Chapter One:

Stephanie

The Section was quiet and felt dead. Almost everyone was gone. Systems, Weapons and even the White Room were empty and abandoned. Ops was not looking down over his precious "military organization" and Madeline was not roaming the halls. In a sense, it was boring.

Suddenly a light sound echoed throughout the main floor of Section One. Stephanie rounded a sharp corner and stopped short, thinking of all the fun that she was missing.

Most everybody had gone out to a extended vacation to Toronto, Canada where they would be partying, chatting and eating with friends. A select few were assigned to stay behind and she was not happy to be one. Even Madeline and Operations had gone, claiming that it was their "duty to make sure the operatives remained in control and discreet." Stephanie let out a short, sarcastic laugh. She had seen Madeline's suitcase. How she was going to be discreet in THAT ensemble was beyond her.

Sighing loudly, Stephanie crossed the floor to Birkoff's favorite Computer. If she was forced to stay behind, at least she would have a little fun and mess with some files.

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Chapter Two:

Cat

Cat stretched out on the leather couch and balanced the bowl of nacho chips on her stomach. She was planning on a little relaxation and had found the perfect place to do it. Operations office. Knowing that she would be canceled if any evidence was found, Cat refrained from sprinkling the crushed chips over his rug. She was here because she wasn't supposed to be. And so far, Cat was enjoying herself.

For instance, Cat had found out that the "computer" on Ops desk was actually a television and she had turned it around enough to be seen from her point of view.

Stopping on a channel, Cat watched, fascinated with the TV screen. She had not watched in years and thought that the channel, HBO if she recalled correctly, was great so far. They were playing a movie, Mission Impossible.

Cat maintained a calm, reasonable expression on her face until one of the main characters was lowered by the stomach into a room full of "high tech" sensors. At that point she lost it, letting out a laugh that shook her whole body and made her sides ache.

"Oh yes," Cat thought, "It's THAT easy. . . who IS this guy and WHERE do they get their information?!?!" Cat continued her laughing fit until the bowl of chips fell onto the dark gray rug.

"Uh oh. . ." Cat thought, watching the bowl shatter.

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Chapter Three:

Shanola

Shanola looked around in a paranoid manner. To the left she saw no one approaching. To the right, it was the same. Reaching her out her hand, and letting a little guilty chuckle out, Shanola twisted the doorknob.

The door swung open without hesitation and Shanola stepped in greedily. She was here. She was ACTUALLY here.

The office was sparse and somewhat chilly but that was beside the point. This was where HE spent most of his time. Shanola crossed the room in a deliberately slow stride. She wanted this moment to last forever. She sat in his chair and stroked the fabric.

"Michael sits here," Shanola thought with a smile, "Wait till I tell everyone about THIS!" Shanola giggled and swung around in the chair, getting a feel for it. This was terrific.

Then she spotted the desk drawers. Reaching out cautiously, she was prepared to run. Who knew what kind of traps he had on this thing.

She pulled the drawer handle and reached in, grateful that no alarm had sounded. Shanola peered inside, still apprehensive about possible traps, trackers and automatic killing machines.

She pulled out a silk tie, a black silk tie, and held it up to her face.

"Hmm, smells like him too. . ." Shanola thought and, getting down on her knees, began to rummage through Michael's drawers. She was careful though. If he knew, Shanola was positive he wouldn't find it funny.

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Chapter Four:

Adriana

Adriana slipped the CD into her CD player and proceeded to put herself through a vigorous workout. She jumped and kicked to the rhythm the music set, only stopping to catch her breath. Adriana was very bored. She couldn't really believe that she was working out on her own time. She shrugged and began the laser tag simulation.

Firing point blank into the enemies head, Adriana began to feel a little better about being left behind. She had wanted to go to the "convention", as the operatives who were left behind had begun to call it, very badly and would not soon forgive either Madeline or Operations for this one.

Adriana twirled and kneeled, hitting the terrorist in the kneecap and shattering the muscle that lay beneath. She cringed and reminded herself to tell Birkoff to adjust the level of graphics in this game, it was all to real.

Adriana thought of all the fun she could be having. Depressing herself, she ended the simulation and wiped her face with a towel.

