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She looked around, into the night, as the two headed around the back of the store to a more secluded area, further away from the building. Her gaze skipped around, searching for a car, and saw nothing, really, but the southern countryside she so loved.

“Nick…”

He smirked. “Just wait for it, Opal.”

In his hands was a small remote. It lit up as his fingers stroked it, before pressing down a small, red button. Within minutes, she spied the customized, onyx 1953 Hudson Hornet that Brian had described to her in detail. It cruised to a stop before them, as the engine rumbled almost impatiently. She smiled to herself, remembering in amusement how Brian was actually jealous of the car, but would never ever admit that to anyone, not even himself.

Nick smiled with pride at his car as the doors opened for them.

“I thought you wrecked it in Canada?”

“Pearl’s a genius and fixed it for me.” He paused. “After she yelled at me for damaging it. If it happens again, I think she might end up castrating me for it.”

A nervous giggle came from Ashavari as the seatbelts were buckled, the disguises were tossed in the backseats, and Nick drove off towards the hotel. She glanced back out the window, and she could swear she saw Brian’s car driving away. She sighed sadly. How had everything gone wrong so fast? It felt like she’d just gotten Brian back, after nearly losing him in Canada. And now, just when things were finally back to normal for both of them, he was forced away by something she didn’t even understand.

Why did they think it was her? Just what had been stolen from the Library of Congress that the FBI had to get involved? Her mind scanned through what she knew for any clue as to what was going on. She had an idea that Brian did actually know what had been stolen, but hadn’t told Nick because he knew Nick would tell her, and he wouldn’t want Opal to worry.

“Hey, Opal…. Ooooopal…”

“Huh?” She turned to see Nick staring at her with concern. “Sorry, I’m just tired, Nick.”

He nodded, cutting off the engine. “We’re here. It’ll look weird to put those things back on…” His head motioned towards the backseat. “… so what we’ll do, just in case they remember I’m out here in DC working with Brian, is I’ll block you from the camera’s view. Just act like you’re my girl.”

“Act like I’m…”

Nick paused when he saw the look on her face. “No, we won’t do anything; I just don’t want any of the cameras getting anything incriminating. I’m banking on the fact that the FBI doesn’t realize HimTak’s out here to follow up on the Canada mess.”

Nick stepped out of the car and rushed over to her side, opening the door. “Keep your head tucked towards me.”

His arm wrapped around her, and they quickly hurried into the hotel. She kept her face alongside his neck, as he gripped her close. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied Nick smirking at the people in the hotel lobby, who watched them coming in. “Come on, baby… we don’t want everyone to see what we’re doing.”

Ashavari giggled, to play along with the ruse – and also at the furtive grin Nick shot her after saying that. He really was a better agent than Brian used to give him credit for. She shifted her head against his neck, simulating another action to throw people off, as they hopped in the elevator. She turned to move, but Nick inched his head both ways to silently negate that thought. “Elevator cameras,” he murmured as he nudged her over to the corner, keeping his back to the camera to block any solid view.

They reached their floor, and she kept her face against him, her hands rubbing his back and his along her arms to keep up the image. Nick was singing to himself yet again, which made her want to laugh. The man seemed to be a human jukebox.

“Meet me at the hotel room… You can bring your girlfriends and meet me at the hotel room… We at the hotel, motel, Holiday Inn… We at the hotel, motel, Holiday Inn…”

She laughed, as they were finally able to reach his room, and he let them in. Once in, the two separated, and she sat upon the bed, still laughing, despite the situation. “You have a song for everything, don’t you?”

Nick smirked as he pulled off his watch. “Pretty much. It’s a handy skill, you know.”

“What are you doing?”

“Contacting K through Pearl’s lab. I don’t trust the phones. They probably have Brian’s phone tapped and are getting his phone records.”

Opal nodded, as she took off her shoes and tried to relax, something she found rather difficult, especially as she thought of Brian, whom she ached to see right then. He was risking everything for her, and it touched her in ways she’d never be able to express. “They’ll do the same to your cell phone once they remember you.”

“Right; my watch is…”

“… the one that can’t tell time. Right.”

