Gerry was confused. He wasn't normally the sort of man to be confused, so this was a strange experience for him. Being the sort of person capable of both meticulous planning and off-the-cuff improvisation, he was usually ready for anything. That did not appear to be the case in this instance, however. Even after a lifetime of training, and four tours in the middle east, Gerald Thompson had no idea what was going on. The confusion was getting to him, and he began going through various nervous ticks as he waited. No one had told him anything, and he hadn't been able to find out anything. All he was told, was "new assignment". The operative eventually broke down, and found himself an over-stuffed leather chair. He pulled the nice glass coffee table over and drew his weapon. He was still carrying the M9 he had been issued for his deployments to the middle east. He had been considering the switch to a Sig Sauer, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. For now, the Beretta served him just fine.

Given the amount of time he had waited, the man figured he had some more time, and he began detail stripping his sidearm. It was the only way to keep himself sane for the moment. The confusion running through his head was about five minutes from triggering a flashback to the last time he was confused. He pushed that thought away, though, no need to bring it closer. Gerry focused on laying out all the pieces in the proper order. Every one of them was spotless and all the moving parts were lightly oiled. It was a beautiful machine, and he'd never had it function any way but flawlessly, thanks to a meticulous maintenance routine.

Just as he set out the last piece, someone finally showed up. "What the fuck?" whoever was taking him to the next waiting area obviously wasn't a field type. Gerry looked up and smiled. 

"Machines are beautiful, aren't they?" he asked, beginning the process of putting it back together. It took no time at all, and the operator was ready to go, no sign that he had ever been there. 

"Sorry about the wait. The only person actually qualified to take you where you're going was in a briefing." explained the agent leading the way.

"I'm not surprised." was Gerry's reply. "Did my clearance go through?" he then asked, figuring it was probably related to that.

"Couldn't tell you." the agent responded. Gerald sighed. They finished the trip in silence, with the agent leaving Gerry outside an office. The glass was all frosted and he couldn't see in, but that was normal. What wasn't normal, was the number of security doors they had to get through to make it here. He hadn't counted the number of steel entry doors, either. That was interesting. But most interesting of all, had to be the elevator ride. It hadn't been very fun, after a silent and rather lethal bout of flatulence on his part, but most notably, it had been a lot longer than he thought it should have been. Then, the office door opened, and Gerry glanced past to realize what he had suspected. They hadn't gone up. They had gone down. The sensation had definitely felt weird, considering the button the agent leading the way had pressed. And now he was starting to understand. Whatever this assignment was, it was going to be important.

"Agent Thompson? Nice to meet you. I'm the Operations Director down here." Gerry shook the man's hand and smiled, noting that he hadn't actually given a name. And he didn't see a nameplate on his desk either. This was a secretive place. "Come on in, I've got some things to go over."

"If it's more paperwork I'm going to throw something." Gerry threatened. "I didn't ask for this assignment, I don't see why I should need all these goddamn forms." he took a seat without being invited, and stared the man across from him in the eyes, daring him to pull out a form, or even something to read.

"It's not paperwork. It's facts." promised the director. "Your new clearance is good." he handed over an envelope. "You'll want to report to the quartermaster soon, they've got some things for you." the man behind the desk added. "And now, on to your assignment. Someone has evaluated your performance in the field very recently, and we're re-tasking you to force protection. This time, however, we feel you'll do better in our specialist division..." the director trailed off, and Gerald took a moment to open the envelope and swap out his new security tag. "You know what, why don't I just take you to meet your new partner, your file says you like to jump right in."

"I haven't jumped in too long. Lead the way." Gerry responded calmly, his right hand hooking into his belt as they got up. The operations director turned around and opened a door in the back of his office. It lead to a rather comfortable looking room, obviously designed for more social functions. There were massive bookcases lining the walls, and several couches arranged in a kind of circle. The kind of place old people might gather with some friends to drink and tell stories all night.

"Welcome to the rabbit hole, Gerry." the man said, and he pulled a book from one of the shelves that lined the wall. The whole wall rotated backward on the opposite corner, revealing another door. The operator raised an eyebrow and followed the director's lead. They walked through that door into a rather fancy hallway.

"This is fucked. Is this what taxpayers are paying for?" Gerry asked, more confused now, and wondering why the hell this even existed. They stopped at the door at the end of the hall, while the man in charge paused to knock. 

"Get ready to meet your new partner." he said, having ignored the operator's question. Gerry was half-tempted to draw his sidearm just in case. He was a spook, and this place had "get the fuck out" written all over it...