Jaden

I've been sitting on my couch at home for hours, waiting for my baby to come home and she never did. It's what I ended up doing after I've tried driving around town about eight times with no luck in finding her and after calling her for about 100 with no luck in getting in touch with her.

Not one call, not one text, not one voicemail returned... Nothing.

Even after all of that, I still managed to gather my strength and hide my pain and anger to come to work today to help out for this mission.

The sky this afternoon was dark grey with huge clouds hovering over our heads... Great. It matched my mood.

"Third and last round team! This time, don't hold back, this should be a piece of cake by now!" I announced to the team, raising the whistle to my lips.

"Yo!" Tyler called before I could blow it.

I looked at him, "What do you want?"

"Actually... We want a treat after this. When we get done with training, we should all hang out at a restaurant or something."

The others murmured in agreement, making me shake my head.

"I can't take the whole headquarters to a restaurant... But look, how about we all link at the pool later if the weather gets better. We'll have music and food and whatever, sounds good?"

They all cheered eagerly.

I clapped once, "Great, but you all have to stay on top of your game for the rest of training, got that?"

"Yes, sir!" They said simultaneously.

I nodded then raised my arm for them to get ready before I blew the ear-piercing whistle. I watched them dart towards the first obstacle in a nice starting speed.

As they reached the duck and dodge ropes, I could hear Coach Miles' heavy, deep voice boom at them as he motivated, "Come on! Don't slow down, cupcakes! Yeahh!!"

Even from here, I think I could see the veins popping out from the dark skin on his thick neck and the side of his bald head.

I walked down the field, towards the end where each finished member would ring the bell when they complete the drill.

I sat on the bleachers, rubbing my temples. I almost didn't come to work today in hopes of Nicole coming back home but that obviously wasn't going to be the case so I decided to be here and not leave these people with nothing to do. The only reason why they were listening to me was because I lied and told them that Nicki put me in charge until she arrives to work again. Someone had to do something with them. It wasn't like they weren't getting any work done on their own but I at least wanted to keep the schedule organized so when she ever does decide to come back, the processing wouldn't be so discombobulated.

I had to gather up all of my remaining energy to come here. I couldn't sleep last night, I couldn't think straight, and I didn't eat anything. The only thing I had in my system was the water I've been drinking all day from training.

I couldn't tell if Nicki was alright and it was killing me inside that I didn't know. She wouldn't answer any of my calls or texts, Tyler's calls, or Jerry's calls. In fact, Jerry is searching town for her right now but he's still hadn't returned with anything about where she is.

When I see that bitch ass muscle head, Coach Jackson, I'm gonna make sure I give him a piece of my mind while he chokes on a piece of his own teeth for not taking me seriously. I even texted and called that dirtbag and he never answered either. That only gives me another reason to knock him out when I find him. As for Nicole... I don't know what I'll do... I just miss her... A lot...

I watched as the last few agents completed the course in a new record time of 5 minutes altogether. That made me satisfied with their hard work but it was not enough to lighten the mood.

"Good job, you guys!" I clapped with a nod. "We need to head to our last station for the day before the sky pisses on our heads."

"Thanks... Can we have a water break?" Daniel huffed.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Would Nicole let you have a water break?"

His eyes slightly widened and he avoided eye contact, "Uhh... N- not really- I mean... I don't know."

"I'm just messing with you bro... Everyone grab some water and meet at the maze in 20." I patted lil Daniel on the back and watched as he and the rest of the members headed off for a break.

Tyler and Coach Miles followed me towards the maze to set everything up. They've been the main ones helping me get these people prepared today and I really appreciated their help. I needed it since one, I barely knew what to do for each transition and two, my mind kept circling back to Nicole and Coach Jackson. In spite of that, they helped me keep focus on our team's goals the whole time.

But speaking of Nicole...

I pulled out my phone to check if she'd ever called back but not to my surprise... Nothing...

"You guys get started on the setup, I'll catch up with you guys..." I told them as I dialed Jerry's number.

They stopped and looked at me. Tyler asked, "Are you going to call her again?"

I shook my head then heard Jerry's voice on the other end.

