"What do you mean he hasn't told you his birthday?" Salvador asks as we get out of the truck. "It's his birthday."
"Pyro's secretive like that," Engie explains as he takes things out of the back of the truck. "So we just do it at the start of every year."
"But you don't know exactly how old he is, either," Salvador continues.
"I've got an idea."
"I think I do, too. He goes to my school and everything," He helps Engie take our bags, and I forcefully take my suitcase as I want to carry it at least once in my lifetime. Salvador stares at the weathered three-story tall baby-blue painted building. Looking at the building, all I can think about is the boxes I have up there right now. It'll be a pain to unpack them, but at least the apartment came furnished. I filled only a couple of those boxes with what I had at the fort. The rest of them are from my old apartment.
RED-affiliation has its perks, as always. My termination hasn't spread, I don't think, so I might as well milk it while I still have it available. The landlord is a nutcase. I called him a conspiracy theorist and Engie just called him 'Sniper.' This implies that Sniper believes the Moon Landing was a hoax, and I'm unsure if it was a comparison or a direct correlation. It wouldn't surprise me if Sniper actually put credence in that. He's stated multiple times that he's anti-social and grew up in the middle of nowhere. Throw in a couple of alien sightings, and we have a natural-born spook on our hands.
Speaking of which, he catches us in the third-floor hallway before I put my key in the door. Soldier and Pyro are with him, Soldier holding up a wooden platter with the top on. "I baked you a cake for your new home."
"You didn't have to," I sigh as I side hug him. "Thank you, Solly." He sniggers.
"It's RED velvet."
Salvador scoffs. "What else would it be?"
"Brr hermrr hrr heh krh," Pyro sasses, and Salvador nods.
"Blue velvet is a crime. Pyro gets it."
Engie takes the key from me and opens the front door. "Alright, inside before something bad happens to the cake." I follow him in, a majority of both teams inside waiting for us. They all say 'surprise!' in their own way and warmth encompasses my face. Engie puts his hand on my shoulder. "House warming party."
I exhale through my nose. "Ah, why are you all like this?"
"Because it's the holidays and we're like in-laws on your ma's side," Scout snarks, sitting at one of the bar stools at the kitchen island. "But, hey, congrats on the new place."
I bow my head. "Ah, yes, thank you all for being here." Neuro takes the platter from Soldier and smiles at me.
"I'll get some candles on this bad boy." I follow her to the kitchen where everyone has gathered. Demo, Spy, Pilot, Alpha, Samia, Priyanka, and Miss Campbell are the ones that aren't present. Maybe they're still on their way back home. Scout's present, at least, and I know why two of them are staying away. Scout's in a better state now. He and Salvador talk with Pyro and Cashew, and they all lost me immediately as they got into comic books. I float over to Soldier.
"How's Zhanna doing?"
"Out-standing!" He reports, beaming and bursting with happiness. "We're having a boy! He shall be the strongest warrior to tread foot on American soil. Such is the way of natural selection."
I snort at his ramblings. "Congratulations, Soldier! When are you two due?"
"We will deploy him in April."
"Have you figured out a name?"
"We're taking suggestions," he tells.
Heavy butts in. "I have already told you: You will name this baby Vanyusha."
"We're taking suggestions from anyone but the Heavy."
Medic gives it a go. "I suggest you name your son Vanyusha."
"Name the kid Vanyusha," Neuro echoes while sticking candles into the chocolate-frosted cake. Soldier frowns.
"We are no longer taking suggestions from married communists."
Heavy grumbles, "It is custom in family for father of pregnant couple to name baby. There is no father present, so Heavy will name baby."
Soldier grits his teeth. "Over my cold, dead, capitalist body you will."
"I'm sure you'll come to an agreement," I mediate. "But, he is ultimately Soldier's son, Heavy. Even more so, Zhanna's carrying him. Really, it's what she would want."
"Yes, this is true," Heavy rests. Neuro picks up the platter and displays it on the island, calling over Pyro and giving him the matchbox. Everyone gathers as they hear the scratching of the match board, Sniper standing further back by the fridge. There's something on his mind, but I'm not sure what. He's quiet, that's not out of the ordinary, but he has that look about him. That aura. Maybe it has something to do with Scout this time rather than me. Maybe it's nothing at all. Either way, a cloud hangs over my kitchen today, and it's clear that not everyone senses it.
"It's not a birthday, but we'll let the new homeowner make a wish for what she expects in the future now that she has begun this new chapter in her life," Neuro explains. "Go ahead, Accomplice."
