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WILL

The presence of the press here made everything a hundred times worse. Thankfully though, the doctors were smart enough to remove the dead body before anyone noticed. Although it was beyond me how someone would not notice a big, black body bag right there next to the entrance, but I guess they had a much more interesting story to cover and all their focus was on how to get to Lia's room.

Miles didn't want to leave her room to take part of the chaos that was taking place downstairs, claiming that there's really nothing for him to do now, and it is better if he stays with his sister to make sure no more harm reaches her. And then we got an official meeting call from The Agency, but no, even then he didn't want to leave, stubbornly insisting that there was nothing for him to do there, either.

"You can manage without me, you've been doing that for a while now," he argued.

"Miles, this isn't a meeting to discuss trivial matters, it's about you, your sister and that body that was sent here. You have to be there."

"No, I don't have to be there. You guys can discuss all that while I stay here, keeping watch over my sister."

"You have six agents keeping watch, this hospital is owned by The Agency, it's practically an extension of ISIA, it's perfectly protected and Luke is going to stay with her. She'll be okay. Besides, the meeting won't take long," I tried to reason. I understood his paranoia but his presence in that meeting was essential.

"Fine, but on one condition."

"You want to make conditions to come to a job meeting? Seriously?"

"Lia comes with me," he ignored my comment.

"That's ridiculous," I protested, but it seemed completely normal to him.

"Or we could have the meeting in her room, here in the hospital," he continued with his unreasonable suggestions.

"I can imagine it, we have gathered here around this hospital bed to discuss matters of utmost urgency –

That earned me a glare and a middle finger from Miles before he stormed off.

"You're going to come to the meeting even if I have to drag you!" I called after him.

✿ 

"This is truly unprofessional," Steve grunted as he took his seat around the table in the hospital's cafeteria.

Miles saw it as a compromise, Steve thought it was utterly absurd, but here we are, having our meeting in the cafeteria after having it cleared and secured. 

This was the first official meeting to discuss Lia's case and we were having it in the cafeteria? I was surprised Gerard agreed to this, I guess there's still a speck of humanity in his heart. 

Miles had a look of triumph on his face as he sat down. Steve, who did not get along well with him, was being imperious; looking around the place with horrified disgust like we decided to host the meeting in the middle of a trashcan. Dillon was pretending to be staring at his laptop screen but in reality he was staring at me, and he wasn't as subtle as he thought he was. It was quite uncomfortable actually. Alexis and Scarlet, the only two female agents present, didn't seem to mind the place but were both staring at the terrible coffee with so much sadness like someone has committed a crime against humanity. I guess I should have warned them about it.

"It's not possible that this is actual coffee," Scarlet whispered. "It's disgusting."

And then there was me, trying not to laugh at everyone else's misery.

"Alright," Gerard cleared his throat. "Settle down everyone."

.

. 

There were two great outcomes of this meeting; one, a case outline and two, we now know that it is possible for both Miles and Steve to have a decent conversation without ripping each other's heads off.

The latter could be argued with, though, because as soon as the meeting was dismissed and Gerard, Alexis and Scarlet left, they both returned to their usual. Dillon just sat there awkwardly.

"Who knew Miles Shaw had a heart and was capable of caring about someone other than himself," Steve began. 

"I wish the same could be said about you, Reid," Miles replied with a sigh. "But I guess your ego took all the space in there, that's very unfortunate." 

They argued like little girls... 

"It would also," I interrupted them, "be very unfortunate if either of you had to walk out of here with their hands cuffed, so I say we break it off agents."

Someone started clapping. Literal clapping.

"Very good!" Dillon cheered; he pushed his chair back and stood up, still clapping like I just delivered a presidential speech. "That was very good."

We all looked at him in concern but he didn't seem to notice, he beamed at me proudly, and then proceeded to pack his laptop and papers like he didn't just weird us all out.

.

.

Obviously, Miles was not just going to let that slip by without tormenting me by it; it goes against all friendship rules.

The next day I brought him and Lia coffee from a nearby coffee shop on my way and when I handed it to him he started clapping.

"Very good," he tried to mimic Dillon's accent. "That was very good thinking of you."

Lia smiled, thinking her brother was just being weird. I didn't mind it, as long as Miles wasn't sulking and was actually smiling about something, I didn't mind it. But I still flipped him off and told him to shut up.

✿

It was a very busy day, we didn't want to pressure Lia but we also needed to know what happened.

"I don't know if she'll be able to talk about it now," Miles said when I mentioned it. "She woke up screaming in the middle of the night, and then she just started crying. She talks in her sleep sometimes, just names and other incoherent stuff. I tried asking her about it, but she was in no state to talk at all, I had to give her meds to sleep. I don't want to make it worse now."

And then I suggested we call her best friend, whom I have found through Facebook, and tell her about Lia's condition and if it is possible that she comes here for a few days.

"No way, I'm not doing it," he protested immediately.

