This is without a doubt the stupidest plan you've ever had. Of course I'm in."
"Can you believe they said that? You're not real spies," Louis said in a gruff voice that was obviously supposed to be an imitation of Liam, considering Liam had said those exact lines to the two of them only moments before. "I'd like to see them do their jobs without us."
"Maybe we should strike." Piper crossed her arms over her chest with a huff as her and Louis walked into O branch and over to Piper's new desk on the junior's floor. Louis fell into her seat with an aggravated huff and Piper leaned against her desk beside him. "See how well they do as real spies when they don't have us on the other line helping them out."
It had started innocently enough with Piper asking Louis if he'd ever consider field agent training. Now that she was a certified field agent herself, she could see the benefits of being able to do both jobs. Harry had started laughing uproariously at the suggestion.
"And what's so funny?" Louis had asked insistently. "You don't think I can do it? Piper did it."
"Barely," Liam had scoffed, causing Piper's brow to furrow.
"Do I need to remind you what happened at the London Stock Exchange three months ago?"
"I'm not saying anything against what you've done," Liam said defensively. He exchanged a look with Harry who seemed to be wearing the same smug expression that he was. "I'm just saying there's a difference between us. You're not real spies."
Piper could still feel her fists clenching at just the reminder of what he'd said. It was only Louis dragging her off in a huff that had stopped Piper from sending her fist straight at Liam's throat.
"We shouldn't go on strike," Louis said, a sneaky grin stretching across his face. "But we should get out revenge."
"And how do you propose we do that?"
"Do you know that they keep the senior field agents personnel files in a secret locked room with a whole bunch of defences in front of it?" Louis asked. When Piper shook her head with a frown, Louis explained, "It's for security, to protect identities and all that but it also means that all of their mistakes and their dirty little secrets are waiting just inside that room."
"What are you suggesting?"
"We should break in," Louis said excitedly. "Steal the files so we can get some dirt to throw back at them."
Piper could already tell this plan was going to get them in trouble and that if — big if — they pulled it off, it was going to be a huge achievement. "This is without a doubt the stupidest plan you've ever had," Piper informed him before she smiled back. "Of course I'm in."
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Lasers. That was what they had guarding the files room. Fucking lasers.
There must be juicy secrets in those files.
"You know the plan?" Louis asked her, standing at her side right before the first laser beam cut through the hall. Both of them were dressed in their best 'spy gear', slim pants and tight black shirts. Louis had a black beanie on his head. Piper thought they looked ready for a movie.
"Of course I know the plan," Piper snapped at Louis, trying to psyche herself up to do this. "Now shut up and let me do it."
Louis stepped back with his hands in the air defensively, disappearing into the shadows, just as Piper took the first step over the beam. They criss-crossed in front of her, shooting up at odd angles and forcing her body into positions it never wanted to be in. She ducked under some, hopped over others, and at one point, slid between two that were so close together that her tits almost didn't fit. She shimmied flat on her belly under one, limboed under another and then finally, leapt over a short wall of them and landed on the other side in a tuck roll before shooting to her feet.
"Holy shit, Louis!" she called back excitedly, jumping in her spot as she clapped her hands. "Did you see that? I made it through!"
"Yes, but you were supposed to trip the alarm," Louis hissed back at her. "That was the plan."
"Or I could just go get the files," Piper said as she spun on her heel and took a step forward.
Famous last words.
Her foot landed right in the middle of a loop of rope, tough, non-tensile cord that, with the added pressure on a special sensor in the floor, wrapped tightly around her ankle and yanked her up into the air.
It wasn't like the movies where she was whipped up into the air painlessly and suspended comfortably from one ankle. No. She was pulled down to her feet as her ankle shot out from under her, slamming her head hard against the floor until she felt the skin split open on her forehead, and then was pulled mercilessly up to hang by one ankle in the air. Judging by the shooting pain right up her leg, her ankle was busted up.
But, as Louis had planned, the siren began to sound and he was able to slip through the beams unnoticed. He stopped by where she was hanging to check in, making her hiss when he touched his fingers to her forehead.
"That looks nasty," he said as he scrunched his nose up disapprovingly. "Thanks for taking one for the team."
Without another word, he shot of down the hall toward the records room. "Louis," Piper hissed after him. "You can't leave me here!"
It seemed that he had though, because he didn't come back. He was following through with the rest of the mission he'd thought up. Now that Piper was hanging from the ceiling, no one would be paying attention to the records room and he could get in undetected. Which was lovely for him but she was still fucking hanging there, her ankle hurting worse with every passing second.
She didn't think it could get any worse. And then...
"Oh, petal, what have you done?"
She craned her head around, the rope spinning until she was facing back the way she came. Liam was standing on the other side of the laser grid with his arms crossed, an amused smirk on his face. Harry was near the wall, typing a code into a keypad that deactivated the security protocol. He gave her a reproachful look as he crossed toward where she was hanging.
