Special Agent Zachary Grant stepped out of his truck after pulling into a parking space in the Federal Building Parking Lot in Los Angeles California and craned his neck to look up at the tall expanse of building in front of him. It felt good to be back at work after all this time, but it still felt a little strange to him. Almost as if he were a new recruit again, just out of the academy.

He closed the door to his truck and with the slight chirp from the system, engaged the alarm. It had been six months since he'd even been in this place, six months of recovery and physical therapy from the gun shot wound to his shoulder. Just yesterday he received word that he would be allowed back to work on light, but active duty until he could fully pass his physical with flying colors once again. He'd called the Field Office almost immediately after reading the letter sent to him by his physical therapist and was scheduled to meet with the Assistant Director first thing the following day. He had spent enough time at home and he was ready to go back to work.

Now here he stood in front of the building he had worked in for the past 8 years, his stomach in knots. Zack wasn't sure what it was he was nervous about, but something about being back certainly had him tied up.

He ran a large callused hand over the front of his suit, then checked his reflection in the tinted side window of his truck. Dark blue had been his choice for the day of his return. He pulled it from his closet that morning and torn off the plastic from the dry cleaners. It had been so long since he had to wear anything like this, he felt incredibly uncomfortable. Straightening his tie, he turned away from the window and looked once again at the building before him.

Zack began his walk to the front entrance of the building. This was also very strange to him, he was use to using one of the back entrances when he came to work everyday, skipping all the BS with the guards out front. As he reached the front door, he paused to pull out his FBI credentials before pulling the door open and entering the lobby.

Everything still looked the same, he noticed as he waited in a line of other visitors and agents trying to get to their destination. The walls were still the same marble color they'd always been, the furniture the same plush leather. Even the pictures that hung on the walls of the open lobby were the same.

When Zack reached the security guard, he handed the big burly man his credentials and weapon before stepping through the metal detector. The guard then scanned him closer with a hand held metal detecting device before handing him back his badge and gun. "Nice to see you again, Grant." The officer spoke as if they'd been long time friends.

Not recognizing the man, Zack simply nodded and headed for the elevator. He had almost a half an hour before his meeting with the AD that morning. There were two things he could do, go directly to the AD's office and wait, or he could go to the Organized Crime division and see some of his old co-workers. He decided on the later, wanting to give them a heads-up on his return. He entered the elevator and pushed the button for the tenth floor, hoping that was where the division was still located. They had been revamping that entire wing of the building the last time he was here.

A few other people entered the elevator behind Zack, reaching around him to push the buttons for the floors they needed, before stepping back to wait for the doors to close and the assent to begin. Just before the doors closed completely, a young woman reached her hand through the slight opening, forcing the doors back open and stepped inside.

Zack watched as she stepped in the elevator and turned around to face the closing doors. She was a slight woman, very petite with shoulder length auburn hair and a nice smile. He figured she must be someone's secretary until he noticed the "Special Agent" badge that hung from the lapel of her suit. Either she was extremely young and some sort of wonder kid, or she just looks good for her age, Zack thought to himself.

"Can you hit the 15th floor for me?" The woman asked, bringing Zack back from his musings. He looked down at her and smiled before hitting the button she'd requested.

"That's the AD's floor, you in some kind a trouble?" He asked to pass the time.

"My first day." Her response was short and brief, letting him know she wasn't interested in a lot of small talk, especially with a strange man.

Zack shrugged his shoulders slightly and glanced up, waiting for the bright red numbers above the door to signal his floor. When he finally reached his destination, he disembarked and turned back to face the young woman. "Great suit for your first day," he commented in a teasing tone, before winking at her and continuing down the long corridor, not hearing her final comment before the elevator door closed tightly.

"Asshole."

Special Agent Gabe Jurvis and Special Agent Jeff Sullivan sat at their desks in the Organized Crime until, going over some of the latest reports that had come in about a current case both were deeply involved in. The suspect had been able to elude them on every turn, always getting away at the last minute by leaving the country on an extended holiday. They knew he was dirty, but had nothing but circumstantial evidence to go on. Gabe and Jeff had been going over everything they had with a fine tooth comb, trying to find something they could hold the guy for.

"My head hurts," Gabe said, looking up from the papers and rubbing her temples.

"Stop it, Gabe," Jeff replied, not bothering to look up. "We need to go over everything again, so just don't start with this today."

"We've gone over these damn reports so many times I think I can recite them from memory," she whined. "The new shit that just came in is the same as the old shit. Nothing has changed, we still don't have diddly."

