"Flight 261 to Tahiti will be boarding momentarily." A cool voice announced over an intercom in a busy airport terminal. Alex Scott stared at his ticket stub and turned it two different ways before finding his gate number.
"Gate nineteen." He murmured to himself, looking up at the signs and then back at the ticket. The signs read gates one through eighteen in one direction and gates twenty-one through thirty-two in the other.
"Are you looking for gate nineteen?" Someone asked inquisitively. Alex looked up from his ticket, nodding at the petite, Latino brunette with wide eyes.
"Indeed I am. Have you seen it around?" He asked her with a smile. She nodded.
"You're Alex Scott aren't you? I'm Anna Maria Vazquez, a recruit. We'll be working together. Jewels sent me to find you." She explained to him, taking off in the direction of one of the labeled signs with Alex trailing behind.
"Jewels?" Alex asked stupidly.
"Julianne. The name was too long to say all the time, so I came up with the nickname just now." She prattled on, her energy never waning. Alex grinned widely, liking her personable personae. She was young, dressed in casual form fitting jeans and a worn t-shirt. Her long brown hair was pulled neatly back in her face in a pony tail that swung back and forth as she walked. They approached gate nineteen and Alex observed a small group congregating in the corner, all dressed loudly in tourist Hawaiian prints and shorts. The group consisted of two he recognized, Julianne and Kelly, his partners. Neither of them chose to wear Hawaiian shirts or shorts. Both rushed up in relief to see him.
"You don't look too bad." Kelly commented, examining Alex's face and grabbing it with his hand, pushing the cheeks together before releasing them. Julianne stood behind him, watching with a bemused expression.
"What say you Jewels? Do I pass inspection?" Alex asked dropping his bag and standing straighter. She played along with a grin, walking over to him and circling around him.
"You've gone soft in your time in the hospital. They've weakened you with their food, their waiting on you hand and foot, their pitiful medications. They'll be none of that here." She growled out the speech like a military commander then stood shyly in front of him, teetering on the balls of her feet for a moment before he opened his arms awkwardly and they shared an embrace. It lasted only a moment before they moved away, leaving him with only the scent of her hair to remember. He opened his eyes and repressed a sigh.
"I'm glad you're back. With only Kelly around the conversation is limited." She confessed with a grin and Alex nodded.
"It is when I'm around. How many times did he tell you the 56 and 0 story?" Alex inquired while Julianne rolled her eyes.
"57 times he mentioned it, 0 times he failed not to." She grumbled lightly, her smiling not faltering. "Did you call me Jewels?" She asked him incredulously and he nodded.
"I liked it. Anna Maria told me all about it." He confided and Julianne nodded.
"It's going to be an interesting two weeks." She said with a sigh, motioning to the eight recruits. Four female and four male recruits, each individual in their own way, each exuding an essence of intelligence, each wearing garish Hawaiian shirts. Kelly returned to them and sat deep in conversation with the circle of recruits surrounding him, regaling them with tales of his feats of courage. He tuned Kelly out; rubbing the stiffness in his shoulder, hoping it would relinquish. He focused on the chair as he rubbed and then on Julianne.
Alex smiled, watching her as she went to go reclaim her bag and keep track of the recruits. He enjoyed the grace of her movements, even as she quietly muttered something to herself. A voice startled him out of his revelry.
"Announcing the final boarding call for flight 261 to Tahiti." It announced and the recruits hastily scrambled to gather their luggage. Alex shouldered his back pack and started for the door, noticing Anna Maria struggling with her larger bag.
"Do you need some help?" He asked politely. She looked up with him and her face relaxed into a smile.
"Yes, that would be wonderful. Thank you." She said gratefully. Alex nodded.
"Not a problem." He picked up the bag effortlessly with one hand and handing the ticket at the door to the flight attendant. In front of him, Kelly led his entourage up the steps and into the plane, still talking all the while. Occasionally, the recruits would applaud. Anna Maria followed behind Alex while Julianne brought up the rear.
"Do you lift weights to keep in shape or do you do running?" She asked him inquisitively with an unusual innocence.
"Well, I do the training every month and then I run on my own." Alex said shyly, wondering why she was asking.
"If I can't even lift the bag, I'm going to be in trouble." She said with a self deprecating laugh and Alex shook his head.
"Of course you're not in trouble. I can barely lift this. Next time leave the bricks at home." He joked, climbing up the stairs slowly and trying not to pant. Julianne remained behind them, a contemplative expression remaining on her face as she eavesdropped in on the conversation.
They entered the narrow plane. All of the agents received first class tickets, primarily in reward to Alex, Kelly and Julianne's work on their prior mission. Alex set down his bag on the plush leather seat and opened the over head compartment. He handed Anna Maria's bag back to her. She remained standing in the aisle.
"My seat is the one next to the window." She explained to him, lifting her bag up with much effort and placing it with a thud in the overhead storage compartment. Alex arched one eyebrow in surprise but did not argue. Julianne did the same, taking her seat in the back of the first class compartment casting teasing looks Alex's way. Kelly turned around in his seat and looked to Alex with an approving eye.

