Sleeper Agent (closed)

***********
2 years ago

The monitors next to her hospital bed were on silent but the readings had been consistent for the past 3 days. The hired doctors, as crude as they were to be called doctors, had stated she was in a coma. Her injuries ranged from broken ribs, concussion, 2nd to 3rd degree burns, broken jaw, ribs, left leg and shattered right arm.

She would have been dead if 'they' hadn't rescued her. Brought her back to life after she flat lined on the table more than once.

Now, in the dungeon slash hospital room, she was alone. Her bed in the middle of the room and even in her unconscious state, she felt the need to fight. There was something to fight for but what..she wasn't clear on. Her body could have easily given up but her mind said not to.

Two men, both in dark suits, stood over her, conversing with each other in a low, monotone voice.

"So the deed is done."

"Perhaps, but I would have much preferred her dead. She has been nothing but trouble for us since the beginning."

"True."

"Although, it was brought to my attention that we could turn her. Perhaps, use her skills against those that trained her and sent her to destroy us."

Silence.

"That idea does have some merit to it."

"Her government knows about her 'death', so to speak. And we're pretty sure her husband does too."

"Her husband believes her death was his fault. Why change things?"

"We will have a lot of work upon us. Will it...or rather, will she be worth it?"

A small shrug, "There's only one way to find out."

***Present Day***

All it would take was one word. One key word and she would be able to finish the job. If only one knew how much time and money 'they' had spent on training her...fixing her...basically programming her. Not that she would remember her past life. That much they had made sure of. No, her knew life had been planted securely with in her. She was a sleeper agent after all. They would use her when the time was right.

So now, Jason watched as his prodigy take an empty box into her new apartment... her cover would be working at a coffee shop... the same one the target stopped by at for coffee every morning before heading to work. Yes, many worked for the government here in Washington DC, so he would be just another one of the many, getting his daily drink.

It seemed he was given desk duty since that 'day' he lost his wife. Had there been another? Who cared? He was bound to fall for the charm of the new girl at the coffee shop.

He had to.
****

Alison struggled to pick up the box...the last of the boxes and walked over to the entrance of her new apartment building. She pushed the door open with her hip and walked over to the elevator. Second floor, apartment 10A...the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Stepping in, Alison pressed the button for the second floor and as the doors closed, she saw her reflection on the doors. Even though she had seen herself in the mirror many times, something deep within still didn't feel right about it.

Wasn't that weird? It wasn't like she hated the way she looked. If anything, she felt like she looked average with long dirty blonde hair and blue eyes that she sometimes changed to green, thanks to contact lenses she'd be blind without.

Shaking off the feeling, she stepped out of the elevator as it arrived on her floor. Although she could have taken the stairs, she was already plenty exhausted from moving. The drive and the directing of the moving men to get the bigger stuff while she took care of the small things, wore her out. Right now, all she wanted was to take a long hot bath before crashing tonight. Because tomorrow, she would be starting her new job at the 'Coffee Shoppe'. Not the most genius name for it, but it was still a job. One she was lucky to have...

Chris sat at his desk, wondering what the hell he was doing here. All he did was shuffle papers. His true talents were being wasted here. He had been restricted to desk duty for the last two years, and, as far as he could tell, there was no end in sight.

His mind drifted back to what got him here. It was the one operation that he did not work with his wife. Well, the first one since they had met five years prior, when they met on an op in St. Petersburg. After that operation they had been inseparable. It was love at first sight

After their first mission together, they demanded to work together. There weren't many that could make any demands about assignments.....they could. They were the two best in the agency. They worked together until......

Why did she insist on going on that mission alone? Yes, it was a one person mission, but he could have provided cover and support. She had convinced him to stay at home...that it would be a short mission and she would be home in a couple of days.

His mind went to the phone call. His handler told him to come in immediately. Chris thought there was another mission. When he arrived he was given the news....his wife was dead. He didn't believe it....until the showed him the pictures. He went after his handler. The others had to pry Chris off of him or he would have killed the handler.

That was part of the reason that he was on desk duty. The other reason was that he blamed himself for what had happened to his wife. He never should have let her go alone. They had worked together so well...they knew what each other was thinking...he should have never let her convince him to stay home.

