Authorized Personnel Only: Safest Place to Hide [revised] by Ruby Maye
Summary: APO has been assigned to protect the Backstreet Boys after a multimillionaire embedded a weapon’s software within their new album. Unbeknownst to the Boys, one of the APO agents is working undercover as an intern at the Boys’ management and is Nick’s new girlfriend. Mia Blade begins to struggle with her double life and is forced to choose between love and duty. Can she find the strength to keep her two lives separate, or will she have to give up one to keep the other?


Categories: Original Fiction, Fanfiction > Backstreet Boys Characters: Group, Nick
Genres: Action, Drama, Suspense
Warnings: Violence
Challenges:
Series: Authorized Personnel Only Agency Files
Chapters: 14 Completed: No Word count: 21074 Read: 20880 Published: 01/30/10 Updated: 09/14/10
Story Notes:

This is a revision of my original story APO: Safest Place to Hide. It still has the main plot and subplots as the original version but I wanted to go in a different direction to approach them. Thanks for reading and please review :)

Thanks, Misha (Ruby Maye)

1. APO: SPTH Prologue by Ruby Maye

2. APO: SPTH 1 by Ruby Maye

3. APO: SPTH 2 by Ruby Maye

4. APO: SPTH 3 by Ruby Maye

5. APO: SPTH 4 by Ruby Maye

6. APO: SPTH 5 by Ruby Maye

7. APO: SPTH 6 by Ruby Maye

8. APO: SPTH 7 by Ruby Maye

9. APO: SPTH 8 by Ruby Maye

10. APO: SPTH 9 by Ruby Maye

11. APO: SPTH 10 by Ruby Maye

12. APO: SPTH 11 by Ruby Maye

13. APO: SPTH 12 by Ruby Maye

14. APO: SPTH 13 by Ruby Maye

APO: SPTH Prologue by Ruby Maye

APO Database> Missions/Assignments> Date: 2007 July 25> Destination: desert [CA/NV]> Mission: Retrieval, Rescue> Agent(s) assigned: Blade, M. [White Tiger]

Mia Blade crouched at a corner of an old warehouse somewhere in the desert along California and Nevada. Her mission was to retrieve a weapon developed by a corrupt business man and to rescue an agent from the CIA. Mia was among the top ranking agents in a top secret organization of ninjas called APO, which stood for Authorized Personnel Only. She was known as White Tiger, a fierce and skilled ninja of APO.

A rush of adrenaline ran through White Tiger's veins as she watched a woman and a group of armed men drag a man from the back of a van. The woman was the daughter of the billionaire Roger Black and was the heiress to his company Black Corporation.

“Take him inside!” Regina Black barked at her henchmen as they dragged the CIA agent out of the truck.

CIA Agent Emile Davenport was bound at his wrists and ankles and had a bag over his head. The men dragged him into the warehouse with Regina following them.

Two armed men stood guard outside the door. White Tiger moved forward slightly as she reached into the pockets of her black ninja suit and pulled out two shuriken (ninja stars). With a flick of her wrists, she threw the shuriken at the two guards, nailing one of them in the head and the other in the chest. The guards’ bodies fell in a slump to the ground. She ran up and yanked her shuriken off from their bodies and wiped the blood off on her suit.

She used a grapple hook to hoist herself up onto the roof of the warehouse. She dropped down to the balls of her feet and crept toward a window that had a padlock on it. She recovered a lock pick from the heel of her boot and picked the lock. She pushed the window open when she was able to unlock it and entered the warehouse.

Below, she saw Agent Davenport being tied to a chair. Regina yanked the bag from his head and revealed his handsome face; he had emerald, green eyes and long wavy, chestnut hair that was tied in a messy ponytail. The gag in his mouth prevented him from saying anything.

“Stay put, Agent. I have some business to take care of,” Regina ordered while Agent Davenport glared up at her.

Regina was selling a weapon Black Corporation developed, along with stolen Black Market goods, to a group of corrupt leaders from foreign countries. Several buyers were seated in front of Regina in a special assembly.

"With my father’s company, we were able to develop an electro-magnetic pulse emitter,” Regina announced. “It has the power to destroy electrical devices within a city. My father is on the brink of developing a more advanced EMPE that can destroy satellites, which in turn can destroy whatever that satellite is linked to. My father has also developed a unique program to embed the weapon’s software within music and movie files to be put in CDs and DVDs, so it can easily be copied and distributed without detection.”

While Regina was busy entertaining her “guests,” White Tiger slid down a beam and landed behind a stack of crates next to Agent Davenport.

“Agent Davenport, I’m here to rescue you,” she whispered to the bewildered agent. She took the gag from his mouth and untied his wrists. White Tiger helped him off the chair and they hid behind the crates.

“Who are you? Did Rochester send you?” whispered Agent Davenport to White Tiger.

“No, I’m with APO,” she replied.

“APO? Not that I’m ungrateful for the rescue, but why you guys?” he asked confused, “I was kind of expecting some of my own guys to come and get me.”

White Tiger gritted her teeth in annoyance. Not only did she hate going on this mission alone, but she also had to save an agent from an agency she hated. She didn’t like the idea of APO teaming up with the CIA anymore than the CIA wanted to team up with them.

“We’re after the weapon,” White Tiger replied. “And if I had it my way, I wouldn’t be here saving your ass.”

Agent Davenport shot her a defensive look. “Hey, I’m grateful for the rescue. I was just confused as to why an agent from APO would come to my rescue.”

“Listen, we don’t have a lot of time so I suggest we save the chitchat for later. Right now, we have to focus on getting that weapon.” And the other part of my mission is for me to get you out of here safely. she added silently.

“So, what’s your plan? Take out Regina Black and all her henchmen and then leave with the weapon?” asked Agent Davenport.

“Exactly.” White Tiger reached into her ninja suit and pulled out a dozen smoke bombs and threw them out so that they were covered in smoke. Agent Davenport gaped at her in shock and disbelief.

The smoke caught Regina off guard and she whirled around in surprise and caught sight of them. She screamed with fury.

“GET THEM!”

Gunshots rang out in the warehouse as the assembly began to shuffle out of the warehouse disoriented and in terror. Agent Davenport and White Tiger dodged the bullets and engaged in combat. White Tiger pulled out her steel fighting fans and repelled bullets and other projectiles with it.

White Tiger was so busy deflecting bullets that she didn’t notice Regina escaping with the weapon.

“Don’t let her get away with that weapon!” Agent Davenport yelled at White Tiger, as he gripped a man in a half nelson while doing a multiple array of high speed kicks at the others who were trying to attack him. After he knocked out the rest of Regina’s henchmen, he followed after White Tiger in pursuit of Regina.

They got outside but it was too late. Regina sped off in a yellow Suzuki motorbike, taking the weapon and leaving a trail of dust behind her.

White Tiger cursed under her breath.

"We need to find out where they are taking the weapon," Agent Davenport said but when he turned to face White Tiger he found that he was alone.


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Several miles from the desert on the outskirts of Los Angeles, a man in a nice suit standing next to a yellow Jaguar waited. He watched as Regina pulled up in her motorbike and skidded to a halt creating a dust cloud around him.

She dismounted her bike and took her helmet off, shaking her silky long black hair in the process. She reached into her leather jacket and handed the man a small disk.

“I hope I can trust you with this,” Regina said. “I’m not sure you can handle having this weapon in your hands given your…obligation.”

“The weapon is safe with me,” the man replied, reaching out to grab the disk when Regina pulled it back slightly from his grasp.

“Remember our deal,” Regina interjected. “If you so fail at concealing this from your associates, our deal is over…and you will meet your end!”

Though she meant to intimidate the man, her threat didn’t much faze him.

“Just be sure to hold up your end of the deal,” he shot back, snatching the disk from her hands. He turned on his heel and got in his yellow Jaguar.

Regina stood glowering as she watched her contact speed off into the night.

APO: SPTH 1 by Ruby Maye

August 3, 2007

Agents Mia and Aundrea Blade lived in their two story house just outside of Bel-Air, California.  

Mia made her way to her younger sister’s room.

"Drea, wake up! We have a briefing at APO this morning at 8!" Mia called out to her sister as she knocked on Aundrea’s door.

Mia continued knocking on the door until she heard Aundrea’s footsteps coming toward the door. It swung open to reveal an annoyed Aundrea.

"I’ll be ready in 30 minutes!” Aundrea grumbled at Mia.

"Well, hurry up. We can't be late again," Mia scolded.

"Yes, Mother," Aundrea answered sarcastically, rolling her eyes and closed the door in Mia's face. Mia shook her head and muttered angry gibberish under her breath.

This is what I get for letting my sister join APO. she thought.

When they were finally ready, they headed out the door and to the APO headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.

They drove into a parking garage near the Civic Center station and parked at an empty stall. They took a flight of stairs down in the basement that led into a narrow hallway and a door. A sign with "Authorized Personnel Only" written on it hung in front of the door.

Mia opened a false light-switch socket to the side of the door and revealed a scanner and number pad. She punched in her code and pressed her hand against the scanner. The scanner blinked and an automated female voice said, "Welcome to APO." The door swung open and the two APO agents walked into APO headquarters.

Mia and Aundrea made their way to the briefing room and found the other agents Ryu and Ken, with two other men, sitting at a table when they entered the room. They took their seats at the table. Mia recognized one of the men as Agent Davenport from her previous mission.

The man next to Agent Davenport was slightly taller than him and looked to be a little older. He had dirty blond hair and looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties.

"Good morning, I’m Kale Rochester, chief executive agent in the CIA. First, I would like to extend my gratitude to Agent Blade AKA White Tiger who successfully rescued my partner Agent Davenport from Regina Black’s capture. Thank you,” the man said.

Mia nodded. I thought I was done working with these CIA wackadoos. she thought bitterly.

“As you all know, Black has developed a weapon called an EMPE and his daughter Regina embedded the software within a disk,” Agent Rochester reported, passing out file folders to the four APO agents that contained photos and information about Regina Black and her father.

“We have a trace that may lead to the weapon’s location,” he continued.

“Where is it?” asked Ken. Agent Rochester hesitated in answering. He took a short pause as if he was thinking about what he was going to say.

What, does he feel that we don’t deserve to know CIA intel? Mia thought to herself while she studied him. Though she only met the man a few minutes ago, he gave off a negative vibe.

“The weapon is in Black Corporation,” Agent Davenport replied for him.

“We need to get the weapon,” Agent Rochester said. “The CIA will handle the weapon and make sure it is disposed of properly. We need you guys to get that weapon for us. We’ll contact you if we need further assistance.”

Mia didn’t like what he was implying and interjected, “With all due respect, Agent Rochester, we are not the CIA’s gophers. Our agency is not subordinate to yours. We do not do missions for you. We hired you, so if you are willing to work together I suggest we work as a team.”

The other APO agents and Agent Davenport gaped at her but Agent Rochester seemed unfazed.

“Spoken like a true fighter,” Agent Rochester said as if he was impressed by her feistiness. “Agent Davenport, you and Agent Blade will go together to retrieve the weapon. I expect you to have the weapon within 48 hours.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>

White Tiger and Agent Davenport climbed out of an unmarked van that was parked a few yards away from Black Corporation. Ryu and Aundrea remained inside the van for surveillance. Agent Davenport was selecting weapons from an assortment displayed on the walls of the van while White Tiger was putting on her ninja mask.

Agent Davenport picked up a small silver pistol from the wall of weapons and placed it in a holster that hung on the back of his belt.

White Tiger picked up a pair of steel fighting fans—her signature weapon. The steel fans were the size of regular Japanese paper fans but had a deadly touch to them. They were light in weight, perfect for precision and swiftness. She flung the fans open to reveal white fabric on the rungs and sharp blades at each end. The Japanese kanji character of “tiger” was painted on the white fabric in black ink. She tossed the fans up in the air and caught them in a fighting stance.

“Ready,” White Tiger said, tucking the folded fans into her boots. She put an earpiece in her ear for communicating with Ryu and Aundrea.

“Let’s go,” Agent Davenport said, adjusting the black shades he wore, which had a built-in camera on the lenses.

White Tiger and Agent Davenport sprinted across the parking lot of Black Corporation and stopped next to the security booth at the entrance gate.

“Red Dragon, you hear me?” White Tiger said into the radio.

“Loud and clear, White Tiger,” Ryu replied.

“How’s our visual, Jade Fox?”

“All eyes on you,” said Aundrea, who was conducting visual surveillance through the camera on Agent Davenport’s shades.

“We’ll meet you guys back at rendezvous point,” ordered White Tiger.

“Copy that,” Ryu and Aundrea answered simultaneously.

White Tiger looked at Agent Davenport and gave him the signal to proceed.

Agent Davenport snuck up behind a guard and pushed a pressure point on his neck knocking him out, while White Tiger grabbed and kicked down the other guard.

