TRUST MY HEART ━━━ 𝐛.𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬

2. Neighbor.

After dinner with her parents and against her mother's repeated objections, Magna had gotten back to her car and driven all the way back to her apartment, craving a hot shower. She'd already prepped her suit and files before leaving that morning and now all she wanted was to disconnect from her emotions for a little bit. It was something to do--instead of lying in bed with her mind racing over the events of the past few days and the menacing image of Project Insight on the screen of her office computer, waiting for commands.

Magna didn't want to dwell on her past either, so her thoughts lingered particularly on the liveliness earlier that day with her parents; all the laughter that filled the walls, a tone of peace and melancholy. The playful banter, baking the cookies, Julia's smile, even the sentimental conversations.

Shortly after emerging from the bathroom and doing her laundry, Magna put on her pajamas and sat on her couch, retrieving some documents from a briefcase and flipping through the pages distractedly. When she could no longer pretend that sleep might creep up on her, she put the folders back inside her briefcase and trailed to the kitchen.

She set up the coffee maker and let it brew, exasperatedly hanging up the phone she kept between her cheek and shoulder for the third time that night. Then she checked her messages. Nothing. Hmm. Unusual.

The screen on a small tablet mounted above the counter flicked to the news. Traffic monitoring footage of a car chase and people running desperately covered the entire frame, playing in a loop. She gasped as the camera zoomed in, showing what she recognized as the effect of a magnetic disk grenade on a destroyed vehicle.

The video started again, and Magna's breath hitched upon watching the undercarriage of a familiar black SUV exploding and flipping the vehicle over at an intersection, before it landed completely destroyed in the middle of 17th Av.

Fury's car.

Her heart hammered in her chest and she punched Sharon's number into her phone. Again, it went straight to voicemail, and a scary thought gripped her. What the hell is going on?

»»————-　✼　————-«« 

LOCATION: THE TRISKELION, UPPER LEVEL. (WASHINGTON D.C)

JANUARY 10TH

As the two usually did after briefing meetings, they headed straight for the coffee cart. The remaining security guards ducked aside as they passed, showing their clearance levels. For a moment, they stood near that floor's balcony overlooking the main reception lobby below. 

"People are in full swing today, it seems. WSC conference?" Magna wondered.

Countless men and women in dark suits walked briskly through the busy hallways, stopping by several offices, heading to different meetings. Security officers held each elevator except the one on Pierce's level, which was more private and only meant for upper clearance level agents, such as Fury, Hill, Council members and, well, Pierce himself.

Sharon sighed, nodding slightly. "They're arriving tomorrow for the launch."

The brunette pursed her lips worriedly but didn't say anything else. So soon? she groaned mentally.

The duo reached the cart and moments later, Magna held Sharon's empty cup stamped "#13" in one hand as she tried to secure the lid of her own drink with the other. To ease her friend's task, the blonde grabbed the cardboard container and began fixing her coffee.

Guardedly, Sharon strained her neck to look past Magna's shoulder. The latter tucked a strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear. She had a messy bun, and she liked how it looked on her, but sometimes the messy thing was too messy for her. A playful smile teased the corners of her lips.