Chapter Two:

At last silence filled the cabin. Many of the agents were resting peacefully, glad to find rest with an early morning flight. He rubbed his ear and glanced over to the now sleeping Anna Maria, grateful she was sleeping. She was a lively thing, with youth and impulsive spirit, but she talked incessantly, forcing Alex to keep up with her. He took a sip of his water to replenish his voice. Curiously, he turned around in his seat and stole a glance at Julianne, who was quietly writing, the seat next to her conveniently empty. Alex smiled at his good fortune and took another sip of water before standing and making his way up the aisle to Julianne.
"This seat taken?" He asked her seriously.
"Yes." She replied, not looking up from her writing. Alex frowned. "By you of course. You give up far too easily." She finished with a laugh, replacing the tray table and standing to allow him in. He laughed.
"I've always been a pacifist by nature." Alex said with a shrug. "What are you writing there? A secret diary? Are you confessing your deepest darkest secrets? 'Diary, I really hate Alex Scott and his crooked nose.'" Alex mimicked the reading of a diary with an airline magazine. "Seriously though, what is it and can I read it?" He begged eagerly.
"It's a day planner Alex. Sorry to disappoint you." Julianne said apologetically.
"Oh." He said picking it out of her hands and flipping it open.
"Wow, there's a lot here. Your life sounds so mysterious, meetings, schedules, feeding the cat. You have to write that down?" He asked her incredulously. She nodded.
"I've had a terrible memory, even when I was a child. So I got into the habit of writing everything down. I'd forget everything, dates, birthdays, weddings." She confessed to him softly. His face grew into shock and mock terror.
"Please don't tell me you forgot to feed a cat for days and it passed away from starvation." He mugged. Julianne shook her head.
"You mean you never forget anything?" She countered.
"Well, I forgot my own birthday once and I never forgave myself. It's tragic really." He said with an airy sigh.
"Now you're making fun." She said to him with a laugh.
"Of course I am. I'm glad to know you at least have a tenth of a human in your super human powers." Alex teased, causing Julianne to smile more and color. They lapsed into awkward silence.
"Where did you grow up?" Alex asked after a moment. Julianne eyed him suspiciously.
"Why so curious all of the sudden? Surely you covered the same subject with Anna Maria over there to last you the plane trip." She returned to him. Alex put up his hands in surrender.
"Alright, I'll admit it. I find you uninteresting. I was merely being polite. I had other ulterior motives in coming all the way up two rows of seats to talk to you. I really wanted to spread the ear ache I now possess from listening for two hours to Anna Maria." He whispered to her. Julianne rolled her eyes.
"Jewels. Please, humor me. Where did you grow up?" He entreated her again and her face finally grew into an amused smile.
"I was born in the boondocks. People put me down, but that's the side of town I was born in." She started to say before Alex snickered.
"Ah I see you're being funny. Alright, keep your secrets then. I'll just go back to Anna Maria I guess." He said, with a pathetic face and whimper that made her burst out laughing. He started to get up from his seat, but stopped when she put her hand on his forearm.
"Stay?" She asked politely and he agreed.
"I was the youngest of three sisters and two brothers. We lived in a small town near the base of a mountain in Colorado. My parents were both geologists. When we weren't outside shoveling, we were inside studying and in some cases, running from my brothers. Eventually, we all went our separate ways; I went to New York to study of all things music. Then the rest is BNS history." She finished quietly shooting a challenging look to Alex.
"Alright, it's your turn to be interrogated." She said, encouraging him to share his story.
"Well, I was born and raised in Texas in the dust. I had brothers who were my best friends and my worst enemies sometimes. But I was a trouble maker. We didn't have snow in Texas so I was always getting into mischief. My father sent me off to army boot camp when I was thirteen. I was placed in the special operations units and eventually recruited for BNS." He finished a far away look in his peaceful blue eyes.
"You're holding out on me." Julianne pronounced. Alex looked confused.
"I'm not I promise. I don't think you want the entire four hour version starting with my birth to the present right now." Alex argued back congenially.
"Oh really? Then how did you get this? Biker bar? Carlos? Kelly?" She asked him, bringing her fingers to his nose and tracing them down the ridges.
"Ow!" He said with a dramatic wince. Her sudden movement surprised him. He savored the touch of her velvety fingers across his skin. His nerves tingled and his pulse raced into his ears.
"Well." He started. His voice caught and then cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again.
"Well, you're going to laugh, because it really isn't that exciting of a story. I always tell everyone it was given to me by a big biker named Bubba, but that isn't true." He started to say and Julianne sat impatiently.
"Fine. It was playing flag football in boot camp. Happy?" He admitted. She clasped her hand to her face and laughed merrily in silence.
"I'll get up if you keep laughing." He warned her before joining her for a moment. She sighed and began to calm herself.

