Julie sighed heavily. She took a moment to run her free hand over her face, then used her other hand to pistol-whip in the face the unfortunate lieutenant that was tied to a chair.

"Where is the citadel hidden?" She ordered. The lieutenant, who appeared to be Brazilian under a fine layer of crusted blood and fuchsia bruises, only spit at her.

Julie turned away from him. "This is going nowhere." She said in frustration, wiping the saliva off her face. Near the back of the poorly lit and mostly barren room, a young, dark haired girl leaned up against the wall. She wore all black - from the Kevlar vest to the nylon pants and boots. She looked as if she was bored to be there. Her hair fell lazily off her head, some strands across her face.

"Then do something about it." The girl said flatly.

"What do you think I've been doing for the past hour, Orchid?" Julie looked back at the captive. "He isn't talking."

Orchid looked briefly at Julie. "Then let's change that." She reached into her pocket and pulled out an all-silver military issue Colt .45. With the same motion, she walked forward, brought her arm up and buried a bullet in the captive's left shin, his right shin, his left shoulder, and his right shoulder.

"Jesus Orchid, what are you doing!" Julie involuntarily yelled.

The captive howled in pain. Orchid walked directly up to him, and pressed the tip of the gun firmly to his forehead.

"Give me a reason." She said.

The room froze. Julie and the lieutenant both watched the young girl with unblinking eyes, the lieutenant's getting wider with each passing second. His chest heaved up and down in silence. Julie could swear she could hear her own blood tumbling down her veins.

"All right! I'll talk! I'll tell you where it is! Just don't shoot me!" The captive plead.

Orchid fixed her gaze on him for a few seconds before withdrawing the gun. Julie let out a sigh of relief, before stepping up between Orchid and the man.

The man leaned in closer to Julie, as much as possible within his restraints. "I'll tell you whatever you want…just keep her away from me. You understand? Keep her away from me."

Julie looked down on him. He was obviously rattled. She could empathize. She briefly turned her attention to her teammate. "I'll take it from here, go wait out in the hall." Orchid nodded in agreement.

Julie watched her leave. In a profession where assassination and terrorism were an ordinary week, she was rattled. There was something about Orchid that sent chills up her spine.

.......................................................

Red Balloon was a small tavern tucked away in a quiet corner of Paris. It's made of smoky red bricks that look like they'd crumble if touched. There's a green sign at the top of the building, where the name of the place used to be, but time erased the letters. The average person does not know what the building is, and is not curious enough to enter. The bar enjoys regular patronage though. One such patron is Julie, as she pushed open the gold-lined door, and slipped through.

She weaved her way through the tables to the bar. There are a moderate number of people there - twenty-something's, all American. They looked up and recognized Julie, but did not speak. They resumed drinking, talking, or whatever else they were doing. Julie picked an isolated chair and dumped herself in it. Her blond hair was down, falling to just past her shoulders. She wore a blue shirt tucked into a charcoal gray pair of slacks. She chewed on her bottom lip, bringing part of it into her mouth before letting it jut out again.

The bartender noticed her. "Julie! You are still alive." He said with a slight French accent.

Julie didn't look up. "They haven't gotten me yet Pierre."

"You will have your usual, no?"

"Of course."

Pierre turned away from the bottles of alcohol arranged on the wall, and opened up a mini-refrigerator under the bar. He took a carton of orange juice, poured it into a small glass, and slid it to Julie. Julie took a small sip before cradling the glass. For the first time, she noticed music in the tavern. Usually, off to the right, there were two pool tables at which the male Agents liked to while away hours on end, making bets and generally being playful. Today, the tables had been cleared away; a makeshift stage in their place. There were two musicians - a pianist and a saxophone player. Together they pounded out a slow, stiff jazz theme that Julie found vaguely familiar.

Pierre served a drink to a man at the other end of the bar, and then returned to Julie. "You seem very far away tonight, Miss Julie. Did your mission go well?"

Julie looked up as if pulled away from something. "The mission? Oh, yeah, it was fine. We got the info. Intel is confirming it, and I'll probably get sent out again next week."

"Is something wrong then?"

"No, no. I just…no."

Pierre arched his eyebrows, while taking a glass from the bar and cleaning it. He focused on the glass, knowing that Julie was still looking at him.

"It's just that…" Julie started, "you've heard of Orchid, right?"

"Orchid...Orchid…is that the kid that Mikhal was taking care of?"

"Yeah, that's her. She doesn't come here often."

"I've never seen her."