"Maybe I'll order some pizza and watch from Systems as the deliver tries to find the address." Adriana thought aloud, making herself feel a little better. At least she still had her fun

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Chapter Five:

Eva

Eva walked down the corridor, looking for someone, anyone, to talk to. She was feeling very secluded and had nothing to do, making her feelings of loneliness seem more tragic. Idly, she wondered why she had been picked to stay behind. Had she done something to offend either Ops or Madeline? Or had they found out she had been part of the group that had actually scheduled a time to assassinate Operations? It had been all in good fun of course. And it had been a dare, what else was she supposed to do?

She passed Walter's Toy Corner and stopped, peering in with a degree of mischief. Could she make any trouble here? After all, he got to go to the "convention" and she didn't. Also, it was much safer than messing with Madeline's bonsai trees. Who knew what would happen to her then.

Minutes later, Eva walked into the Weapons, swinging a can of blue paint. She set it down on the counter and touched her finger to the bottom of her chin. Selecting the perfect arrangement of weapons, the ones that were used only about twice a month, Eva poured the paint into the clip and shoved it back into the gun. Whistling and tapping her foot to the tune, Eva meticulously did this to over twenty guns, taking her anger out effectively. When she was done, Eva picked up the can and made her way out of Weapons, this time with a smile on her face.

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Chapter Six:

Dawn

Dawn made her way into Madeline's office with a slight smile on her lips. As she had watched Madeline walk out of Section with her luggage, Dawn knew it was Madeline's turn. After deciding that, the rest had been easy.

Dawn fingered the equipment with nervous anticipation. Dragging the office chair over to the corner of the room, Dawn rigged the device into the wall. She hoped that, after a week or two, she would have some damaging information, or at least something to have fun with.

Returning the chair to it's proper place, she dusted off her hands and walked out of the off white room.

"Well, that's done." Dawn stated to herself, wondering why Ops had decided to keep her here. Madeline, at least, should have known better.

She walked down the hall, a small spring in her step.

"Hmm, shades are drawn in Michael's office. Wonder why?" Dawn thought and turned to her left. She approached Michael's door and was about to open it when a thought struck her.

Leaving the office and the undetected person inside of it alone, Dawn mentally outlined her next plan, retrieving supplies as she thought about it.

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Chapter Seven:

Andie

"Why is this place so big," Andie grumbled as she sat in Systems, drinking a can of Pepsi and swinging in a chair. She hadn't seen anyone since the others had departed yesterday and was getting "cabin fever". Looking out the windows and into empty rooms, Andie sighed. She could imagine all the fun the others were having.

She supposed she could play around with some files or reports, add the Energizer Bunny to the Directory or something of the sorts. She could also beat Birkoff's score on his video game or hack into Madeline's profiles and add some harmless information, but nothing seemed to attract her.

Swinging her black pant clad legs over the arm of the chair, Andie gazed wistfully into space where she could see a large building with huge glass windows and operatives having fun inside.

"Forget this," Andie exclaimed, setting her Pepsi down on the table with a clatter, "They leave me here and expect me to behave, well that is one thing that is not going to happen!"

Leaving a puddle of Pepsi on the table, Andie headed for MedLab. That was one area in Section that needed some furniture changes.

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Chapter Eight:

Paula

Paula held the remote in her hand with sure confidence. She was sitting on the Briefing table, legs crossed underneath her and head lowered in concentration.

She unscrewed the silver holders and slipped a piece of metallic material into the remote control, closing it with a pronounced click.

Pointing it to her right, Paula pressed the black, rectangular button. A picture of the Russian Embassy came up on the screen and Paula scowled. The problem wasn't that the Russian Embassy WASN'T supposed to come up on the screen. That was just it. It WAS supposed to, according to Birkoff's last intel on surveillance. That was Paula's problem. She was trying to "fix" the briefing screen.

Leaning over the remote again, Paula picked up the scissors. She cut a wire in the controlling device and inserted another metallic substance. With a satisfied smile, Paula rested her elbow on her knee and pressed the button again.

This time, a picture of Operations in bathing trunks and a surfboard came up on the screen. No matter how many times she had seen the picture, Paula still cracked up laughing every time. It was hilarious. And she could almost see his embarrassment at the next Briefing when, to his utter surprise, instead of a terrorist of warhead, a picture of him in the Bahamas came up. Leaning back on the table, Paula tried to catch her breath. She really couldn't wait.

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Chapter Nine:

Lucinda

Lucinda made a stroke with the broad paintbrush and grinned happily. The bright purple streak was a symbol of her frustration of being left behind.

