SIS - Epic Storybook (No longer Accepting)

Rayne Locke: Downstairs, in the Bunker

Rayne leaned against the wall, thinking, planning. She was twisting the charm Alex, her late caretaker, had given her between her fingers idly. She hated that word, caretaker; to her, Alex was her father, be it biological or not. It was a simple silver star outline with a blue tinge, and potentially a weapon. She used it every chance she got.

She liked it down here. It was quiet, and no one had quite noticed her yet. She preferred it that way. Up in the apartment, some of the others were getting ready for a night out. All throughout their hideout- if you can call it that- there were whisperings and mutterings about an American CIA agent, but Rayne could care less. If he was on their side, wonderful. If he wasn't, she could kill him. Easy peasy. She had heard news of a Ty Sirius getting in a scuffle, but as long as he was alright, she had no reason to busy herself.

She could just think, and that was fine by her.

She almost wanted to go and see Leyton, maybe get a grasp of what she was supposed to do. But this was far too peaceful, too blissful, almost. She felt like she had missed a LOT, but that was fine. She had gone twelve years without knowing the full truth, and though she would prefer not to, she would do it again.

Just so long as she would be able to think.

Hayley Wilson, Assassination Specialist w/ Sam Cook

"Okay, then, let's crash a party," I suggested.
"I don't think there is any party planned for tonight," Sam said, eyebrows raised.
"Think. Not know. C'mon," I said, "Let's go--recon time."
He nodded, "Sounds good."
"I think for this first time, it'd be better to go just you and me. We'll come back and get the others if there is something planned for tonight," I suggested.
"Sure, yeah," Sam said, easy going as ever. I grinned. He was one of my favorites to work with on a mission.

**Sorry, this is short, but I'm about to get on a plane!**

Maya:

TEAM GOLD: Afternoon, downstairs floor of the bookstore


This is so depressing! How can I! I am not a good leader. My team left out to eat alone. How am i supposed to get in touch by them? Get a life, Maya. No crying over spilled milk. Who do you think is crying? I am just relieved. Without my members, I can eat anything i want and no one is going to comment on me. Besides, I can find more information with the locals. Too bad, there not going. the restaurant we were about to go has customers that were part of REAF. Ha, and who says I am a bad leader. They just don't get it. Especially that girl-name guy.

My members went upstairs. I wonder what will they be doing while I eat. Oh well, It's up to them. Anyway, I need to find what happen to that poison-flower guy.
"Are you Elizabeth?"
I looked back irritated that someone called me Elizabeth.
"It's Maya not Elizabeth, Sir." I replied as I looked at him. "And who are you?"
"Harry Raine, boss sent me as a new member to your team."
I narrowed my eyes at him. I wondered what happened to the other guy. I sighed as I brushed my hair with my hands.
"Welcome aboard, pal to S.S. Gold. We do various events such as attending meetings, researching information about REAF and doing all the usual stuff such as interrogation, deceiving and assassination. Sorry if no team member can be seen, they drop off from my plans of having lunch outside."
"And they are?"
"You'll get to know them once the mission will begin. But for now, do you care for a lunch out? i won't give you enough time to think. I'm famish."

Harry Raine: Outside Bookshop – 4:30 pm

Talk about awkward he’d come here with best intentions but god this girl was annoying. Firstly she’d asked him if he was Asian, yes like the face didn’t give it away, then she’s casually talked about the business. He’d just about lost some hope of competence until she then said, “People say I speak too much, and never think what I say.”

It wasn’t the most perfect apology but it would do, “Call me Raine, too many memories with my first name.”

She nodded looking slightly perplexed but not saying anything.

When she saw his bike he grinned, “Beaut isn’t she? It’s how I travel, nothing beats it. Hop on Maya, for thrill of your life.” She looked nervous, “By that I mean, I know where a good food place is.”

She tentatively climbed on and he revved the engine listening to the purr before putting his helmet on and giving one to Maya, “Hold on tight!”

It was nice to get out of the bookshop, I had to admit. It wasn't like I didn't like the guys or anything, it just got a bit too cosy at times. I wasn't even sure if I knew everyone's names. It took me almost five years to learn my own name, after all. Suddenly, I felt my mobile phone manically vibrating in my pocket.

"Yeah?" I answered it, slightly annoyed.

"James!" A horribly familiar voice practically sang on the other end. "Where are you, darling? I've been trying to ring you for the past day!"

"Uh... I'm in China, mum, remember?" I said. Had she developed alzheimers while I was gone or something?