"She's sort of…yeah. Anyway, we were interrogating this lieutenant, and he was being stubborn, as usual. At one point, Orchid just gets bored with it all, pulls out her gun, shoots the guy four times, puts the gun to his head, and basically tells him to talk, or die."

"Goodness. Did it work?"

"Oh yeah. The guy broke almost instantly."

"Well then…?"

Julie shook her head. "It's just that…I can't describe it, but I could tell…another second of silence, and she would have shot him. Simple as that. We needed that info, she could have really compromised the mission."

"Oh, but she did not. And she produced results, no?"

"It worked, but what if it hadn't? What if she had killed him?"

"The guy you were going to kill anyway?"

"Not the point."

Another man entered the tavern, and took a seat at the bar. Pierre served him quickly before returning to Julie. "Then what is? She got results, did she not?"

Julie sighed heavily before taking another sip of her juice. "I hate interrogations, Pierre. I mean assassinations, bombings, sabotage, that's impersonal. You can separate yourself if you need to. But interrogations…that's just torturing another human being. I hate it. Some people enjoy doing it. Fine, whatever floats your boat. But Orchid…Orchid doesn't care. And it's not just interrogations, it's everything. I don't think I've seen her show one emotion in the two years I've known her. Except maybe bored, annoyed, or frustrated, if that counts."

Pierre laughed. "I do not understand this Organization. You recruit these kids out of high school, try to teach them to become efficient assassins, and all the while you struggle with your humanity. And here comes one Agent who has successfully lost her humanity, and that bothers you."

Julie looked up at him. "It's not that she lost her humanity. She never had it."

"Maybe so Miss Julie, but then, why do you care? It was my impression that Agents are taught to not form any attachments, because your lifespans are so short."

Julie stared into her glass. "Right before Mikhal died…he asked me to take care of Orchid should anything happen to him. I didn't understand why he was asking me, I mean, I only talked to him here and there."

"He saw something in you. Everyone else sees it too. They talk about you in the same way they talked about Mikhal."

Julie snorted. "Anyway, I promised him that I would look after her."

"Mikhal has been dead for four years. You no longer need to honor the promise, no?"

"Promises made to dead men are the ones you especially cannot break."

"Ah well, the way it sounds, I think Orchid can do fine on her own."

"Oh, I'm not worried about that. If anyone else lives past thirty like Mikhal did, it'll be Orchid. I don't think Mikhal was worried about that either. I think he was concerned about her character. He used to mention how anti-social she was, even before she found out about the Organization and wanted to become an Agent. I think he was guilty."

"Guilty?"

"Yeah." Julie leaned in closer to him. "You can't tell this to anyone, not that you would, but…do you know how Mikhal came to take care of Orchid?"

"He found her on his doorstep when she was very young, no?"

"Right. He thinks she was no older than two. He found her asleep in front of his apartment complex, her face streaked with dry tears. He woke her up to tell her to go home, but she couldn't remember anything before that moment, not even her own name. Mikhal named her Orchid, because she had a red one in her hair at the time.

"Mikhal didn't know what else to do with her, so he just took her in. He did some digging, and found out that her parents had been murdered, violently. She had no family, no relatives that could take her in. So he just kept her, and started to take care of her. Best he could, anyway. I guess he felt guilty about that…it was like a very early recruitment. He tried to hide the Organization from her, but once she found out, she dedicated herself to becoming an Agent. She never really had an option for anything else."

"But Miss Julie, that still sounds like Mikhal's problem, not yours."

"Then why did he ask me? Why not someone else?"

"That is, perhaps, a question that cannot be answered."

Julie downed the rest of her orange juice. Pierre took the carton from under the bar and poured her another.

"So then, let us ask a question that can be answered." Pierre continued. "Why do you care?"

"I don't."

"Then why bother?"

"I dunno." Julie turned away from him, and faced the musicians. She watched the saxophone player carefully, studying the way his fingers swept like a wave over it. "I just…this is a depressing life, y'know? I think it's a mistake, one we all make because we're young and stupid. They know it too, that's why they have that profile, they intentionally recruit people when they're at emotional lows, so a lifestyle like this actually sounds like a good idea. I'm nothing more than a terrorist. Sure, we're doing it 'for the good of the country' and whatever, 'the dirty work America claims to be above', but it all comes down to simple terrorism. And I'll be dead before I turn thirty. Despite all that though, at least I can look back on the life I used to have. I was something. Orchid never had that. So, maybe I'm just trying to help her find something to live for before she dies. Otherwise, she's just a part of the system, a machine that works until it breaks. Like I am now."

