Special agents Izzy Palmer and James Augustine had been partners for just under four years. Of course, they met on the job, but quickly connected due to their similar personalities and tastes.
Izzy Palmer was a genius, and that’s underselling her. Her intelligence followed her wherever she went. Not only was she book-smart but she was street-smart too, both of which helped her in this line of work. She usually wore a brown cropped jacket over a fairly low-cut shirt, complemented by appropriate pants and a pair of her signature black boots. Her dark brown hair was always in a bob, and she wore a pair of aviators in most situations. Despite her low-cut shirt however, she wasn’t particularly well-endowed, which is how she liked it. She was small, petite, standing at about 5’4; she was unassuming and blended into her surroundings, allowing for her intellect to be undermined.
James Augustine, son of billionaire Morgan Augustine, was a very well mannered and down to Earth guy. Sure, with his immense wealth due to his father and his expected inheritance, he could easily be living a life of ease. Instead, James proved himself more than capable as an Agent of UIWP and was hired soon after. He loved his job and the people he worked with, and though he knew he wasn’t making as much as he was undoubtedly going to inherit, that didn’t both him. In fact, most of his pay went towards charities and organisations he truly believed in. He often wore the same black jacket with a number of various patches over it, the majority being from his short time within the Army. Aside from that, he wore a plain shirt, plain pants, and a pair of nice boots. His hair was tied up at the back, and he sported a fairly light but inconsistent beard. The last piece of clothing he always wore was a dog-tag given to him by his late mother when she passed from her time in the Military.
— — —
James and Izzy sat in the car, James driving as usual while Izzy looked over a number of files she had brought with her,
“The guy doesn’t have a lot of records, does he?” James commented, noticing the low number of files on such a highly sought after figure,
“It’s almost all speculation,” Izzy replied, “theres only one photo of the guy and it’s from years ago, nothing recent,”
“So how did they manage to get him?” James asked,
“Not sure, Caroline says it was just luck…” Izzy said back, some suspicion in her voice,
“Sounds a little too-good-to-be-true if you ask me,”
“You’re not wrong there…” Izzy said, closing the file she was looking at, “he got found three days ago in Wisconsin,”
“And they brought him here? To D.C.?”
“Yep,” Izzy said, placing the file back into it’s almost empty box, placing it back between her legs in the passenger seat, “I just… don’t get why he can’t just be dealt with over there,”
“You don’t want the case?” James asked,
“No no, of course I want the case, this is the most interesting thing we’ve had in a long time,” she stated, “but it’s weird that they brought him here. To the UIWP…”
— — —
“Agent Palmer, Agent Augustine,” a familiar face greeted as the elevator door opened,
“Good to see you again, Price,” James said, “what’s the details?”
“Well…” Price started, fidgeting with his tie, setting both Izzy and James to be a little suspicious of the circumstances, “no one else wants to even go close to the guy…”
“Why?” Izzy asked without much hesitation,
“I-it’s something… I think it’s better if we just show you,”
Izzy and James looked at each other a little cautiously, but proceeded as the elevator doors opened.
“Good afternoon agents, it’s good to see you again,” greeted yet another familiar face,
“Doctor Smith!” James said, “you flew all the way over from Egypt?”
“I’m afraid I did, and I wish it was under better circumstances,” Smith replied, “please, follow me,” she said, beginning her way through the corridors.
Izzy and James, walking very close to one another, still cautious as to what was going on. It was fairly unusual for a target to be this mysterious, but with almost no information provided to them. They were definitely uneasy.
“Here,” Smith said, opening a door to a room. Inside, following Smith, there was a number of doctors and scientists in their own areas working and testing,
“What are we looking for?” James said.
Both agents scanned the room, they could see three separate beds, one of which was occupied. On the bed was a very obese woman dressed in a medical gown barely staying to her body. Before either agent could ask any questions, a voice spoke from behind,
“That’s…” she said, clearly almost about to cry,
“Agent Newman!?” James said with surprise,
“What’s going on here?” Izzy asked Doctor Smith, but instead Newman replied,
“That… right there,” Newman started, close to tears, “that’s Caroline… Agent West…”
“WHAT!?” Both James and Izzy said. They quickly made their way over to the bed and caught a glimpse of her face, “holy shit,” James said,
“It really is her…” Izzy said,
“Yes,” Newman said, not quite making eye contact with the unconscious Caroline,
“Is this similar to the ‘BLUE’ situation from a few years ago?” Izzy asked,
“It doesn’t appear so,” Doctor Smith replied, “we did check, but theres very few similarities… all of this,” she gestured to the obese Agent West, “it’s all fat.”
Everyone was silent for a moment, this incredible change was very jarring for everyone involved.
“Is it… reversible?” James asked,
“Possibly,” Smith said,
“How?” Izzy asked, “from what I can tell this isn’t just a bloated body, all of this is actual fat. The only was to get rid of this is for West to actually work off all the mass, or you perform some kind of operation to remove it all… and still… I doubt she’d be the same,”
Agent Newman quickly made her way away from the group, an audible weep was heard as she did.
“Well… it’s not exactly the science that could reverse it,” she stated, “in fact… the man who did this might be the only one able to reverse it,”
“The man?” Izzy started, “you mean the target we were brought here to deal with?”
“I’m afraid so,”
“Shit,” James said,
“I’ll do it,” Izzy said, immediately volunteering herself,
“No Izzy, we can’t risk anything like this happening again,”
“You said it’s a man, right?” Izzy said, looking at Doctor Smith,
“Uhm…” she hesitated, “yes…”
“Then any man can be reasoned with,”
“I don’t think this guy will be up for a deal, Izzy,” James warned,
“He might…” Newman said, everyone’s heads shooting towards her, “I mean…” she stuttered, “me and Caroline were in the room with him, together. She was doing the bad-cop routine and may have pissed him off a little…”
“What did she say?”
“S-she said… something about pigs…”
“So he has control. He did it consciously,” Izzy figured out, “so what if I come up with a reasonable deal?”
Everyone looked among themselves, no one particularly against the notion, but James had to make sure Izzy knew what she was doing,
“You know you’re risking your entire… body with this guy?”
“I know the risks, James,” Izzy said, “but I’m confident I can find some ground to work with,”
“I think she should do it,” Newman said, “f-for Caroline,” she said, sniffling her nose as she looked Izzy in the eyes with utmost gratitude.
— — —
“Alright Agent Palmer,” Doctor Smith said, “you’re negotiating Agent West’s condition. If you can’t find any ground to work on, politely excuse yourself,”
“I’ll find ground. I’ll help West in any way I can,”
“Good. The Director is on his way, he’ll be here in about 10 minutes,”
“Good. I’ll be out by the time he arrives,” Izzy says, winking at Smith.
She looked back at James who was hesitantly biting his lip beside Agent Newman. Izzy held her thumb up as a sign of confidence. The door opened and she stepped inside.
As the door looked back up, she took a deep breath as the second door unlocked and opened outwards.
Izzy walked in, looking as confident and calm as she could, and she was greeted by an unfamiliar voice and face,
“Finally… I’ve been bored as hell in here!”