Agent Crew

What would Ruby do?

Hitch stepped out of the lift into Spectrum's atrium. The open space was filled with the usual hum of agents chatting, distracted for the moment from their serious work.

He walked up to the island desk at the back of the space, and waited for the young man at its centre to look up from the collection of phones buzz - no, beeping - around him. In spite of himself - and Agent Dent's friendly demeanour - Hitch still found the telephones vaguely unsettling. It was probably a suppressed childhood trauma thing.

"Hey there, Hitch," said Dent, finally noticing him. Hitch returned his bright smile with a strained one.

"Hey, Dent. I got a meeting with one Agent Singh?"

Immediately, Dent's expression became nervous.

"Ah, yes," he said, stumbling slightly over his words. "Singh is waiting for you in LB's office."

For a second, Hitch couldn't speak. Then - "LB's office? LB's?"

Dent just nodded.

Gathering himself together (today was not the day for this), Hitch gave Dent another strained smile and a brisk nod to signify his understanding. Then he turned to go.

"Hey, Hitch," Dent called after him, "no Ruby today?"

Hitch didn't bother to reply.

**********************************

Clancy had a problem. He had several problems actually, but only one - well, maybe two - was currently causing his arms to flap.

He had rung the doorbell three times now, and there was still no sign of life from within the Green-Wood house. Mr and Mrs Redfort were at their stupid museum party, he knew that. And Ruby was... But Clancy had been counting on finding Hitch at home. Or at least Mrs Digby, who might actually be pretty helpful in this scenario.

Anyway, the point was, Clancy needed a responsible and mildly scary adult to tell him what to do next. He had drawn a blank on the starting location of the ground glow trail, and he was beginning to really panic now.

Ruby was always telling Clancy that he needed to have more confidence in himself. The truth was, Clancy didn't really see the need to when no one bothered to listen to him anyway.

I don't know who to trust, Clance!

With a violent shake of his head, Clancy pushed the memory away. Pushed away the cold, and the wind, and the heart-stopping sensation of knowing your best friend is one slip away from death.

Ruby listened to him. And for Ruby, Clancy was willing to be confident.

If their roles were reversed, Ruby wouldn't wait around for Hitch to get his act together. She wouldn't hesitate to face whatever danger Clancy was facing. She'd proved this multiple times before.

And now it was time for Clancy to do the same. Not to go running to the nearest adult, but to go out there and track down his friend. Ruby wouldn't wait around, so neither would he.

Wait around...

What if Ruby hadn't been late that morning? What if she'd been early?

Clancy began to flap harder, but this time there was excitement mixed in with the panic. He had a starting point. And with a bit of luck, that would be enough.

He took one last look at the reassuringly solid door before him, before turning his back and walking away.

What Clancy didn't know - could not possibly have known - is that Mrs Digby had a very good reason for not coming to the door. And that reason... Well, I could tell you, but that would rather spoil the fun now, wouldn't it?

************************************

A/N: Sorry this chapter is way shorter than usual. College is pretty intense at the moment, but I wanted to get something out for the few people reading this. Thank you for bearing with me and reading my work! Let me know if there's anything I can improve/missed out.