"Why not?"

"Her friend thinks both of us are dead, dude."

"Well, I never said there won't be a lot of explanation."

It took a lot of persuasion, but he finally did it.

"Hello, is this Venus Harper?" he began. And then he put his hand on the receiver and whispered to me 'who the fuck names their daughter Venus?'

"Miles!" I hissed. "Not the time."

Then he put her on speaker.

"I heard that!" she shouted. "Who is this?"

"You're Lia's friend, right?"

"Who is this?" she repeated.

"Umm... I'm her brother, Miles. It's ... I'll explain ... she-

"You think this is funny? You asshole!" and then she hung up.

We tried again, and again, and again until she finally answered on the fourth try.

"I'll call the police," was the first thing she said.

"Just listen please," Miles spoke quickly. "I know you think I'm ... dead. And I'll explain that, but I just want you to know that Lia is alive, she's not okay, but she's alive and if you could come see her, maybe that would help."

"You promise this is not a prank call?" she asked in a low voice. "I don't believe you. Let me talk to her."

"I will, but promise you won't tell her anything about me being dead and all that, she doesn't remember everything yet."

She hesitated for a moment and then finally said, "Okay. I promise just let me talk to her."

We gave Lia the phone, and there was a lot of crying involved in the call, so Miles and I kindly detached ourselves from the room to give the two girls some privacy.

"Do you think I should tell her the truth?" he asks me while we wait in the hallway.

I shrug, "I don't know. Eventually yes, you'll probably have to tell her before she remembers it herself and then it'll be much worse. But right now, she already has a lot on her plate, no need for added stress."

Miles has become so uncertain of everything lately, that he questions all his actions and decisions. I practically make all his decisions for him nowadays that even the simplest of actions, I find him turning around to ask for someone's opinion.

"Hey," I put a hand on his shoulder. "You're doing great. You're being strong and holding it together really well."

He gives me a sad smile, "I'm not holding anything together, Will. I just simply feel nothing."

He walks away, but turns halfway and says, "stay with her, please, until I'm back." He doesn't tell me where he's going, he just leaves.

.

.

I texted Luke and asked him to bring us real food because I don't trust anything that comes out of this hospital's kitchen anymore. I waited for a few more minutes and then walked back in. She was still on the phone, but not crying anymore, she was actually, genuinely, smiling and I made a mental note to hug this Venus when I see her.

I wait for her to finish, which takes a lot longer than I thought, but eventually, the call ends and she looks a thousand times happier than she was before.

"Thank you for calling her, I really needed that," she says.  

"It's no problem at all! How are you feeling today?"

She shrugs, "better."

Luke arrives with Chinese food shortly after.

"Where's Milo?" he asks.

"Gerard called him, he's back at base," I lie.

He nods, "well, then I'm eating his food."

We eat, mostly in silence; Luke initiates a conversation about healthy food which somehow leads to our current discussion topic, his girlfriend, Candice.

He doesn't give either of us a chance to say anything as he starts talking about her like someone just asked him to deliver a Girlfriend Appreciation speech. It was very cringe worthy and gag-prompting, to say the least. But Lia wasn't complaining, she wasn't speaking at all actually...

And then we were interrupted by a very excited Dillon walking in, with his laptop in hand. At this point, the laptop seemed like an extension of his arm, I don't remember ever seeing him without it.

"Hey Dillon," Luke greets. "What's up?"

As expected and to my horror, Dillon, obliviously, looks up. Luke realizes his mistake and quickly says, "I mean how are you, Dillon?"

"I'm good," he says. "I need to speak to William."

How unpredictable.

I follow him outside, but not before noticing the very obvious wink from Luke.

"Yes Dillon?"

"Watch," he says and turns the laptop towards me.

The music starts playing before there's anything on screen, I recognize it instantly, James Bond's theme music, and then I'm seeing the entrance of this hospital through surveillance cameras, there's a small crowd on the left side of the screen; the news-reporters that were here earlier. The music was really distracting. On the right, behind the crowd someone shows up pushing a gurney, he stops near a wall and tilts the gurney to the side causing the body that was on it to fall over, he bends down and places something on top of it, the note I assume, and then leaves, leaving the gurney in its place, serving as a not very effective cover for the body. The video ends with a Thank You for watching note at the end.

Did he just edit our evidence... with James Bond music and a Thankyou note like it's some YouTube video?

Whoever hired Dillon I was sure going to have a talk with. There's only so much weird a person could take and very little weird a person could be. Dillon was just something else entirely, it was almost comical.

"What do you think?"

I chose to completely ignore the horrendous modification that was done to this video and comment just on the content. "Great job, who would've thought of checking the surveillance cameras, right?" I knew he was most likely not going to get the sarcasm, and I almost felt bad about it until he spoke again.

"I did! I thought about it!" he replies.

"Right, you did," I take a deep breath. "So Dillon, how old are you?"

"I'm twenty four."