Jeff looked up, prepared to give Gabe a good verbal lashing when something caught his attention just over Gabe's shoulder. A smile spread across his features and he pushed back his chair, getting to his feet. "Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in. How the hell are ya Grant?" Jeff approached Zack, his hand outstretched in a familiar greeting.

Gabe spun around at the mention of Grant's name and she too got to her feet. "Jesus, you look like shit Grant," she teased as she approached him with a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.

Zack accepted both the hand shake from Jeff and hug and kiss from Gabe, his smile reaching his eyes. "I'm doing fine," he said to Jeff. "I see things are about the same as they always were here. The two of you are sitting around on your asses trying to look like you're actually busy. Where's everybody else?"

"Everyone else is out on their own cases, while I on the other hand got shafted into working with Special Agent dick head here on the Lombard case." Gabe replied, pointing at Jeff with an accusing look.

Zack stepped away from them looking around the newly rebuild offices and suites. He let out a low whistle before turning back to them. "You guys got first class digs up here. I bet that makes the Dragon Lady happy."

The Dragon Lady was Zack's nick name for his former SAC, Marsha Getty. Neither one of them saw eye to eye about bureau procedures and therefore didn't get along well. She had caused a lot of problems for Zack after his last case, almost causing his dismissal from the FBI, claiming he was a poor agent with poor instincts that got him and the bureau into nothing but trouble.

"You haven't heard?" Gabe asked looking to Jeff.

"Heard what?" Zack looked between them both, waiting for the information he was obviously lacking. "The only thing I heard from this place while I was gone was the friggin' fruit basket you assholes sent the hospital."

"Dragon Lady's gone, Zack. She had a mental breakdown a few months ago, I think she's still in a ward at County General," Jeff told him with a sly grin. "We didn't send HER a fruit basket. Consider yourself lucky."

"You're shittin' me?"

"Nope," Gabe replied. "No fruit basket for the Dragon Lady. She's got enough fruit if you know what I mean." Gabe pointed to her head and crossed her eyes.

Zack let out a long laugh partially because of Gabe's antics and partially because it was validating to know that what goes around really does come around. "So who's in charge down here now?"

"No one at the moment, they come and go like the wind around here lately." Jeff said moving back to his seat and sitting down. "For the most part we answer directly to the AD."

Zack nodded, understanding the department as well as the next agent.

"So are you back or what?" Gabe questioned perching herself atop a desk.

"Well, I was told yesterday that I can come back on light, active duty, so

I'm here to see the AD, I wanna get back to work." Zack stated. "Believe it or not, I've missed the hell out of this job."

Jeff looked at Zack cautiously before switching his gaze to Gabe. "Uh, Zack... I don't know how to say this exactly."

"What?" Zack questioned. "Just say it for Christ's sake."

"We've heard rumors," Gabe began. "About you're reassignment. The Dragon Lady may not have gotten you fired, but she was able to make sure you wouldn't work in the OCU for a while."

Zack's posture visibly stiffened at Gabe's statement. "I don't know where the hell else they'd put me, I mean OC was all I did while I was here, hell, it's all I've done for the past 8 years. I don't know anything else."

"Look, Zack," Jeff interrupted. "This is all just rumors. Don't go off half cocked when you go see the AD or you WILL end up in the unemployment line. Maybe after the Dragon Lady flew the coop, they've changed their minds about her testimony of your behavior."

Trying consciously to make himself relax, Zack nodded and looked at his watch. "Speaking of the AD, I better get my ass in gear. I'm suppose to be up there in five."

"Let us know what happens will ya?" Gabe asked as she watched Zack heard toward the door.

He gave her a small salute, before he went back into the hallway and to the elevator.

The phone on Abby Fuller's desk buzzed once, she picked it up quickly knowing it was the direct intercom from the AD's office. She nodded her head a few times even though the director could not see her, before she said; " Yes sir, I'll make sure he reads it," and hung up the phone.

Zack watched the receptionist pick up her phone and say something before putting it down once again and getting to her feet. She was not an overly attractive woman, but something about her voice and demeanor made him like her right away. He guessed she was in her mid twenties, the long curly black hair and her attire making her seem just a little out of place in the FBI, but she was professional and smart from what he could tell. She picked up a file from her desk and brought it over to where Zack was seated, waiting to be called in to the office.

"AD Fahey would like you to read over this before he sees you," she said in a small quiet voice.

Zack accepted the file and opened it as soon as she let go. The first thing he noticed was the heading of the initial document in the folder. Just under the official FBI insignia was a title in large bold letters that read; "Notice of Reassignment". He kept reading down the document seeing his name, some specific details about being reassigned to a new division, VCU. "Shit," Zack exhaled as he read. "Violent Crimes? What do I know about violent crimes?" Zack turned the page and went on to the next document. This one was entitled "First Assignment On Active Duty". This page contained the case number and a few specifics of a crime he was going to be investigating. As he read further he found that it also contained the name of his new partner, Wil Langston. "A partner too?" Zack muttered. "This just keeps getting better and better."