Dipping the brush into the can of paint, Lucinda made another stroke. Pretty soon the whole room would be done and wouldn't she be in trouble by the time the others found out. But Lucinda didn't care. She had been eating canned food and carbonated drinks for just about two days and was going stir crazy. She had already decorated AOL with banners claiming, "Join Section. Be all that you can be," and had been ready for a new challenge.

Lucinda wiped her hands on her worn out jeans and smirked again, headless of the bright purple streaks on her face. She was having so much fun and at little cost. For now.

Preparing for the fine detailed work around the mirror, Lucinda selected a different, smaller brush and dipped it in.

The White Room wasn't so white anymore.

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Chapter Ten:

KarenRose

KarenRose tapped at the keyboard with contentment. She had already programmed the board across the top of Egress to say, "Hello and welcome to Section, the most covert anti-terrorist group on the planet," instead of the usual random numbers. Now she was working on sending a fax to George, presumably from Operations.

The fax would detail his request for retirement from his position in command. And if it was cleared, wouldn't Ops be surprised to come back and find out he worked in the cafeteria. . .

KarenRose smiled evilly at this thought and wondered where everyone else was. It had been a quiet couple of days and KarenRose was ready for some yelling. Whether it be from Madeline's victims or not.

Her attention was taken from these thoughts when a beep from her computer signified that the file had been sent. Now it was time to play with a little bit of Operations fellow buddies. She really was irritated at being left behind.

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Chapter Eleven:

Boo

Boo cracked open the briefcase and smiled. Hypodermic needles, sprays and other tools stared out at her, begging to be replaced. Boo carefully took each object out of it's place and began to replace them with numerous toys. Giga pets, Barbies and dolls that cried entered the suitcase quickly. Boo laughed aloud as she thought of the Torture Twin's faces when they opened their briefcases at the next "interrogation". She would have to get a copy of that particular surveillance tape.

Boo set the briefcases upright in their proper spot and walked away with an evil gleam in her eye. Should she visit. . . Michael's Close Quarter Standby room? Oh yes. She should.

Entering the spotless white room, Boo walked immediately to the bedroom and began to go through his drawers. Soon she was holding a pair of boxers with Superman symbols on them. Giggling, Boo set them aside for later use. But she soon realized that she couldn't go any further. She was laughing at the mental picture of Michael in Superman boxers. Clutching the underwear in her hand, Boo ran into the hallway and to the main floor of Section.

She retrieved a piece of rope and strung it across the metal pole that held a corner up. Raising Michael's boxers into the air, Boo admired Section's new flag.

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Chapter Twelve:

Celia

Celia rummaged through the plastic box and pulled out the little circular com links. She was going to have fun with this one.

Taking them to the nearest seat, Celia sat down with com link and knife in hand. She twisted and pulled at numerous wires and thought of all the things she could be doing.

Celia put on the com link and turned on the computer in the small storage area. She went through some technical stuff and soon she had a false mission set up where she should be able to hear the computer, acting as the mission leader, through the link. Instead she heard 106.9fm, the radio workstation. Wouldn't they be surprised next time a mission went out.

Celia laughed and finished her prank before taking care of the mission equipment and exiting the storage area.

She walked down the hall and ended up at the main floor of Section. Glancing up she saw Superman boxers hanging above her head. And if that wasn't bad enough, Celia could tell that they were Michael's. He had written his name on them in black bold marker.

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Chapter Thirteen:

Kate

Kate ran up the stairs to Ops office with eagerness. She knew what she was going to do.

Opening the door, Kate stopped short. There was a mess of nacho chips and broken porcelain on the floor that, obviously, didn't belong there. Kate shrugged and proceeded to Ops desk. Opening the top drawer, she got lucky and found the offending objects right away.

Taking the package into her hand, she opened the case of expensive Cuban cigars and ran out of the room.

Stuffing them in corners and under stairs, Kate felt a whole lot better. She hated it when he smoked those things, it made her sick.

Pleased with her accomplishment, a much calmer Kate walked to the bathroom.

Exiting moments later, armed with two rolls of toilet paper, Kate carefully twisted the white material in her hands creating a sort of rope.

She let loose, throwing the paper into the air and watching it land with satisfaction.

Soon, the main floor of Section looked like a disaster area, decorated with two rolls of white paper and Michael's boxers as the flag.

Sitting back into Birkoff's favorite chair, Kate smiled at her masterpiece.

