• -Betrayed and alone, my two choice words that fit my scenario. I looked over at Zoey Tycoon, my partner and best friend. Scratch that. My sister. I’ve known her since we were three . . . and she betrayed me.
    -I gasped for breath. My balaclava was drenched with blood from my concussion. I looked around, groaning. It was a holocaust here. A bloodbath. Tears streamed down my eyes as I finally let my head collapse from the barricade to the dirt. Feigning my death was not an option. I was staring death in its horrible face. My only hope would be the famous men that I heard so much about.
    -“Salem, take right. I’ll go left.” I heard someone call. Elliot Salem? Then that voice must be Tyson Rios . . .
    -“Help . . . me . . .” I gasped. I heard heavy boots run in my direction and a person emerged in my eye range. “Please . . .”
    -He grabbed my face in his hands. “It’ll be okay.” He said. This one had a different voice. A soft one. “We’ll get you out of here.”
    -Tyson clicked on a transmitter. “Alice, we got Rose Rios. Waiting for extraction. Over.”
    -“Roger that. Extraction closing in on your position. Over and out.” Alice Murray replied.
    -Elliot reached for my balaclava. I grabbed his hand and pushed it away.
    -“We know everything about you, Rose. I want to check your physical description.” He said. He pulled off my balaclava. My blue eyes looked at him. His eyes were shock since there were six scars, three on the left cheek, and three on the right. It made me look like I had whiskers. It was necessary, because I was in a clan called CATS. You were required to have the whiskers so they can identify you. You were also required to have a dye injected into each scar. Mine were red since my codename was “Blaze.” Elliot reached into his bag and injected a medication into my arm. “How do you feel?”
    -“Blaze? Blaze? Come in. Over.” Yelled my mission coordinator, Dylan Denton. “Blaze, answer me!”
    -“Roger, Denton. Read ya loud and clear. Over.” I replied, not keeping my eyes off of Elliot. He kept staring at me.
    -“What the hell happened? I’m reading two heat readings near yours. Where’s Duncan? She didn’t reply. Over.”
    -“Duncan, “-Zoë’s codename-“is dead. She betrayed me, Denton. If they didn’t come in time, I would have been dead too.”
    -“‘They’? Who’s that?”
    -I smiled at Elliot and Tyson. “Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios.”

    -“So is there really a reason why you are working part-time in CATS?” Tyson asked me. I sighed and rubbed my gloved hands together. I looked up at my brother.
    -“You changed a lot, Tyse.” I mumbled. Tyson sighed. I knew he wanted an answer. “What else was I supposed to do? You know I wanted to become part of a PMC since I was a kid. When dad trained us for it.”
    -“So?” Elliot countered. He jumped in the helicopter and rode next to me. It took off, buzzing toward Trans. World Operations. My brother’s own PMC.
    -“So, Tyson would have had a s**t fit if I had walked into SSC. He would have grumbled and moaned and then would have called mom, then she’d call grandma . . . It just would have been an endless train of bitching.” I replied. I leaned back in the seat and smiled at Tyson. He groaned. I leaned forward toward him. “Come on, Tyse. Let me join TWO. CATS is falling apart each day. Their going to try to control us like SSC did. Come on. Please?”
    -Tyson growled. “I’m not letting my little sister get into this nasty business.”
    -I growled. “I’m already in it.” I said through gritted teeth.
    -He shook his head. “No.”
    -“No! Tyson Rios, I’m not a baby anymore. This isn’t a stupid little club, or a damn game that you don’t want me to be in. This is my life. I’ve been trained to be a contractor, and you know it. Dad taught us both how to shoot and protect the things that we love. It would be a total mistake not to have me.”
    -“Rose. I don’t want you to get killed.”
    -I laughed. “Look at me, brother. I almost died because of betrayal. But if I worked for you, I wouldn’t have to worry. I can-“
    -“Rose. Stop.” Tyson sighed. He took my hand in his, showing that his was clearly bigger. “You don’t have to prove yourself. Just take a desk job with Alice for a while so you can get healed. Then, we’ll see how well you really are.”
    -I smiled and jumped across the helicopter’s cabin, hugging my brother. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

