Scourge

Epilogue

Every day of training feels like the same day over and over again. If I'm not in the firearms sector, I'm learning how to make strategic plans. And none of this is new to me, but that's also the advantage I have over every other agent who's passed training. My instructors remind me every day that I'm one of the best agents to have ever graced their presence, second of course only to Tessa.

At first, Tessa didn't like the idea of being on the same team as me. She saw me as competition. Hell, she sees everyone as competition. But she quickly warmed up to me. If any of our missions involve guns, she's already dragging me out to do the job with her, even if she can handle it on her own. Having me there was a nice break from being around Jacob, which in her own words, is too "brainy". Sure, he's smart and definitely has the physical strength for field work. But he's not me.

Lorella is a different story. Tessa will always see her as competition because people like her more. Lorella isn't a hard ass to everyone, and she doesn't boss people around. But, that's also the only thing she has going for her. She barely passed her firearms training and has an average score in everything else. And Tessa gives her hell for it.

The only thing that gets me through the day is Mari. I don't know what kind of strings she's pulling from up there, but she's the only thing that motivates me to get out of bed. And I'm sure she serves as some form of motivation for Lorella too. I'd like to think that Mari and Jessie are up there cracking jokes and picking flowers, but one can only dream so much.

And so as we wrap up our last day of training in the states, I say farewell to my instructors and rush to finish packing my belongings. I take Mari's old necklace, gifted to me by Lorella, and put it around my neck. I hide it under my shirt so I can pass inspection and board the jet for our next mission. According to Tessa, this one's a doozy.