He stuck his tongue out at her, as he pressed buttons upon the normal-looking watch in a careful, methodical way. “No one ever forgets that, but yeah. It’s also a communicator to HimTak.” A tiny screen arose from the watch, which had been upgraded recently, though it still couldn’t tell time. Pearl’s face appeared, and she was holding some sort of shoe in her hand. Why? Nick could only guess what idea she currently had in her head.

“What’s up, Blondie Boy?”

“I need you to connect me to K.”

“Now, Nick? Something’s come up, I think, ‘cause he’s been in his office and called Jay up there about an hour ago-”

“Vital, Pearly. We’ve got a problem here.”

“Okay, give it a sec.”

“Aight. Hey, you still mad at me?”

“No. Do I ever stay mad at you?”

He smiled; she had a point. “True.”

“Connecting you to K.” Within seconds, the agitated, jade eyes of his superior met his vision. Pearl hadn’t been kidding when she’d been trying to tell him it was a bad time. A quick glance at Opal, who was now trying to distract herself by watching TV – and failing miserably – reminded him of how important it was.

“008, I swear if you’re on to complain about Brian-”

“No, someone’s framed Opal.”

“-I swear I’ll make you work with him so – wait, say that again, Carter?”

Nick waved Opal over; she sat next to him, peering into the screen. Leaning over Nick, she was able to peek her face into K’s view. “Hello, Kevin, nice to see you again.” A faint smile followed.

“Just what did you do, 008?”

Nick rolled his eyes. It figured, he’d get blamed. “I didn’t do anything, K. The Feds showed up at Brian’s place. Damn government. And because of that…”

“Don’t say anything more. Not there, anyway; it’s not secure enough. This must be what Brian phoned me about.”

Nick raised a brow, instantly curious as to how the Kentucky cousins were able to talk when it seemed obvious Brian’s phones would have already been tapped. It was Opal who voiced the thought first, however. “How did he do that? I mean, any competent agent would’ve hit the lines…”

“A pay phone around the back of the grocery store. He made sure to be cautious, of course. His exact words were, ‘Hey, I missed you, cuz. Nick’s anxious to see you. He’s having family trouble.’ So I knew something had gone down with you that involved him. I was hoping it wasn’t serious. Damn.”

“What, what else?”

“I think it might be mixed in with our latest mission. Get your rear here, 008, ASAP.”

“I need transport. They’ll probably connect it to me by morning and track my car.”

“We’ll send one of the helicopters. Five o’clock.”

“Why you gotta make it so early?” He heard Opal chuckle at this, reminding him of the other thing K had said. “And wait, what latest mission?”

“You’ll find out once you get here. It’s all connected. I know that now.” With that, the connection ceased, and Nick was left staring at a blank screen. “I hate when he does that,” he muttered.

Opal glanced at Nick as he fiddled with his watch. “So he knows what’s going on?”

“K always does.”


  


Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Legs. Sexy. Sexy. Legs.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Nick’s eyes followed the small routine of the pair of legs right across him religiously. They were crossed, and the owner of them kept tapping one foot rhythmically to the ticking of the clock on the wall. They were beautifully accessorized with a pair of black high heels. He wasn’t one to give a damn about women’s fashion, and, to be perfectly honest, he mostly liked them with nothing more than underwear and preferably even less, but he had to admit that this was the sexiest pair of legs he’d ever seen, made even sexier by the high heels. He could imagine his hand stroking her ankle slowly and making his way upwards, inch by inch. Up to the knee... to the thigh…

“Aren’t they gorgeous?” Diamond sighed dreamily as she stared at her feet. Nick nodded absent-mindedly, half-hearing what she’d said. Gorgeous legs, for sure.

“I have to get Pearl a good birthday present as a thank you,” she chirped. “These are the best shoes ever! And the secret weapon she installed in them is just superb.” She lifted her right foot up towards Nick. “See the heel?” she questioned, seeing Nick nodding absently from the corner of her eye. “It’s a gun. All I need to do is take it off and hold it like a pistol, and then I can shoot with it.”

“Awesome,” Nick mumbled, his blue eyes still fixed on Diamond’s beautifully-shaped legs.

Diamond lowered her foot and looked lovingly to her shoes. “I’ll wear these forever.”

Nick nodded again, without taking his eyes off of Diamond’s legs. Amen to that.

