Five

My phone rings for the third time.

I groan, grab my pillow and throw it somewhere in the room.

Shut up.

That's when I realize.

Not a lot of people would call me... at eight in the morning.

I open my eyes quickly, more awake. Rolling onto my stomach, I grab my phone and sit up in my bed.

"Hello?" I say and hear the sigh of Garry.

"Thank Lord, I thought something happened to you," he says as a greeting.

"I can take care of myself pretty well, Mr. Neil," I reply, getting up from my bed to grab some clothes. "So what's going on?"

"You need to come at the agency," Garry pauses, some noises can be heard in the distant. "We're all waiting for you."

I stop in my track, suddenly remembering.

Shit. Last night wasn't just a dream.

He is alive. He's at the agency.

And he has a girlfriend who's also an agent.

I close my eyes, cursing under my breath.

"Okay, I'll be there in a few."

He hangs up and I punch the closest thing, which happens to be my closet.

The pain helps.

"Never been so eager to go to work," I mutter under my breath, putting on a black shirt.

I can't help but wonder why they're all waiting for me. What's going to happen now that everything has changed? A couple of agents probably noticed that Brandon was, in fact, alive and back.

I brush my teeth and put on my black boots, ignoring how my right knuckles start to hurt and quickly tie my hair into a messy bun.

When I'm ready to go, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. All in black. Well, it reflects my every day's mood.

I head to the N.A.

*

When I enter the North Agency, it's like everyone suddenly stops what they are doing to stare at me.

I don't question myself about it and walk forward, taking off my sunglasses. Some agents that walk by stop to greet me and I nod at them before I turn to my right.

I head to the computers area and find Mr. Neil. Not only him but Andrew, Brandon, and Nova.

Taking a deep breath, I slow down and take a look at the couple. They have new clothes that belong to the agency. Nova wears a tight camisole and a pair of jeans while Brandon... has a black t-shirt on that looks like a second skin on him and some ripped jeans.

I force myself to look away from them. They're all looking at some screen and I turn towards Garry.

"Sorry, I'm late," I say as a way to let him know I'm here.

He turns to face me and from the corner of my eyes, I feel three heads looking up at me.

Mr. Neil nods, taking off his glasses.

"You know you could just rest in the agency, right?" he frowns and I sigh.

"I know—"

"Coffee?" a voice exclaims to my right and I look in disbelief at Nova, who's wearing a bright smile.

I look down at the cup of coffee in her hand.

Did she put something in there?

"She prefers tea," Brandon says suddenly, surprising all of us.

My eyes widen and I glance at him, troubled. He's looking down at the screen, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, completely unaware of the sudden stares on him. After a while, he looks up and seems to notice. His eyes meet mine for a moment and I force myself not to look away.

"What?" he mutters before he raises an eyebrow at me. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

I narrow my eyes, watching him take a sip of his own coffee.

Clearing my throat, I finally turn towards Nova. She lost her smile.

"I'll take the coffee anyways," I say, forcing a smile.

I probably look constipated.

She hands it to me, walking back to stand next to Brandon. I catch his gaze and blink a hundred times when I notice something.

He's smirking.

"It's black coffee," he states slowly, his smirk remaining on his face.

"So?" I raise a challenging eyebrow.

He leans against the table behind him, crossing his arms.

You hate black coffee.

When I realize, his smirk only turns into a smile, but it quickly disappears like he suddenly wanna hide it.

That smile makes me feel things I shouldn't feel.

I don't feel anything.

As I take a sip of the horror in my hand, I wonder how he remembered things like that.

He shouldn't remember.

Yeah, but he shouldn't be here either. But guess what? He's here! Too bad for you.

I almost spit out the coffee, but I force myself to swallow and fight back a shiver of disgust.

"Now that Agent Montgomery is here," Mr. Neil says and I turn to face him, "I can finally tell you more about the mission you'll all have tonight."

I frown. "Excuse me sir, but what do you mean..."

"Since Brandon is back with Agent Miller as well, and you are partners with Agent Drake, I decided that from now on, the four of you will be partners for missions."

My mouth drops open. "What?"

Garry puts his glasses back on, raising his eyebrows at me.

"Am I not clear enough for you, Miss Montgomery?"

I shut my mouth and raise my chin up. I finally shake my head, clenching my fists.

"No, it's all clear," I reply emotionless.

He nods.

"This is a spy mission," he continues, handing me a file. I take a look at the few pictures and the very little pieces of information as he keeps speaking. "We need information about those men the three of you already saw earlier. We don't exactly know who they are and what they want, but something tells me they are no good news. All we know is that they all have a criminal background, left the town a few years ago and now they're back for reasons we ignore."

"Tell me who they really are, who they are working for or if they're doing their own things. Tonight, they're supposed to be having some sort of reunion. The thing is, the place will be highly secured."

