Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the rightful property of their creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this at any point in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my stories.

Agent L's POV

He's either the gutsiest man on the planet or the stupidest, she thought as she waited to see what the bugs would do. Here's hoping it's the former.

She'd honestly thought her ticket was going to be punched when the bug had clamped down on her with hits slimy mitts but it'd been a mixed blessing when the insect had decided to take her to its leader. She hadn't said much herself, just listened to the queen monologue about how no one could stop her plans, but when Xander wasn't brought in after a couple of minutes she took comfort in the fact that he likely got away. That'd told her that the cavalry would be incoming, so all she'd had to do was keep the queen talking for as long as possible while making it sound like there was no one coming to her rescue. What she hadn't expected was for Xander to actually pop back up again and try to bluff the wannabe bug queen into letting the two of them walk. She was pretty sure that when Agent A filled in Director One on the situation, the former Agent K would've told the rookie agent to stay put until reinforcements arrived. The fact that Agent A wasn't doing that could only mean that he feared for her life and wasn't willing to wait for help before attempting a rescue.

It was sweet of him but not strictly speaking strategically sound.

"You're bluffing!" the wannabe queen said defiantly, not quite buying what she'd been told. "There's no you way you'd collapse the cave with you and your partner still inside!"

"Bluffing? You do realize that to the boss we're just letters and a file, right?" Xander asked, as though everyone knew this. "If we die he'll just check the list of new recruits and assign our letters to someone else. We're not people to him. We're resources, expendable ones at that. Besides, two lives in exchange for putting a stop to your infestation plan sounds like a fair deal to me. What about you, L?"

"Everyone knows that becoming an MiB field agent shortens your lifespan by a lot," she said, hoping her acting chops were good enough to fool the bugs. "If tonight's the night we turn in our letters, so be it. As long as you and your brood don't make it out either, I don't mind."

Silence dominated for a time but there were murmurs in the background from the bugs, some wanting to get out alive while others sounded like they wanted to give killing Xander another try. It was impossible to determine which way the wannabe queen would go but she immediately began to try and figure out what she could do if it went either way. If the bugs decided to go after Xander then the best thing she could do would be to eliminate the tether that was keeping her partner in danger and that meant killing herself. Extreme but, if the only reason her partner had come charging in was to save her, then removing herself from the equation was the only way to get him to run for his life. She did have one or two gadgets in her pockets that the bugs hadn't taken from her but none of them were any good against an army of bugs. She'd left HQ like it was a standard recon mission so, aside from her standard issue sidearm plus some surveillance gear that could be used to properly evaluate the situation, she had nothing. If things had gone downhill and required that the two of them take aggressive action, they would've returned to the LTD and armed themselves accordingly.

"Release the female!" the wannabe queen ordered, choosing self-preservation over killing two humans.

Getting to her feet she carefully began to make her way through the throng of bugs, aiming for the haphazard rock ladder that'd take her up to the same level as Xander. The bug that'd captured her, though, hadn't exactly been gentle so there were definitely some bruises on her body but she'd been through worse so she ignored the pain. There'd be plenty of time to deal with the splotches of purple once she got back to MiB HQ but for now priority was getting clear of the swarm of bugs. Even as she reached the three quarter mark to her destination a part of her mind was wary because, even if the wannabe queen had ordered her freedom, bugs were dumb and that meant they were unpredictable. She just hoped one of them wouldn't have an episode of stupidity before she got clear or things really were going to get needlessly complicated.

"NO! I will not allow this!" one of the larger beetle-like bugs roared, throwing its pincers up in rage. "Bowing to a human?! You are not worthy to rule!"

"You dare speak so to me!?" the wannabe screamed in anger at her subordinate's words.

"I plan on doing more than that! KILL THE HUMANS!" the beetle bug roared before turning aggressively to face his former leader. "KILL THE COWARD!"

SHIT! She thought before she turned a careful walk to a sprint as she made her way to the ladder. Stupidity strikes again!

It wasn't pleasant but adrenaline made for a perfect painkiller as well as a means by which her running speed could be increased to the maximum, if only temporarily. Dodging every blow that was sent her way by the bugs, she had a number of close calls but thankfully from his elevated position Xander was able to blast any that got too close to her. The shots were random, though, since the young man had to keep the bugs off his back as well but, as she ascended the makeshift stone ladder, she knew it to be good enough.

Once she was on the next level she ran for Xander's position and, with only a glance in her direction, he tossed her the Tri-Barrel Plasma Gun with one hand before focusing his efforts on the bugs. As soon as she cleared enough space on her side of things she decided it was time to get the hell out of dodge since it wouldn't be smart to keep fighting on enemy ground.

"Time to go!" she yelled not taking her eyes off the bugs coming her way.

"You won't get any argument from me!" Xander yelled back before sidestepping his way closer to her position. "Let's go!"

With that the two of them began running and gunning for the tunnel that they knew would lead to the surface, doing their best to keep the bugs a safe distance away from them. As they reached the tunnel entrance though she saw Xander reach into his pocket and take out the detonator he'd held up earlier, flipping up the trigger guard.

"What're you doing?" she asked wondering what her partner had in mind.

"Giving the bugs a little going away present," he replied with a lopsided smile.

Taking a moment to think, since it was likely all she had, she reviewed what sorts of grenades were stored in the trunk of the LTD. There were several with each, designed for a specific purpose to combat a specific type of threat, so it was tough to narrow down which ones Xander had taken, therefore she decided to just come right out and ask him.

"What color were the grenades you used?" she asked, hoping the rising feeling of dread was just a reaction to the bugs.

"Blue. Why?" he asked just before pressing the button.

Instinct was what caused her to grab her partner by the arm and pull him down into the tunnel as fast as her feet could move because thought took a minute before telling her why instinct had her running for dear life.

Of all the grenades he had to pick he HAD to choose THOSE grenades!

Flames of blue fire started to chase them and the ground beneath their feet shook like a localized earthquake.

"I take it that those grenades are more powerful than I thought they were?" Xander asked even as bits of dirt and rock fell from the tunnel roof.

"Those were tri-cobalt plasma grenades!" she snapped at him, making a mental note to have him review the explosives section of the MiB armory. "Meant to be used only for heavily armored targets and two story or taller targets!"

"Good to know," Xander said, sounding more intrigued than sorry. "Still, with that many going off, no way did the bugs survive. Mission accomplished!"

"Let's hope Director One sees it the same way," she said, conceding that in those close quarters the odds of there being any survivors would be small indeed.

As the vibrations in the ground died off the two of them reached the human-made sewers and from there only a few minutes were required to reach the ladder closest to the LTD. That would be where K would send the heavy weapons team reinforcements so it only made sense for the two of them to pop up there. Indeed, once her head entered open air, three vans containing MiB agents turned the corner before coming to a complete stop fifteen feet away.

"Agent L? We were informed that you'd been taken captive." Agent R said, sounding a bit surprised.

"Agent A decided to perform an unauthorized rescue," she explained, not liking the paperwork her mind was imagining. "It worked but it was a near thing."

"Well, all's well that ends well. I don't think Director One will mind since it turned out alright," Agent R said, sounding like he was disappointed that he'd come all the way for nothing.

He had taunted Murphy. L knew that 'Murphy' did not technically exist but she had seen too many things to write it off completely. All she could do was wait now.

She didn't have a wait long. With renewed ground tremors she wondered how bad this was going to get and was answered when, without any visible cause, the building that housed the local branch of the IRS began to sink into the ground. It happened with no real order to it, with supports failing in one spot, causing other sections to snap under the suddenly increased weight. Nothing could be done and in minutes all that was left of the building was a mound of rubble, with two thirds of the place below ground level. Dust settled and vibrations ceased but she could tell that this was going to be a bit much to cover up and restore.