The buzzer on Abby's desk rang once again. She picked it up and listened then set it back in the cradle. "He'll see you now Mr. Grant."

Zack closed the folder and got to his feet, walking silently to the door of the office where he paused, inhaled deeply then exhaled before opening the door and stepping inside.

"Special Agent Grant. Nice to see you're back on you feet and feeling better." Assistant Director Michael Fahey, a thin man in his late forties with prematurely gray hair, spoke, but never looked up from his desk where he was busily signing some documents and setting them aside. "Please, have a seat. I'll be right with you."

Zack took one of the two high back, black leather seats directly in front of the AD's desk, and took the opportunity to look around the office. It was huge. There was a small conference table in the middle of the room, a leather couch that matched the chairs along the back wall and a huge picture window to his left that must have had a breath taking view of Downtown LA.

Singing one last form. The AD looked up at Zack, put down his pen and folded his hands in front on him on the desk. "You want to be placed back on active duty." It was more of a statement than a question. "Well what you have there in your hands is you ticket back into the bureau. As long as you accept your new assignment, you can go back downstairs to the Violent Crimes Division and get to work today if you like."

"Can I ask you something Sir?" Zack found himself asking as the AD finished his monologue. The man across from him nodded for him to continue. "I'd like to know why I was reassigned. OC is all I've done for the past eight years, why take me out now?"

AD Fahey leaned back in his chair, appearing to be deep in thought. "I'll be honest with you Grant, the whole mess that went down with Serlano was bad news for the bureau. That entire operation went tit's up. For the time being at least, the bureau thinks it would be best to keep you out of OCU, maybe after all the hullabaloo dies down, you can put in for a transfer back to Organized, but I suggest that you give it some time."

"That shit was over six months ago, the man is dead, the suspect was recovered and stood trial after he was released from the hospital. How much more "over" does it get?" Zack asked incredulously.

"That doesn't erase the fact that you had nothing substantial to go on when you sent Seiko up there, not to mention you didn't have authorization to send her up there. That whole mess led to the deaths of eight people, Grant."

"I've heard all of this before," Zack said, disgusted with the conversation.

"Then you know exactly WHY you were reassigned and I'm telling you, as your superior, to give it some time." Fahey retorted sitting up once again.

Zack sighed in resignation, knowing the AD was right, he would just have to wait it out. "So what's this about a new partner? I hope this isn't some hotshot profiler that's just looking to make a name for himself here at the bureau."

"Ah, yes, your new partner," Fahey replied. Zack thought he saw the slightest hint of a grin playing about the man's eyes. "I was hoping you'd bring that up. Since you've been assigned to 'light' duty, I thought for your first assignment you'd help us break in a new agent."

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Zack sighed at the thought of breaking in a cherry, still wet behind the ears.

"Quite the contrary Grant, I am very serious. I've read over the doctor's statement that was sent, and although your rehabilitation is coming along quite nicely, you've still got limited use of that arm." The frustration that Grant was experiencing made Fahey smile to himself. Despite the man's reputation in the bureau, he liked Zack Grant. "Your new partner's name is..."

"Yeah I read the file, Wil Langston." Zack finished.

Fahey nodded. He picked up the phone on his desk and rang Abby. "Please send in Special Agent Langston."

"Great," Zack said forcing a sarcastic smile. The door opened behind him and he noticed the AD pushing back his chair and getting to his feet. Zack followed suit, not sure why. As he turned around to greet his new partner it became painfully clear to him why the AD had stood. His new partner, Wil, was a woman. Not just any woman, but the woman from the elevator. Zack rolled his eyes when he saw her. "Oh shit."

"And then some." The woman held out her hand to Zack. "I'm Special Agent Wil Langston. Nice to meet you...again."

Zack took her hand squeezing it tight enough for her to make a pained face before once again turning back to the AD and sitting down.

"Please, have a seat, Langston. I'm sure Grant is just dying to know all about you." The AD was trying hard not to smile at Zack's obvious discomfort. He'd read over his file and knew that although Zack had had women on his teams during an operation, he'd never been partnered with one.

Will took her seat, sitting with a perfect posture. She cleared her throat and looked over at Zack. He sat with his elbows on his knees shaking his head from side to side. This wasn't at all what she'd imagined for her first partner. 'Where's Mulder when you need him?' she thought to herself. "Well, where should I start?"

"Save it," Zack said. "I'm not interested."

