing her backpack in the cream colored leather seat next to her own she pulled out her black berry and inserted the end of her key neck less into it.

“So to what do I owe the honor of your acquaintance in person?” Serenity asked as she took her seat across from Red.

“Thought I’d do a little recon for myself while we were in the area, Mr. Gores has a new tech wizard behind his desk I just know it.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“The codes are getting more complicated, the last tech they had was an idiot trying to work above his pay grade and I’m pretty sure Gores figured that out since I place a little experimental bug in all their old encrypted files. This tech is a fucking genius, the codes and deciphers his is using is something I had to recreate myself just to hack them, he’s good but not that good. I think it would be easier to crack if I got to know him better, but in all honesty finding someone who can possibly outwit you is a bit of a turn for me.”

Serenity almost smiled, the look in his eyes was like a virgin in a sex store. No one she knew talked about computer hacking or system decoding like the caress of a lover except for Red. If you could over run one of his home made programs or access his computer data base system you would probably make him climax in his pants.

“Only you would think that way my little sick tech,” Serenity said on a chuckle. Red thought he had her fooled but she knew what this was. Either this mission is way more complicated than the boss man is letting her know thinking she may drop out, or it’s already shot to shit and they want to see if she can repair the damage and still get the information. All in a day’s work for Serenity Hall, there’s a reason she has climbed the totem pole and gain security clearances that even the Secretary of state couldn’t access. She’s the best at what she does, in that she has no doubt, but why they were trying to hide any information from her was another question all together.

Red had been her tech wizard or “lucky charm” as she called him, since she joined the secret sector of the C.I.A five years ago. He has never hidden anything from her and was usually on her side about her operation decisions, unless he thought they were reckless. She trusted him with her life on more than one occasion.

Looking up at Red she studied him, his red hair was a bit shorter than usual but still hung below the ears. Green eyes and dimples that could kill gave his chiseled face a boyish appeal. He had to be a runner because at 6’1” he didn’t have an ounce of body fat on him, his button down sax avenue shirt was of the finest French silk and his black slacks left little to the imagination. He was downright sexy and no one could say any different. Serenity always though it was strange that he decided to train behind the scene instead of in them, but when she asked he simply gave her a thoughtless shrug telling her, “I would rather caress a key board and crack some clues then pretend to let someone caress me then have to crack their skull in private.” She understood that, but head cracking was her specialty so in the field was a lover’s dream comes true for her.

Snapping her seat belt on Serenity gave him a glare.

“Since having a partner is not my thing how about we cut the shit and you tell me why the boss man decided I needed you in person on this one, I figured it was a simple dinner with a recon, what don’t I know.”

Looking up from the computer screen that sat open on his lap Red gave her a sigh. “Boss thinks this might be a big one, he knows how involved you are in this case and just wanted to give you some extra back up is all.”

“I have never needed back up and I don’t plan to make it a habit now Red.”

“You might on this little journey.”

Now she was confused, Red knew how logical she was about everything so he knew she would do anything stupid to endanger herself if she could help it.

“Could you cut the cryptic act and tell me what’s going on, if there is more to this then I need to know before I go into the belly of the beast,” Serenity said as calmly as she could muster. Going into a mission with half information was a suicide mission that Serenity didn’t intend to take on.
            Red smile as the flight attendant brought him a bottle of cold water and left it with a flirtatious look. As she walked off to begin the take of procedures Serenity buckled up and waited for Red to answer her question.

Looking her in the eye his smile dropped, “ Okay lass, because of the genera of the case the boss thought you may be too personally linked to the case so he sent me to make sure that everything flows as planned. He also heard whispers that Gores may be trying to join the ‘Candyland’ operation.

Serenity’s blood instantly ran cold as the name left Red’s lips. Candyland was the place that held her in captivation and sold her around the world for the age of 8 to 14 until she was given the chance to escape. It was the root of every nightmare she has ever had in her life and the reason she was in her career field, she couldn’t stand by and watch as other helpless girls went through what she endured for years.

“How did she find out this information,” she asked keeping all emotion from blanketing her face.

“The last agent had it in the paperwork but it was taken out until it was confirmed with a digital satellite picture that showed Gores and a Candyland associate having meetings before he came to New Orleans,” Red explained looking at her as if she were a frightened deer ready to leap.

Pulling his computer from the black backpack in front of his seat Red sat it across the make shift desk that pulled from the arm. An instant later Serenity’s blackberry beeped to indicate a message, opening the file everything inside her went cold as she saw a woman standing next to Gores laughing as if a joke was being told.

Taking a deep breath to calm the sudden feeling of dread that rushed through her body Serenity nodded her head at the picture, “It was really fucked up that I wasn’t told all the information for this case considering it’s my ass on the line and not any of theirs. Nothing’s changed I’m going to complete this mission as promised.”