Pierre stared at her intently. "Miss Julie…what are you saying?"

Julie half-smiled. "You know, back when I had a family, my older brother had graduated from college…he had a girlfriend, who I suppose was my age now back then. He'd bring her home sometimes, and she'd end up talking to me. And occasionally, she'd say something like 'I'm twenty five, and I've accomplished nothing in my life'. I always thought she was being silly. Now, I sort of understand that."

"You have accomplished nothing? Surely you joke! How many wars have you stopped? Started? How many dictators have you removed?"

"I stopped counting. And yes, I've saved lives. Taken just as many. And done all that was asked of me, in the name of 'protecting American interests.' But that was all for the system. And what does it amount to anyway? You can't wear white in a mud fight and expect to win. So you have to get in there and sling mud balls better than everyone else. But at what point do you start to clean up? And what if you don't? It's just…whatever I'm doing, it's all going to be pretty meaningless. I'll die, someone will replace me, and we'll keep flinging mud balls until everything goes to hell."

Pierre said nothing in response. Instead, he mechanically turned away from her, to the bottles stacked behind him. He removed two dusty bottles from the top shelf, opened them, and carefully mixed their contents into a new glass. He slid it over to Julie, who eyeballed it.

"What's this?" She asked.

"When I hear an Agent say the kind of things you are saying now, I pour this drink. I name it 'Last Call.' Usually when I pour this drink, I never see the Agent again."

Julie looked up at him. "Hmph," was all she muttered.

Pierre smiled at her. "I still remember when I poured this drink for Mikhal."

Julie kept her gaze fixed on Pierre. "I don't believe in superstition or ritual." She quickly finished her orange juice, then got up and left the tavern.

Pierre looked down, slightly nodding his head. "They never drink it either."

...................................................

Golden rays of sunlight showered everyone in warmth. It was infectious; the masses smiled and laughed, while covering their eyes with sunglasses and putting caps on their heads. It was a great day for the state fair. People flowed in the open spaces between the rides and the vendors, talking and smiling among themselves. Ringing out above the murmur were a few showman voices, attracting people to their booths.

Moving among the masses were Julie and Orchid. Although not quite as warm as those around her, Julie's face seemed to also be affected by the day, the environment. Orchid wore the same expression she always did; or rather, the lack of one. A large Mickey Mouse stuffed animal dangled precariously through her fingers.

The two Agents were to go on another assignment in a few days. Thanks to the information obtained from the lieutenant, the location of the citadel was confirmed to be hidden deep within the Brazilian Rainforest. They would have to get in, find and copy the data they sought, and get out. It would be a very challenging mission. Julie decided that the perfect preparation would be a trip to the California State Fair. Although that wasn't what she had told Orchid. Had Orchid known that she was coming to a fair and not coming to see an old martial arts sensei of Julie's, she would have never boarded the plane. Now, she was here simply because she was stuck.

Julie turned back to her. "Are you hungry? You haven't eaten yet today."

Orchid took a lazy look to her left and right. "The food here is ridiculously overpriced."

Julie laughed. "And when have we ever cared about money? C'mon, I'll buy you a funnel cake. It's a little sweet, but really good."

Minutes later, Julie, Orchid, and two strawberry topped funnel cakes made their way to an unoccupied bench in the picnic area. Almost in the same motion she made to sit, Julie brought the cake up to her nose, inhaling the aroma deeply. With a grin on her face, she cut into it and brought a large piece into her mouth.

"Just as good as I remembered it." Julie said.

Orchid raised an eyebrow, and picked at a corner of it with her fork.

Julie observed all the different people wandering by. A family of four; mother, father, two young girls. The eldest looked bored, while twirling her hair. The father studied the map while the mother stroked the hair of the youngest. A young couple, college students probably. The boy touched various parts of the girl's body while she giggled. A group of guys, loud, active, jumping about and waving their arms to exaggerate their words.

Julie returned to Orchid. "So, is there a ride you'd like to go on next? We haven't been to the Wipeout yet, that was one of my favorites."

Orchid shook her head. "Can't we leave already?"

"No. We are not leaving until you actually enjoy one of these rides."

"This is pointless. Our time would have been better spent actually visiting an old sensei, not here."

"And what, become better, more efficient machines?" Julie was careful about her word selection; after all, this was a public place. "Training is good, but sometimes you have to kick back and relax. Especially in our line of work. The Agent who recruited me, Calista, used to say, 'I'm only going to live one-third a normal lifespan. Therefore, I have to live my life times three.' I always thought she was a little too extravagant, but she did have a point."

