Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

Chapter 191: Rogue Agent Queen

Inside a studio apartment in Miami, Florida

Christopher Curtis was lounging on his couch, recalling the scene from the hospital earlier. He looked worn out and exhausted. He had just arrived from an hour's drive from Harbor City, Esmea.

When he received intel that Katherine went out of the country, he immediately sought where she went. Later, along with the report from one of his people were photos of model Alianna Park with Katherine in France. Alianna had posted a few pictures of them on her social networking site and it almost made Chris charter a private jet to follow her there until he received another report of her entering the Hillcrest Hospital. 

Chris hadn't slept a wink for months, heck he hadn't had a good sleep since five years ago and it only got worse recently. His mind was filled with images of Katherine and he was on the verge of a breakdown. Could she have remembered a memory which was why she was in France? 

Katherine's grandmother, Natalie Young's mother, was a French national. And every year they would visit France for a short vacation. Chris, on the other hand, learned French amongst other languages because of Shadow. Many years ago, when he took Katherine to the orphanage, she was very distressed and to gain her trust, he thought that speaking another language that they both know apart from English would make her listen to him.

It wasn't that easy but at that point, Katherine didn't have anyone else. So with Chris's calming and gentle persona, she got persuaded. She looked up to him as her Hero. 

He was hesitant to leave her in the orphanage as he was the only one who knew about her real identity and her being alive; he couldn't possibly bring her to Shadow that was the only thing he thought he could do to keep her alive. Being 20 years old then, he had reservations, which was why he gave her his P.O box address in case she wanted to contact him. That must have been a stupid move for him but that was what he did many years ago.

While Katherine stayed in the orphanage, he kept on receiving letters from her asking him to take her with him because she didn't want to stay there. Letters came every month for three years but he never once sent her a reply though he sent her presents on her birthday. It was only a couple of months after her 15th birthday when he appeared in front of her again another mistake that he shouldn't have done.

Parker caught the scent of his secret activities and he had to make a choice. Parker didn't want any loose ends which was why he asked Chris to cancel aka to kill Katherine Young. But Chris couldn't find it in his heart to do so. He could never kill her because he was already too attached.

So he made an appeal to Parker that instead of taking Katherine out, they should make her an asset instead. In that way, they could keep an eye on her train her. Chris made a strong case that made Parker change his mind. 

Bringing Katherine to Shadow was the worst yet also the best thing that he could do to keep her alive.

Agents in Shadow go through a series of tests before they could even begin to train as an agent. But before these tests could even happen, they had to make sure that the recruits didn't have anything that ties them down outside of Shadow. 

There were two types of recruits. Type A were orphans while Type B were special people that were given second chances to live their life and "serve the country" instead of being prosecuted. 

Chris was an orphan. And he was one of the kids that Parker chose to be trained in Shadow. So just like other orphans in Shadow, he devoted his life to serve the man who raised him. The Type B recruits had to prove themselves to be trustworthy and the only way to do that was to make sure they have no emotional attachment to the outside world. 

Therefore, the Type B recruits had to go under an invasive procedure to erase their memory. This way, they could focus only on being trained and devote their existence to Shadow. 

Katherine was a special case. And Chris was the one who made it possible for her to keep her memories intact but still become an agent. Knowing how the Type B recruits' were during and after the procedure, he couldn't allow her to go through that. He was already attached to the young girl that he tried to keep alive for three years. After convincing Parker that she was far more useful and skillful without the procedure, he managed to keep her away from the horrible method.

Chris wanted to keep her alive those three years because he didn't know where else to put her certainly not six feet under. And while Katherine kept on convincing him to take her with him, he was slowly warming up to the idea. 

So when he finally faced her three years later, he told her that she could go with him as long as she follows certain rules. Young Katherine was happy that he finally came back to get her and leave the orphanage that she hated so much. So when she agreed, she requested that as long as he would help him find her parent's killers, she would do anything he asks.

Chris was certainly in a dilemma. All he wanted was for her to live but while he was so busy doing that, he was also slowly pushing her towards the edge of no return. And there really was no way of coming back. 

The day after Katherine bombed Shadow, he had to save her again. And the only way he knew how, was to erase her memories, thinking that it could drive her away from the cruel life that trapped her.

She was hysterical with so much hatred bubbling inside her. Her thoughts were filled with nothing but going after people whom she thought she had to kill and destroy Shadow the only family that Chris had. Because without it, he was nothing. 

So Chris chose to save both just like he always does. He gave Katherine a new life while relocating Shadow's base. And as much as he could, he wanted her away from Parker's radar.

With his expertise, he had fabricated everything for Katherine's new life while making Parker believe that the rogue agent Queen was no longer alive.