"Bri, do you have everything?" Calls Mara, sitting on the sofa in our shared living room.

Cassie and the boys have already headed out to the van, taking all the equipment and bags with them, where they are waiting for Mara and I. Although since Mara is also waiting for me, having finished packing the night before, technically they are all waiting on me since I'm the only one that isn't done yet. What can I say, I'm not good at time management.

Today's finally the day. We are officially going on our first mission. Cassie and I stayed up all night talking, too excited to go to sleep. Mara warned us that we would be exhausted in the morning, but we were too hyped up to listen. Now, at 6 am, I'm kind of regretting my decision. But Cassie, like the early bird that she is, was up without a problem.

I'm triple checking my pack, making sure I have everything. The last time I went anywhere I managed to forget to pack my pajamas and my toiletries. I do not want to repeat that experience.

I take my new gloves, a few knives and a stun gun, placing them all in my mission pack with the rest of the gadgets that are already in there: RII, little EMPs, but what we really need are the camo suits that Jordan gave us last minute. Now, when someone tells you camo suit you usually think different shades of green and brown on top of each other, but this suit is special. It turns into any attire for any occasion. You need a black gown for a black and white party? It will turn into one for you. A formal suit for a business meeting? Totally covered. Jordan and his team designed it specifically for missions like these. If we want to learn more about our dear President, we are going to need to get close to him, and that means we may have to lie a little. 

Before we get to our new base, we will head to the Krift compound to pick up the team that will be with us on this mission. Christian was able to make some phone calls and luckily the director was a friend, so her best team is going to assist us on the job.

I'm dressed casually today, in case we find ourselves in a situation where we need to fight or run. Just some black jeans and a red and black plaid shirt. Kalen made fun of me and said I looked like a lumberjack, but he shut up when I said he looked like a ninja. He's wearing all black, from the baseball cap on his head to the socks on his feet. It makes his eyes look even lighter, like those of a cat prowling around in the night. I tuck my red locks into a blue beanie, my favorite beanie, and grab my bags. I've packed extra sets of clothes and a few snacks, just in case. It's for everyone's good. You do not want to be around me when I am hungry and don't have food.

"Yeah, hold on a sec." I yell back.

I grab my great grandfather's journal, stuffing it into my mission pack with the rest of my weapons. I had been meaning to read through it some more but never got around to it. This week had been hectic. We trained nonstop with Daniel, and Alexa had us studying extra hard on politics and history, in case we ever needed to make conversation with anyone from the council. I know so much about the foreign trade market and the cost of shoes made in Russia that it all kind of blends together, and if anyone asked me one more time about Pilgrims, I was going to lose it.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road."

Trainees watch us as we leave, lining the hallway as if we're some sort of procession. I spot Sandra in the crowd, she and Liam had joined the same team, and she smiles at me as I walk by.

"Stay safe," she says, worry evident in her tone.

"Don't worry," I answer "we will."

No one knows what our task is, we've kept it a secret like Christian asked us to, but people know we are about to embark on our first mission. We head out of the compound and into the sunlight after not having been outside in what feels like forever, and when we leave the gate behind us a weird sense of freedom settles over me. I hadn't gotten to leave the compound once since I'd gotten here, and now, who knows when we will be back. I grab my TekPad and send my mom a quick text message, like I do every morning, but this time I tell her not to worry if she doesn't hear from me in a few days, that I'm working a job and I might not have time to call or text. Her answer, as always, comes in immediately.

"Stay safe baby, I love you."

I love you too mom.

I follow Mara across the street where the parking lot is located, and we rush over to the only black van we find. The door slides open and Cassie ushers us inside. This time Jayson is driving, Kalen sitting in the passenger's seat.

"All set?" He asks me, adding "lumberjack" for good measure, a cocky smile creeping onto his face.

"Haha, very funny." I roll my eyes at him.

I expect the gesture to annoy him, instead he just smiles and turns around. Strange, usually he would snap at me with a snarky comeback of his own. Mara settles in and I do the same, taking the middle seat between her and Cass, throwing my bags over my shoulder and into the trunk.

"Then I guess we're off," says Jason, starting the van and speeding out of the parking lot.

"I can't believe we get to go on a real mission, after all this time too!" He exclaims, clutching the wheel a bit tighter. He and Kalen high five, while Mara just laughs in the background. Cassie and I share a fond look, and I smile. I'm happy for my team, they are finally getting the recognition they deserve. Then I realize that I just thought about them as my team, and warmth settles in my stomach. They are my team, and I'm a part of theirs. Somehow it feels more real now. Usually it's us and a ton of other trainees, but now, it's just the five of us. Us against whatever is coming.