"Yes, I know that!" My mum laughed. "Where are you ex- Oh! Don't worry!"

Since when was I worrying...? Before I had the chance to ask her what the hell she was on about, I heard a quiet beep on the other end of the phone. Great, she'd hung up. I was utterly confused.

Shaking my head as I thought about what had just happened, I looked back at my phone. Hang on... how had my mother even rung me? It would have cost her a heck of a lot of money to do so and my mother did not like wasting money, especially for a phone call as pointless as that one. The only way it would have been cheap was if...

"James!" A high-pitched voice rang in my ear.

Shit.

Spinning around, I saw a light haired woman standing in front of me, smiling. This was a joke, right? My mother wasn't seriously in China, that was impossible. Why on earth would she be in China? She didn't even like the place... she constantly complained about how the country were polluting the earth.

"Mum?" I sounded more aggressive than confused. "What the fu-"

"Watch your language!" My mother snapped before I had the chance it finish. Suddenly perking up again, she continued, "Your father has gone away for the week, leaving me on my own. I though that, if he can go on holiday for a few days, why can't I? Besides, I thought that you could do with some help with the pandas."

The pandas...? What did pandas have to do with... oh yeah, as far as she was aware, I was saving the pandas from extinction. It was at this point that I wished I'd never mentioned the pandas, let alone China. How had she even found me? Wait, she wasn't planning on staying with me, was she?

"Come on, darling," She linked arms with me happily. "Show me where you're staying."

Okay... maybe she was.

Rayne Locke: Shop and Apartment


Rayne let the charm drop from her fingertips. She was going to go up to the shop, because a, she was in desperate need of entertainment, so why not a book? And b, she was hungry, and the apartment was where the food was. She was not going out to some restaurant; she was not leaving the Hideout (as she had now dubbed it) until she was assigned something.


She stepped into the bookstore with a slight scowl threatening to break out; she was really hungry now. Hey, she still qualified as a teenager! Her eyes darted around, scanning the store for adventure novels, and instead landed on a certain sandy haired agent who was looking rather stunned, with a woman who looked rather like him hanging off his arm, prattling on about... pandas? Hm. Must be an inside thing. Ignoring her complaining stomach, she half-ran, half-glided over to the agent. James Dakota, nickname Jax. her mind reminded her. She let a friendly, beaming smile on her face and walked casually up to him.

"James! Who is this lovely woman?" she said brightly, taking care not to let the usually coldness seep in.

"Oh, hello! This is my darling mother!" he said, just as brightly. Said mother took this as a cue to make her entrance.

"And who are you, my dear? A girlfriend? I do hope so, he does need one..." she said.

Trying her best not to shake the poor woman, who was obviously not in her right mind, Rayne laughed and said,"Oh no, not a girlfriend, just a coworker! I'm Rayne Locke." By this point they were halfway to the apartment. Thank God; it wasn't the bunker, so his mother wouldn't get suspicious, and there was food. Win-win.

They entered the apartment, the mother not seeming to notice how tense the air was. As soon as they were over the threshold, James' mother dashed over to... well, she didn't know! She'd never been up here! But that didn't matter, because there was the kitchen. She virtually ran over and raided the refrigerator, finally taking out some leftover pizza and a can of soda. She sank into the corner of the kitchen and began munching on it, savoring each flavor.

James sat on the counter above her. "Thanks for getting her up here. I know you'd be more comfortable in the bunker, but this was the better place. I'll have to talk to Leyton."

"Welcome. What makes you think I'm more comfortable down there?"

"You've just been sitting against a wall all day, and you didn't seem to mind."

"Aha! So I was noticed!"

James shrugged. "Guess you were." But his confirmation went unnoticed, for Rayne had turned her focus onto consuming the pizza before her.

George Leyton, "Guv'nor" ~ Bunker, 1 hour until closing time

I looked around the bunker and noticed it was surprisingly vacant for the numerous agents that had been commissioned for the operation by The Minister. Then again, it was to be expected with Red Team out on an operation. They were expected back pretty soon, but whether or not their op had been a success was another story. We also needed to be prepared in case they'd blown our cover and that meant everyone arming themselves with a basic 9mm hand pistol or the people who could use them successfully, a small knife. Before I got anywhere prepping for their return, James had came out of the iron lift and walked up to me, his face hinted there was a problem. Never a gooden.

"What is it, Dakota?" I asked, scanning the twitch in his nose and his determination not to make eye contact until he had to.

"Err, you won't believe this but-"

"Spill it out," I interrupted, "things to be done n' all."

