Beau gives me enough time to change out of the medical gown and into a grey turtleneck and black jeans that Amber had retrieved from my suitcase while I was sleeping.

As I slip the turtleneck over my head, my fingers brush against the warm chain of a silver necklace. My heart throbs at the thought of him as I drag my fingers across the chain until they latch onto a silver locket with a daisy engraved on the surface.

My eyes hesitantly dart to the mirror as I stare at the necklace around my throat, which seems to grow a little tighter around my neck.

Before a vine can wrap itself around my lungs, I quickly shove my arms into the sleeves of the turtleneck and tuck it into the waistband of my jeans, and focus on smoothing down my crazy ash hair into a loose bun. Satisfied when I don't look like I've been in a gunfight recently, I turn to the bathroom door and push it open, scanning the room for the annoying Frenchman from before.

So much for an escort, I don't know where the hell anything here is. I grumble to myself when I find the room empty, before my eyes land on a note being held down by the saline bottle from earlier.

Had to attend to an urgent matter, sorry to rob you of my compelling presence.

I can't help but take a second to roll my eyes after reading the first line, before glancing down to finish the note.

You can make your way down to the cafeteria by taking a right into the hall adjacent from your room, then taking two lefts and going down the stairs. I will rejoin you shortly to give you a proper tour of our immaculate Raven Sector!.

Stay out of trouble,

Beau

"What a presumptuous... jerk," I mumble, not being able to say the crude word I had called him earlier. I can't afford to piss off my mission partner more than I already have, I decide. But that doesn't mean I have to sidle up to him and be his best friend.

I shove the note into my pocket and walk out the doorway of my medical room before taking a quick right, remembering Beau's instructions. The grey walls surrounding me hold many portraits of past agent leaders and major achievements, each agent starring into the dead center of the lens of the camera, a glint of pride in each of their eyes.

A pair of older blond French men turn the corner in front of me, their eyes widening in a weird twist of recognition. Suddenly, they both stop in front of me, inclining their heads in a respectful manner.

"Are you Agent Medley?" the one with darker blond hair asks in a strong french accent.

"I am... how do you know my name?" I question, crossing my arms. I've been here for a few hours, surely not everyone would know/care about that.

"Your endeavors as a young agent are quite admired here. Only twenty years old, you and your comrades have already risen to one of the highest ranks in the I.S.A.I.A, and your sector is the renowned Blue Jay Sector!"

I can't help but feel shocked by their response. "I-I was not aware that my accomplishments were so... well known here." Surely they don't believe I'm that high ranking, I'm merely a Level 5 clearance out of 8. High, but not impressively high... well I do suppose my age might make it seem that way.

"Our new trainees strive to be as dedicated and spiritful as you in their exercises! You should certainly visit the training center here if you have time, I'm sure they would be ecstatic!" The other blond agent exclaims.

"I will certainly keep it in mind, thank you, gentlemen," I say, giving them a respectful nod before continuing on my path.

If those men were so easily able to identify me, how come Beau wasn't able to recognize me last night at the Eiffel Tower? I take a left at the nearest turn and thoughtful expression on my face. Perhaps he did know who I was, and that was why he spoke to me while I was sitting on the bench?

I took another left and pushed open a set of doors, which revealed a short staircase that lead to a loud chattering cafeteria below.

But that wouldn't explain why he asked if I knew how to use a gun in the alleyway, nor his surprise at my skills when I took down the two gunners in the windows.

My thoughts are interrupted when I finish descending the staircase, sighting Amber and Gus holding plates of sandwiches and talking to another set of agents.

Amber glances at me, before a spark of recognition lights in her eyes and she rushes over to me. "Oh this is Agent Medley herself!" she calls to the foreign agents, grabbing me by my unwounded arm and leading me towards the pair of agents. "We were just talking about you, apparently the Blue Jay Sector is well-known here!"

"I'm aware," I mutter, turning to meet the dark eyes of the male agent before me. Surprisingly he is not French, with chocolate brown skin and dark hair. The woman standing next to him seems to be of a Spanish decent, with thicker dark eyebrows and sun-tanned skin.