He was here because they knew him and they were afraid that if he was left in the field he would go and try to extract revenge for what had happened to his wife. They thought he would try to ease the pain of blaming himself by taking out those responsible. They were right. In fact, the thought still crossed his mind, but he knew that once he stopped showing up at the office, they would have everyone looking for him...hostiles and friendlies.

At the end of the day, he headed the two blocks to his apartment. As he walked up to the building, he noticed a moving van pulling away from the front of the building. "I guess somebody moved into the apartment next door," he thought to himself. Chris walked up the stairs; he never took the elevator..it was a trap. He exited the stairwell, looked next door at apartment 10. The door was closed. He opened the door to 12, his apartment, and went inside.

There were consequences when something didn't go as planned. Consequences Allison had faced many times but it seemed each time was a blurry memory... So, for the moment, Allison had decided to keep them to herself... It just seemed safer that way.

After a night of ordering pizza and unpacking some things, she was up early the next morning and out the door at fifteen minutes till 5am. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a red sweater with a spaghetti strap black top underneath. She had pinned up her hair into a makeshift bun with a few tendrils if blonde hair framing her face.

Arriving at the shop she was quickly introduced around and given a general tour. It was a surprise to her that she knew how to work the machines and knew where everything was at...but she kept the expression of surprise hidden because it was hard to figure out how she all this...

And then the morning rush started so she pushed back her concerns and got to work. She had a genuine smile for each person who placed an order with her and she got their order out quickly.

"I can help the next person." She said and waited for the guy in a suit that was next.

Chris was starting to feel like a robot. Actually, he wasnt starting to feel that way. He had felt that way for a while. He did the same thing day in and day out. His routine was extremely boring. Get up...stop for coffee....go to the office... push some papers...go back home. It was like Groundhog Day.

He showered and put on his gray suit. He locked the door and headed out. As he walked toward the coffee shop, he thought about just quitting the agency. Then again, he knew they wouldnt let that happen. They couldnt afford him to be unsupervised. He knew too much and he was too good at what he did.

As he stood in line at the coffee shop, he noticed a new girl working at the counter. She was very attractive. As he moved closer to her, there was something about her that Chris found familiar. He wasnt sure what it was. "Large black coffee please, ma'am."

Allison looked at the man that was next. All morning she had been too busy to really notice who was coming and going. Well...that wasn't really true, there were a few uniformed cops and others in suits. It made since seeing as how the shop was near the business district.

The man had ordered and since it was a simple order, Allison turned to grab his cup real quick but when she saw the machine brewing and made a face as she turned back to the man, "I'm sorry, its going to be a few minutes... Can I get your name and I'll bring it out?"

Chris was surprised when the woman said that it was going to be a few minutes until his coffee was ready. "How can it be a few minutes until black coffee is ready? If you are out of coffee and need to wait for it to brew, then, I will cancel my order and go somewhere else. I dont have time to wait."

He turned to head out of the shop. It wasnt like him to be such an asshole. It was just the whole Groundhog Day thing was getting to him. He turned back around. "I am very sorry ma'am. I was very rude and you did not deserve that. My name is Chris. I'll wait."

Surprised by the man's outburst, Allison just watched him as he turned and started to walk toward the door. There was a lot Allison could put up with so she just shrugged it off and started to help the next person when the man came back.

He apologized and she could only take it as he was someone who was extremely grumpy without his morning 'fix' of caffeine.

Grabbing a cup, she wrote his name on it and only have him a smile, probably one that was sickening sweet, but a smile nonetheless, "I'll get that right out to you Chris."

Turning, Allison finished writing on his cup 'asshole' in black sharpie and got him his coffee and went out from behind the counter and handed jlm the hot cup, making sure she hid the name on it, "here you go, Chris. I'm sorry for that wait...this one is on me, OK? Have a good day." And with that, Allison turned in her heels to finish up her shift.

Chris took the coffee and headed toward the office. He took a couple of sips as he walked. When he got to his desk, he sat it down. It was then that he noticed what the woman had written on his cup. He laughed. He deserved it.

He went through another boring day of paperwork. That was, until about an hour before the end of the day. He was called into his supervisor's office. There was a mission going down in Afghanistan, and they were asking him about some of the local tribesman. For a short time he felt like he was doing something important. It didnt last long though. After that, he headed home.

As her day ended after the lunch rush, Allison clocked out. Although it was only her first day, it seemed like she was already a pro at it all. She grabbed her jacket and headed out of the front door.

