Terrence Norton's Story

Frank woke up to the sound of the pilot over the intercom. He had arrived at his destination. His flight was a little over ten hours longs, but the profiles on the team and targets did not take long to memorize. Even though he was in first class, the old agent waited for the rest of the people to shuffle through the narrow walkway before getting up himself. As he expected, his joints were not happy about moving again.

This was his fifth time in Istanbul so there was little if any novelty to the place. He didn't have any trouble finding his luggage, grabbing a solid black Samsonite hard case and heading outside. Finding a taxi proved to be more difficult, but soon Frank was able to flag down a yellow van. The smell of tahini launched out of the car when the unsuspecting man open the door to get in. "Günaydın," Frank mumbled as he showed his phone to the driver. "Dersaadet Hotel." he said clearly enough for the driver to understand.

When the yellow van stopped in front of the hotel, Frank look at his wallet. he was is such a rush to get out of the airport he had forgotten to exchange currency. With a sigh he pulled out a fifty and told the driver to keep the change before getting out of the car. He didn't wait to see if the driver was okay with American money, but he must have been because he drove off in a hurry. The old agent walked up to the vender that was near the entrance.

"What room?"

"I'm sorry sir but I do not know what you are talking about." The map seller said in a thick accent.

"What room is Alp Turan in?" Frank raised his voice.

The startled vender took a step back. There was a moment of silence before the young man handed Frank a map with #332 written on in with a red marker. Frank took the map and walked inside. "You were 'pose to use the phrase!" The young vender shouted before cussing in his native tongue.

---

Terry stepped out of the plane wide eyed and excited like a kid who just arrived at front gates of Disneyland. The flight was almost unpleasant, there was a crying baby on board, and a heavyset lady sat next to him in coach that smelled less than fresh. But luckily he was able to get a window seat to look out of when they were flying over Europe.

The airport was full of different people and cultures. Terry noticed a group of orthodox Jews asking for direction from a Turkish Muslim, and a Hindu chatting with a group of Italian soccer players. Sure he saw a lot of these kinds of things in New York, but there was something different about this. It make him smile.

After leaving the currency exchange machine and picking up his luggage, he headed out the front gates towards the pick up zone. He only stopped briefly to admire the different languages on the signs. It didn't take long before a small yellow cab to pull over in front of him. "I guess it's only in America where a brother cant get a cab." Terry said with a smile on his face as he got in the car. There was an awkward moment of silence before the agent spoke up again. "Dersaadet Hotel, near Kennedy Avenue off of Capa- Capgasi-"

"Kapıağası, yeah yeah American I take you." The man said with a scratchy voice. The driver was a tiny old man who could barely see over the steering wheel. This made Terrence a little nervous, but he held his tounge. He drive to the Hotel was slow, but it gave Terry and opportunity to see a lot of the city and it's people. He was almost disappointed when the car stopped in front of the hotel. Terry looked at the Turkish money before giving several bills to the driver.

"Keep the change." he told him, but before he could leave the driver handed him back few bills. "Yeterli miktar, enough." the driver said holding the rest of the money in his other hand.

"Thank you." Terry got out of the cab and dragged his suitcase towards the man selling maps outside the hotel. His nerves were starting to get the best of him. He mumbled the phrase under his breath as he approached the vendor. "What time is lights out?" He asked and an almost shaky voice before clearing his throat. He young man measured Terry with his eyes and handed him a map with the numbers 332 written on it. "Your boss is dick." the man replied.

This surprised Terence. Was it a coded response? a secret message perhaps that meant the mission was blown? The agent decided to not say anything in return and headed into the hotel. Once inside it was easy to find your way around the place. When the clerk behind the desk greeted the agent, Terry held up the map. "Room 322" The clerk simply pointed to the elevators facing him. "Thanks." Terry mumbled.

Once Terry arrived at the door marked 322, he waited in silence for a moment before knocking. An older looking American quickly answered the door. "Get inside Agent Norton" He said as he stepped out of the way for terry to walk in. Inside was a rather happy looking Turkish man standing by the mini-fridge. He offers Terry a small brown bottle.

"I better not." Terrence replied as he shook his head, "Thank you though."

"Suit yourself. This is the only thing keeping my marriage together." The Turkish man said through his thick accent.

"It's probably for the best." The other agent said as he walked between the two men. "You wouldn't want to get shit-face wasted on your first day on the job would you?"

Terrence said nothing. He just crossed his arms in front of him and held his tongue.