Red’s eyes lit with mischief as he stared at her across from him, “The thought never crossed my mind that you would, that would be the supposed powers that be who held all that worry.”

Even with this latest development her bosses should have known that she would never abandon a case. Her boss Stephanie Stone and Red were the only ones who knew about her past besides the people on the hill who had her file. Something else was going on and she knew Red didn’t know because he would have told her, they don’t keep secrets that’s how you lose trust in your team members and in this job lack of trust could mean your life.

Before she was able to point out her thoughts to Red her blackberry rang, releasing her key neckless and placing it around her neck she answered her phone.

“Hey, what a pleasant surprise I don’t usually get calls this early in the morning from you everything okay.”

“Yes everything is fine just checking on you, might not have time to call later my meetings are slammed today,” replied a deep voice from the other end.

“Don’t you dare become one of those people whose calls get less and less until they finally disappear from the face of the Earth and my call log,” Serenity joked.

With a laugh the voice announced, “Well you’ll be glad to know that you can’t get rid of your little brother that easy sis.”

Serenity chuckled as she thought of the face he was for sure making as he said that. Even though Xavier wasn’t her biological brother she loved him as if they had the same blood flowing through their veins. They had survived the hell of foster care together when she was thrown in to the system. Their foster father was a dick and abuser, his wife was the only solace they were given when he wasn’t around but even she was too afraid of her husband’s heavy hand to physically help them when his fists came at them throughout the day. For two years they endured his abuse, shit talking, and the hospital visits to fix broken bones from their “falls down stairs or tripping”. Until one faithful night when he came home smelling of more than the usual liquor, he made a beeline to a sleeping Serenity’s room and attempted to molest her. When Xavier heard her struggles in the bed on the other side of the room he came to give aid and get the brute off of her as he tried to pry her legs apart and pull on her pajama bottoms. Even though he was 4 years younger than her his bravery was all she needed to get her knee to make contact with her foster father’s balls and roll from underneath him.

It was one of the worse nights she had ever had in foster care, beatings were one thing but she couldn’t take being forced into doing anything sexual that was a nightmare she would never relive. When her foster father was able to move from his ball of pain on the floor he came at this like a lion on a hunt. Gripping Serenity by her hair he commenced punching her anywhere he could get as she tried her best to block each painful blow. Xavier charged at him knocking him off balance and releasing his grip on Serenity’s long dark curls. They took the worst beating of their lives that night, eventually their foster mother mustered up the courage to call the police.

When they arrived they found a bloody and bruised Serenity with a broken arm, Xavier was laying across her lap half-conscious with a mangled leg from the knee down and plenty of bruises, an unconscious foster father splayed across the kitchen floor with multiple contusions, a bloody head, and knife wound, and a very dead foster mother. She knew not to step in when he was on his rampage but sacrificed herself to give the children a chance to make it until the cops arrived.

That night was the last night they spent in foster care, and the night they promised to be family forever. Xavier’s leg was amputated that night below then knee and he was given a prosthetic. Even though he could have given up he never let it affect the joys he took from life, he finished number one in his class at Columbia and is now one of the best defense attorneys in Chicago with his own firm. Guess you can say they both decided to help others just in different ways.

“So when can I expect to see my sister again, I’m starting to forget what you look like?”

With the work load for this case she hasn’t had time to visit her brother. Every 2 months they take turns visiting each other for a week at a time, their family no matter how small was important to them and they didn’t want to be those siblings who only see each other on holidays.

“Sorry I know this was my trip this time, but with this work load for this case I just haven’t had time,” she answered.

Xavier’s voice was serious as he spoke, “Are you alright? You know if your job ever becomes too much you can come work for me.”

She smiled, even being the younger sibling he was always watching out for her.

“Yeah right and have to call you my boss all day.”

“You know you own 50% of our firm, we would be partners,” said Xavier.

She knew that but she liked teasing him anyway. Serenity acquired a degree from Columbia in law as well, but arguing in a court room was not making enough of a difference for her, she wanted to see people liberated from the bonds that they were forced into and she wanted to be there to see them go down personally that’s why she joined the C.I.A.

“No I’m fine promise, just a heavy case but I promise I will make it up to you soon.”

“Okay if you say so, but you know that you can call me for anything. I have to go my assistant is flagging me, I love you call you later.”

“Love you too,” Serenity said taking the phone from her face and ending the call.

During her conversation the plane had taken off and was headed to New York. Glancing at Red she noticed that he was fast asleep, guess she’ll have to tell him about her suspicions about the case once they land. Reaching inside her backpack she pulled out her head phones and attached them to the socket in her phone, might as well get some rest before her performance for Mr. Gores. Closing her eyes Serenity prayed that her dreams were more pleasant this time around.