Their boss cleared his throat loudly, which was enough to make Nick snap out of his dream world and come down to Earth, almost unwillingly. He shook his head slowly, as the image of the room changed from Diamond’s bedroom to K’s office. Nick groaned as he looked around, his eyes stopping on the newest Double-0 in the room, Leo DiCaprio, who wanted to be known as Vitruvian. Nick followed Leo’s gaze, only to realize that his eyes were fixated on the same target: Diamond’s sexy legs.

“Great,” Nick muttered inwardly as he sat up straight in his seat. Why was 009 in the briefing anyway?

“So I see everyone is ready for the debriefing.” K spoke sternly, looking directly at Nick. His expression said too much, and Nick could read it easily. This time around, his message was very clear: “Don’t mix business with pleasure. Period.”

“Alright, I’ll start,” Kevin continued. “As we all know, something was stolen from the National Library’s restricted level in Washington just a night ago. We now have confirmation on what it was.” Kevin stopped for a second and eyed the agents and their guest, sitting around in his office. “It was the President’s Book.”

“What?!” Nick and Diamond replied in unison, their eyes widened with shock.

“Great. Just great. Like being accused of stealing something from National Library wasn’t bad enough, it HAD to be the President’s Book. Unbelievable.” Opal spoke from her corner, her face flushed with anger. “Just freaking unbelievable.”

Kevin nodded knowingly. “And as you have all noticed, we also have a guest here today. Ashavari Desai is being accused by the FBI of being behind the theft.”

“How do we know that?” Leo questioned.

“Because the thief was impersonating her, and she made sure that her face was exposed to the security cams around the library so the FBI would come after Ashavari and they could get away easily.”

“No offense, honey…” Diamond eyed Opal sympathetically before she turned her attention back to K. “… but how do we know that it wasn’t really her who stole the President’s Book?”

“You’re right to question that, Desiree. Well, we know it wasn’t her because she was with my cousin, Brian Littrell, the very same night of the theft.” Kevin cleared his throat; it was quite obvious that he wanted to explain more, but didn’t know how to. “But since Brian is the only witness, and he and Ashavari are, well, specially linked with each other, the FBI doesn’t totally believe it.”

Nick eyed Diamond, who was smiling innocently, but with a devilish expression in her eyes. Her smile grew wider and matched the look in her eyes when she caught Nick’s gaze. Nick could barely stifle his laugh – who other than K would have said “specially linked” to refer to his cousin and his girlfriend? Their boss was endearing when it came to the subject of love.

“Back to the subject of the theft… I thought the President’s Book was just a myth?” Leo spoke, taking the others’ attention back to the main conversation.

“Well, it’s never been officially confirmed, but it’s always been said that there’s a book with all the juicy secrets of the government...” Diamond replied, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Man… the minute we have our hands on that book, I’m so going to read that bad boy, cover to cover. Alien cover-ups… the Kennedy assassination conspiracy… oh, and speaking of JFK – what about him and Marilyn...?” Nick grinned, wiggling his eyebrows just like Diamond had.

K sent him a stern look, one of the many that he’d been giving him since the start of the debriefing. His eyes widened in disbelief when he heard Agent Jay snickering beside him.

“May I ask something?” It was Nick’s trainee, Chris, who went by the alias Styx, who spoke up timidly. He had been observing and listening to the others through the debriefing, but now he asked, “What is the President’s Book?”

Grateful that someone was actually still focused on the subject of the mission, K turned his attention to his new recruit, Styx.

“The President’s Book of Secrets is said to be a collection of documents prepared by the presidents, for presidents’ eyes only. Allegedly, the book covers and contains many secrets about notorious events that occurred in the past.”

“Such as?” Styx probed.

“JFK and Marilyn.” Nick grinned devilishly, only to receive another stern look from K.

“Too many to name. Basically, all the stuff about Watergate, 9/11, the JFK assassination, Area 51...”

“Are we in it?” Diamond questioned.

K sighed. “Probably we are. Of course, if it exists.”

“Well, it’s pretty obvious it does exist if it’s been stolen from the Library of Congress. You can’t risk your life to steal something that’s not real,” Agent Jay replied.

K nodded in agreement. “Anyhow, FBI is behind the thief as well, but all their evidence points to Ashavari. We have to be one step ahead of them and find the real thief as soon as possible. In the meantime, she’s going to be our guest.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Opal chimed in, as she looked directly at K, “but I think it’s important for me to be a part of this mission. I appreciate the hospitality, but I don’t want to sit back, doing nothing, while there’s a person out there who’s acting like me and stealing top secret documents.”

K fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. “I don’t really think that’s a good idea, Ashavari. Brian would-“

“I know what Brian thinks.” Her voice was full with determination. “But he knows me better than that. I just can’t sit around, especially when your own agents are throwing themselves out there for me. I have to be on the field. Please.”

Brian had definitely been understating when he’d complained about how stubborn his girlfriend was. K eyed Agent Jay out of the corner of his eye.

Getting the message from one simple look by his boss, Jay spoke for the first time. “Actually, I believe we could find a way to send you out in the field, without the risk of getting caught.” It was something he and K had been discussing beforehand, anyway. “You can go in disguise.” He smiled when Opal’s face softened with hope. “Of course, we’ll need to change your appearance and get you a fake ID, but that won’t be too much of a hassle. Right, K?”

Leaning back in his chair, with his arms crossed on his chest, K kept his silence. His eyes darted from Agent Jay to Opal, who was looking directly into his eyes with the same fortitude. Jay’s solution was logical and safe; they had used the same method for their own agents, and it had almost always worked out fine. But still, something didn’t feel right. He blamed his own sense of responsibility; Brian had sent Opal to HimTak, to his agency, knowing she’d be in good hands. It was K’s job to protect her, no matter what. Sending her out on a mission, one they couldn’t begin to predict the course of, seemed downright dangerous. And it felt like he was betraying Brian’s trust. His green met Opal’s again. Not the slightest bit of hesitation or fear.

As much as he hated to admit it, K knew he couldn’t tie her down.

“I don’t like the sound of it.” His voice was solemn when he finally spoke, looking directly at Opal. “Disguises work most of the time, but I still think it could get dangerous for you. But I also know you won’t take no for an answer.”

Opal smiled genuinely. “Thank you, Agent K.”

“Speaking of which…” K raised his voice and turned his attention to Nick. “Jay and I both think you should go under some kind of disguise as well, 008.”

“Me?” Nick was surprised. “Why do I need that? Gorilla head worked out just fine!”

“FBI knows you and Brian were working together on a case in DC when the book was stolen. Now, they didn’t know you were with Brian when the Feds came to his house to take Opal into custody, but they may find out. You’re not a suspect yet, but they have you on their radar; that’s all we know. So it’s safer for you to go in disguise.”

Nick scoffed. “Stupid FBI; they can’t prove anything. And they can’t take me into custody just because I happened to be in DC-”

“I can discharge you from the mission, if that’s what you want.”

Nick went silent and glared at K, who, in return, gave a brief nod. “That’s what I thought.”

“What about Brian?” Nick piped up, deciding not to prolong the disguising issue. “He’ll be joining us once we hit DC, right?”

K eyed Opal at the mention of Brian’s name and then glanced at his fellow agents before answering Nick. “Unfortunately not. The FBI is still keeping him under suspicion. They believe Brian helped Opal to escape, and since they don’t have any other leads, other than the security cam images, they are sure Opal is the sole perpetrator of the theft and Brian is guilty of harboring a fugitive of the law.” He let out a sigh as he finished his sentence.

“Bullshit,” Nick muttered under his breath, as the others kept their silence and tried not to make eye contact with Opal.

“We don’t have time to discuss whether it’s right or not. I don’t like the idea of having my own family under suspicion, but we have to get going and find the real criminal before it gets worse. So…” He looked down at his papers. “Nick, AJ, Leo, and Desiree: you’re going to be working on this mission together. And Nick, Chris will come as well – he’s proven he’s able to handle being in the field.”

Nick nodded. A month ago, he’d have groaned, but Styx had done as well as he could expect in Canada. No, he hadn’t been able to take down Rough or Drums, either, but at least he’d managed not to get himself killed. That was something in itself.

K was continuing, “You’ll be working in two teams: Nick, Desiree, and Chris will be in one team, and Jay, Leo, and Opal on the other.”

As he caught this last part, Nick’s face beamed. “Ha!” He smirked back at Leo, who was pouting now. “Right back at ya, 009!”

Diamond’s soft giggle caught his attention, and when he turned to look at her, he noticed the small movement of her lips. “Lucky you.”

Oh, he was lucky indeed. This was going to be one hell of a mission.


  