“You’ve been reassigned.” The woman said bluntly. She looked at the man across the table for a moment, before her emotionless face broke and she gave him a sympathetic look. “Adrian...” Melissa began slowly, looking at him with sad green eyes. “I know it’s been hard for you. It’s been hard for all of us. We all loved her, you more than anyone else. But this isn’t the way to handle things. We know you haven’t been going to your counselling sessions and we’ve had to deal with a number of individuals after you’d said too much whilst you’ve been intoxicated.

I know you’ve been thinking about retirement or a change in career but you know that’s just... not possible at the moment. We need you here. The higher ups think... think that you need to get your head back into the game. So they’ve assigned you a new partner. Up until now we’ve never been able to pair her successfully with anyone. She’s very... free spirited. Eager enough to learn but she can be a bit of a handful.” She handed him a plain yellow envelope with the word ‘Kite’ printed in harsh black letters on the front up in the corner. Inside were a few files, some basic information such as height, weight, hair and eye colour and sex as well as her noted abilities.

There were also, notably, a few incident reports involving ‘escape attempts’. The mutants that they find out on the street who are unable to control their powers who are seen as a problem or potential threat are brought to the complex, some willingly, some not so. She had been a willing volunteer at first, but had struggled with the confinement of the complex. “We think you’re the perfect candidate to bring this young upstart back to earth, she needs someone strong like you and who knows, you may find being back in the field is good for you.”

She sighed softly, not liking this anymore than he probably did but they both knew there wasn't a choice here. They followed orders from the higher ups, that was how things worked. Standing Melissa offered Adrian a small smile. “So what d you say? Do you want to go met her now? There are a few low level missions lined up for when you’re ready to take her out?”

He had come blissfully close to not coming in that day at all, and now he was wishing that he hadn't. He'd been working desk for the past few months, and spending most nights down at a bar called The Ginger Leaf. A nice place for a quiet drink, or several depending on how bad it got by the end of the day. The only problem was, it was showing, like a great big cut bleeding all over him. He hadn't had a haircut in a while and it was growing disheveled and scruffy, and he had also taken a relaxed stance on shaving and currently stumbled on the fault line of stubble and full-on beard.
Adrian furrowed his brow at the same time his mouth dropped open, "I'm...I'm sorry...uh, what?"
Reassigned, the word repeated over and over in his head, like an echo that only got louder each time. It would have had to be the last thing he wanted to hear.

Everyone had loved Clara, she was a model mutant, the exact kind of agent the division was after, and for as long as Adrian and Clara had been partnered, so was he. They had nailed all their cases with an almost effortless consistency. Perhaps they'd just gotten cocky on the last one, maybe that was why Adrian had missed the shot. Sure, he hadn't come away from it without scars of his own, but he was still alive.
He shoved those thoughts away, if he wasn't going to go over them with the counselor why now in this room?
He looked over her file instead, "Christ, Melissa, she's just a girl. Clara was...she was field tested, she rated higher than most of the men here...she.." he trailed off. It was pointless to argue, Melissa took her orders from up high, like everyone else. Not to mention, the woman was made of iron.

Adrian heave an exasperated sigh, "It's got to be better than working desk," though he seemed to be saying it more to himself than to her.
His voice was pure resignation, "Fine...let's go meet her."

Melissa smiled slightly as he agreed and she stood with him as they left the room. “The girl performed well in every test we gave her.” She told him as they walked, as if trying to sell him something he really didn’t want to buy. “Physically and mentally she is superb, her reactions are incredible. It’s the knowledge of what to do in the field that she lacks. Whenever she was put in a situation where she had to made split decisions she usually made the wrong one. When we’ve paired her with a field agent she’s been disobedient to orders and will often not listen to her partner. It’s why she hasn’t been field tested yet.”

