SIS - Epic Storybook (No longer Accepting)

Rae

I cursed at my luck, staring at the window. One thing I had always hated was climbing walls, but, the front door was shut and locked. And I had left my damned lock picking kit at home. I take out my grappling hook, and get it around the window. Before long,I climb through and onto the floor.

"That took long enough." I say to no one in particular.

"Who are you?" Someone asks, pulling a gun out.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you too. So, who are you?"

"Answer the question." He demands. I pull out my badge with a sigh, and roll my eyes.

"Raevan Charleston. Agent 0045. Call me Rae." I grin, and he lowers the gun. He gave me a look to say 'cant-be-too-careful'. Well, we were on the midst of a war, yet, I found it hard to believe you had to pull the gun on every girl that came through a window. Still, it couldn't really be helped.

NOTICE:

a) Because this storybook is so large, be sure to read every post since your last contribution.

b) There is a new discussion forum if you're lost, want to talk about plots or simply make notes to aid you, details of which are on the first post.

c) If you're truly confused please PM either me or Jagged before posting.

Was mine okay? I read through....

Jackson Reet.

"Hey, Leighton, what is it you've got there?" Reet had wandered over to where Leighton was standing with the new guy, James, holding a plant proudly. "Let me guess, it's poisonous?"

Leighton grinned. "A black hellebore. Cool, huh?"

Laughing, Reet nodded. Cool indeed. Leighton seemed to have a thing for dangerous plants and poisons. It was slightly surreal a guy who looked - there was no other word for it - innocent, holding a deadly plant in his hands and smiling at it as though it was a sparkly new toy. Not that Leighton really was innocent, hell, he was one of the more active and competitive people on the team.

"Very nice, man. Well, it is if you don't slip it into my breakfast anyway."

There was a noise by the window, and Reet turned towards it, only to see a grappling hook wedge against the window. He felt his stomach plummet for the second time this evening. He ran to the window, but was beaten to it by a girl entering it from the outside.

"What the hell?" someone muttered.

"Who are you?" Reet asked, pulling out his gun and holding it steady at the girl. Shit, if she's part of the team then she's either really, really stupid or just trying to show off...

"Hi. It's nice to meet you too. So, who are you?"

"Answer the question." Reet was feeling a little impatient now. He figured that if this person was an enemy, they'd already have shot him, or at least tried to. He felt Leighton and James move forwards behind him.

The girl flashed her badge in front of Reet with a roll of her eyes. He lowered the gun with a small sigh of relief. Really, you'd think that any new arrivals would at least try to be inconspicuous.

"That was probably the most stupid thing I've seen today," he snapped in her direction.

"Guv'nor"/George Leyton

I'd finished my tour and Sirus and I returned to the bunker below. The elevator was probably shabby but over the months we'd all get used to it. It didn't particularly need any fixing, not that I could see anyway. It functioned and that was enough. It didn't need to be prepped in case of emergencies, if we managed to keep our cover.

I'd heard news that another Leighton had arrived. Despite the spelling, I did realise this could cause some confusion, never any good. Typical. It didn't matter though, I'd be referred to by nickname from now and onwards. It was interesting, meeting people, especially the odd few that had come through the shop. Each of them had nerve, that was for sure. Everyone was getting settled too, conversations arousing all over from the measely to the mose unusual, but that was good, a team with variety was incredibly essential.

***

2 hours later

"Right," I yelled over the noise using a small microphone. It was as if I was going to spend the next few minutes doing kareoke, but to their dissapointment, they would be in for a pep-talk instead. The room fell silent; no-one need worry about the shop upstairs at this point, it was far past closing hours.

"I'm your team leader for this special operation, Agent 009. Though, you can call me Guv'nor. Either that or Leyton, but since we have a Leyton in the room, callin' me Guv'nor does the lot of us a favour, no?" There were chuckles admidst the room. "I'm sure some of you have met one another, if not everyone, but I have to admit, there's more of you than I'd thought; no panic though, there's enough beds. No-one gets floor tonight! We'll have the same few people sleeping upstairs and covering the shop for the whole operation, they'll be interacting with the customers that come in and out'a the shop. They'll be Team Alpha. We'll then have Team Charlie, Team Beta, Team Gold and Team Red. Each'll be assigned a team leader, and each Team leader will report to me. I'll be dishin' out some friendly Ops, you'll be gettin' on. However, you'll be keepin' your number one priority your cover. It's vital to that of the rest'a the group, understood?"