"Hello Miss Medley, I am Agent Parks and this is Agent Tauren," the Spanish lady gestures to herself and the man beside her, a gentle smile on her lips. "We will be a part of the mission you and Agent Allard will be leading."

I give them a polite nod and extend my hand to each of them. "It's nice to be able to meet the agents that will be keeping Allard in check," I say with a humorous smirk, as the two agents before me chuckle.

"I could say the same for you, Mademoiselle." A smooth voice drawls behind me, causing an involuntary scowl to form on my lips.

Agent Parks and Tauren politely incline their heads to the figure behind me, but I refuse to turn around and address him myself.

"Bonjour sir, it's good to see you in teasing spirits," Agent Parks says softly, her brown eyes boring intensely into a line behind me. I can feel the sparks of tension crackle through the air.

I finally decide to step aside and observe Beau's reaction to Agent Park's greeting, but he merely gives her a cool clipped nod and cocks his head towards me, meeting my probing ice blue eyes with his emerald ones.

Interesting...

"Indeed Agent Parks," Beau agrees, never taking his eyes of mine. "Now, shall we take a tour of the facility, or would you like to remain here for an idle chat Miss Medley?"

"We can take a tour, but I would like Agent Parks and Agent Tauren to join us," I state, leveling him with a cruel smirk. "I'd like to get better acquainted with the people I will be working with." And I want to see just how unprofessional you and Agent Parks may be...

Beau's eyes pierce into mine as if he was reading the thoughts swirling within my head. I narrowed my eyes in a silent challenge. Stop doing that you motherfuc-

"Alright, come on everyone, we'll stop by the sparring room first." he relents, giving me a warning look, before turning around and leading our entourage towards the front of the cafeteria.

Amber shrugs and follows first, as I fall back to the end of the group so I can observe how Agent Parks sends invisible daggers into the back of Beau's head.

I can't tell if they're a thing or not... maybe just hookup buddies, judging by Agent Parks' hot and cold gazes? I grin at the thought, the more unprofessional, the easier it will be to get this annoying pain demoted, and then I won't have to worry about leading the mission with him.

We pass through the doors that exit the bustling cafeteria and walk down a short hall, stopping at another door that must lead to the sparring room. Beau turns around and locks gazes with mine.

"Miss Medley, my dear, why don't you come to the front? It's easy for one to get lost around here." I jut my chin up at his armed request.

"No thanks, I'm perfectly fine staying back here."

Beau just shrugs as if to say your loss, and opens the door as the sounds of loud yells and knives clanging against other knives echoes through the hall.

Beau gives me a veiled grin as everyone walks through the door, holding my glare as he says, "Welcome to the sparring hall. Let's see what you all are truly made of." But from the way his eyes narrow in a subtle challenge, I know he's singularly referring to me.

"You do remember I'm injured right?" I snap, gesturing to my bandaged shoulder.

Beau laughs and rolls his eyes. "It's merely a muscle wound! Besides, everyone here at the Raven Sector practically worships your dexterity, I'm sure you could still fight even without your right arm-" he leans in, his breath warm against my ear. "Unless, what everyone here says about you is untrue."

I quickly jerk away, repulsed by his threat. "Challenge accepted Allard."

We both stalk into the room and walk past pairs of agents sparring against each other, going straight towards the large wall that holds an assortment of knives, spears, a few pairs of nun-chucks, and a even an iron rod.

Who would voluntarily use an iron rod when you could use daggers or throwing knives? I scoff, seeing Beau witness my reaction out of the corner of my eyes.

As I reach for a set of standard throwing knives, I come to the conclusion that our desire to knock each other down a peg is mutual, though I will not crumple under the pressure. Luckily for me, you can't shoot a gun here in this indoor facility, which means my strength in throwing knives and hand-to-hand combat will be able to carry me just as well as my aim.

I tighten the buckles of two leather straps around my things, before inserting each of the knives into the designated sheaths, until I have a total of three throwing knives strapped to each leg.

I look up just as Beau retrieves the iron rod from the weapons wall, and glides a hand over the blunted end, as I gawk at such a bold choice.

