[Katarina Bauer]

March 3rd, 2012
10 am


"Good morning, Agent Bauer." The woman at the front desk greeted her with a smile. It was the same greeting she heard every morning from that same bright smile to the same intonations in her voice. She had arrived to HQ, masked this time as some sort of pharmaceutical corporation.

Katarina acknowledged her with a her own smile. "Good morning."

She pushed past the glass doors which lead into a marble hallway. At the end of this hallway was another set of doors. They hissed as they opened, and this second hallway was a little bit different. There was a conveyor belt that stretched from one end to the other, even though it was only about ten feet long. Katarina assumed the position, standing upright, holding her briefcase to her side as she had been instructed.

The belt began to move and it carried her across the x-ray search that showed what she carried on the monitors above the door at the end of the hall. She watched the little words on the digital screen explain the contents of her pockets, her briefcase, and explain the materials in her hairclip even, and she came to a full stop at the door.

"Welcome, Agent Bauer." The computerized voice said, as the second set of doors hissed and let her pass.

"Even the regular MI-5 unit didn't get security like this." She muttered to herself, amused at the overwhelming need to search for safety.

She walked down the long stretch of carpet before she turned left down the aisle and found herself in her cubicle. It was sparsely decorated, a picture frame containing a photo of her, her brother and her cousin from the last time they spent lunch together at the park. It was taken on her birthday last year.

Setting her briefcase on the side, Kat took a seat in her chair. It wasn't that she was exhausted, she was still considered new here, learning the ropes, and figuring out why she was actually sought out to become a part of this unit. It was only 10:00 a.m. and she was already thinking about lunch. The days had been dragging on lately.

[Niklaus Schmidt]

"Well, 'regular' MI5 doesn't hold beasts captive, now, does it, Kit Kat?" Klaus said a little too sharply as he walked past her. He was on his way to his little cubicle after another frustrating meeting with the monster they'd captured. The man wouldn't talk, kept insisting on seeing the girl they'd taken in. Frankly, Klaus wanted to re-unite the two just so the bloke would shut up about it. He had a meeting with Jones in an hour to discuss just what she wanted from him out of this whole thing, and Klaus had every intention of finding out just what his limitations were in this scenario.

With a heavy sigh, Klaus threw himself into his chair, which rolled back and hit the partition between his desk and another desk. He simply slouched down and reached to open a drawer and pull out a ball he kept in there. Klaus considered throwing it at the glass window just for the satisfaction of hearing something break. Instead, he threw it up in the air and caught it. Not nearly as satisfying, but it kept him off Jones' or anyone else's radar. No need to be written up for disruptive behavior, even if they should have known to expect some behaviors of some sort when taking him on. He did have a record, after all. Never mind most of it was balderdash.

After another throw, Klaus let his head fall back and closed his eyes. Could it just be the end of the day now? Pleeeeeeeease? Mary mother of Christ, this was a long day. He hadn't felt this frustrated in forever.

______________________________________

[Cole Callaway]

The elevator door hissed open and Cole stepped through, adjusting the top button on his shirt as he exited. The x-ray hallway smelled faintly of a familiar cologne and it was then that he knew Katarina had already arrived, and was probably the operative let through before him. He'd only met her once before and seen her in passing, but that scent was unmistakable. As he rounded the corner to the aisle leading to his desk, Cole wanted Klaus to throw the ball up again so he could catch it for himself. Unfortunately, he didn't, but he kept walking anyway. There was already conversation happening, what he gathered was about normalcy. "There's nothing regular about this place, Bauer. You should know that by now."

Katarina watched Cole take his seat in the cubicle across from her and she plopped down in her chair. She didn't remember standing up, but she had papers in her hands that she meant to take to the copy machine but she decided against it when Cole arrived. She hadn't interacted with Cole much before and Klaus was being as Klaus as ever. However, even though he tended to be a little abrasive, she allowed his company since he was her only friend here in the new division, and that was using that term lightly. "Good morning to you too, Callaway." It was all about last names here, so far. Except Klaus. He was called Klaus.

