A/N: Stanley Tucci as Doctor Peters ;)
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The journey home was interesting, to say the least. Most of the remaining nine were messing about, all pumped up from the battle they had just won. It had taken a little longer than they would have liked to get back in the truck, but Captain Hall of the Flame base they were protecting insisted on recording all the prisoners they had taken and ship them off to a rehabilitation camp. By the time they had finally jumped in their own truck, Oscar's head was whirling with various scenarios of what was going to happen when they got home.

"Guys," Oscar said, cutting off all conversation as his voice sliced into their minds. "Emergency meeting when we get back. All meet in Tobias' room. We've got a lot to talk about."

"Why?" Dani said, raising an eyebrow.

"Is everything alright?" Megan asked.

"Just meet us there," Tobias said. "But be careful. Make sure you're not followed."

That made them all shut up. It was only Scarlett who looked suspicious, narrowing her eyes at Oscar. Oscar glanced towards the front of the truck, where Marcos was sitting next to the driver, then back to Scarlett. She nodded very slightly, showing she understood the gravity of the situation before turning back to Sam, just chatting aimlessly.

"Are you sure about this?" Tobias had leaned over to whisper in Oscar's ear, his green eyes flicking up not with fear but with wariness. "Once we do this...we can't go back. There's no way we can forget what's about to happen." Oscar knew he was right. There was no way they could go back to the way it was once they told the others, or even confronted Marcos.

"We've got to," he said. "For Ariana and Max's sakes. They're relying on us."

"And what if Marcos is right?" Tobias said softly. "Whatever this 'truth' is, he and Lark seemed to think it would make a big difference. What if whatever Marcos tells us changes things?"

"It won't," Oscar affirmed. "Toby, these are the people who shot me, who are probably going to shoot at Max and Ari. This is all probably some trap for us." Tobias didn't say anything after that, but Oscar could sense a storm brewing inside his head. There was obviously something Tobias had worked out but wasn't saying. He knew that he had figured it out the moment Lark appeared with Marcos. Oscar didn't know why he wasn't sharing but he didn't push it. Perhaps it was nothing, but he knew that in this game, nothing means nothing.

***

After the battle, Max and Ari had carefully made their way back to the Unity camp, making sure to grime themselves up along the way in order to keep up appearances. The last thing Ari wanted was for people to get suspicious because they didn't look like they've just been in a battle.

"What are we meant to do now?" Max muttered to her as they trudged their way into camp and reported to their supervisors.

"I don't know," Ari answered. The truth was, she really didn't. After seeing that meeting between Lark and Marcos, she had absolutely no idea what to think anymore. There were only two people she had ever really trusted, and even considered family, outside of the nine, and they were Loop and Marcos. Loop had always been her father figure, and Marcos like an older brother. It seemed he really was an older brother to someone being held by the Flame. It made her sad to think that Marcos never really loved them like family, because the rest of them did love him like it.

But her sadness was suddenly replaced by anger. Right in front of her and Max was the command tent, and standing by the doors was Flint Lark. Around her, the Unity soldiers staring at him as if he was some mythical being, some Greek god sent to save them, but all she felt was bitterness and fury. She took a menacing step forwards, fully intending to blast Lark with a blow of telekinesis that he'd never wake up from but Max suddenly grabbed her. He stepped in front of her, shielding him from her view.

"Not yet," he whispered to her. "You're angry, I know, but not yet." She looked up at him, startled by how pleading his eyes were. "Don't get yourself killed, Ari. You have no idea what that would do to me." All her anger bubbled away at the look he was giving her. She slowly let her powers subside, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"Okay," she said. "But tonight, we make our move. We break into his office, and we take the files and anything else we can find. We show Loop and we go home to help the others figure out what the hell is going on. I've had enough of being here." Max didn't argue, only nodded, glaring over his shoulder as Lark entered the command tent with one of his generals.

"It finishes tonight."

***

After Oscar and the others arrived home and squared everything away, Marcos and Loop had given them the rest of the day off to recover. It gave everyone the chance to slowly make their way up to Tobias' room one by one, so not to draw suspicion. When Oscar had arrived, Dani and Megan were already there, sitting on Tobias' bed and talking lowly with each other.

