The fluorescent lights buzzed, a low humming sound that drove Artemis crazy when she focused on it. That was one of the downsides of having enhanced hearing. Hearing everything wasn’t always all it cracked up to be. Neither was smelling everything, at least not on base. The humans that worked here always smelled horrible, a wretched combination of natural scent and overly perfumed products.<br/><br/>With a sigh, she pushed herself off her bed and got to her feet. The mission in Switzerland had been a complete disaster. General John Pickering had requested her presence in his office at 0900. Correction, retired General Pickering. He was a no nonsense kind of man who brooked no argument. The man still maintained his military haircut, his uniform crisp, every detail of his appearance maintained to the highest degree. Whatever punishment he meted out would be accepted immediately lest the consequences get worse.<br/><br/>The hallways were empty. It was as if the employees of the Company knew she was going to incur the wrath of the General. Her steel-toed boots were quiet on the white linoleum floor. Artemis had been engineered for stealth. She was on the smaller side of average for a human female, her body curvaceous but not overly so. Her strict diet and workout regimen saw to it that she was always in peak shape. After all, it would not do for the stealth half of a team to get stuck in a tight space. Her muscles were toned and she was strong, more than able to hold her own if forced to. That wasn’t her job though. It was her partner’s job to provide the brute strength.<br/><br/>The moment she entered Pickering’s outer office, his secretary offered a polite smile and waved her through into the inner office.  Not having to take a seat and wait meant he was beyond livid and she was about to catch an earful. Her shoulders rolled once before she straightened her back and prepared to take her punishment. She was barely one step through the door when the first order was barked out.<br/><br/>“Sit down.”<br/><br/>Artemis sat, not relaxing into the chair as a human might but keeping her back ramrod straight as she perched on the edge of the chair. Her face was neutral. Except for her eyes, those flashed with anger and annoyance. It was always those blue eyes that got her into trouble. She never could keep them expressionless no matter how hard she tried. It would be pointless to speak, to make any attempt to defend her decisions in Basel, so she kept her mouth closed, her eyes on the wall behind his head.<br/><br/>“Do you even understand how what you did was extremely stupid? Not to mention dangerous? Your objective was to get in, get the information, and get out. At no point were you to take matters into your own hands. The mission failed because of you.” He gave a barely audible sigh, steepling his fingers together on his desk. In some ways, Pickering was akin to the father of the hybrids. He supervised their training. He doled out the praise and the punishment. Artemis remembered working as hard as she could as a child just for a smile from the man. His disappointment was almost like a knife to the gut.<br/><br/>“I can’t have you running rogue, Artemis. You’ve left me with no choice. Effective immediately, you will be partnered with Acheron. You leave in the morning for Stockholm. 0400 hours. You’re dismissed.”<br/><br/>Her face never moved until he said ‘Acheron’. Only a twitch in her eyebrow gave away her displeasure with her new partner. Once Pickering dismissed her, she stood and paused only to say “Yes sir.” Swift steps carried her from the office, back down the hall, and to her room. It was only once she was in private that she let out a short, frustrated scream. She stripped her clothes off, throwing them with far more force than necessary into the hamper. Each move was angry as she yanked on a sports bra and spandex shorts then pulled on socks and laced up her sneakers. This amount of rage and frustration needed to be expended somehow and she intended to hit the gym.<br/><br/>She strapped her iPod to her arm and cued up her running playlist, songs with angry thumping bass. Within a few minutes she was running the indoor track, setting a steady pace that she could maintain for a very long time.<br/><br/>Acheron. The man’s reputation preceded him. He was known to not be kind to his partners, to expect more from them than any other of the hybrid males did. He was an Alpha in every sense of the word, unaccepting of anything other than complete obedience to his leadership. And he ran through his female counterparts faster than any other male on base. That was the consolation at least. He’d grow tired of her and discard her like used trash.<br/><br/>Hours later and dripping with sweat, Artemis returned to her room and peeled off her workout clothes. She turned the water in the shower on and let the bathroom steam up before she stepped in. Despite not showing it, she was upset about her new partner and lingered in the shower.  Finally she forced herself out and dried off. She perched on the edge of the bed and carefully combed the tangles out of her long red hair. Artemis was proud of her hair and took great care with it. Long and thick, it formed a curtain to her waist. Dexterous fingers quickly braided it loosely so it would not tangle while she slept. It was time for bed, the rest necessary for the mission. A tired hybrid was bound to make mistakes.<br/><br/>The alarm woke her in the very early hours of the morning. One eye opened and she glared at the device. Alarm clocks were horrible inventions. With a grumble, she forced herself out of bed and began to dress. The skintight tactical suit required some jumping and wiggling to get it up over the curve of her hips. Once her arms were in the sleeves, she zipped it up and began to slide various weapons into the pockets on the cleverly designed suit. She carried mostly knives on her body but slipped a Glock 26 into the holster on her thigh.<br/><br/>Once suitably attired, she stopped in the cafeteria for a cup of coffee. The caffeine wasn’t at all necessary but some years ago, she had grown accustomed to the routine of it. Carrying the paper cup in both hands to warm them, she made her way through the silent building to the plane hangar.<br/><br/>A small yawn was swallowed as she headed toward the plane. The human pilot was doing his preflight checks as she boarded and took her customary seat on the right hand side. She sipped her coffee and rested her head against the seat back, closing her eyes. Once Acheron showed up, they would take off. He could fill her in on the mission details once they were in the air.