Code Blue

Lexi vs. Two Way Mirrors

It turned out that being back at HQ was even weirder than being back at school. It had been months since I'd set foot in these hallowed halls, because despite the mission being over for a good two weeks, the directors had wanted me to wait to debrief until they were sure Daniel Stafford's conviction was going to stick.

Which basically meant I'd spent the last couple weeks in the apartment Evan had recently evacuated, watching every romantic comedy I could find and eating a lot of ordered in Chinese food. But now that I'd eaten my weight in pot stickers, the agency had cleared me to return to active duty, starting with a full debriefing back at HQ. Despite never having been through one before, it sounded decidedly unappealing, as I was going to spend the entire day locked in a room with Agent Jenkins and Director Haddock, telling them every single gory detail of what happened over the course of the past few months.

It was kind of surreal, actually. I sat spinning slowly in a chair in the same conference room where I'd been given this assignment, still early for my meeting, yet I felt like a completely different person. I was more sure of myself and more confident in my abilities as a field agent. The only thing that hadn't seemed to change was how uncertain I was about my future outside of work. I wondered if the unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach at having left everything so unresolved with Max would ever go away.

Before I could think myself into a rabbit hole, the door of the conference room opened and I bolted to my feet to greet the director, who was smiling at me warmly as she entered the room, surprisingly alone.

"Agent Dupont," she spoke softly, taking a step towards me to briefly shake my hand. "Welcome back."

"It's good to be back, Director," I nodded, feeling a bit more at ease with each passing second, since Agent Jenkins wasn't around to make me tense.

Her smile widened. "Congratulations on the completion of your first undercover operation."

"Thank you," I grinned back, waiting for her to tell me to sit so we could begin.

Instead, she shrugged nonchalantly and nodded towards the door. "I imagine you're quite tired, so we'll begin your debriefing tomorrow. Get some rest. You've earned it."

Blinking rapidly and sure I misheard, I decided not to question the decision to postpone what was definitely going to be one of the least fun days of my life and said, "Thank you," before stepping into the hallway.

It wasn't until I'd turned left and walked about five steps that I realized I had no idea what to do next. To be completely honest, as much as I relished not having to sit through a debriefing at this exact moment, having free time wasn't exactly appealing either. I'd already spent the last two weeks doing absolutely nothing. One more day of cleaning out a fridge might just drive me crazy.

"Lexi!" I heard a familiar voice call my name.

"Evan!" I immediately smiled as I saw him jogging down the hallway, opening my arms to pull him into hug when he was close enough to do so. I'd missed him. Although I'd been essentially put on house arrest, Evan didn't have a good excuse to keep me company, so he'd returned to headquarters to wrap up the administrative side of the mission and delve into the other work that had been piling up. "It's good to see you."

"You too," he smiled as we pulled apart, grabbing my hand and gently tugging me down the hallway in the direction from which he'd just come. "Hey, before you go, you should come with me."

I furrowed my brow in confusion, wondering why the conversation had taken such a sharp turn. It wasn't as though Evan was huge on small talk, but considering we hadn't seen each other since the day of the arrest, it seemed odd that he hadn't even bothered to try. "Come with you where?"