"Yes, Guv'nor," they cheered, it was almost funny.

"Right'o. That's a gooden. We'll deal with teams in the morn'. Let's just have a goodnight, get to know each other. Guv' out," I said, turning the microphone off and joining in the crowd. It was odd thinking mingling was awkward, it was my job after all, but there was something that never quite gripped it for me. I grabbed a glass of champagne and decided to observe momentarily, take in my new team, see if they truly were elite.

DELETED

Pulling the hood of my jacket up over my head, I sat back comfortably on the sofa. This place, and the guys inside, weren't half bad. By the sound of it, the Guv'nor seemed to know what he was doing as well. That was always a good sign. Without a decent leader, the team would seriously suffer. I laughed as I imagined myself trying to lead a team like this, oh how I would fail. I wasn't even capable of looking after myself, let alone a big group of people.

"Hey," A voice suddenly interrupted my thoughts. "Do you want a glass of champagne?"

I turned around to see Reet sat next to me. "No thanks," I shrugged. "I don't really drink."

Pfft, that was a lie. Boy did I drink, I just didn't think that it was a good idea to do so right now. I hardly wanted to make a seriously bad impression on my first day here. I'd arrived a week late as it was.

"You can get me a glass of orange juice though," I grinned.

"Sure," Reet laughed, standing up.

Pretty proud of the fact that I'd refused alcohol, I once again leaned back on the sofa. Everyone else seemed to be mingling. I couldn't get too close to these guys, I'd only end up wrecking everything. They were my business colleagues, they didn't have to be my friends or anything more. Even if I wanted them to be, I couldn't let it happen.

Sighing, I stood up and looked around the room for the Guv'nor. He was leaning against the wall, silently sipping his champagne. He seemed to be observing the team, it looked like he was anyway. At that moment, he seemed to be watching the newest girl, Hayley.

As I walked towards him, I hesitated; maybe this wasn't the best time to speak to him. It bugged me when someone interrupted me when I was thinking and it was probably the same for him. Besides, I only wanted to know whether I could contact my parents. They were suspicious enough as it was, I couldn't let them find out about this SIS thing. Thinking about it, contacting them would be a bad idea.

George Leyton; Guv'nor

The party had gone on for a fair while. Jinx almost wondered over to me, but seemed to think twice. If I had to, I'd talk to him later; I'd decided I'd give the people in Alpha team the beds upstairs, so it only seemed right I organise them before they felt the need to nod-off. Once the party died down, I walked around the bunker. It was interesting to see the reminants of drunk adults, especially if you were sobre yourself. Their behaviour and how it changes to something so alien to their character. Reets seemed pretty sobre, but it was hard to tell as he had a bottle of Chinese tiger beer gripped tight in his right hand.

"Reets," I whispered, tapping him on the shoulder. "Hey, Reets, listen up."

Reets turned, his eyeballs obscure. I'd say tipsy, not so drunk. "Yes, Guv'nor?"

"You'll be leadin' Team Alpha, okay?" I muttered, "I want you to take C-4, Jinx and Erika up with you, for us. I'll sort the rest of the teams out in the mornin' when y'all less drunk!"

"Right'io Guv'", Reets replied, trailing into the crowded bunker to find the others.

"Right," I yelled, "If you ain't with Reets, you're sleepin' down here. I hope you enjoy it, we'll talk more in the morn'!"

* * * *

The next morning

Alpha team were up ripe and early, seeing as the bookshop seemed to have opened fairly early. There was the odd customer, but nothing out of the ordinary for an early morning. Judging by which, I assumed it wasn't market day. I took the elevator downstairs to the bunker where most of the others were prepping weaponry as though they were about to start a small war. It's delightful how such excitements as the prospect of weaponry can make your skin turn.

