Author’s Note:     Hello, my children!  This idea just popped in my head last night so I decided to try writing it down.  Yes, I’m back to Albanon crap, AGAIN.  Sorry, I’m obsessed, I know.  The plot of this is pretty stupid, I don’t blame you if you don’t like it … but oh well.  Anyway, enjoy!

                Disclaimer:  Just to tell you, this story is MINE.  Yup, mine.  So if you try to steal it, I will hunt you down.  And if my story seems to resemble yours, I’m really very sorry. It was merely coincidence, I promise.   

-Belle of the Ball

Chapter 1                “You can’t do this to me, Mills!”

                “I’m sorry, Roberts, but I had to give the Carter assignment to McGee.  This is a big case and I need someone with undercover experience!”

                “Well, how the hell am I supposed to get undercover experience if no one will let me?”  Detective Mills leaned against his chair and sighed.  Charlie Roberts paced back in forth in front of his desk. Her jade green eyes were furious. “This is because I’m a woman, isn’t it?  All the men get the exciting cases while you just hide all the women behind a mountain of paperwork.”

                “It had nothing to do with you being a woman.  I promise the next smaller undercover case we have will be yours.”

                Charlie tightened her flame-colored ponytail.  “That’s what you said last time.  What is it with me?  Do you think I’m not strong or something?  I scored highest out of anybody on the Physical Training and Defense Tactics tests and you know it!”  It was true.  Though she was only 5’3”, she could have easily taken out a seven-foot man.

                The boss’s chocolate brown eyes looked weary.  He said, shaking his head, “Roberts, you probably give me more trouble than all my other Agents combined.”  Though this sounds like it was an insult, Mills was really quite fond of Charlie.  She had ambition like no other Agent he had ever seen and a temper to match. She reminded him somewhat of himself when he had been her age.  “If you want to know the truth, we just wanted someone older and more experienced for this case.  It had nothing to do with your gender or your abilities as an Agent.” 

                Charlie sank into the chair in front of her boss’s desk.  “Fine … although I’m really sick of everyone treating me like I’m too young to do anything right!”

                “Kid, you’re twenty-five, a woman, and you’re surrounded by older, male FBI Agents all day.  Of course you’re going to have a hard time.”  Charlie flinched slightly at the twenty-five.  She always felt guilty whenever Mills mentioned her age.  But everyone already thinks I’m too young, Charlie thought to herself.  Imagine if they all knew the truth!  Charlie’s thoughts were abandoned as Mills started to speak again. “It usually takes any Agent about five years to really learn his—” Charlie raised her eyebrows in dismay, “… or her,” Mills corrected, “way around.  And this is only your second year.”  Charlie nodded unhappily.  “Roberts, why don’t you take the rest of the day off to cool down a bit?”  Having an angry Charlie around the office was never very fun.

                Charlie shook her head, “I’m not done with all my paperwork yet.” 

                Mills came over and patted her on the shoulder.  “It’ll be taken care of.  Just go out and relax, all right?” 

                Charlie groaned and shrugged.  “Fine.  I’d better be getting an assignment soon though.” 

                Mills began to practically push her out the door.  “You will.  Now go.”

                “All right.  Are you sure you can manage without me?” 

                Mills groaned.  “Charlie, get out of my office.”  Charlie sighed and left.   Mills sat back down in his chair and sighed.

                “That girl’s going to give me a heart attack someday,” Mills murmured to himself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

                Charlie left Mills’s office and went to go get her coat.  She sighed.  No one ever seemed to have confidence in her as a leader!  She’d spent two years working for her own assignment in the FBI.  Why hadn’t she gotten one yet?  Not only that, she hardly ever got to do any assignments at all, much less a chance to lead them. She usually got stuck tricking criminals and leading them to wherever her fellow Agents were hiding. She never got to do any real fighting at all.  Just because of her height and that she was a woman!  Charlie had always had a very feminist point of view on things.

                Her best friend, Barnes, tapped her on the shoulder on her way to her office. “So, kid, did you get the Carter assignment?”  Charlie shook her head angrily.  “Oh, I’m sorry. I know how much you wanted it.”

                “Yeah, well, now I’m leaving.” 

                Barnes raised his eyebrows.  “You’re quitting?”

                Charlie laughed wryly.  “I probably should but no.  Mills gave me the rest of the day off.”

                “Really? That was nice of him.”

                “Oh, he was probably just trying to get me out of the office while I’m pissed off.” 

                Barnes grinned and nodded.  “Yeah.  You know, last time your temper went off here, five people quit out of fear of your wrath.” 

                Charlie laughed.  “Well, I guess they wouldn’t have made very good Agents if they couldn’t stand up to the pressure.”

                “Trust me, kid, you’re scarier than any criminal I’ve ever met.”  Charlie laughed again.  Ever since she had met Barnes two years ago, he had always been the one to cheer her up when things didn’t go her way.