"You aren't seriously going to use that... are you?" I ask, my brows drawing together in disbelief, but Beau merely grins in reply. He spins the iron rod around his right hand, before clasping it back into the center of his palm as a show of experience.

"Why but of course!" he chuckles, tossing the rod from his right hand to his left, before pressing his right arm behind his back. "I'll even fight with my non-dominant hand, and won't use my right hand at all."

I can't help but stare at him in astonishment for a second, before quickly wiping the look off my face with a shrug as I walk towards the center of the room where a large blue mat lies. Two white rings line the perimeter of the mat, showing where the opponent would lose if they stepped past them.

"It's your choice if you want to embarrass yourself in front of your peers," I smirk, crossing towards the end of the mat to take my fighting stance. I place my right leg behind my left, as I swiftly draw a single knife from one of the sheaths on my right thigh, flicking the handle through each of my fingers until it lands back into my palm with the blade pointing towards the ground.

Beau follows the movement with his jade-colored eyes, as he draws his rod up until the silver end points toward my nose, an amused smirk playing on his lips.

"Cool trick, now let's see just what you're made of."

I feel my eyes darken as I lower my head, "Gladly."

Agent Tauren steps up to the edge of the mat and holds up his right hand, glancing between Beau and I before he slashes it down and exclaims "Fight!"

I spin the handle of the knife until it lands with the blade pointing upwards, and quick as a whip send it flying through the air towards his left ear.

Beau quickly steps to the side, but not before I've withdrawn another knife from the sheath at my thigh and sent it flying towards his other ear.

With incredible reflexes, Beau ducks and manages to dodge the knife yet again, leaving me with four knives remaining.

"No need to play safely Medley, I can handle your best." Beau mocks, before leaping towards me with the rod raised.

Fine, but don't go crying when I end up sending a knife through your heart, I think to myself as I swiftly withdraw another knife, stepping aside as Beau slashes down the rod in an arcing motion.

I use his moment of disorientation to dash forward and slash at his cheek with the knife in my hand, exerting barely enough force to slice through skin.

Beau stumbles backward and presses the fingertips of a hand to his wound, coming away with a slight tint of red.

Unfortunately for him, I don't allow him to recover and send a pair of knives hurtling towards his chest.

Beau grunts in surprise as he slaps both of the blades out of the air with his rod, eyes flashing as I send one more knife flying in his direction, which ends up nicking his calf.

"That's it," he grunts, before slashing down on me with his rod relentlessly. I barely unsheath my final knife in time to block the iron with a loud clang, but the tiny weapon isn't big enough to absorb the force of his blows as it flies out of my hand and clatters to the floor.

But Beau doesn't pause, just as I hadn't before, and continues to slash down on me repeatedly. My heartbeat races in my chest as I do my best to dodge his attacks, but he's too quick and strong for me to dodge without a larger weapon.

I dive to the ground as he slams the rod down again, before leaping to my feet and backing away until my heels barely brush the first white line on the mat.

"All out of tricks are we?" Beau grins, stalking towards me.

"Not quite," I grit out, preparing myself before I swing my right leg forward into a rough roundhouse kick, exerting enough force to knock the iron rod clean out of his hand.

"What do you say we try some hand-to-hand?" I smirk, as I gesture to his ord, which now lies beyond the white lines of the mat.

"Fine with me," Beau says, returning my grin. I can tell he's enjoying the challenge of an equal match in force, just as I am.

Beau raises his hands to be in line with his cheeks as I do the same, stepping into a strong fighting stance. I'll let him make the first move this time.

Beau takes in a deep breath, before stepping towards me and twisting into his own roundhouse kick. I slap his foot away before it can make contact, and slam my own foot into his back as he twists.

Beau goes flying forward, but tucks into a swift roll to embrace the impact of his fall, and leaps to his feet, facing me again. I glance to my side to see that a small crowd of agents has formed to observe us, as Amber lifts a fist to cheer me on.

"Harper, watch out-" she calls, but I don't turn in time as Beau uses my distraction to his advantage, smashing his foot into my stomach.