I walked up to Ty Sirus, he seemed as though he'd had a rough night, but knocked it off his shoulders and was ready to get on with things. Impressions? A good team leader; thus I should probably give him a test run. Looking over the room and making an informed guess based on overnight impressions and their actions whilst drunk, I scanned three members of the room, piling together Ty's team in my head, then tapping on his shoulder I looked at him before speaking.

"Sirus, I need you to lead Team Red. Take... Raeven and Naomi with you," I said. "Fey! Fey!"

Fey O'Connor peered around, her eyes still half asleep. Although generally sophisticated in appearance this seemed to show a variant opposite, a mirror of personality. "You're with Ty's team too, that good?"

"Yes, Guv'nor," she said, trying to stay awake.

I walked away from them, there would be operative tasks set in accordance for each team later, but in the mean time I'd just have to get them sorted. Thinking and working in groups. Team Gold would be next on the agenda, something that'll stir things up. Takin' my pick about the room I was selective, varying character and churning personality to ultimately create the best functioning team. Despite the fact I'd be moving them around later, a good start was essential.

"Right," I yelled, "I want Howell, Stepples and Abney in a team. I'm thinking I'll give Maya Cardinal the team leader position. I'll be able to see where you stand on rising to things individually, alright?"

"Yes, Guv!" She said cheerily.

"Good'o. Right, rest'a you, you're all in Team Charlie. Who leads you, ergh, I'll decide later. Let's see how you lot go, I feel if we give you time, someone will come out naturally. A natural leader is a favoured leader. Thus we're goin' with that. Right, talk later, get to grips with your teams."

I left the bunker and returned upstairs, taking a small cigar out of a metal case-tin. I didn't smoke, but if ever, now seemed like a good time to start. Placing the cigar in my lips, I gave it a puff. I opened the window, oberving the almost bare early morning streets. This was going to be interesting...

Sam Cook

Sam muttered to himself as he tried to wake up from a fitful sleep. He hadn't drunk the night before (who needs a hangover?), but right now he wished he had. Knowing that there were so many new people in the bookstore unnerved him, and he found himself snapping awake at every noise through the night. It was a sign of a bad day, in his opinion.

Finding out that he was part of "the rest of you" annoyed Sam. He felt like a fat schoolkid picked last during kickball. It didn't feel very nice...

Fully awake, he flung the blankets off of his body and stomped to the bathroom to change into proper attire.Whatever they were supposed to be doing today, he was determined to make a better impression on the boss. If that meant being serious, then he was going to be serious.

No one picks me last!

((Nyx is a girl, by the way...just letting you guys know.))


Nyx Churchill aka Jinx

Waking up I sat up and looked around my room. It had been small with a single bed, a single dresser and there was a nightstand beside the bed. Glancing over at digital clock that sat on my nightstand, it said 7:30. Smiling, I got up and got ready for the day.

While I was getting up I thought about the party last night. It had been really fun and I had meet a lot of new people. Meeting my new team had been exciting, and I had a good feeling that I was going to like who I was working with. The thing was though, I had to introduce myself to the The Leader of the team, Guv'nor. I had almost done it at the party, but had decided against it because he seemed to busy.

When I got done, I walked down stairs and into the bookshop. No one was in their yet, so I decided to open it. Walking over to the door, I unlocked it, flipped to “closed” sign to “open” and walked back to the cash register. Standing there for a few minutes, I got kind of bored. So I walked around to see what kind of books the shop had.

I returned to the desk a bit later because I had found a book called “The way of the Shadows”. I it looked interesting so I grabbed it and started to read it. Suddenly the door from the back began to open, and someone came through...

C-4 | Clint Lawson
He couldn't say he was quite happy with being on store duty, but it made sense, and anyway there was little place for someone with his skills this early in the mission. At least it scored him one of the larger beds upstairs, which, given how he almost missed it as he collapsed, might have been a good thing.

Note for self: go easier on the beer next time.

-------

He woke up with the smallest hint of a headache, and rolled out of bed with a grunt, semi-grateful he hadn't gotten completely smashed. Had it been otherwise, the sun that always shone through the window at ridiculously early hours in the morning would have made it turn into a full-blown migraine, he knew from experience.

It was routine by now to get dressed, stumble down the stairs and open the shop - or try to, only to discover Jinx had already done so.