                “Well, Barnes, I’m going to go.  Call me if anything important happens.” 

                Barnes nodded.  “Take care of yourself, kid.”

                “You too.  See ya.”

                “Bye.”  Charlie grabbed her coat and left.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

                Charlie hugged her coat closer to her as she walked through the park. She admired the brown, red, and yellow leaves hanging from the trees.  Central Park had always been one of her favorite parts of New York. Especially in this off-season when no tourists were crowding it.  It was the one place that always seemed to help calm her.  And with her terrible temper, Charlie needed calming a lot.

                She was really starting to feel all right when she felt a hand clamp over her mouth.

                “Don’t say anything,” a deep voice said in her ear. 

                Charlie faked cooperation.  When the man’s hold on her began to relax a bit, she grabbed his arm tightly. She quickly twisted his arm in a very uncomfortable fashion behind his back.  The man yelped in pain.

                “I don’t want to hurt you, dammit!” he said angrily.  He got free and pushed Charlie down with great force.

                She quickly got up and pinned him against a tree.  “You actions would lead me to believe otherwise.” 

                The man relaxed a bit and sighed.  Charlie let herself look at him for a moment.  She had beat up many muggers (her petite, seemingly defenseless appearance had always made her subject to mugging), but never one this good looking.  He was a little less than a foot taller than her.  He had light skin, jet-black hair, and large, cerulean blue eyes.  He looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six.  Unfortunately, his beautiful face was furious.

                “If you’d just cooperate—” 

                Charlie pushed him harder against the tree.  “What?  So you can mug me or abduct me or whatever the hell else your sick mind was planning to do with me?  I’m a cop, you know.  (She knew she wasn’t technically a cop, but her status as a Special Agent was only to be let out on a need-to-know basis.)  And I could easily book you for attempted theft and assault.” 

                The man groaned.  “I know that.  Although I wasn’t trying to burgle or abduct you.”

                “What, just trying to break my neck, maybe?”

                “You know, you’re not very trusting of people.”

                “Of creepy guys who attempt to mug me?  No, I’m afraid I’m not.” 

                The man finally was able to push her away.  Surprisingly, he didn’t come at her again.  He simply stretched and walked a few feet away from her.

                “If I were really trying to hurt you, wouldn’t I have tried to get out of you grasp long ago?  Besides, I never did hit you.”

                 Charlie was tempted to go after him again but decided to hear him out.  “You pushed me down though.”

                “Only to keep you from breaking my arm.”  He looked at her with a bit of a smile.  “You’re pretty strong.”

                “Pretty strong?” Charlie said indignantly.  “I scored highest out of anyone on the physical parts of my test at the FBI Academy!” After saying that, Charlie covered her mouth.  How could she just blurt out her FBI status?  Although the man didn’t look at all surprised.

                “Yeah, I know.  You seem pretty proud of that.  But I bet you couldn’t hardly even get past the tests they give us at the Center.” 

                Charlie raised her eyebrows.  “And where would this Center be?”

                “Albanon, of course.” 

                Charlie was really beginning to wonder why this guy wasn’t trying to attack her again.  “Never heard of the place,” she said, distracted.

                “You wouldn’t have, would you?  Albanon is nowhere around here.”

                “Then where is it?” 

                The man looked up at the sky.  “Somewhere out there.  Although it’s a totally different realm, so I doubt you could find it if you tried.”  Oh great.  Not only was this guy a mugger, he was insane as well.

                “Mmm, so you think you’re from a different planet?” 

                “Not planet, realm. They’re two different things.”

                Charlie rolled her eyes.  “I think I’d better take you down to the station.  I know a couple of guys down there who would probably help you out.” 

                The man rolled his eyes right back at her.  “Joan Athen warned me that you’d probably be stubborn.”           

                “And who is she?”

                “Not she, he.  He’s a good friend of mine from home.”  Charlie decided that if maybe she played along with this crazy story for a little while, she could somehow persuade the guy to come to the police station with her.

                “And how would this Joan Athen know who I am?”

                “Oh, everyone in Albanon knows who you are.” 

                Charlie raised an eyebrow.  “Ah, so if everyone from your home knows who I am, would you mind telling me my name?”

                “Charlie Jennifer Roberts.”  At this, Charlie was speechless.  How the hell did this guy know her name?  He must have been following her for longer than she’d thought.

                Charlie came toward him.  “How long have you been following me?” 

                The man looked thoughtful for a moment.  “Well, I saw you for the first time about five minutes ago. I’ll tell you, I couldn’t believe my luck in your decision to come to this park.  You saved me a lot of time, thanks.” 

God, this guy was crazy.  But, weirdly enough, he didn’t seem crazy at all.  He had none of the symptoms she’d been taught to look for in mentally unstable people.  Then again, new varieties of them turned up everyday.

