Nowhere to Run ✓

twenty nine | ❝she needs to get out.❞

"Threats do not sit well with us, Sir. Please call-" The agent was drowned out by a voice shouting behind him. Zach heard him repeatedly apologise before Damien's voice whirred to life on the line.

"Agent 5142? This is Alpha 15. What is your mission status?"

Now or never. Now or never. Zach took in a deep breath and launched into his narrative. "Sir, we have encountered a Code Black. The target's man has identified the field agent, code 5269. The situation is on the rocks. We need back up ASAP. We do not have a single moment to waste."

Zach heard Damien sigh on the other end. "You ask for the impossible. Abort mission. Pack up your things and leave. We will have you sign an NDA."

For a good few minutes, Zach went silent. He could not fathom how cruel and heartless Damien sounded. He was almost insisting that he leave Anna behind on a suicide mission. And yet, Damien had always treated Anna like his own daughter.

He even trusted her more than he did Tia. And now, when she was faced with inexplicable danger, he was just going to leave her hanging?

"Agent? Are you with us?"

Zach was pulled back to the communications room by Damien's persistent voice. He wanted to ask so much of him but instead he just mumbled angrily, "Why?"

Damien went quiet. Perhaps his conscience was struggling inside him somewhere. This was not right and as a long standing member of the agency, he had to know the difference between right and wrong.

At last, his voice filled the line once again. "Agent 5142, this was a sting operation and you know that as much as I do. Agent 5269 has to do this on her own. We cannot be found meddling in mafia business. If this knowledge goes out of the agency, we'll be stripped of our jobs and our lives will be doomed.

We are supposed to live and hunt in the shadows, Agent. Direct heat from the administration or judiciary can literally kill us. They do not agree with our methods and we don't with theirs. We stand at risk to lose everything. What choice do we have?"

Without skipping a heartbeat, Zach knew what he had to say. "We always have a choice between right and wrong. We either see it as clear as day, or we don't. In the end, it is always up to us. And I am making my choice today. Strip me of anything you want, I am going after my friend."

"Agent!" Damien thundered, "This is a direct order from the headquarters. Abort miss-"

"Save it. If you are truly the agency's veteran, the man I once knew and looked up to, do me a favour. Round up your sketch artists and get in touch with Florian's batchmates. Draw up his face and send it to me in an hour's time or I am going in without further communication."

Zach heard Damien sigh. He knew a conflicted voice when he heard one. "Fine," Damien relented. "But you'll regret this."

"An hour," Zach said and slammed the console shut. He put his head in his hands and painful sobs wrecked through his body. This was part of their life, this danger, this chaos. They went into the fire willingly, knowing they could lose each at any point of time.

But why did it hurt so much? Why did it feel like a part of him was dying a painful death? Why was not having Anna around breaking him down?

He had no idea how long he sat there, crying and blaming himself. A soft hand slid onto his shoulder and tightened its hold on him. It was a reassuring squeeze and Zach sank into Tia's arms, his sobs like the death cry of a wolf.

"This is all my fault. I should never have left her back there, I-"

"Shh, it's okay. It's not your fault, whatever it is." Tia ran her fingers through Zach's messy hair and pulled him close. She hated watching him cry. "What do you need me to do?"

Just then the monitors sprang to life and Damien's voice crackled through the speakers. "What's all this?" Tia asked, taken aback by the suddenness.

"Agent 5142, here's your requested image." Damien took in a shaky breath. "I still wouldn't make the same mistake as you. Good luck," Damien said, regret lining his every word. The speakers shut down but the image remained on the screens.

Zach and Tia gasped collectively, horror filling their eyes. Every screen they looked at was covered with the same face. Dark hair, angular cheekbones, sharp jaw, golden eyes, and a resolute expression stared defiantly back at them.

Harry Roberts was looking at them straight in the eye. The man they had walked with, talked with, was the same man they were hunting. He was the threat all along, the key to their mission. And they had mistaken him for the right hand man.

Zach reached out, touching the monitor with a trembling finger. A chill ran down his spine. Anna was with a terrorist and a murderer. "She needs to get out of there."

Tia stood next to him, shoulder to shoulder, her eyes never leaving the screen. Whatever her earlier animosity towards Anna now flew out the window. Her friend was in danger and she needed her now more than ever.

"We will get her out. Even if it means taking lives or sacrificing ours. I promise you."

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a/n: [ february 3rd, 2021, 6:27 am] we just got featured in Asian Writers Represent on AsiansReads! this calls for a celebration, don't you think?