When she arrived at her apartment later, her arms full of groceries. Again, she took the elevator and although she knew where shew as going, she wasn't watching where she was going and felt her shoulder hit something....or in this case, someone, which caused her to drop a bag.

"Shit!"

And that's when she came face to face with him.

Chris.

"You!" It was all she could say as she laughed with no humor as she bent down to pick up her stuff, "Wow... I knew you were upset but to follow me home and push my stuff outta my hands...man, you have some nerve."

As Chris came out of the stairwell, he did not notice the woman getting off the elevator with her arms filled with grocery bags. After the bag fell, and items tumbled out of it, Chris bent down to pick them up. Then he heard her.

He looked up to see that the woman he had bumped into was the woman from the coffee shop. He smiled a little. "Don't flatter yourself. I have no reason to follow you. Unless, of course, I was going to give you a hard time for what you wrote on my cup this morning, and that was after I apologized. However, if I was going to give you a hard time for that, I would just go in and see the manager. I am sure she would love to hear about how the new person is treating regular customers."

He handed her the bag and walked to his door. As he took out his keys, he looked over at her and smiled. "I guess we will be seeing a lot of each other, huh neighbor. Welcome to the neighborhood." He opened the door and went inside; dropping his keys on the table and going to his bedroom to change.

Allison smiled. That was it. He was right, he could go to her manager and tell her what she had done. But he wasn't going to. He didn't look the type to run and tell...then again, he made a big deal over his coffee only to come back for it and apologize. So, she had to give him that.

As she entered her apartment, she set the bags down on the counter and turned only to come face to face with him.

On instinct she raised her arm back to swing at the guy but it was no use, he had her in a hold, locking her arm behind her and turning her only to push her over the counter and press his full weight onto her. "If you were any one else, you'd be dead," was all he had said before holding onto her and then releasing her after a minute.

With an embarrassed flush rushing over her, Allison stood up and turned around to look at the man, "What are you doing here?" she asked quietly...almost submissively.

The man before her stood at least 5'9" but he was wiry and lean. He had the moves and the grace of the cat. He coal black eyes looked at Allison, studying her for any changes in her demeanor and features.

"You've made contact with the target?"

She nodded, "Isn't it obvious?"

He glared and backhanded her and to her credit, she didn't cry out. She never cried out. Instead, she stood and took it. There was no way she was going to fight him...no matter how much her gut told her to do it and that she would succeed...

"There's been a change in plans. You need to get rid of him tonight."

This time, her eyes showed something...something he hadn't seen since the beginning before she looked away, "Isn't it too soon?"

"It's not your job to question. It's your job to do as I say."

The truth was, they had some intel and needed to get things moving before word got out they had the upper hand on things. The last thing they needed was the government getting involved again. It seemed like they never learned no matter what.

"Fine. It will be done tonight."

"Good, and to make sure it gets done.." he stepped closer to her and whispered something in her ear.

That's when things seemed to change for Allison.

Again, another blur and she had found herself making dinner. Grasping the counter, she had to steady herself to keep the room from spinning. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and then opened her eyes before standing up straight. Reaching over, she turned off the stove and then opened the fridge to grab a bottle of wine. It was as if she was moving on automatic she walked over to her door and opened it.

Allison was standing in front of Chris' apartment door and knocked. She waited until he answered before giving him a smile, "Hey, I know we started things off on the wrong foot so..." she held up the bottle of wine, "And since we're going to be neighbors also, I thought perhaps we could start over?" Allison pushed the bottle toward him, "I'm Allison and I just moved in..."

Hopefully he would invite her in...

Chris changed into a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. He came back out of the bedroom and turned on the television. He had no idea what was on, but he would find something mindless. He went to the refrigerator to see what he was going to have for dinner.

As he opened the door to the refrigerator, Chris heard a knock at the door. He wondered who that could be, because he had never had a visitor before. He went to the apartment door. Before opening it, he checked and made sure his Glock was where he had left it in the cabinet near the door.

He was shocked by who he saw standing before him when he opened the door. His new neighbor was standing there with a bottle of wine, which she extended toward him. He heard her say something about starting over as she stood there.

Chris invited her inside and closed the door behind them. "Well, you already know my name is Asshole. So tell me, what is your name neighbor?" He motioned her toward the sofa and he took the bottle of wine from her. He looked her over as she moved toward the sofa.....first he was checking out her body...second, he was always looking for signs of danger.

