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For the past five months, Gavin's life had been an absolute whirlwind.
First, he'd nearly been arrested because he'd made a stupid mistake when hacking into some of the British Secret Services' more classified files. The only reason that he wasn't languishing in an English jail cell was because a shadowy government organisation from the United States offered him a way out. They'd wipe his slate clean, as long as he agreed to use his talents to their benefit. Gavin was of a firm mindset that he was not the sort of person that would do well in prison, and had gladly accepted.
He'd been given a first-class plane ticket to America, plus a set of directions of exactly what he needed to do when he arrived in the country. Although 'been given' was a less accurate term than 'had woken up one morning to find that an unmarked envelope had been left on the pillow next to him, and that the windows and doors were all still locked like he'd left them the night before'. He'd left England with little more than a backpack containing his most precious belongings, his information packet telling him that everything would be provided for him when he got to the States.
After following the seemingly endless list of instructions he'd been given to make sure that he hadn't been followed, Gavin met with the people who would, in essence, be his bosses for the foreseeable future.
First, there was Burnie, the founder of the organisation that Gavin would only ever know as the Agency. Next, there was Matt, who had taken up the position of CEO after Burnie had stepped down. Then there was Geoff, the man in charge of the division of the Agency that Gavin would be working in, and ultimately the person the Brit would most often answer to.
From there, he was thrust into a gruelling training programme designed to get his field skills on par with his technical capabilities. He went from strict exercise regimes, to a mandatory course in interrogation resistance (neither of which were particularly enjoyable aspects of his training), to simulations of increasingly high-stress scenarios to ensure he could work capably under pressure. He didn't have much contact with the more senior field agents, but did meet a number of Agency employees closer to his age. He struck up an immediate friendship with two off-field agents, Michael and Ray (meaning that he'd introduced himself, then refused to leave until they'd given in and accepted that they'd just acquired a new friend).
It was from them that he first heard the rumour of who he was going to be partnered up with. Seeing as he was new the Agency, he'd never heard of Ryan Haywood before. Ray and Michael were quick to regale Gavin of the senior agents' more sensational missions, and Gavin's wasn't entirely convinced they weren't at least making some of it up. They then cheerfully informed him of Ryan's sky-high turnover rate for partners. Every agent that had worked with Ryan lasted less than three missions before the Agency had to assign someone new - but this was only ever because all the agents that had worked with him almost immediately requested a reassignment. Ryan had been responsible for a few hospitalisations, but no casualties as of yet. Michael was quick to point out that there was a first time for everything, which Ray chastised Michael for saying, even though it was probably true.
All in all, Gavin was incredibly nervous when the partnership was confirmed by Geoff, and his moustachioed boss then arranged for them to meet. Gavin hung back a little, standing slightly behind Geoff as they were joined by a moderately tall and broad-shouldered man who couldn't be anyone other than Ryan. He carried himself with confidence, and he very clearly would rather be doing something else. Probably something appropriately masculine and badass, Gavin thought, reflecting negatively on his own comparatively scrawny physique. Ryan let out an impatient huff asking Geoff if they could just get things over with already, and Gavin unconsciously shrank back even further.
He thought it was entirely unfair that Ryan was able to make an eye-roll look intimidating.
Geoff grabbed Gavin by the shoulders and dragged him forward.
"Ryan, this is your new partner, Gavin. You're going to become best friends and go on lots of missions together and I can finally stop tearing my hair out over trying to find someone that'll agree to work with you."
Ryan gave Gavin a long, hard look, then immediately rounded on Geoff.
"No."
"Ryan, you're an incredibly valuable agent, but that doesn't count for shit if I can't send you out on missions because you don't have a partner."
"There is no way you're saddling me up with some rookie." Ryan said dangerously.
Geoff remained unruffled by Ryan's menacing tone. "Yeah, there is. You need someone to keep you from doing all the crazy shit you do."
Ryan let out an incredulous bark of laughter. "So you picked him? How close to the bottom of the barrel have you been scraping? He wouldn't be able to keep me from doing anything - look at him, I could pick him up with one hand!"
"I'll do my best to help you out on your missions, sir," Gavin offered meekly, but Ryan just pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation.
"Okay, if we're even contemplating you partnering up with me, that's gotta stop right now. There's a fine line between respect and sycophancy, and for me calling someone 'sir' crosses it."
"Oh. Sorry, Ryan."
"That's better." He looked at their mutual boss. "Seriously, though, Geoff. What the fuck. What am I supposed to do with him? He looks like he should still be in school."
"I'm twenty-three!" Gavin squawked indignantly. Ryan gestured at him like the Brit was just proving his point.
"Ryan, trust me, he's good at what he does. You ever heard of Vav?"
The senior agent's expression went from exasperated to interested. He looked at Gavin curiously. "That was you?" He paused. "That'd make you about eighteen when you started, then?"
Gavin nodded, starting to feel a little more confident.
"Hmm." Ryan considered the younger man for a few more seconds, just long enough to make Gavin start to squirm a little under his gaze, then sighed and abruptly stuck his hand out. Startled, Gavin shook it. "Well, this idea might not be completely terrible. We'll see if you live up to the name you've made."
"I will," Gavin said firmly, determined to prove himself.
Geoff happily clapped them both on the shoulders. "See, what'd I tell you? Best friends. Take some time to get to know each other, your first mission together is in two weeks." Slapping them both on the back once more, Geoff sauntered off to allow them to get acquainted in peace.
"I know you don't really like to work with other people," Gavin began after a moment of silence.
Ryan raised an eyebrow. "That's a bit of an understatement. You do know I have the highest partner turn-over rate in the Agency, right?"
He nodded. "Yeah. But I also know you have the highest mission success rate, too."
The older agent frowned. "That's supposed to be classified. I mean, so's the partner thing, but that was always going to be impossible to hide. How did you know that?"
"I-" Gavin rubbed the back of his head, cheeks flushing. "I maybe kind of hacked into your personnel file once I knew we'd be working together?"
"...You hacked into classified Agency files, and didn't get caught?"
Gavin shook his head, face bright crimson.
Ryan laughed suddenly, a light and exuberant sound. A surprised smile sprang across Gavin's features.
"Gavin, I like your style. Honestly, I think that that sort of attitude is what's been missing from all the other agents Geoff's tried to pair me up with. And I have to admit, the fact that you managed to get into those without being detected is pretty damn impressive." Ryan grinned. "If you can manage to keep yourself from getting killed, or, you know, being blown away by a strong wind, I think this partnership might actually be the first of mine to last longer than a month."