"Sorry. Yeah, erm, my Mum showed up."

"So, you sent her away, right? Said you were busy or something?" I suggested, hoping the answer was yes.

"Not exactly," he started, "She's kind of upstairs."

I took a deep breath and then sighed. "We can't function properly with her here, she'll see things and she hasn't even signed the Official Secrets Act. We can't lock her away either, because we need to make the most of every room. Look here, Dakota. She's your responsibility. You get her out of here by Noon tomorrow, or I'll do it myself."

"Yes, Guv'," he replied, somewhat dissapointed with my choise, but I'm sure he realised it had to be done.

"Oh," I said, stopping him before he left. "Also, you best find out how the hell she found out where you were. 'Cause if she found yah, the REAF or SDT won't be far behind. Or worse, we'll have the CIA up our ass cracks and that don't look an ounce good."

Rayne Locke: Apartment


"So... what's the verdict?" Rayne asked, almost tentatively as James came back up from the bunker.

James sighed. "She has to be out by noon tomorrow. And we have to find out how she found me."

Rayne thought for a moment. "I'll take care of the first if you cover the second." she said finally. James' face lit up.

"Rayne, you're an angel. A freaking angel on Earth."

"As long as I get black wings!" she called over her shoulder, in pursuit of Mrs. Dakota. She found her marveling at a painting in the living room.

"Mrs. Dakota?"

"Ah, hello, Rayne! Now, tell me, does this shell look rather like an apple to you?"

"If you tilt your head to the right just so. Now, did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"They're holding an anti-violence protest back at your home. They only need one more person, and it'll be the biggest since the sixties." Rayne said, not a single hint of lying in her voice.

"Really? Well, then, I must be off!" Mrs. Dakota exclaimed, and promptly grabbed her suitcase. She scurried out quickly, stopping only to kiss her son goodbye and tell him to be careful and (here Rayne couldn't help but laugh) "try not to use the nightlight so frequently, dear, it upsets the ladies." And then she was off.

"Rayne. You. Are. Incredible." he said slowly, voice shaking with glee.

"Yeah. Guess I am. Now all you have to do is track her phone records. I made a copy of her SIM card when she wasn't looking, here." Rayne said with a shrug, handing him the chip. He looked at her like she had just juggled sixteen flaming chainsaws and come out without a scratch. He pressed the card into the laptop sitting on the couch.

"My mother's been stalking me." he said incredulously.

"How?" Leyton asked, just now coming up from the bunker.

"GPS chip. Installed in my phone. Which means..." James swore.

"I'm going to need a new phone. Without GPS." he said, sitting back and running a hand through his hair. Rayne finished for him.

"Because if REAF gets ahold of the GPS, they'll know where you are. Gimme the phone." Looking slightly worried, James handed over his cell. Rayne took out her switchblade and took apart the phone in eight seconds flat.

At Leyton and James' reaction, she said, "What? Phone parts go for a lot on the streets. I was practically the queen of phone selling." After her brief explanation, she destroyed each part separately, leaving them all in a heap of shattered plastic and broken wires. She rummaged around in her backpack, and after a triumphant "AHA!", she handed James an exact copy of the phone he had been using.

"I removed the GPS right after I got it. I like having spares." she said, tossing him the phone. James shook his head.

"Will we ever find out how you do these things, or why, or when?" he asked.

"Nope, probably not."

Maya

[Mid afternoon: At a restuarant by the Outer Districts of the town]

That's a nice bike. I wonder what model it is but I don't think it can beat my awesome bike that I had left at home. Unless, they would be so kind to shipped it to here. It would be amazing! i wonder who would win between me and this dude on a motorbike race. I can seriously tell he is somewhat underestimating. That is what my speech always do, Oh well.

I showed Raine the directions and we arrived on the restaurant. I grinned as I looked at the building next to it-the meeting hall. Too bad the other would not come, Would I mention that this restaurant is one of the top restaurants in this town. Its plainly easy that a few REAF local members would dine here.