Juniper stood outside of the security point her arms wrapped tightly around her dogs neck, she kissed the pups muzzle and handed the leach to Jake along with her car keys. "Now Jake please dont crash my car or forget to feed Layla." Her brother who had just turned seventeen rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah yeah Jinx just becareful doing whatever it is you are doing." She ruffed his hair "I told you I am just going to sight see." He started to pry more when she gave him a -thats all you are going to get out of me- look. "Be Safe." They both said at the same time with a smile she walked inside the airport.

The flight went well, she manged to get a row to herself so she was able to red comfortably and even catch a few hours of sleep. The plane wont her up as it made a rocky landing.

She waited until very one else had gotten of before she did not waiting to deal with the rat race everyone else seemed so intent to do. She got her money exchanged before heading to hail a cab. The man driving eyed her carefully as she got in a sick smile coming to her lips as she heard him talking to the two way on the dashboard "Gerçek bir seyirci var, ben o güzel bir ödül almak .istiyorum eminim." He laughed as did the person on the other end. She laughed a little before replying in his own tongue, "Eğer aile mücevherleri değer mi? Eğer öyleyse beni otele götürün Dersaadet." The cabby turned white as a ghost before he stammered out "It is how you say a joke." She smiled sweetly at him "What I said wasn't."

The cab stopped at the hotel "no charge" the man mumbled out "Kind of you." She said with a wave as he sped off. She walked over to the map vendor asking for one of them pointing at a spot on the map like she was asking how to get somewhere. "What time is lights out?" The man smiled and nodded writing the number on the map "Your boss is going to be...fun" He said under his breath she smiled and nodded as she walked up to the room.

She gave the door a weak knock. Frank quickly opened the door "Agent Black." She nodded and walked in eying the room noting the booze "Starting the unwinding a bit early are you?"




-translation of the cabby- "Got quite the looker, I bet she would give a good prize." Juniper replayed with "Do you value your family jewels? If so take me to the hotel"

She smirked slightly at the way he addressed her, glancing between Al and Frank as they spoke. She grinned at Frank "Cooking is always useful I assure you. Good food can open the locks on even the most stubborn, if made properly."

Juniper laughed lightly at Al rolling her eyes in a playful manner, You will have to share that with me sounds wonderful." She licked her lips looking over at Frank as he hissed at Al to stay on topic.

She nodded as she got her assignment, "Won't be an issue." She rubbed the bridge of her nose as Al went for a new bottle of booze "Alright şeker," she spoke softer the tone she tended to take when her mother was trying to take another hit "Lets hold off until we get you to the party at least hrm?"

Terry exhaled a short laugh when Al went off topic, but other than that he remained silent, looking at his new co-workers. He couldn't help but wonder why he was selected for this mission, what seemed like an important one at that. His eyes continued looking back at the only woman in the room. It wasn't that she was attractive, is was very beautiful, he simply couldn't see how she could be so calm about this whole thing. "Should there be more of us?" He blurted out before realizing he said that out loud.

Frank looked at the young agent and quickly looked away. "There was another, but he died on a mission to get this information for us. Lets not waste his life." he said as he regained his bearings. "But remember this; from now on you will always be outnumbered. Outgunned. Your enemy will be relentless in bringing you to your death. It is your job to outsmart them, Terrence, and kill those sons-of-bitches first."

Al clapped when frank finished his little speech. "That reminded me of talk I heard from Bin Laden back when I was with the Al qaeda. He said that-"

"Shut up." Frank growled "And everyone get ready... We're going shopping." The old agent walked over to a small leather bag and pulled out a wad of cash the size of a toilet paper roll wrapped with a rubber band that looked like it was about to pop any second. "We couldn't get our issued guns through customs without someone we don't want noticing, so Mr. Turan here had his acquaintances smuggle them in for us. For a small fee of course." Frank said with a smile that made Terry uncomfortable.

Al pointed to the sky, "I'll pull the car around." he said joyfully before disappearing into the hallway.

Terry watched the small Turkish man leave the room before opening his mouth. "Since when does the CIA have trouble with customs? And did that man just say he was in Al qaeda? What kind of operation are you running here Frank?" Terry crossed his arms as he finished speaking. This was not how he imagined his first field op going.