The only good thing she could think of was the fact that, as soon as Director One got the call from Xander, protocol dictated that all civilians be evacuated from the area before the heavy weapons team arrived. It meant liberal use of neuralizers to make people think that the evacuation was both necessary AND what they wanted but it was the quickest way to expedite getting non-combatants clear of the danger zone. With all of them gone the only casualties would be the bugs and the property that'd been destroyed, but both of those were covered by the repair and replacement budget.

In fact I think that the cost would actually be cheaper than most of the scenarios Xander and I ran back at HQ, she thought with a sigh as she pictured what was coming. Let's hope Director One sees it the same way.

MiB HQ, An Hour Later, Director One's Office, Xander's POV

"I realize that you're fresh from Phase One training, A, but I'd like to think you haven't forgotten the class on keeping property damage to a minimum. MiB might receive a sizeable amount of cash from the various patents on released alien technology but our funds are not infinite." Director One said in a tone that made it difficult to determine if he was angry or not. "While covering the restoration of the destroyed building and the replacing of the lost property isn't beyond us, it's not something I want to become a habit with you. Understand?"

"Yes sir! Sorry sir! I'll pay more attention to the grenade types, sir!" he said, standing at attention and almost giving in to the urge to salute.

"See that you do. On the matters of disobeying a direct order and exposing both you as well as your partner to unnecessary danger… I'm willing to let it slide just this once. L's a valuable member of the team and, recently being a field agent myself, I know what it's like to have a partner in trouble. Put in your place I likely would have done the same thing," Director One said, sounding like he was unwilling to press the matter further. "However I trust that in the future you'll understand the necessity of the chain of command and following the orders of your superior officer. You have the potential to be an exemplary agent one day, A, but you're still years away from having the ability to disregard orders based on your own judgment. Tread lightly."

"Understood, sir," he said, a little relieved that he wouldn't have any more heat sent his way.

"Nevertheless, some punishment will be required in order to make sure no one else gets any ideas about following your lead on future missions," Director One said, looking him right in the eye. "Therefore you'll be in charge of the paperwork connected to the replacement and restoration of the building you accidently demolished, with use of the computers being forbidden. You'll do it all with pen and paper before scanning EVERYTHING into the system. I think that will be punishment enough and will educate you on exactly what is involved when an agent doesn't show restraint in the field."

Remembering the size of the building that'd sunk into the ground and trying to imagine the number of things that must've been inside, his mind couldn't fathom just how much paperwork he was going to fill out by hand. The only thing he was certain of was that his hand was going to be unbelievably sore by the time he was done and he was going to need some serious caffeine to stay awake.

"Dismissed," Director One said, ending the debriefing meeting.

Walking out of the man's office, he sighed as he realized that he was going to be a LITTLE late getting to the apartment that'd been set aside from him. Hell, he hadn't even unpacked the few meager things he'd brought with him from the Phase One training facility, much less made his bed, so there would be even more work waiting for him there. All this and more made him seriously decide to review the specifics of MiB's authorized armory contents so that he wouldn't ever use the wrong weapon again. He'd been lucky that the mistake he made hadn't caused even more destruction that it had and that the boss man had ordered the evacuation of the entire area before the fireworks started. If someone had gotten hurt or killed because of something he did, it would be a blow to his soul that would take a while to recover from.

He was really in the big leagues now. He couldn't afford to screw up like this.

Well, I'd better get to work filling out all those forms, he thought as he began to make his way to the accounting department. The sooner I begin, the sooner I finish.

He knew it was getting late but, since the Twins had them on thirty-seven hour days, he figured staying up for the paperwork would help him get into the right routine.

Walking along he noticed that the flow of agents and staff in the hallways seemed to be lower than they were before, making him think that there must have been an ebb and flow to how busy things got. That made sense since they couldn't have everyone working all the time, so naturally some would be here, some would be at their apartments and some would be in the field on assignment. Probably the only time they'd have all hands on deck was for an invasion or for something that required a thorough search of the city in the least amount of time. Fortunately he stopped himself before uttering the sort of phrase that Murphy just loved, taking a person up on it and instead focused on the job he had ahead of him.

It was as he turned a corner though that he saw a sight that raised his spirits a bit and it was the form of Delenn, who looked to be turning in for the day. She didn't look too worn down but that didn't mean that her appearance was completely devoid of fatigue.

"Hey, D! Heading home?" he asked once he got close enough that he wouldn't have to yell.

"Yes. I have had a long day and I was beginning to make mistakes," Delenn said with a smile as she turned to face him. "The manager finally recommended that I get some sleep."

"Probably a good idea. There's a point where being tired'll keep just about anything from being absorbed by the old brain," he said, agreeing with her present course of action. "Wish I could say I was heading home too but I've got paperwork to do."

"Yes, I heard about your little 'dust up' with the insect aliens from a friend I made in the diplomacy division," she said with a bit of amusement. "You're certainly starting your career with a bang, my friend."

"Yeah… I'll try to learn to hold back on the next case," he said, feeling a little embarrassed that Delenn had found out about his trip up. "It was an honest mistake and not one I want to repeat if possible."

"I'm sure you won't," Delenn said with a reassuring grin. "In all the classes we attended together, it never took you more than one or two times to commit something to memory."

"Yeah, well, let's hope that if I mess up again it won't mean as much paperwork," he said, making a mental note to ensure just that. "See you tomorrow, D. Sleep well!"

"You as well when you're finished," she said with a slight bow before proceeding past him.

That won't be for a while yet. he thought as he continued towards his destination. Still, it's a nice thought.

It didn't take him long to reach the accounting department and inside he looked around to find an assortment of humans and aliens sitting behind desks, processing information at an impressive rate of speed. He guessed that they'd been around for years so they had everything down to a science where doing things came naturally and they didn't have to think about it. He had no desire to become as proficient as them at their job but it'd be nice if he could eventually get into a steady yet precise tempo with the work he had ahead of himself.

"Agent A? Director One told me you'd be coming down," came a voice from his left. "You made quite a mess tonight. Be thankful you're just being asked to do the paperwork. If it were up to me you'd be paying for everything out of your own paycheck for the next twenty years."

Looking in the direction of the voice he found a woman who looked to be in her late fifties, whose bearing and appearance just screamed 'strict supervisor'. Yet another good reason to make sure he didn't wind up with this punishment in the future. He had his fill of hard ass teachers from back in Sunnydale High School and seriously hoped that the lady didn't possess traits similar to Snyder or else his file was going to get filled with trumped up black marks all over again.

"I've set aside a table for you and put your first load of paper work. If you have any questions about how to fill one of the forms out I'll be here for the next three hours," the lady said, sounding like a C.O. explaining a mission. "After that, ask another one of my people. One of them will be able to help you. Maybe."

"Maybe?" he asked, wanting a little clarification.

"With the exception of a few field agents most of my people aren't overly fond of the people the boss sends out to handle whatever mess happens on this planet," the lady replied with a frown. "Mostly because it always winds up making more work for us no matter how it turns out. Sure, when Director One was a field agent he did things efficiently enough that we couldn't really blame him for the costs that cropped up but agents of his caliber are rare."

"Well, I doubt anyone can match up to the Director's record but I promise I'll do what I can not to make things any worse for you or your department." he said, not wanting to guarantee more when he wasn't sure he could deliver.

The future was an unpredictable thing after all.

"See that you don't," the lady said, doubt in her voice. "Now get to work!"