She sighed softly, there was no use lying to him, he’d find out soon anyway. “That’s why we thought you’d be the perfect partner for her. If you can’t bring her down to earth then we’ll have to give up on her as an agent.” It would be a shame too; she really did have such high potential. They stopped at a large set of double doors that led to a large gymnasium room and looked over to Adrian with a small smile. “Try to keep an open mind.” She pleaded with him as she opened the doors.

At first it looked like the room was empty, until you looked up where someone was flying casually around near the ceiling. “Rebecca!” Melissa called, but to no acknowledgement. She frowned slightly and looked over to Adrian in confusion. However a few moments later the girl stopped and looked down at them before dropping down to the ground, her brown wings tucked close into her body and for a while it looked like she was going to crash until they snapped open at the last minute and she landed lightly. Jogging over to the pair the girl smiled happily as she pulled the headphones from her ears. “Hey Doc, how’s it going?” She said happily, before looking over to Adrian curiously. “Who’s this guy?”

“This is Agent Rake.” Melissa replied casually, as if she were used to being spoken to this way. “He’ll be your new partner from now on.” She turned to Adrian and handed him another plain folder. “Here’s an easy mission for you to take her on, nothing too serious.” She smiled at him as she turned to leave, mouthing ‘good luck’ as she did so.

"She sounds like a real barrel of fun, Melissa. How about I just go to my counseling appointments instead?" The headache pills he had taken were doing a poor job of covering up the pounding in his head, and it felt like the air conditioners weren't even on. He was almost sweating in his black suit, and he wasn't exactly itching to go and strap another holster on under his jacket.
Though maybe he would feel better with a service issue in his hand again.
"Yeah, open mind. Okay, Melissa, an open mind," opening his mind was the last thing he wanted to do right now, but he wasn't exactly overburdened with options.

Coming to the gymnasium, he couldn't see anyone inside.
Well, it's a big gym, maybe she's a small girl...though if this is some idea of a joke, I'm not laug...oh.
"Aaaaand that's great...it flies," it was all he could do to hold back the sigh, and so what if he was acting melodramatic? Most agents got a vacation after something like this, but what did Grand get? A goddamn stint on the desk, pens, papers and a screen to stare at for nine hours a day.

He had to take a step back as she came in for a landing, fearing for a brief, tense moment that she would crash and all three of them would be taken out, but at the last minute she unfolded her wings and she landed breezily before them.
Adrian could almost admit to it being a little big graceful, but he was too overwhelmed by how silly he felt. Still shook up, after all this time.
It struck him again just how young his new partner was, how the heck was he going to deal with that? Clara had been younger than him, but she was still closer to his age than this girl was.

Adrian took the folder reluctantly, and skimmed over it.
Drifter...potential abuse of mutation...power: magnetism.
Suddenly, Melissa was gone and he was left alone with the girl. He looked her up and down briefly, assessing what he'd have to work with. Athletic, carried herself well. Confident? Nah, maybe just plain cocky, no way to know she got out into the field with him.
"So, uh...Agent Kite," he began before a pause, "Take a look at this on the way, we both need to be issued our firearms."

Rebecca took the folder and looked at it for a moment, not bothering to open it up and read it. “Oh you can call me Rebecca.” She quipped happily as she trotted along after him. “I mean you probably won’t, no one else has ever called me that when I asked them to. Except Melissa, but she’s really nice. She was always the one who told me not to worry and that I’d find a partner someday. So, you must be really hey, if they put you with me. I got paired with a bunch of other people before you, but I’d never get past the mission simulators, they always told me it wasn't going to work out and they’d see what they could do. But I’d never hear from them again about the matter.”

This incessant chatter continued on the entire way towards the arms room, the winged girl only bothering to skim over the file as they arrived. “Hey Zac,” She greeted with a wave as he entered the room. She looked up at him and smiled, the man smiling back at her. “Rebecca, really? You and... and Adrian?!” He looked at the other man for a moment, unsure if this was actually happening or not, but went ahead at the nod.