I hop off from the motorbike giving Raine his helmet. I quickly told the other guys on the location of the restaurant and few minor details.
"That's a nice ride." I grinned. "Your bike a beaut but I wonder if you're bike is better than mine back home."
He just nodded as we entered the restaurant. I greeted the bartender with a nod as I a seat near the middle of the room. The waiter came along and we ordered our meal.
"This will be great, Raine...just wait and see. This restaurant is top quality. So how about we talk together. Let's make it our little date." I grinned scratching my legs for actually saying the D word. It must be the side effect of my drunkenness.
He looked at me puzzled.
"Okay, I'll start first. Can you lean your head towards me."
"Your are getting cheesy you must realized. Are you sure you are one of us?"
"Positive, so please lean your head to me. I got something to tell you."
He gave a sigh as he leaned forward. I leaned forward as well pointing to a large painting of the local temple.
"That is not actually a painting. It's a door. You cannot open it however. It is activated by voice only and I know three people who can open it: the bartender and two other guys who will be coming here."
I leaned back and locked my arms as i looked at him.
"Your turn, pal, I spoke at my turn already. We are a date remember." I winked while feeling the inside of my mind bursting into pieces. Are you okay, Maya? No. I always get this feeling whenever a mission starts.

Jackson Reet. W/ Jax and Rayne.

Reet's voice was nearly shaking with mirth when he walked up to Jax. He winked, and began to laugh before he even spoke.

"Hey, Jax," he finally said, still sniggering slightly, "I bumped into your mum on the street. What, did she come here to help you get settled in with all the nasty, bad people at SIS?" Before Jax could reply, Reet's voice became much more serious. "Okay, so I found it a little funny. But, really Jax, we're trying to go undercover here. We're supposed to be elite. Members of Team Alpha do not bring their mummies on missions with them, okay? Now, you're going to stay here with C-4; I'm going to take Erika into the town with me."

Again, not waiting for a reply, Reet turned on his heel and walked down the stairs to the shop. C-4 was standing behind the till, flicking through a book and looking extremely bored. Reet stopped to talk to him. "Jax has messed up," he said quickly. "I'm sure you've gathered the details from listening. But anyway, you need to keep an eye on him while I take Erika out for a bit. I know she's feeling insecure, hopefully that'll give him a bit of confidence."

Lawson nodded, still looking bored. Reet realised that he'd have to ask Guv'nor for a night mission soon. His team would probably die of boredom otherwise, and Reet didn't want corpses on his hands.

Reet walked down the stairs to the bunker. "Hey, Erika," he said, moving over to her. "You're coming out with me. We're going to see if we can get to know the locals and establish some REAF contacts, or something."

Rayne: Bunker w/ Jax and C-4

I shot another glare in Clint's direction. Jax (I had decided James was a stupid name) had done nothing; why did he need a babysitter? And even if he did, I was perfectly capable! Not wanting to shoot him out of pure rage, I got up and started pacing.

"What's the matter, boo? Miss your binkie?" Clint asked. It took every ounce of my self control not to pounce on him and rip him apart from limb to limb.

"Just worried. I mean, we have no way of telling if REAF or someone else accessed the GPS." I said, a little quickly. Jax froze.

"You're right," he said, looking even more guilty than he had been for the past two hours.

Clint shrugged. "Well, since Miss Locke here so elegantly destroyed the GPS, we just have to hope they didn't before we took care of it."

"Hey! I never got trained on how to disarm a GPS! Smashing it seemed pretty effective to me!"

Clint rolled his eyes. "It is, Rayne. Kidding with you."

"Well, don't." I hissed, rubbing the carving on my swtichblade. It had always managed to calm me down. Successfully calmed, I started to think.

The other day, I had found notches scratched into the metal of my star charm. The more I thought about, the more I was sure they had been there longer than when I had seen them. Possibly as long as I had had it. I paused and pulled the necklace off, running my thumb across the inside of the outline. The notches were still there. I pulled a Sharpie out of my pocket and grabbed a piece of graph paper out of my bag.

I drew out the star, and after some more careful feeling, where the notches were. Still unsatisfied, I furrowed my eyebrows. In a flash of inspiration, I held the paper up to the light. My eyes widened. A fold there, a pinch there, twist it around there...

Oh.

My.

God.

At my stunned expression, Clint loudly whispered, "I think she-"

"One more crack about my age and I will kill you, Clint. Do not make me."

I saw Jax flash a smirk and get up. "What's the I've-discovered-the-meaning-of-life look about, Ray?"

I almost did a double take. Alex? I thought hopefully. But then, I remembered who had said it. I shook my head. Only Alex had ever called me Ray.

Weird.

"I think.... I think my adoptive father is telling me where REAF hides out in China."

Erika nodded her head, feeling somewhat excited. She'd get to do something instead of sitting around with nothing to do all day, being treated like a rock. Secondly, she'd be away from the CIA and thus avoid any unpleasantries. Also, this mission was somewhat active--she wouldn't be in the line of fire, but she would be helping with something major.