With that the head of the accounting department walked off, leaving him to his own devices. Like trips to the dentist and being forced to write a paper on a boring topic, he just couldn't work up any enthusiasm for what lay ahead of him. It was just something he had to do so he was going to do it just to get it out of the way.

Definitely not the life of excitement and adventure you'd think was the norm for a super secret organization, he thought, sitting down into his chair and rolling it up to the desk with his work on it. TV and movies are SUCH liars.

Two Days Later, Late Morning, Central Area of MiB HQ, Agent L's POV

"Looks like you came out in one piece." she said as she watched a slightly worn down Agent A enter the main area of HQ.

"Yeah, but I've got half a mind to put some ice on this hand of mine," Xander said, shaking his right hand as though to illustrate how worn out it was. "I had no idea how much paperwork went into handling the damage from a single assignment."

"Well, in their defense, most assignments don't result in the demolishing of an entire building," she said with a bit of a grin. "Still, there've been no signs of any bugs since then, so I think it's safe to say that you got them all."

"Yeah, I heard the same thing from the hall gossip I overheard getting some coffee," he said with a nod of agreement. "Let's hope that this sends a message to the bug planet that Earth is not a safe place to visit."

"It's probably a fool's hope, though," she said with disappointed shake of her head. "Bugs are notoriously stupid and Earth is an easy target when compared to all the other planets within range of their spaceships. I give it two years before they try something again."

"I think you're giving them too much credit," he said with a half grin. "I put their next arrival at inside a year."

"Loser handles the next load of paperwork?" she asked, to see if he'd accept it as the wager.

"Deal." They shook hands to cement the bet.

She was about to say more when she spotted two faces in the crowd of new arrivals that she recognized immediately and almost involuntarily groaned as she realized what was to come in the days ahead. It'd been a little over a year since the duo had last come to Earth as part of their job but, thanks to the impact they made, she remembered it like it was yesterday. She was vaguely aware of Xander trying to get her attention but she ignored him and instead took out her communicator, pressing the priority button that'd connect her to Director One.

"Problem, L?" Director One asked once the connection was made.

"They're here," she said, never letting her eyes leave the two women's position.

"Care to clarify that? I know quite a few 'theys'," he said, somehow making her feel a little stupid.

"The Blue Sisters," she said, clarifying her earlier statement.

"I'll be there in a few minutes. Keep an eye on them until then," Director One ordered, a distinct change in his tone of voice. "Don't let them leave HQ."

"I'll do my best," she said, not liking her odds considering who she'd be facing.

"And the Blue Sisters deserve the big man's personal attention… why?" Xander asked, looking at the same two late twenties women in the customs line up.

"Deliah and Dani Blue. Possibly sisters from the planet Zeltron," she replied, deciding it was best she educate him before he made a mistake. "They're bounty hunters and have a respectable reputation among beings in the same line of work. The reason, though, that they deserve Director One's personal attention is that they have a little problem of getting carried away with their work."

"How bad do they get 'carried away'?" he asked, looking like he sensed hidden meaning in the phrase she used.

"Their jobs start out well enough but, the longer they go on, the less they care about getting the job done efficiently and the more they care about enjoying the hunt. It gets so bad they start competing with each other to see who can apprehend their target with the most style. The only time they get serious again after that is if their target looks like they might actually get away. It got so bad last time we had to use the cover story that a ten square block are of the city was being used to film an action movie."

"Bullet holes and blown up cars?" he asked to confirm his imagining of the destruction was accurate.

"Blown up cars, blown up buildings, blown up pools and blown up playgrounds," she replied, rattling off the damage that'd been done the last time the two ladies were on Earth.

"Do I want to know how the last two happened?" he asked, sounding morbidly interested in how they came about.

"Probably not but it's all on file if you want to read about it later," she replied as she spotted Director One walking down the stairs from his office above the main area of headquarters.

"I'll think about it," he said before falling silent to watch how things proceeded.

Looking Director One in the eyes, she knew he'd wanted to confront the Blue Sisters in order to impress upon them how 'unhappy' MiB would be if they got too out of control during the course of their job. While some agents could suggest simply denying them the right to come to Earth, they didn't know that, aside from their tendency towards 'having fun', they were officially sanctioned bounty hunters. Unlike Buzzard, the two ladies had some standards as far as whom they'd take jobs from or who they went after, not to mention what they considered unacceptable professional behavior. Basically they stayed within the lines of what was acceptable to most law enforcement agencies, nine times out of ten at least, and most of the targets they came to Earth in pursuit of had committed all their crimes elsewhere.

Basically MiB dealt mostly with crimes committed on Earth since they didn't have the clout or means to imprison EVERY criminal that set foot on the planet.

As one she and the former Agent K walked towards the two ladies with Agent A following behind, most likely out of curiosity more than anything else. Such a formation of people didn't go unnoticed and so the other new arrivals parted like the Red Sea to give them an unhindered route to the people they wanted to speak to. Due to this it didn't take more than a second for the two Zeltrons to take notice of them and turn to face the approaching trio.

"Well, well, I feel all special to be greeted by the Director of MiB. Missed me, did you, handsome?" Deliah asked, already trying to work her charms on Director One.

"Not really. What brings you to Earth, Deliah?" Director One asked, his voice never losing its composed nature.

"Ooohhh, so cold! Same old human," Deliah said with an amused tone rather than an annoyed one. "If you must know we've tracked a group of Nagai mercenaries to your world. They made a big enough mess on Kinooine with a mining operation run by the Brie Corporation to get a bounty of a hundred thousand credits per merc put out."

"Must've been some mess," Director One said with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Any special stipulations?"

"Not really," Deliah replied somehow seductively. "As long as we bring them back to our contact with the Brie Corporation, we get paid. Dead? Alive? Our contact didn't say one way or another."

"These mercs got names?" she asked, hoping that with MiB's resources the Nagai mercenaries could be located swiftly, if only to get the duo off Earth ASAP.

"Sorry, Lucy Liu, but that's confidential info," Dani replied, speaking up for the first time. "No one's getting the bounty but us Blue Sisters."

"MiB has no interest in collecting a bounty," Director One said bluntly, turning his gaze to look at Dani. "We just want to offer all possible assistance."

To get both of you off Earth sooner rather than later, she thought, not wanting to get further dirty looks from the members of the accounting department.

"You're not still sore about the little mess we made last time, are you?" Deliah asked, sounding a LITTLE hurt. "It was an accident. Really!"

"An expensive accident," she said, keeping her tone fairly neutral. "We'd prefer you didn't have another in our jurisdiction."

For a moment the Blue Girls looked a little put out but, when Deliah's gaze shifted a bit, her expression changed to one of playful interest.

"Then how about this: one of your agents can come along to keep an eye on us." Deliah said, sounding reasonable and open to negotiation. "He reports in anything he doesn't like and you can deduct the repair costs from the total bounty we collect."

"What!?" Dani Blue exclaimed in surprise before looking at her partner. "Why the hell do we have to put up our bounty like that?"

"Trying to push our way past the MiB will just slow us down and give our targets time to get away," Deliah explained, not sounding too concerned. "Besides, they only get a bit of the bounty if we get called on unnecessary damage. We just have to make sure that doesn't happen. Right?"

She KNEW there was hidden meaning in the words but she couldn't quite figure out what it was and that annoyed her a bit. It wasn't that she didn't like the two Zeltron women on a personal level but rather that she didn't like the chaos the two tended to stir up especially since MiB was the one stuck with the bill. Still, the deal proposed by Deliah did sound like a decent one as, in her mind, it was practically a certainty that the duo would do something that the monitoring agent wouldn't like. If Director One decided to go with the deal then she'd go and see what the exchange rate was between the galactic credit and the American dollar so she could see just how much of a help the bounty would be in paying for the damages.

