Chapter 2 - Solace

The van drove on, a total of four people in it and they were getting to know each other - more like Cala was getting to know them. Red was Arc, white was Sen, and she didn't know who purple was yet.

Eventually, they made it to their destination. It was a small, flat, three story high building, mostly made up of glass walls. Cala wondered why this building wasn't huge, like she had imagined a CIA building to be. There were a few guards dressed in black suits at the entrance. This reminded Cala of the men who killed her parents and she fell into an insecure state. The van drove up to them and the front window was rolled down.

"Requested pick up by Franz," Arc said, motioning to Cala.

"Go ahead," the guard beside the window said. They drove into an underground parking. Instead of parking the car, he steered the vehicle into a large elevator. The engine was turned off and the elevator started moving. Cala thought they were going up, but realized that they were going down when she looked out the window.

A rush of excitement flowed through her. She wondered what they were planning on doing with her, since she didn't have anywhere to go to. Maybe they'd let her stay here... Maybe she'd have to live with one of them... Maybe they'd find her somewhere to live...

The elevator stopped and Cala could see the underground level of the 'facility'. She only noticed that everyone else had gotten out of the car when her door opened suddenly, frightening her. Her head snapped to see why it had done so, and found the one with purple eyes holding the door open with one hand, and holding out his other hand towards her.

"Did I scare you?" he said.

She giggled. "Yeah... But I'm fine..."

He smiled and let go of the door, leaning into the hand that was held out. "Need a hand?"

"Uh... Sure..." She grabbed her backpack, took his hand and hopped out of the van. She landed right beside him, a bit too close. He was way taller than she expected him to be; around six feet. Her awkwardness kicked in. "Oh... Sorry... I-I didn't mean to... um... sorry..."

He smiled even more. "Don't worry about it..." She didn't like the fact that he was so indifferent about it. She let go of his hand and stepped away slowly. Then she turned around and jogged over to the others. The group was met by a tall man with short light blonde hair and hazel eyes.

"We got her, just like you asked..." Sen told him sharply.

"Don't be so rude, she just got here..." From his voice, Cala could tell that this was the man who had answered her phone call a few hours ago.

"Arc pissed me off in the van..."

The blonde one glared at Arc. "I'll have a talk with him, don't worry..." Sen nodded and left swiftly.

He turned his attention from her to Cala. "So, Cala, how do you like it here so far?"

Arc stared at her in awe but she didn't notice. "Um... I guess I like it... I mean-"

"Your name is Cala?" Arc cut her off, his eyes wide.

"Yes... Do you have a problem with it?" she questioned him with confidence.

"No, no... I just..." he trailed off.

"You guys will have time to socialize later. Now, we have to get her somewhere to sleep," the blonde one said, steering the conversation into another direction. There was something in his tone of voice that hinted Cala that he was implying something, but she didn't know what it was.

"Well, I'd better be off..." Arc said, turning around and waving over his shoulder.

"I'm gonna show Cala around... You can stick with us if you want Daeus..." Blondie said.

"Okay," he answered. To Cala, it seemed as if everyone had a funky name. The blonde one turned around stand started walking. Cala followed him with Daeus walking by her side.

He leaned in to her as they walked, muttering something meant only for her. "Cala's a very pretty name..."

"Thank you..." she said, blushing. He grinned at her and she finally realized what was bugging her ever since she met him; he was very handsome and had a sculpted face, the type of face that is used to being gawked at. That made her blush even more. She walked faster to catch up with her guide.

He showed her around, letting her know each rooms purpose. They eventually came across a metal bridge with a glass railing. Crossing it, Cala looked down to her right and saw a man dressed in a thin black suit. Her first thought was that this facility was responsible for killing her parents, but when she realized that his hair was black too, and that he had a red stripe down his back that split into smaller red stripes that wrapped around his middle, she put that aside. His outfit in whole, including the red piece of fabric tied around his forehead, reminded her of a ninja.

What she didn't know was that she was witnessing him train. He ran down the room, doing barrel rolls to slash every bag of flour that fell down from the ceiling with so much precision and smoothness it looked like he was dancing with two long swords and a bunch of flour bags.

When he finished, he took a particular stance, legs evenly spread apart, swords down at his sides but in line with his legs, straight arms, head down, all this with an even breathing. He must've sensed her looking at him since he looked up abruptly.

Daeus took that chance to say hello. He started waving at him frantically, although the other one ignored him. He pointed to Cala with his sword, tilting his head. Daeus pointed at their guide and the other one nodded right before putting down his swords and walking out of the room.

"Friend of yours?" Cala asked him.

"Yeah, that's Shawn and he's part of the group..." he answered.

"Nice... Hey, um... I never got the chance to get his name..." she said, pointing to their guide.

"That's Z..."

"As in the letter?"

"Yes as in the letter..." He chuckled.

"What's funny?"

"Heh... Nothing..." He didn't really want to tell her that she was adorable, for the simple purpose of not freaking her out, especially when he had already commented on her name.

"Stop socializing and get over here you two," Z called out to them.