Garry stops and turns towards the screen the others were looking at earlier and I follow, finally seeing what's on it. It looks like a plan of tunnels.

"Their reunion should start at seven. Two of you will need to go through the air ducts so you can reach the room without being noticed. You'll wait in there and try your best to listen to what is being told."

"I'll go," I declare at the same time that someone else says, "I can go."

Brandon looks at me and our eyes lock. I quickly turn towards Mr. Neil, shaking my head.

"You know what, I think I'll—"

"Both of you can go while Nova and Andrew will take care of any troubles outside and watch the cameras," Mr. Neil cuts me off, watching the both of us.

"I am Brandon's partner, sir," Nova interjects, crossing her arms. "I think I can go with him."

"Brandon and Sophia will be fine, Miss Miller," Garry says before his eyes meet mine. "They used to be good partners, after all."

Oh no, he didn't.

A few moments pass and I feel the sudden tension in the room.

"Really? I didn't know," Nova finally says slowly, her eyes throwing daggers in my direction before she glances at Brandon.

He only shrugs, indifference on his face. I try not to look affected.

Andrew has a bored expression as well.

"All right, be ready at five. Agent Montgomery, you have some kids to train today. Brandon, come with me."

He dismisses us with a nod and I quickly turn around to leave.

I'll be doing a mission with Brandon.

I wonder how it'll go.

Bad, as always. Did you already forget about last time?

I clench my fists.

*

I'm getting ready when someone else enters the big room.

I glance over my shoulder and tense when I see Nova in black heels boots, black pants, and a black off-shoulder shirt. I look away and focus back on my weapons on the table that I'll need for tonight.

Of course, ignoring her isn't enough.

"You know," she starts slowly, already making me cringe. I can't understand how one second she acts sweet and the other she glares daggers in my direction. "Brandon never mentioned an old partner."

I scoff lowly. "Of course he didn't."

"What?"

I glance at her and fake a big smile. "Nothing. What a surprise, though."

She narrows her eyes slightly before her whole behavior suddenly changes. Again, a bright smile appears on her lips.

"Well, I'm glad to be here with him. It'll be nice to work with you and Andrew as well. Mr. Neil told me how good you are."

I raise my gun, load it, smile, then turn to face her.

"Yeah," I say simply.

If she thinks I'll do an effort to talk to her nicely, or even be her friend?

I bite my lip so I don't burst out laughing.

Since she talks to me, I might as well try to learn some information I wanted to know.

Clearing my throat, I face her. "So Brandon didn't tell you about me. But what did he tell you anyway?"

She hums under her breath, letting her fingers graze the weapons laying on the table.

"About his old life?"

I clench my jaw. "Yeah, exactly. His old life."

"Well, not much..." She pauses a second, shrugging. "I mean—oh! No, wait, there's something. He talked about an old... girlfriend."

I freeze on spot, every muscle clenched in my body. I wait for her to continue but she doesn't like the subject is not worth talking about. She finally meets my eyes and I blink, forcing a small smile.

"Really?" I say, my voice shaking a little bit and I cover it by coughing. "And what happened to her?"

Nova looks blankly at me, not affected as much as I am.

"She died. That's all he told me."

She died.

I died.

I don't know what I feel at the moment. Anger? Probably. That's better than feeling anything else that I shouldn't feel.

I probably look different because Nova gives me a weird look and scoffs after a few moments, shaking her head.

"What? People die all the time, Sophia. No need to seem so shocked."

I don't exactly know what bothers me the most. What she just said, or the fact she called me by my name.

Who the hell told you that you could call me Sophia?

I take a deep breath and I clench my fists.

Calm down. You'll need a reason to hurt her and I'm not sure Mr. Neil will appreciate it. Or Brandon.

Who cares about what Brandon thinks?

I'm dead for him, after all.

Just like he was for you.

My inner debate is interrupted when Andrew and Mr. Neil enters the room, followed by Brandon. I automatically look away when his eyes meet mine and face Nova.

"You're right," I say, putting my black jacket on. "People die all the time."

*

We finally arrive at our destination. I look at my watch. 6:32 P.M.

Andrew and Nova will stay in the van, watching the cameras and will communicate with us if something is wrong.

I'm about to open the door to step out of the van when Nova grabs Brandon's arm, leaning to kiss him.

I turn my head away, gritting my teeth. I can just tell that Brandon turned his head, too, allowing her to kiss his cheek.

Nova smiles. "Good luck."

He smiles back and again, I look away and finally open the door.

Once we're both standing outside on the sidewalk, he turns to face me. We haven't spoken since this morning, and that wasn't really a conversation. In fact, we didn't have a real conversation since he's back.

This is better this way.

Brandon runs a hand through his dark hair and his blue eyes meet mine. I know he's about to say something, so I start to walk away.