"That sounds like a reasonable proposal," Director One said after a moment's consideration. "I'll select an appropriate agent and arrange transport for you both."

"No need," Deliah said as a seductive smile appeared on her face. "We've already arranged for a car and, as for the agent… why not this fine young man here? He looks like he's got stamina enough to keep up with me and Dani."

Following the Zeltron's line of sight, she was surprised to find her looking at Xander and instantly she figured out the woman's plan. Zeltrons were known throughout far and wide as being amongst the most attractive and sexual races a sentient being was ever likely to come across. With incredible metabolisms to keep them from gaining weight very easily and commonly being found either on the battlefield or partying the night away, they could turn a person's head no matter what the gender. Add to that the potent pheromones and empathic abilities…suffice it to say that it took someone with impressive willpower as well as knowledge of what they were dealing with to keep their mind working right in the presence of a Zeltron.

Deliah probably wants Xander because he looks young enough that all she'll have to do is wear something that exposes a lot of skin and use some steamy innuendo to get him to tell Director One only what she wants passed along, she thought with some irritation bubbling in her mind. No way is K going to give the job to Xander! He'd a good guy but no way is he prepared to think with just his big head rather than his little one. That little trip to Koriand'r's place proved that.

"Agreed. From here on out until they leave, you're to keep an eye on them, kid." Director One ordered, looking at Xander. "Try to keep them from turning the city into a demilitarized zone."

"WHAT!?" she exclaimed, unable to comprehend what she'd just heard.

"Problem, L?" Director One asked with a single raised eyebrow.

"Yes sir," she replied, feeling as though she possessed enough seniority to confront a superior on certain matters. "While I am confident that Agent A has significant potential, I do not believe he is ready for such an assignment. He has not developed the necessary resistance to certain… distractions."

"I may be new, L, but I think I have enough willpower to keep two ladies from turning me into a groupie." Xander said with only a little irritation at her opinion of his ability to resist Zeltron seduction techniques.

"Zeltrons are a cut above the pop music idols or magazine cover girls you're used to, A," she said, trying to convey the difficulty he would have if he took the assignment. "They have certain abilities that make it easier for them to mess with your head and wrap you around their little finger."

This seemed to make Xander think for a moment and she hoped that the facts she laid out would also convince Director One to change his mind and assign someone more experienced.

"You make a valid point, L, however I have the final word on all field agent assignments," Director One said in a tone that would not be defied. "Agent A might be new but he's got to get used to things like this sooner or later. Besides, with Deliah and Dani's track record, we won't need the kid to tell us when they blow something up."

...Alright, fair point.

"If you think this it's for the best," she said reluctantly, giving in before turning to Xander. "Keep your wits about you Xander or these two succubi will have you licking their feet in no time."

"Don't worry, L. I know I probably don't look it but I'm a lot more mature than I look." Xander said before employing his lopsided grin. "Trust me!"

Why do I get a sinking feeling when I hear those words from him? she thought as she watched her partner walk off with the Blue Sisters.

Common sense?

Knowledge of the young man's history?

No, it was more akin to the dread you felt in your gut when things were going to take a turn for the worse even when you couldn't see any evidence to support the emotion.

She had a feeling she'd be feeling this a lot from now on thanks to Xander.

The Streets of New York City, An Hour Later, Inside a 1999 Chevrolet Corvette

Xander's POV

"Soooo… care to give me the skinny on your Nagai mercs? Names? Skills? Basic description?" he asked as he tried to distract himself from the weight in his lap.

It wasn't that Dani was heavy or anything, not possible with her toned body, but the fact that she seemed unable to get comfortable and so kept shifting positions every so often was getting to be a bit much. He'd been confident in the beginning that, despite L's warnings, he'd be able to shrug off any seduction attempts that Dani or Deliah sent his way. Extra abilities or no extra abilities, his pride wouldn't let him be manipulated like some kind of puppet, so whatever the ladies did he'd keep things business oriented.

That had been before they'd picked out their human suits.

Both of the Zeltron women looked completely human without any additional appendages or odd features that'd mark them as being something other than human. Well that was if you overlooked their pink or deep crimson skin and their red or blue hair, of course. He'd thought for a moment that this could be fixed with a skilled makeup artist and a wig but then he'd realized how impractical that would've been. With New York City experiencing a late winter and the snow coming down, it was all too likely that any make up put on would get washed away with any melting snow. Therefore human suits were indeed the better choice so he'd waited outside the changing room while Dani and Deliah picked out the ones they wanted and put them on.

He never could've predicted what choices they'd made.

Deliah had come out as a redhead wearing a leopard patterned shirt with semi-transparent sleeves, black leather shorts that'd just barely cover her butt if she bent over, a light scarf around her neck and boots that went right up to the knees. Not exactly the sort of stuff that'd keep you warm in winter weather but he had to admit that it looked good on her so, depending on how much time they spent outside, it could work out well enough.

Dani, on the other hand, had chosen to go blonde for some reason and went with a black leather sleeveless bodysuit, black boots that went just past the ankles and a jacket that reminded him of chainmail but was actually was made from cloth. Her outfit at least looked like it would give her better protection than Deliah's against the cold weather, so it was the better of the two in his opinion.

Both of them had fairly big black handbags, which he presumed was where they had their weapons and any other tools they thought they'd need for catching their prey. He had done his best to prepare himself properly with the standard MiB overcoat, shoulder holsters for two series one deatomizer pistols, a few odds and ends in the pockets as well as the standard load out for field agents. Between the three of them he was confident that they could handle just about anything the Nagai sent their way and, if he was wrong, it'd at least be enough to ensure that they could safely retreat.

When they'd exited the HQ via the surface entrance he'd at first been impressed at the car they'd apparently had dropped off because it was definitely a sweet ride. Whoever they'd contacted for their transportation obviously had deep pockets and trusted the two Zeltrons quite a bit because the latest model 'vette had to be expensive. It hadn't been until he'd gotten a look inside though that he'd noticed a problem: there were only two seats. Thinking that this meant that he'd have to grab a car from the garage and simply follow them around he'd started to do just that before Dani grabbed him by the arm, stopping him. The usual Q&A followed where she asked where he was going and he'd told her that, since there were only two seats in their car, there'd be no room for him. She had then refuted that before pulling him over to the open passenger side of the car and pushing him into the seat. He'd wondered what she had in mind and got his answer when she'd plunked her heart-shaped leather-clad butt on his lap before bringing the rest of herself into the vehicle.

Then, before he could begin to argue the merits of two separate vehicles, Deliah had gotten into the driver seat, closed her door, started the engine and pressed down on the accelerator.

This was how he now found himself with one Zeltron woman in his lap, who he suspected was fidgeting on purpose in order to get a 'rise' out of him, and another behind the wheel that was coming dangerously close to violating local traffic laws.

"The two that the people who put out the bounty want most would be Ozrei N'takkilomandrife, also known as Knife, and his second in command Bey, who it turns out is Ozrei's son," Deliah replied, not taking her eyes off the road. "They're apparently the ones who led the attack on the Brie Corporations facility on Kinooine. We weren't given names for the remaining people involved but they're probably Nagai, too. As for description, Ozrei is white skinned with messy black hair but his son is a half-breed, so he has skin the same color as yours but with a mop of white hair on his head. They'll likely only be like that when they're inside wherever they've holed up. When they're outside they'll be wearing human suits like me and Dani."