"Okay, guys, it's going to be a good five hours before we reach Krift, so in the meantime, why don't we think of how we're going to get closer to the President."

Jayson raises a good point. The only plan we have so far is to pick up the second team and make it to base, nothing past that point had been talked about. Sure, we know we need to get close to the President somehow, but that isn't exactly the easiest task in the world.

"We could pretend to be a part of the council. New Elites coming from abroad after hearing what was happening to the compounds. We could send a message to Leti and she could have fake IDs and backgrounds for us in a day or two."

I nod at Mara's suggestion.

"That could work, but not for all of us. Eight people suddenly appearing out of the blue to help find a murderer they had just heard about? Maybe three of us can make it in, tops."

"I agree with Bri," says Jayson from the driver's seat, honking when some guy swerves in front of us.

"Watch it, idiot!" He huffs. "Anyways," he continues, after having moved a lane over, "what should the rest of us do?"

That's what I'm trying to figure out. We're very young, at least Cassie and I am, and depending on the other team members' ages we might not be the best fit for the role of council member. Kalen could probably do it. He's only eighteen, but he looks like he could be twenty because of his height and build. The same goes for Jayson, though his face still holds that boyish youthfulness that Kalen's doesn't.

"What about getting close to the daughter?" Asks Cassie, turning a bit in her seat to face us.

Get close to Diana?

"That's a pretty good idea," says Mara, surprise evident in her tone.

"Of course, it's a good idea," she says, pointing to herself "it was mine."

"Okay hold up," Kalen waves at us from the passenger's seat, turning around. "And how do you plan on getting close to Diana Khan? That girl has more bodyguards than the President himself."

It's true. Her safety is Khan's top priority, and because she is such an important public figure, not to mention the future of this country, she makes the perfect target. She has such a good security team at her back that I can count the times she got kidnapped on one hand.

"We'll have to think about that, but it's still a very good option. In the meantime, someone should stay behind to keep tabs on the President and find anything we may have missed on the reports Christian gave us." Mara says, holding up the files of documents in her lap. 

They were reports from every compound, including our own, on the instances when they encountered our mystery Elite. Where they were, what they were doing... who they killed. It was all there, and we were going to use it to try and find a pattern. So, someone will have to keep looking through them and will have to keep tabs on the rest of us to make sure we are ok. Hopefully the team we are going to pick up has their own game plan. We are joining forces for a reason, not to have them sitting around doing nothing.

Cassie yawns and leans back in her seat, closing her eyes.

"That sounds good and all, but with a four-hour drive left ahead of us I think I'm going to catch some shut-eye. Wake me when we get to Krift."

My own eyes start to droop on their own accord, and I decide some sleep would be welcome. I drift off to the sound of Mara humming to the song playing on the radio.

In what seems like five minutes I'm being woken up, groaning as someone shakes my shoulder.

"Come on Bri, we're here."

I force open my eyelids and stare at Cassie before I remember where we are. I get up, stretching my neck and feeling the muscles knot together from having slept all bent over.

"Where's the rest of the team?"

"They went inside about two minutes ago to fetch the Krift team."

I jump, not having realized that Kalen was still in the van with us. He smiles when he notices my startled expression.

"Sorry princess, didn't mean to wake you from your beauty sleep. Trust me, you need all you can get."

If this were an anime there would be angry swirls above my head and a narrator explaining how I was going to beat the living daylights out of my friend, but before I have a chance to climb over the front seat and give Kalen a piece of my mind, Mara and Jayson appear with three teenagers walking alongside them. At least they look like teenagers, but now that they're closer I can't really tell. They can't be older than twenty.

"I can't believe you left it behind!" Says one of them, the only girl in the group, as Mara slides open the van door to let them pile inside.

"It's your fault for not telling me where you put it last time!" Says one of the boys, climbing in after her.

I scoot over, trying to give them space, but they don't seem to notice me at all, or anyone else in the van for that matter. I look to Mara and Jayson, who get in the van themselves, and they just shake their heads and shrug. Obviously these two had been arguing since we got here.

"Come on guys, behave," mumbles the last one, a younger kid, younger than his teammates at least, he looks like he can't be older than fifteen.