He took the file from Rebecca and skimmed it over too. “Oh... magnetism, interesting.” He said as he looked over the shelves of arms. “No metal, that goes without saying. If you guys have anything on that’s metallic, best to take it off now.” Rebecca looked up at him and then glanced down at her arm, which only made him smile. “Don’t worry, Bec, non-magnetic metals only. You’ll be fine.” She smiled in return as he passed her over a clear gun, looking object. “Completely plastic, plastic tranquiliser rounds, and an extra clip for you.” Which she slipped into a holder on her thigh.

He then moved over to Adrian and passed him a similar set up, though with an added small device. “For... you know.” He said hesitantly, as he looked over to Rebecca, who was absently playing with her feathers.” All mutants in the facility were fitted with a microchip in their arms. They were told it was for tracking purposes, and it was, but it also had the capability to deliver an electric shock, something mild enough to simply stun them or high enough to kill them, only to ever be used if they were putting themselves, their partners or innocent people in danger. And all the agents knew it was only ever to be used as a last resort.

Adrian wore a palpable frown from the gymnasium to the armory.
Is she just going to keep talking like that? I'm already exhausted. He walked in silence, the same bored expression on his face the whole way.
"Yeah," he mumbled eventually, holding the door to the armory open for her, "Maybe this time will be different, who knows?"

“Rebecca, really? You and... and Adrian?!”

Zac seemed to be enjoying that as a joke a bit too much, but Adrian only nodded. His head was pounding steadily and it would not do to raise his voice right now. Honestly, he liked Zac, but this morning was just not a good one.
He took the plastic tranquilizer gun in his hand, it didn't feel right. It wasn't the familiar cold metal of a real firearm, and it didn't have those hollow point bullets in the clip that he had come to respect so much...but it was something.
Baby steps, baby steps...can't go all guns blazing right away.
He glanced at the tracking device, with it's additional "kill switch", an ominous object and one that caused him to glance sidelong at Rebecca once more, he had a feeling he'd be using this far sooner than he would like. He stashed it away in his breast pocket as he removed his jacket to put on his holster.
He sighed at the stain on his white shirt, he could have sworn it wasn't there this morning, he'd have to keep his jacket on.

He frowned even more as he took off his watch, a fine thing of silver with an engraving on the back that's meaning seemed to be a thousand years old. It had been given to him so long ago it felt like it had been a completely different person receiving it. She couldn't handle the lifestyle though, couldn't keep waiting up until all hours of the night to wonder if he was coming home or not, and above all that she had just grown plain jealous. Adrian and Clara had been close, but never intimate, but it was something she could not reconcile.
After Clara's death, she had been the other woman Adrian spent many drunken nights yearning for. Thank goodness he didn't know her number.
He looked at if for a few seconds, running his thumb over the engraving, but then put it down, given to Zac for safe-keeping.
"Come on," he said, perhaps a little more bitterly than he really intended, "We've got a job to do."
He roughly shrugged into his jacket and swiftly walked out.

Rebecca didn’t seem to notice the sourness in Adrian’s voice; if she did then she didn’t seem to mind anyway. The girl hopped down off her seat and followed the man contently, staying silent this time. As they reached the main lobby of the building she looked at the few tense security guards that seemed uneasy in letting her outside. However, at Adrian’s side she was free to leave the building, the girl running the last few steps and actually stopping as she got outside, looking up at the tall buildings almost in awe. She was stunned silent, nothing but wide eyes and big open mouth on her face.

“You know... I haven’t been outside since I came to this place.” She eventually said softly, turning to smile slightly at Adrian. I’ve missed the sun, the fresh air, the wind...” Her wings spread wide as a cool gust of air blew through them, ruffling her feathers and tossing her hair. For a long time it looked as if she were about to fly away. But eventually they were folded back into her back and she jumped down the few steps and landed lightly on the sidewalk.