"Where's Toby?" he asked the two girls as he shut the door. Both looked up at him, their faces deadly serious. Suddenly, he felt very on edge as the girls studied him carefully.

"He's having a quick shower," Megan replied, nodding her head to the closed door of the bathroom. "Said he didn't feel too well or something like that."

"Oh," Oscar said, taking a seat in Toby's desk chair and tried not to look towards the door too much. "Are we sure he's alright?" Dani glanced at Megan who nodded.

"Well, you tell us," she said, an eyebrow raised. "Something has been going on between you two, and don't try to deny it. The tension between you both is crazy and yet you seemed to have done nothing about it. So, what's going on?"

"Did you say something to him?" Megan pressed. "Did you upset him? If you did, I'll kick your butt."

"No!" Oscar exclaimed. "I haven't said anything to him! At least, I don't think I have..."

"So...?" Dani prompted, leaning forwards so her elbows were balancing on her knees. Her hair was brushed over one shoulder and dangling down, just touching her arm. But her eyes were fierce, glaring with Oscar with such ferocity that he felt compelled to answer. No wonder she was the one they all went to when someone needed interrogating.

"It's nothing to do with Tobias," Oscar said slowly. "But for the past few months, I've been feeling...attracted to Toby. Something, I don't know what, has been drawing me towards him. I wasn't sure if it was just some sort of strange mood or something more meaningful. So when Loop offered me the Oldmere mission, I took it straight away not only because it was so important but also because I wanted to see if my feelings for Toby would fade. But the thing is, they haven't. If anything, they've only got stronger."

"Are you saying that you like him?" Meg asked, a smile slowly lighting up her face. Oscar was silent for a moment, studying his hands. Did he like Tobias? His feelings seemed far more complicated and deeper than just simply liking him. Oscar didn't just like the way Tobias's hands just couldn't stay still when he was nervous. He didn't just like his mischievous, elvish smirk. No, his feelings went far beyond 'like'. They were deep and meaningful and alive and almost like...

"I think I'm in love with him," Oscar whispered. Both girls' eyes widened before they looked at each other, smiling.

"I never thought we'd actually get him to admit it," Dani giggled. Oscar furrowed his eyebrows together, confusion hitting him square in the face.

"Wait, what?"

"We so knew you were in love with him," Megan explained. "We just didn't think you'd actually say the words without being prompted. It seemed like it worked."

"You tricked me," Oscar said, for once completely dumbfounded. "You got me to say exactly what you wanted." But then he smiled, laughing softly as he rubbed his hands together. "Good work, guys. I suppose you cracked me."

"We're not part of Project Midnight for nothing," Danielle said with a wink. "But don't worry. We won't say a word to Toby, at least not before you say we can."

"Thank you," Oscar said. "I appreciate that."

"No worries," Meg said, waving her hand. "But if you want some advice, I wouldn't wait too long to tell him. I'm pretty sure he returns your feelings." Before Oscar could say anything, the door of the bathroom opened and Tobias stepped out, his hair wet but curling around his ears as it dried. He glanced up at them, his green eyes sparkling.

"Having a meeting without me?" he joked. "Who are we murdering this time?" Dani rolled her eyes, smirking. She met Oscar gaze and winked, letting him know that she wasn't going to say a word.

"Actually, we're just waiting for the others," Meg said. "Then we can get on with this emergency meeting you guys wanted." For a moment, Oscar had completely forgotten about the meeting he had called about Lark's meeting with Marcos. He was totally fixated on Toby who had perched himself on the window ledge, his arms crossed over the plain, black shirt he was wearing. Lucky for him, Toby hadn't noticed as Scarlett, Sam and Finn came trickling in one by one. Once they had all settled, they all turned expectantly to Oscar.

Taking a deep breath, he began the story right from the beginning. He told the others what they already knew with his mission in Oldmere and Lark saying there was an informant. He explained how he and Tobias had been looking for a spy, someone that Loop and Marcos had missed when they searched the Mansion and the Compound. Tobias jumped in then, telling the others of the dream he had been having night after night, explaining that they thought it was a memory. Finally, Oscar took over again, telling the others of what they saw during the attack with Max and Ari. When he got to the part where Marcos met Lark, the entire room exploded.

"You're saying that Marcos is the spy?!" Scarlett shrieked. "That's insane!"

