>"I'm sorry if I startled you two." she said, "I'm Agent
>Anne Toussaint and they are Agents Miranda Williams
>and Cody Hunt. We've been reassigned to Unit Tango
>from Echo and Bravo, respectively. I'm the new Special
>Agent in Charge for Tango."
>
>Vynce and Emily looked at each other with puzzlement.
>Emily stepped forward and offered her hand, "I'm Agent
>Emily Hanson. Pleased to meet you."
>
>Vynce followed suit, albeit more cautiously. "I'm Agent
>Vynce Edwards. What happened to Agent Anders, our
>former SAC?"
>
>"She'll still be with Tango, but in a less supervisory role."
>Anne said.
>
>"Because of what happened at the hotel?" Emily queried.
>
>"Exactly." Anne said, as she and the other two agents took
>their desks and started to settle in. "Well, I'm starving...
>anyone up for lunch?"
It was a less than ideal way to take command of a unit, Anne thought. She had been hoping that Edwards and Hanson would have already heard about Anders’ suspension and demotion. But since they hadn’t, and since their first impression of her had been as a bearer of bad news, the least she could do was offer to buy them lunch. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.
"Actually, we were just on our way out when you came in," Emily said.
"Oh," Anne said, feeling suddenly awkward. Her promotion to TL wasn’t something she had asked for, or that she really thought she deserved. Her former unit had been dissolved, this position opened up, and she just happened to hold an adequate rank. It seemed that possession of leadership skills had little to do with it. It was going to take her a little while to get used to the idea. "Well, if y’all would care to join the rest of us, I thought we’d head on down to Hoover’s Hollow. Give everyone a chance to get to know each other. My treat." She silently berated herself for letting her Southern roots slip into casual conversation. Well, at least she hadn’t said ‘strap on the feedbag.’
"I, for one, never turn down a free lunch," Vynce said.
"Count me in, too," Emily added.
*****
[Hoover’s Hollow, 11:20AM]
The lunch time crowd was just beginning to gather, so getting a table was a simple matter. Anne led the group to a large booth in the corner, waving to Ernie as she did so. He appeared at the table as soon as they were seated.
"Agent Toussaint," he greeted, "good to see you again. Didn’t get reassigned to Indigo with the rest of your group?"
"Hi, Ernie. No, I’m taking over Tango for the time being. You know everyone here?"
Ernie scanned the faces and nodded. "Sure do." He looked at Anne and frowned good-naturedly. "How is it that I hadn’t heard about your promotion?"
Anne smiled. "It only happened about fifteen minutes ago. Guess your grapevine hasn’t had a chance to kick in yet."
"Well, I’m going to have to have a little talk with some of my sources. What can I get everyone?"
Orders were placed all around and Ernie hurried off to see to everything. Anne looked around at the group - her group, she had to keep reminding herself, at least until Agent Anders returned. She’d had only a few minutes to scan through their files, so except for a few details that stuck in her mind, she really didn’t know much about any of them.
"Agent Hanson, it appears from what I read in your file that you and I were at Stanford at about the same time," Anne commented. "I don’t believe our paths ever crossed, though."
"Really? Which school were you in?"
"Psychology."
Emily nodded. "I was in law. Opposite ends of the campus. Were you there during the Kara Walker scandal?"
Anne laughed. "I sure was. She was in a couple of my classes."
"Your accent," Agent Hunt commented, "Louisiana, right?"
"You got it, Texas. Straight from the heart of New Orleans. So, how long were the two of you with unit Bravo?"
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