They dispersed to different corners of the building.

“I’ll meet you on the fourth floor,” Agent Davenport said to Mia through their radio.

“See you there,” Mia replied.

She used a grapple hook to lift herself up to the 4th story. Upon facing the glass window, she reached into her boot and pulled out one of the blades from her fans and used it to cut out a huge circle on the glass big enough for her to fit through. She tucked the blade back onto the fan and kicked the glass piece and carefully set it down inside. She climbed through the opening and dropped down to the balls of her feet into an empty office.

“I’m in Black’s office,” came White Tiger’s voice through the radio to Agent Davenport.

“I’m on my way.”

White Tiger stood in Black’s office and looked around on his desk for the CD.

The door to the office slowly opened. White Tiger looked up and grabbed her fans from her boots and held them ready to strike. Agent Davenport stuck his head in the door. She put her fans away seeing that it was only him.

“We’re in his office,” White Tiger informed Ryu and Aundrea.

“Okay. There’s a vault on the far wall. Agent Rochester said it might be in there,” replied Ryu.

“What’s the code?” White Tiger asked, walking over to the small vault.

“I have it,” Agent Davenport answered, who now stood next to Mia and the vault.

He opened the vault and reached inside taking out a small disk that was encased in a plastic container.

“We got it,” White Tiger said into the radio.

Agent Davenport and White Tiger left the building and climbed into the back of the surveillance van where Ryu and Aundrea were waiting. Mia took her ninja mask off and sat down next to her sister and Ryu. Agent Davenport unstrapped his gun holster from his belt and sat down.

“Alright, Techie, do your stuff,” Mia said to Ryu, handing him the disk.

Ryu cracked his knuckles and placed the CD into the disc drive of his Apple Macbook. After typing in some codes, he finally was able to reveal the files on the disk. Letters, numbers and symbols darted across the screen reminding Mia of The Matrix.

“Alright, I found the weapon’s software but I’m having trouble extracting it from the music files. I mean it’s really embedded in there,” he said in frustration.

“What does that mean?” Mia asked.

“It means this just has a copy of the software without the actual weapon on there. The real embedded files are somewhere else,” Ryu explained.

“What does that mean?” Agent Davenport asked.

“I’m not sure,” Ryu said.

“So this was just a hoax?”Aundrea asked in confusion.

Mia turned to Agent Davenport. “You led us to a wild goose chase!”

“What? Me? I had nothing to do with this! Why are you on my case?” Agent Davenport shot back defensively.

“Gee, maybe because your agency was the one who assigned this mission!” Mia shot back.

“Hey, guys, calm down! Blaming each other won’t solve anything right now. We have to figure out what happened,” Ryu intervened.

“Maybe the embedded music files could be with someone else, unknowingly carrying the weapon with them. I mean the embedded music files may be in another disk,” Aundrea said.

“Wait, play the music files on this CD, maybe it could help us figure out who might have the embedded disc,” Mia said to Ryu, opening up the music player on his Mac book and played the first track on the disc.

I close the door, so many times so many times before
Failed like a scene on the cutting room floor...


Mia recognized the voice singing on the track, but she couldn’t put her finger on who it belonged to. It sounded really familiar.

Then Mia finally recognized it.

“I know who has the embedded CD,” Mia announced.

APO: SPTH 2 by Ruby Maye
September 20, 2007

Nick Carter rushed into the building of The Firm management for a meeting with the Backstreet Boys and made his way to the office where the other Boys were waiting for him. The three looked to the youngest band member and greeted him. Brian waved and slapped fives with Nick while AJ simply gave him a nod. Howie said a quick, “Hey” before returning to texting on his phone.

“We’re still waiting on Jenn,” informed Howie, not looking up from his Blackberry.

“Well, at least someone other than Nick was late this time,” said AJ, picking at his fingernails absently.

“Jenn doesn’t really count. And Nick’s always late, man,” said Brian.

“Shut up,” Nick shot back, taking a seat next to Howie.

“So I know you just got out of a relationship with what’s her face…Mindy?” AJ said.

“No, it was Mandy,” corrected Brian.

“I thought it was Mitzy?” Howie said confused, finally looking up from his Blackberry.

Nick sighed exasperatedly. “It was Missy. And I wouldn’t really call it a relationship. We went on a couple dates, that’s it. And she was just like those other girls who used me to get to something.”

AJ shrugged nonchalantly. “Well that’s because you don’t know how to pick ‘em, Bro. You’re all about ass and tits. Anyway, I was saying that I got this friend of mine, if you’re interested…”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit too soon for Nick to start dating again?” Brian asked.

“Well, he seems to have a string of dates and girlfriends after the other,” Howie said.

“Why you guys talking like I’m not here?” Nick cut in. “And I’m already seeing someone anyway.”

AJ nearly fell out of his chair. Brian leaned forward eagerly. Howie just shook his head and muttered, “Figures.”

“What? Who?” AJ and Brian chorused.

Nick gave a cheeky grin. “The new intern.”

Both Brian’s and Howie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. AJ snorted as if he didn’t believe him.

“Mia Blade?” AJ asked Nick skeptically. “Dude, she is way out of your league!”

No way can he score a chick like her, he thought.

“Well…I took her out to dinner last week,” Nick said, a grin still on his face.

“Mia Blade?” AJ repeated still skeptical.

“Yup, five-three, brown eyes, long black hair, nice ass, a body to die for…”

“We get it,” AJ, Brian and Howie said in unison, making Nick laugh.

“You already hooked up with Mia after only being here a week?” Brian asked.

“See you just like picking up girls left and right, don’t you?” said Howie, rolling his eyes.

“I was about to hit that too!” AJ added disappointed.
Nick laughed. “You snooze you lose, Buddy.”

Their manager Jennifer Sousa finally entered the room. “Sorry I’m late, guys. We’re having trouble burning the songs on these CDs for some reason,” she explained. “Our new intern is working on burning and getting them ready to send to Jive for the final touch ups. Now, have you guys come up with a name for the album yet?”

“I was thinking of the name ‘Popolution’. You know like the evolution of pop,” suggested Nick.

“Pop-pollution?” asked Howie, “Wouldn’t that be taken like our music is pollution, so people wouldn’t want to listen to it and play it on the radio?”

There was a short pause among the Boys.

“What about ‘Unbreakable’?” suggested Brian, grabbing a small peppermint from a glass bowl in the middle of the table and eating it. “You know, because after all we have been through we’re still together and doing this. So that makes us unbreakable.”

“Backstreet Boys…Unbreakable…that actually sounds good,” AJ agreed.

“Do we have a vote?” asked Jenn, looking around at each Boy for approval, who each returned a nod. “Alright. ‘Unbreakable’ it is.”

The Boys’ meeting had finally ended and they all got up and dispersed leaving Jenn in her office.

Just a few doors down Jenn’s office, Mia was studying the contents of the music files on her computer. She studied each song file trying to locate the weapon software, and one particular song file had an anomaly which she suspected was the weapon. She was in the middle of burning the song to a CD when she heard a knock on her door. She quickly minimized her screen and got up to answer the door.

She opened the door and found Nick standing in the doorway. Mia noticed him staring at her. She felt that she wasn’t really wearing anything flattering, but the way he looked at her made her blush a little. She wore a lavender button-up blouse and a black pencil skirt that came just above her knees with black pumps.

“Hi,” greeted Mia pushing her rectangular-framed spectacles up further on her nose.

It seemed a little too soon to call Nick her boyfriend yet even though they have been dating for about a week. APO had a strict policy on having relationships and “entanglements” (unless it was inside the agency, as is the case with Ryu and her sister Aundrea). She felt a little guilty for skirting the policy and dating Nick, whom she was assigned to protect along with the rest of the Boys, but she felt it was the only way to do her job.

“Sorry,” Nick said flustered, “They sent me here to see if you were done with the CDs.”
Mia invited him into her office. “Not quite. I’m still working on them.”

He flashed her one of his famous grins, which had quite an effect on her despite not being easily charmed by anyone. “It’s cool. I…wanted to ask you…if you wanted to have lunch with me… this afternoon?” he asked, his perfectly groomed eyebrows shot up.

“Oh, I’m kind of doing something this afternoon,” Mia said rather quickly. She needed to meet with APO about the weapon.

She didn’t miss the disappointed look on Nick’s face. “How about dinner?” she offered, hoping he would smile again. Why his smile made her knees go weak she didn’t really know, and she felt silly for feeling like a total fangirl.

Get a grip, Mia! It’s not like you’ve never seen a good-looking guy before, she thought, but then again, she never met one as good-looking as Nick Carter.

His mouth turned up in a grin and made Mia’s heart race. “Great. Pick you up at your place at 7? Uh…where do you live?” he asked, taking out his Blackberry from his pocket.

“Um…how about I meet you up at your place?” suggested Mia. Nick coming to her house and seeing her ninja weapons displayed on her walls and her exotic car collection in her garage would definitely reveal to him she was more than just an intern.

She noticed he gave a puzzled and strange look but shrugged it off. “A’ight, see you later, Babe.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving her office.


Mia entered APO headquarters later that afternoon and headed for Ken’s office.

“Ah Mia, I was about to call you,” Ken said as she came in. “Were you able to get the disk from the Backstreet Boys?”

“Yes, I have it here.” She handed Ken the disk. “The weapon is embedded in track 8.”

“Good. We’ll contact the CIA and let them know we have it. I’ll keep it in our vault for now. I need you to meet with Agent Davenport to discuss your next mission.”

“Why do I need to meet with Agent Davenport about a mission?” she asked, though she was mostly concerned about missing her date tonight than actually about the mission with the CIA.

“It was the Director of the CIA’s orders to have a joint mission, not mine,” Ken said defensively. “Director Gordon asked me to send my best agent to help Agent Davenport intercept a shipment coming in a couple of weeks in New York. Agent Davenport has more details so you’ll need to meet with him.”

Mia folded her arms across her chest and gave an exasperated sigh.

“I need to be somewhere later this evening,” Mia said.

“Where, may I ask, is that?”

Ken was like a brother to her and he was one of the few people she trusted and confided in, but she couldn’t tell him about Nick just yet. She wasn’t sure how he would react.

“The Backstreet Boys are having a special dinner with their new staff. I told them I would go,” Mia lied.

Ken studied her carefully. Usually he can tell when Mia was lying but this time it was hard for him to tell.

“Alright. I guess I’ll have Agent Davenport message you the details,” he said, though he was still skeptical of Mia.

Mia gave a nod and left him in his office.
APO: SPTH 3 by Ruby Maye

Mia pulled into Nick’s apartment complex in Santa Monica at a quarter to 6. She got to his apartment and reached the top of the stairs that led to his door. She reached out and landed a knock against the door when her phone rang.

“Hello?” she answered her phone, thinking it was Nick.

“White Tiger?” Agent Davenport said on the other line, just as Nick opened the door. Mia looked up at Nick, who only had on a pair of jeans and a white tank top.

“Hey, come on in,” Nick said. He held the door open to let her in. He noticed she was on the phone and gave her a quizzical look.

“White Tiger, are you still there?” Agent Davenport said on the other line.

“Yes, I’m still here,” Mia said into her phone, hoping Nick didn’t hear Agent Davenport address her by her codename. She turned to Nick. “Sorry, it’s the office.”

Nick nodded as he left to go put a shirt on.

“Did I interrupt you…on a date or something?” Agent Davenport asked on the other line.

Didn’t Ken tell you to message me the details of our next mission? What do you want? she wanted to yell at him.

“Can this wait in the morning? I’m on my way out right now and I don’t have time to talk,” Mia said, avoiding his question.

“I’m just relaying a message from Blue Viper…or Ken…he wanted me to talk with you about the details of our next mission,” he informed.

“Well you can text it to me,” Mia replied tersely.

There was a short pause. “Fine. We can talk in the morning. You’ll need to meet me at the CIA headquarters.”

“I’ll be there,” Mia said in a sarcastic happy tone. He hung up as Mia rolled her eyes and closed her phone and put it back in her purse.

“Ready to go?” asked Nick who came back in the living room wearing a blue plaid shirt that was slightly unbuttoned.

Mia nodded and couldn’t help but stare at his bare chest peeking through his shirt.

“What did the office want?” Nick asked casually running a hand through his spiky blond hair.

“Jeff’s making me do more paperwork,” Mia lied. The back of her neck began to sting with guilt but she quickly shrugged it off.

“Oh.” Nick chuckled a bit. “Alright. I’m taking you to this great sushi place. Do you like sushi?”

“I love sushi,” Mia said, trying to sound as enthusiastic as she could.

“Great.”

Nick and Mia left his apartment and headed to a sushi place on Sunset Boulevard.


>>>>>>>>>>>

At the CIA headquarters, Agent Davenport hung up the phone after talking with Mia and sighed exasperatedly.

Why is she such a bitch to me? he wanted to know. Did I do something to offend her?