"You're a keeper," he'd told her, still a bit hazy from sleep and leftovers of alcohol, and then it was pretty much doing nothing but lounge around and look attentive to what the clients wanted. Not that there were that many people, really. He took advantage of a quiet stretch to stroll towards the stairs that'd lead to the second floor, hand digging into his pockets for the ever-elusive cigarette pack.

"Going for a smoke, back in ten or so!" It wasn't even like they'd need him, three people were more than enough to man the counter. He might have gone outside too, but he didn't like straying away from the base; too many things could go wrong too fast. Reet usually rolled his eyes at him when he explained that, and Leighton... well, was himself.

Alright, so it was just plain more comfortable upstairs. He made a little 'a-ha!' sound when he finally fished out his pack from the back pocket of the loose jeans he favored when in civvies, made a face when he realized he was almost out then removed one cigarette from the bunch, brought it to his lips and lit it, inhaling the first puff of smoke with a sigh of bliss. All of this on automatic, his feet leading him to the the windows he'd been lazing under the previous day (and the one before that, and the ones before still). It took a couple of seconds to register Leyton's presence, and he suddenly straightened, an almost instinctive reaction to the presence of a commanding officer.

"Hey Guv'" he said quietly, crossing the last few steps separating him from the window and sprawling on the chair he'd set there for smoke breaks. "C-4." The man nodded at him, looking down at the street below. Clint exhaled, smoke rising into the crisp air. "What do you think of the team so far?"

He wasn't sure he'd like the answer, given the horrible displays of unprofessionalism from yesterday. Still, knowing what the boss thought was always a good thing, if only so you could know when to tread softly. Leyton was noncommittal, but that was better than straight out disapproving. "We'll see how it works."

Good enough for Clint.

Daemys,

I open my eyes groggily. Weak sunlight is coming through a dirty window. With a rush, everything comes back to me. Wow. I don't think that I've ever been drunk before, but last night...I must have come very close. My head aches every time I blink, and I feel like barfing, which I proceed to do in the bath room. This seems to clear my head, and I head down stairs.

I hear Guv'nor yelling something about teams, and hear my name. Something shiny...yellow, seems to ring a bell. Gold! Yes. Team Gold. I nod like I understand, even though I have no idea who the other people that I'm supposed to be with are. I sit down at a table, and put my head in my hands. This is not good. First day, and I'm practically incapacitated. Grrr.

I look up when a girl with red hair approaches me.

"Why, it's another ginger," I mutter sarcastically. She hears me and glares. Very competitive, this one.

"I'm your team leader, Cardinal," she says stiffly, "You are Isadaemys Abney, right?"

"Just Daemys, thanks. And don't speak so loud. It hurts my head."

She looks like she wants to slap me. Yep. Competitive.

"I suggest you clean yourself up," Cardinal says in sneering tones.

I sniff my shirt, "I'm not that bad, really."

"I wasn't talking phyically," she says, and stalks off.

"Has anyone ever told you that you need to loosen up? Jeez, anyone would think you were afraid of someone one-uping you, or something." I grin to myself.

Maya

What a morning! I had just an odd dream of dogs and sleds last night. I knew I should not have read that magazine. Now, I'll be having puppy dreams for a few nights! I walked down the stairs wearing a baggy shirt and some shorts where boss announced that I was proclaimed a leader. This is the dream, right.

Boss said I'll be leading team gold with Stepples, Howell and Abney. When he slowly left, i pinch myself in the cheek. Nope, I'm not dreaming. Wow, a leader, the only time I had became a leader was leading a bunch of criminals through a collective interrogation. I wonder what team Gold's mission would be? Whatever it is, I will be leading. Though, there must be some leadership and some cooperation. This will be tough, Maya. How can you order your colleagues around without a hint of blunt or rigorous order from me? Oh well, that can be dealt some time.

I walked back to the room and met up with Daemys or what i may say, Isadaemys. I wonder what country is he from? He was slowly waking up. I looked at him somewhat intently. I think, I'll be having some competition around here. But then again Maya, leadership is cooperation not competition. Great, I'm dreading it already. Anyway, I shook my head and walked towards the two remaining members. One down and two more to go.

**Umm, did no one see my post?**