The reverberating sounds of the door bell rang through the apartment. Aaron got up from the couch in the living room and moved towards the front door. Built into the wall by his left—a tiny screen displayed images from the door cam in the hallway, he peeked at the screen. His brows raised a bit at the image of her on the screen.
A smile rested on his lips, she bore a serious expression as she pressed the doorbell once more.
With folded arms and a smile, he stared at her from the monitor—captivated by her. Within him, he knew that the feelings for her never wavered, never flickered. . . His heart always belonged to her, yearning for her—even with the tiny squabble they had once in a while, it never changed that fact.
He watched her from the tiny monitor, the way she fidgeted, her slight irritation at waiting, and his heart raced. Even now, a year later, the sight of her stirred up emotions he struggled to contain.
She hated him and he knew the reason why she did. If only he was given a chance, he would in a heartbeat right the wrongs of the past.
He held the doorknob and finally let her in. A second more, he would have lost a door.
"Am I late or too early?" She asked him.
"The latter" he replied, "Come in".
He stepped back from the door and she walked in whilst he closed the door.
She walked slowly approaching the living room situated at the right of the hallway— taking note of the things around her. Everything was exactly the way it has always been, not a slight thing was out of place.
Pictures of them together were arranged neatly on the fireplace. Shock rippled through her, he still kept their pictures even after they broke up.
He walked behind her quietly, admiring the moves she made as she observed his living room.
"You haven't changed a thing" She said softly, picking up one of the framed pictures from the fireplace.
She held the picture, a bittersweet smile tugging at her lips.
Aaron’s breath hitched. It was his favorite photo—one he’d nearly put away, too afraid it might hurt her to see it. But he couldn't let go.
"You still have this picture?" She looked at him, pointing at the picture in her hand.
He closed the gap between them and inched closer to her. A smile appeared on his lips staring at the picture she held.
It was a selfie they took beside an unconscious bad guy. They made goofy faces as the selfie was taken.
"Yeah! That's my favorite picture" He stated, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh!" That was her only reply.
He felt a sharp pain in his chest. He wanted something more than a word, he shouldn't have let his hopes up that she would be impressed.
Who was he kidding? It would take more than just a picture for her to warm up to him.
* * * * *
TWO YEARS AGO
They were given a mission together working as partners. Their mission involved stopping a group of drug dealer dealing with marketing an illegal drug known to ruin a lot of people's lives.
The drug was 'Substance K', once taken creates an unquenchable thirst for more of it. It acts on the muscles, increasing the strength of its users. It was powerful, creating an effect that was so addictive but yet its side effects ruins the nervous system—affecting the user's mental state. The more it was consumed the more damage it did to the brain.
Substance K was in high demand in the black market. Its use made people crave for more of it. It was produced from a rare mineral discovered years ago. Scientists were still researching its chemical components.
álvaro Basilio, a Spanish mafia boss was the man behind its distribution world wide. His goal was expansion of his empire to America. He began with selling the drug to major leaders of the black market who sold it to the youths of the streets.
During their first attempt to stop them. They were an inch closer to stopping the operation, being closer to their main base. They weren't notified of their enemies preparation—She noticed a man on a rooftop, his gun was directed at Aaron, who was oblivious to him. Quickly, without much thinking— she did the first thing that came to mind. As the bullet was fired, she pushed him out of harm's way before it could hit him. . .She barely felt the impact before her vision blurred.
A sharp, burning pain radiated up her arm, and she staggered, gasping as her legs buckled. Aaron’s arms were there, catching her. She saw worry flash in his emerald eyes, heard his voice through a fog. . .
Ciara groaned—the rays of the morning sun filtered through the windows. Their warm glow rested on her face. Her lashes fluttered as she regained consciousness. She looked around her with furrowed brows at the unfamiliarity of the odd room she was in.
"Are you okay?" A familiar voice asked suddenly.
She turned swiftly to her side, Aaron stood at the entrance of the room—holding a coffee cup. He leaned by the door, his sleeves were rolled up to his elbow—revealing sculpted muscles hardened by intense workouts.
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She gulped! Mesmerized by her partner. As he approached her, she noticed how ripped he was. The first two buttons of his shirts were undone, she could vividly trace the contour of his chest muscle with her eyes.
His hair was tousled, some locks fell to his face a few inches from his trimmed eyebrows. His emerald eyes looked intently at her filled with concern, she was hypnotized and lost all at once.
"Are you okay?" He asked again, placing the cup on the bedside cupboard.
She shook her head back to reality, breaking herself free from his captivating charm.
"Yeah, I am fine" She replied, slowly.
"How is your arm?" He asked, settling beside her on the bed.
Confusion filled her eyes as she stared at him, "What's wrong with my arm?".
"You took a shot for me!" He pointed out.
"Oh! Yeah I did, I did" She said slowly as the painful memory flashed back. She stared at her bandaged arm. "It's okay".
"Why did you do that?" He asked with a worried but stern tone.
She shrugged "It is because you are my partner" She smiled "And I have always got your back!".