"Calista…she died not too long after she recruited you, didn't she? Maybe if she was more serious about her work, she might have lived longer."

Julie sighed. "Just because we lead the type of lives that we do…that's no reason to stop living. Mikhal was trying to tell you that before he died. And he was a damn good Agent. The only one to actually make it past thirty, so far. And yeah, maybe he didn't make friends or anything like that, but he could still socialize, get out and have fun. Don't you remember all those baseball games he used to take you when he was off-duty?"

"Baseball is boring."

Julie smiled. "You're a tough nut. That's okay, I'll crack you. I promised I would."

Orchid went back to picking at her funnel cake.

Julie carefully observed her. "Don't you like it?"

Orchid twisted her mouth. "It's really sweet."

"Hmm, maybe you don't have the sweet tooth I do. I remember the first time I had funnel cake I loved it." Julie looked up into the sky, as if she was far away. "The first time, my boyfriend had brought me here."

"The boyfriend that was killed in the car accident?"

Julie nodded. She let out a small laugh. "I remember I thought it was so lame. A state fair? I was determined to have a bad time. He took me on a few rides, and I was still dedicated to being miserable. So he brought me here, over to that table in fact, and bought me a funnel cake. I was hungry, so I couldn't turn it down. One bite, and suddenly, I had forgotten what I was so mad about."

Orchid stabbed at another section. She sniffed it, then reluctantly ate it.

Many male Agents considered Orchid to be very beautiful. Aside from the long, dark hair, she had a fair complexion and full red lips. Those who didn't know her back-story assumed she got the often joked about "upgrade deal" when undergoing the mandatory plastic surgery upon becoming an Agent. But Orchid had never seen a surgeon at all. There was no need to erase any records of her previous life, because she had none. She was already a ghost.

Julie devoured another large bite, dripping with strawberry sauce. "Say, I saw you talking to Agent Flare a few weeks ago, it looked to me like he had a thing for you."

"He probably did."

"…And?"

"He wanted me to come back to his apartment with him, but I refused, went home and worked on my roundhouse kicks. I think I'm pulling a bit to the right."

Julie frowned at her. "Orchid!"

"What? I thought friendships were discouraged in the Organization."

"I don't think Flare wanted to become better friends with you."

"I know that."

"So then, you just didn't want to?"

"No. I never have. I only do it when I have to. Infiltration. It can get you into places you couldn't ordinarily get. The advantage of being a woman among perverted men I suppose."

"Is everything just 'part of a mission' to you?"

"Nothing else matters." Orchid took a bigger piece of the cake, and ate it without hesitation this time.

Julie closed her eyes and smiled at Orchid. "Okay, suppose you didn't become an Agent."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Just play along! Suppose you can't be an Agent. I dunno, you break your leg during a sparring exercise, it never heals properly. What would you have done then? What direction would you have taken with your life?"

"Why does it matter? I am an Agent."

"Just curious. Humor me."

"I never prepared to be anything else."

Julie shook her head. "I'm sure there had to have been something else. Me…I didn't know what I wanted actually. My brothers were all really successful, and I felt pressure to keep up with them. Like I had to be as good as them. I had thought about journalism…kind of wanted to be a news anchor. I figured I could start off local, then move up and do one of those news magazine shows on network. I'd be known for my award-winning interviews. My candid, in your face style. I had it all planned out. But I worked for the school paper my sophomore year, and hated it. So that dream kind of died quick."

"But then you took the tests for the military, didn't you? Wasn't that how you were recruited?"

"Yeah. That was after my boyfriend died. I was already feeling lost before, and when that happened, I was totally out of it. I was hoping the Army would give me direction. And before I know it, Calista is giving me the speech about the Organization, defending your country in ways the general public could never understand, et cetera."

Orchid let her eyes linger on Julie for a moment before taking another chunk out of the funnel cake.

"So…what did you want to be?"

"I told you, I wanted to be an Agent."

"But if that didn't work."

Orchid glared at her. "Fine. If not an Agent…then maybe a teacher."

Julie tried her best to hold in a laugh. She really did. But she couldn't help it. A small snort pushed its way through, followed by a full giggle. Orchid frowned, and then ate another bite.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Julie said between laughs. "I just wasn't expecting that. I totally pictured you with the glasses and the ironed dress, in front of a blackboard teaching kids the fifty states. That is so not you."