"The kind where you don't ask questions. "Frank respond swiftly. After a few moments of silence he regained his composure, "This mission is the first Red Liner mission that you two have been chosen for. Red Line missions aren't sponsored by the US government in fact we don't exists to the US government." Frank went back to his small bag and pulled out several passports and identification cards and handed them to each agent. "Lets go buy some illegal guns." he said as he put the rest of the passports and cards back in his bag

Junpier eyed terry as he spoke wondering why he was reacting like it was his first time on a mission like this, She took the new passport and Id she committed the details to memory. She couldn't help but laugh at Terry's working for going to get the guns. She glanced over at Frank trying to gauge how much he values his agents, she took a relieved inward breath that he still looked a little white after explaining the other agents death.

"If you boys dont mind I should change into something more tourist like." She went into the bathroom and quietly shut the door, "At least he won't be will to throw our lives away easily." She thought to herself as she pulled her hair into a pony tail. "Alright Al should have the car around," she said as she tied her boots.

Theodore Sunderland walked briskly up to the vendor, very keenly aware that he was late. Unlike the rest of the team, he had not arrived by plane. Having already been in Europe at the time, Belgium specifically, he was apparently deemed by someone, Theodore wasn't currently aware of who exactly made their travel arrangements, to be "close enough", and was put on a train to save money on ticket costs. Why the CIA would be stingy about ticket costs now, he didn't know and hadn't really been in the mood to ask. Besides, at the time he'd had no objections. He saw the insides of planes and the clouds around them often enough, and besides, trains were cool.

Unfortunately there had been a delay at one of the stops, and they arrived behind schedule, which consequently meant that Theodore too was late, not a great thing to be normally, and definitely not with this job. Even if he were in a situation where he could be late without issue, Ted was still the sort of person to stress himself out about such things.

As Theodore approached the man, he looked up. Perhaps his pace made his destination a bit too clear, or maybe the vendor merely thought he didn't look like a tourist. but either way, he seemed to know why the slightly hunched-over man in a business suit was hurrying over to him. He gave an amused little smile. "A little late aren't y-" Ted cut him off. Normally he was much more polite than that, but if the vendor could guess that he was late, presumably by the length of time between his arrival and that of the person before him, plus the obvious hurry he was in, then he must realize that he didn't have time for this.

"What time is lights out?" The vendor frowned slightly and muttered something that Theodore didn't quite catch, but handed him a map with the room number regardless.

As he made his way inside, now at a somewhat slower, but significantly less noticeable, pace, Ted passed a joyful looking Turkish man making his way outside. For a moment, he wondered what he had been so happy about, but then was struck by the absolute certainty that he had seen him somewhere before. For the moment however, he just couldn't place him, and he'd more important things to be concerning himself with right now anyway.

When he finally arrived outside of room 322, Theodore took a moment to straighten his suit and tie. While to anyone else it would have appeared fine already, but he could see the ever so slight tilt of the tie to the left, the way that the jacket had shifted, and other miniscule differences, and they bothered him immensely.

Once he had temporarily sated his obsessive compulsions, Ted gave two short knocks on the door, then clasped his hands behind his back to wait.

Terry wasn't satified with the older mans answer. He had never heard of these "Red Line missions" before. They operate outside the government? Is that leagal? Before he could ask anymore questions, despite Franks obvious distast for them, there was a knock on the door. The young agent tought that Al probably forgot something like his bottle. But before Terry got up to answer the knock, Frank was already opening the door.

Frank Looked the small man up and down. It was obvious who this person was- a replacement agent. Frank didn't like replacement agents becuse the agency hardly ever put any effort into picking them. From the looks of the man, frank was not impressed as he let out an audible disaprovement.

"Did he just growl?" Terry asked as he pointed to Frank with his thumb. He looked back at Jinx, taking a few seconds to admire her new look before focusing back to Frank who was out the door.

"Put your things inside and come downstairs," Frank told the new Agant, "be quick about it" He added as he past by him to get to the hallway. Another thing that bothered the old man was that his boss didn't tell him about this new last minute addition. Frank read everything about Jinx and Terry, but he knew nothing about this new guy.

Terry was more polite than the senior agent in welcoming the new addition. "Terrince Norton, call me Terry." He said as he extended his arm out for a handshake. Dispite his manors, the young agent didn't expect to see such an untreatening man like the one infront of him. "This is Agent Junpier Black, and the geltelman who just left is the one in charge, Frank. He's a little jet-lagged." Terry said half heartedly.

"Well we shouldn't keep him waiting." He nodded at the two before rushing out of the hotel room.