A Whole New World

z e r o

Zayn winced as the alarms began to blare. This was not part of the plan - it was supposed to be a simple mission, get in, download the files onto the hard-drive, eliminate any threat and arrest those involved and then get the hell out. Only, someone had tripped an alarm and now there were deafening screeches blasting through the long, narrow, whitewashed halls of the laboratory.

He had been given only the briefest of details about what had been going down here. Underground lab, a group of rogue doctors and scientists grouped together to carry out inhumane and unethical experiments that they would never get away with up in the real world. They were here to shut it down, rescue any of the living test subjects that may be being held against their will and retrieve as much data from the computer systems databases as possible.

He didn't think he'd have to fight anyone, but glancing at the two knocked out guards lying slumped against the wall in front of him, he knew he had thought wrong. He'd had more than enough training to be able to handle anything that was thrown at him by the enemy thankfully...but he was a family man, and he never enjoyed that part of the job. The part that involved hurting people.

He sighed and wiped his bloodied nose on the back of his hand, hoisting his gun back up so that the butt rested against his shoulder over the top of his bullet-proof vest. He padded almost silently down the hall, staying vigilant as ever. Prepared for whatever was next to take him by surprise - after all, the two heavy weight men in white lab coats chargining toward him from apparently out of nowhere hadn't been something he'd expected in the least.

"Malik, you still there? Over," Cruz's voice flooded into his ear through the comm he was wearing, and he stopped where he was, glancing into an empty room with a dozen cctv screens buzzing with static.

They had disconnected the cameras before entering. Clearly, whoever had been dealt the job of watching the security footage had either bailed upon hearing the alarms or they were hiding. He watched the fuzzy screens for a moment, scanning the room for anything he might need to take with him, anything useful or valuable in deciphering what the aim of this lab was.

When he saw nothing of use, he pressed the button on the side of the intercom. "Still here, Cruz. Third floor down, think it's all security down here. No signs of experimentation. Over," he reported, cautiously nudging another door open with the side of his boot, glancing inside to see yet another room of cctv.

Cruz tuned back in immediately. "Finish searchin' then get your ass back up to first. Quill just patched in to tell me he's gotten four testies out so far. Some in bad condition. I've downloaded and wiped the hard-drive on second. Over," he stated, and Zayn let out a sigh of relief.

The blaring alarms were beginning to give him a headache and he wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of this place and back home where his husband and boys were waiting for him.

Louis, to whom he had been married for almost thirteen years now and dated for many before that, was aware of his career even though he went under the general guise of a cop to those who questioned him. He was as honest with the man he loved as he could be without putting him in any danger, and that meant that right now, his husband believed he was simply at the office doing paperwork. There was never any paperwork, and Louis wasn't a stupid man. He simply didn't push.

The kids were twelve and five; they weren't biological siblings, nor were they his biological children - not that it made any difference to any of them. They were as much a 'real' family as the next. Liam, their oldest, was a moody pre-teen who spent most of his time out with his friends or locked away in his room. Still, he was protective and sweet and so patient when it came to his little brother, Harry, who was adorable to anyone's standards. They had both been adopted when they were infants; Liam after his birth parents had died when he was three, and Harry several years later when his young mother had put him up for adoption directly after birth.