He made his way to Agent Rochester’s office to tell him that he will meet with Mia tomorrow morning to discuss their next mission together, when he heard Roger Black’s voice speaking with Agent Rochester on speaker phone.

“Do you have my weapon?” Black’s voice blared through the speaker phone.

“No…sir, but I’m sure I’ll have it for you soon,” Agent Rochester replied. He sounded as if he was nervous.

Agent Davenport couldn’t believe his ears. Agent Rochester was actually working for Black! How could he not have known his own partner had been working with Black all along? Agent Davenport kept still making sure he made no sound as he stood in front of Agent Rochester’s office eavesdropping on his conversation with Black.

“You better damn well be sure!” Black barked at Agent Rochester on the phone.

“I’ll have it for you soon,” Agent Rochester repeated insistently.

“I want that disc with my weapon in it!”

“Yes sir.”

“I’ll give you twelve hours. If I don’t have my weapon within that time, our deal is off,” Roger Black replied and then hung up the phone before Agent Rochester could reply. Agent Davenport heard Agent Rochester slam his phone shut.

Agent Davenport couldn’t wait any longer and knocked loudly against Agent Rochester’s door. He waited until

Agent Rochester got up and answered the door.

“Ah Davenport, did you get a chance to talk with White Tiger?” Agent Rochester asked, inviting him into his office but Agent Davenport stood where he was.

“What were you doing talking to Roger Black?” Agent Davenport asked, ignoring his question.

Agent Rochester blinked twice and glanced at his phone as if confused.

“What do you mean?” he asked innocently.

“You know damn well what I mean!” Agent Davenport spat. “How long have you been working with Black?”

Agent Rochester didn’t reply, instead he laughed in his throat.

“You weren’t supposed to find out about this,” he said matter-of-factly.

“What’s this deal you made with Black?” Agent Davenport demanded.

“It’s none of your concern!” Agent Rochester snapped.

“Once APO or Director Gordon find out about your little deal with Black, it’ll be over,” Agent Davenport declared.

“You don’t know who you’re dealing with and you don’t know what you’re getting into,” Agent Rochester threatened darkly. “You go against me and it’ll be the last mistake you’ll ever make!”

“The mistake is for you choosing the wrong side. You won’t get away with this, Rochester. I can promise you that,” Agent Davenport asserted then he turned on his heel and left Agent Rochester’s office.
APO: SPTH 4 by Ruby Maye

Agent Davenport got off the elevators of the CIA headquarters and walked into the parking garage. He had to tell APO about what he had just learned about his so-called partner.

As he walked to his car, an eerie feeling washed over him. He had a strange feeling someone was following him, but when he turned his head and looked behind him, he saw no one. He continued walking to his car.

Just as he was about to open his car door, a ninja reflected on his car window. He whirled around just in time to block the ninja’s right hook. Agent Davenport threw punches and a roundhouse to fight the ninja off. A dozen more ninjas appeared out of nowhere and began to surround Agent Davenport. They wielded Sais and shurikens as they closed in on the lone agent. He looked around at all of them.

“Who sent you?” he demanded them, but none of the ninjas said a word in reply.

The ninjas advanced an attack as Agent Davenport tried to evade them all. He reached at the back of his belt for his gun but realized he had locked it in the glove compartment in his car.

“Shit,” Agent Davenport swore under his breath, as he kept blocking and fighting the ninjas off without a weapon.

The ninjas were fast and fierce in their fighting, and he was beginning to miss their attacks with his blocks. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side and screamed. He fell onto the asphalt clutching his wound and he could feel 2 shuriken (ninja stars) sticking out of his side. Another ninja kicked him in the gut making him scream in more pain. He struggled to stand up but kept getting kicked and brutally attacked; he was excessively bleeding and his body felt numb all over. He suddenly felt a severe blow to his head and he blacked out.


Several hours went by when Agent Davenport finally awoke to the sound of a whirling metal fan above him. His head and his sides throbbed with pain and it was still slightly bleeding. He tried to figure out where he was but his vision was blurred. He could barely make out a dark slender figure standing just a few feet from him. He noticed he was tied to a chair.

“Well, well, our little agent is finally awake,” a sultry female voice called out. He recognized the voice, which belonged to the blurry slender figure in front of him. It was Regina Black.

“Where have you taken me?” he demanded.

Regina didn’t answer but instead gave a smile as she slid seductively onto his lap and placed a finger on his lips. Agent Davenport looked at her in disgust.

“You don’t get to ask questions around here…I do. So Secret Agent Man, do you know where my weapon is?” she simpered, twirling her fingers in Agent Davenport’s hair and tracing his lips with her other finger.

“I don’t know,” Agent Davenport said flatly. Regina’s face scrunched up in fury as she dug her claws in his scalp and yanked his hair back with such a force Agent Davenport was sure she had pulled some out. He shouted in pain. She got off his lap and stood in front of him still gripping his hair.

“Don’t fucking lie to me!” she fumed, glowering at him. “I know you know where it is! Where is my weapon?”

She tightened her grip on his hair as he gritted his teeth.

“Go fuck yourself!” Agent Davenport spat.

Regina backhanded him across his face, leaving a deep gash across his cheek from the diamond ring she wore on her finger. Agent Davenport felt his teeth cut into the inside of his cheek and spat out the blood he tasted.

Regina pulled out a Butterfly knife from the back of her belt and twirled it in front of Agent Davenport’s face.

“You are going to tell me where my weapon is. If you don’t, you’ll be begging me to end your life!” she threatened, as she slit his belt open and sliced off the button on his pants. Agent Davenport swallowed audibly at that threat.

“Where is my weapon?” she asked again, her dark eyes swirling as she pressed the blade of her knife against his inner thigh.

“It’s at the CIA,” Agent Davenport said quickly, looking down at the blade just inches away from his crotch. In truth, he wasn’t sure if the weapon had gotten to the CIA yet.

“My partner has it,” he added.

Regina gave a satisfied smile as she placed her knife back in its sheath. She shouted in Cantonese to call her thugs.

She gestured toward Agent Davenport when they came. The thugs untied him from the chair, but his wrists were still tied together. The thugs then grabbed him and dragged him outside of the warehouse where he had been similarly captured just months ago. He was thrown down on the ground. He coughed as the dust and dirt filled his mouth. He opened his eyes to see a hole three-feet deep with a wooden casket in front of him.

“We’ll play a little game, shall we?” Regina said. “I’ll give your agents twelve hours to give me my weapon in exchange for the coordinates of where your body is buried.”

Agent Davenport’s face went pale. The thugs grabbed him forcefully again as he tried to fight them off but they were too burly for him. He continued struggling as his ankles were being bound.

“Let me go! You won’t get away with this, Regina!” Agent Davenport shouted, as he was placed into the casket. He kept struggling and trying to free himself from the ropes around his wrists and his ankles.

“I’m sure I will,” she said, stroking his cheek before closing the casket and locking it. Agent Davenport began pounding against the lid and yelling “Let me out!” Regina ignored his pleas.

“Lower it in the ground,” she ordered. Six of her thugs carried the casket and lowered it into the hole as the rest of them began to shovel dirt to cover the hole and the casket. After the hole and casket was completely covered in dirt, Regina and her thugs pulled out of the driveway in two black SUVs and drove off toward the highway.
APO: SPTH 5 by Ruby Maye

Mia and Nick just finished their sushi and were enjoying fried ice cream.

“So how do you like working at The Firm so far?” asked Nick, taking a bite of ice cream.

“I like it,” Mia said, hesitantly. “It’s sort of temporary…”

“Temporary? You mean you’re not staying long?” asked Nick.

Mia hesitated. She obviously couldn’t tell him why. “Well, I don’t want to intern for long…and I’d like to branch out and do other things.”

Mia’s watch suddenly beeped. She quickly glanced at her watch which was also a communicator and saw Ken’s icon flash on the screen.

“What was that?” Nick asked looking around the restaurant for the source of the beeping sound.

“Oh it’s just an alarm on my watch. I forgot to turn it off,” Mia said and discreetly turned off the “alarm.” It was an urgent call, but she knew that if she answered right away it would give her secret away to Nick. It would also reveal to Ken that she lied about the dinner and was actually on a date, which she was forbidden to do.

Her cell phone rang. She gave Nick an apologetic smile and answered her phone.

“Hello?” she answered as if she didn’t know who was calling.

“Mia, we have a situation,” Ken’s stern voice greeted her on the other line. “It’s urgent.”

Mia noticed Nick looking around absently as she took the call. She felt relieved he wasn’t listening carefully to her conversation.

“What is it?” she asked.

“The CIA just contacted us. They say that Agent Davenport’s been missing for the passed three hours. He was supposed to meet with Ryu here at APO. Agent Rochester is also M.I.A. We need you to come in immediately.”

“Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” she said and closed her phone getting up from the table.

Nick turned back at her urgent tone and furrowed his eyebrows inquisitively at her when he saw her stand up.

“Is everything alright?” Nick asked, his voice full of concern.

“Oh…my friend was taken to the hospital…he was…in an accident. I’m sorry but…I have to go,” Mia said, digging into her purse for her wallet.

Nick stood up as well. “Did you want me to take you to the hospital?” he offered, immediately grabbing his keys.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll just catch a cab,” Mia said, putting fifteen dollars on the table. “Here’s my share of the bill. I’ll see you tomorrow. I had a great time. Thanks for dinner.”

She quickly left without waiting a reply from Nick. Mia felt guilty for lying to him and leaving him at the sushi bar, but she knew she had no choice.

She dialed Ken’s number.

“Ken, I just got out of…dinner. What’s going on?”

“Director Gordon just found out that Agent Davenport is buried near Regina’s warehouse. I don’t know how long he’s been there or whether he’s still alive. She also assigned us the task of rescuing him since Agent Rochester is M.I.A. I’m sending you the coordinates,” Ken informed.

“Got it. I’ll meet you there,” Mia replied as soon as she got the coordinates. She flagged down a taxi cab and instructed the driver to take her to Nick’s apartment so she can get her car.

After picking her car up at Nick’s place, Mia raced down on Highway 395 and headed for the desert to where Regina’s abandoned warehouse stood. She reached the warehouse and saw Ken’s blue Toyota Prius parked near the side of the warehouse and saw him shoveling dirt from a mound. His black, shoulder-length hair was tied back in a ponytail and there was dirt all over his jeans and dark blue shirt.

Mia parked her car and quickly got out. She ran to where Ken was digging and grabbed another shovel on the ground and helped Ken dig up the mound.

“I wish we could have gotten here sooner. Who knows how long he’s been under there,” Mia said, digging frantically. “Where’s Ryu and Drea?”

“I sent them on a little assignment, so I couldn’t call them for back up,” Ken said.

“Alright. Hey, this is just like the old times, huh?” Mia said, trying to calm her nerves down.

Ken didn’t reply but simply nodded.

They finally unearthed the buried casket that entombed Agent Davenport. Mia and Ken both threw their shovels aside and broke the locks and busted open the lid. Inside Agent Davenport lay unconscious. His handsome face was bruised and nicked. His dirty dress shirt was stained in his blood, and his wrists were bruised from the ropes. Mia immediately felt for any vital signs from him and felt relieved when she felt a pulse, but his breathing was shallow.

“He’s alive,” she said with relief. “He needs medical attention quick. He looks like he lost a lot of blood.”

Ken helped her take him out of the casket. They laid him down gently on the ground so that Mia could perform rescue breathing on him. After a while, Agent Davenport’s breathing returned to normal but he still remained unconscious. Wasting no time, they hauled him to Mia’s car and drove back to APO.

Mia stood in the medical facility at the APO headquarters watching as Agent Davenport was lifted onto a gurney and being attended by APO’s medical staff. She watched as they bandaged his wounds and cuts. Whatever physical torture he went through, he was lucky to be alive.

How could this have happened to him? And where was his missing partner? Something didn’t seem to add up to Mia.
She left the medical lab to find Ken. She found him in his office. Ken noticed her come in.

“How is he?” he asked.

“He’s stable. Stats are doing better. They hooked him up to an oxygen tank just in case,” she said with relief. “How could this have happened to him?”

“My guess is he was ambushed by Regina’s men,” Ken replied grimly.

“What I want to know is where the hell Agent Rochester was in all this? Don’t they work together?” Mia asked.

“I don’t know the answer to that question. I’m sure the CIA is working hard trying to figure out what happened to their agents.”

Mia snorted. “You mean, they’re having us working hard trying to figure out what happened to their agents. It’s like they don’t even care about their agents, and losing a fellow agent is worse than anything.”

“I’m sure they’re pretty busy and doing the best they can to investigate this matter.”

Mia snorted again. “Yeah…right. I’ll go see how he’s doing.” Mia left to go see Agent Davenport at the medical unit and found him resting on the bed. He looked better than when she found him in the casket. He had bandages on his head, arms and legs, and his face was still bruised and cut up. The monitor beeped in sync with his heartbeat.