Wil blinked in surprise before looking to the AD for direction. "Is...is there anything else you needed us for, sir?" She asked trying to regain some of her composure at Grant's blow to her ego.

"That'll be all." Both agents stood and began to head for the door. Just one thing before you go, Fahey said with a smirk. "You two play nice."

Zack stomped out of the AD's office and immediately loosened his tie. He put one hand on his hip as he began to pace back and forth in his anger, letting the other hand run through his medium length brown hair. Wil stood back away from him for a few seconds trying to figure out how to break the ice with this man. She'd always been good with people, but she could feel that this was going to challenge all of her people skills.

"Say," she said, finally approaching the pacing man. "How about if we go have an early lunch and get to know each other a little better?."

Zack stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Wil. "You ARE kidding me, right?"

"Nope, I'll even spring for the meal." Wil said, hoping she was getting somewhere with her friendliness.

"Fuck you," Zack snapped, then he turned on his heel and strode down the hall. He set his tracks for the VC division. If this was going to be his new home, he may as well check out his office.

Wil stood in the hallway for a few seconds watching Zack disappear, stunned by his remark. This couldn't possibly be further from how she was expecting today to be. She had been excited about finally getting out of the academy and starting her career with the VCU. The LA field office had recruited her while she was still at Quantico, reveling in her expertise at reading between the lines in case studies by following up on leads that seemed to be heading nowhere. Wil had been able to solve the Academy's three hardest mock cases in record time, something she had been rightfully proud of. Now here she was, finally an official Special Agent, and she had an asshole for a partner.

Not wanting to let the jerk get the best of her, Wil quickly found her forward momentum and started down the hallway as well, toward her office.

Zack entered the suite that housed the Violent Crimes division and looked around. No one was in sight, but he took a moment to check out his new work environment. A long conference table was directly in the middle of the long corridor which had several doors on either side. These were the offices of the other agents in the unit and the conference table was where they held their meetings or discussed ideas on cases. There was a small water cooler next to the conference table, and the carpet was the ugliest rust color Zack had ever seen in his life.

The Violent crimes unit in LA was not as large as one might expect, consisting of about 25 to 30 agents, but these agents were the top of the bureau. Zack should have felt privileged to be in such a place, but all he felt was resentment and anger.

Walking down the corridor, he looked at each door as he passed, noting each door bore the names of two agents. He stopped at the end of the corridor and pounded one fist on the door to his left. The names on the door read 'SA Zack Grant' and 'SA Wil Langston'. "Fuck me," Zack whispered.

"Something wrong Mr. Grant?" Wil asked as she stepped up to stand beside him.

"Not a fucking thing," he replied opening the door to their office." I just can't seem to get away from you... and it's either Grant or Zack, don't give me that Mister bullshit." Zack surveyed the space he would be sharing with this woman for God knew how long, and let out an exasperated laugh. "Oh this is going to have to change, big time."

"Why would you want to get away from me?" Wil asked. "We are, after all, partners... and why would you want to change the office? I think it's nice just the way it is." She peeked her head in the room and checked it out for the second time that day.

"For one thing," Zack began. "Iām not spending every day looking at you from across my desk. I would rather stare at a blank wall than have to look at you anymore than absolutely necessary. For another thing, I want to get away from you because today, you seem to be the cause of every fuckin' thing that's giving me a headache."

"Oh joy," Wil remarked with sarcasm.

"What?" Zack asked.

"You're going to be a joy to work with."

"Fuck you."

Wil stepped past Zack and made her way to her desk. The two desks in the office were set up directly across from one another, the computer monitors set on each desk top actually touched backs with each other. One thing she would have to agree with Zack on, she didn't want to spend 8 hours a day looking at him anymore than he wanted to do the same with her. Squatting down so she could see under the desks, Wil surveyed the situation and checked the outlets to make sure they would have enough space and electricity to move the desks to opposite sides of the room.

"What the fuck are you doing now?" Zack asked as he watched her begin to unplug her computer.

"I'm moving my desk and computer to that side of the room," she replied, pointing. "You can have that side and could you please lighten up on the language? You have a severe problem with your language skills."

"No," Zack said stepping into the room finally.

"Whatever," Wil sighed. He was beginning to grate on her every nerve. She busied herself unhooking the computer and moving it to the floor so she could move her desk safely without damaging the equipment. Zack followed her lead, wanting to be as far away from this nuisance as he could and still be in the same office. Pushing her desk across the carpeted floor, Wil positioned her seat directly in front of the small window in their office before putting the computer back on her desk and redoing all the wires.

"This isn't fair," Zack commented once they had their desks situated on opposite sides of the room.

"What now?" Wil asked, feeling her patience wearing thin.

