〚FEATURED + WATTYS SHORTLIST 2021〛
Someone tried to kill him. Someone nearly succeeded.
A traitor walks among them.
The question is, who?
⭒⭒⭒⭒⭒
"A sky full of stars and he was looking at her."
He was a man with a deep and profound love for the stars...
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"AGENT EVANS?"
"Ah, Mr. Falcon," the man on the line says, "How do you do?"
Axel snorts. "Posh motherfucker. What's good, Thomas?"
"Yeah, fuck you too, little shit," TJ's voice says, and even though he can't see him, he can tell that he's rolling his eyes. "I told you not to call me that."
"Cry about it."
"Asshole," comes his reply, before the shuffling of papers is heard. "How have you been, mate?"
"Same old," Axel shrugs, sitting down on his bed, "Going on missions, nearly dying-"
"Nearly what?"
"Oh," Axel pauses, looking down at his abdomen. It hadn't hurt at all ever since he got off that bed when he woke up.
He suspected that was Stella's doing.
"I didn't tell you? I got shot-"
"You what?"
"Thomas, notice how you keep saying the word 'what'," Axel says exasperatedly, "It's almost like you can't hear what I'm saying- is there something wrong with your phone?"
"Is there something wrong with you?" TJ says sounding astonished, "When did you get shot? And who?"
"It's...." Axel narrows his eyes at the ceiling trying to figure out how to respond to the question, "... a long story."
"I'd say I have time, but I really don't," comes a grumble from the other end of the line, "I'm actually calling for business."
"Oh?" Axel frowns at the sudden change in his tone, "What's wrong?"
"I need to ask you a couple of questions," TJ says, and Axel knows that specific tone- is the tone agents use while questioning potential suspects. What was this about?
"You mind telling me where you were last night?"
Axel's eyebrows furrow. "I was on a mission."
"You were?" TJ sounds a little skeptical, "At the hotel Ad Meliora? With a woman?"
"Yes," though Axel's a tiny bit peeved by the fact that he knows that, he doesn't question it, "We were undercover. We had men on our tail."
"Right," TJ trails off, and the sound of paper shuffling muffles the silence until he speaks again, "Could you ID the woman with you for me?"
"Her name is Stella."
"....is that all?"
"All that I can tell you, yes," Axel clears his throat uncomfortably, "she's... temporarily on the team and she's uh... under witness protection. Can't say much according to the contract."