Then why the hell are you acting like that? I want to ask, but that would be very insensitive. Clearly, he didn't think there was anything wrong with the way he acts or speaks, when actually there was nothing right about it. I thought he might be autistic but then I checked his personal file at the agency and there was no mention of autism. There must be some story or a logical explanation for it, but I was not going to ask.

"Well, I hope you're enjoying working with ISIA," I say and get up.

"Yes, of course. I enjoy working with you," I'm only about 99% sure that the you means me not The Agency, and I make a mental note to introduce him to Gemma as soon as possible. Just to clear things out.

And say what? This is my not-so-girlfriend?

Okay, so maybe I have to confess to Gemma first and then introduce. Sounds like a plan.

"So, great work Dillon," I repeat. "You can work with Steve, for now, on finding out who the anonyms messenger was."

He looks greatly disappointed, but nods anyway and extends his arm for a handshake.

.

.

"That must've been one long confession, mate," Luke says as soon as I walk back in. "Did you break his heart?"

"Shut up, Luke."

"Don't tell me you haven't realized he has a huge crush on you?"

Lia lets out a breathless laugh, but doesn't engage in the conversation.

"I don't know, I don't think he's gay," I say. It was a lie, I do think he's gay but I can't be too sure.

Luke snorts at that, "he's as straight as a hula hoop."

"Are we seriously going to sit and discuss Dillon's sexuality? I really don't care what he is. If he's gay, good for him. I'm clearly struggling to confess to a girl that I like her, I don't need any more struggles."

"The tragic love life of William Terrell," Luke pats my back, laughing.

"Whatever you say, cupcake."

✿

Lia has been quiet for most of the day, smiling or laughing lightly as Luke and I talked, but for most part, she was somewhere else in her mind. On top of that, her medicine made her drowsy and dizzy; so she ate very little and slept through the day.

I leave the room to call Miles who hasn't returned yet and it was almost midnight now. His phone is completely out of service, I try calling again for about twelve times in the interval of two hours before finally giving up.

I don't know what is like or unlike Miles anymore. Just yesterday I had to beg him to leave his sister for a couple of hours to attend a meeting and today he disappears completely for an entire day. I just hope he's not doing anything Miles-y.

I send a text to Lia's best friend, Venus, letting her know I booked her a flight due after tomorrow and sent her the details. It was one am here, and I have no idea what time it is in America right now, so I didn't expect a response.

Feeling too wired and exhausted to worry about anything anymore, I go to sleep on the spare bed next to Lia's.

✿

I'm awoken by a sudden, loud scream that causes me to jump off the bed, my hand already moving to my gun. Then I realize there's no one else in the room but Lia.

She sat on the edge of her bed, her chest heaving as she cried silently. I quickly moved to her side but she sprang up putting as much distance between us as possible. Her whole body was shaking and she was muttering something I couldn't make out clearly.

"Lia, it's just me," I tried approaching her again and she started screaming and then collapsed on the floor, still shaking violently.

Two nurses come rushing into the room, but even them Lia wouldn't let near her. She sat against the wall, pulled her knees into her chest, and curled in on herself, refusing to let anyone approach her. She was struggling for breath, coughing and choking. Against all her protests and screams, the nurses managed to inject her with a sedative and held her down for some time until it took effect. After she had calmed down, they tried helping her off the ground but she just pushed their hands away. They looked to me for help, and when I finally managed to snap out of my shocked state and find my voice, I told them I'll take care of her and they left.

I hesitated before I crouched down opposite her, leveling my gaze at her but she wouldn't look at me. Her eyelids were drooping and, even while sitting, she was swaying a little to the side. I helped her stand up and she didn't protest this time, but her knees buckled underneath her and she fell against me, so I carried her back to her bed.

"I didn't want to do it," she whimpered, as I placed her down, and then she was out completely.

I watched her for a few minutes, making sure she was finally sleeping before I grabbed my phone and gun and walked out.

I dialed Miles's number again, this time it rang but there was no answer. I keep on trying again, silently cursing him in my mind, but he didn't pick up. 

The fuck?

Frustrated, I kick at the trashcan on my way, sending it tumbling over with all its contents spilling. I get looks of disapproval from the few nurses who were around, but no one said anything, clearly not wanting to deal with an angry guy with a gun at three in the morning.

I walk back to Lia's door and slide against the wall next to it, I called Luke, asking him to go over to Miles's house and check if he was there, I would've don't it but I couldn't leave Lia alone now, worrying about one of the Shaws was already troublesome enough. He wasn't angry or grumpy that I woke him up at this time because sadly, this was a normal in our lives, even if Luke wasn't part of The Agency, he almost always got roped into anything relating to Miles or I. He called back telling me that the house was empty and he checked in various other places Miles could be, but there was nothing.

Finally, panic began to settle in.

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿ 

A/N

I promise the story becomes kinda happier later on.  

I hope you liked it! Opinions?

Thank you for reading! x