Syndicates //

vi

I helped myself to a cup of coffee in the silence of the safe house. The boys were either asleep or have already left the house. It was nine in the morning, so a fair toss up between the two anyway.

I savored my mug of coffee, a black ceramic with (figures) a cobalt blue interior. The kitchen relied a lot on natural lighting and it was perfect at this time of day, welcoming in the energy of the sun. But as much as I appreciate mornings, I am definitely constantly sleepy.

My wondering if I was alone was answered when I heard the light jogging footsteps down the hardwood stairs. The tap of someone's feet around the corner revealed themselves to be none other than Harry.

"Look at you awake," he smiles.

"Could say the same for you."

"Well I had to have Niall help me carry you in last night. You fell asleep on our drive," Harry says. He looks back at me while blindly reaching for a mug in the cupboard.

"I honestly thought I'd dreamt that."

Harry moved to the dining table and tosses a plastic bag in front of me, onto the counter. Gummy worms. Not the sour kind," he quotes me.

"I'm glad it wasn't a dream, then," I give him a smile as a thank you, ripping the corner off the bag and starting to munch on them. After a pause, I ask, "where is everyone?"

"Liam is probably downstairs in the gym, Louis would be upstairs in his room. Niall... who knows," he shrugs. "Do you need one of them?"

"No, it's just the house is so... quiet," I hold my mug wrapped around my hands.

"We'll have something to do very soon. Cobalt asked for our suits to get dry-cleaned in preparation for some fancy dinner or gala."

"Sounds exciting," I lean in.

"Well it'll be your first gig," Harry says. "You'll be the getaway driver." He turns and starts brewing his coffee at the Keurig.

"Woah, woah, am I driving us out of a shootout? Like a crazy action movie?"

He laughs at my naïvety, "Hopefully not." Then his smile fades, "Definitely not this time. 'Getaway Driver' is just a general term. You're there to help us bypass anything technological, in our surveillance van, and then you'll swing 'round, pick us up, and take us home."

"Sounds simple enough. Is it really ever that simple?"

"Depends on the job. Just like the work you've done, I'm sure."

"True," I confirm. I've had the task of disarming turrets and other times they hire me on standby and I'm not actually needed.

"Just be ready, because I'm sure Cobalt is going to come in and brief us today." Harry says.

We sit in comfortable silence in the kitchen, sipping our coffees and scrolling through our phones. I was just watching some videos, but he seemed to be laser focused in on some reading material.

Suddenly our phones buzz.

04 SU: from Viktor Cobalt: Briefing for Case #201. B14. 17:00.

"Called it," Harry drops his phone on the table.

Not too long after, I hear footsteps approach. "Did you both get that? Meeting with Cobalt at 5 today in the main basement," Liam announces.

"Yeah," Harry says. "We probably got it before you did since the internet is so bad down there."

"Just making sure," Liam responds. I notice he's sweating and has a towel wrapped around the back of his neck. He detours to the fridge, taking a carton of what's likely a protein shake, and heads back down.