Mia saw him wake up.

“Oh sorry if I disturbed you,” she said apologetically.

She turned to leave when Agent Davenport let out a groan, indicating that she could stay. She turned back around and approached his bed cautiously. She sat down at the foot of his bed carefully so that she didn’t sit on his foot or his leg.

She thought about what she was going to say, when he suddenly took her hand in his. He let out a gurgle trying to say something. She felt him squeeze her hand and she understood he was trying to say “thank you.”

“I’m just glad you’re still alive after what you went through. I’m glad we got to you as soon as we did,” Mia said.

Even though she had a deep, personal hatred for the CIA, she had sympathy for Agent Davenport. He wasn’t like the cocky CIA agents she had come in contact with in the past.

Agent Davenport tried to smile despite having tubes and a breathing apparatus attached to his mouth and nose.

“We will do whatever it takes to find out who did this to you,” she declared. “We are working with your agency to crack this case. I hope that your partner isn’t in the same position.”

Mia got up.

“I’ll leave you to rest.” Mia wasn’t sure how she was going to locate Agent Rochester but she was sure that she will get to the bottom of this eventually.
APO: SPTH 6 by Ruby Maye
Mid-October 2007

Mia had a meeting with Jenn and the Boys. She drove to The Firm’s management office building in downtown Los Angeles. As soon as she got there, she buzzed for the receptionist at the door.

“Hello this is Tracy, how may I help you?” the chirpy voice of the receptionist crackled through the intercom.

“It’s Mia Blade. I’m here for the meeting with the Backstreet Boys at 9.”

It took a full minute for Tracy to respond.

“Oh hello, Ms. Blade,” Tracy replied with an added snippy tone in her voice when Tracy realized it was Mia. Tracy pined for Nick ever since she was hired at The Firm and was jealous of the fact that Mia’s now dating him.

Mia walked in through the door. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Tracy glowering at her. Mia gave Tracy a sticky sweet smile as she headed to the meeting room down the hall.

Mia entered the room and was greeted by Nick, Brian, AJ, Howie, Jenn and the Boys’ tour manager, Dave. She went and sat down on an empty chair next to Nick.

Jenn and Dave had just begun to discuss the Boys’ promo and world tour schedule. “Glad you could make it, Ms. Blade,” they said and continued their discussion.

Nick leaned toward Mia and whispered, “Hi, did you get home okay?” he asked quietly so that the others didn’t hear him.

“Yeah, thanks so much for dinner and I’m really sorry I had to leave you so early,” Mia apologized. She really felt bad for leaving him so quickly.

“It’s…okay. How’s your friend doing by the way?” he asked.

Mia was about to reply when a there was a knock on the door and Tracy stuck her head in the doorway.

“I’m sorry for interrupting the meeting but someone is waiting on line one. He insisted on speaking with…” Her eyes darted toward Mia. “Ms. Blade,” she finished. Six pairs of eyes were now on Mia.

Mia got up and excused herself from the meeting. On her way out, she noticed Tracy flash Nick a flirtatious smile. Something inside Mia wanted to slap that bitch but she restrained herself. She followed Tracy down to the front desk to take the call.

She noticed that Tracy was trying to eavesdrop on the call so she took the call into her office instead. She picked up the extension in her office and made sure she blocked Tracy’s phone line.

“This is Mia,” she said into the phone when she was sure Tracy wasn’t listening.

“Mia, it’s Ken. We have another situation. It’s Agent Davenport. He’s missing. I went into his medical unit and he wasn’t there and the weapon is also gone,” he said urgently.

“What do you mean? He just left and walked out with the disk?” Mia asked incredulously. Way to thank us, Agent Davenport she thought.

“Yes. The vault is pretty damaged. We’re looking into it. We already told CIA about it. They’re looking into it too. And still no word yet on Agent Rochester’s whereabouts.”

“Alright…do you need me to come in?” she asked.

“No, we don’t really need you right now. I just thought I’d keep you updated. I need you to stay there, just in case.”

“Thanks. Will do, Boss.” She hung up the phone and made her way back to the meeting room and apologized for the delay and interruption. She sat back down next to Nick.
Nick slid Mia a copy of their itinerary as Jenn and Dave reiterated it. She looked it over.

“The release of the album will be on Tuesday, October 30th and you guys will do promo in New York. You guys will arrive Saturday night around nine o’clock and check into the Hilton in Manhattan. On Sunday, you will drop by Z100 around seven and then the TRL studios in the afternoon around three. You’ll fly back to LA on Monday morning around five and then celebrate the release of your album Tuesday,” Jenn informed, “if you guys don’t have any questions, this concludes our meeting for today. Thanks guys and we’ll see you in a couple of weeks!”

The guys got up and headed out the room. AJ, Brian and Howie discussed their plans for the rest of the afternoon with Jenn and their tour manager as they all left the meeting room.

Nick followed the rest of the guys but saw that Mia was still in the meeting room reading the itinerary.

She looked up and noticed Nick was waiting for her at the door.

“You comin’?” he asked.

“Oh yeah, I was just studying the itinerary.” She laughed sheepishly and stood up and followed him out.

“You wanna have lunch with me?” he asked then added, “…if you’re not doing anything after this.”

She knew she had to keep this dating thing casual but it was hard for her to resist. There was something about Nick that she had never seen in a guy before. He was different…but she knew their relationship could never go any further than casual dating, even if she wanted it to. It would put both of them in danger, especially since Nick is in the spotlight all the time.

He kept staring at her with his eyebrows raised when Mia finally blinked and laughed sheepishly.

“Sure,” she said, giving in. You just couldn’t say no, could you? she scolded herself.

“Sorry. I’m a little out of it today. Where are we eating for lunch?” she asked as Nick flashed the grin she was beginning to love.

Nick decided to take Mia for lunch at The Ivy Restaurant.

“Okay, what is your most prized possession?” Nick asked sipping on his drink, once they were seated and waiting on their orders.

On the other side of the street, Mia could see flashbulbs going off as a small group of paparazzi flocked to take their picture through the large window they were seated by.

Nick noticed Mia shifting uncomfortably in her seat and also noticed she was trying to avoid facing the cameras as if she didn’t want her picture taken. He found that a little odd but thought that the paparazzi just made her feel uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized seeing her reaction. “I could try to get us a better table.” He was about to call the hostess when Mia stopped him.

“No, it’s okay. I just don’t like getting my picture taken. I’ll be fine,” she lied.

Great. Now APO, and probably the CIA, will know I’m dating Nick. Dammit, why did I have to give in to him?
Nick studied her. “Alright,” he said digging his fork into his pasta.

They ate silently for a minute. Mia still tried to avoid facing the cameras. Luckily, the wait staff at the restaurant pulled curtains and covered the windows to avoid the blinding flashes of the cameras. Apparently, they were used to having celebrities dine in their restaurant so they were prepared for shielding them from the paparazzi.

“My Japanese fans,” Mia said all of a sudden.

Nick looked up from his pasta in confusion. “What?” he asked.

“My most prized possession is my Japanese fans,” she explained and smiled. What she didn’t tell him was that those Japanese fans were her weapons she often used in her missions.

Nick laughed. He had almost forgotten he had asked her that.

When Nick and Mia finally finished lunch and ducked the paparazzi, Nick took Mia to a secluded place near the beach.

Mia got out of the car and followed Nick to the edge of a cliff that overlooked the ocean.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Nick asked as he gazed out at the view of the Pacific.

Mia followed his gaze. She had been to so many exotic places in the world but she never got the chance to really see them. It had been a while since Mia did this. Ever since she got involved with APO, she never got the chance to live a normal life.

She watched the families and their children playing in the sand and wished she could feel like that again. She wished she could feel free and not have to worry about her next mission.

“What are you thinking about?” Nick asked her. Mia looked at him and took a minute before answering.

“I miss this,” she said.

“What do you mean?” he asked. She noticed his face was just inches away from hers.

“I miss doing this,” she said. “I’ve been so busy with work…I don’t have time to go to the beach anymore.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Nick sighed and looked back out to the ocean when he turned back and noticed Mia staring at him.

Slowly, he bent down and dipped his head and brushed his lips against Mia’s softly. She opened her mouth inviting his tongue in as she deepened the kiss. They continued making out, which lasted almost a minute. They finally pulled apart and started breathing again. The feeling of Nick’s lips still lingered on Mia’s.

They were about to go for round two when Mia’s cell phone rang. Mia inwardly grumbled and pulled out her cell phone from her pocket. She checked her caller ID but to her relief and irritation, she didn’t recognize the number displayed on the screen so she ignored the call.

“Wrong number,” she muttered and put her phone away.

Nick leaned forward to kiss her again but Mia placed a hand gently on his chest to stop him. Their scorching kiss made her lose control, and she never let herself lose control over any situation before. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, she was falling for Nick, which she knew was a mistake…

“We should get going. I gotta get home soon,” she said, softly. It took a minute for Nick to let her go.

Nick was on the way to the Civic Center station to drop off Mia.

“So where do you live?” he asked curiously.

“Westwood,” Mia lied. She didn’t want to tell him that she actually lived just outside of Bel Air, which was a place only “rich people” lived.

“I didn’t even know there were any subways leading to Westwood,” Nick said confused. “You don’t have to take the subway, you know. I can drive you home myself.”

“I don’t want you to waste gas,” Mia said.

Nick gave her a perplexed look at her lame excuse.

“Are you hiding something from me?” he asked with a serious tone.

“No,” Mia said rather quickly. She stayed quiet since she had trouble giving him an explanation.

“It sounds like you’re hiding something,” he continued suspiciously.

“I’m not,” she insisted, but she knew she didn’t sound convincing at that moment.

“Are you embarrassed about me seeing your house or something?” he finally asked.

“I hadn’t had a chance to clean it…” she said. At least this time, she didn’t have to lie completely.

Nick looked at her for a minute still suspicious of Mia’s residence. He pulled in the front of the station and looked back over at Mia. He waited as she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door.

“Thanks for the ride and for lunch. I had a great time,” Mia said, kissing his cheek as she got out of his car.
She waved at Nick lastly and stepped back and waited for him to pull away from the curb.
APO: SPTH 7 by Ruby Maye


After Mia watched Nick drive off, she dashed into the briefing room at the APO headquarters, below the Civic Center station, where Ken, Ryu and Aundrea were waiting for her. She took a seat at the table.

“Sorry I’m late guys, I—,”

“You lied to me!” Ken yelled at Mia cutting her off, as he slammed down a stack of papers on the table. At first Mia was somewhat taken aback at Ken’s sudden outburst. Then she noticed that the papers were a bunch of candid photos of her and Nick on their date earlier that day and from the night before; all were taken by the paparazzi.

Mia remained silent.

“Mia, what do you think you’re doing? Do you realize—?”

“Of course I realize the danger I’m putting him in!” Mia interjected angrily. She was angrier at the fact that it was the damn paparazzi pictures that gave her date away rather than the fact that Ken found out about it.

“It’s not only a danger for him but it’s also a danger for us. Do you realize what this could do to the agency? You’re in danger of exposing us and this agency, which we have worked so hard to keep secret!” Ken continued, crossing his arms across his chest.

“I have the situation under control and I know what I’m doing,” Mia insisted.

“You have your secret identity and our agency to protect, and being in a relationship, especially one that involves exposure to the mass media will be impossible to do.”

Mia felt like a teenage girl being scolded by her parents for dating a guy they didn’t approve of. Ryu and Aundrea shifted uncomfortably in their seats as they watched their fellow agent, whom they never suspected would break an APO code, being scolded by their superior.

Ken gave a tired sigh and turned away from Mia to continue the briefing. “Back on topic…now as you all know, the disc and Agent Davenport are still missing and are yet to be found.”

“Agent Rochester did contact me and said that someone else is after the disc and that he needed the weapon so they could destroy it themselves before it gets to the wrong hands,” Ken said.

“Agent Rochester contacted you? Does that mean he finally resurfaced?” asked Mia curiously.

Ken sighed exasperatedly at Mia’s tone. “Yes, as a matter of fact, he tried to contact you first but you weren’t answering your phone.” He gave Mia a look.

Guess now I know who my mystery caller was, Mia thought.

“I checked on the Black Market database and the EMPE is the most valued item out on the market right now. I also found that the highest bidder went to the name ‘K-Rock,’ which is obviously an alias,” Ryu reported, trying to ease the tension building between Ken and Mia.

“Every crime lord and government agencies around the world want that weapon. There’s also a shipment for Black Corporation coming in New York from Japan that we will need to investigate,” Ken reported. “Will this interfere with any of the Boys’ schedule?” he asked Mia hesitantly.

“No, they’re doing promo in New York a few days before the shipment. I’ll just make an excuse to stay a little longer.” Mia avoided Ken’s gaze. She slid a copy of their itinerary toward Ken still avoiding eye contact with him.