"Do you want to explain yourself?" he asked her as he stopped beside her. Her head was level with his hip and she was tempted to knock her forehead into his groin to stop him from being so god damn sanctimonious. But she really wanted down and that was going to decrease her chances.
"I'm not talking to you," she huffed instead, crossing her arms (which was actually harder than it looked considering they'd lost most of their feeling a while ago). Her vision was getting a bit weird too, everything seeming very white. She suspected it was because of all the blood that had rushed to her head. Also, her bleeding head wound.
"Still upset with me?" Harry asked. She worried for a moment he was going to make some sort of power play, forcing her to apologize in return for being let down.
But in the end, that wasn't Harry. Instead, he lifted her up a bit, his arm crossing over her back and hoisting her upper body up to a reasonable level. He pulled his transmitter from his pocket, popping the knife out of his all-purpose phone case. It only took a moment for him to cut her free and his other arm came around quickly to catch her legs before she hit the ground. He hoisted her up properly in his arms and Piper responded by leaning her sore head on his shoulder and letting her eyes drift shut so the world wasn't so spinny as her blood rushed from her head.
"You alright, petal?" Harry asked quietly, his head craning down so he could see her properly.
"Just lightheaded," she muttered, waiting for her head to settle.
"How much damage did that do to your ankle?" Liam asked as he moved to stand by her legs. He carefully picked up her injured ankle and she hissed when her whole calf flared in pain. He quirked his brow and then rolled his eyes. "You've probably broken it. And all for some failed attempt at what, getting into the records room?"
"What were you doing?" Harry asked her.
She didn't have to answer because Louis came sauntering down the end of the hall, a file in his hand and a smarmy grin on his face. "She was the distraction."
"Oh god," Liam said with a groan. "Don't tell me this was some big plan. Were you trying to prove yourselves or something?"
"We shouldn't have to prove ourselves," Piper snapped at him as she sent an icy glare in his direction. "We're capable of doing things too. In fact, Harry, put me down please." Harry gave her a look, questioning her choice, but she held firm. That is, until she was balancing on her foot and a flaring pain seared up her leg. "Okay no, up please," she said as she threw her arm around his shoulder. "There is a very good chance my ankle is broken."
"Was this worth it, Lou?" Harry asked sternly as he swept Piper back up into his arms. "Piper could have been seriously hurt."
"I think she'll agree it was worth it when I mention... the Marseilles incident."
Piper was surprised when Liam's head shot over to Harry, his eyes narrowing and his jaw dropping open. "I thought we said Marseilles was going to stay between us."
"I had to file a report," Harry defended. "They needed it for records."
"Unless you want everyone knowing about what went down at Marseilles," Louis said, twirling the file between this thumb and finger, "then I think you have something to say to us. And you should know before you make your decision — there's pictures."
Liam sent Harry one more withering glare before sighing. "Fine, Louis, you and Piper are both real spies."
Piper beamed and so did Louis and, with reluctance, he handed over the file into Liam's waiting hand. Liam let out a big sigh of relief as he cracked the file open. His eyes widened when he saw what was inside. "But... these are just blank pages."
"I heard you mentioning Marseilles in your sleep," Piper told Liam, who was watching her with a dropped jaw and wide eyes. "It was 50/50 that it was some mission you'd fucked up but I went with my gut and took the chance."
"I would have tried looking for the real file," Louis added, "but that room's a mess."
"You — but — what?" Liam looked so lost that for a moment, Piper wished she could give him a hug. Louis stepped up instead, giving Liam a pat on the cheek.
"Don't underestimate two people who make careers out of strategizing," Louis told him. "We've always got a back up plan."
"I have to say I'm impressed," Harry said as he let out a snort of laughter. "It was creative. I'll give you guys that. But," he added as he glanced down at Piper with a little sigh, "we should get Niall to check the ankle out for you."
"It was still worth it," Piper said as they began their trek back down the hall, Liam resetting the security codes once they were all past the laser grid. She reached her hand back and Louis gave it a slap, their high five echoing through the hall loud enough that it almost covered Liam's irritated huff. "You should have seen me, Harry. I made it through the whole laser grid without setting it off."
"Did you?" Harry countered, sounding pretty impressed as a sly grin slid onto his face. "You've gotten quite flexible lately, I guess."
"Christ, could you two save it for when you're alone?" Louis said as he rolled his eyes, crossing in front of them and turning to walk backward. "I think I'd rather hear Liam admit again that we did a good job."
"I'm not admitting anything," Liam snapped at Louis.
"Oh come on. Aren't you man enough to admit when you've been —"
Louis cut off as his foot snagged on a crack in the floor and he went flying backward, windmilling his arms as he tried to catch his balance. He landed on the ground in a crumpled heap and almost immediately, Liam was laughing loudly, bending to put his hands on his knees.
"Oh yeah, Lou," he said between fits of laughter, barely able to catch his breath, "you're definitely a real spy."