<a class="link link--external" href="https://findcelebritywiki.com/images/profile/1582723265Laura%20Howard.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">Astrid Kowalski</a><br/>Enroute from Safehouse to Headquarters<br/><br/><br/><br/>Saying goodbye without actually saying goodbye to her family had been one of the hardest things Astrid had ever had to do but it was necessary. She would soon be dead, at least officially. She tried getting through the Sunday family dinner without imagining the tears on her mothers face and the anguish she, her step dad and half-sister would go through when they were informed that her car had been blown up with her in it. Afterwards she had gone back home packed a few items of personal and emotional value to her and said goodbye to herself in the mirror. Six hours later at five am she was officially dead and waiting for her new life to begin in a safehouse.<br/><br/>Waiting had never been one of her more prominent skills, not even in the relative luxury of a well equipped safehouse. She had spent most of the four days waiting playing videogames and working out.<br/><br/>It seemed the headquarters, which would also be her new home, was outside the city limits in the middle of nowhere. It looked like an abandoned processing plant and she was sure it was not marked on any maps. This was after all the single most clandestine agency in the country and she wasn't sure even the president or any of his security advisers was in the know of it's existence. It was quite possible that if you looked deep enough it might not even be connected to the government, officially or not.<br/><br/>As she stepped out of the car and into the building furthest to the East, by her calculations, she was met by an elderly woman who simply referred her to the office of the Assistant Director. The team was gathering for their first briefing. She could leave her bags with the woman and she would make sure they got to her room.<br/>"Careful you don't lose them," Astrid said with a crooked smile.<br/>"I'd really hate having to find a new bondage Barbie," she added and decided to take the stairs rather than the elevator. It would be good to get the blood pumping since she had not had time to do her morning work out before being picked up.<br/><br/>As she walked through the doors to the conference room she wore tight brown leather jeans, a black long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to about half her arm and a knee length black coat. She gave the Assistant Director a nod and then nodded at the others that were gathered before finding a seat some distance away from the others.