I sat at my desk much too early the next morning, sucking down a black coffee with an extra shot of espresso. I needed caffeine. Today would not be a good day to suffer jet lag… or portal lag? Whatever…

The boys hadn't taken the news of my leaving well. Hale had told me to come back to the CIA headquarters immediately… so that's what I had done. I had yelled a quick goodbye at them over the roof of Blue base, telling them that I couldn't come back and that the Deep Space Mail Service would be coming by to pick up my stuff. They protested, flabbergasted, at this quick departure, but before they could run to the roof and discover I was choking up from having to leave so soon, I ran through the portal and locked it behind me.

Now, I sat in my office. Although it was only 0500, the CIA was already humming busily. I had decided to get to work early, knowing that an enormous pile of paperwork would greet me. I was right. It sat uniformly in front of me, begging to be filled out. This was the part I always hated the most about ending a mission. All the damn papers.

I sighed and settled down, unable to procrastinate from them anymore. The first thing I had to do was make a Mental Stability Note for each one of the Blood Gulch soldiers. I smiled grimly.

Name: Franklin Delano Donut

Rank: Private

Outpost: Blood Gulch Alpha

Armor Identification: Pink

At the last line, I smiled and erased my answer, adding lightish red instead.

Mental condition: Stable

Evidence of condition:

Hmm...

Evidence of condition: Normal interactions with teammates

Details: Works well with others and acts as mediator and peacekeeper. Does share of the work, especially inside the base. Bakes a mean strawberry shortcake.

I thought about erasing the last sentence, but decided to leave it in.

God, I missed them.

I heard a knock at my door.

"Come in," I said. I expected an intern to hand me yet another pile of papers, but the soldier who walked in certainly wasn't a rookie.

"Wash?"

"Surprise."

The ex-Freelancer leaned in the doorway, gazing at me.

"What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too," he replied coldly, raising an eyebrow. "Mind if I come in?"

"I suppose not," I said, still a little surprised. He sat down in the chair opposite my desk. "Why aren't you at Command?"

"I'm still working for Command, if that's what you mean. But I'm here because I've been given another mission, and Command thinks I should take a CIA Agent with me."

"Don't be stupid, Wash. You wouldn't be allowed to choose your own partner."

Wash laughed disdainfully. "You think that I'd be here if I got to choose my own partner? They're the ones who talked to Hale about it and sent me here. So... I've got a bad feeling they're going to pair us up."

"You don't know that. There are plenty of other Agents in this department."

"You're the highest-ranking one here, though."

I raised an eyebrow. "The CIA doesn't always choose people for missions based on rank… you of all people know that."

Wash's eyes perked up with understanding. "Hmm… that's true. But I still think they're going to pick you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, you have plenty of experience where I'm going."

"And where is that?"

Wash opened his mouth to reply, but my desk phone rang loudly, cutting him off. Hale's number glowed on the screen.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Eleven, I'm in the office. I noticed you were signed in as well, and that Wash already has arrived. I'm going to talk to you early. Please come at once."

"Yes, sir," I replied.

I left Wash standing at the doorway and started walking toward Hale's office. I had a terrible feeling about this. Hale had mentioned Wash… but there was no way we would be put on the same team. No damn way. Hale knew better than that.

I grimaced, remembering Hale's conversation with me after the ball. Wash and I couldn't work together. That much was obvious.

Reaching Hale's office, I took a deep breath, my stomach twisting tightly in knots. I shouldn't have been nervous about this, but something kept nagging at the back of my mind. Something told me I wouldn't like what I was about to hear…

(Welcome to Season 2 of After the Recon! I will now be updating on a weekly basis, but please note: Sometimes I will update After the Recon II, but sometimes I'll update Before the Recon.

This is for a purpose.

Let me pause and wait for that to sink in for a moment.

…

Okay, now that that's done, I'm so happy to be back! I missed all of you!

-Stella)