"Then it's a good thing I became an Agent, isn't it?"

"Oh God, those poor kids would come home crying every day!" Julie laughed again. "You know, that whole 'Miss Julie' nickname came from Calista…on my first day, she thought I was too uptight, like a schoolteacher. She called me 'Miss Julie', and the name just kind of stuck. Could you imagine? The two of us, teaching middle school or something? Drop out rates would be at an all time high!"

Orchid arched her eyebrows upward, reluctantly letting a half smile slip through.

Julie nearly jumped. "There! There it is! I knew you had one in there somewhere."

"I've smiled before."

"I've never seen it."

"I didn't say I've smiled around you."

Julie laughed. "Fair enough. But see? I told you, a little funnel cake works wonders. Aren't you glad you came now?"

"We still should have spent this time training."

Julie threw her head back, letting her hair tickle the nape of her neck. "Well, I guess I can't ask for instant results. This is going to take a metric ton of funnel cakes."

.....................................................

The sound of the helicopter blades whipping the air drowned out everything else. It gave the three Agents in the cabin of the chopper, Julie, Orchid, and a tall, statuesque man who went by Maverick, an excuse not to talk. Orchid was her usual expressionless self. Julie sat against the back wall, staring intently at the floor.

Maverick was studying a map of the citadel they were supposed to infiltrate. After a few moments, he got bored with it, left his seat, and went over to Julie.

"Julie!" He had to elevate his voice so it would be heard over the chopper blades. "Do you want to do this in stages, or synchronous?"

Julie seemed not to hear the question at first, and then twisted her mouth. "Synchronous! We need Orchid's computer skills to hack their systems! You and I will run protect and defend! Recon can stay here!"

Maverick turned to the cockpit, where Recon was piloting the chopper. "Hey Recon, y'hear that? You get to stay behind this one!"

"Fine by me, I need to catch up on my reading anyway!" Recon responded. "Last issue I read, Spider-Man was about to get killed by Dr. Octopus!"

Maverick smiled, shaking his head. He knelt down next to Julie so he wouldn't have to yell anymore. "Say Julie, you've been awfully quiet since Tibet. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Julie said. "Don't worry about me."

"I'm not worried about you. Not at all. Just wondering if there's something on your mind."

Julie rubbed her hands together. "Well, sort of. You've been around for a few years, right?"

"A few. More than I should, probably."

"Have you ever heard of anyone retiring from the Organization?"

"What?"

"Retiring. Quitting. Has anyone ever done it?"

"Retiring from the Organization? I've never heard of it. Any Agent who is no longer is Agent is dead."

"Yeah, but has anyone ever tried?"

"Tried to retire? Not that I've heard of. I don't think they'd even allow it."

"Why not? I mean, it's not like we know that much, they only tell us the bare bones of what we need to know to get the job done. And even if we wanted to talk, it's not like we could prove anything, or anyone would believe us anyway."

"Still, I gotta think that's a huge security risk. They'd probably give you a suicide mission."

"Well, you could always pull a Mikhal and come back alive."

"Maybe you could. I don't know anyone else who could pull that off though." Maverick paused, studying Julie's face. "Why are you thinking about this?"

"Oh, just curious, I suppose. I started wondering if there was some sort of dental plan we didn't know about, and I guess somehow I got on retirement. Thought maybe I could buy a nice home in Florida when I'm thirty five, play bingo with the ladies in the neighborhood."

Maverick laughed. "If you make it to thirty five, and we're both still around, I'll buy you a rocking chair."

Julie smiled weakly at him. Maverick returned to his seat, and Julie went back to staring at the same spot on the floor she was staring at before.

.......................................................

"Orchid, I hate to hurry genius at work, but speed would be greatly appreciated here!" Julie said quickly, just before she spun on her heel, and fired two or three shots from the desk they were hiding behind. Julie ducked down just as another volley of bullets passed over her head.

"Doing the best I can." Orchid calmly said. She was working on a computer keyboard, mainframe, and monitor that had hastily been pulled down behind the toppled metal desk. To her left, Julie and Maverick were crouching for their safety.

Maverick loaded another clip into his silver pistol. "Intel was way off on this one. That server password they gave us may have worked, but at the same time it tipped them off to a security breach."

"You want to be the one to yell at them when we get back?" Julie asked. She felt the desk push forward a few inches with another barrage of bullets. On the other side of the room, six Brazilian men wearing gray military fatigues were firing automatic assault rifles at the Agents. There were a few other computers in the room, which had been destroyed by gunfire, and other toppled desks. There was a door on the right wall, only a few meters away from the Agents, and one behind the soldiers.

