Triton [hs au | completed]

7) Gimme Shelter

"Glad to see you two are taking your first big assignment seriously." Liam comments sardonically. He grabs the basket of onion rings and dumps them in the trash.

"What the fuck?!" Michael exclaims through a mouth full of food.

"Now if you two will kindly follow me to the car -or were you waiting on a burger too?" Liam jests.

Michael and I exchange annoyed glances and then follow Liam out of the backdoor into the service lot where there is a black limousine waiting. The blonde from earlier, Perrie, is standing by it holding a large briefcase. I notice a gold medallion hanging around her neck. Liam nods to her as we approach. Jean, the driver usually reserved for Louis, opens the door and we all climb in.

"Michael, Harry, this is Perrie." Liam introduces us. "She's one of Keith's heads of security from our London chapter. She's here to debrief us on security procedures.

"As you know, the recent break-in has left tensions running high. The Tritons have been relatively unchallenged in the United States. We don't know if this is the start of a turf war and we don't want Keith to be a casualty of that." Perrie explains. "First, we're all going to need these." She opens the briefcase she brought with her and starts passing out earpieces. Liam taps on the partition and passes Jean one after he rolls it down.

"Sick!" Michael exclaims.

"Yes, you get a code name." Liam answers Michael's unasked question. "I'm Puma and Soph is Lark."

"I'm Barracuda. Jean is Goose. What about you two?" Perrie asks.

"Harry's should be Deuce." Michael suggests.

"Deuce?" I repeat, looking for clarification.

"You know, since he's sleeping with that vet for drugs? Deuce Bigalow Male Giggalo." the cabin erupts with laughter; I'm almost positive I hear Jean laughing too.

"Piss off, I'm not sleeping with her." I spit. "Then yours should be Fanny in commemoration of all of the fanny you aren't getting." Michael's bad luck with the usually accommodating wait staff has been the butt of many jokes around the casino. He glares at me as another round of laughter is had.

"Alright, Deuce and Fanny. Keith is Big Ben." Perrie informs us. "When we get to the airport I will meet him at customs. Liam and Michael will be stationed around the food court. Harry and Sophia, you will be stationed near the ticket counter."

"You're job is to be alert, discreet and let the rest of the team know about ANYONE that looks suspicious. You are to be armed and have your gun within reach, but I don't want you blindly waving it around in the airport like some kind of git. The Tritons have a long reach, but TSA is it's own animal." she continues.

"Make sure your earpiece is working." Sophia instructs us. After several rounds of 'testing 1-2-3', we all settle in for the rest of the drive.

"You're recruits?" Perrie asks impressed Michael and I both nod. "You must be good if Louis is letting you work this assignment."

"They are." Liam confirms.

"So how is Zayn doing, then? Still an asshole?" she asks with a tone of distaste.

"Yes." I answer. "You two know each other?" Liam is motioning for me to stop, but it's too late.

"You could say that. We were recruited around the same time. He said he would love me forever, but forever really meant until I was offered a bigger promotion. His ego couldn't take being with a woman who outranked him." she recounted. We all sit in an awkward silence as Perrie seems to be running through a mental list of Zayn's transgressions.