espionage [h.s.]

FIFTY FOUR

A.N. not fully edited so apologies for any mistakes :)

ROCHELLE

I can't believe she's here. As I sit alone on the grass, I feel like my body has become paralysed in a state of shock, although on reflection, that might just be a result of everything I've been through over the past few days, and am currently still going through right now. Harry can't seem to believe it either, because he's been staring at her from the second she climbed out of the car as if he's seen a ghost. I suppose he has, in essence, because he probably never expected to see the trainee who just so happened to fall in love with Louis and then leave him heartbroken ever again, much less for her to show up to save us in a dire moment like this.

I'm pleased to see her, obviously, and I'm hopeful about her promises to disarm this bomb because I know explosives are a specific skill set of hers. But I can't really feel much relief, because I'm far too concerned that Harry just heard me call me her Anita instead of Rosie, the name he knows her as. For a minute or two, I begin to think that he's so shaken by her presence that he didn't even notice that little slip up, but when he turns back to look at me, I know he did catch it after all. Fuck.

"Wait," he says, his confused frown causing a small 'v' to appear between his eyebrows. "You know her? Did you call her Anita?"

"Oh, Rochelle here knows me by my work name," Anita cuts in as she confidently strides towards us as if she's an old friend, not a distant acquaintance neither Harry nor myself expected to see again. "When we worked together in British intelligence." When Harry glances back at me again as if waiting for me to corroborate this information, Anita shoots me a sly wink from over his shoulder.

Thankfully, Harry seems to accept this story, taking my nod as all the confirmation he needs before turning back to Anita. "So you're telling me you left the institute and ended up working for British intelligence?" he asks her, one of his eyebrows arching upwards.

"Only for a couple months," she replies smoothly, and I'm glad to find that her lying skills have improved over the years. If I didn't know the truth, I'd probably be inclined to believe her too. "But Rochelle was a prominent figure there, as I'm sure you know."

Harry looks a little puzzled still, clearly attempting to string everything together, but I suppose it's nothing compared to everything else that's happened today, which I think is the main reason why he's being so accepting. If none of this was happening, I'm sure he would question things a little more and be more skeptical, but there's not really much time for that. "What should I call you then?" he asks. "Rosie or Anita?"

"Go with Anita," she replies, coming to a halt in front of us. "I decided I liked that one better." Yeah, because it's your real name.

"So you can disarm this bomb, then?" Harry asks in an impatient tone, cutting straight to the chase. "Because we really can't afford another person making empty promises and then-"