Maverick smiled at Julie. "Aw, you're not having any fun!" He poked up from the desk for a moment, fired a few rounds, and then ducked down again.

"This mission wasn't going to be easy, but this wasn't supposed to happen either." Julie frowned. "I hate it when things deviate from the plan."

"Got it." Orchid said. She pushed a button on the mainframe, and a mini-compact disc ejected. "The data transfer has been completed. We got it all." She held out the CD towards Maverick and Julie.

Julie nodded towards Maverick. "Mav, you're mission leader on this one. You take it."

Maverick gave Julie and Orchid a look before taking the disc, and tucking it into one of the pockets on his black Kevlar vest.

"Okay," Orchid said, "no matter what, we have to get Maverick out of here. The rest is inconsequential."

Julie nodded. "Right. Standard three-man extraction procedures should work here. One of us will serve as a distraction, the other plays bodyguard."

Orchid pulled her gun from her pant leg pocket. "I'll extract."

Julie stared blankly into the table for a few moments before speaking. "No. I'll extract. I'm better at it; if I do it, the chances of all three of us getting out of here are greater."

Maverick nodded. "Okay then, Julie you extract. Orchid, you run bodyguard."

Orchid nodded. Julie emptied her used clip, and tossed the gun to Orchid. Orchid caught it with her free hand, and then spun both guns around her finger before catching them with a slight shake. "I got it."

Julie handed the empty clip to Maverick, and took another gun from her leg pocket. "On three, okay? I'll see you guys at the pick up spot." She winked, before going over to the far end of the table past Orchid. Maverick and Orchid both inched closer to the other end, towards the door on the right.

Maverick looked back at Julie, preparing to throw the empty clip towards the door. "Okay, here we go. Good luck, Miss Julie. One! Two!"

Julie narrowed her eyes, coiled on her hunches, with the fingers of her left hand pressed against the cold metal floor. Her right hand tightly gripped her gun.

"Three!" As he said it, Maverick tossed the empty clip to his right, towards the door.

For a small moment, the flying clip distracted the eyes of the soldiers. In that same moment, Julie lunged out from the desk. She quickly assessed the situation; the closest soldier was a few meters ahead. He wore a bulletproof vest. That could actually work. Julie raised her gun and fired twice; the first shot missed, but the second drove a bullet directly into the man's skull. As his eyes widened, Julie regained her footing and dashed towards him. By now, the other soldiers noticed her, and began to fire. Julie stayed low; some of the bullets went over her head, some to the side, and ones that could have actually hit her instead hit the vest of the now dead soldier. Julie caught up to the corpse, and caught it before it hit the ground. She brought her gun up under his left arm. The closest two soldiers were not wearing vests. She fired four shots; two into the chest of each soldier. She quickly pushed forward, still holding the dead body. As the other two soldiers were falling, she shoved it forward, catching one of the remaining soldiers off-guard. The corpse innocently tackled him to the ground. Before the other two soldiers could compose themselves enough to take aim, Julie was upon them. She hit one with a left hook to the throat, instantly stunning him. She used her momentum to hit the other solider with a right roundhouse kick as she turned. After the kick, she corrected herself, and promptly turned around to the soldier who had been corpse-tackled. She shot him once in the head, and did the same for the other two she had disabled.

Maverick, who had been watching, now signaled to Orchid. "Go now!" Both he and Orchid scrambled to the right door, exiting the room. Julie could hear rapidly approaching footsteps - more soldiers coming towards the back door. She reached into her left pant leg and pulled out a grenade. She pulled the pin and carelessly tossed it into the hallway. No sooner than the grenade left her hand, she turned towards the now dead tackled soldier. She reached under the dead soldier on top of him, and took his automatic rifle, and two clips. Meanwhile, the grenade exploded down the hall; a few faint grunts and anguished yells could barely be heard. Julie took a moment to replace the clip in her pistol, and then readied her rifle and started down the hallway she had just thrown the grenade down.

.........................................................

Orchid and Maverick sprinted down the poorly lit, barren hallway for a few meters before having to turn into an empty room to avoid a bullet shower. Maverick poked his head out of the room, fired a few shots from his pistol, and then returned to cover.

"Is there any other way out?" Orchid asked.

Maverick thought it over. "Not really. With the diversion Julie is creating this will be the best way."