"You got the window, I got the wall."

"Thatās exactly what you asked for and I quote, 'I'd rather stare at a blank wall than spend any more time than absolutely necessary looking at you.' You got exactly what you asked for," Wil was extremely proud of herself.

Hearing the woman use his own words against him, Zack felt his anger begin to rise. At that moment he could have happily choked the little bitch and thrown her body out of the window in front of her desk."Fine," he managed through gritted teeth.

Wil shook her head and sat down in her chair. "You really need to work on your people skills."

"Fuck you."

"And your language skills."

"Would you shut the hell up? I have a headache." The thought Zack had had about strangling her seemed to look better by the passing second.

The two sat in complete silence for the next few hours, each going over their own set of paper work. One for entering the FBI, the other for returning to the FBI, each completely lost in their own thoughts. When Zack finished his paper work, he turned around in his swivel chair and looked at Wil's back for a few minutes.

"What the fuck kind of a name is Wil for a woman anyway? Are you really a man?" He asked, breaking the long heavy silence in the room and trying to bait her.

"It's mine and no, I'm not really a man. Are you?" she replied not bothering to look up at him.

Zack got up from his chair and grabbed his jacket that he'd thrown aside onto the filing cabinets that lined one side of the room, making his way to the door of the office as he slipped his arms into it.

"Where are you going?" Wil asked, finally looking up from her piles of paper.

"None of your fucking business."

"Look, we're suppose to be working together, you can at least let me know where you're going and how I can reach you if you're needed." Wil replied getting to her feet.

Zack ignored her and opened the door, surprised to see AD Fahey standing just outside.

"I've got a case for the two of you to start on," he said lowering the hand he was going to use to knock on the door. "It's a murder case that I need the two of you to get working on right away."

"Great," Zack said. "Give it to wonder bitch over there, I'll be back in an hour." He stepped around the AD and continued his way out of the office.

Wil threw up her hands in disgust. "I don't think I can work with that man Sir. I don't think a dead cobra could work with that man."

"Just give it some time, dear, he'll settle in eventually. He's harboring a lot of resentment right now, and he's going to take some of that out on you." Fahey walked to her and handed her the file on the murder case. "In the meantime, you can get to work on this."

She took the file and smiled at the AD. "I'll try sir, but I can't promise that he'll come through this alive."

Fahey chuckled. "That's the spirit. You two will find common ground somewhere, I'm sure of it." He turned back to the door and left with out another word, closing the door behind him.

Wil opened the file and began scanning it's contents as she went back to her seat. Putting the file down, she checked her watch and smiled. It was time to take advantage of Zack's absence. She made her way out of the building the parking garage to find her car. She opened the trunk and removed a box that she had put several personal items in before work that morning, to make her office feel 'homey'. At this point, she didn't even care about the homey feeling of her space, but this would be a sure thing to annoy the hell out of Zack Grant.

Zack returned to the office an hour later to find Wil at her desk with a small hand held CD player perched on her desk playing some song Zack didn't recognize and arranging some plants on top of the filing cabinets. "What the hell is this?" He asked closing the door and throwing his jacket across his chair. "Better Homes and fucking Gardens?"

Wil ignored his sarcasm and walked to her desk, picking up the file she handed it to him. "Read it and let me know if you have anything intelligent to contribute, but until then, please do me a favor and shut the fuck up."

Zack snatched the file from her hands. "Now look at who the one with the potty mouth is."

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," Wil quipped as she walked back to her desk.

"Yeah, well shut off the fuckin' music so I can read this in peace." Zack returned to his desk to begin sifting through the file, not noticing Wil flip him the finger as he went.

"So this is it?" Zack asked a while later as he closed the file. "The girl is missing, that's all we have?"

"The girl is missing, no one's seen or heard from her in two weeks and they suspect the boyfriend," Wil recited from memory as she turned round in her seat to face Zack. "I'd say that's enough to make a case Grant. The rest is up to us to come up with. Itās our job...remember?"

"We don't even have a body with this one," he remarked. "What's there to find when we don't even have a body? Since when does this shit get passed on to violent crimes? Besides the boyfriend says they parted that evening on good terms. This should be a missing personās case." Grant slammed his fist down on the file folder on his desk, as is it were something alive to take his anger out on.

Wil rolled her eyes. "Let's see Grant, the cops question you about your girlfriend who's been missing for a few days, what would you say?"

"Good?" Zack answered.

"You're an asshole. This is someone's daughter we're talking about here, it's our job to find the truth," Wil retorted, completely exasperated with him.

"I swear to God Wil, if you ever say 'the truth is out there', no matter where we are, I'll smack you." Zack said shaking his head at her.

