"Nice to meet ya,
what's your name?"
~~~
Harry Styles
This place is nice.
Definitely a lot more advanced than my old headquarters in Sydney.
It's very simplistic, light grey walls, polished concrete floors, white lighting. High tech gadgets and equipment, massive pockets of empty space.
I've already seen some of it, like that bunker for instance. Only Angelo knows I've been here before, the other employees think I'm just another mindless newbie.
I'm not getting special treatment, I'm not on another top secret mission, I'm just good at what I do, and Angelo needed a favour so I helped him out.
I'm not going to lie, it's pretty boring walking around a spy base with a bunch of people who seem to be mesmerised over this shit. Yeah it's cool, but nothing I haven't seen before.
The tour guide is an older woman, with a clipboard and spectacles. She's seems friendly, but also like she'll blow your head off if you stepped out of line.
She has shown us majority of the building, such as the file office, the medical centre, training area, rooms, you get the gist. This place is massive, pretty impressive for an underground building. It's top secret as well, one of the only ways you can get in is through a 'bakery'.
Now this lovely old woman is pairing us with our own personal guides or something. I'd prefer to just show myself around, make myself at home and grab a quick drink from the bar but duty calls apparently.
I'm not going to lie, I feel a little left out when everyone else has gotten their buddies but mine is a no show. But at the same time, this is perfect, I can finally get a drink and relax in my new room. Somehow I scored one of the suites, I'm not complaining, I'm just a little confused.
It's been a while of making small talk with our tour guide, Lacy. All the other newbies are probably having the time of their lives and I'm here trying to charm Lacy into telling me the name of my 'buddy' but she's being stubborn.
While I wasn't making awkward conversation she filled me in on all the boring shit I need to know... lackeys, henchmen, deputies - blah blah blah.
I tried to stay awake while she informed me about how I'm getting a new partner - which I find unnecessary considering I've never had a partner before, or at least one that knows what they're doing.
Apparently they desperately need people on the field so I'm getting thrown into the deep end, and by next week I'll officially be a fielder for this new headquarters.
As for all the other newbies it'll take them maybe a month to get into the swing of things - unfortunate for them... I guess.
"Sorry I'm late, got held up." A voice says frantically from behind me.
I turn around to see who the voice belongs to and when we make eye contact my stomach drops.
I scan my eyes over this familiar mans figure. Seeing his borderline brown and blonde hair, blue eyes and now fairly muscular build.
"Holy shit." He whispers, straightening out his shirt and looking over me as well.
"Niall?" I mumble, staring at him in disbelief.
It's good to see him after all these years, it's almost like we never left each other. He's definitely changed, and I can already hear his voice has gotten deeper.
"Come here little bro." He mutters while hastily walking over towards me.
With his hands out wide to embrace me in a hug, he marches towards me. I tuck my hands even closer to my sides, as much as I like seeing him again I'm still not a hugger - I don't think I'll ever be.
I can't squirm out of this one. Before my brain can even process it, I'm being squished by his arms. I'm being pressed tightly against him as he keeps his arms around me and sways us from side to side for a second.
"I'll leave you boys be." Lacy says, before I hear the clicking of her heals fade away.
I struggle to get my hands free but once they are I hesitantly bring them up to awkwardly pat him on the back.
"Missed you too Ni." I choke out, while uncomfortably patting his back. I'm fighting for air at this point as his arms are still death gripping me.
"Okay Niall... you can let go now." I say through little air.
Once he finally notices he's crushing me, he realises his hold on me and takes a step back, looking my figure up and down again.
"It's good to see you mate." He says, shaking his head in contentment.
"Yeah." I agree - I'm not the best at this sentimental shit.
"I see you've gotten some more tattoos." He observes, trailing his eyes up my arms covered in ink.
Last he saw of me a had a couple here and there. I see he's kept his skin free of them, well this uncovered skin anyway.
"You've got some facial hair going on." I say, while gesturing to my chin. He agrees with a proud nod, touching his own face.
"Alright let's get going shall we?" He says while slapping his hands together and rubbing them in excitement.
Niall walked me to where he spends a lot of his time, in this area with a circle table in the middle and computer screens everywhere. We caught up on each others lives since we have seen one another a couple of years ago, I was also told me about his job as a hacker and the eyes which honestly seems pretty intense.
After we had a fairly long chat about what his job entails he walked me through the training area. I saw a bunch of people shooting guns, throwing knives, combat, all the things you'd need to know how to do.
Then we went to see the gym which seemed pretty vacant. There was one, maybe two people in there, just minding their own business working out. Perfect for me considering I like to work out to get my mind of stuff, and I hate when people watch me so by the looks of the empty gym I'm in luck.
The equipment is fancy, almost like it shouldn't be touched. This place is way fancier than all the other headquarters I've visited around the world. But it still doesn't compare to Paris. I've only been there once for not even 24 hours and I only saw a couple of rooms but it's next level.
