Aphmau's POV

*Play Song*

"He wasn't there?" Lucinda tries to confirm, looking to Teony, who had an open Mac book lying on her lap, who was shaking her head.

"Gene nor Ein have been sighted at the last two Shadow Night bases we've been to, they're just.......gone." Teony sighs, anxiously biting her lip.

We were all sitting in the main conference room for debriefing, only Lucinda was standing up, her body obviously tense.

"Okay Teony, please just keep looking, they're bound to be somewhere."

Teony nods then proceeds to leave the room to let the agents do their thing. The sliding doors sensing her presence as they open for her as she heads out into the bright modernized hallway.

"Now, I have a mission brief for all of you......" Lucinda starts but is interrupted by a sleepy Travis.

"C'mon Lucinda, some of us need our beauty rest." Travis complains, his arm resting on top of Katelyn's chair.

"Oh yeah, Travis really needs that," Katelyn remarks, resulting in a flirtatious Touche from Travis. hehe Some_random-guy

We all break out laughing, the joy spreading throughout the air, flowing through our hearts.

I was sitting on Aaron's lap, my legs draped over the side of the chair, Aaron's arm wrapped around my back to support it, my arm around his neck comfortably.

"Well, if it's any consolation, the mission is tomorrow, and it is to infiltrate another one of the Shadow Knight's bases..." Lucinda says.

Okay, maybe a bit of explanation before we continue.

Everyone who was in the room, Aaron, Lucinda, Laurence, Garroth, Zane, Travis, Katelyn, Nicole, Dante, Crystal, Alexis, Zach, Xio, Altzac, Keely and I are part of a secret organization called P.H.O.E.N.I.X, which stands for Protection Heroing Offense Entity Nurturing Individual Xiphoid.

Do you know how hard it was to find a word that made sense that started with the letter X?!

Also if I haven't included your OC yet it's because I either didn't get it in PM or your character is coming in later on in the story.

We are highly trained agents of this organization, and we take on jobs that range from dealing with small-time criminals to large rebel organizations. Our largest enemy is The Shadow Knights, led by Gene Peterson and Ein Ryan, who we are trying to track down so we can put an end to their reigns of terror and cruelty.

I'll let Lucinda continue.

"Though, this base is more protected than the others we've encountered, more guards and security along with it, so it will be near to impossible to just walk up to the front gate. Luckily, this base is located in a forest so we'll just drive through the forest towards the back entrance, which is less guarded, so we have the element of surprise." She continues, clicking a button on a small remote in her hand, the large screen in the front of the conference room, changing to an birds-eye view of a large C shaped base, it being in a large clearing in an even larger forest.

"The reason why this is so well protected is that, unlike the stolen valuables you guys just retrieved, this base has something even more valuable, and is equally dangerous....." Lucinda starts, but Zane interrupts her.

"Wait, what could be more dangerous, then nuclear codes?" Zane asks, dumbfounded.

"The nukes, themselves." She answers him, her voice grave.

Everyone in the room becomes uneasy, some silently gasping.

The fact that the Shadow Knights had actual nukes in their possession, was as shocking as it was terrifying.

They could take down cities and kill millions at the flick of a finger.

I turn to Aaron from Lucinda, who meets my obviously worried gaze, responding to my concerned look with a reassuring one.

"I need you guys to infiltrate that base, find the nukes, and meet back at the loading dock so you guys can take the nukes back here, and we can give them back to the military........Okay, dismissed." Lucinda adjourns the briefing, all of us starting to file out.

As Aaron and I leave the room, hand in hand, I glance back towards Lucinda who was now breaking a sweat, leaning on the edge of the table, shaking her head slightly.

"C'mon Babe, let's go home." Aaron then guides me out of the conference room.

Though it was distant, as we left the room I could faintly hear some curious words in Lucinda's conversation with herself

"It's almost over.......almost...." Lucinda reminds herself, a noticeable masked crack in her reassurance.

What's almost over?

******************

I dose the silverware with cool water, the frigid liquid leaving a tingling feeling at my finger tips.

I have to admit, I was subconsciously washing the dishes while being lost in thought.

What was Lucinda talking about?

I could tell she's been acting differently lately....

But she does have a good reason to be....

It's been only months since Laurence's gone missing, and he hasn't been seen since.

The two had been married for almost a year when he went missing...

And Lucinda clearly hasn't fully recovered.

I sometimes see her sobbing at her desk, or in the bathroom.

Whenever one of us asks her what's wrong, she waves us off, not allowing us to help the powerful woman through her time of need.

I might as well leave it be.

Lucinda is very practical about her private business.

My thoughts are then cut off by two arms snaking around my waist, a chin nestling into the messy mop of hair on top of my head.

I nuzzle into the crook of Aaron's neck, sighing, my thoughts somewhere else.

It must have been obvious, as it was hard to hide anything from the observant Aaron.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Aaron asks, gently pushing my hair over my shoulder, the back of my neck exposed.

"Just thinking, I'm worried about Lucinda," I explain, feeling his breath now on the skin of my neck.

"She's strong, she'll get through it......" He tries, but I stop him.

"Aaron....please promise me something...." I say turning around, tilting my head up so my short view could meet his gaze.

"Yes, Aph? What is it?"

"Never leave me....please never give up on me.....please never leave me alone...." I plead, my voice breaking, a tear or two sprouting from my eye, painfully aware of what Lucinda is going through.

I never.....want to experience that.

"Aph, of course, I'd never leave you. You know I'll always be here for you, you stupid potato." He chuckles, cupping my cheek with his monstrous sized palm, brushing my tears away with his thumb.

I smile through the tears, putting on a stingy face.

"Hey! I'm not a potato....YOU'RE A POTATO!" We both then start laughing at my terrible insult, our laughter ending with the joining of our lips.

I kiss him with passion, jumping up and wrapping my legs around his waist, feeling his muscular shirtless body press against mine.

He holds the back of my head and the small of my back to support me, as he walks toward our room, walking in then closing the door behind him with his foot, still holding our kiss.

Shutting out the cruelty of the world.

Leaving, just us.

What do you think they're doing?

*Le lenny face*

Have a nice day my crystals!