Ken picked it up and studied it and then looked at Mia intently, who still avoided eye contact with him. Though he didn’t approve of her breaking a sacred code, he still trusted her and knew she was one of his best agents.

“Mia, I trust that you will complete this mission without any problems, but you have to be very careful about the position you’re in. You are assigned to protect the Backstreet Boys, first and foremost, as an agent. Our priority is their safety, which you are assigned to protect. Aundrea and Ryu will follow you and the Boys when you travel to New York. We will all meet at the APO safe house,” Ken reported.

He sat down at the end of the table and motioned for Ryu to have the floor.

Ryu stood up and opened a thin silver briefcase revealing several gadgets. He held up a ball point pen.

“Okay, remember the time when you were a kid and you would write secret messages to your friends and then they would have to decode it by brushing lemon juice or whatever to reveal the message written with some sort of invisible ink? Well, I just developed this awesome gadget that revolutionizes that idea.”

“This is not just an ordinary pen. This pen has a special ink that is only visible to a certain type of light which is actually in the pen itself.” Ryu clicked the pen once and wrote his name on a piece of paper to demonstrate the invisible ink; he held up the seemingly blank piece of paper. He clicked the pen twice and shined a beam of light onto the paper. The light revealed his name in his chicken scratch hand-writing.

“This pen would come in handy, especially for you Mia—our little rebel,” he added wryly, “—when you need to write a quick message to one of us and don’t want any of your Boys or associates in The Firm to know what you wrote. It’s also handy for storing liquid, paper, a small knife or even a lock pick. It’s a handy-dandy pen.”

Aundrea and Mia exchanged amused glances at Ryu’s quirky presentation. Ryu handed a pen to each one of them as he dug out another device from the briefcase.

“This was created with my special girl in mind,” Ryu said, winking at Aundrea who giggled in her seat like a schoolgirl. Mia made a face and Ken cleared his throat uncomfortably.

“I developed special contact lenses that enhance infrared, x-ray and night vision. No more lugging bulky binoculars to missions and stake-outs…this is the new wave of technology in eye spy ware. And it’s so comfortable; you won’t even feel ‘em!” He handed them each a pair of his “special” contact lenses.

“That’s all for now. I’ll be back Thursday!” he waved at them as he shut his briefcase and took a bow.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Agent Rochester entered a small nightclub on the Mexican-Californian border.

He flashed his ID to the bouncer who led him to the back of the nightclub down a staircase to a door. The bouncer scanned his keycard on the door to open it. The room smelled of tobacco and alcohol as Agent Rochester entered it. Several men, who sat at tables playing Mahjong, all turned to look at him when he entered the room. Agent Rochester ignored them as he made his way toward an empty plush seat in the corner waiting for a contact he was sent to meet.

A woman dressed in a black cocktail dress caught his eye; she sat cross-legged on a chair at the opposite corner of the room sipping on a glass of martini. She wore a hat that had a veil partially covering her face. He looked her up and down hungrily and wondered what a woman like her was doing in this place. The men in the room seemed to not notice her there as they continued chatting amongst themselves.

He stood up and made his way over to her.

“Did you come here with anyone, Miss?” he asked charmingly as he sat down next to her.

“What’s the matter, Rochester? Forgot who I was already?” the woman purred, giving him a half smile.

Agent Rochester did a double take and the color drained from his face when he recognized her.

“Regina?”

Regina rolled her eyes as she put her martini down on a table in front of her and took off her hat to reveal her face.

“Wow, for a CIA agent you’re pretty slow. And do you seriously think a woman like me would be interested in you?” she said with a laugh.

Agent Rochester glared at her.

“What the Hell are you doing here?” he barked.

“I’m your contact, idiot. You’re here because you have something of mine.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Agent Rochester said flatly.

“I am the contact you were assigned to meet and give the weapon to. My father thought it was best to send me, as I’m the only one he could trust,” Regina said smugly.

“Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Regina’s face scrunched up in anger and leaned forward so that she was only inches from his face.

“Don’t fuck with me or you’ll end up like your partner!” she hissed. The men in the room suddenly stopped chatting and turned to look at them, reaching behind their belts for their guns. Agent Rochester realized they were all Regina’s henchmen.

“What did you do to him?” he asked curiously and slightly impressed.

“Buried his ass somewhere in the Mojave. That bastard was such a pussy. I can’t believe you had to work with him,” she said with a laugh.

Agent Rochester laughed at her remark. “He was a pussy bastard,” he muttered.

Regina raised a pencil-thin eyebrow.

“You’re not concerned about him? That’s a surprise.”

“He found out I’m working for your father,” he grumbled.

“If that bastard partner of yours snitched to your boss—” she began, her voice becoming dangerously shrill.

“He didn’t…thanks to you.”

“So, where is my weapon?” she demanded.

“I don’t have it,” Agent Rochester said.

Regina narrowed her eyes at him.

“Your partner swore to me that you had it!”

“Well that son-of-a-bitch lied to you! He probably got the disc and kept it with him to give to the APO agents since he’s gotten close to them now,” he continued.

“Don’t tell me I buried my weapon with that bastard!” her voice rising to a deadly screech.

Agent Rochester shrugged his shoulders. “It looks like that might be the case, but while you go dig up his body, I’ll go deal with APO and see if they have the weapon,” he said standing up to leave.

“You better have my weapon the next time you come see me,” Regina growled through clenched teeth. “My father is getting impatient.”

“Technically it’s your father’s weapon. So I’ll have it for him after I deal with APO,” replied Agent Rochester as he left the room before Regina could say anything else.

He got out of the club and into his yellow jaguar and drove off.

APO: SPTH 8 by Ruby Maye


The Backstreet Boys and Mia were at the airport waiting for their flight to board. Mia sat in between AJ and Nick and was reading a magazine. Nick was busy texting a friend on his phone while Howie was sleeping and had his head back and his mouth slightly open. Brian was chatting with Leighanne and Baylee on his phone, while AJ was sipping an espresso from Coffee Bean and listening to his iPod. Their bodyguards sat across from them and were scanning the crowd of people walking by.

Mia looked up from her magazine and noticed a suspicious-looking man staring at them. The bodyguards were completely oblivious to this man. The man, who looked to be Brazilian, had his dark hair in dreadlocks. He wore baggy black pants and a black hoodie that concealed his face.

Mia’s ninja instincts kicked in and activated her communicator and murmured under her breath, “Dreadlocks, ten o’clock.”

Aundrea, who was leaning against the wall at the end of the terminal, followed Mia’s gaze at the man with dreadlocks who sat at the far corner of the gate just across from her.

The man kept his eye on Mia as if he was a predator hunting its prey. He suddenly got up from his seat as he headed toward the terminal away from her.

Did he want me to follow him? Good. Maybe I could kick his ass! Mia thought and slowly got up.

Mia looked around at the Boys. They had enough security with them that Mia was sure she could leave for a minute to follow “Dreadlocks.” Mia stood up from her seat and put her magazine on her seat. Nick looked up at her.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Bathroom,” Mia replied, giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

Nick watched Mia walk toward the bathroom sign at the end of the terminal until she was out of sight.

Mia met up with Aundrea when she passed the restrooms.

“Do you see him?” Mia asked, scanning the crowd.

“No sign of ‘Dreadlocks’ anywhere,” her sister replied.

Together they scanned the crowd in front of them searching for Dreadlocks. They passed by an empty corridor in which Mia caught a glimpse of a man slip inside the boiler room. Mia and Aundrea discreetly followed behind him as they slipped through the door of the boiler room. The room was slightly dim and filled with steam which made it a little difficult for Mia and Aundrea to see clearly.

Mia and Aundrea split up to look for Dreadlocks in the steam-filled room. Mia crept slowly along the pipes and machines trying to sense where Dreadlocks could be hiding.

She heard a figure move from behind her and whirled around to attack, but all she saw was steam. She continued moving through the room, when she met up with Aundrea. Together they continued scanning the room for Dreadlocks.

Suddenly a leg swung out from a corner almost hitting Mia, but she quickly blocked it with her forearm. She found herself facing Dreadlocks. Up close she could see a large scar from his eyebrow down to his cheek and ended at his neck.

Aundrea lunged at him from the side but he blocked off her attacks. Mia sent him a whirl of high kicks but he was quick to evade them as well. Mia and Aundrea stood opposite from Dreadlocks as they faced off.

Dreadlocks flipped and rolled to the side away from them as they each came onto him with attacks. He used the fighting style of Capoeira and moved as if he were break-dancing.

He swung his leg against Mia’s legs to trip her. Losing her balance, Mia fell against the cold cement floor. Aundrea swung her leg at him, while Mia remained on the floor. Aundrea threw roundhouses at Dreadlocks as she cornered him against a railing. Dreadlocks kicked Aundrea and she went down on the floor.

Mia quickly flipped herself back up on her feet and flung her legs forward at Dreadlocks and pinned him against the railing with her legs.

Dreadlocks broke away from her and evaded Mia's and Aundrea’s kicks and swipes. He was able to get away from them briefly before looking down behind him below the railing. He glanced at both of them before blowing a kiss and then threw himself over the railing.

Mia and Aundrea quickly exchanged looks and tried to follow him. When they looked over the railing, Dreadlocks was nowhere to be found.

“Dammit, he got away!” Mia growled angrily.

Aundrea looked at her watch and checked the time. It was three minutes until boarding time and she and Mia were gone for almost ten minutes.

“Come on, Mia, you’re almost boarding. You have to get back or they’ll be wondering where you are,” Aundrea called out, tugging at Mia’s arm gently.

Mia glared at the empty space below and then followed Aundrea out of the room.

Mia returned to the gate heated that Dreadlocks escaped. She tried to keep her cool. She reached the section of the gate where the Boys were standing up gathering their belongings getting ready to board the plane. They stood in line waiting to hand the stewardess their boarding passes.

“What took you so long?” Nick asked, handing Mia her suitcase. “I was getting worried.”

Then he noticed she had a small bruise forming on her arm.

“What happened?” he asked in panic. “Where did this bruise come from?”

“Oh…I had a clumsy moment. I hit the paper towel dispenser,” she lied, trying to sound sheepish. “Sorry I’m late. There was a long line in the bathroom so I went to one further down the terminal.” She felt her guilt sting her. She didn’t like lying to Nick, even though she had no choice.


>>>>>>>>>>>>>

They finally arrived in New York and were escorted to their hotel in downtown Manhattan. Each of the Boys was assigned separate rooms with a bodyguard at each door.

In her suite, Mia took out her phone and checked for messages before she plugged it to her charger. She grabbed her suitcase and tucked it in the closet. She quickly changed into her yoga wear and wore her hair up in a ponytail. She wanted to do some Kata to work off steam and the kinks she felt after the fight with Dreadlocks.

Mia made her way down to the gym and was a little relieved to find it empty of people. She took her shoes and socks off and put her towel down next to them. She found a small space and did a few stretches before she started doing Kata. Her movements in the Kata mimicked a tiger.

She kicked, flipped, posed like a tiger as she did her Kata movements, when Nick came in the gym. He leaned against the doorway watching Mia. She had her back facing him as she continued doing her Kata. He kept watching her with awe when his eyes dropped down to the small of Mia’s back that peeked out from under her slightly raised shirt and to the tattoo he had never seen before of a Japanese symbol.

She finally turned around and faced him and let out a small gasp. “Holy shit, Nick you scared me,” she said.

He grinned and walked over to her.

“Sorry, Baby,” he said, kissing her. “What was that you were doing? It looked awesome.”

“Oh it’s called Kata. It’s just a little form kinda like Tai Chi,” she answered.

“What’s this tattoo on your back? I’ve never seen it before,” he asked, giving her a sexy smirk. He turned her slightly with his hands on her waist to point at her tattoo. He traced it with his fingertips as if he was checking for its authenticity.

Mia looked down at her tattoo on the small of her back. “I’ve had it for a while,” she answered. She had the tattoo ever since she joined APO which was over two years ago. She had hoped Nick would never see it.

“What’s it mean?” Nick asked.

“Tiger,” Mia said knowing she was dangerously close to exposing her secret. Ken would have a fit if he knew, and for a minute she was relieved she left her communicator tucked in her luggage.

Nick raised an eyebrow. “I see,” he said mischievously.

Mia caught the look he was giving her and slapped him playfully. “Okay, Mister, are you going to work out or just stand there admiring my ass?”

“I don’t know...it’s hard to choose…”

Mia playfully pushed him and grabbed two pairs of boxing gloves that hung on hooks on the wall.

“Come on, I’ll spar with you,” she said, tossing a pair at Nick. Nick looked at her incredulously.

“Mia, it won’t be fair,” he said with a serious tone.

“What? Not fair for you?” she challenged with a sparkle in her eye. She took a couple gentle jabs at Nick’s gut.