"You really are an asshole," Wil said, leaning back in her chair.

"You've pointed that out numerous times."

"That's because it's true."

"Bitch."

"Asshole."

"I think we're beginning to bond," Zack said, sure that he had the last word in the conversation.

"Fuck off Grant." Wil picked up her carry all and walked to the door. "I've had enough of this extremely intellectual conversation. I'm going to go home and reread the file to see if I can come up with any ideas. You have a pleasant evening." She continued out into the hallway and shut the door to the office behind her not looking back once. This job was going to be much harder than she'd imagined.

Wil opened the door to her third story apartment and slowly stepped inside. The light of the day was just beginning to fade, but she already knew the layout of the apartment well enough not to run into anything in the dim light. She's only been in LA for three weeks and in this apartment for two, but she had been able to memorize everything, even the routes on the express ways she needed to take every day to get back and forth to work or to the store.

Setting her carry all and lap top on the couch, she went into her room to change out of the suit and into some jeans and a tee shirt. Her feet were killing her and she desperately wanted to relax after her god awful first day with the FBI. Wil hadn't expected things to be perfect, but this was way beyond anything her mind could have worked up. Zack Grant was a pain in the ass as a man, and it seemed as if he didn't give a rat's ass about his job, after the way he'd responded to the file he'd read, it was like this whole thing was a waste of his time.

Wil had joined the FBI to better herself and her life. It wasn't anything that was a waste of time to her. This was going to be her new life and if she needed to put up with a jerk like Grant to make it in this field, then so be it.

Coming out if her room, Wil switched on her computer before going to the kitchen to start her supper. While she opened cabinets and the fridge to get out what she would need, she quietly hummed to herself, already feeling better about the day's events. At least I got the last word, she thought as she chopped the head of lettuce she was holding, for a small salad. That thought made her smile with self appreciation. She took the salad with her to the living room once it was finished and sat down at her computer, pulling her legs up in front of her on the desk chair. She balanced her salad on one knee while she used her free hand to type on the keyboard. She logged into the FBI data base, intending to go to the "Open Cases" file when something else on the menu caught her attention. She saw a listing that read "Personnel Dossiers." With her curiosity piqued, she entered that choice instead and waited for the screen to download, taking another bite of the salad. When the screen came into view, Wil typed in Zachary Grant in the search field, the search only took a few seconds to come back with its results. There were two listings with the name of Zachary Grant. One in the Chicago field office and one in the LA field office. She clicked on the later and waited for the file to appear, hoping that maybe reading Grants file would shed some light on his attitude problem.

The first thing to appear on the screen was a picture of Zack, the same one that she noticed was on his FBI badge. Using the scroll wheel on her mouse, Wil quickly moved down the page a ways to get to his personal information. To her disappointment, there was nothing out of the ordinary in the file, just the basic contact information that any of the agent in the bureau were allowed to access. Name Zachary J. Grant, age 36, DOB 4/7/64, Residence... etc... The rest of the information about Grant was confidential, unless you had a pass code, which Wil did not.

Hitting the back button a few times Wil backed out of the personnel records and went to her original destination. After she pulled up the Open cases file, she quickly typed in the case number from memory and waited for it to appear. Getting up and putting her now empty salad bowl in the sink, Wil retrieve a beer from the fridge before going back to the desk. She was settling in to reread the file as many times as necessary when the phone rang.

Zack sat at his desk after Wil left wondering what he was suppose to do. It had been a long time since he'd worked a case and it was going to take some time before he was completely back into his own groove. Staring blankly at the dark computer screen in front of him, Zack finally reached down and turned the machine on, waiting for the screen to boot up. He had to search through the piles of paper work on his desk to find the new screen name and pass word he'd been given earlier that day to access the FBI database. When he finally found the slip of paper, he punched in the name and code and waited for the database to come up. Deciding he didn't want to go home just yet, he thought he'd see what other information was available about the victim in the case he'd been assigned.

As the bureau's database came into view, Zack saw the menu to one side of the screen. He typed in the name of the victim. Ann Marie Callisto. The database brought back a result of over 100 people that shared the same name as the victim, but only one of those had the bright red script following the name that read "missing". Zack clicked on that option and brought up a file with the same information that he'd just read in the file on his desk. Scrolling down through all of the preliminaries, he stopped when he got to personal information.