He follows, walking beside me.

"Ready?" he asks, and I'm suddenly aware of his proximity, his scent, and finally, I remember why this felt so familiar.

Ready?

"Are you?" I reply naturally, without thinking.

Feeling his gaze on me, I walk faster and turn the corner. The building appears in front of us and I kneel down, Brandon behind me.

"There are two guards at the entrance," Andrew says in our earpiece.

"We're not blind," Brandon mutters under his breath and I glance at him.

Indeed, the two guards were right in front of us. Brandon glances back at me.

"Should we take care of them?" he whispers, pointing at them.

"Quietly, please." I raise my eyebrows.

He smirks, nodding.

Three seconds later, Brandon is near one of the guards, catching him by surprise. He quickly disarms him, brings his knee to the guard's head, then throws the guard on the wall, turning to take care of the other one. Before the second guard can take out his gun, Brandon is already throwing a few punches and kicks and finally, the guy passes out.

Damn. That was fast and easy.

He's definitely stronger than before. It's surprising, though, how he didn't kill me last night.

Brandon turns to look at me from where he is, his eyes finding mine easily. I stand up and make my way towards him.

"We'll hide their bodies somewhere," he says, looking around him.

I sigh, nodding. "Fine, but we need to go faster."

My heartbeat increases, thinking of the possibility of what could happen tonight.

The same thing can happen like four years ago. Your stupidity could kill him again.

"Sophia."

Blinking, I look up and realize the two guards are gone and Brandon is staring at me with a curious expression.

Clearing my throat, I nod. "Let's—"

"Are you guys finally in?" Nova's voice makes me clench my jaw.

I let Brandon answers her and I enter the building. Automatically, I notice how dark it is. There are no lights on. It'll be easier to move without being noticed.

"We're in," Brandon says lowly.

"All right, you have three minutes to reach your destination without the cameras noticing you... right now," Andrew announces and we automatically start to move.

However, not even after a minute, I feel someone reaching for my arm and my back meets a hard body in a quick move.

I inhale a surprised breath and look at Brandon behind me. He keeps his hold on my arm, raises his finger to his mouth before he points at something in front of me.

When I look in the direction, I see it.

The red lasers, moving slowly from left to right.

Shit.

Highly secured, huh.

"Keep watching your back. There should be a couple of guards around."

I roll my eyes at Andrew's words.

"I'm not worried about the fucking guards," I mutter, stepping away carefully from Brandon.

"Are you panicking right now?" Brandon asks, looking at the lasers.

"I'm not panicking," I whisper harshly, giving him a look. "How can you know what I'm feeling or not?"

"Never mind," he mutters before stepping forward. "Look, the lasers take three seconds to go to the right, then pause for two seconds and take three seconds to the left. We should have enough time to quickly go to the other side."

I take a deep breath. "Go first."

He looks down at me. "I—"

"We have one minute left. Go!"

Brandon finally turns around and once the lasers pause, he runs to the other side, jumps just in time before the lasers start moving again.

It's my turn.

I take a look over my shoulder to make sure there's nobody before I step forward. My eyes follow the red lines of light.

Left... pause.

Right... pause.

I run towards Brandon and slide just in time on the floor, the laser almost making contact with my head.

I release the breath I was holding and stay still, laying on the floor for a couple of seconds.

I didn't die.

Brandon offers his hand to help me but I quickly stand up by myself, not wanting to have any physical contacts with him.

"Forty-five seconds guys, go to the vent," Andrew orders in a bothered tone and we start running, avoiding some guards in our way.

I'm surprised how easy it actually is. It feels easy, somehow.

We finally reach the air duct. Brandon jumps, reaching for the grid as I take a look behind me.

I hold my breath when I see three guards at the end of the corridor.

One is about to turn on the light.

"Brandon," I whisper softly, keeping an eye on the guards.

"Ten seconds, guys! What's going on?"

Brandon being tall, he jumps and reaches the air duct easily.

"Five seconds!"

The guards. The light.

I look up at Brandon. Then jump, searching for his hand.

If he doesn't catch my hand, I'm dead.

He grips my hand and with force, brings me upwards until I enter the confined vent.

The light turns on.

The cameras work again.

We're hidden.

I let out a breath as Brandon releases my hand. I didn't know I was still holding on it and I curse myself.

"Are you okay?" Brandon asks after a moment, his voice still a whisper.

I nod.

"We're there," I say, looking around the small space.

It's still dark and we are obligated to either be sitting or kneeling on the cold surface.

"Let's move now," Brandon says, turning on his knees.

I follow him, making my best to keep up with his speed and to forget where I am.

*

The next chapter is already published. ;)

I decided to do the Mission in two part since the chapter is already 3000 words so! ♥️

Happy reading!