Uncaging Bunny/LT Fanfiction

Prologue

Laurent Nicholas Bourgeois, or Lau as he is sometimes called by his closest friends and associates, sat on the rustic terrace high up next to the gently swaying palm leaves fronting his rented Villa somewhere in the Costa Rican countryside.  His long, lean legs and bare feet were propped up on the wooden railing that defined his terrace.

He'd gone semi-native, on purpose, as the loose, colorful shirt he wore, currently unbuttoned to the waist, bared his hard chest, and his khaki board shorts revealed a light sheen of sweat on his long legs brought on by the torrid tropical climate.  A light breeze blowing through the lush tropical trees kept the comfort level bearable.

As he leaned back in the sturdy Wicker chair in which he lounged, his eyes were closed, but he was no less keenly alert to his environment.  He, in fact, was a master at being keenly attuned to his environment, at blending into just about any environment with skilled ease.

But for now, he allowed that keenest to concentrate on the exotic scents and sounds all around him.  Just below the two-level Villa, he could hear the ocean rolling in and then retreating along a beach whose sand was almost blindingly white, having been baked and bleached by the relentless heat of the sun.

The scent of fresh pineapple, mango, and other more exotic tropical fruit wafted up, carried on the cool breeze blowing off the ocean, perfuming the air from the orchard surrounding the back of the Villa.  Laurent couldn't remember the last time he'd been this relaxed.  This had been the longest he'd ever been in his current, self-imposed sojourn. He'd not had a vacation in over four years, and he'd been making up for lost time.

After his last mission, he'd all but demanded an extended time off, which had been reluctantly granted.   Operatives at his level rarely ever took vacations unless instructed to do so.  The mission was everything, after all, and there was always a mission.

If his request hadn't been granted, he'd decided he would consider ending a career, that he otherwise loved, for a more permanent sojourn, or at least for a career that didn't demand constant blood, sweat, and tears as a regular part of the job description.  His last mission had been more taxing than usual as he'd nearly lost his life because of faulty intel.  He'd literally had to fight his way out of a small South American village that had been taken over by a rogue militia much like ISIS when his cover was nearly blown and his mission abruptly aborted.

He sincerely loved his job, but until recent, he'd been working back-to-back missions.  Newer and untried recruits were making his job harder instead of easier.  He preferred working alone but, 'the service is expanding', his Chief had told him. 'This requires expanding our reach', which meant more and more trained but untested Operatives coming into the Service with James Bond fixations hoping to make a name for themselves.  Mavericks that were all boast, and mostly untested brawn made for fewer and fewer people he felt he could trust.  And trust was everything when your life was in someone else's hands.

More than a few times since his now nearly one-month sojourn, Laurent had contemplated "retiring", something he hadn't even considered earlier.  He was still very much in his prime at thirty-four years old, still far too young to even begin contemplating retirement, but it was a comfortable option for him, if he wanted it. There were, after all, other things he could do with his life.

Having been recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) when he was fresh out of college because he'd excelled in his knowledge and skill in Information Technology and Security Systems since his teen years, made him something of a tech prodigy.

He'd had an interest in Information Technology and Security Systems, a hobby he'd picked up early as a young child, expanding in his interests in this regard into his teen years and beyond.  As a result, after his college graduation, having earned an honor's degree in Advanced Information Technology, and before he even knew what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, he was whisked away to a top secret school where he was intensively trained on every type of security system currently known to man, even assisting in the development of new security systems, then in development, currently used by the United States government, classified and otherwise.  He sincerely loved what he did, and he was exceedingly good at it.