I think about it, watching the first drop of wax form at the top of one of the three candles. Speaking wishes into existence makes them null and void, so I could just not make a wish and blow them out. Seems slightly stupid, but it's for the novelty of it right now. I may as well. There are so many things I could wish for. Getting my job back, having a better relationship with Leo, being able to time travel and fix things. Asking for too much would mess things up, though.
I wish for this house to be home.
The candles go out with a gentle gust of air from between my lips. Burnt wick fumes fill the air as Neuro turns around and starts going through my drawers. "Where are your forks?"
"In a box somewhere, let me get them," I say as I move over to my stacks of cardboard in front of the couch. Good thing I labeled these. I pat my pockets as if I carry a pocket knife, Cashew coming over and flipping his out for me to use. After tearing the tape, I check the contents of the box and bring it over to the kitchen. I put the silverware and the ceramic plates in the sink to wash, sighing as I get out the dish soap and take a paper towel since I can't find a sponge.
"Hold on," Engie whispers to me before I turn on the faucet. We talked about telling the team, and I agreed it would be fine. There's no reason to keep it a secret, not that it was one before when we were working together. We weren't sure, but now we are. "Hey, fellas, we actually wanted to tell y'all somethin'."
Medic dramatically puts his wrist on his forehead and leans on Heavy's arm. "Oh, Gott im Himmel, I think they're going to admit they're in love!"
Everyone laughs. Everyone except Sniper.
"Certainly hope you're not." Sniper speaks up. We all turn to look at him, and that cloud turns into a storm.
Neuro crosses her arms. "Why?"
"You want to tell 'em, Luv, or should I?" He lights a cigarette, to which I don't take too kindly. What is he talking about? He's not going to tell everyone that he tried to get with me, is he? My eyebrows furrow, and Engie keeps looking between the two of us to see who would crack. I don't know what Sniper's talking about. He comes forward to the island and digs into his vest, pulling out an envelope and throwing it onto the granite countertop. "Go on. Take a peek." Heavy and Engie move over to the side as I peer at the crumpled paper. He ripped the side open. My fingers sift inside and slide the sheets out. Everyone's quiet, watching my hands move slowly to discover what's on the papers. Salvador rounds the table as I unfold the documents.
A black hole opens in my chest, my heart beating at four hundred miles a minute. I flip the papers over and keep my hand planted on them. Everyone wants these papers. I'll die with these papers. Saliva pools under my tongue, and my eyes jitter. "Where did you get this?"
"Doesn't matter how," Sniper grumbles. "I'm more interested in why they exist."
I shake my head. "Uh-uh, no," I pant. "Where did you get this? Who gave this to you?"
"Komplizin," Medic starts, "what are they? What is it?"
If I have to look like a crazy lady, let me be the crazy lady. Sniper has no rights to any of this. It shouldn't be in his possession. Is this why he thinks I'm a spy? I curl my fingers. "They're my legal documents."
"Forgeries of 'em," Sniper corrects. "Mona's not even her proper name."
"Yes it is," I dispute. "My parents gave me that name, I'm Mona."
"Not what one of the paper says, Kamico." He puffs smoke. "We've got ourselves a spy." Medic growls.
"So we're back to square one? What logic do you have? Is there solid proof? Did Merasmus and Witch do something to you?"
Sniper points to me. "Let doc see the papers, Sheila."
"No," I pick up the papers and back up to the sink with them clutched in my hands. "It's all true private information, I'm not letting you see it. My birth certificate, my social security number, banks statements--"
"Luv, you've got two of each, one set from Africa, and you've even got some banking documents under a different last name," Sniper digs. "Give us the papers."
"No!" I screech. "No, they're-- They're personal. It's mine, I don't have to share it."
"Dear," Engie gets my attention, low and serious. "Give 'em here."
"Engie," I gasp. "You... Y-You don't-- You don't believe him, do you?"
"Give 'em here," he repeats, cruel and stern. I'll die with these papers. "Let me see them."
"No," I refuse. I will die with these papers. His hand twitches and I don't stick around long enough to see if he was actually going to reach for them. I back up further to the sliding door for the balcony. "No."
"Engineer, think about this," Medic cautions, "where do your loyalties lie? Welches ist die Frau, die du liebst?"
"Mona," he answers. "I'm with Mona."
