Welcome to my World (WAYHAUGHT)

Chapter 7

"I'm not leaving you here," Nicole insisted. "No argument. You either come with me, or I take you home."

"Honestly, I'll be fine. I can look after myself. I don't need babysitting."

"Nope. If it means throwing you over my shoulder with you still wearing that bathrobe I'll do it. You know I will."

"Try," Waverly teased, putting down her bowl of ice cream.

The next moment she was being carried in a fireman's lift out of the room. "Entirely your choice on the clothes."

"Okay, okay, put me down. I'll come with you. You're worse than father."

Nicole deposited Waverly in the hall, arms folded, deliberately creasing her forehead. "Five minutes, go get changed."

"Yes sir," Waverly replied, saluting, earning a slap on the backside as she headed towards the bedroom. "Don't, or we'll never leave here. Would you like to watch?"

Nicole remained at the foot of the stairs, knowing Waverly was right they would never get out of the house if she was privy to her dropping the bathrobe. Four minutes later Waverly was back in the hall collecting her coat, Nicole fitting her Glock 17 into her holster, Waverly's eyes remaining on it. "You okay?" Nicole said, sensing Waverly was uncomfortable.

"What's it like?"

"Pretty straightforward. I can take you to the range, show you how to fire it."

"No. I mean..."

"Using it."

"What does it feel like?"

"Part of the job."

"The first time you-"

"We'll be late," Nicole replied, grabbing her coat.

Waverly knew better than to press Nicole on that part of her job. She had held a gun only once, a pheasant shoot on the sprawling estate of a friend, a short distance from her family home, even though such an event was not her thing. She never managed to fire the gun, ending up crying on seeing so many birds killed, her friends consoling her over lunch promising never to take her again. The brutality stayed with her. Seeing Nicole prise a machine gun from the hands of a dead man had been worse than having the Widow point a handgun at her. The act of killing another as opposed to being killed something she never thought she would have to consider.

Nicole reversed the E-type out of the garage, Waverly hopping in, still quiet, still processing her feelings on whether it was worse to kill or be killed, Nicole taking her hand. "It's going to be okay."

Waverly smiled, as much to reassure herself as Nicole. "Will they let me in?"

"I've asked J to have a pass ready. It's against rules, but I'm sure they'll make an exception."

"I don't want to get you into trouble."

Nicole snorted. "Trust me, I'm not known for being Little Miss Rule Follower."

Their short car journey to the MI6 building took them alongside the River Thames, the engine roar from Nicole's Jaguar echoing in the quiet of the night. Turning right onto Vauxhall Bridge the imposing beige and green building came into view, Waverly's hands clasped together on her lap, shoulders pinned to the back of her seat. "It's big," was all she could think to say.

"Big and scary. You get used to it. J's workshop is worth a visit."

Their car swept through the side gates into the underground car park, Nicole pulling up in one of the slots reserved for elite agents, waiting for Waverly to exit. Taking the elevator to the ground floor, Nicole flashed her ID at the guards on duty who watched her as she deposited her firearm in a tray, hands resting on their Heckler and Koch machine guns, Waverly now wishing Nicole had let her stay in her house, their armed presence menacing.