A/N

I may or may not have died internally during the past month or so and I'm terribly sorry that this came out super late. This was a hard chapter for me to write, mainly because I actually suck at starting stories.

To say that Ashlie hated her day job was an understatement. She absolutely loathed it.  There was no action and no danger. The adrenaline rush that she lived for wasn't there, the office cubical closing her off from the rest of the world. It was always sign this, file that, and make sure the coffee pot is working. It was boring! 

She probably had the worst cover up in her group; two of them were actually working in areas they liked and who knows were the rest worked. The office was unmoving, the only sound being the perpetual tapping of a keyboard. Everything was a dull grey or monotone colors, the only bright colors from the people who worked there. The only saving grace for this job was the people that worked there. Specifically, the two idiots she had befriended. 

Nick and Jon were two quirky characters in the uneventful void that was their work place, and they certainly lightened the mood. They seemed to be close before Ashlie had entered the picture, it they were welcoming enough to her.

Nick was only slightly taller than her, maybe only an inch or two, making him on the shorter side. He had a mop of black hair that was never well kept or neat and a short, scraggly beard to match. His eyesight was terrible; without his glasses, he probably couldn't  even see his hands in front of him if it weren't for them. Everything about his appearance screamed normality, but he was always full of surprises.

On the other hand, Jon was nearly, if not over, a foot taller than both of them. It was easy to pick him out of a crowd, not only because of his height, but because of his dark green hair, which was the longest hair Ashlie had ever seen a male. Even though he enjoyed the outdoors, he was unusually pale. Jon was the youngest out of the three of them and certainly had a feeling of childlike joy.

If it weren't for these two, Ashlie probably would've died the first week there. 

Jon's head peeked over the partition between their workspace.

"I'm gonna call it quits, okay? Hopefully there isn't an attack today," he informed her before dipping back into his workspace.

Ashlie knew that if there was an attack, she would be the first to know, that is, depending on who the attacker was. The creaking of the door echoed through the silent room as Jon left the building. She wished that she could leave with him, but her shift ended later. Only one hour until she could get out of that hellhole. 

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Thirty minutes later, the door to the section of the office Ashlie worked in opened, followed by the frantic shuffling of papers. Footsteps echoed as they ran to her workspace, getting increasingly louder.

"Did Jon leave yet?" Nick managed to say, a stack of files in his arms.

"He left half an hour ago. Why, did he leave something behind?" She asked. He was visibly disappointed and sighed.

"No, I just have these papers he needs to file. He's in for a long day tomorrow," just as he finished, a string of different noises echoed through the room. Little chimes, some of them short, some of them long, rang out from everyone's phones. Nick fumbled to put the papers down while taking out his phone from his pocket. 

"There's an attack in the Southern Block. You might have to go home late," Ashlie knew she wouldn't have to. "You know, you should really get this app," Nick suggested. 

"I know," on her screen were two letters - PI - burning through the LCD.

It was time for her to come out.  

A/N

I had the first few paragraphs written out weeks in advanced, but I only finished  it once I had a clear grip on how I wanted this story to work.