"Still no sign of her Mr. Brown... Don't worry, I'm going to search for Jackson's address and hopefully I find it soon," he told me.

I sighed, "I'd appreciate that. Did you figure out which bar they went to last night?"

"Yes, sir. It's a huge jazz bar... Apparently, they've been gambling and won a ton of money. After that, no one knows where they've headed off to."

Gambling? Why were they gambling- Nevermind... That won't be important until I see her again at least.

"Just figure out his address and if you find them, bring Nicole home and don't hurt Jackson... I want to be the one who fucks him up." I sneered.

"No problem, Brown... I'll call you back."

I hung up the phone still glaring as I placed it in my pocket. I knew I should've never let Nicki leave with that dog. He hasn't been taking me seriously since the day I met him. Of course he'd completely ignore me when I told him to bring her home by 10... And Nicki... I guess she did too...

Tyler put his hand on my shoulder, "She'll be back, Jay... I'm sure she doesn't mean any harm."

I shrugged his hand off and began walking again, "I don't know, man... She was gambling with him last night and she didn't pick her phone up or answer any of my texts, not once... I'm not saying she's leaving me or anything but I'm worried about her. What if she's in trouble?"

Tyler frowned, "I don't think she is. She's good at protecting herself... Come on, Jay. Let's get through this last training so we can head home and rest." he then smiled, "And buy yourself a turkey or something, you're getting skinnier than a stick of bubble gum."

I chuckled softly, "I'll try..."

* * * * *

After everyone met at the maze soon after their breaks, I got them started and watched each of them soar through it from the evaluating room. Something about this group really surprised me. They seem more prepared and focused. I guess they've been learning well from the other group's mistakes.

I don't know what Nicole's been doing but it's had a real positive effect on them.

Damn... Nicole...

My stomach turned at the thought, making me groan and rest my head on the desk.

Why isn't my baby home?

"Dammit!" I groaned, banging my fist on the desk in aggravation.

I miss her so damn much! I miss her fucking smile! The way she insults me to the way she loves me... Waking up next to her in the morning... What if I never get to do that anymore? What if she leaves me for Jackson?

She wouldn't do that... Would she? Well, he's bigger than me and more experienced with this job than I am and he obviously didn't like the fact that I had a thing for her.

Oh shit!

He's probably convinced her to leave me! He probably brought my bullshit past of sleeping with other girls!

"Son of a bitch!" I punched the desk angrily, keeping my head buried under my other arm.

Click.

The door softly opened. Coach Miles walked in with a twisted expression, "Why you still sittin' in here, pup? The team is waiting for you out there."

I popped up and looked at the screen, noticing that the maze was empty, "Oh, my bad... I'll be right out." I said, weakly.

He nodded and headed back out. I sighed deeply as soon as the door closed and slouched in my chair, taking a moment to breathe... I'd better go dismiss them now, I don't want to spend another minute here anyway.

I grabbed my things and walked out, seeing the nice line of team members waiting for me. I waved my hand and began to walk past them, ready to get out of here, "That's a wrap... Go home..." my voice came out quieter than intended.

It took them a moment before they began to disperse. I dragged my feet out to the parking lot, feeling sick inside. To make the day even better, rain droplets began to lightly fall from the sky, feeling as cold as my soul as they hit my skin.

I hopped in my car and started on the road to Nicole's place. That's where Jerry wanted me to stay until he got back. He honestly worries for Nicole more than he did for me which is why he had no problem leaving me behind to go find her and I totally respected that. I would've rather had him go look for her rather than stay with me anyway.

Whatever, today wasn't a total kick in the ass for me. The good thing about today was that we've made a milestone in progress. Part one and two of the mission were planned out but part three was going to be a bit tricky... Tomorrow, we needed to do some weapon and tech testing to determine the best choices for our spies to use during the mission. We also found more evidence of who exactly was a part of Fire Catcher's team. We plan on sending spies to Europe sometime tomorrow.

The rain started to pick up as I drove into our home street. While I wait here for Nicki, I'll make sure to check back with Jerry a few times more for updates. I'm willing to spend the rest of my night doing that then, maybe, trying again in driving around town to look for her. It's the only thing I had left in me to do before giving up all hope.