Matron of disguises (Bodysuit Caption)

 

Standing in the walkway of the posh resort, Agent Locke was reflecting on his latest assignment. Once again, he had been called in to go undercover, but what was different this time was that he was in charge of protecting somebody. It did give him a chance to hone his disguise skills in a different way. Despite that, he was a bit nervous given that the French right-wing extremist group Lumière Rouge (who had the charming motto of "Nous saignons en rouge véritable car nous sommes la lumière des cieux", or "We bleed true red for we are the light of the heaven's might") was threatening to make a move on the resort where, as the matron, he was in charge of. No pressure, right? He mentally shook off those thoughts, as the agency trusted him with a mission of this caliber for a very good reason: he made the seemingly-impossible become possible.

This faith was needed, as Patrice Devereaux's daughter Adelaide was entrusted to Locke's watchful, disguised eye. Nobody needed to tell him that letting a fairly senior French politician's daughter be killed, much less kidnapped, at the hands of the right, would be the end of his time at the agency. Thus, he was given much more leeway in order to make sure the Secretary of Defense and his daughter would emerge unscathed. He even had Agent Bennett there as backup (which was a relief; they'd worked together in the past and knew they could count on each other), but being some of the agency's best spies, they wouldn't know who was in what disguise until they rendezvoused. 

Despite the pressure, Locke relished his cover. Was it similar to others he'd been assigned? No, but again, it was his chance to leave a tangible imprint. As Ms. Meredith Sutcliffe, he was in charge of helping young socialites learn how to behave as well as preparing them for the high social circles they would be returning to. Not only did his education from years ago pay off, but it gave him a chance to suss out any potential dangers to the resort-cum-private school. He hadn't expected to enjoy spending time with these rich young adults, but there was something about them that was oddly charming. Even Adelaide Devereaux was nicer than he had expected, which admittedly was probably because he didn't know what to originally expect from the daughter of the Secretary of Defense. His task was made easier because he had all the information about where she would be, and from there he was able to steer her around from the shadows.

This all paid off in the end, as not only did the group fail to make a move, but they didn’t even breach the premises. With Ms. Sutcliffe's influence, the city was alerted about a situation with a deranged stalker for one of the socialites; could they please take steps to ensure her safety? Consequently, the police were called upon, after some diplomatic explanations, to find the man. Another concern that was raised was that the man might be a bit violent, so the police were alerted. This was proven to be correct, as he and his associates were detained after trying to break into a dormitory. In a call to Ms. Sutcliffe, the mayor expressed his condolences for how shocking things might have been for her, as well as assuring her that the police officers quickly moved to secure the premises. However, they were Agency agents, in disguise, that were specially picked to handle the LR members. 

Hanging up after the mayor called, the headmistress was finally able to breathe easily. Her pupils (especially Adelaide) were unscathed, and her institution's sanctity was preserved. There were tense moments where she was, not that she'd have let people known, deathly afraid of the consequences, but everything had gone to plan. And now in the privacy of the office, she reached at the back of her neck to remove the mask, revealing a thoroughly relieved Agent Locke. He set the mask down on the oak desk as he let his superiors know that everything was good to go. It wasn't the easiest mission he'd been on, but at least he could now celebrate another job well done!