"So you went from music to this? Where did the switch happen?" Alex questioned. Julianne sighed.
"That is a little more complicated I'm afraid." She returned to him gently.
"There was a man involved." Alex hypothesized. She faced him earnestly.
"However briefly, it was not a happy experience. I needed to get away from New York and from the memories. So when I heard the government was recruiting, I signed up. And now I'm here." Her voice remained optimistic though the topic was not.
"And we're glad. Kelly and I are, even if we don't show it. Somehow, having you in the middle prevents me from wanting to take a swing at Kelly's outrageous statements. My favorite is: "and this I got for special services to her majesty. Met her majesty? He couldn't even spell it. You bring balance between the extremes." Alex joked and Julianne smiled, trying to suppress an exhausted yawn.
"I have that affect on every one today. I won't take it personally." Alex said, giving her permission to yawn. She exaggerated the one she had hidden before chortling brightly.
"I'll let you rest." Alex whispered, getting up again.
"Stay, save your ears while you still can." She warned him, cocking her head toward his old seat, where Anna Maria had begun to stir. Alex gasped and returned to his seat.
"I think you're right." He concurred, watching as she took one of the miniscule pillows and wrapped the blanket tightly around her. She leaned her head back against the seat and slowly began to relax. Alex flipped uninterestedly through the in-flight catalogue and set himself to watching the movie. Softly, he leaned over to Julianne's consol and unplugged the headphones to borrow them. Her head slowly drifted down the leather seat, sliding weightlessly onto his shoulder after he had returned to his seat. Alex turned his head nervously, fearing his pounding heart would stir her. Her head settled instead to a more comfortable position in the grove between his shoulder and neck. He sighed for a moment and settled back to rest, smiling contentedly as he did.

Chapter Three:

"Please put your tray tables and seat backs to their upright positions and prepare for landing." The captain called over the speakers. Alex started from sleep, still feeling the precious burden against his shoulder.
"Jewels. We're nearly there. You've got to put your tray up." He warned her and she murmured something incoherent with a small smile. She lay against his shoulder for a moment longer before straightening up and looking at him accusingly.
"Have I been here like this the entire time?" She demanded. He nodded innocently.
"And it's your bad shoulder too. I'm so very sorry." She said, her hands flying to her face in horror, a steady blush climbing to her face.
"It's the least I can do. If anything, I make a good pillow." He joked then squeezed his eyes shut at the sound of his sentence.
"I mean anytime." He said gracelessly, worrying at her sudden reaction and disassociation with him. In his mind, he made a list of reasons why she would have reacted negatively to something so guiltless. Obviously, she wished to maintain a professional front for the recruits, and perhaps in general. She had mentioned a man in her life and a broken heart. She could have very well sworn off men when she entered BNS. He hoped the last was not the case but pondered the possibility as he returned to his original seat. Anna Maria was wide awake and anxiously awaiting his return. Her face brightened a little.
"There you are. I was wondering, but then I saw you and Jewels over there sleeping." She said with a smile, gripping the seat arm rests as the plane came down to the run way with a slight bump.
"You don't like flying?" Alex asked her with a grin as she shook her head.
"I'm afraid not. I never did, which made preemptory training for BNS very difficult. When I would fly, I would have to have my co-pilot distract me." She confessed as they collected their bags. Alex lifted hers out of the storage compartment first and set it on the ground.
"I'll carry it if you like. Otherwise we'll be here until midnight." He offered and teased at the same time. Anna Maria smiled in gratitude.
After retrieving their baggage from the claim, Alex, Kelly and Julianne herded their charges to the large van waiting for them at the airport. Julianne lingered behind, eyeing the car suspiciously.
"I don't like the look of that van." She murmured into Kelly's ear. Kelly looked up surprised.
"It's got a few dents in it. That doesn't mean the man doesn't have a good driving record." He said with a shrug, loading more of the luggage into the back. Julianne remained firmly where she stood for a moment before offhandedly walking around to the other side of the van examining it. She returned with a grim look and frown ridding her brow.
"What's the matter with you? You seem terribly distressed for a woman who's on a vacation." Anna Maria commented, reading Julianne's face with ease.
Julianne pulled Alex harshly by the arm, mumbling an excuse about a lost wallet as she did and corralled him away from the cab.
"That's not the shuttle we're supposed to receive. It's just been painted and the lettering is still fresh. I think it's a trap."