"They shouldn't complain," Kate thought, "I COULD do a lot worse. . . " Kate thought about that silently for a few moments. Remembering the tape of Barney songs that had shown up mysteriously in Madeline's office a few months ago, Kate set off to find the entertaining music. She would put it to good use. . . . over the intercom. . .

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Chapter Fourteen:

Darceny

Darceny flipped through the catalog and smiled. She liked so many things here, all of which were VERY expensive. Well, that wouldn't be a problem.

Picking up Madeline's cell phone, Darceny called the 900 number to place her orders. When she was asked to give her credit card number, Darceny asked them to hold on.

Turning on Madeline's computer, Darceny found the number for the Section credit card and gave it out willingly. Her total came up to 1,800.00 and Darceny was very pleased.

Pushing back in Madeline's chair, she hung up the phone and turned back to the computer.

"Enter password. . ." Darceny muttered, trying to think of what it could be. She thought about what she knew about Madeline which was, needless to say, not much at all.

Darceny tried "bonsai", "Operations" (this was typed in with a giggle at the thought of Madeline naming her PASSWORD after Ops) but none worked. Finally she went to her last resort and typed, "Sarah".

A beep sounded and, just as Darceny was about to bolt for the door, a message came up that access was given.

Grinning evilly, Darceny headed straight for personal logs. What she found in there made her mouth drop and heart drop from her chest.

Glancing around in paranoia, not for the first time, Darceny had the thought that she was dead. Madeline would kill her. Oh God, she was going to die.

Closing the "private" messages from Operations, Darceny ran out of Madeline's office, still somewhat gagging at the thought of Operations and Madeline. . .

"DON'T go there," Darceny yelled at herself, "You DON'T want to know. . ." Walking quickly to the cafeteria to get a quick drink, Darceny could have sworn she smelled smoke. Shrugging her shoulders, she continued to her destination.

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Chapter Sixteen:

Marie

Marie was bored. She was tired of trying to find something to do.

Rounding the corner to the "White Room", she opened the door. And almost had a heart attack.

"Oh my god!" Then came the laughter.

When she had recovered, Marie had a good idea of what she could do for some fun.

She went to Walter's Toy Shop and picked out the right equipment. Lugging it along, Marie headed for main entrance of section.

The doors were glass and slid open on a sensory command.

"Well," Marie thought, "I can fix that."

She proceeded to take apart the door's controlling panel and switch some wires.

Finally, she leaned back against the wall and looked at her masterpiece. This was wonderful. Now only if she had someone to test it on. . .

As luck would have it, Lucinda came walking along at that particular moment. Before Marie could warn her friend, Lucinda ran face first into the door, flying backwards into the wall.

Marie gasped and knew instantly that she was going to die a horrible, painful death.

Lucinda sat up, shaking her head groggily before focusing her attention on Marie who was on the other side of the barrier. She made a motion with her hand across her neck and saw Marie's eyes widen.

Lucinda jumped up and took the long way around, seeing Marie just in front of her and running for her life.

"I'll get you for that Marie!" Lucinda yelled on her pursuit through Weapons.

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Chapter Seventeen:

Arlis

Arlis looked at her watch. It was VERY late, 11:56pm to be exact. She had stayed up the whole night and had not found anything to do. The others weren't expected back from the Con for three more days so she figured that she had plenty of time.

"Wait," she thought, "the Con. . ." Smirking, she picked up the phone next to her and dialed the number to Cynaera's (sp? LOL, sorry guys!) room. A groggy woman picked the extension up on the other side.

"What?" Cynaera asked, furious. It was WAY to early for phone calls.

Arlis didn't say anything. She hung up the phone and counted to ten. Picking it up again, Arlis dialed Cynaera's room.

"Yes?" She asked this time, a little more civilized. Arlis hung up and counted to fifteen. She smiled and picked the up the receiver. Once again, she dialed the number and waited for Cyn to pick up.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!?!?" Cynaera screamed into the phone. Arlis let out a whopping laugh and hung up the phone.

Counting to ten, she picked up the phone. It would be a long night for Cynaera.

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Chapter Eighteen:

Caddie

Caddie watched the clock turn to midnight. She was worn out and falling asleep in her chair.

"Can't go to bed, can't, can't, can't." Caddie chanted, jumping up from the chair and pacing the room. She headed for the main floor of Section with nothing to do.

When she got there, Caddie stopped, staring at Michael's boxers.

"Wow," She stated. Looking around her, Caddie saw what a mess the place was.

"The least I can do is contribute!" She exclaimed and set off to find spray paint.

