Sixteen

That night, after our last mission and everything we discovered tonight, something wakes me up.

Alert, I stay still for a moment, eyes wide open. Then I react.

I turn my head to the side towards my nightstand and frown. Sitting up, I grab my phone.

The North Agency's alarm has been activated.

Something is going on.

"Shit," I mutter, wondering what I should do now.

Obviously, I don't think twice. I stand up, get dressed, load my arm, and leave my apartment.

Whoever entered the agency will regret it.

*

It's dead silent.

Pitch black. The red alarm still flashes every three seconds, but there's no noise.

Am I too late? Where is everyone? What happened?

Slowly, I head towards Mr. Neil's office, glancing carefully around me. When I reach the office, I peek through the door. Nobody.

I hold my breath while I'm walking farther to make sure not to miss a single thing. I'm at the end of the hall when I see the shadow of a silhouette behind me reflecting on the wall.

Not wasting a second, I whirl around to fight, my trigger ready to be pulled, but a strong hand grips my wrist before I can even do anything. The speed startles me and I look up.

"Don't kill me, it's just me," a familiar voice whispers, and I step back.

"Brandon," I let out as he releases his grip on my wrist.

In the dark, I can barely notice the blue of his eyes fixed on mine.

"What are you doing here?" he asks quietly, looking around.

"The alarm was activated. What's going on? Who entered the agency?"

Brandon takes a deep breath and nods.

"I know. I don't know. And we'll figure that out right now," he responds my three questions, turning his whole body towards me. "Ready?"

I grit my teeth and try my best to convince myself that this is okay. This is okay to reply to him because right now, we're dealing with a situation way more important.

"Are you?" I raise my gun in front of me and start walking away.

Brandon follows me, and we explore the quiet agency. Maybe there's no real danger right now, and that whoever entered is already gone, but we can't be sure of that. Most of the agents are probably locked in their rooms or wherever they are, waiting to know what's going on. But I'm not like that. I can't just hide and wait. I need answers. I need to fight. I need to defend my territory.

A minute passes in silence, our feet moving quietly. I'm about to turn to my left when a hand stops me. I glance up at Brandon, my eyes narrowed to see him properly.

"What?" I whisper.

"Didn't you hear?" He pauses, his eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration, and finally, he looks up. "Come on."

Curious, I follow him. We get closer to the computers area and that's when I hear people. Brandon and I glance at each other before we start running.

Mr. Neil is the first one that I see. He has his back to me, but I can still tell something is wrong.

"What happened?" I ask out loud, putting my gun in my waistband just as he turns around, as well as Andrew to his side.

Garry sighs, both glancing at Brandon and I. "The list is gone."

I blink twice, my fists clenching. "Pardon?"

He takes off his glasses, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"The list has been stolen, Agent Montgomery."

Brandon curses under his breath, and I take a deep breath to calm down.

"Please, tell me we still have the USB key. Tell me we have a copy on the computer," I say with hope in my voice.

Unfortunately, he shakes his head. "Everything was stolen. The person knew where to find all copies."

"For fuck's sake," I mutter under my breath, closing my eyes.

"How did this happen?" Brandon asks, and I can tell he's trying to control the anger in his voice. "Who entered the agency? And how?"

"The cameras were not working for two minutes straight. Nobody saw someone entering or leaving the agency, and the alarm got activated long after whoever entered was gone."

Frowning, I try to understand his words. Slowly, I look up at Garry.

"Are you saying that the one who stole it could still be in the agency? Or that this person was infiltrated in the agency before this happened?"

His eyes meet mine and his expression is serious. "Maybe. Or maybe we're against someone extremely good and dangerous that we have no idea about."

"Or maybe we do," I conclude in a murmur, crossing my arms. "Like I said before, maybe everything is connected. Don't you think it's odd as fuck—" I pause, clearing my throat, "that it's very odd that the moment I discover everything is linked, and that there's something big going on, the list gets stolen?"

Everyone stays quiet. I guess I have my answer.

I let out a sigh. "What will we do, now? How are we supposed to get to the bottom of this without the list?"

"We'll figure out a way," Brandon declares firmly, and I meet his eyes. He has a determined expression, and I almost forgot how he could be so...

So what, Sophia?

Blinking my thoughts away, I turn my head towards Garry again. He nods to what Brandon just said and puts his glasses back on.

"Let's hope Agent Haynes is right. We'll try something."

"We must to," I add in a firm voice. "There's no way I give up like that. I'm not letting whoever stole this go away without a fight."

Mr. Neil glances in my direction with a small smile. "I know that, Sophia. That's why I brought you to the North Agency."

Memories resurface, but I quickly push them away. Now is not the time to think about the past. About the little girl who was afraid, hearing her mother's screams—

The alarm stops, and the sudden light makes me blink a few times. I turn my head towards Brandon to see his gaze already on me. He's analyzing me with intense eyes, and I quickly look away, mumbling a few words for Mr. Neil.

I head to my dorm room, my head filled with confused thoughts. I almost miss it when someone calls my name.

Pausing a few seconds, I wait for the person to appear in front of me. I'm not so sure why I'm surprised to see Brandon, his eyebrows furrowed in... confusion? Worry?

"Sophia," he says, glancing down at me. "You're good?"

Why do you care?

"Hmm," I mumble, crossing my arms. "Why?"

He crosses his arms as well, still staring at me. "I don't know. You seem... off. And I know you're particularly affected by this, for some reasons. We wouldn't want you to do something on your own, or something stupid. Right?"

I grit my teeth and shake my head. Brandon tilts his head, still waiting for me to say something. I hate the way he looks at me. I hate the fact that I can't seem to walk away or to lie to him. I hate how he knows too much already about my own little mission.

I hate the fact that since he's alive, back at the agency with his new girlfriend, everything is different.

"There's just... something going on, Brandon," I finally declare quietly after a while, glancing at him. "And it's important."

"I know," he replies. I can't tell if he's only saying this because that's what I'm expecting, or because he genuinely means it.

Brandon clears his throat, and I only realize that I've been staring at him for the past few seconds. I blink and rub my eyes, confused.

"You should get some sleep now," he concludes, stepping back. "Goodnight, Sophia."

"Yeah. Goodnight." I step on my left, but at the same time, Brandon moves to his right. With my lips pinched in a thin line, I move to my right, but again, he does the same thing to his left.

Annoyed, I glance up at him. I didn't realize we were so close to each other now, and I take a sharp breath, frowning. His eyes darkened, his face is healing, and his brown hair is messy. I'm shocked, because right now, he doesn't wear a mask. I can see his emotions well, and I don't want to.

Because what I see makes me want to run away.

And what he sees probably makes him want to stay.

*

I missed this story. I missed you. 💛

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