They left immediately, and Reet seemed to know where was going. Erika was afraid that they would get lost, but she didn't question it. She didn't need any more trouble from the other team members. As they walked on, Erika couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder, a realization that she was in China. China was this place you heard about often in the news, on TV, at school. A legend, not a real, living, breathing place. Erika shook her head. She was here for work, on strict buisness, and she wouldn't let herself get distracted.

"So," she asked Reet, whom she had not spoken to since they were back at the bookshop, "Where do you plan on stopping first?"

Naomi Grafton; Red Team; Returning from mission; very pissed off

If I hadn't been placing the last bug as the alarm rung out, I might have been in even bigger trouble but at least I wouldn't have done so much work for nothing. As it was, I felt panic settling in and put my escape plans into motion. I vaguely hoped that the others had plans as well but then I remembered one of them had triggered the alarm and switched off from team mode. Let them deal with their own mess. Friggin idiots.

Being on the top floor made escapes a tiny bit more difficult. I could either nonchantly head for the roof or slowly wind my way down to the bottom and hope I slipped out before the police started asking questions. Neither was a very desirable option as foreigners were going to be under high suspicion. That was why I chose option three. I had the plans of the building lodged in my mind and on the third floor was a fire escape.

All the ducking and diving is great when you're dressed for the part but in my cleaner's rags, it had to be a casual walk. I fingered a cigarette out on my way, patted a pocket for my lighter and made it with ease to the fire door. The alarm was already raging so slipping out that way wasn't an issue and nobody had thought to block it off yet. Perfect.

Not perfect. Which bloody idiot had done this? I tried to keep my fuming inside as I gracefully departed from the building. It was hard. I saw that the van was still parked outside and felt another flash of panic. It couldn't be left there! It also couldn't be connected with a certain book shop. As casual as I could, I fished out my set of keys, hopped in and started driving off. I could hear the sirens in the distance.

Stuff them. They can walk for all I care. Hiding the van was troublesome. I hadn't expected to have to deal with something like that and I decided to call the book store for guidance. I would have called the Guv directly except it was the team leaders who had his number.

"Hello, how can I help you?" That was Clint. Good. It reminded me of the now squished cigarette in my hand. I let it fall to the floor of the van. How about you get me a better team, pronto? No more of this angels crap.

"Red team here, someone's messed up. Find out how I'm supposed to ditch the van and then I'll be there to report in full." And send someone to the cleaners hopefully. I wondered if the Guv would mind me smoking while I gave him the gorey details. I almost didn't care but I was a better agent than that. Unlike some people.

*Is everyone ignoring me?*

I don't think anyone understands your posts. I don't, at least.

Ty Sirus| Team Red leader- Running for his dear life, lost

Not a creature was strewing, not even a mouse. The garbage was hung randomly with no care. And visions of cats eating him danced in Ty's head. He was sitting in an ally, behind a dumpster. He needed a place to change, get out of the incriminating clothes. Now he was just unsure what to do. He had no idea where he was, or how to get back to the shop. His cell phone had gotten lost, with the majority of his pants. They had gotten torn off after he dropped from thew flag pole.

It's not like he could hail a cab. He didn't have any cash. He was a pathetic excuse for a spy, at the moment. Luckily he never kept his ID in his pants pocket, it was safe in his undershirt's pocket. If he did, he would have really screwed up right now. Finally he stopped sulking. He figured it would be better to walk through the street without smelling like rotting fish.

His next step was something he hated to do. He thought being a spy meant being good. Sure they might stray from the path, dirty their hands from time to time. But he never had gotten a normal citizen involved in it, before now. The only way Ty was going to get out of there was to steal. He had been trained in close combat, seduction, assassination, but never theft. He shrugged before heading back into the streets. Couldn't be as hard to take a wallet as it was to slit a throat.

"Excuse me, sir," Ty walked up to the first man he saw. "Can you tell me how to get to the nearest McDonalds?" Yes, ridiculous question, but Ty didn't frequent at restaurants, and the only ones he knew could trace back to the store's area, if he was reported.

The sir gave him a sideways look, before turning Ty's head to the right. Where there was a Mcdonalds. Ty acted fast. "Oh, thank you sure. I am such an idiot." Ty grabbed for the mans hand to shake. "Aw hell, where I'm from men hug." Before the man could protest Ty embraced him, and grabbed for his wallet. The man ran away, forever scarred with a crazy story.

Ty checked the wallet. Jackpot. Ty had picked the right street to hand around at. "Taxi!" Next stop the bookstore.