"Any idea why they've come to Earth?" he asked, figuring it'd help if they had an idea of what the Nagai's objective was.

"They probably think they can hide on this backwater planet until the heat is off," Dani said, stopping her fidgeting for a minute in order to speak. "It's pretty far from the main trade and traffic routes."

"You don't think they're here to meet someone?" he asked, proposing a possibility. "What exactly did they do on Kinooine? Blow something up? Steal something? Kill someone?"

"Don't know. Didn't ask," Deliah replied, not sounding particularly concerned. "In the bounty business all that matters is what's being offered money-wise and how tough the target'll be to take down. Sure, there are some employers who're scum and I wouldn't work for them no matter how many credits they offered but when you're in the business of hunting people down for money, you don't get fussy over the non-essential info."

"I assume you've got an idea of where or how to find them?" he asked, not sure how he felt about hunting people down without knowing what crime they committed.

"Yep! Aside from being guns for hire, Ozrei's people are pretty much like every other male that's involved in shady business." Deliah replied with a smile on her face. "Sooner or later either booze or babes will draw them out of wherever they're hiding."

"Well that should narrow things down a bit," he said, not liking the odds. "There are only a dozen strip clubs and probably three times that many bars in NYC. That's assuming the people you're after don't just swing by the local liquor store or pick a girl up off the closest street corner."

"If you're in a town you've never been to before, do you check out the places you've never heard of before or do you go to places that're familiar to you?" Deliah asked, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "Ozrei and his people will go to the alien bars, brothels and strip clubs first."

Okay, he had to admit that if they limited their looking to the alien bars and strip clubs, that would cut down on their leg work by quite a bit. "So what place are we going to check out first?"

"The Jade Empress. It's run by a Skrull named Lyja and caters to aliens as well as a few select humans that've managed to keep from getting neuralyzed by MiB," Deliah replied as she turned a corner.

"I've heard of a few humans managing to slip the nets but I thought that MiB caught up with them pretty quick." He recalled the class he took where Agent U told him about cases like this. MiB was quite thorough when it came to making sure they got everyone.

"HA! That's what your bosses want you to think," Dani said with amusement as she resumed her 'fidgeting' tactic. "Your outfits might be designed to make you forgettable but once someone knows what you look like, it makes hiding from you easier. The only reason everyone isn't doing it is because it takes making some pretty big sacrifices to pull off right. Not many are willing to do that so most get found pretty quickly."

Makes sense, he thought as he watched Deliah pull up in front what looked to be a club with two or three levels above it that could be mistaken for apartments. Without a tracking device MiB probably relies on tapping into every camera and phone to locate humans who've seen aliens but escaped being neuralized. If someone was willing to steer clear of those entirely, they could hide indefinitely.

Though why such people would be willing to risk being spotted to visit a strip club or brothel he couldn't quite understand.

He might be a guy but if he was on the flash list of an international organization with the resources MiB had, he wouldn't risk getting caught just to see some T&A.

Now if he got into a serious relationship with one of the 'employees', that'd be another story entirely.

The Jade Empress, Deliah's POV

Looks like Bruno got a little too enthusiastic. she thought, noting that a section of the club had obviously been remodeled since she'd last been there.

How did she know it was Bruno?

She knew it was him because the man was the only person capable of doing enough damage to require remodeling to be done before any of the club bouncers could stop him. She didn't know how long the guy had been coming to the club or how many times he'd probably been banned, but evidently he had his ways of getting let back in. She just hoped that Bruno's latest escapade hadn't happened any time recently because then Lyja would be in a bad mood, thus being less likely to part with useful information. The club did well enough that she knew that money wasn't the issue so she'd come to the conclusion that it had to be damage to the establishment's reputation that upset the Skrull lady.

People tended to not want to come to places where a frequent patron went on a rampage every other month.

Deciding to see if Lyja was even in she sashayed her way over to the bar where Andy was dishing out drinks with his usual proficiency. It wasn't until she was standing right next to the bar, with Dani and Agent A right behind her, that the bartender looked her way and she could tell from his expression that he remembered her from her last visit. Impressive considering she'd worn a different human suit but, given that her real appearance involved just cosmetic changes to her appearance, it wasn't too difficult.

"Deliah. Long time no see," Andy said, putting his normal routine on pause for a second. "Dani, nice to see you. Who's he?"

"New York State Liquor Authority, Division Six," Agent A said, flipping open his ID wallet showing the credentials.

It didn't fool Andy, of course, but it did let the man know Agent A was MiB without letting anyone within earshot pick up on that little tidbit. She'd expect such behavior from someone the legendary K saw fit to let out into the field so it was nice to know that her choice had more going for him than just looks. Still, it was early on and she still had yet to prove how good he was under pressure, so she'd wait and see if he was good enough to keep up with her and Dani.

"We're here to see Lyja, Andy. Is she in?" she asked, putting a little heat in her eyes to weaken his resistance.

"Yeah. You want me to call her down?" Andy asked, looking over to a phone that was likely a direct line to the manager's office.

"No, I think it'd be more interesting to surprise her," she replied after a moment's thought. "I know the way to the office."

For a moment it looked like the blonde man was going to be a problem and insist on calling his boss first but then he simply shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head with consent. The man probably knew that even if he tried to stop her, she'd proceed up the steps anyways and that getting a bouncer to try and stop her would only end in failure. She and Dani had something of a reputation, after all, so putting a mountain of muscle in their path wouldn't even count as slowing them down if they decided to get serious.

With a single 'follow me' look she led the way to a set of stairs near the rear of the club's ground floor before proceeding upwards. Lyja's office was on the top floor with a decent view of the area, though the reasons the Skrull woman gave for her room's placement changed every time she was asked about it. The first time she'd asked the owner of the 'Jade Empress' about her office the reason was that it let her keep an eye on the competition in the immediate area. The next time it was because the green girl was thinking about putting a helipad on the roof and getting her own private helicopter. The last time she'd asked her 'friend', the answer she'd gotten was because it proved a convenient means by which she could escape an enemy that had only land-based vehicles.

She'd eventually decided to give up on trying out finding the real reason, assuming there was one, and just accept that Lyja had her reasons.

They reached the top floor within minutes and, as they walked towards the manager's office, one of the apartment doors opened to reveal a satisfied looking man and a white skinned Twi'lek female who'd only haphazardly put on her geisha costume. It wasn't something she'd find attractive but she'd learned long ago that the tastes of men were many and that her own interests were of much higher quality. What caught her interest right then though was that Agent A only gave the two new arrivals to the hallway a cursory look before turning his gaze straight ahead. Of all the humanoid females that were capable of catching the interest of human-like men, female Twi'leks were placed quite close to the top of the list. Not that she was jealous or anything, the Zeltron people were in the running for most attractive as well, but she'd be lying if she said there wasn't some rivalry involved.

After all, who wouldn't want to be considered the most attractive and sexually stimulating race in the galaxy?

So the fact that the field agent Director One had assigned to her and Dani wasn't drooling over the pale skinned woman showed that he had SOME taste.

Once she arrived at Lyja's office she knocked politely on the door and, when she heard a sound indicating permission to enter, she went on in. The office looked like pretty much any other for a prosperous business, with filing cabinets, bookshelves, enough chairs or couches for guests and an ornate desk near the windows. Behind the desk sat Lyja in her natural form, dressed in a lady's business suit, but from the looks of things she'd unbuttoned in a few places to get more comfortable. There was no bottle of Romulan Ale on the desk so her day hadn't been so bad so as to drive her to drink, but it'd likely been stressful enough that keeping a proper appearance wasn't important. Watching as the woman looked up in response to the sound of footsteps and the door opening, a smile crossed the shapeshifter's face, indicating an improvement in her mood. While the three of them only got together whenever she and Dani tracked some prey to Earth, they still found time to enjoy each other's company after the work was all done.

