Call it What You Want

11 - High Above the Whole Scene

When I opened the folder of operation history, I saw the first picture MI6 took of him as a young boy in the pilot program. He looked eager. Each operation had a folder with the complete brief and report. Most of his operations were intel operations as I had expected. Film festivals. Private parties. I scrolled through, largely uninterested in what he had done. One older file caught my attention. It was an ongoing operation of at least two years, so it was a deep cover op.

The CIA never really assigned me operations like that because of the rapidly changing nature of my career. It looked like Joe worked this before he really broke into acting. I read the brief on the op. The two lead agents were Joe and Natalie. I guess that's the Natalie he mentioned. She also wanted this operation to go through. From what I gathered from the file, this was their first big op after completing the pilot program together. They lived together as a couple and went about their daily life while developing sources. It looked like MI6 had them running jobs at night with people they didn't know most of the time. They aggressively pursued leads that they got from sources. 

The depth of these files would be extremely valuable to the CIA. I could see why Joe and Natalie thought that this could be their way out. It acted as a sort of protection against both agencies. I knew that Joe couldn't blow his cover earlier, but it would have been 1000 times easier if he had given me the device in the first place. 

Before I continued looking at his file which could take me hours, I needed to get a glass of water. I also wanted to check my phone to see if he left any messages. I left the laptop open and walked out of my bedroom to the kitchen. The lights were still on because I hadn't been out of my room at all. Reaching for a glass from the cabinet, I heard a rustling from the couch. Must be my cats. I took a few sips of my water and then set my glass on the counter to check my phone. I had lots of notifications but no messages from Joe. 

"Taylor?" The voice from the living room startled me. I thought I was alone. I glanced up to see Joe wrapped in a blanket with messy hair. 

"You scared the shit out of me! What are you doing here?"

"I wasn't going to leave you."

"Well, you left your laptop here," I told him. 

He smirked. "I know. I granted you access to it. You didn't think you could hack my laptop that easily."

"Well," I thought I could. 

"Natalie and I set it up so that even if someone guesses the laptop password, they will need a second bio metric passcode to use the program. In essence, we can see who opens the program each time and choose to grant access or not. Wouldn't want the wrong people getting this."

They really thought through everything. 

"Can we talk?" he asked me, rubbing his eyes. 

It was late. We were both exhausted. I just wanted to wait until the morning, so I asked "what more is there to talk about?"

"You may not understand, but I need to get this to the CIA. Even if you want no part in this, my life and Natalie's life depend on getting this information out now."

"Okay," I sighed. I was going to need something stronger than water if we were going to have a midnight conversation. I grabbed a glass of red wine and sat on the edge of the couch with my legs crossed. "I really don't know what I want," I admitted. "I've wanted out of this lifestyle for a long time. It's good to know that you at least understand that. I've never had anyone who understood this whole big part of my life. It's a lot to process."

Joe surprised me when he said. "I'm sorry."

"It's not all your fault. This is the job. I lied, you lied. I think we are even on that. I've just never had it go the other way before. I think I was shocked and confused at first. Our relationship just felt so natural." 

"Taylor, I love you." He didn't say it flippantly or as a cover up. I knew he meant it. 

"I love you too. I don't want to lose you. I'm sorry too that we couldn't have met under different circumstances. You know, where we weren't trying to use each other."

Joe gave me his boyish smile. 

"So you and Natalie?" I pressed. 

"We were assigned as partners after we finished training. We spent a few years together deep undercover as a couple. Of course we got close. Being an agent can feel so isolating and its nice to have someone who understands the craziness."

I'm not sure what made me ask my next question, but I did. "Did you guys, you know, sleep together?"

"Yes. We were serious. It was a real relationship within our cover."

"Are you still into her?"

"No, not like that. We're really good friends now. We both think we've found our person which is why we are ready to be done with the agent life."

"So, it's in both of our best interests to get this device to the CIA," I stated. 

Joe's eyes lit up. "You're in?" 

"I'm in."