"Morning, though not sure I can say good." Cole pulled out his morning log sheet from the filing cabinet below his desk and started to fill it out, not looking up from his desk. He knew it was impolite to face away from someone he was talking to, but he had his work to do.

Katarina filed the stack of papers that was sitting on her desk before setting a new file on top. After a beat, she swiveled her chair to face the aisle. "Did Jones phone you guys as well?"

"Jones always calls me." Cole said again, though turning only slightly to look over at the girl. He kept writing. "What about you, Klaus? Jones pull you in as well?"

[Niklaus Schmidt]

Klaus rose a brow at the other two. "It's ten on a Monday. I think it's safe to say most of us here were scheduled," he replied. Maybe he was a little cross this morning, but he didn't care. He didn't have time for banter. "Even if I wasn't, you can guarantee I'd be here. Been working on this beast for a month now, have three more blasted days until the next full moon. Thing's getting cranky, I'm getting crankier, and all I've got is that this thing's called a Garou instead of a werewolf and they're not related. Meaning we failed and we're going to have to go out again here soon, if Jones isn't satisfied. And I have to ensure our little cage is strong enough before tomorrow so I can transfer him over before he gets too much stronger."

What had possessed him to rant like that Klaus couldn't say, but he didn't exactly care. He sighed heavily and sat back. "Huh. I feel better," he said, only mostly sarcastic. No, he wouldn't feel any better until they had some headway in this whole case. Jones was breathing down his neck already or at least may as well be. He felt the pressure regardless what she was doing or thinking or saying. He hated not getting the answers he wanted when he wanted them.

"Why'd she call you lot in anyway?" Klaus asked. He didn't really care, but he had to admit he was a little curious. He'd been avoiding her as much as possible, which wasn't really possible when someone knew exactly where you were likely to be for the past month.

[Morgan Jones]

Things were good in Jones' world. Her budget increase had been approved based on recent successes, she had wooed three more researchers into her R&D department who brought with them a bountiful harvest of grant monies and innovative ideas, she had another witch and trans-human, who was also a wizard to boot...and then this. She greedily stared at the blue cardboard folder jacket on her desk. She opened the file and read the contents.

'This' specifically, was a report on the success of phase two and tentative success on stage three of the magical genome project. Two months ago a gene had been isolated that hinted towards the key to the differences between magical and nonmagical people. That had been phase one. Phase two was to inject it into mice and observe the reactions. There had been some gene rejections and the deaths had been...interesting...at the beginning. The serum had been stabilized, however, and there was now 93% uptake of the modified transgene. Stage three was to see if those genes would be passed along to the offspring. So far, there was only a 25% transferrence, but since that mirrored the estimated wizard/normal population estimates, that indicated success.

There were several more steps along the path to human trials, but that was the horizon towards which MI:5 was headed. It sent chills down Jones' spine to think that she'd been the one to change the world so drastically. Her legacy was yet to take its ultimate form, but it would be magnificant.

Jones closed the file and breathed a deep sigh of satisfaction. It was nice to have one's job justified and even nicer when that meant the continued existence of an entire department. She glanced at her clock. Ten fifteen...her agents were now likely gathered at their cubicles. Their morning bickering was likely dying down as they began working on the left overs of last week's paperwork. It was time then, to go deliver this week's assignments.

Paperwork was a loathsome thing to a field agent. To give Klaus a report to fill out would only make him irksome and rebellious for the rest of the week, but Jones needed documentation on the transhuman they'd captured a month ago. She shuddered at the memories of the werewolf hunt. It was a stupid exercise that she didn't want to repeat. It had been a miracle they hadn't died. Klaus was a good agent, a good interrogator...but a poor bureaucrat. It would prevent him from ever achieving higher levels of advancement, but he didn't seem like the type who cared about that. Katarina, on the other hand, was a hard worker whose efforts indicated a desire for upward mobility. She also seemed to work well with Klaus, all things being relative.

Callaway could handle the transfer of the witch, then. The girl had broken something in her leg and had been under observation while the injury had healed. It was time for her to be transferred to the holding apartments in the local department. The girl, Russian by her slurred curses while under pain killers, was key to getting the transhuman to talk. Jones could feel that conviction as sure as anything. She'd need a skilled agent to get her to cooperate and come quietly. Callaway could be just such an agent.