"While I'd like to think that you've just come by to talk about old times, I think we both know that's not the case Deliah," Lyja said with a bit of amusement in her voice. "What do you want? And why do you have a Boy in Black following you?"

If Agent A took offense at being called 'boy' he didn't show it and that put him a notch above most males, who'd probably get upset over not being considered a 'man'.

"You're right about why we're here, Lyja. Prey is in town and there're good odds at least one of them will come by here looking to 'relax'. We were hoping that you'd be able to tell us if any Nagai have been by lately," she replied before glancing in Agent A's direction. "As for Agent A… Director One stuck him with us so me and Dani wouldn't get too carried away while we're on planet."

"Guess K's getting a little soft in his old age. There was a time he would've made sure a more EXPERIENCED agent was assigned to you two," Lyja said after giving A the once over and was not looking impressed. "But I guess that something is better than nothing."

This time she detected a slight twitch on Agent A's face but there was still no sign of a pride motivated rant about how he was just as good as any other MiB agent.

Some solid restraint there, she thought with a mental smile. Definitely better than some of the hotheads I've met.

"As for your Nagai, yeah, we had a few come in two nights ago," Lyja said, turning to look at her directly. "Didn't get any trouble from them either down at the bar or upstairs with Astraal, Sha'ira and Kurumu."

"You hired Kurumu back on?" she asked, a little surprised. "What about the incident that happened the last time we were here? With that Ferengi businessman?"

"Turns out the Ferengi had a habit of indulging in Red Dust during his off time and didn't think to mention it when he chose Kurumu. As you might know, addicts on that stuff tend to have eroded minds and had bodies to match," Lyja replied after a nod. "Bad combination when having fun with a succubus. Once this all came out I was able to hire Kurumu back on. Got a problem with that, boy?"

"Not really, as long as you abide by the rules regarding intimate activities that MiB has laid out," Agent A replied with a shake of his head. "Morrigan behaved well enough. As long as this Kurumu does the same, she'll get no trouble from me."

THIS caused Lyja's expression to change and it wasn't because A hadn't gotten upset about her employing a succubus.

"You've met Morrigan?" Lyja, some interest in her voice.

"Yeah. Ran into her when I went by Kori's place out west," Agent A replied without going into further detail.

"Interesting. I guess you're more used to this line of work than I thought." Lyja said with a small grin.

The name Kori rang a bell but she couldn't quite put a face to it or call up any memories from her mind. Then again she hadn't been on the west coast of the North American continent for a couple of years, so it was possible she'd just forgotten. If it was important she was sure she'd remember later.

"SO… getting back to the important part, do you have any idea about if the Nagai will be coming back here anytime soon?" she asked, deciding that it was best to put business first for the time being.

"As a matter of fact yeah. Heard one of them saying they'd be back later tonight to give the girls 'another sample of heaven'," Lyja replied, a snort indicating her opinion of the Nagai.

"They've got an inflated opinion of themselves don't they, Dani?" she said, turning to look at her partner.

"Yep. It'll be fun to pop their egos later," Dani replied with a smile that implied malicious fun in the future.

"So we come back at sunset and wait?" Agent A asked, looking to confirm a gameplan.

"That's an okay plan… for an AMATEUR!" Lyja said, sounding like her opinion of the young man had gone back down a couple of notches. "Places like this serve a select clientele, enough that we know newcomers on sight and while I don't have any problem with them, some of my employees have different opinions. The Nagai might not be regulars here but they'll be smart enough to notice the locals not behaving like they should. Might be enough to scare them off and then where would Dani and Deliah be?"

"I suppose you've got a suggestion then?" Agent A asked, not reacting to the slight to his intelligence.

"You guys work here for the day. If my customers think you're part of the staff they'll be less likely to do anything to tip the Nagai off," Lyja replied with a grin of confidence. "You can help Andy behind the bar while Dani and Deliah can work with the other girls. If the Nagai come in I'll walk up to them and offer them the 'Zeltron Special', allowing you two to have some 'alone time' with them. Should give you a chance to slip a tracker on them so you can follow them back to whatever dump they've holed up in."

"Won't they recognize Dani and Deliah?" Agent A asked, turning to look at her.

"Nope. Never actually seen them face to face," she replied with a shake of her head. "They might know someone's on their trail but I doubt they know more than two Zeltron females."

"And I take it that there're other female Zeltron bounty hunters than just you two?" Agent A asked to confirm some information.

"Plenty more and we're not even the best known pair out there," she replied with another shake of her head. "Unless we screw up somehow, the Nagai won't know any better."

"Then I guess we'd better get changed into some appropriate clothing." Agent A said, sounding like he was trying out for 'The Second Coming of Agent K'.

She'd be interested in finding out if he wound up getting the 'role' since it wasn't often that you got to meet someone who went on to gain that kind of rep this early on.

Ground Floor, The Jade Empress, Mid-Evening, Behind the Bar, Xander's POV

Never once in all my daydreams about what I'd be doing after high school did I think I'd be working in a place like this, even if it was only for a day, he thought as he mixed another drink before passing it to the customer. I guess life's full of surprises.

Hours ago he'd taken off his coat and holsters, stashing them in a locker in the employees changing room, before putting on the vest that was part of the male employee uniform for the club. Once he looked the part he went behind the bar and started helping out Andy however he could and, regrettably, it turned out he remembered more about mixing drinks than he'd like. Foe years Tony and his mother pounded how to make certain drinks had left the recipe's burned into his mind as well as the proper 'feel' for each drink. It was one thing to know a drink recipe but quite another to be able to eyeball everything and get it right on the first try. Customers weren't going to wait while you measured everything out precisely so you had to be able to see how much of each ingredient you were adding as well as what the drink was supposed to look like when done. It might've made him fit in more with Andy behind the bar but it didn't mean he had to like it and he'd be glad when he was back doing normal MiB stuff.

As for Dani and Deliah, he'd seen them every once in a while but they pretty much kept themselves to the lower levels where the nonhuman customers could walk about without their human suits or disguises. When he'd asked Dani about it the one time she came up for a drink, she'd told him that neither she nor her sister could really do a proper strip dance in their human suits. The reasoning was that even if they took off the clothes, their human suits were wearing it still felt like they were wearing something, so in their minds they weren't really doing their jobs. He admitted it made a certain logic and, truth be told, he preferred it this way since it'd be kinda hard to work with the duo if he saw them shaking their booty in nothing but a g-string. He might have had better self-control than he used to but he had limits and he had no desire to find out where they were while on assignment. It was his job to keep an eye out for new arrivals on ground level while the two Zeltron women would handle the lower levels since there were entrances down there that'd allow for sneakier entry into the club.

There were busy times and slow times in the club like any business but, when it was slow, he didn't just laze around. When he had more than a minute to himself he practiced using his eyes to get the measure of the emotions being felt by employees in order to see who was being honest and who was just faking it. He knew that for the girls who worked at the club a certain amount of acting was necessary as part of their 'performances' and some customer's might be faking certain reactions themselves for various reasons. While he wouldn't be able to get a flawless read on all of them, anything that could help him increase his accuracy would only be an asset the future. In fact, once the Blue Sisters left Earth, he figured it might be a good idea to look through the files of the alien races that most commonly lived on Earth or visited to memorize their body language cues. Some of it would probably be disgusting, depending on the species, but if it'd help him out on the job he'd work his way through any discomfort that came his way.