Orchid nodded. "All right." She raised the guns in both hands, then before Maverick could react, she pushed herself out of the room and into the deadly corridor. Maverick called after her, but to no avail. His first instinct was to follow and help; but since he was the proverbial ball carrier in this mission now, protocol dictated that he had to play it safe. All he could do was press himself up against the wall next to the door and listen to the sounds of the gunfight.

Amid the rapid-fire shots from the soldier's automatic rifles, Maverick could hear Orchid's dual pistols quickly firing, along with staggered footsteps. The opposing thunderous crashes seemed to be building to a crescendo. Instead of a crescendo though, the shots slowed down, and the number of participants seemed to be dwindling. The symphony faded with a few more shots from Orchid's gun, then concluded with the sound of approaching footsteps. Maverick readied his pistol, not sure of what was on its way.

The footsteps stopped at the door. Maverick swung around, held his pistol out at head height, and prepared to shoot if the first thing that didn't catch his eyes was a dark haired girl.

Fortunately, enough, it was Orchid.

Maverick dropped his gun. "Jesus Orchid, I swear, sometimes you amaze me."

"We should go before more soldiers come." Orchid said in her usual monotone. She turned and started walking down the hall.

.........................................................

Julie leaned up against the corridor before the corner. She could hear footsteps quickly heading her way. She still had a nearly full clip for her stolen rifle, and a couple of good shots in her handgun, but she didn't want to start a firefight here. The odds were not in her favor. Something subtler would be required.

Julie listened to the staccato beats ahead. "Three…four." She thought to herself. "Four soldiers. Piece of cake." She took a deep, silent breath, then waited for the first soldier to come to the corner. She raised her right arm, and pushed off into the corridor. The soldier simply ran into Julie's elbow, taking it directly to his jaw. Julie cursed herself for underestimating his height; she was aiming for his temple. She set her right foot and sprang forward, punching the second soldier in his throat. He fell to his knees instantly, violently gagging. The two soldiers in the back both raised their rifles to fire at Julie, but she quickly sidestepped the second soldier and hit both of their guns with a roundhouse kick, knocking them away. From here, the third soldier was easy enough. Julie spun her handgun around in her other hand, and fired it point-blank into his head. Three down. This unfortunately gave the fourth soldier enough time to recover. He pulled a handgun from his waist holster and fired a few rounds into Julie's chest. She staggered backwards, then looked up with furious eyes, her teeth bared. The soldier quickly realized Julie's bulletproof vest, then aimed the gun for her head. Julie anticipated this, and had already moved to sidestep.

"I will not let you kill me!" She screamed, without realizing she had done so. She moved in quickly, hitting the fourth soldier in the teeth with her right palm. In a swift motion, she threw her gun from her left hand to her right. She fired one bullet into the soldier's face, as he was already stumbling backwards from the hit. Now he simply fell backwards, hitting the ground with an eerie thud.

Julie spun around; her experience had taught her to remember that soldiers who aren't dead are still a threat. The second soldier, the one who took the fist to the neck, was still struggling on his knees. However, the first, who only took the elbow to the jaw, was stirring. He was already reaching for his rifle, which he had dropped upon contact. Julie raised her gun and fired twice into his head.

"I'm not going to die here." She said, her chest heaving.

She felt something grab her foot. It was the second soldier. He was still gasping for air. Julie knew he would suffocate soon; the humane thing to do was to shoot him, which she did. She stared hard at the ground, the sound of her heavy breaths filling the corridor.

"I want to live." She whispered.

She pulled a grenade from her leg pocket - her last - pulled the pin, and threw it down the hallway. She calmly stood and watched as the grenade bounced and rolled out of sight, then exploded. Common sense would dictate that she run in the other direction, because the explosion would attract attention. She knew that. And so did the soldiers. That was precisely why she ran in the direction of the blast.

..........................................................

Orchid jogged at a decent pace, her arms locked at her side, both guns firmly held by both hands. Behind her, Maverick pulled out a small two-way radio.

"Maverick to Recon," he spoke into it, "come in Recon. I am breaking radio silence, authorization code alpha two one four seven nine delta."

"Recon here." His voice came in over the radio. "What's wrong?"

"They know we're here. It's been a running firefight. So we're coming in hot. Be warned."

"Right. I'll be tying my shoes. How many am I waiting for?"

"All three. See you in five."

Orchid glanced back at Maverick.

Maverick put away his radio, and caught Orchid's look. "Julie's going to make it."

Orchid let her look linger before turning back ahead. She slowed down before rounding the next corner.