“Okay then, so... where are we going exactly?” She asked, sounding a little unsure of herself. Now that she was outside she had no idea where to actually go or what to do. Rebecca was excitable and keen but she would never hesitate to admit when she didn’t know what she was doing or when she needed help. “And... when we actually find this guy... what do we do?” She knew what she’d usually do, rush in and slam the guy, maybe drop him from a high place. But right now whilst she was thinking clearly she wasn't as keen to do things like that.

Adrian stepped back as Rebecca's wings opened, and his hand went to his pocket, to the device within. He held his breath without even realizing and clutched harder at the device, ready to push the button the moment her feet left the ground.
But the moment passed.
The wings folded back and the girl seemed to compose herself once more. Adrian felt foolish for what he considered an overreaction on his part, he was wound too tight.
Okay, great start...if only I can get through today without zapping my new partner like a mosquito...

"We're going to my car," Adrian answered her question, "And when we find this guy, we make a calm approach. If you had read his file properly you'd see that the agency doesn't consider him a threat. We take him in clean, unscathed."
Adrian unlocked his SUV, thankfully roomy enough to fit a girl with a pair of wings if she sat in the back.
"Do you think you can handle that, Agent Kite?" She was right about one thing, he wasn't going to call her Rebecca, not until...unless...she proved herself.
He got into the car and fired up the engine, turning his back to her he said in a tone the left little room for argument, "Don't do anything unless I tell you to do it."

Rebecca paused outside of the car, looking at him uncertainly and hesitating for a good ten seconds or more before she slowly climbed into the vehicle and sat in the back looking very uncomfortable and, judging from her strange and sudden silence there was something strange going on with the girl. When she was addressed by her codename Rebecca looked up, having not really been listening to the first part she nodded absently to satisfy him, hoping to make him just drive the car already. However he turned to look at her and she looked up to meet his eyes.

The tone in his voice and the words he spoke made her own eyes narrow, there was a clear look of defiance on the young girl’s face as she stared him down before dropping her gaze finally and looking to the side. She hadn't agreed outright, but the submissive actions signified she’d at least heard him and was listening. She was happy to be friendly enough, but this man knew nothing about her, who she was, her past, anything like that. She wasn't going to respect him until he’d earned it either. “Can you just... drive the car now please.” Her words sounded almost pained when she finally did speak. But that was all she was willing to say at this very moment.

He looked back at her in the rear view, only his eyes reflecting back at her, and they only hinted at the clusterfuck of complaints colliding in his head.
This is going to be a looooooong day.
"Okay, here I go...driving the car...now," he said back to her, trying to laugh to keep from snarling.
He pulled out onto the road, following his GPS to the last known whereabouts. Adrian wanted this to be a quick, painless case of find the guy and bring him in, but he knew it never went that way. This was going to be as nose to the ground as any other case, witness questioning, clue hunting...and to top it all off, babysitting.
And damn, if his head didn't ever hurt!
He fished around in his centre console for a small container of pills and cracking it open one handed he swallowed down two pills dry. Something he had been prescribed after Clara's death to keep the anxiety and tension at bay, for all the good they did him.

"The last guy to report this mutant in was a corner store owner, swears blind he saw the charity tin he keeps chained to his till. So that tells me that we're dealing with a petty crook, probably homeless...but don't let that put you off guard. Homeless thieves are desperate men, prone to all sorts of dangeous..." Adrian suddenly veered off on a tangent with a steady blast of his horn, he leaned his head out of the car window, "You cut me off motherfucker! I hope you wrap that piece of shit around a fucking guardrail!"
He carried on, "So...where I was I? Oh yeah...desperate...dangerous...just, just keep your eyes peeled, huh? If you see him, don't make a scene. Point him out to me and then follow my lead. This will be really simple."

The drive was short, only around ten or fifteen minutes.
The sign above the store was as unremarkable as the store itself, Adrian didn't think the owner would be any more spectacular.
He scanned the street around them before getting out of the car, but he saw no suspicious activity, nor any questionable people. He got out of his car, straightening his suit, he caught sight of himself in the reflection of the cars window.
Good god...I didn't know how fucking haggard I look. He needed a haircut that was for sure, and a shave. It surprised him that Melissa hadn't busted his balls for it, or the creased suit. He couldn't look at himself any longer, so he turned to the girl.
"Alright, rookie. Probation officially starts now. Don't make me fill out a negative report."

