June 2017
Joe's POV
I'm not sure what kind of reaction I expected from Taylor. Honestly, I knew that no matter when or how I told her, it wouldn't go well. Her reaction tonight was certainly justified. I'd never yelled at her before, and I knew I freaked her out when I did. I felt bad that it all blew up like this. I never wanted to tell her, but I couldn't imagine continuing this relationship of lying. Maybe we wouldn't even have a relationship after this. At least the truth was out.
After I left the bedroom, I took a seat on the couch next to Olivia in the living room and ate my sandwich. I couldn't just leave Taylor like this. I cared so deeply for her which is why we were in this mess. "What would you have done?" I asked the cat who just stared back at me. As I stroked her fur, I remembered that I still had to get the device to the CIA heads. It was still in Taylor's room because in the yelling I forgot to take it before I left.
Should I tell Natalie that I may have blown our opportunity? Taylor would have to come out of the bedroom sooner or later. I could get it then. Grabbing a blanket from the basket, I decided to settle in on the couch.
You up? I texted Natalie.
She responded within a few seconds. About to go to bed. Need something?
I hesitated before replying. T and I had a big fight...
Wanna call? Natalie asked.
All I wanted to do was have a normal conversation with one of the only people in the world who knew what was going on, but I couldn't. Taylor would hear if I took a call in the living room. She would hear the door open and close if I left. Can't. Still here.
Are you okay????
I don't know yet. I answered truthfully.
Talk tomorrow?
Sure.
Today had been exhausting. I quickly drifted off to sleep on the couch.
Taylor's POV
I flopped onto my bed after Joe left and burried my face into a pillow. I must have cried myself to sleep because I woke up to see my lights still on. My curly hair stuck to my face from all the dried tears. I sat up in bed, took a few deep breaths and brushed my hair away. Across the room, near the TV, sat Joe's laptop. He must have forgotten to take it with him. I was curious to see the files again.
I quickly climbed out of bed and stood in front of laptop about to open it. At first, I felt like I would be invading his privacy but remembered that he knew all about me. It only seemed fair that I look. Plus, he kind of already showed me. When I opened it, the blank password space flashed in front of me. I entered a few common password guesses, but they weren't correct. Knowing that he was a highly trained intelligence agent, I figured that it would be a secure password. I was able to connect my laptop to his and run a program to unlock his laptop. It turned out that his password wasn't too complex since it only took a few minutes.
Once I got in, I scrolled through the massive list of files. I didn't recognize most of the names. I knew that the CIA's profile bank must be huge as well. From what Joe told me, this was only a portion of what MI6 had. Whoever obtained these files must have had extremely high clearance or next level hacking skills. I spent months training with the CIA, but I never got super into coding or data analysis. My job was primarily to get the information and pass it on to someone who knew what to do with it.
Next, I searched for Joe's profile. Just like mine, his profile had every detail about him. Who his parents were. All the addresses he had lived at. His grades in school. Most of the information was familiar to me. Things I found out about him since we'd been dating for almost a year now. What I didn't know about was his operation history.
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."