For ten years all Nolan wanted to do was get out of Virginia. Now he was on a plane flying to the CIA headquarters, conveniently located...in Virginia.

Funny how life works...

He was squished in between a young mother with a newborn baby and a middle-aged man who was absorbed in a newspaper.

The lady had already asked Nolan to hold her screaming banshee child while she went to the bathroom and he prayed the flight wouldn't take much longer.

He wondered when he'd finally be free of this life that was chasing him. He hadn't killed Egor, but had been blamed for it. Now someone finally believed that was true...and they wanted him to kill Egor. They said he was innocent, but now wanted him to go commit the crime he was innocent of?

Because that makes total sense. Nolan thought dubiously as the plane began to make its decent in Richmond.

After navigating through the airport, he paid a cab to take him to the Central Intelligence headquarters.

The yellow taxi pulled up to the arched glass entrance.

"Thanks." Nolan said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. He glanced down at himself. He was dressed in jeans, a grey hoodie and probably smelled like he hadn't had a shower in two days, which, unfortunately, was true.

Real professional, Nolan. If you wanted to make a good impression, this was a classy way to do it.

Nevertheless, he pushed open the glass doors and stepped into the warm air. There were three pillars on either side of him and a wide floor of waxed tile. In the center of the floor was the crest of the CIA that led towards a set of steps.

Men and women in business suits walked around quietly, casting a few suspicious glances Nolan's way.

He located a desk and walked up to it. A woman in a navy blue blazer sat behind it, typing on a laptop. She looked up just as Nolan arrived.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"Yes, my name's Nolan Clay. I spoke with Director Howard yesterday on the phone. He told me to meet him here."

She nodded. "Take the elevator to the bottom floor, room 15." She handed him a clip-on tag to wear.

"Thanks." Nolan found the nearest elevator and pressed the button for the bottom floor.

His stomach fluttered with nervousness as the elevator made its decent.

The doors parted to reveal...a basement. It looked nothing like the posh upper level. It was lit with yellow lights and had wires sticking out of cracks in the wall. Nolan stepped out of the elevator cautiously, looking around for room fifteen.

He spotted a red door with golden numbers nailed to it and knocked. He heard shuffling from the other side before it was opened.

And elderly man in a sharp business suit stood there, his brown eyes flat and serious. "Mr. Clay, I assume?"

"Director Howard?"

"Come in."

Nolan walked into a room that was rigged with old computer screens covering an entire wall. Plastic fold-out tables were set up in a horseshoe shape and had three people, two men and a woman, sitting in the chairs. Nolan gave them a polite nod.

"This is Nolan Clay." Director Howard said.

The older-looking man lifted his hand in a wave. "You were a Private in the army, right?"

"Um...no."

The woman sitting next to him gave him a nudge. "I told you, he's a pilot."

"I—I'm not a pilot..." Nolan said, glancing at Howard. "I'm guessing they don't know I just came out of prison, either?"

"I...haven't filled them in on those details." Howard said.

"How about we start over? Nolan, this is Maddie and James Winlow, our data analysts."

They both gave a wave.

Nolan then looked over to the young man who had yet to speak. He had light blonde hair and piercing blue eyes that were glaring down at his hands.

"And this is Toby Fairfax, your partner in this operation."

Nolan almost choked on his spit. Partner?

"Now," Howard continued, "We don't have a lot of time to do this, so get to work as soon as possible."

"And what are we working on, exactly?" Nolan asked.

"I'll let your team explain that to you, I have a conference to go to."

"One more thing," Nolan added, "Why are we meeting in a basement? I mean, just out of curiosity."

"I second that question." Maddie said.

Howard's eyes flitted over each of them. "Well, I suppose it should be known that this mission isn't supported by the CIA itself."

Nolan pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're joking, right?"

Howard held up a hand. "I've proposed the issue of the Bolsheviks coming back into power multiple times to Congress, but they don't believe it's big enough. They say that there are more dangerous groups out there, more problems to be solved."

"So what? You've assembled a group of guinea pigs who have never worked for the CIA to do it because Mommy said no?" James asked.

Nolan smirked. He was beginning to like this guy.

Howard's eyes flashed indignantly. "Absolutely not. I've brought you together to prove something. I believe and have evidence that Egor Dimyan is still alive and leading terrorists to wreak havoc on our world. It needs to be stopped."

"So is that all you have, then?" Nolan asked. "You don't know what they're up to, you just know that they're acting up again?"

With a sigh, Howard nodded. "Yes. But that isn't to say that this is some side-job that anyone can do. This is important; vital, even. If we can stop this, we could save the lives of millions."

Everyone fell silent for a while.

"At least we're getting paid." James grumbled.

Nolan raised his eyebrows. He hadn't thought about that. "Wait, I'm getting paid?"

Toby snorted. "Ten bucks and hour, if that's what you call getting paid."

Howard's cell phone rang in his pocket and he immediately headed for the door. "I'll be back later. James, you're in charge of the debriefing." He called over his shoulder, simultaneously answering the phone.

"Have a seat, Nolan." James said, gesturing to a chair across from him.

As Nolan sat down, he looked over at Toby. "So I guess we're partners then."

Toby continued twirling a pencil around his fingers, avoiding eye contact. "Seems so."

"How old are you? Nineteen?"

The young man instantly glared up at Nolan. "Twenty-four."

"Oh, my bad. I couldn't tell."

"Okay, you two," Maddie said with a laugh.

Toby stood up, keeping an eye on Nolan. "Since I've already been debriefed can I be excused until further notice?"

"Um, sure," James said.

Nolan watched as he left. "What's up with him?" he asked.

James sighed. "Twenty-three. Struggles with authority. Doesn't like someone who's older and has more experience to be his partner."

Nolan grinned in spite of himself. "I can relate."

"So anyway, Maddie and I are the hard drive of this operation, if you will."

"The hard drive?"

"The computer people," Maddie explained. "We've run scans of suspicious activity since we found the hackers trying to access classified files. We've narrowed down locations from coded emails to a small city in Greece. Now, we've talked with Howard and he's agreed to send you and Toby to do a simple reconnaissance mission."

James nodded. "Just get in and get out. Basically, we just want to see if there really are any terrorist hackers in this particular location."

"Sounds good. When do we start?"

"You and Toby will begin planning in the morning."

Nolan forced a smile. "Great."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello lovely people! Thank you so much for your patience!

~What was your favorite scene?

~How do you think Nolan will respond to working with Toby?