Soon the walls were decorated with pictures and arrows that pointed to the faces stating, "Ops" or "Madeline". The picture of Ops was, conveniently, a bull. The whole wall was titled, "If you were an animal, what would you be?" Caddie got a kick out of this and went on to finish Madeline as a Black Widow.

When she was done, Caddie collapsed in a chair and sat back to admire her artwork.

Caddie jumped from her chair, for the second time that night, with an idea. Carrying the red spray paint to the new "White Room", Caddie wrote the words, "Death's Door" on the heavy metal barrier. Thinking of what else she could ruin, Caddie ran to Madeline's door. She was going to have fun with this one. Caddie pulled a pencil out of her pocket and began to outline a picture of a witch on the door.

Oh yes. She was going to have fun with this one.

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Chapter Nineteen:

Caro

Caro walked down the halls of Section, admiring her the work of her fellow operatives. Now what could she do to make herself known?

Caro thought of all the mean things that had been done to her in the past. She could play.

Caro smiled and went to Kyle's, a fellow operative, room. She collected what she needed and ran to Michael's room.

Flinging open the closet, Caro wrinkled her nose at all the black inside. She happily began to replace it with bright yellow shirts and orange cargo pants.

Humming a little song, Caro did the same to his socks, boxers, of which a pair she kept, and shoes.

She could see it now. Michael walking into Section with bright purple shoes and red pants. . . and she would laugh. Very hard.

When she was done, Caro took the black garments and put them in Kyle's closet for safe keeping.

She continued down the hall, skipping happily. That reminded her. She had seen the Wizard of Oz last night and could not get Dorothy out of her head. It was beginning to annoy her.

Caro ran down the hall and skidded to a stop in front of storage.

Armed with a brush and bright yellow paint, Caro began to create the "Yellow Brick Road" ending it at Oz's, aka Operations, office. Caro smiled. How the operatives loved paint.

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Chapter Twenty:

Trudy

Trudy carefully made her way into one of the darkest places in Section. Housekeeping Quarters. She was very cautious because these guys were MEAN. But she would fix them.

Trudy looked over the outfits and equipment of the Cleaners and smirked. Taking her bag and opening it, Trudy pulled out scissors, a needle and thread.

She sat cross legged on the floor hemming each Cleaner's pants and cutting a few buttons off of their shirts.

When she was done, it looked as though midgets would be the only ones to fit in the outfits. Cackling evilly, Trudy left and followed the yellow brick road to storage where she dropped off the thread and needle. She kept the scissors with her. Just incase.

Trudy walked towards the main floor, admiring the witch that Caddie was painting on Madeline's door.

She reached her destination and stared at the billowing boxers. Oh that was it. She HAD to have them.

Trudy ran over to the pole that the Superman underwear were hanging on and tried to shake them down.

It didn't work.

Trudy would not give up though. She started to shimmy up the pole, hand outstretched. The pole leaned and shook but did not fall. Trudy got closer to her objective.

Snatching the boxers off of the rope, Trudy raised them in her hand with triumph.

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Chapter Twenty One:

Adriana 2

Adriana snuck out of Walter's station armed with a paint gun. She turned left and right, as if she were in a war. With narrowed eyes, she proceeded to the main floor.

Adriana's eyes widened in shock when she saw Trudy and the boxers but she soon forgot about it and proceeded to her own objective.

Raising the gun and aiming carefully, Adriana fired. Again and again.

Glass shattered everywhere. Operations' office was no longer bordered with glass.

Adriana fired once more, right into the computer. It exploded with a fierce boom and Adriana jumped.

"Ooops," she stated, already running the other way.

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Chapter Twenty Two:

Sally

Sally picked up the scissors and made snipping motion with them. Did she dare?

Oh she dared.

Sally approached Madeline's bonsai trees with an evil grin. She laughed menacingly and began to cut.

Soon there was nothing left of Madeline's precious trees or her jungle flowers. Sally smiled happily, full of contentment. She was beginning to wish they would go away more often.

Sally walked out of the office and smiled again. This was great. And they weren't do back for three days. What else could she get done?

Sally headed for Walter's Workshop. She arrived and attacked his collection of bandannas. Soon the purple, red and white garments were a sickly brown color.

"Serves them right," Sally thought, "They should have all known better."

The End

**Definitely dedicated to all of the "operatives" who had to depend on their wonderful, lucky friends and their capacities to remember precise detail in order to attend the Con . . . **

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