Reading through this portion, Zack found the woman was an aid to a very prominent congress man in the LA area, it seemed the same congress man was also in the running for Governor in the next election. Zack made a mental note to himself to check out that end of the case. If this had something to do with politics, maybe he could turn this into a fun case after all. Nailing a dirty or corrupt politician was always a good time. Reading through some more of the information on Miss Callisto, Zack got to some of the information that had been taken by the LAPD. The information came from friends of Miss Callisto and was regarding her relationship with the suspect, Mr. Thomas Drake. A friend of the victim was reported as saying, "He was a jealous man and extremely over bearing. He wanted to know where she was going and who she was with at all times. Anne was getting very tired of the whole thing, so she was trying to break it off. She began seeing someone else, even though she didn't tell Thomas about it."

Remembering the case file, the preliminary evidence scan that had been done by the LAPD came back with nothing. There was no proof that Anne Marie had even been in Thomas's house recently. They had also checked his car and came up empty handed.

"This is one fucked up mess," Zack said to the computer screen.

Glancing at his watch, Zack got up from his desk, deciding it was time to go home. He bent down to shut off the computer, but stopped short, sitting back at the computer. He went back to the main page of the FBI database and clicked on the personnel files option. He pulled up Wil's information and scrolled through it to her residence address and phone numbers. Zack pulled out a slip of paper and wrote down her home and cell phone numbers, before stuffing the paper into his pocket and switching off the computer.

Wil had a few good ideas where to go from here with the case, getting up from her desk she switched off her computer and was surprised to see it was 11:30. The case had her worked up, and she wasn't ready to sleep, so she found her way into the bathroom, turning on the water in the oversized tub to take a bubble bath. Getting her scented bath oils and bubbles down from the top shelf of her linen closet, she added some to the water and began to strip off her clothes.

When the tub was just about full, she lit a few candles in the bathroom, turning off the rest of lights and got into the hot water. It made her skin sting for just a split second, but the sting was followed by nothing but soothing warmth and she slid the rest of the way into the water. Wil let her eyes slip closed, trying hard to think of anything but the case. She needed to relax and get away from it for a few hours, before having to deal with it and Grant in the morning.

Grant, she thought as her eyes fluttered open for a second. The one and only honest to God asshole that was placed on this earth and he was her partner. Deciding to make a retaliation against his attack on her today first thing in the morning, Wil smiled to herself. There was no way this guy was going to get to her, she didn't care what his problem was. Now all she had to do was think of something fitting that would completely piss him off.

She was stirred out of her evil planning by a shrill ringing. Sitting up in the tub, Wil looked around the room trying to place the noise, finally realizing it was her cell phone. She grabbed her jeans from their place on the floor and pulled them to her. She always kept her cell phone close even when she was at home, even though she was rarely called on it. If she remembered nothing else from the academy, she would always remember to keep her cell phone with her at all times, it could possibly save her life.

Taking the tiny flip phone out of the front pocket of her jeans, Wil flipped open the receiving end and lay back in the tub. "This had better be important."

"Bitch?" She immediately recognized Grant's voice, if not his little explanative.

"Asshole?" She retorted.

"What the hell are you doing? I've been calling your house for about fifteen minutes." Zack almost hollered into the phone.

"If you must know I am taking a bath and trying to relax after my wonderful first day with the bureau. And I have to you to thank for making it so memorable." Wil realized she really wasn't in the mood for this and was more determined than ever to come up with some small detail that would just annoy the shit of him tomorrow.

"Have you bothered to go over the case at all?" He asked, acting as if he thought she'd spent all of her free time partying or getting completely loaded.

"Actually I just got done a few minutes ago," Wil replied, not letting his sarcasm bother her. "Why is there something you missed that you need me to fill you in on?"

"Not fucking likely, I just think we need to go deeper into this than what's in the reports."

"Gee," Wil quipped. "I think that's what we get paid to do, and I seem to remember saying something similar in the office just before I left this afternoon."

"I was wondering..." Zack paused for a long time, so long that Wil was getting ready to say something to see if he was still there. "... What are your thoughts. How do you think we should go about getting more info on this guy?"

"Is this a test of my ability?" Wil asked not giving Zack a chance to answer. "Look, Grant, I was going to wait until the morning to talk about this, but since you called me, I may as well tell you what I think. We're going to have to put this guy under 24 hour surveillance to get anything on him. I want the works, phone taps, video surveillance, the whole nine."

"And if that doesn't work?" Zack asked, like he thought it may not.

"If that doesn't work then· I was reading this guy's profile. He's quite a player. It seems Thomas had several divas lined up so he could take his pick, like a buffet. If the surveillance doesn't work, I would suggest we send a female agent under cover to see if we can get anything."

Zack closed his eyes, afraid that she was going to say just what she'd said. An image came to his mind, an image of Seiko, the last female agent he'd sent under cover, laying atop the surveillance van, dead after her drop from the 20th floor. "I think we should try the surveillance first," Zack finally said, opening his eyes.

