Zero.

Chapter Ten

Day 35

It had been two days since the incident in the American Room, and my mind was made up. I was breaking into Pembroke's vault today.
In a few minutes actually.
Glancing at my watch confirmed that I was right on schedule to leave. So lacing my black boots tightly I adjusted my leather jacket and secured my hair in it's pony tail before heading to the door.

But of course, as luck would have it, Just as my hand reached the knob, I heard a knock. Withdrawing my hand I peaked through the peep hole instead. I had to look back twice to make sure what I was seeing was true.
Behind my door stood Chief in his pressed suit, tailored to his tall frame and a pair of ray bans blocking my view of his expression. With a frustrated sigh, I sprinted to my room, letting my hair down from it's pony tail and stripping from my black ensemble and throwing on a pair of comfortable pajamas.

I didnt have time to register why he decided to pop up, but I knew explaining to him what I was about to do was definitely not going to happen.

If he wanted to keep his secrets, two could play that game.
It seemed like these days I was playing so many roles, keeping up with them was growing exhausting Running back to the door, I took a breath and put on my best "I'm tired face."
As the door opened, Chief removed his shades, and quickly glanced at my outfit.
"Agent Zero." he greeted.
"Chief?" I responded in the same monotone.
He smirked, looking behind me into the apartment.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?"
If I had a choice, no.
"Yeah, sure." I responded, masking my irritation with a yawn.
Chief had presence that filled the apartment with his air of authority. He didn't say anything for a while, just scanned my limited furniture and decorations with an unreadable expression.
"So, what did I do to earn this visit?" I asked, breaking the silence. I couldn't remember Chief ever dropping by like this in the middle of a mission.
"Just checking in."
I felt my irritation flare up. He was just checking in? at 11pm?
"Well... The mission's going as planned. I'm close to figuring out where Lee has the documents hidden." It was harder lying to Chief than Agent One. With her, a few confusing lines was all it took to throw her off track most times, but I knew that he was different; more perceptive.

Saying the wrong thing now would ruin everything. I made my way over to the couch, trying to get a closer look at his facial expression. If I could guess his motive for dropping by suddenly than I would be able to answer his questions accordingly. If he had just wanted to check in, a text would have sufficed, heck even face timing me would have been less odd than him showing up unannounced at my apartment so late.
"Excellent. I trust Agent One has been serving well as your eyes and ears on the ground?"
"Of course."
He nodded to himself. I watched his every move through narrowed eyes. Something about this felt vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on why. From what I remembered, Chief and I never had the type of relationship that made a house call normal. I was trying to understand the thoughtful expression on his face, when he turned and joined me on the couch. I shifted into a cross legged position to hide my discomfort. It wasn't that I wasn't comfortable around Chief. He was the closest thing beside One to family I had, but his sudden proximity did nothing to relieve my suspicion as to why he was here.

I glanced back at his expression but it was still unreadable, I stifled a sigh.
"You seem uneasy." he commented.
"No, just wondering what sparked this sudden visit." I answered truthfully. My gut was starting to twist. It was like my mind was trying to uncover something that my subconscious wouldn't let me remember.
He chuckled at my blunt response and the sound did nothing to calm my nerves. Instead it had the opposite effect. Almost like his laugh was mocking me. Mocking whatever I couldn't remember.
"This is a dangerous job, I always check in on one of you to make sure everything's going smoothly."
That was a lie... or at least I thought it was.
"We can take care of ourselves." I reminded him.
"Still, it helps me sleep knowing all is well with you two."
"So you'll be visiting One tonight too then?"
My heart started to race at the thought. What would she tell him if he did visit her? I was certain she didn't know what I was really up too, but she'd been avoiding me and that wasn't good. Who knows what Chief would put together from what she told him.
He glanced at me, smiling slightly.
"No, you've told me all I needed to know."
His eyes gave nothing away. My heart started to calm, but not by much. The way he held eye contact had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.
This impromptu staring contest was starting to stir something in my chest that I couldn't put a name on.
I just knew I didn't like it.
I broke my gaze from his, putting some space between us and getting off the couch. "Well, if that's all you came here for, I'm going to head off to bed. Sarah's got a full day of paperwork tomorrow." I joked. He surprised me, standing up when I did so that we were only a foot apart.
"Tommorow is Saturday." He said matter of factly.