Laughing, Allison held up her hands in a surrender fashion, "Hey now...I was hoping we could just let slide and start over, remember? Besides," she casually moved to the couch and leaned against it, crossing her arms in front of her and looking at him, "I truly am sorry for all that, it was a little tough to start a new job during the busiest shift... Besides, you have to admit, you were acting like a diva."

She watched him and realized he was still in what seemed a guarded position, "if you are still mad at me then I can just leave orrrrr....you can forgive me and come over to my place for some dinner. Or maybe you don't like Mexican food. Granted it's not restaurant quality, its still pretty good... At least I think it is."

"Well, yes, I acted inappropriately this morning, but I did apologize, because I realize that I was wrong and I took out my frustrations of my job on you. The name you wrote on the cup was appropriate for the way I acted. I got a good laugh out of it when I saw it at the office."

There was something about this woman that had Chris on alert. There was something that reminded him of someone....just who exactly he was not sure. "I love Mexican food, but I do not want to impose. I already started your day of work off in a bad way. I dont want to mess up the end of your day."

"So you had plans to mess it up the end of my day??"

When that didn't get a smile out of him, Allison sighed, "Come on...you really need to lighten up..."

Pushing off the couch, she shook her head and shrugged, "OK, well I don't want to push you but the invite still stands. I just wanted to do something nice." She moved toward the door and reached for the knob, "See you around, I guess?"

Something wasn't right....he didn't seem too lighten up as she was informed so she acted on instinct and would wait for him to come to her..

Her attempt at a joke was not that funny, at least he didnt think so. He watched as she pushed herself away from the couch and headed off toward the door. He listened as she hurled vague insults at him. She left the apartment and went back to her place.

That didnt go real well. He had now interacted with his neighbor three times, and all of them were train wrecks. He thought of going over and apologizing, but there was still something that made him uneasy.

He turned to go into the kitchen, and saw the bottle of wine that she had brought over sitting on the table. He grabbed the bottle and went next door. He had to return the bottle; it wasnt his. He knocked on her door, and when she answered the door he extended the bottle to her. "You forgot this."

"Really...?" Allison said as she just looked between him and the bottle....wow...

"I suppose you don't drink either.... Dude, you're killing me." She nudged her head toward the kitchen, can you put it on the counter? I need to stir the rice...after that you can go but seriously, I hope you stay and maybe try to relax..."

She walked away from the door and went to the kitchen and since her place was the opposite of his, she was sure he would be OK.

"You take jokes very well, do you?" She asked as she stirred something in a pot.

He walked into the apartment and looked around. The hair stood up on the back of his neck. Why was she trying so hard to get him into her apartment?

He moved cautiously and sat the bottle on the table. "I appreciate that you brought a bottle of wine over, but I returned it because you didnt stay to open it. The wine is yours. I am not returning it as a way of trying to insult you."

He watched her walk to the stove and stir the contents of a pot. "I like jokes with people that I know. I am pretty conservative and I take a little time to warm up to people. I am not trying to insult you in any way. This is just me being me."

While Chris stood there talking, his antennae were up. He was on high alert. Years of training had built n early warning system in him. He wasnt sure why it was on right now, but it certainly was.

Now wasn't the time... a small voice inside her head told her.... not now...

She listened to him as he spoke but didn't look at him. With a nod, she placed the spoon down on the spoon rest, "OK..that makes sense." She moved over a bit and leaned against the counter, "Listen, I didn't mean to scare you or intimidate you... if I came on strong then it's because I'm sincerely sorry about earlier. How about this... I won't bug you again? We'll just go on like it never happened, OK?"

Allison hoped it wasn't mean with what she was saying. She honestly didn't want there to be any ill will between them...

His mind was racing. His eyes were moving back and forth...always making sure that she was in his sight. He started to relax a little, but not much.

"Yea, that is fine. Starting over is probably the best way for us to go. It will be hard to live right next door to each other if there is any animosity between us."

The feelings he had brought back the memories of many missions he had been on.... a lot of them with his wife. Thoughts of his wife started to cloud his thinking and he decided that he needed to get out of there.

"Thanks for the offer of the wine and dinner....maybe another time. Okay?" He headed for the door and was gone. Once he was out of the neighbor's apartment, he relaxed. He didn't feel like there was anything to worry about. He went back to his apartment and sat on the sofa.