She danced around Nick like a professional boxer. “Come on, show me what you got, Carter. Or are you afraid you’d get beat by a girl?” she teased.

“Oh, it’s on now,” he said putting on the gloves. He pounded his fists together as he got closer to Mia as he raised his fists near his face.

Mia laughed as she knew she had a slight advantage over Nick, considering she was a foot shorter and was easier to evade Nick’s jabs. Of course they were using light jabs and punches.

Nick jabbed her side and she cried out in pain. Nick immediately dropped his guard and rushed over to her.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Baby,” he apologized, trying to examine the damage he had done.

Mia swung her arm and got him on his side for “revenge.”

He stood there stunned for a second and then finally realized that Mia was only joking.

“Oh you are dead now!” he said, as he grabbed Mia with his arms and brought her down with him on the floor. Mia screamed and laughed as he pinned her gently on the floor. She squirmed under him as he lay on top of her.

“That was really mean,” he said, with a puppy pout.

Then with a quick maneuver of her leg, Mia switched their positions so that she was now on top. Nick looked at her in shock. How did she do that? he thought.

“Rule number one: never let your guard down,” Mia said, pinning Nick under her petite body.

“Okay, Rocky,” he said and gently jabbed her chin.

Mia and Nick laughed. For the first time in her life, she was afraid of something and that was…losing Nick.

Nick stared at her for a minute and then leaned up and grabbed the back of her neck. He pulled her into a gentle kiss that quickly turned hungry. They sat on the floor of the gym as they made out.

“I thought the whole point of boxing was to knock your opponent out with your fists not your lips,” called out a voice in the doorway. Nick and Mia immediately pulled apart and looked up at their intruder. AJ and Howie stood in the doorway of the gym staring down at Nick and Mia. 

Nick and Mia looked at each other and laughed before getting up off the floor.

APO: SPTH 9 by Ruby Maye
While the Backstreet Boys were at the Z100 radio station promoting their new album, Mia met up with the rest of the APO agents.

Mia arrived at a secluded neighborhood a few miles outside Manhattan. She parked her rental car near the sidewalk and got out. An old house stood before her; ivy leaves grew on one side of the house and reminded her of the old house she lived in as a child with her sister. She made her way up the uneven pathway that led to the front porch and was greeted with the scent of old wood and pine lofting in the morning breeze. The sun had just risen and she could see it barely peeking through the trees that lined the backyard.

Mia reached the front porch and carefully walked up the rickety wooden steps that led to the door. Why couldn’t Ken have picked a better safe house than this heap, she thought as she carefully walked up the steps. Mia took out an old brass key from her jacket pocket and unlocked the door. She pushed it open and entered the foyer and was greeted by Ryu and Aundrea sitting on the couch in the living room area.

“Hey, it’s about time you joined us, Rebel,” Ryu greeted. Ryu loved to tease her whenever she gets under Ken’s collar.

“Hey, how’d your flight go?” Aundrea asked giving Mia a quick hug. Mia sat down on the recliner chair across the couch.

Mia sighed; she was exhausted. “Alright. Still pissed Dreadlocks got away.” Mia gritted her teeth when she remembered their encounter at the airport.

“Any clue as to who sent him after you?” asked Ken, descending down the stairs and sitting on the couch near Mia.

“My guess would be Regina Black,” said Mia, rocking back and forth on the recliner and absently examining her fingernails.

“Any luck finding the embedded disc or Agent Davenport?” asked Aundrea.

“Still no word or sign from him or the disc. I’ve contacted the CIA and asked if they had any new information but they haven’t gotten any yet,” Ken replied.

“Black’s shipment will be coming in next week at Chinatown. Don’t know what the shipment contains, but the shipment comes in this Friday at 11pm, Pier 94,” Ryu informed, looking up from his laptop.

“Mia, can you and Aundrea go to Pier 94 this afternoon and check things out?” asked Ken, turning to Mia.

“Actually, I’m meeting up with the Boys right after this. Their manager asked me to go with them to the MTV TRL studio, which is in about an hour. The Boys are also going to a club tonight. I’ll have my communicator on if there is any trouble,” Mia added quickly, avoiding Ken’s look. She knew he still didn’t feel it was a good idea for her to be dating Nick but he trusted her.

“Alright, I’ll have Ryu and Aundrea check it out and they’ll shadow you at the club this evening. Make sure you inform us of your position at all times,” Ken instructed.

She tried not to roll her eyes at Ken’s order. Mia hated being told what to do, and she knew he only wanted Ryu and Aundrea to keep tabs on her.

“Alright, I’ll see you guys later,” Mia said, getting up from the recliner and headed out the door.

>>>>>>>>>>>

The Boys went back to the hotel to have lunch before their TRL visit. After their lunch, they had about an hour of free time.

Nick tapped his foot impatiently as he sat on the bed in his hotel room. He’s been trying to reach Mia for the past half hour but she hasn’t answered her phone.

He was about to try again when his phone rang. He smiled when he saw that it was Mia finally calling.

“Hey baby, I’ve been trying to reach you. Why weren’t you answering your phone?” he asked.

“Oh…um…I forgot it was on vibrate…sorry,” she answered. Just then in the background, Nick heard a male voice say, “Yo Mia, you forgot your key,” to which Mia replied, “thanks.”

Mia turned back to Nick on the phone. “Are you guys back at the hotel?” she asked him.

“Yeah…where are you?” Nick asked, trying to sound casual.

“Just out and about downtown I’m actually on my way back to the hotel now,” Mia said.

“Oh. Are…you…with someone?” he asked, trying to sound casual again.

Mia realized he might have heard Ryu just now. Thank God he didn’t say anything that could have blown her cover.

“I’m by myself,” she replied quickly, “I’m almost at the hotel so I’ll see you in a bit, alright?”

She waited about a few seconds before she hung up on the other line. “Alright…see ya,” Nick murmured at the dial tone that was now ringing in his ear.

Nick shut his phone off. He could have sworn he had heard a guy talking to Mia. Hopefully, it’s not what Nick thinks…

He was about to text Howie when he heard a knock on the door. Thinking it was Mia, he swung the door open with a bright smile but it immediately slid off his face.

“Oh, it’s just you,” he said when he saw AJ standing there.

AJ feigned a hurt look. “Well, it’s nice to see you too, Bro.”

“I thought you were Mia,” Nick said apologetically. He let AJ in his suite.

“I thought she was here with you? Where is she?” AJ asked looking around.

Nick shrugged. “Honestly…I’m not sure.”

AJ gave him a strange look. “Did you call her?”

“She never picked up her phone, but she just called me back a few minutes ago…and…I heard some guy in the background talking to her…well, he told her that she forgot her key or something. You think she’s…seeing someone else?” Nick asked, looking up at his older best friend whom he considers a brother.

“I don’t know man. You seem to be attracted to the bad ones,” AJ teased. When he saw the face Nick made, he rolled his eyes.

“You’re being paranoid. Maybe the guy was an old friend or a relative she ran into.”

“I don’t know man. Something’s up with her. I feel like she’s hiding something from me,” Nick concluded. Even though he’d only known Mia for a month and a half, he still felt he didn’t know her completely. He found it peculiar that she wouldn’t even let him see where she lived.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Nick opened it and Mia came in.

“Hey, sorry I took so long getting here. Traffic is a bitch out here,” she said apologetically.

Nick immediately gave AJ a look. AJ shrugged and pretended to read a text message.

Mia finally noticed AJ in Nick’s suite. “Hey, AJ,” she greeted, oblivious to the fact that they were just talking about her.

AJ grinned and waved at her. “Hola, chica!” He glanced at his watch.

“Oh shit, dude. We better bounce. We’re supposed to be at the TRL studios in half an hour,” AJ said. His phone rang as if on cue and he answered it.

“Hello? Alright, we’ll be down in a minute, Rok,” he said and hung up his phone.

AJ, Nick and Mia left the suite and headed downstairs to join the other Boys in the lobby.

The Backstreet Boys made it to the TRL studios in time to surprise their fans and the VJs.

Mia stood off to the side with the Boys’ bodyguards and watched the Boys being interviewed by Damien. Brian was hyper and bouncing up and down at every one of his answers. The rest of the Boys laughed and were cheesing it for the cameras and the audience.

Mia looked away briefly out the large window and caught a CNN broadcast flashing on the giant monitor outside in Times Square. A news bulletin scrawled across the screen and immediately caught her attention:

CEO of Black Corporation, Roger Black, returning to the States from a business trip in Japan. A video clip of Roger Black stepping off of a private jet at an airstrip outside of New York was shown on the monitor.

Mia continued to read the report:
Black Corporation has recently developed a new computer chip that his company will launch in a few weeks, just in time for the holiday season. Mr. Black and his company will host a celebration of the launch on November 9th at his private residence in The Village.

A new clip showed Black being interviewed by a red-headed female reporter at the airstrip.

“Mr. Black, what can you tell us about your new computer chip?” the reporter asked.

“Well, I’ve pooled together some of the best computer software developers in the world. The computer chip that I designed will increase the capacity and memory of any computer hard drive; it can also increase the shelf-life of the battery in electrical devices. The chip can also increase performance efficiency in vehicles that have a built-in computer,” Black replied. “It does many technical things.” He gave a hearty laugh.

Mia stopped reading the bulletin and snorted. I’m the only one who can see passed your bullshit. she thought venomously.

She looked around and stepped into a secluded corner before she opened her cell phone and called Ken to tell what she just read on the news.

“Ken, I got info on the shipment on Friday. They’re computer chips. They might have a link to the EMPE,” she reported softly.

Ken responded immediately, “Good. Where did you get this info? Did Rochester call you?”

“No,” Mia replied rolling her eyes, “It was on CNN. He’s got a big launch for it.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

Mia closed her phone and joined the bodyguards who seemed not to have noticed she left their side.
The Boys finally ended their interview with Damien and waved at their fans goodbye.

“Make sure you pick up our new album Unbreakable,” they said. “We’ll see you on tour next summer!”
APO: SPTH 10 by Ruby Maye

Regina walked through the streets of Chinatown in New York City when her cell phone rang. She pulled out her phone from her purse and checked the caller ID. She was in no mood to talk to any of her henchmen telling her they failed at another errand she sent them to do. But she answered it immediately when she saw that it was her father.

“I’m in Chinatown,” she said.

“I’m getting impatient,” his deep voice resounded on the other end.

“I know, Father, but my contact is having trouble delivering the weapon,” she answered.

“I have no use for excuses!” he shouted.

Regina winced. She hated not pleasing her father, which is the only thing she wanted more than anything.

“I’ll have it for you soon. I won’t fail you, Father,” she answered, almost desperately. She heard her father take in a deep breath as if trying to keep his cool.

“Alright, keep an eye on my shipment until I get there. Kill anyone who tries to get to it. I also have another task for you while you are there.”

“I’ll do anything,” she declared.

“Good. I want you to pose as White Tiger,” he ordered.

Regina took a long pause. “What? Why would you want me to pose as that—“

“Just do it!” Black snapped.

Regina sighed exasperatedly. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

“Good, I’ll contact you when I arrive.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

She waited until her father hung up. Grumbling, she dialed for her least favorite contact. She waited impatiently until he answered.

“Rochester,” he answered after a couple of rings.

“My father is getting impatient with you,” she barked at him.

“Nice to hear from you, Ms. Black,” he said sarcastically.

“I want my weapon!” she snarled.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. It’s being sent to me as we speak. I had to take it out of hiding,” Rochester replied.

“I hope you didn’t sell it to your CIA friends!” she accused.

“If I had done that, you wouldn’t be calling me from New York and you’d be in confinement right now,” he retorted.

“I don’t take kindly to people who double-cross me!” she warned.

“Just be patient,” he grumbled since his own patience was wearing thin just hearing Regina’s banshee wail on the phone.

“Well you better find it soon!” Regina screamed. “If you don’t bring it to me in 12 hours, I will tear you from limb to limb!”

The sound of a dial tone greeted Regina’s ear. It took all of her might not to smash her phone onto the pavement she walked on. Agent Rochester had hung up on her as she was delivering a threat to him. Pissed off that he didn’t seem to fear her as she had hoped, she threw her phone in her purse and continued walking until she reached her destination.


Agent Rochester sat alone in his condo. He shut off his phone and tossed it carelessly on his desk. He hated hearing Regina scream empty threats to him, but it kind of amused him a bit. He enjoyed getting under her skin.

He got up from his desk and walked to his front door. A small thin manila envelope marked with “BMG” was slid under his door. Not bothering to see who had given him the mysterious envelope, he picked it up and brought it to his desk to examine it, even though he knew exactly what was in it. He tore the envelope open and slid out the new Backstreet Boys CD.