                “So you’re saying that you were looking for me?”  The man nodded.  “Why?” 

                The man sighed.  “That’s what I’ve come to tell you.  Now if you’ll stop threatening me, I’ll explain.” 

                Charlie thought for a moment.  “I really should take you down to the station.  You attempted to beat me up, you’re convinced you’re from another planet—”

                “Realm—”

                “Shut up.  I think I am going to take you down there.  Or at least to a psychologist; you need some help.” 

                The man grinned.  “I suppose you could.  But then you’d have the torment of never knowing whatever it is I want to explain to you.” 

                Charlie sighed unhappily.  He was right.  As crazy as Charlie thought this guy was, she was very curious as to what he had to say. “Fine, I’ll let you explain if you promise not to attack me again.”

                The man nodded, smiling.  “I promise.” 

                Charlie cocked her head.  “What’s your name, anyway?” 

                The man grinned again.  “How stupid of me, I guess I forgot to introduce myself in the midst of your trying to break my arm—”

                “You attacked me first!”

                “Not even, I just—”

                “I could take you to the station without hearing you out, you know.”

                The man smiled ironically.  “Fine.”  He extended his hand, “The name’s Gandoff Winter, nice to meet you.”  Charlie didn’t shake his hand so Gandoff just let it drop back to his side.

                “Gandalf?  Like in ‘Lord of the Rings’?”

                “Sort of, except ‘off’ instead of ‘alf ’.” 

                Charlie pointed at him and grinned.  “Haha!  If you’re really from another planet or realm or whatever, you would have no idea what 'Lord of the Rings' is!” 

                Gandoff shrugged.  “We like to read Earth books in Albanon.  Especially when they’re about you outsiders’ take on magic. It’s really quite amusing at times.” 

                Charlie groaned.  “So you’re saying you have magic in Albanon too?  I bet now you’re going to tell me that you’re a faerie!” 

                Gandoff grinned.  “Well, only half.  On my mother’s side.”

                Charlie shook her head, “Dear God…”

                Gandoff looked annoyed.  “Listen, I know you don’t believe me, but could you at least pretend to?  It would make things a lot easier.”

                Charlie heaved a sigh.  “Fine.  So if you’re from another realm, what are you doing here?”

                Gandoff said proudly, “I have been sent to find Albanon’s princess and inform her of her ancestry.” 

                Charlie smirked.  She wondered how long this guy had spent cooking up this crazy story. “And who would this princess be?”

                Gandoff gave an exaggerated bow and said, “You, of course, your Highness.” 

                Charlie’s eyes widened.  This guy was even more mental than she’d thought!  Her?  A princess?  What a laugh! Charlie personally couldn’t think of anyone with less princess-like qualities then her.

                “So you’re proposing that I’m princess of some planet, or ‘realm’, I’ve never even heard of?”  Gandoff nodded like it was the most logical thing in the world. “You’ve really gone off the deep end, buddy,” Charlie said and began to walk away.

                “But you don’t have any parents.  Or at least that’s what you’ve been lead to believe.” 

                Charlie slowly turned around and came back toward him.  “Who told you that?  I never tell anyone I’m an orphan!” 

                Gandoff gave a small shrug.  “But you think about it a lot.  I feel it from you.” 

                Charlie shook her head angrily.  “What?  Are you able to read minds too?”  Gandoff nodded as though being able to read minds was perfectly typical.  “You know what?  I don’t care if you get help, just leave me alone!” 

She began to walk away, fast.  But, after a few seconds, she felt a hand grab her shoulder and turn her around. 

                Gandoff’s blue eyes were more than slightly annoyed.  “Listen to me!  I promise you that you’ll be interested in what I have to say! Don’t you want to know anything about your parents?”

                “My parents are dead—” Charlie exclaimed, fighting him.

                “That’s only half true.” 

                At this, Charlie began to struggle less.  “What do you mean?”

                “King Phillip, indeed, died seven years ago.  But Queen Viola … she is still alive.  Although, how long she stays alive depends on you.”  Charlie tried once again to get out of Gandoff’s grasp. This time, he let her.

                “What kind of sick person are you?  Telling an orphan this kind of shit.  What I should do is arrest you for not only assault but stalking!”

                “Stalking?”

                “Yes, stalking.  How else could you know all this crap about me?”

                “Because you’re the—" 

                Charlie put her hand up to silence him.  “Just be quiet.  I’m not going to arrest you or anything; I’m just going to walk away. But you’d better make sure that we never see each other again.” Charlie stormed away. 

                This time, Gandoff didn’t follow.  He simply called,” Princess!  You’re not making my job any easier!”

                “Just stay away from me!” Charlie called back angrily.

                Like that was going to happen.

Author’s Note:     Woo!  That took longer than I thought it would!  Anyway, I hope you all like this!  Please review!