"For once, Grant, and you'd better write this one down cause I doubt it'll happen very often, I totally agree with you. Seeing as how this is our case, the female agent would have to be me going under cover, and I don't know if I'm up for that yet." Wil told him honestly.

"See you in the morning, bitch." Zack hung up the phone, knowing full well he wasn't ready to be responsible for sending her under cover any more than she was ready to go. If it came to that however, he knew both of them would put aside their fears and nightmares and do the job that needed to be done.

Wil was the first to arrive at the office the next morning. She'd come up with that perfect idea she'd been thinking of while in the tub the previous night and wanted to make sure she arrived extra early to put it in action. She figured if she had to work with someone as nasty as Grant, she was damn sure going to try and have some fun with it. Carrying a huge roll under her arm, she unlocked the door to the office she shared with the intolerable bastard and flipped on the light. What she found made her anger rise. She was silently glad she'd decided t do something like this today. It appeared Zack had done a little house cleaning before going home the night before. Setting down the roll under her arm and her carry all, Wil went to the waste basket and carefully retrieved her plants, pulling off the broken leaves and arranging them as best she could before setting them back on the filing cabinets. Looking down at the roll she'd carried in with her, she let out a long sigh, this is not nearly enough after a stunt like that. She went to Zack's computer and turned it on.

Zack showed up in the office at 8:30, finding the door already unlocked and Wil sitting at her desk. He stopped short and let out a growl when he saw what she'd done.

Wil sat at her desk going over some paperwork for the surveillance equipment they would need for the Drake case when she heard Zack come into the office. She bit her lower lip to keep from laughing out loud when she heard him make a noise of complete and utter frustration, not sure is it was the poster she'd hung on the wall of their office or the fact that she'd dug her plants out of the garbage.

Hanging on the wall next to Wil's desk was a huge poster depicting a flying saucer. In the bottom in bold white letters it read, "The truth is out there." It was the same poster that could be found in Special Agent Fox Mulder's office in the TV series "The X Files". Zack stalked through the office and went to his desk, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of seeing his anger. The comment he'd made to her yesterday had obviously stuck with her, he wondered how long it took her to find that fucking poster. As he walked past the file cabinets, he noticed she'd taken the plants out of the waste basket and put them back almost exactly where they'd been the previous day before he threw them out. The plants looked a little worse for the wear at the treatment, broken leaves here and there and the tallest one of the bunch had a severe slant to it now.

Zack decided to hold his tongue for the moment, not even bothering to say good morning to her. He went directly to his desk and switched in the computer, before setting down the file and taking off his jacket, his attention not on the task at hand. Instead he kept glancing at the poster, trying to decide weather to laugh or tear her fucking head off. The decision was made when he glanced back down to the computer screen and instead of seeing the regular log in screen come up, he saw a black screen with bright red letters scrolling across it. The message read, "Trust No One". "That's it," he yelled, throwing his jacket down and going to Wil's desk. "You think this job is some sort of game, you stupid bitch?"

Wil was instantly on her feet, her height not making enough of a difference, but if it was going to come to a confrontation with this asshole, she wanted to be standing, not sitting down in a submissive posture to take his tirade. "Why don't you lighten up Grant, for fuck's sake, it was a joke."

"I don't find it funny." Zack's voice began to raise along with his blood pressure. "You think this is just some cake job that you can breeze through, I'll tell you this, it is my ass on the line as well as yours when we're out there on the street, and if you wanna do some fucking cake job, go to McDonalds with the rest of the teenagers and flip burgers for a living, but stay the fuck away from me."

"You know Grant, you need a fuckin' serious attitude adjustment. You wanna lash out at me for trying to lighten you up a little bit? I hope you can take as good as you give, buddy. I don't think this is a fucking cake job, I take my job seriously, but I will not come into this office every day like it is a fucking morgue because you have no fucking personality. I've earned the right to stand here in this office and wear this badge, I've proven myself to the FBI so much so they came after me to come to this field office. My scores were the highest in my class, I completed every task with precision and accuracy, I can shoot a G30 like there's no tomorrow and I can kick some serious ass in self defense and if you don't watch your fucking step with me, you're going to find out just HOW seriously I can kick ass."

By this time Wil's voice was also at a dull roar and other agents in the VCU had come to see what all the yelling was about. A few stood by the door laughing at the poster that hung on the wall. Turning around to see them gawking at the two of them, Zack turned back to face Wil once again before going to the wall and ripping down the poster and then going to the filing cabinets, once again throwing the plants into the garbage. "Fuck you!" He yelled when he was done.

"Not a chance," Wil replied before sitting back at her desk, leaving Grant seething and speechless behind her.