september 2005

When the investigation on the murder attempt on Boston billionaire August Bergmen had started, Lisandra Micheli had relocated from the CIA Langley, Virginia headquarters to the Boston, Massachusetts location. It wasn't the ideal situation, as she was still an active agent who had other assignments, but for some reason she had really taken a special interest in this one. Maybe it was the fact that she had thwarted the attack from happening in the first place, and maybe it had been because Mr. Bergmen was so convincing (and annoyingly so) about how she should just stop working for the Government and start working for him, but she had decided to stick it out and see the investigation through.

And somewhere, along the way, she had decided that maybe working in the private sector was a good idea. She was back home in Boston, she had no need to work undercover, she could focus on rebuilding the life she so desperately wanted for herself. So the offer to work at Bergmen Industries had been promising. Enough so that she had handed in her official resignation three weeks ago and today, September 16, 2005, was her last day.

There wasn't anything for her to pack up from her desk - she was an agent who was used to travelling light, to be able to pick up and leave at any moment's notice, and today was no different. There was no box of things to clear out, there were no mementos that she wanted to hold onto. All she had left to do, was turn in her badge and her gun.

Her supervisor, Agent Nicholas Furor, had come down from the Virginia office to have the exit interview with Lisandra, and she met him in his office at exactly 4:00 on the dot. "Always punctual, aren't you, Agent Micheli?"

Lisandra shut the door behind her and grinned, "Yes sir, I don't think that is going to change any time soon." Nicholas gestured for her to take a seat, and she did so, placing her badge and her gun on her lap. She wasn't ready to let go yet.

"You know," Nicholas said, as he sat down at his desk, "I never thought that you would leave us for the private sector. You're one of the best agents we have."

"Thank you, sir."

"Drop the sir, Lisandra, come on." Nicholas laughed, and she laughed as well, and let out a bit of a sigh.

"Sorry, Nick. Habits die hard."

"So you gonna call this billionaire 'sir' too?" Nicholas asked, raising an eyebrow and leaning forward, putting his elbows on the desk. "Remember how long it took you to call me that?"

Lisandra scoffed, "Yeah, because it's a little weird when I grew up with you, and you had a crush on me when were five and your way of telling me that was punching me."

"Trying to punch you. From what my parents told me, you punched me right in the nose."

"True love, what can I say?" The two of them laughed, and when the laughter died down, there was a silence between the two co-workers and old friends before Lisandra spoke again. "I think I can do a lot of good. It's not like I won't be keeping my skills in tact, if the incident that started this is any indication, Bergmen may need me as a personal bodyguard." She chuckled, and she leaned forward and took apart her gun, setting it on the desk in front of him. She held onto her badge though.

"Hopefully he realizes what he's getting into by hiring you, you're a pain in the ass, Micheli."

"Noted, and I have a feeling he already knows that."

Nicholas noticed how tightly she was holding onto her badge and he sighed, "I spoke to the higher ups. It's not a usual request but, we're allowing you to hold onto your badge. It's decommissioned of course, and by law you are not allowed to use it under any circumstances, you know the rules."

Shocked, Lisandra looked down at the badge in her hand, and then up at Nicholas, "Seriously? I wasn't even going to ask."

"I know, which is why I did it for you." Nicholas grinned, and he stood up to walk over to Lisandra, and held out his hand. "It was a goddamned honor working with you, Lissa."

She stood up to shake Nicholas' hand, but he pulled her into a bear hug instead, and she laughed, patting him on the back before the hug parted. "Don't think you're getting rid of me though, we still have poker once a month. You skip out on that..."

"...you'll come after me, yeah yeah."

"I know all your hiding tricks, you know." She teased, "Because they're my own."

The two old friends and now ex-co-workers laughed and Nicholas nodded. "Good luck with the new job."

"Thanks. I'll be seeing you."

She would be given a certificate and letter from the President thanking her for her service later in the month, it would be mailed to her with no celebration, just something she framed and hung up on the wall. But as she walked out of the building, she didn't feel sad. She felt excited to start her new life, her new job. Even if old habits died hard, and she felt the need to go off grid now and then, at least now she had a home to come back to.

And that felt pretty good to have, for the first time in almost six years.

Though, she held onto her badge tightly in her pocket as she headed to her car.

Tonight, she couldn't say no to happy hour drinks. Only because at 4:30, she was cornered in a meeting by the CEO himself and a few of their co-workers, and she had no logical excuse to say no. She wasn't used to going out with co-workers, mostly because they all had to be so secretive before. Working in the private sector was a learning experience, she was realizing, but it was one she was going to be catching on to quickly.

They ended up at a local upscale bar, and it was still warm for the time of the month. Lisandra had been wearing a light cardigan, and wore it for an hour once they got their drinks and a corner of the room for the six of them, but after a bit it got too hot. Lisandra took it off and put it into her purse, revealing her tanktop underneath, and giving full view of the tattoo.

"You have a tattoo?" August asked her, as he brought back another drink for her and she took it and thanked him. "How long have you had that?"

"Since yesterday, actually." She said, taking a drink from her beer, "But I don't actually know what your policy is for tattoos, so I'll make sure to cover it up while we're at work."

August laughed, really laughed, and Lisandra raised an eyebrow towards him. He grinned, "You don't have to hide tattoos. We're really not that type of a company. Do what you want, as long as it doesn't mess with your work, I don't particularly care."

She took a drink from her beer, "So, do you have any tattoos?"

He shook his head, "No, but I've considered them. Just no idea what I'd get."

"Well if you do go, you should go to my tattoo guy. I'm actually going next month, if you want to come with me, I wouldn't mind the company."

He smirked at this, "We'll see, Micheli."

The rest of the night, they continued to talk and to get to know each other. Despite saving his life, and accepting the job at his company, Lisandra knew she didn't know much about the man. Other than the fact that their birthdays were apparently a day apart, and they both were a little more tech involved than they wanted to let on sometimes.

The numbers around them dwindled until it was just the two of them. They stayed until last call, and Lisandra knew she was going to need coffee the next morning if she was going to last all the way through the next day. As they left the bar, he offered for his driver to bring her home, but she politely declined.

"Seriously? You'd rather take a taxi, instead of take a ride home with me?" He asked, looking like he was offended, but his teasing tone say otherwise. It made Lisandra laugh.

"If you want to come to my place, you're going to have to do a lot more than give me a couple drinks and offer me a ride home." She called out, as she got into her taxi. She looked out the back window as the taxi drove away, and August was standing on the sidewalk just shaking his head in amusement, and waved before it looked like he got into his waiting car.

When she got home, sleep would come pretty quickly, but waiting up the next morning, she'd have about four cups of coffee and a long shower before she headed into the office.