I'm abruptly awoken, much to my displeasure, by harsh knocking on my front door. I can tell by the light throbbing in my head and aching joints that I did not sleep well at all. As I sit up to determine why someone is calling at such an hour, I quickly find myself flat on the floor and a really sharp pain in my ankle that causes me to cry out in pain. I immediately cover my mouth knowing that all three floors in my apartment building would have heard that with our paper thin walls. I realise I'm on the floor because I had just fallen from my sofa not my bed.

What was I doing sleeping on the sofa?

I rub at my eyes as I try to stand up being very careful to not put any weight on the bad ankle but before I've even managed to lift a finger someone comes crashing through my front door and running over to me. At first I'm too busy screaming and lashing out to tell just who has broken in but when I finally stop to realise they just stood near by looking down at me, I calm down.

Panting, I manage to hiss his name and he shrugs mumbling an apology.

It's Robert.

My mouth is wide open still as I look to my front door behind him. It's still intact, and by that I mean still on it's hinges, just, but it's looking a little worse for wear now. I would have focused more on the damage he had done but I'm still trying to concentrate on my breathing and allowing the sharp pain shooting around in my ankle to slow down.

"I heard you scream..." He mutters, running his hand over his thinning hair. A habit he seems to be doing a lot of recently. "Sorry." He adds as he finishes scanning the area and looks to me. "Willow, you look awful." I already know that. I feel awful.

I chose to ignore the final comment and only reply to his apology. "It's fine." I hold out my arms to him so he helps me back onto my feet, once the pain has almost subsided and then he walks me over to my kitchen area. "How come you're so early?" I ask to stop any awkward silence settling in.

"What?" He pauses and lifts up his wrist so he can check the time. "What do you mean? It's almost nine, Willow."

I was pouring cereal into a bowl but I freeze up when he says the time and it goes flying everywhere. "Argh!"

"Willow!" Robert exclaims as he grabs the box from my hand. He shakes his head at me as he settles it back down on the counter. "What is up with you?"

"We're late! And you told me to be early." I sigh, also shaking my head at myself.

Robert doesn't say anything but when I look to him, he rests a hand on my arm and gives me a half hearted smile. "It's okay, we can go when you're ready although there is a meeting in an hour."

As I pull all the stray cornflakes from the counter into a pile I freeze. "The meeting about," I swallow a little too hard, "Jack." The memories from the night before all come flying back to me and I try not to show it. I tightly close my eyes and hold in a breath. I knew there was something else I meant to ask him.

"Are you still working for E.I.O?"

If the answer was yes, it meant there was something else keeping us together. I may have even been able to convince him to be a double agent and we could've worked together again. Oh well. There was no point dwelling on what could've happened. I'm just so frustrated that I had allowed myself to get so wrapped in the moment I never asked him anything important. Was there even a need to go to the meeting now? I had seen Jack, even spoken to him and being in a room full of agents really wasn't a good idea right now. Plus, I'm seeing him tonight again. A feeling flies up inside of me and I feel a little nauseous for a few seconds.

"Yeah. I hope you've prepared yourself. It's going to be big." He tells me as he takes over cleaning up my counters with a cloth. I had become rather stature like, thinking about Jack.

I just hum in response, returning to reality. "I better get ready." I note as I look down to the crumpled outfit I had slept in. My bedroom isn't too far from where I stand and so I hobble to the door with the help of the wall. I can feel Robert's pitiful eye's burning a whole in my back but I chose to ignore it before I slip away into my room.

***

Forget the hypothetical feeling of Roberts eyes burning me, as I walk into the conference room, every single pair of eyes in there fall on me and I just want the floor to swallow me up. I was still recovering from the short journey from my house to here when Robert drove me and asked me out to dinner. I hadn't given him a definite answer because I felt like a villain constantly turning down a good guy like that. I hadn't said yes either though.

Robert claps his hands and I'm drawn out from my mind once again. It's a place I frequently visit without even realising.

"Everyone, this is Willow Calendular." He announces and each person in the room becomes silent only once he says my name. I busy myself by imagining the wall behind me and I becoming one so no one can see me anymore. "She's joining on the meeting to get as up to date as we are."

There's a large whiteboard with a projector pointed to it with a lot of text written over it. From where I'm standing I can't read any of it other than the only two visible words in the centre.

Case Twenty Three.

If a case was below the number fifty it meant it was seriously high priority. The use of a number below fifty with a case was sparingly used. I realise I have drifted away yet again and I tear my focus from the board back to Robert and I find him rather tense as he has a firm conversation with one of the agents in the room.

"Sir." The agent says forcefully. "We can't have people who aren't on this case in this meeting."

Robert remains quiet and looks like he's pondering something. He quickly glances at me before turning back to the room. "Consider her part of the team then." He affirms and everyone has some sort of look of confusion or concern.

The same agent Robert was talking too pipes up again. "Really? Isn't that Agent Willow Calendula? The rivals target?" He rubs his forehead with confusion.

"I understand it's risky but she may be a useful addition." Robert argues back. "She's an acquaintance of the suspect and could gain contact for us."

"Isn't that the reason she was demoted?" The agent fires back but when he sees the stormy look on Roberts face, he backs down a little. "Okay guys. Listen up. It looks like we have a new member." He shouts across the large conference room. Everyone has already been watching the whole commotion and yet he announces it like it's new news to them. I wonder to myself if it's protocol to announce a new member.

Except now every pair of eyes really is on me. I gulp and try not to shy away from their gazes, not wanting to look weak so I push back my hair from my face and stand taller. Someone at the back of the room then stands up.

"Uh, Jiles? Won't this just ruin everything we've already done and put us all in danger including her?" That guy said, talking as if I'm not in the room. I frown at him.

"I know." The agent I now know as Jiles confirms before casting a look to Robert and I before looking back at the rest of the room. "Guess we'll just have to work through this."

The door to the meeting room is suddenly thrown open and stood behind it is a bewildered looking security guard. If everything in the room hadn't already come to stand still, rest assured, everything is deadly silent now. I can practically hear a pin drop. The security guard then makes his way in without a word but still no one else says anything. I can't seem to look away from him as he heads in Robert's direction and for some reason an unsettling feeling creeps it's way into my stomach.

"Sir, I need to see you outside." He grunts to Robert after walking slightly further than he needed to so he could say it straight to his ear instead of face as if it made it more private even though I'm pretty sure everyone heard it anyway. This meeting seemed pretty hyped about, one that you don't come bursting into and interrupting to take away the main man.

Robert doesn't say anything but instead gives the guard a hard look. When he remains serious about it, unflinching to Robert's stare, he realises just how important whatever it is, is. And so just like that, he follows the security guy and they leave the room together silently, the door being shut gently behind them.

Everyone in the room seems as perplexed as I do though I doubt they have the same uneasy feeling I do about the whole thing. I feel even worse now that I'm in a room full of agents higher ranking than me alone. Jiles turns a looks to me a few seconds later and grimaces.

"Great." He mutters not quiet enough for me to miss.