Crazy = Genius

Chapter 7: Rerun

'And I thought this was as bad as it gets but I was wrong, I was so wrong, Seems like the world's placing bets if I'll be able to last any longer'

It was the start of week two. Lilianna curled the last strand of her hair and set down the curling wand. Running her hands down her outfit, smoothing the front out, she looked herself over in the mirror. Her black leggings and black suede ankle boots were lint-free, and her white off-the-shoulders blouse made her look very grown up in comparison to her usual black tank top and dark green, oversized cashmere cardigan.

Lilianna was often found dressed in cottage library core. It was a wonder to her why anyone would think she was attractive or an intelligent professional when she dressed like an old lady who lived in a greenhouse.

She took a deep breath, pushing her hair back from her face and throwing her black overcoat on. Her boots clicking on the stairs caught Mikale and Otis' attention. She came into the kitchen, poured some coffee into a black travel mug and munched on a blueberry muffin from the plate of them she had made the day before.

"Good morning, Anna!" Otis smiled wide.

"Hey, kid," Mikale mumbled.

She had to hold back the greeting she wanted to give them. Ever since she had caved and let them into her home, they had found every reason under the sun to be in her space instead of in their car like they had initially agreed. First, it was too cold outside. Then it was the neighbours finding their vehicle suspicious. As much as she wanted nothing to do with them, they had grown on her and she was now letting them sleep in her guest bedroom.

"Morning. What will you be doing today while I'm out?" She asked, hoping they wouldn't be in her house during her absence.

"Going to the local gym. We've been slacking since we got assigned to babysit, time to start pumping if we want to keep the guns strong." Otis smirked, flexing his biceps.

Lilianna rolled her eyes, stalking towards the door in an attempt to escape the two testosterone-fuelled bruisers. "You're not babysitting. I'm not a kid."

"Uh, yes you are. We're almost ten years older than you." Mikale laughed.

"So?"

"So you're a kid!"

"The government disagrees. I'm 21 and legally allowed to not have you pissing me off." She glared at him from the door. Otis stood between them, looking back and forth before finally throwing his hands in the air.

"Anyway-" Otis interrupted their childish behaviour. "We're going out once we drop you off at the airport and we will be there to pick you up when you land."

Lilianna flinched at his words. If Hardy saw them then this whole thing would go up in flames immediately.

"You will NOT be going to the airport with me. If Hardy sees you then I go into WITSEC and you two get arrested. This is very much not a good idea." She shook her head and nearly splashed her hot coffee everywhere as she waved her hands around in a panic.

"You don't have a choice, kid." Mikale snapped.

"Mikale," Otis warned.

"No, I'm not having her show up there today and slip it to him that we haven't been doing our jobs to the best of our abilities, to the limits that he told us we had to meet." Mikale shot back, his anger rising.

"You're so daft! If Hardy Wallon sees you then I won't be able to tell Terrence anything because I will be swept under the rug while you are being escorted away in the back of squad cars. I'm helping you not get caught and you're worried about the feelings of a dude behind several locked steel doors. Get a grip!" Lilianna laughed humourlessly, turning to leave and pulling the door closed behind her to stop them from following.