    -“Rosie? Rosie?” called Elliot. He pushed my boots off the desk and I almost fell out of my chair.
    -“What the hell, man?” I hissed.
    -“Sleeping on the job again?”
    -“What do you expect? You guys make me work all day long. How can Alice stand this? And who the hell takes up a mission at five a.m., then another at ten a.m.? DO YOU EVER SLEEP?” I complained. I propped my feet up on the desk again. Elliot sat on the edge of the desk.
    -“It’s not an easy job.”
    -“I noticed.”
    -“But, come on. I think you’re healed, so I’ll give you some training.” Elliot smiled.
    -That shocked me. I jumped up out of my chair. “What? You don’t even like me, and your risking your a** to train me behind Tyse’s back? What gives?”
    -“No one said I disliked you.” Elliot murmured. I raised an eyebrow. He shook his head. “Come on. I have my own special room.”
    -“Wha?” I back away from him. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me down the hall. I haven’t gone this deep in TWO headquarters . . . Tyson said it was ‘off limits’.
    -Elliot placed his hand on a control pad on the wall. I looked around. No door? I was confused. He looked at me and rolled his eyes. A large hook on a cable fell from the ceiling. He grabbed the cable and put his foot on the large hook. Elliot held out his hand and I took it. He spun me to him and put my arms around his neck. He took his free arm that wasn’t holding the cable and wrapped it around my waist. He kicked the wall and we sprang up toward the ceiling. I yelped, surprised. I hid my face in his chest, hoping that this wasn’t a death trap. A minute later, I felt him pull my arms from him. I looked up and he laughed. “Trying to choke me?”
    -“I was thinking about it.” I growled, pissed off that he didn’t tell me that we were going to fly into the sky with an unstable cable and deadly hook. I looked around. There were five targets with bullet holes in them while the walls were decorated with pictures. A table was filled with guns while a waste basket was filled with beer cans. Shocker . . .
    -“Isn’t it amazing?” Elliot chuckled. I walked over to a bulletin board that held pictures. There was a picture of him holding a pink haired, green-eyed girl around her waist. He was obviously drunk. His lips were on hers and she seemed to be enjoying his beer-coated lips.
    -I pointed at the girl. “Who’s this? Your girlfriend?”
    -Elliot walked over to me and ripped the picture from the wall. He tore it up. “Actually . . . no. Not anymore.” He threw the picture in the waste basket on top of the cans. He sat on the table, scooting over the guns. I walked over to him, brushing back my black bangs from my eyes.
    -“May I ask something about it?” I quizzed. He nodded. “What happened?”
    -Elliot smiled a bit. “I knew you would ask.” He moved a chair over to me with his foot. I sat down in it and looked at him. He took a deep breath, and I knew this was gonna be a long story.
    -“Her name was Bella Master. I met her before I was put into the Rangers. You know, just a fun experience. But then it got a little serious. We didn’t . . . you know . . . but still. Pretty damn serious. Her parents liked me, except her brother. Her brother was autistic, but he seriously hated my guts for dating his little sister. One day, she kissed me at that party.” He pointed at the picture in the trash can. “He sort of . . . snapped. He had way too many beers and he pulled out a gun. He tried to shoot me and almost did. I pulled a gun on him and shot him. I almost blew him away. Bella slapped me really hard and I pushed her. She ran into the table. She was fine, but was drunk like her brother. She pulled a knife on me. She started yelling at me. ‘Get out of my house and my life!’, ‘I hope you die in a river.’” He sighed. He closed his eyes and opened them slowly. He looked at me. “I yelled back at her and she threw a beer bottle at me. I dodged and it hit her dad. He was drunk too, like everyone at the party. It was her brother’s twenty-sixth birthday party, by the way. Her dad beat the crap out of me, then threw me out of the house.
    -“After a day getting patched up in the hospital, she shows up and apologizes. Saying she didn’t mean anything. I told her I was joining the Rangers because the cops came to arrest me, and that it would be the only way to stay out of prison. I said to stay away and she may get her wish. She asked, ‘Which one?’. I replied, ‘It won’t be a river, but I’ll die. Thanks a ******** lot.’”
    -I was shocked. “That’s horrible, Elliot.”
    -He nodded.
    -His cell phone rang and he answered. “Hello? ...Yeah . . . She’s here with me . . . Rooftop.” He hung up. “Come on. Your bro’s mad.”
    -He walked toward the wall again and put his hand to the pad. It blinked green and an elevator door opened. “Come on!” he hissed, grabbing my wrist. Elliot pulled me in the elevator and it flew up. It beeped and opened. He tugged me to the edge of the building on the roof. “Sit.” He ordered, sitting on the edge. I sat next to him. I realized it was dark. How long were we in there? I looked at my watch. Six p.m. An hour. Huh. I started shivering and Elliot pulled me in his arms. The elevator beeped again and opened.
    -“There you are.”
    -I turned my head and smiled. “Hey, Tyse.” My teeth chattered since it was cold. I tried heating up my left arm with my hand by rubbing it. It was when I didn't feel it or a change in my body heat, was when I realized that I was rubbing Elliot's arm.
    -“Come on, Rose.” Tyse said, as I and Elliot stood up. I nodded. I swiftly kissed Elliot on the cheek, hoping it would make him feel less sad about Bella. I walked slowly into the elevator.
    -I waved to Elliot. “‘Night.”
    -“‘Night.” He waved back. Tyse stayed outside with Elliot as the elevator took me back to ground floor. I walked out of the elevator.
    -“Ooh, Rosie.” Alice called. I walked into her office. Her computer monitor showed the rooftop of TWO. “Take a look.”
    -“Alice, this is-“
    -“Shhh.” Alice hissed, pointing at the monitor. “Watch.”
    -“What the hell? You gotta hit on my sister?” Tyson said calmly to Elliot.
    -“No. I was just showing her around.”
    -“So what was up with that kiss? And you holding her?”
    -“She was thanking me, and she was cold. Fusing body heat, you know.”
    -Tyson growled and walked away back to the elevator.
    -“Ooh.” Alice clicked the screen off and pushed me into a chair, handing me a cup of hot coffee. Tyson walked into the office. “And that, Rose, is why my job is the most important. If I make one mistake, they’re screwed. Oh! Hey, baby.” Alice stood up and kissed Tyson. “Something wrong?”
    -Tyson looked at me. I smiled and waved. “Nothing. Ready to go?”
    -“Mmhmm.” She replied. “All right, Rose. Lock up tonight, ‘kay?”
    -“Sure, Alice.” I smiled. They walked down the hall to the front door. “‘Night.” I waved.
    -“Good night, Rose.” Alice waved back.
    -“Good night, sis.” Tyson waved. They left and I shut the door, locking it. All doors were checked and locked. I looked around. All alone.
    -“Hahaha!” I chuckled, making it echo.
    -“What’s so funny?”
    -Oh crap.
    -“Elliot? You’re still here?” I whipped around, shocked.
    -“I stay here. Duh.” Elliot laughed. “You crashing here?”
    -I nodded. “After I stay up late. Tyson doesn’t know about this.”
    -I opened a drawer at the bottom of the TV’s stand in the lobby of TWO. I clicked on the XBOX 360 and pulled out two controllers. “Wanna play?”
    -Elliot smiled.