He smiled to himself as he finally held the embedded weapon in his hands.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Mia stood in front of the mirror and looked herself over. She was getting ready to go clubbing with the Boys later that night. She was wearing a stunning, sleeveless black, cocktail dress with matching black pumps. Her hair was up in a curly ponytail. Mia had just placed her communicator, disguised as earrings, in her ears when there was a knock on her door.

She opened the door and saw Nick’s jaw drop.

“Wow, you look amazing!” Nick said, looking her up and down.

Nick continued staring at Mia when one of their security guards came by and cleared his throat.

“Ride’s here to take you guys to the Music Lounge,” he said.

“Alright, we’ll be right down, Q,” Nick replied, his eyes still glued to Mia’s outfit.

The Boys and their security team arrived at the Music Lounge. The paparazzi flocked around the entrance snapping pictures of the Boys and their entourage. Mia tried her best to avoid the cameras again.

They finally made their way inside the club and were ushered to the VIP section which was roped off by their security. They sat around the booth and a waitress went around taking orders of their drinks.

Nick led Mia down to a seat.

“You look beautiful tonight,” Nick said giving her a drink the waitress had just put on the table.

“Thanks,” Mia said, taking a sip of her drink.

“You wanna dance?” Nick crooned in Mia’s ear. Mia nodded and followed Nick out on the dance floor below the VIP section. The rest of the Boys and their dates were on the dance floor as well.

Nick led Mia to the dance floor and grooved to the beat. As she danced with Nick to the music, Mia quickly scanned the room for Aundrea and Ryu and found them dancing a few feet away from her and Nick. They exchanged subtle nods with her as they continued dancing. She turned back to Nick and enjoyed the music.

A slow song came on making Mia snuggle closely to Nick as she rested her palms on his chest and Nick held onto her waist. She rested her head against his chest as she and Nick swayed to the slow beat of the music.

She looked toward a booth in the back corner of the room. She saw a man looking at her intensely from where he sat in the booth. The booth was too dim to recognize the man’s face.

She turned her head to scan the room for Aundrea or Ryu and found them at the bar ordering drinks. She subtly turned her communicator on and was about to alert them about the man in the booth, but when she turned back to the booth it was now empty. She looked around the club for the mysterious man and just saw him disappear around the corner leading to the restrooms.

“Are you looking for a comfy spot on my chest?” Nick laughed when he noticed her moving around.

Mia smiled up at Nick. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she said, pulling away from him.

“Oh okay, I’ll meet you back at the table.” Nick kissed her sweetly before letting her go and heading back up to the VIP booth.

Mia nodded and watched Nick go up to the VIP section where AJ and the rest of the guys were sitting.

Mia headed to the back of the club and saw the sign that read “Restrooms.” She was about to contact Aundrea through her communicator, but as she rounded the corner a large hand grabbed her arm. Out of reflex, she grabbed the hand and flipped her attacker on his back.

Mia looked down and saw Agent Davenport lying on the floor. He was now styling a shorter hairdo with a darker hue, and he had some dark stubble on his chin. She almost didn’t recognize him.

“Agent Davenport?” she asked, surprised at his new appearance.

He got off the floor and stood in front of her. “Nice dress,” he commented, trying to ease their already tense meeting.

Mia ignored his remark. “What are you doing here?” she asked folding her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes at him. She was relieved that no one was around to witness their encounter.

“It’s a long story, but I followed you here. I didn’t know how else to contact you. I don’t want any of the other APO agents to know I’m here. You’re the only one I could trust right now and the less your team knows about, the better,” he added.

Mia raised her eyebrow. She didn’t know what he was getting at but she didn’t care.

“Where have you been? Why did you steal the weapon out of our vault?” Mia demanded.

“I’m sorry but I had no other choice,” he replied.

“No other choice?” Mia repeated.

“Look, I’m sorry. I had to do it. I figured it would be better if I handled this on my own.”

“Handle what on your own?” Mia asked confused.
“I don’t have a lot of time to explain right now…Agent Rochester is after me and the disc,” Agent Davenport finally said.

“What do you mean ‘after you’?” Mia asked carefully.

Agent Davenport sighed. “Look, I don’t want to get you involved anymore than I can help it. Let’s just say…it’s CIA business.”

“Well, it’s too late for that now. Why can’t you tell me why your own agency is after you? Did you piss off the wrong people? Look, if you’re in some kind of trouble, I can’t help you unless you tell me what’s going on,” Mia said in a serious tone. Normally, she could care less about “CIA business,” but somehow she sensed Agent Davenport was in more trouble than he was letting on.

Suddenly, Aundrea came through the link on Mia’s communicator.

“Mia, where are you? You found something?”

Mia hesitated before she responded, “I’m taking a bathroom break. Be back in a minute.” She waited until Aundrea clicked her communicator on standby then she looked to Agent Davenport.

“I have to get back,” Mia said, handing a small business card and the special pen to Agent Davenport. “This has the address to our safe-house here in New York, and it also has our cell phone numbers.”

“Use the light in this pen to read it. Make sure you’re alone if you plan on going there in person and please don’t call me tonight,” she added.

Agent Davenport took the card and pen and looked at it. The business card looked blank.

He was about to ask Mia about the card but she had already disappeared around the corner leaving him by the restrooms.
APO: SPTH 11 by Ruby Maye
Agent Davenport sat in his car staring at the business card Mia had given him earlier and was trying to decide whether or not to decipher it. Taking a deep breath, he reached over and opened his glove compartment and took out the penlight that Mia gave him to decipher the invisible ink on the card. He clicked the penlight and shined it on the card. Printed in black ink, now visible in the beam of the penlight, an address and a few cell phone numbers were scribbled on the card. He studied it for a bit until he heard a familiar tone of voice in the distance.

He looked up and saw Mia come out of the Music Lounge followed by a tall blond guy with three other guys, who he recognized as the Backstreet Boys. There were five burly security guards surrounding them. Agent Davenport saw the tall blond guy wrap his arm around Mia as they waited for the valet to pick up their SUVs. He whispered something in Mia’s ear that triggered her to laugh. Agent Davenport had never seen Mia act that way before. On their missions together, Mia had always been tough and aggressive in combat and seeing her with the Backstreet Boys and acting “girly” was a strange juxtaposition.

Agent Davenport watched as Mia, the Backstreet Boys and their guards entered in separate black SUVs. He waited until the SUVs drove away before he turned his ignition on and followed them discreetly, unaware that another car had pulled out from a back alley and was now following him.

Mia stood at the door of her suite as she turned to face Nick.

“You look beautiful tonight, Babe,” Nick said, softly, as one side of his face turned up into that famous Carter smirk.

“Thanks, you don’t look too bad yourself,” Mia replied, looking up at him.

Nick leaned forward and captured her lips in his. He moved his body closer as he deepened the kiss slightly. They stood in the hallway making out, oblivious to the bodyguards who stood around in awkward silence. After a few more seconds of making out, Mia and Nick finally pulled apart.

“Goodnight, Nick,” Mia said, slightly breathless from his scorching kiss.

“Goodnight,” he said, and planted a soft kiss on her cheek before slipping through his own suite next door to Mia’s.

As soon as Mia got inside and closed her door, she froze when she came face to face with Agent Davenport, who was standing in her suite.

“What the Hell are you doing here?” she whispered shrilly, worried that Nick or the bodyguards would hear her if she yelled. “How did you get in here anyway?” she demanded, narrowing her eyes at him.

“I came in through the balcony,” he answered. She felt relieved when he was using hush tones.

“Do you realize that if anyone finds you in my suite, they’ll get suspicious and wonder why you’re here?” Mia continued, crossing her arms across her chest defensively.

“Mia…”

“It’s White Tiger,” Mia corrected him, taking off her dangly earrings and setting them on the side table.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, “White Tiger, I know I should have gone to the safe-house or called you first, but I had to see you.”

“So you followed me?” she began, but he cut her off.

“Let me finish. The reason why I left APO without notifying anyone was because I knew my partner was after me. He’s working for Roger Black and was after the disk for himself. I think he was the one who sent those ninjas to attack me and brought me to Regina.”

“Agent Rochester is working for Roger Black?” Mia repeated. That’s definitely news…I wonder if Ken knows. she thought.

Agent Davenport continued, “Somehow, Rochester was able to convince them I was a double agent. He’s desperate to get his hands on that disc, which is why I stole it out of the APO vault and kept it with me. I figured he would go after it using me as some sort of cover. I’m not sure what he’s planning exactly. That’s all I know as of yet.”

Mia stood there letting everything he had told her sink in. She finally took her shoes off and set them next to her suitcase.

“He’s also told them that you guys were working against the CIA and purposefully withdrawing information from them. That’s why I’ve been in hiding; there’s no way I could convince anyone of the truth. That’s why I’ve also cut my hair and changed my look. I’m basically on top of their most wanted list now. Yeah, they bumped Black down to number two,” he added.

“That’s ridiculous! We settled to a mutual agreement to help each other in cracking this case. Why can’t the CIA see that they are not the only ones who protect this country?”

She gave a huge sigh and turned to him.

“Do you have the disk with you now?” Mia asked when suddenly there was a knock on the door. They both froze for a second. Mia sternly warned Agent Davenport to keep quiet.

“Who…Who is it?” Mia asked, trying to sound casual. Agent Davenport remained silent.

“Baby, it’s me,” Nick said on the other side of the door. “Can I come in?”

Mia gave Agent Davenport a look that told him to disappear, and he immediately went out into the little balcony and shut the door, hiding behind the curtains.

“Just a second… I’ll be right there…um…I’m not dressed yet,” she called out.

Mia dashed into the bathroom to take her dress off and threw on her robe as she went to answer the door. She opened the door and greeted Nick nonchalantly.

“Hey,” she said, gesturing him to come in. She hoped he wouldn’t notice how out of breath she was.

“Um…I just wanted to see if we could hang out,” he stammered.

Mia thought he looked incredibly cute as he stood there squirming awkwardly.

“Sure,” she said.

“And I wanted to make sure you’re okay. You know, no crazy stalker fans or guys messing with you,” he added, bashfully.

Mia smiled. She never had anyone look out for her before. She was so used to protecting herself; it was nice to have a little protection from someone other than herself for a change.

“Okay, well let me go change and we’ll talk about what we’re going to do tonight,” Mia said, heading to the bedroom.

“Hurry back,” Nick said grinning.

Mia came back after a few minutes wearing gray sweatpants and a T-shirt that says “I (heart) boy bands” and had South Park characters resembling the Backstreet Boys.

Nick looked up and rolled his eyes at her shirt.

“Nice shirt,” he groaned and then laughed.

Mia laughed with him. “Oh yeah, my sister gave it to make fun of me.”

It was actually true. Aundrea had given her the shirt as a joke when Mia told her that she was going on a date with Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys.

Mia joined Nick on the couch and snuggled up against him.

“So what do you want to do?” he asked, wrapping his arms around Mia.

“We could watch a movie,” she suggested and tried to figure out what she was going to do with Agent Davenport who was currently hiding on the balcony.

“It’s a little muggy in here, mind if I open the window or something?” Nick said getting up from the couch.

He headed to the door leading to the balcony. Mia immediately jumped up from the couch and wrapped her arms around Nick trapping his arms before they reached out and opened the curtains.

Nick turned and looked down at Mia attached to his midsection. “What are you doing?” he asked with a laugh.

“I wanted you to stay with me on the couch. Do you really want to open the balcony? Someone could be out there stocking us…or you,” she said, trying to sound convincing and hoping that Agent Davenport could hear her warning through the glass doors.

Nick laughed. “Mia, don’t be ridiculous!” he said and broke free from Mia’s grasp.

Mia took in a deep breath and prepared for the worst. Nick threw open the curtains. Mia breathed a sigh of relief when she found that the balcony was empty. Nick opened the balcony door and stepped outside and letting the cool air in the room.

“See no one’s out here but us,” Nick said, oblivious to the fact that Agent Davenport had just been standing where he now stood. “Come on. It’s safe, I promise.” He grinned and held out his hand for her.

She took Nick’s hand and stepped out onto the balcony with Nick and looked around for Agent Davenport. She looked up and saw him standing at the edge of an awning above them. Agent Davenport put a finger to his lips as soon as he saw her. Luckily, it was dark out and he looked almost invisible.

“Beautiful night tonight,” Nick commented.

“Yeah,” Mia agreed wrapping her arms around Nick’s waist again and pretended to shiver intensely.

Nick put his arm around her and rubbed his hands on her shoulder and arms.

“You cold?” he asked.

“Yeah, a little.”

“Okay, let’s go back inside then. I don’t want you catching a cold or anything,” Nick said, authoritatively.

As they turned around to go back inside, Mia glanced up to the awning expecting to see Agent Davenport still there but found that it was empty.
APO: SPTH 12 by Ruby Maye
It was the middle of the night and Mia was still up. She looked down at Nick who was sound asleep next to her on her bed. She watched his chest rise and set from his deep breathing and she could hear him slightly snoring. As she sat in bed watching Nick sleep, she realized she was falling for him. She knew they can never have a relationship any deeper than dating but she couldn’t help herself.