Rebecca rolled her eyes slightly at Adrian but grabbed onto the seat desperately as he swerved dangerously and shouted at the other car. Her heart now racing Rebecca clung to the side of the car until they arrived at their destination where she practically jumped out of the car, stepping away from it quickly. “Freedom! Safety!” She cried out dramatically; glad to be out of the steel death trap. However her relief at her safety was now overshadowed by Adrian’s threat. The girl once again rolled her eyes, not so slightly. “I’ll give you a negative report.” She muttered under her breath, though loudly enough for herself to be heard.

She was trying to be positive, she really was. It was her first time being out and she had to be partnered with this pessimistic dickhead. Seriously he had have gotten out of bed on the wrong side of the bed, at least she hoped. He was way too cranky and serious to be like that every day. It was true; she didn’t know anything about this man, the same as he didn’t know anything about her. But so far all he’d done was groan and glare and threaten her.

Oh she was trying to be positive, but he was making it hard. New relationships were always hard, especially in their job. But it was even harder when her partner had already made decisions about her, a bad one, based on her file. Which she believed was a terribly inaccurate representation of her character. She had wings for Christ’s sake, she was practically a bird! She could fly! It was natural for her to want to spread her wings and fly. These people thought something like a large gymnasium would be just as good. But it wasn't. They didn’t understand. How could they? How could any of them?

She followed him into the store and allowed Adrian to go and talk to the owner, figuring the more space she gave him the less shit he’d give her. She instead looked around the store, which pretty much lived up to what Adrian had predicted it would contain; nothing spectacular. She kept her wings tucked, making sure she didn’t bump into anything and also trying to make sure no one saw them. There was still a lot of discrimination against mutants and right now she felt like if someone attacked her Adrian would join in or stand by before he made a move to help her.

"I swear it sir, the tin went from this counter to the front door and he never stepped foot in here. Would have taken my register too if I hadn't held onto it, it was like arm wrestling Randy Savage." The clerk told his tale with all the fervent tenacity of a drunk campfire story.
"Did you see which way he went?"
"Down Barrack street, god knows where though. Plenty of hobos and bums down that way. There's a shelter down there somewhere, might want to inspect there."
Adrian nodded and thanked the man for his statement.

"Agent Kite," he called as he stepped outside.
"I hope you got spare change on you, we're going into hobo county. If it so happens that I find this guy and he runs, I'll need eyes in the sky. Won't do to let this small fish get away on my first day back."
The sun was beating down hard, but Adrian dared not take off his jacket to reveal the underarm holster beneath and the firearm concealed within. Also the matter of the stain on his shirt.
Is it vomit? God, I hope it isn't vomit.

Rebecca looked over sharply as Adrian called her, her shoulder almost knocking a glass vase off the shelf. She quickly caught and hurried out the door before she almost broke anything else. She looked at him curiously as he said he hoped he had loose change, the statement lost on her. She had no idea why she’d need it. Shrugging slightly she followed him closely as they made their way through the city, into the seedier streets of the town. Gradually the buildings became less maintained and the people shadier, she didn’t really like not knowing what to do. Most of the situations they’d put her in during training were easy, she’d acted on instinct.

Maybe that had been the problem. She hoped not. Because if she was unreliable during higher missions she and Adrian would never get off missions like this. And he didn’t seem to be happy about the current situation. He used to be a fairly highly ranked agent, she’d heard someone say. But he’s been on desk duty recently. She could only speculate why that was. And if she asked he’d probably not tell her anyway.