Scout stands up and approaches me. I shove myself into the corner. "Hey, calm down. I'm on your side, Accomplice. We're buddies." He eases. I keep the envelope clutched to my chest as he rests his hand on my shoulder. "Sniper doesn't know what he's talking about."
"So you're going to believe the bloody spy over me?" Sniper questions.
"As if you didn't trust a spy over your best friend," Scout fires back. Without batting an eye, he shoots for the papers and yanks them from my grasp.
"Scout, quit it!" Cashew yells. I lunge after him, but it's too late, he's handed a sheet off to Soldier. I shove him aside and reach to grab it from Soldier. But he gave another one to Heavy.
They're treating my privacy like it's Intelligence. Like it's their job to steal it from me for a check. I bet they don't do this to Miss Pauling, so why me? Why is it different for me? Pyro receives one next before handing it off to Salvador. I watch Heavy fold the paper, but it's not like he could've read them anyway. My throat dries as Scout hands off his stack to Engie. "Engie please," I barely croak out as Scout grabs me by my arms to keep me back. "Please, I'm begging you, don't read them."
"Think the bloke should know," Sniper says. "You sure as bloody hell weren't going to tell him."
"What would she have to gain?" Neuro differs. "Wh-What could she possibly be getting out of targeting Engie?"
"Got just about the whole team under her thumb. It's obvious. She kills our engineer while mate isn't lookin' after gaining his trust and either runs away with his blueprints back to whatever team she came from or covers it up and plays the role of the weeping widow. She could also be luring him to go join her team to take our engineer from us. We already know there's a devo shortage of good ones."
"I'm not a spy," I state as I yank myself away. I can't do anything to prove it to them. All I can do is keep telling them and hope they believe me.
"'Course you are." Scout scans over the page. "Who's Lupe Hidalgo?"
"My mom," I sigh. "She's my mom, now stop-" I reach for the paper, but he holds it high enough so I can't reach. "Stop it! Give it back!"
"What, the same mom who left you?" Scout taunts. Salvador punches him and claims my papers as his trophy.
"Fraud is the only thing I'm guilty of," I seethe.
"Identity fraud,"' Soldier connects.
"Yes because of finances. I'm up to my ears in debt, this is how I've gotten away with it for so long." I'm desperate. I'm latching onto anything at this point. My fingers scrape the rock walls, and I keep falling deeper and deeper into my grave. "All I did was give the bank the run around, I'm not a fucking spy."
"You don't have to explain anything, Accomplice," Neuro advises, challenging Sniper. "His claims are baseless, he has nothing to support his accusations. It's all hearsay and assumptions. You're acting like the rest of us don't have things like this, Sniper."
"Bird's a little too good at her job for not being the bizzo prior."
"So what if she's quick to pick up our bad habits?"
"Heh," Sniper clicks his tongue. "I bring all of this up because there's two people in particular we can trace her back to."
"Who?" I inquire, my hand in the sink behind me. I have roughly ninety-nine problems and stabbing Sniper to death would only create one while solving forty-five of them.
"The Couple with a Thousand Faces."
Scout furrows his brows. "The chuckleheads who stole the Mona L--? Oh."
I pull my hand out of the sink. "Who are they?"
"Wouldn't you like to know? Thought you already did."
"I don't--" I face Scout. "Please, I'm not a spy."
He flattens his lips and scowls. "Y'know, I can't trust anybody anymore. If this is the only way I get to know who my real friends are, then it's gotta be that way."
"And when you find out I'm not a spy?"
"'If.'"
"Kamico Mwangi," Sniper breathes. I turn around and stare at him. "That's your name, ain't it? It's not Mona Lisa Fredrickson like you wanted us to think."
Medic grits his teeth. "That is enough. Sniper, you've done nothing but target her since day one. It was excusable at first because of Merasmus, but now? Did you fake these documents?"
"Got sent to me in the mail." Sniper holds his cigarette between his fingers. "Had them for months."
"Then why not expose lady earlier?" Heavy asks. "If you have evidence, why not use it?"
"Was waiting for her to slip, but I've let it go on for too long. Now she's trapped you lot. She's a bloody spy, and she's not working for us."
I sniff. "Un-fucking-believable," I weakly chuckle. "Is this because I turned down your advances? Is that what this is?"
"No. That was only so then I could work you. Didn't go out as planned. Have to do things the hard way."