He was stunned by her swift and simple reply. A smile made its way to his lips.
"Since you're my partner, I have got your back too!" He replied.
She smiled and looked around—noticing a bunch of boxes on the different corners of the room.
"Did you just move in?"
His eyes followed her, landing on the boxes.
"Yeah I did, I haven't got time to arrange the place!" His voice held a hint of bashfulness making Ciara smile.
"Oh, Can I help? I am good at organizing" she said cheerfully.
"Sure!".
A couple of weeks later, an opportunity made its way to their doorstep. A drug deal of Substance K was about to go down in a part of the City. Their goal was to stop the deal. It wasn't easy to accomplish, the Mafia boss, álvaro Basilio happened to be a part of the deal.
The death of the Mafia boss was not part of their mission but he was unfortunately caught up in the chaos that ensued and was shot in the chest by a stray bullet. As the chaos settled, they wrapped up the unconscious men and set the warehouse to explode with álvaro Basilio's dead body and the illegal drugs in it. As the building burned down, exploding in flames—they walked out of it as time seemed to slow down with every booming step they made, wearing glasses mirroring stars from an action movie.
"You got all of it?" Ciara asked the only conscious man they'd caught. They made him shoot a video of them stepping out of the exploded warehouse.
"Yeah, it was dope!" He replied with a broad smile, handing her the phone "So, are you going to keep the end of the bargain of not taking me to jail?".
He looked at them, his eyes pleaded for mercy.
They glanced at each other and burst out laughing at the confused idiot before them.
"That was so funny!" Aaron stated and cuffed the man, flashing him a mischievous grin.
“Wait—so, n-no d-deal?” the dealer stammered, disbelief etched on his face.
Ciara chuckled, “Oh, honey, did you really believe us?”.
Police sirens wailed in the distance, they grew louder as minutes flew by. They patted his shoulder whilst his face scrunched up as anger bubbled within him. With a wink and a wave they turned around and left, abandoning him to his fate.
Two months after, Aaron summoned the courage to ask Ciara for a date, which she wholeheartedly agreed to in a heartbeat.
A few more dates after, they realized their feelings for each other and took the next step of becoming a couple, being one of the best decision Ciara ever made or so she thought. . .
BACK TO THE PRESENT.
"Okay, here is the plan!" Aaron tapped the button underneath the table in the living room.
A holographic picture of a huge mansion emerged before them.
Jason and Selina were stunned by the mansion.
"That's Dr Raymond's mansion!" Ciara informed "Every year, he holds a charity ball and the ball this year is in a week from now".
"We have to infiltrate the ball" Aaron stated "Ciara and I will be in a disguise as a couple while Selina will be dressed as one of the waitress for the evening" He looked at her expecting a contradiction to her role, Selina was mute not saying a word to it.
He continued, noticing that she didn't mind it "Jason, you will be in the van and take care of the security cameras".
"I can handle that," Jason replied with a satisfied smile.
Using his fingers, Aaron zoomed in on the holographic mansion, the first floor and the basement was in a clearer view to everyone.
"Down in the basement is his research lab" Jason stated, taking over from him "It might be a possibility that we may find some traces of the mutagen in the lab".
"That means one of us has to get in" Selina said, staring at them intently.
"Exactly! But there is one problem" Aaron informed.
"What is it?" Ciara asked, intrigued.
"The door to the lab would be highly guarded and it can only be unlocked by Dr Raymond's thumbprint and a retinal scan of his eyes!" Jason replied.
"We can handle the guards and get the thumbprint that would be a piece of cake but a retinal scan would be tricky" Selina said, stroking her chin thoughtfully.
"Luckily, we have a solution!" Jason picked up a black box from the floor and placed it on the table. “The research department back in headquarters just invented these!” He informed.
He lifted the lid of the box, revealing its content. Within the box, four pairs of contact lenses and a small flat screen device were neatly placed.
"A pair of these contact lens can scan any eye type in the world just by looking at it. It can scan the color, the size of the pupil and any other essential details needed. It's user would have the exact replica of the eyes it scans" He stated, they were amazed by the uniqueness of the lenses.
He pointed at the other device in the box ". . . While this device it's like a messenger, it sends the necessary information to the other pair of the lens!".
"That means one of us has to stare directly into Dr Raymond's eyes and scan it wearing the contact lens. . ." Ciara paused.
". . .While Jason will use the lens messenger device and send the needed information to the other person to unlock the door to the lab who also happens to wear the other lens" Aaron finished her sentence.
Selina frowned, eyeing the contact lenses. “You sure these things are reliable? One glitch, and it’s over.”
Jason chuckled, masking his own nerves. “Relax, HQ tested them. We’ve got this.”
Ciara looked over at Aaron, a silent understanding passing between them.
“The plan might just actually work if nothing bad happens that night!” Selina stated, sighed heavily.
This mission is indeed the most complex missions any of them had ever encountered in their lifetime as an Agent.
"Let's hope nothing goes wrong this time around or we are so screwed!" Ciara pointed out, solemnly.