With assignments clearly settled in her mind, Jones left her office to prowl the cubicles and hand out the week's duties. The top three were, as she had already known, here and settled. The clicking of her short heels preceded her as she approached the cluster of cubicles. Her no-nonsense suit clashed with the warm and satisfied smile on her face.

"Good morning Agents. I hope you've had a good weekend. Playtime begins again today. Klaus, Bauer...I'd like for you to continue talking to the transhuman. Bauer, your clerical skills are much more of a pleasure to read than Klaus', so please extract by whatever means necessary a verbal report from him and have it to me by Wednesday." Her smile curled into something a little more wicked to indicate her teasing. For the normally No-Nonsense Bulldog that the office knew, this was a clear tell that some good news had come down from above.

"Callaway, I have a transfer sheet for you to retrieve our dear little witchling from hospital custody. Please get her situated in one of the secured apartments downstairs and get a security film to Klaus. I have a feeling that will help with our problem prisoner. Afterwards, I'd like you to just talk with her, see if you can gt anything useful. Any questions?"

Her eyes settled on each of them turn by turn to make sure they understood their tasks. They were her best Hounds and it didn't need said that she trusted them completely. Whatever job that needed done, they'd get done.

[Katarina Bauer]

Kat, who was still quite green compared to the other agents of the unit, sat at attention when her superior officer came by. It was habit, really, considering her captain from before was very much a by-the-book, neat-freak who would not accept less than perfect. She remembered the time that he yelled at one of her squad’s analyst’s for having a grammatical error in their reports. When she looked over at Cole, she assessed that he would have fit in nice under Captain Edgeworth’s watch.

It was a reflex, but Kat’s heart sank when Jones announced that she would be paired with Klaus for her next mission. She’d only spent a little while around Klaus Schmidt, but he was a very unique and eccentric character. He was a breath of fresh air, compared to her old crew, but she couldn’t discount them that easy. She missed working through the regular, run-of-the-mill cases, but was still enticed by the thought of working with the strange and mysterious lot in this unit.

“Yes ma’am.”

Cole, however, yawned. He was exhausted from the night before, though he didn’t do very much. He hadn’t been sleeping well since he lost Veronika, and last night was one of the worst nights. He nodded at Jones, clearly understanding the expectation of his task. Cole figured she needed nothing else from him as a response, but he still kept silent while she explained everything in full detail.

“I’ll phone it in to them when I get it set up.” He was almost always sent to get the troublesome damsels. He had no issue dealing with them, as they were generally sorted into two categories: One half would be ruthless and attempt to fight him even if he was not being rough with them. The other half would try to play to his emotional sense, using tears to manipulate him. They didn’t know the man underneath. They didn’t know what he had seen. They couldn’t manipulate him that easily.

[Niklaus Schmidt]

When Jones announced Kat was to be partnering with him, Klaus winked at Kat. "You and me, Kit Kat," he said. He was aware she didn't quite know what to do with him or how to handle him yet, but she'd learn quickly that most of the time everything he said was in good humor, sarcastic comment or not. Whether or not she registered it as humor or decided to avoid him as most people did, Klaus didn't care. She was alright, so he wouldn't mind if Kat registered it and came to understand him. She was one of the few bearable people around this place, and he wasn't going to work overly hard at this point to build a wall between them. He figured whatever came from their partnership would be interesting at the very least.

Klaus kept his attention on Jones after his little comment, full aware he needed to know what they were partnering for. If it was a mission, he'd need to be briefed, and he hated asking questions he knew he should know the answer to. It was odd to see Jones smile, but hey, Klaus wasn't complaining. Why should he? Jones in a good mood, actually cracking a small joke? Chip off his back. He'd like to keep her that way by whatever means necessary, even if it meant sitting down with Kit Kat a few minutes to give a report. Still, he'd like one last crack at the wolf before having their little pow-wow.

"Nope!" Klaus replied. "Pretty sure everything was crystal clear."