"Sorry Franz..." Daeus answered meekly. He walked up to him, changing the subject. "So... Where's Cala going to sleep?"

"I was thinking about that empty room on your floor... Does that sound good?"

"I'd have to get it fixed up first, but that's a good idea..."

"Cala, why don't you get a head start to Daeus's floor? It's the 3rd one. I need to have a quick talk with him."

"Uh... Sure..." She walked by them and made her way to the elevator. She punched in her floor number and the doors shut in front of her.

Seeing the doors close, Franz brought up something pretty important. "You do know that we can't keep her here as a guest right?"

"Yes I am aware," Daeus confirmed.

"So you're going to have to take care of her if you want her to stay..."

"What?" He was debating whether Franz was implying that he had a knack for her or not.

"If we're going to let her stay, you have to train her..." Luckily, that wasn't what he was implying.

"At what rate?"

"About the same rate you had... And I'll have you out in the field more often..."

"Alright... Thanks for the notice..." With that told to him, he walked up to the elevator and waited for it to get to the 3rd floor.

Franz's chat had flustered him. Yes, Cala was cute, there was no doubt in that, and so far, she was extremely nice, but he wasn't sure if Franz had noticed something different about him. Maybe he did have a thing for her, maybe he didn't, how would he know. After all, he was pretty surprised when he first saw her.

And now he had to train her, and he didn't even know what she was capable of. Hell, he didn't know why they had picked her up in the first place. All this thinking was making everything seem slow to him, to the point where he stepped out of the elevator without waiting for the doors.

"By the way, I have to-" he was cut off. Not by surprise, but because Cala was right under his nose. He had walked into her. And he was wondering why she hadn't moved over beforehand.

"To..." She wasn't bothered by the fact that they were a bit too close again, although he was a bit uncomfortable. He forgot where he was going with his words.

"Don't you know that other people come out of elevators?"

"I do..." she mocked. He shook his head, mentally changing the subject. His eyelids spazzed a little trying to remember what he was saying. Eventually, he did, and he stepped aside.

"As I was saying, I need to start training you, and I also need to get you installed..."

"Train me?"

"Franz told me I'd have to if we were to let you stay here..."

"Oh..... But why do you have to train me? For what?"

He smiled. "To become a special agent in the CIA." Cala was astonished.

She wasn't sure if she had heard him right. "You want me to join the CIA?"

"That's the only option right now..."

"Um... Okay I guess..."

"Great. Your training starts tomorrow, and I'll wake you up early," he said, walking to the end of the corridor. She hung behind before following him. He pulled out a set of keys from his pocket, chose one and opened the door. "This is going to be your room for the time being." He unhooked the key from the keychain and handed it to her. Hesitantly, she took it and poked her head into the room. A few lights turned on, as they were motion censored. In fact, all the lights in the building were motion censored.

It was way bigger than she had expected it to be. A huge window on the back wall, taking up most of it, covered with two thin white curtains that fluttered lightly with the wind. A long pale couch against the right wall with a small coffee table next to it. She stepped in to see the rest and was dumbfounded.

This wasn't a room. This was a small apartment. Sliding open the glass doors on her left, she found herself in a hallway, looking at a small dining table surrounded by two chairs. She started to walk up to it when she noticed a door on her right. Swinging that open, she found a bathroom with a shower. Leaving the door wide open, she walked toward the dining table and realized that this was her little kitchen.

A long black fridge leaning against the right wall, a counter decorated with a microwave, a grey double sink and a wall oven, and a bunch of shelves. She blinked in awe a few times before turning around and walking into the last room; her bedroom. Double doors to it, a beautifully furnished king-sized bed, two bed tables, a desk and a dresser. And to top it all off, a majestic modern chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. Cala couldn't believe that all of this was hers.

"Do you like it?" Daeus asked her quietly. She hadn't noticed that he was standing in her doorway.

"It's perfect!" she answered, turning around.

"Great... I'll let you get some sleep then... There's a change of clothes in the dresser..." With that, he slipped out of the room.

She heard the front door close a moment later. She was still holding onto her backpack. She swung it off her shoulder and held it in one hand. Seeing a worn out blue bag reminded her of her parents, how they were killed, how she lost it, how she burned her house, how tired she was and how unstable she was.

She dropped the bag, letting herself fall onto the bed, sobs taking over. She cried for a good three minutes non stop before finally being able to calm down a little. Now she looked like hell and felt like hell, but all she wanted to do was sleep. And that's exactly what she did, although she didn't bother to get under she bedsheets.

Daeus never left her apartment. He had closed the door and sat down on the couch as silently as possible. A few moments went by before he heard three things one after the other. Something fell to the ground, most likely her backpack. The sound of someone flopping onto a bed. The sobs of a traumatized girl.

Three long minutes went by before her cries calmed down. He stood up and crept up to her bedroom door. Watching her sound asleep made him debate whether he should cover her or not, since she hadn't changed out of what she was wearing. He decided to leave her be and snaked out of her new home.

 

igure out how he could hear them, but then she remembered that this was the CIA, and they had all sorts of gadgets.