He sighs when the two keep at it, shrinking into his seat and peeking at me from over their shoulders. When he notices me watching he tries to smile, but it seems a bit forced.

"I'm sorry about their behavior, usually, they aren't like this."

He pointedly says the last part louder, trying to get the pair's attention, and when that doesn't work he decides to punch the guy in the shoulder.

That works.

The bickering stops, but an uncomfortable silence follows. The kid exhales.

"That's better."

He turns back to look at me, this time managing a small upturn of his lips.

"I'm Asher, but usually people just call me Ash. We are very happy that you asked to work with us."

"Actually, we didn't ask, our director... hmph!"

Mara quickly covers Kalen's mouth with her hand, giving a nervous laugh when Asher tilts his head at her.

"We're excited too. So, Asher, why did you guys want to be a part of this mission?" She asks, genuinely curious. Everyone in every compound knew of the threat they faced, so we hadn't expected anyone to volunteer.

Asher goes to answer, but his friend speaks up before he has a chance to.

"We have personal issues with the man you are searching for, it's none of your business," she says, looking at Mara with fire in her eyes.

"Sorry to ask," I say coldly, noticing how Mara's mouth turns downward into a frown. Why is this girl being so hostile towards us? 

"I'm Brianna, these are Kalen, Jayson, Mara, and Cassie." I say, pointing to each of my teammates.

"And you are?"

She regards me for a second longer, waiting for me to look away, but I hold steady, and eventually, she caves.

"Anna," she says, flipping her hair over her shoulder, gesturing to the guy sitting in between herself and Asher, who still hasn't made a move to talk to us.

"That's Xavier, don't expect him to talk much, he's shy," she says, but I'm guessing his silence has more to it than just being shy.

When she says his name, he hunches his shoulders, and when he accidentally looks Cassie in the eye when she tries to smile at him, he looks away as if her gaze had shocked him. He has dark circles under his eyes, and his skin has a unhealthy hue to it. His hair looks dull on his head, falling to cover most of his forehead and part of his right eye.

"We are looking forward to working with you all," says Jayson, watching us through the rearview mirror.

"We should get to the safe house in an hour or so, so just sit tight and enjoy the ride."

I ignore the way Anna scoffs at his words, but answer Asher when he tries to strike up a friendly conversation. Why couldn't he be sitting with me instead of with Cassie?  I'm stuck with thing one and thing two, whom we already know isn't much of a talker.

"So, why is your team on the case of the Elite murderer?" He asks me, his big eyes looking straight at me.

"Just like you, we have personal ties to this mission. Our compound may be responsible for starting whatever it is he's doing," says Mara, staring out her window.

"But don't worry Asher," I say "with so many people searching for him, I bet we'll find him in no time."

He shrugs. "It's not the finding him that worries me, and call me Ash."

I smile, nodding. "Then you can call me Bri."

"Do you have any leads, or are we going into this blind? What's our game plan?" Asks Anna, suddenly deciding to join in on the conversation.

"We were hoping that you had a plan," I say, picking at the skin around my nails.

It's a nervous habit of mine, one that leaves constant scabs on my fingers and horrible nail beds. My mom always scolded me when she caught me picking at my skin, but it's not something I can control. When I get nervous or am feeling insecure, I take it out on my hands.

"Great! So we have nothing?" She exclaims, throwing her arms up and looking at me in disbelief.

"We never said we had nothing." Says Kalen, without turning around. "We just hoped you would have something too. Guess it was wrong of us to expect too much."

Anna glares daggers at the back of Kalen's head.

"Is that supposed to insult me?" She asks, catching onto his tone. But Kalen, ever composed, just shrugs.

"I didn't mean to insult you. If you felt it was an insult then there must be some amount of truth behind my words."

Stop it Kalen, we want to befriend these people, not give them more reason to dislike us! Even though this girl, in particular, seems hell-bent on not getting along.

"Cut it out," I tell him, hoping he understands why we need to have these people on our side.

If we want to work together we need to see eye to eye on where everyone stands. We are all equals here, we can't just go and start fights with everyone.

"Sure thing princess."

I seethe at his mockery.

"Stop calling me that," I grind out behind clenched teeth.

"Sure thing steel," He says, looking at me over his shoulder, but to my surprise there is no cocky smile, no playfulness to his tone.

I don't understand this guy. One minute he hates me, the next it seems like we are getting along, and suddenly he's back to disliking me.

Ugh. Boys.

This is why I don't date.