A good MiB agent didn't let things like 'gross' or 'disgusting' get in the way of getting the job done.

"You've got some decent skills mixing drinks, 'Aaron'," Andy said, using the alias that'd been agreed upon. "You take a course or something?"

"Not really. Just had plenty of chances to practice back home," he replied, not planning on revealing anything personal to someone he probably wouldn't see after the case was done.

"Funny. You don't strike me as a drinker." Andy said, sounding like he was interested enough to dig a little deeper.

"I'm not," he said with a bit of firmness to warn the guy away from this line of questioning.

Fortunately the Fates took pity on him as the direct line to the manager's office rang, causing Andy to go to answer it.

"Yeah, boss?" Andy asked before listening to Lyja's reply on the other end.

He didn't hear the other side of the conversation since he was busy keeping an eye out for any customer's looking to order a drink or get a refill. He had to act the part of an employee and a good employee didn't act like a busybody collecting gossip, but rather kept their minds on the job.

"Uh huh… yeah… got it." Andy said, nodding his head every so often. "They'll be up in five boss."

With that the senior employee of the club pulled out a tray and began mixing drinks, putting each one that he finished onto the tray with a napkin beneath it. He guessed that Lyja must've placed an order for Andy to fill but, just as the guy was about to pick up the tray, the front door to the club opened admitting a rather rowdy looking bunch. He could just tell that this bunch would need to be watched constantly and probably handled carefully in order to avoid an irritating level of trouble.

"Take these drinks up to the boss lady in her office, Aaron," Andy said, his eyes never leaving the new arrivals. "I know these guys. They can cause trouble if someone doesn't keep an eye on them."

"No problem," he said as he picked up the tray and began to carry it to the stairs.

It was a bit of a balancing act to keep every drop in the glasses but fortunately everything outside of the cups was bone dry when he got to the top. Knowing the path to the office it took him no time at all to get there and he almost went right in without thinking but thankfully he stopped himself, remembering to knock first. While he doubted that Lyja would be walking around in her underwear or anything, it was possible that something was going on inside that he wasn't cleared for so better to give her the chance to put stuff away first.

"Enter," Lyja said from inside the room.

Opening the door and entering the office, he found he was right that Lyja wasn't walking about in nothing but a bra and panties set but he'd failed to take into account the possibility of her having guests. Those guests turned out to be Dani and Deliah, who apparently had gotten tired of surveying the lower levels for their targets and had come to hang with their friend long enough for drinks to be reasonable. Both of them had robes on but he could tell with a look that whatever they might have on beneath had to be small and skin tight since he couldn't see any lumps or bumps in the robes. Both Zeltrons were out of their human suits as well so he could only presume that there was more than one way up from the lower levels, otherwise they'd have been spotted by those not in the know about aliens.

"Where's Andy?" Lyja asked.

"A rowdy bunch came in and he wanted to keep an eye on them," he replied after walking to her desk in order to allow her to pick up her drink.

"Must be THAT group. Shit!" Lyja exclaimed in annoyance. "I swear if they pull the same shit as last time I'm banning them for the next six months, minimum!"

"They're that much trouble?" Dani asked from her seat after taking her drink.

"They drink a lot, talk a lot, yell a lot and, if you don't keep tabs on them, they try to GRAB a lot." Lyja replied, putting extra emphasis on the last bit. "Most times we can keep them under control but there's always the odd time they slip their leashes and forget about the rules here at the Jade Empress. It bothers the girls and so it bothers me. If it comes down to them or my girls then I'm backing the girls all the way."

Nice to see someone in this 'occupation' that puts their people first rather than profit, he thought as Deliah took the last drink.

"Any luck spotting the Nagai yet?" Lyja asked, changing the subject.

"They haven't come in the lower levels and no one's wearing their human or animal suits," Deliah replied, shaking her head. "How about you, A? Anyone suspicious?"

"Nope, and no one's asked about some upstairs service from either me or Andy. If they've come in they're good at acting like locals and are satisfied with the human girls."

"If it's one of the ones already down there they won't remain satisfied for long," Lyja said. "I heard the way they acted the last time they were here. They definitely had a taste for the non-human."

"Nothing to do but keep waiting then," he said, though it wasn't going to be exciting.

"I guess so," Lyja said before turning to Dani and Deliah. "On another matter I was thinking about offering you guys some kind of payment for your work here. I know you're here for the bounty and all but I've been hearing good things from the other employees. Seems wrong for you guys to leave later with nothing."

"Just make our drinks and food free," Deliah said with a 'we are fine' shake of her head. "Your people are working for us just as much as we're working for you. It balances out."

"Are you sure? I recently got in some resources that might be able to help you with your gardening problem. I know you've had trouble getting the Jasmines, Lotuses and orchids to grow for a while now," Lyja said, looking at each Zeltron ladies with some sympathy in her tone.

"I don't know if anything you've got can help, Lyja," Deliah said, sounding discouraged but not defeated. "We've tried every trick we could get, buy, steal or blackmail but the stupid things refuse to grow the way we want them to."

Dani and Deliah are plant people? he thought with some confusion as he hadn't expect the conversation to take this turn. Huh. Guess you really can't judge a book by its cover, especially in this line of work.

"If there's one thing I've learned in my life it is that there are countless different ways of doing things and people are making up new ways every day," Lyja said, sounding optimistic and encouraging. "You just have to know where to look and who to ask."

"She's got a point," he said, feeling like raising Dani and Deliah's spirits a bit. "If you've already tried every trick on other worlds, maybe what you're looking for is here on Earth. I know humans are probably considered pretty primitive compared to everyone else out there but you'd be surprised what we're capable of if given a chance."

This seemed to make the metaphorical light bulb turn on inside each of their heads as they looked at him like he'd hit upon something they hadn't considered before.

"You really think that's the case, Agent A?" Deliah asked, sounding like she found it hard to believe.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't believe it," he replied with his usual lopsided grin. "One of the problems of having a brain to mouth filter that only works some of the time."

"I look forward to finding out if you're right." Dani said with an odd look in her eyes.

Why do I suddenly get the feeling that I've missed something? he thought as he left the office to head back to the bar and see if Andy needed backup.

The Jade Empress, Lower Levels, Late Evening, Deliah Blue's POV

Is it really so simple? she thought as she went through the motions of her 'routine' on stage. Have Dani and I just been looking in the wrong places all this time?

Going through a series of movements meant to draw attention to her best attributes while qualifying as a dance, she considered it with as much attention as she could manage. Looking back on how long Dani and her had been trying, it didn't seem possible that a place so unimportant on the galactic scale might contain what they needed. Then again the two of them had made a decent career out of finding people who've hidden in some of the most unlikely of places, so maybe this was just one more thing they'd found. It was certainly something to think about when the opportunities arose during the course of their time on Earth.

As her routine came to an end she strutted to the back of the stage just as the curtain closed behind her so that things could be set up for the next stripper. She'd done four separate routines so far and Dani had done three but both had been mixed in with the other performers so that the audience wouldn't get bored with seeing two Zeltron women in a row. Not that she believed ANYONE could be bored seeing the routines she and her partner had perfected over the course of the numerous times they'd had to look for their target in places like this but she guessed it could happen. Besides that she didn't want the girls that actually worked at the Jade Empress to think she and Dani were hogging the spotlight or anything.

"Hey Deliah! Phone from ground level for ya!" yelled one of the strippers standing by a wall phone.

Walking briskly over with the costume she'd worn out onto the stage, she took the phone from the Cathar woman. "Yes?"