Watching him leave, Allison knew that she had failed. But instinct...or something told her now wasn't the time. Not if they wanted a mess on their hands.

After chucking dinner into the garbage, she waited for the text asking if she had completed the job.

But to her surprise, it never came. That was either a good thing or a bad thing...

***
With a hard gasp, Allison woke up breathing hard. That damn dream again!

Or in her case, those damn nightmares. More about explosions and running...hearing people surrounding her and the sounds of monitors.. all garble she couldn't make out too clearly. And that bugged the fuck out of her.

Looking at the time on her phone, it was only 2AM. She didn't have to be up for a few more hours but there was no way she could go back to sleep. Instead, she got out of bed and threw on a pair of shorts and a tshirt, grabbed her shoes and a jacket. She needed to get out of here. The confinement was too much. She needed fresh air now.

Slamming her apartment door, she rushed to the stairwell and took the steps two at a time until she found herself outside. She didn't think. Instead, she picked a direction and ran...

Chris sat around in his quiet apartment trying to figure out what was going on. Why was he on such high alert when he was around the new neighbor? He also was wracking his brain trying to figure out who the new neighbor reminded him of.

He went to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. He stood with his back to the counter, leaning against it, engrossed in thought. What the hell was going on? He hadn't had any of these feelings since he had been put on desk duty.

He decided to call it a night. He made sure the apartment door was locked and dead bolted. The Glock was still in place by the door. When he went into the bedroom, he made sure his weapon was in the night stand and he took another one from the closet and put it under his pillow.

He jumped awake when he heard something slam. He reached for the weapon under his pillow as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He looked at the clock on the nightstand...... 2:06. What the fuck is going on? He got out of bed and looked around the apartment. Then he checked the hallway.....nothing.

Allison ran. She until her sides hurt and she was crying. Why the fuck was she crying?!

She was frustrated, that much was for sure. Things didn't make sense lately. Why?

That seemed to be her only question these days. Why.

***

With her tears dried up and her breathing calmed down, Allison was walking back toward her apartment. She was lost in thought when she felt someone following her. Before she could react, a pain exploded in the back of her head and fell to her knees. With a quick reaction, she swept her leg but her attacker was prepared and kicked out themselves, a foot connecting with her stomach, making her double over.

A pair of hands grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into an alley. She was pulled up to her feet and slammed against the wall as an arm pressing against her neck and then, the feeling of cold steel resting against her temple.

"You failed."

That voice. It was him. Allison tried to talk but couldn't. She wanted to fight back, but couldn't. Deep down she knew she could counteract the hold and beat the shit out of Jason. Kill him would be an easy feat...but she didn't...

He couldn't get back to sleep after hearing the door slam and checking things out. In fact, Chris knew he wouldn't be able to, so, he didn't even bother trying. He went to the refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of water and sat on the sofa in the living room.

He listened as he sat in the quiet. He wanted to see if he could hear anything else. Maybe, he would be able to find out if whoever slammed the door returned and was just as noisy. Then, he could have a conversation with them about being quiet.

Chris wondered if it was the new neighbor that was responsible for the loud noise. His mind immediately started racing again, wondering what it was about her that had him so on edge. It had been an interesting day. He had three, no, actually four encounters with her.

There was no way that she could have scripted those encounters...was there? She worked in a coffee shop. She didn't know he would be, as she so eloquently wrote, an asshole. Their bumping into each other in the hallway had to be coincidence, and then her coming over to introduce herself and invite him to dinner, and him returning the bottle of wine could not have been planned.

Or could they have?

Her mindset was different. Her attitude changed.

Walking up the stairs to her apartment, Allison moved quietly. She hadn't locked the door to her apartment so she just turned the knob and walked in, closing the door softly behind her. Like a robot, she moved toward her room, not bothering with the lights. She needed sleep. Her entire body was in pain but she ignored it. It was good to feel the pain. It meant she was alive.

It seemed like she just laid down in bed when her alarm went off, but again, as if on automatic, she got out of bed and headed to the shower, where she peeled off her clothes before stepping into the shower. If one could see her, they would ignore her toned body and instead, see her shoulders and stomach covered in bruises from last night's 'incident'...her little breakdown.

After her shower she dressed in a long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. She headed to work, not really talking to anyone but again, working as if on automatic...taking orders, fulfilling them...routine.

She had to stick to the plan.