"Seriously, you guys have gone way too far," Sam grumbled.

"Guys, it's true, I saw it all with my own eyes," Tobias said, backing Oscar up. "Marcos has been passing the Unity information for years. He was the one who told Lark about Oscar, and Ari and Max too. He joined the Flame to keep an eye on us – the Flame's secret weapon. But he also said something about finding his brother."

"So you're saying that Marcos has a brother, captured by the Flame, and he's spying for the Unity to not only get us killed but to also find him?" Finn said.

"He doesn't want to kill us," Oscar said, rising to his feet. "He's trying to stop Lark from killing us. What he wants is to extract us from here, take us to Unity HQ and, apparently, tell us 'the truth', whatever that may be."

"But if he doesn't want to hurt us, then why tell Lark about you?" Megan pointed out.

"Because he wanted to get Oscar out but in a way that wouldn't kill him," Toby said. He had pulled out some rubber bands from his pocket and was messing with them between his fingers. Oscar could practically sense his nervousness radiating from him. "Marcos didn't want Oscar to get any more information from the Unity, so he told Lark to get rid of him but not kill him. That's why you escaped Oscar, even though you were injured. It made it look realistic."

"Then why say in front of me about the informant?" Oscar asked, suddenly realising that Tobias had put all of this together on his own. So this is what he has been hiding, he thought.

"To put us on the trail," Tobias answered. "To draw us towards the Unity. What they don't realise is that it isn't going to work. We're onto their plan."

"They know we're onto them though." The voice was Scarlett's. She was leaning against the door, her red hair tied up in a ponytail as she studied the rest of the room. "I'm not meant to say anything about this so you better all keep your mouths shut."

"What are you talking about?" Dani asked. Scarlett took a deep breath, closing her eyes before pushing herself off the door, walking to the centre of the room.

"The mission I went on? It wasn't for scouting territory," she said.

"I knew it!" Tobias yelled before rapidly shutting his mouth when Scarlett glared at him.

"Anyway," she continued. "I was sent to assassinate a Unity commander, one that Oscar saw when he was on mission. Her name was Commander Patricks. I was ordered by Loop to break into her home, extract information from her then kill her." Scarlett hesitated for a moment. "The thing is, Patricks wasn't that compliant. But she did tell me one thing."

"What was it?" Oscar asked. His entire body felt like it was buzzing with electricity.

"She said that they knew we were looking for the spy," Scarlett said. "And that we'd never catch them because something would stop us. Apparently, Marcos has something that would mean we wouldn't turn him in. Patricks said that even then, their spy knew that he would be untouchable with whatever this is, and that they were already in position to use it."

"Marcos knew what we were doing all along," Oscar whispered, looking at Tobias. "That explains the warning he gave us before the battle. Both the Unity and the Flame are watching us."

"So what do we do?" Dani asked. Oscar tapped his fingers against his leg, his mind racing at a hundred miles an hour as he went through a plan in his head.

"We break into Marcos' office," he ordered. "We get whatever we need to prove that he's the spy and we take it to Loop."

"But it's Marcos," Megan said softly. "He's like family."

"He betrayed us, Meg," Sam said firmly. "He gave up his right to be in our family when he spied for the Unity." He turned to Oscar, nodding at him. "I'm in."

"Me too," Scarlett said. "Let's give him a taste of his own medicine." One by one, everyone agreed to the plan, beginning to work out everyone's roles. Once they had the details worked out, everyone left to get into position. It was only Tobias and Oscar left in the room once everyone had left. Once again, Oscar's heart was racing in his chest, his palms sweaty. The voice in his head was screaming at him to tell Tobias everything, to tell him how he felt.

"Well, we've got an office to break into, haven't we?" Tobias said with a grin.

"Oh, yeah," Oscar mumbled, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "Let's go."

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And I'm back again!!!! So, we are nearing the end of Project Midnight, but fear not for there will be a sequel! It will be called Operation Twilight, so look out for that when it comes out! I won't give you a blurb just yet because it will spoil the end...

So, did you enjoy this one? Predictions for what you think it going to happen, if you please!

Also, who's liking Tobias and Oscar's little drama!? Who wants them to be together?!

Vote and comment, my lovelies! I'm always open for feedback!

Love y'all!

CricketCat