    3:00 a.m.
    -“Hahaha!” I roared laughing. Elliot’s face went deep red with embarrassment. He’d been playing Guitar Hero and he flunked a song. I grabbed my beer and took a swig of it. “Not so easy on a standard controller, hm?”
    -“How do you do it?” he asked. “You play it on hard mode like it’s nothing.”
    -I poked him. “Months of practice.” I laughed.
    -“Rose. You’re drunk.”
    -“I know.” I yawned and lied over on his chest. We were lounging on the only couch in TWO that was near the TV. “Drive me home. I’m too drunk.”
    -“You live here, remember?”
    -“Oh.” I yawned again. I nuzzled close to him and closed my eyes. He did too and we both went to sleep.

    -“What the-“Tyson looked around. Alice shook her head and started a pot of coffee.
    -“Ow.” I groaned. I looked around and saw Tyson. I poked Elliot. He didn’t move.
    -“Err. Elliot?” I said. “Get up.”
    -He opened his eyes. I jumped off of him and he bolted up. “Hey...um...Rios...”
    -“Hey, Salem. Any reason why our headquarters’ is a mess and my sister has a hangover?”
    -I replied, “That’s my fault.”
    -“Huh?” Tyson asked, shocked.
    -I shrugged. “I programmed the XBOX, cause I play it all the time and since I was crashing here. I went to play it and Elliot showed up. I invited him to play; we got thirsty, grabbed some beers, got a little drunk, and fell asleep.”
    -Tyson picked up an empty pizza box. “Pizza?”
    -“We got hungry.” I shrugged again. Tyson shook his head.
    -“You’re grown up. Go ahead. Crash here, eat junk food, get drunk, and make out with my partner. It’s fine.” Tyson sighed. He ruffled my hair. “Just be careful.” He glared at Elliot, obviously sharing the mercy card he played on me. “We got a call. Get your a** up and get dressed.”

    [Part 1]