I nod. "Yeah, okay." I go to Engie and take my papers. I don't know if he read him. Make them public record at this point. "Kamico was the name given to me in Kenya. I wasn't born in America, I was born overseas. We came to America in the wake of the Second World War because they knew things would get ugly there, and they got me an American birth certificate because of how young I was. I'm Kamico Mwangi in Africa, and I'm Mona Lisa Fredrickson in America."
"Likely story," Sniper snickers.
"It's true."
"Right, and Queen Lizzie's my grandmum."
I'm trapped. "Engie," I plead. "Engie, please."
"Don't listen to her, Engie," Sniper warns. He remains quiet, staring at the floor.
"Ah--" He takes steps back. "I need to think."
I give up. "Get out." Everyone's petrified. Stone, like statues. Sculpted out of suspicion and shock. "Maybe I wasn't clear," I shakily mutter. I reach my hand down into the sink and grab a steak knife. "Get out."
They shuffle out, Engie staying behind. I set the knife down and hug Engie, grateful that he gives me one back. He rubs my back. "I don't think you're a spy."
I cough as I hold in sobs. "Thank you."
He's bitter-sweet like lemonade that's a pinch too scarce of sugar. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay," I bury my face into his chest.
"No, it's not," Salvador argues. I hear the plastic bag in the trashcan rustle shortly after. "What the fuck, dude?"
Engie's chest rumbles as his heart races. "I'm not too keen on confrontations, and I apologize for not defending you, but--"
"There's no 'but' in any of this," Salvador interrupts.
"There is. Sniper's a piece of work like Spy. You've gotta be on the fence about everythin' but you can't be too agreeable." He sighs and lets go of me as I look up at him. He doesn't trust me. Something about the way he's talking and acting. Engie thinks I'm a traitor.
"Salvador's right," my words are rugged. Criticism seeps between my teeth. "Some support wouldn't kill you."
"I love you to a fault, dear-" he tugs on his glove. "I really don't care what you're named, Mo, s'long as you're mine. I should move it along, he'll probably be waiting for me in the hallway."
"I love you," I say.
The stairwell door slams down the hallway, and he swallows hard. "Me, too."
"Get out."
He nods and leaves. I look over at Salvador when the door closes. He threw the cake away. I would've given into it anyway, so he's doing me a favor. No crying. We're done crying. My sinuses are inflamed, and it's hard to breathe. The pressure in my face is unbearable. Salvador stands next to me and sniffs as if he's holding tears of his own back. He makes quick work of tearing up the papers, throwing the shreds into the sink, and removing the ink with dish soap and water. I cross my arms and stare at the boxes in the living room. "How about you unpack into your room?"
"Accomplice?" Neuro's in the hallway. I send Salvador away and open the door, seeing it's only her. "Are you okay?"
"No, Sandra, my boyfriend thinks I'm going to kill him," I scoff as I rest my head on the side of the door. She sulks. "Medic and Heavy don't think I'm a spy, do they?"
She shakes her head. "No, they don't. I'm sorry about Engie." I shrug, and she continues. "What are you going to do now?"
"Unpack my things, get groceries, and go looking for a job."
"You probably don't want it, but can I help?" I move aside so she can come in. "Everything's getting turned on its head, Accomplice, it's not just you. Cashew's been distant lately, Alpha hasn't responded to any of my calls, and Miss Campbell was in shambles when I saw her at the stronghold earlier. She's overworked even more than she was before, and Miss Pauling was in terrible shape. Everyone's going through a rough time at the moment, and I wish it would just get better."
"It won't." I return to the sink and pick up the globs of soggy paper, mashing them into a ball before flinging it into the trashcan. We wash dishes. "Not while we're going at each other's throats like this. If I didn't know any better, I'd say this is the work of the BLUs, but I can't blame them for everything."
Neuro rinses. "It would make sense. Sniper said those papers were sent to him in the mail. And Lu's been telling me to be careful around him if we were to ever be alone; he's been acting strangely. Maybe... Maybe they were planting a seed because they knew this would mess things up down the line. Obviously, they couldn't have predicted Engie and you getting together, but it still did what it was supposed to do which was spread discourse."
"I don't want to lose Engie," I blurt. She looks at me. "He's one of the few things I have going for me. I don't want to lose him."
"You won't," she reassures me, but I don't feel very comforted. Being in love is the absolute worst thing to have ever happened to me. It's unbearable to think about Engie no longer loving me, living with the fear that he could take back everything he said to me three days ago over this. Neuro shakes her hands in the sink to get rid of excess water. "I'll go pick up a newspaper so we can look in the listings."