Suddenly Mia’s phone vibrated furiously in her lap. She picked it up and flipped it open. It was a text message from Ken telling her to meet him at the safe house.

She slowly got out of bed so that she didn’t stir Nick and went to open her suitcase and retrieved her ninja attire. She quickly changed into White Tiger and snuck out of her suite through the balcony.

She mounted her hidden motorcycle parked in the parking garage and sped off to the safe house. She got there in no time. She made her way up the front steps of the safe house and opened the door with her key.

Ken greeted her as soon as she came through the door. “Oh good. You’re here.”

“I had to make sure Nick was asleep before I could sneak out,” Mia replied, taking off her ninja mask and tucking it into her suit. “What’s up?”

“We found Agent Davenport’s fingerprints all over our vault back at HQ,” Ken reported. “It seems he has the embedded disk. We also just got word from the CIA that he’s a double agent.”

“Why would Agent Davenport go through all the trouble of almost getting killed, just to obtain the disk? What’s his motive?” Mia asked.

“The CIA and Agent Rochester said he’s working for Roger Black and is in cohorts with Regina. His accident was a set up to get into our facilities so he could access our vault.”

Mia shook her head to disagree. “That can’t be true. Agent Davenport told me Agent Rochester is working for Roger Black and that he’s after the disk to make some kind of exchange with Regina. Rochester sent the ninjas that attacked and almost killed Agent Davenport.”

“When did Agent Davenport tell you this?” Ken asked confused.

“I ran into him at the club earlier but then he followed me to my hotel—”

“He’s here in New York? You led him to your hotel? Mia, we’re not sure if he’s the double agent or not.”

“He followed me!” Mia protested. “And I don’t think he’s the double agent. Rochester’s been after him after Agent Davenport found out his dirty little secret. Rochester’s manipulating the CIA into thinking Agent Davenport is the double agent. He also told his superiors in the CIA that we’re keeping information from them.”

“How can you be sureAgent Davenport's not manipulating you? Allowing him to have contact with you may not be a good idea. He knows you hate the CIA so you’re more likely to believe him. Why would he come to you and not any of us anyway? We don’t know the whole story. It’s his side against the CIA’s. Right now…evidence is against Agent Davenport.”

“Who’s to say the CIA and Agent Rochester aren’t manipulating you? Since when did you become their little bitch?” Mia snarled, angry that Ken would believe the CIA over her.

Ken glared at Mia. He was beginning to get annoyed with her defiance lately.

“Mia, you are being irrational! You’re letting your grudge for the CIA get in the way of your thinking! If you can’t handle teaming with the CIA, then I will take you off this case and you will never be able to keep your new boyfriend!” he threatened, as if Nick was nothing more than a pet to Mia.

Mia gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. She knew Ken never loses an argument even if he may be wrong.

“I’ve never trusted Agent Rochester from the moment we were assigned with him. Despite what you think is true, I think Agent Davenport is not a double agent. He only took the disk to protect it from Rochester and Black. I trust Agent Davenport more than I trust Agent Rochester,” she said through clenched teeth.

Ken sighed exasperatedly. “All I’m saying is to be cautious, alright? I do not want to lose my best agent because of wrong judgment,” Ken said, running a hand through his long black hair.

Mia got up from the couch and readjusted her ninja mask so that it concealed her face once again.

“I’m heading back to the hotel. I don’t know how long until Nick wakes up and realizes I’m gone.”

Ken gave a tired and defeated sigh and nodded letting her go.

White Tiger left the safe house without another word to Ken.


She made her way back to the hotel and parked her motorcycle to the hidden space in the parking garage. She went around the back and used the awnings to propel herself up to the balcony of her suite.

She slipped through the door and peered around her suite, seeing if there was anyone in the room. She heard a subtle rustling in the bedroom and immediately sensed a threat. She crouched down in the shadows and surveyed the room looking for an intruder. All she heard was Nick’s soft snoring. She peeked inside the bedroom.

A silhouette stood over Nick’s sleeping form and she quickly pounced on the intruder and pinned him up against the wall with her foot against his throat.

The commotion woke up Nick with a startle and he turned on the bedside lamp.

“What the Hell? Mia?” he shouted sleepily at the intruders. Nick sat up in bed in complete shock staring at a man with dreads being pinned against the wall by a female ninja.

White Tiger immediately recognized the intruder as the elusive Dreadlocks she had a run-in with at the airport a couple of days ago. She tightened her grip on his throat causing Dreadlocks to choke and gag.

“WHO SENT YOU?!” she demanded him. He didn’t reply but only sputtered.

“Don’t make me ask you again,” she growled in her throat. Dreadlocks tried to twist her leg and loosen her grip on his throat.

White Tiger let go of the man’s throat only to kick his face from side to side and then returned her grip. The man now had two cuts across his cheeks from the heel of her boot and was glistening with fresh blood.

“ANSWER ME!” she growled ferociously.

Nick kept staring at the two intruders in his girlfriend’s suite. He looked around and noticed Mia was nowhere to be found. He immediately turned to White Tiger and Dreadlocks.

“Where’s my girlfriend?” Nick demanded them, thinking they had something to do with her disappearance.

“Your girlfriend is safe for the moment,” White Tiger replied altering her voice so that he didn’t recognize her. She kept her grip on Dreadlocks not letting him escape again.

“Who are you?” Nick asked, studying her. He had never seen a real ninja before and he couldn’t believe he was staring at one in front of him. He continued to stare at her trying to make out who the woman was behind the mask.

He had the urge to unmask her and reveal her identity and was about to ask her who she really was when the balcony door burst open and three more ninjas came into the room.

The ninjas immediately grabbed Dreadlocks, letting White Tiger release him from her grip, and held him back from lashing out.

“Your homing signal was activated and we figured you needed back up,” Blue Viper said.

“Are you alright?” Jade Fox asked in concern.

“Thanks. I’m fine,” White Tiger replied, inclining her head at her fellow ninjas.

Nick looked from White Tiger to the other ninjas. “Who are you guys?” he asked, just as he heard the sound of rapid pounding on the door.

“Nick, what’s going on in there? We heard a noise,” the head of security asked.

Nick ran out of the bedroom and quickly opened the door for Marcus and the other bodyguards.

AJ, Howie, and Brian all came out from their own suites to observe all the commotion.

“What happened? Did someone break in or something?” Brian asked, as he, AJ and Howie followed the bodyguards into the suite.

“I’m fine. You won’t believe what’s in my room!” Nick said quickly leading the guys and the bodyguards into the now empty bedroom.

“What the hell? I swear there were ninjas in here just now!” he said baffled, looking around for the missing ninjas.

“What are you talking about?” Marcus asked, annoyed that he was woken up only to find nothing.

“Well I woke up to a commotion and this dude with dreads was pinned against the wall by this ninja chick. She was kicking his ass and demanding to know who he was and who sent him. Then three other ninjas came and I guess they grabbed the guy with the dreads. Now that I think about it, I think he was an assassin or something…” Nick began to trail off, when he realized what just occurred. The “dude with the dreads” was some kind of assassin that the mysterious ninjas were after, but the thing that baffled him most was why the assassin happened to be in Mia’s suite.

They all stared at Nick in confusion and with worried looks on their faces.

“So, an assassin with dreads came into your room to kill you but you were saved by ninjas?” Brian repeated slowly as if trying to understand what Nick had just told them.

“Are you sure you didn’t dream any of this?” Howie asked, staring at Nick as if he’s gone crazy.

“I know it sounds crazy, but I swear that’s just what happened!” Nick insisted.

“Nick, go back to sleep. Y’all have an early wakeup call tomorrow,” Marcus said, slightly irritated, thinking Nick is just pulling their leg.

Just as they all were about to leave the suite, a shuriken whizzed through the window past AJ, barely missing his head.

“What the fuck was that?” AJ said, seeing the star-shaped weapon lodged onto the wall just a few inches from his face.

A piece of paper was rolled up and placed in the center hole.

Nick unrolled the paper. “It’s just a phone number,” he said, confused. “555-510-4773.”
APO: SPTH 13 by Ruby Maye
The APO agents were back at the safe house with their new capture.

“That was too close,” Ryu said taking off his ninja mask. He helped Aundrea and Mia tie Dreadlocks to a chair to restrain him.

“I agree,” Ken said, glancing at Mia.

Mia seemed to ignore everyone’s stares and concentrated on the knots on Dreadlocks’ rope.

“I should go back. I’m sure they are already wondering where I am,” she said, despite Ken shaking his head in disagreement.

“No! It is too risky. You almost blew our cover back there. This cannot happen again.”

Mia sighed exasperatedly. “I had everything under control,” she insisted.

“If we hadn’t come in time you would have revealed your identity and exposed us and this agency,” Ken almost snarled.

“How dare you!” Mia spat. “You know I would never betray this agency like that, despite how I feel about Nick!”

“That is just it, Mia!” Ken matched Mia’s tone. “You are getting too emotionally attached to your assignment, which I let slide for too long apparently. We wouldn’t be in this position if you hadn’t let your feelings impair your judgment.”

Ryu and Aundrea watched their superiors go at it. All the while, Dreadlocks seemed amused at the clash between the two APO agents.

“I’m not letting my feelings impair my judgment in any way!” Mia argued. “You know me better than that!”

“I don’t know anymore, Mia,” Ken said, his tone serious.

Ryu and Aundrea exchanged uneasy looks, half-expecting Ken and Mia to break out into a furious brawl.

“Then you don’t fucking know me,” Mia growled through clenched teeth. With that, she turned on her heel and left the safe house slamming the door behind her.

“Mia—“ Aundrea called out but Mia had already went out the door.

“That went well,” Ryu said sarcastically. He was immediately silenced by a look from Ken.

“They can do this mission without me for all I care!” Mia muttered under her breath as she rode her motorbike back to the hotel.

When she got to the hotel, Mia realized she needed an alibi for her disappearance. After hiding her bike in the parking garage and changing out of her ninja attire, she headed up to her suite.

Mia opened the door to her suite and was immediately held by Nick.

“Oh my God, Mia! I’ve been trying to call you for hours! What the hell happened to you?” Nick said, holding onto Mia as if he never wanted to let her go. He held her so tight she thought she would suffocate. He finally let her go after a minute.

“Nick, I’m fine,” Mia replied and offered him a smile to reassure him.

“Where the hell have you been? You have no idea what I thought had happened to you!” Nick said.

“I’m sorry,” Mia began trying her best to sound apologetic, “I got a surprise visit from my sister who’s staying with her boyfriend here in New York, and I went to see them. I’m really sorry. I totally forgot to call you.” She was almost impressed with herself for coming up with an alibi, but her guilt stung her.

He breathed a sigh of relief. “I thought…you were…” Nick trailed off, as if he was embarrassed to continue.

Mia tilted her head waiting for him to continue. “What?” she urged gently.

“I thought you were kidnapped,” Nick finally said, looking away from her.

“Who would kidnap me?” she asked with a laugh, though she knew what he would say.

Nick shifted uncomfortably. “You won’t believe me.”

“Try me.”

“Ninjas,” he mumbled.

“Ninjas?” Mia repeated. Maybe he hadn’t suspected her to be White Tiger after all.

“Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but these ninjas broke in here, well, they were after this assassin with dreads...I don’t really know why he would be here in the first place...but then…now that I think about it, I’m glad you weren’t here. I can’t even imagine what could have happened…”

Yeah me too. Mia thought. What could have happened if she had been there? How could she have saved Nick from Dreadlocks without blowing her cover? Maybe Ken had been right about almost revealing her identity and exposing APO.

“Seriously?” she said, feigning complete shock. “Sounds like a crazy night for you. Are you alright?” Mia asked, impressed at how well he was taking it all in.

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” he said, cupping her face with his hand.

Mia smiled. It was endearing that Nick had been worried about her.

“I’m glad you’re okay too. It must have been crazy to have some assassin break into the suite. I’ll have to thank your ninja saviors for saving you,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

“Yeah, I know. You should have seen this ninja chick! She had the guy against the wall with her leg, and even though she was short, she still kicked his ass but he was taller than her but it didn’t matter…”

Nick continued describing what had happened. She noticed his face began to glow as he started describing White Tiger. Mia strangely felt a pang of jealousy. It was the fact that Nick seemed to be attracted to White Tiger who, as far as he knew, was another woman.

“…I just wish I could have seen her whole face though. I’m sure she’s really beautiful,” Nick finished. He noticed the look on Mia’s face and suddenly felt guilty. He wasn’t sure why he had become smitten with White Tiger when he already had someone like Mia.

You see her whole face every day, you just don’t know it’s her. Mia wanted badly to say out loud, but instead she bit her lip.
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