Seulgi wasn’t sure what to think. It was almost like seeing a copy of herself. An exact replica. Just a bit taller and decades older and a bit more menacing. The guys standing around her were a good foot taller, but they looked small next to her. Insignificant. Pawns around the queen.

The wind was harsh, and the weather was cold, and it only made Seulgi more aware of the hand stuck inside Irene’s coat pocket. Warm and a little callused. A margin smaller than her’s, yet distinctly dominant in grip. Secure.

“Seulgi. It’s been so long. You’ve grown up to be so beautiful.”

Irene’s hand tightened around her’s. Reassurance for the emotional turmoil. Not as surprising as it would have been just two months earlier.

The woman stepped forward. She had the gait of a lioness. The guys around her moved as one, a pack of black suits taking measured steps forward in sync. Unsettling for the onlooker. Seulgi automatically tensed. She felt Irene do the same.

The woman noticed their discomfort. Put up a pale hand that stopped the men in their tracks as robotically as if she’d pressed a button. Seulgi didn’t relax. Neither did Irene, nor did she expect her to. It was silent except for the whistle of wind and an occasional crunch of boots on ice. No one moved or made a sound.

The woman looked awkward. An odd expression for a person of grace. “Of course, you wouldn’t remember me, but you came here for a reason, right? This was the plan all along, Seulgi. Mother and daughter together in the - .”

“Don’t give me that crap. I came here because I have no where else to go and I was interested in the infamous founder of the Maple Leaf. Not for you.”

“Seulgi.”

The woman stepped forward. Too close. Irene’s hand left her’s in a swift movement and immediately situated herself a shoulder width in front of her. Protective in a significant other sort of way. The woman’s expression shifted. Surprise and vague interest. Looking her up and down, assessing the potential opponent in front of her.

She seemed to decide Irene wasn’t to be messed with. She relented. Took a step back with a pointed look. Irene didn’t move back. She stayed firm in front of her like a barrier. Seulgi could see over her shoulder, but nothing more. Irene looked relaxed, but Seulgi knew she wasn’t. Not really. Agents were trained that way.

Something in the woman’s face shifted. Recognition, a sort of twisted glee.

“I recognize you. Pretty thing. Hard to miss. I had your parents killed, didn’t I? When you were just a girl. Isn’t that right?”

Irene was tense now. High strung as a bow. Seulgi couldn’t see her face. In any other situation she would presume it to be cool. But this was personal. Unpredictable, and therefore dangerous. Seulgi wrapped a hand around her arm. A gentle reminder. She could feel the lean, iron-like muscle beneath the layers of cotton and waterproof material. It softened almost imperceptibly. But at least she reacted to it.

The woman laughed. Glanced at Seulgi. “So, the papers are true then?”

“Yes.” Seulgi stepped forward. Stood as an equal beside Irene. “So, I will join your group only if you take her, too. Otherwise, I don’t see your face again. I’m good with both.”

“Deal. Who am I to get between love, hm?”

Then, the sky exploded.

Lee flicked through the files. All in alphabetical order, all color-coded on the rank of the agent. When he reached Z he flicked them backwards all the way up to S, then P, paused briefly two segments in K, and finally stopped at B. The files were all at the least moderately thick, filled to bursting with paperwork on paperwork, certificates, badges of honor.

The five best agents in SM.

All having some, all lacking some, all making up for one another’s weaknesses. Which was exactly why Lee had created the group in the first place. The best agents, but put together, practical perfection.

They were all young, had pulled themselves up by their own breeches, had excelled in their own respective fields, surpassing those who came before them. Lee couldn’t ask for a better team if he paid an arm and a leg.

The only team he trusted to take down the group that had given them trouble for years.

Sure, he got crap from the higher-ups, but they couldn’t pull his team down because one, he was the director, and two, it was obvious that his team was the best, no matter their age. There was no other who could execute the mission like they would.

Irene had been born into the life of an agent. She’d never been a civilian. Her parents had been one of the best of the agency, and Irene had easily fa