It's massive, and when I say massive... I mean massive. It's the headquarters of all headquarters, it's where the superiors stay and it's maximum security. I mean every HQ is high security but Paris is extreme.
As we continue down a long hallway, my stomach flutters with excitement. Not for getting a new partner - I still hate that idea, but for the fact I'll be back to my normal duties. Such as car chases, undercover missions, torturing, even killing.
"Your partner is going to be a handful." Niall mumbles as he pushes through metal doors.
"Oh really?" I tut, almost like I've been challenged.
"Yeah mate, she's gone through at least 10 partners in the last three months." He scoffs, keeping his eyes forwards.
Yet again I'm taking that as a challenge, I feel the need to prove that I'm the best partner she'll ever have - even though I have no clue who she is.
"What's her name?" I question, raising an eyebrow.
"You'll find out in a minute." Niall snaps, slowing down his pace as we approach a massive window.
What is it with everyone and refusing to tell me names? Will it really ruin your life to tell me a name?
Niall stops in his tracks and turns to the glass window, looking into the children's facility.
I look through the glass to see the same girl who I've encountered twice before. I'm a bit thrown off and confused, is she my new partner?
She's surrounded by children going absolute ape shit, running around, painting on the walls, fighting with each other.
The funniest part is she's sitting on one of those kids chairs, elbow on the table, face rested in her palm and eyes closed. She's just having a good old nap while the maybe thirty kids around her run wild.
"This is Lexi... your partner." Niall mumbles while looking at her through the glass, shaking his head in playful disappointment.
This isn't a surprise, I knew her name. I had to find out on my own because people were being stubborn and not telling me, but I figured it out pretty quickly after our first interaction in that bathroom. What I didn't know was that Lexi was going to be my partner.
"I promise she's not always like this." Niall says as he brings his knuckle up to the glass and gives it a firm couple of taps.
The kids don't stop acting like animals but Lexi shoots her head up, her eyes scan the room until they land on Niall.
Her eyes widen and her lips form into a line as she gives Niall a guilty wave. Niall returns the favour, giving her a painfully passive wave.
Lexi's eyes never meet mine, I mean I'm sort of hidden in the shadows of the hallway so I didn't expect her to see me anyway. Probably for the best considering the last she saw of me was when I shot those to people in that bunker thing.
She quickly flicks her attention to the children around her and I see her shoulders slump slightly, probably overwhelmed by the screaming kids around her.
I watch as she takes a deep breath before getting out of the chair to yell at a bunch of seven year olds.
"Is she new?" I question quietly. Thinking back to our short interactions, she just seemed so jumpy and nervous.
"No, she's actually one of our best spies... she's consider top tier." Niall deadpans, while walking up to main door that leads into the children's facility.
Top tier? Looks like I've finally found some competition.
She did seem jumpy and nervous when I've been around her before, but those were small interactions and really didn't require for her to do anything special so I don't doubt that she'll be able to kick someone's ass if she needed to.
He scans his special card - that I am still yet to get, and steps halfway in and saying something that I can't quite hear from where I'm standing in the hallway.
After a few moments Niall steps back out and moves next to me, patiently waiting with his hands behind his back.
Now I'm getting impatient, I wanna see what's she's like but I also really just want to go to The Vault that I've heard so much about. I've heard it's renowned for its alcohol, live music and strippers which sounds great. Even though I'm not a big fan of strippers - a lot of respect for them, personally I'm just not into watching it.
The door clicks open which captures my attention, I look to it and see Lexi strategically shuffle out so none of the kids can escape with her.
"Guys I'll be back in a sec— Jeremy I swear to god, sit down!" She shouts in a whisper through gritted teeth.
Poor Jeremy.
Once she fights the door closed she keeps her back to us and presses her head against the door in front of her. I watch her shoulders raise then fall as she must be taking deep breaths.
Niall obnoxiously clears his throat from next to me which startles Lexi enough to turn around. She snaps her head to Niall and gives him an awkward head nod before flickering her eyes to me and immediately stiffening.
Her eyes widen and her lips part slightly. I mean it's quite obvious that she's in shock but I didn't expect this much of a reaction.
Well maybe it's cause she sort of witnessed me shoot a couple of people, or maybe she is just totally mesmerised by me... either way I'm finding her reaction kind of amusing.
Niall moves over next to her, and awkwardly stands by her side as if he's waiting for her to do something. I flick my eyes up to Niall who gives me a confused shrug.
I look back down at Lexi who is still maintaining her stare, almost looking scared. Out the corner of my eye I see Niall nudge her shoulder with his, and it's like she snaps back into reality.
She slightly shakes her head while fluttering her long eyelashes, like she's getting a grasp of what is going on at the moment. She hesitantly reaches her hand out with a small smile.
"Uh— I'm Lexi." She mumbles innocently, keeping her hand out for a hand shake.
I take her hand and shake it - she's got quite a firm hold.
"Harry." I return with a cocky head nod.
She pulls her hand away as her eyes stay on mine. "Nice to meet you Harry."