"What is it?" Maverick spoke softly. "We should be coming upon the exit about now."

"I know." Orchid responded. "If you were trying to keep someone from escaping your citadel, wouldn't you position some soldiers at all possible exits?"

Maverick nodded. "Good point."

Orchid readied both her guns, before quickly turning the corner. Maverick watched intently. Orchid stood, ready to shoot for a moment, then stopped and dropped her guns. Maverick raised an eyebrow, and also turned the corner.

Julie was leaning up against the wall to the left of the large double doors leading outside. There were six or seven dead soldiers scattered about the floor. Julie held one of the assault rifles, tapping the barrel with her left hand.

She smiled at them. "What took you guys?"

Maverick smiled. "I knew you'd make it."

Julie pushed open one of the doors. "What do you say we blow this joint? I can think of a million other places I'd rather be."

"I agree. Let's go Orchid." Maverick quickly ran out of the door, out into the rainforest. Orchid tucked away her guns and followed; Julie trailed behind. The forest was dense; it was impossible to run in a straight line because of the trees and growth. Green was the overpowering color, even more so than the sky. The air was thick and hot.

The Agents hadn't been running for long until the sound of bullets flying pierced the air.

"Damn!" Julie exclaimed. "It's never that easy."

"They're persistent." Maverick said. "Just keep heading for the chopper. We're almost there."

The trio ran as best they could through the lush growth. Being last, Julie looked behind her. Even with the thick growth, Julie could not see the soldiers at all, only hear the bullets, and see small bits of wood flying around them from impact with a tree trunk. They had a moderate lead, but that would only help in terms of accuracy.

Julie was getting tired. She had been running and fighting hard within the citadel, and now this wasn't helping. Her vest felt heavy, pulling her closer to the ground and slowing her down. She reached up and unfastened it, letting it fall behind her as she continued to run.

"How much longer?" Orchid asked.

"Few more meters. We're almost there." Maverick answered.

Julie smiled. Almost there.

Suddenly, a bullet pierced her left side. It was not nearly fatal, but this combined with her fatigue caused Julie to miss a step. She stumbled awkwardly, hitting a tree root with her right foot and plummeting down to the ground. Maverick and Orchid heard the thump, stopped, and turned around.

Maverick's first instinct was to stop and wait, help even, but again, protocol dictated otherwise. "Orchid! Your call!" He turned around and continued to run away.

Julie tried to stand, but she had twisted her ankle in the fall, and something definitely felt broken in her leg. She had also landed on a rock, which had knocked the wind out of her. The best she could do was to lift herself off the ground a few inches before falling back down. She reached out, towards Orchid.

"Please…help…" She whispered, slightly gasping for breaths.

Orchid merely looked at her. The look sent the same chill up her spine that she had when Orchid had held the gun to that lieutenant's head last week. And in that moment, Julie understood. She understood the fear in his eyes, the tremble in his voice. She understood it, and felt it too.

Orchid turned away, and resumed her run towards the helicopter.

For Julie, the world was slipping away into a dense fog. She was barely aware of footsteps racing past; thunderous gunshots, the sound of a helicopter overhead. She looked up to see a dark gray helicopter through the ceiling of leaves and branches, the same one she'd had taken here, ascending upwards. Julie let her head fall down to the moist ground.

Again, footsteps. Slower this time; walking, not running. Swearing, in Portuguese. Julie understood it.

"Damn it, we let them get away. The commandant is not going to like this."

"You didn't hear? The commandant is dead."

"Oh? Well then, I don't care."

"And what are we going to do with this one? Take her back?"

"Why bother? She won't talk. They never do."

Julie felt something hard strike her in the stomach. It was the soldier's boot. He kicked her over, on her back. The pain in Julie's leg spiked intensely, but that no longer seemed to matter.

"Well then, I suppose we could have some…fun…with her."

"With an American pig? Don't be sick."

Julie heard four loud gunshots - they sounded really close - and felt her body sharply rise, fall, and hit the ground four times. The cold ground underneath her quickly became much warmer.

Footsteps again. Diminishing, this time.

"One of these days, I'm going to find you a real woman."

"One of these days, I'm going to force you to make good on that promise."

Voices, fading.

Julie felt her breath slowing down. It felt good. The splotchy canopy of green and blue above began to blur together, becoming indistinguishable blobs. She couldn't tell where one stopped and another stopped. A bitter, metallic taste filled her mouth. Julie disliked it greatly, and before the gooey mess of colors before her melted away she found herself wishing she could have a strawberry funnel cake.