"I think the customers we've been waiting for have just come in the front door," Agent A said in a whispered tone of voice. "I just served a guy that looked a little pale around the eyes. I guess his skin was sagging a little bit."

It was the Nagai!

"What are they doing now?" she asked as she looked about for Dani.

"Andy managed to bribe them with some free drinks to keep them busy," A replied, keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard by anyone. "I suggest you get the 'Zeltron special' ready quickly. With the way they're knocking them back, you won't have much time. Room two zero five."

"We'll be there!" she said before hanging up and running to the dressing room for the strippers to find Dani.

It didn't take long to find Dani, who was just finishing getting into what looked to be a nurse uniform except it was far too tight, involved less fabric than you saw in public hospitals and was made entirely out of PVC.

"They're here!" she said to her partner, letting her tone convey the truth.

Dani went all business immediately and grabbed their handbags from a nearby bench, but when the pink haired Zeltron got halfway, she stopped.

"You might want to put on your outfit. We're supposed to be employees and it'll give them another distraction we can use to our advantage," Dani said, pointing to the armful of clothes.

Deciding that now was not the time to argue she quickly slipped the sexy cheerleader outfit back on and, once she was satisfied that everything was where it should be, she grabbed her handbag from Dani, leading her partner up the employee stairs to the second floor. It didn't take them long to reach room two zero five and thankfully it was unlocked so they were able to get in to strategically pick how they'd position themselves. Too few people realized that seduction was as much an art as painting or the various martial arts in that it took careful thought to make sure the recipient got hit as hard as possible. Where they saw you, how you positioned yourself, what if any toys were visible and of course the body language you used to say 'I am the best fuck you will EVER have' all played a role in successfully seducing a target.

With a look she told Dani that she could take the bed while she went over to table with restraints built into it and reclined sexily on it. With positions chosen she reached into her handbag and took out three button-sized tracking devices before hiding them at certain spots of her costume. Fortunately for her they had a built in nano-chameleon function that caused them to change color to match whatever they were attached to. As a result, even if one of the Nagai men looked at it, they would certainly dismiss it as part of the costume and focus on something they found more interesting.

She'd make sure that they passed over it for something more interesting.

She watched as Dani did the same as her before stashing her bag beneath the bed where she could easily get access to their other accessories, if necessary.

They'd already planned how this would go if the Nagai came in and the one thing that was at the top of the list was that this wasn't a capture and interrogation list. They were to get the men all hot and bothered so that they wouldn't be thinking straight and then slip each of their tracking devices onto a different article of clothing in order to maximize the chances of one remaining undiscovered. Then, once the devices were in place, they'd finish playing their role as the 'entertainment' of the night before letting the men go. With luck the Nagai men would be so wasted they'd be sloppier than usual, making it that much easier to follow them back to their hideout, where their leader no doubt was. At the same time, though, past experience had told them that this plan had just as much a chance of not even getting off the ground, so if it came to that they'd persuade one of the men to talk.

In a way it was kind of funny that some of the things that were used to induce pleasure in places like this could also cause great pain if someone with enough imagination got hold of them.

A moment later she heard the sound of multiple pairs of feet heading their way and determined that it must be their 'customers', so they put themselves in the proper mindset and placed the right sexy expressions on their faces. When the feet stopped just outside the door but didn't do anything, she wondered if the Nagai were so drunk that they were having trouble figuring out how to open it.

The multiple whines that filled the air moments later was the only warning she had but it was enough to get her to roll off the restraint table while flipping it over, turning it into a makeshift shield. Barely a second after she did this energy weapons fire began to punch hole after hole in the wall, tearing up the room and eventually destroying the door itself. While all this was going on she wondered what the hell was going on because this was certainly not how things were supposed to have gone. The Nagai were supposed to come into the room, completely clueless about who she and Dani were, be completely unaware that tracking devices were being placed on them and then lead the way back to their base. They were NOT supposed to get caught up in a hailstorm of weapons fire capable of tearing them to pieces! Her mind raced to think about what could've tipped them off but there were just too many possibilities, ranging from having one of their guys keep tabs on the club for signs of pursuit to one of the employees tipping off the Nagai.

Still, dealing with the unexpected was part of the job and only the real bounty hunters who could adapt and overcome such things lasted long.

There's also the fact that I know a secret about Lyja's furniture that the Nagai couldn't know, she thought as she felt something hit her makeshift shield. Every flat surface that's more than two square feet is made out of the same metal as a spaceship's hull!

As a result both her and Dani were pretty well protected against the weapons the Nagai were using but they still needed to reach their own weapons if they were going to make it out of the situation alive. With the door down it was only a matter of time before the attackers pushed forward to the point where the cover she was currently behind would be worthless. Looking for hand bag she found that it was, fortunately, only a few feet away, so with some caution she crawled over to it and pulled out her model Q2 hold-out blaster pistol along with three power packs. She waited patiently for a break in the onslaught of firepower before returning fire, sending green bolts of energy back at the Nagai. Dani soon joined her with a blaster pistol of the same model and luckily the positions they'd chosen for seduction also allowed them defendable positions from attack.

The more the shots continued, though, the more she realized that if she and her partner were really unlucky they might wind up killing the people they wanted to follow. That would be a real spot of bad luck and make finding the leader and his second in command son that much harder since the two would be on guard from that point forward. At the same time, though, neither of them could hold back or else their positions might be overtaken, making it even worse for the two of them as far as their health was concerned. Somehow they had to force the Nagai into a full retreat and then follow them before they could get out of sight, but how in blazes were they going to do that?

A shot from a weapon so different from anything that'd been used thus far broke through the storm of firepower, catching everyone's attention.

"FREEZE! MIB!" came Agent A's voice from the hallway.

In retrospect she should have guessed that all the noise from the firefight would've drawn the young man up the stairs and right now she was glad that he had come. A fight on two fronts would put pressure on the Nagai and, depending on how they reacted to the presence of a MiB agent, her wish for them to go into full retreat. As if in answer to her thoughts the Nagai began an organized retreat away from Agent A, firing shots presumably in his direction in order to keep him from returning fire. This didn't work perfectly since the human did manage to get a handful of shots off but the end result was the same.

The Nagai were retreating and a minute later the only thing she could hear was the sound of many feet running away from her location. A minute after that the young man that had turned a tight spot into an ideal situation appeared in the doorway, wearing the outfit he'd first entered the establishment in, a series one deatomizer in his right hand.

"You two alright?" he asked, looking at both of them before taking up a defensive position.

"We're fine. Nice save, A!" Dani said, rising from her place of protection.

"Yeah, nice, but let's not stay here patting you on the back!" she said as she picked up her bag before running to the door. "If we stick around too long we'll lose them!"

"No, we won't," Agent A said with a smirk as he reached into his overcoat pocket.

A few seconds later he took out a device that had two readouts on it: a direction readout and a distance readout.

"As soon as the Nagai went upstairs I snuck out to the parking lot and put a tracker on their car," Agent A explained, sounding quite pleased. "We're lucky they got transportation of their own instead of taking a cab."

"Then let's see where this luck takes us," she declared with a smile before leading the way down to ground level where their car was parked.

Even with a tracking device on the car they couldn't afford to take the time to change into their civilian clothes or even get into their human suits. She figured it was fine since they'd be driving fast enough that no human would be able to get more than a passing look at them and the Nagai base was probably in a place with low human vehicle traffic, so the odds of them being seen was minimal. Even if they were spotted they had a MiB agent with a neuralizer in his pocket, so any witnesses could be dealt with easily enough.

All that mattered now was that the hunt was on and she would NOT let the prey escape!