Adrian waved off a begging hobo who reeked of alcohol. Anything to keep him from drawing comparisons.
They arrived at the shelter, an old run down looking thing, a typical structure in a typical neighbourhood. The only thing setting Adrian apart from them was his suit, and the job...and the house...and then, well damn. Seemed like he was doing a lot better than he thought he was. He hadn't expected to find perspective on this mission but here it was.
"Alright, Agent," he started, his voice a tone softer than it had been, "Pop quiz. What are you going to do when you see this guy?"
Perhaps she would give him a satisfactory answer and it would keep his brief moment of clarity just a bit less brief, but he wasn't counting on it.
I cannot wait to finish work and get a drink...plus, I'm starving!

Rebecca looked to him as they entered the shelter. She looked around the shelter for a moment as she shrugged slightly, her feathers ruffling. She couldn’t help but compare herself to these people. She lived in a complex, was feed on a schedule what they decided to feed her, she was completely reliant on the agency to take care of her. If anything ever happened then she’d probably end up in a place like this where she had to pray that she would be able to protect herself. The agency did offer that much at least. No mutants ever turned up brutally murdered there.

Well... at least not out of a hate crime specifically, and if they did then no one heard about it. Her head snapped to him as he spoke to her. “If I see him I come and get you whilst keeping an eye on him. I don’t do anything unless you say.” She replied evenly, nodding slightly as she did so. Honestly she didn’t want to move too far from his side, as stupid as that sounded, even in her mind. Because at least whilst he was close he could protect her.

For the first time that day, Adrian smiled. Not a grand gesture by any means, more of a twitch that happened at the corners of his mouth.
"Good," he said as he scanned the room. It was hard to see who was here, the place was poorly lit and the hunched figures shied away from the man in the suit. Hopefully the poor lighting helped to preserve any dignity and sense of authority he had left to command. On the street he would look more like them, he supposed, a pathetic waster in a cheap disguise.
Must get that haircut...
"Do you see anything? There's got to be a guy who runs this place...the guy who makes the soup...anyone."
Adrian made a move for the back, shoving and shooing anybody who approached looking for spare change or a drink. It wasn't a polite way to act, but he wasn't there to be nice. He was there to do his job.

Rebecca shrugged slightly at Adrian’s question and began wondering off. Splitting up had been his idea and he had certainly made it clear that this wasn’t a partnership. He was the boss and she was just… the mutant. What the hell Melissa had been thinking when they’d paired them together? They certainly weren’t a match. Maybe they’d just gotten desperate to get her out of there. They were pairing her with anyone they think would be able to control her. They want a pretty tamed bird. Shaking her head Rebecca almost missed it, the man sitting on the very end of one of the tables, looking stiff and staring directly at her.

The girl flinched back slightly and looked around for Adrian, but she couldn’t see him. Her eyes flashed back to where the man was sitting and he was still there. Rebecca couldn’t tell if it was the man they were after, it was too dark. Her eyes were a lot sharper than normal humans, but as a result her night vision was much poorer. She knew what she’d said. She said if she saw something she’d go get Adrian. But what if he got away in that time? Rebecca was torn. Eventually she shook her head and turned quickly, hurrying through the dim light as she looked for her partner.

"Yeah, he comes in from time to time. Quiet guy, doesn't like sitting too close to anyone, always looks pretty mad about something. I try not to get involved in their personal business, I just make the soup."
Adrian pulled an annoyed face as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a card.
"I'm going to have a look around. If I don't find him, and you should see him after I leave, call this number."
"Yeah, okay, no problem. What did this guy do anyway? Seems like something the police should be handling, don't you spooks have phones to tap or something?"
Adrian was in no mood for humour of any kind, "That's classified. Better prepare your next batch."
He promptly walked away, keeping his eyes peeled for his partner and their suspect.

It didn't take long for him to spot her, rushing through the thin crowd, shouldering people out of the way as politely as she could.
"You saw something?" Adrian asked, concerned, yet not entirely convinced.
His patience was so worn that if she came to throw a red herring at him he wouldn't take it well.