A/N: So, this is my twelfth story, but my first ever Gallagher Girls fic! Woot! It was originally written for the Love at First Sight Contest, but that got canceled and I decided to post it anyway. Thanks to WaitingForPrinceCharming, for convincing me it was good enough to post!
Disclaimer: I love reading about spies, but I'm not covert enough to write about them :)
I watched myself in the mirror as I brushed my hair. I would have to be leaving soon, but my hair wasn't being cooperative, and I hadn't seen Macy in years, unless you count on TV running for VP, so unfortunately her fashion expertise could not be properly utilized.
My husband snuck up behind me, wrapping strong arms around my waist. Well, he would have been sneaking up on me if I hadn't been standing in front of a mirror. And every decent operative knew that when you had a reflective surface on hand, you used it to check out what was going on behind you. Even if it was only your husband trying to act stealthy. Your husband who, because he's also a spy, knows how to act stealthy.
"Feeling a little vain today, Gallagher Girl?" he asks, smirking.
I place a kiss on his jaw and reply in the same cocky tone "Only as much as you are every day, Blackthorne Boy." He chuckles, then unwraps his arms from around me and goes to get ready himself, putting on the watch I got him for our wedding anniversary, which also functions as a comms unit and both an audio and a visual bug. I put on the necklace he gave me, whose blue pendant has the same abilities.
Because a spy never goes anywhere - even to a totally normal small town - without being prepared. We're like the kick-butt version of Boy Scouts. I think as I pull on my flats.
Several minutes later (because Zach took forever getting ready - much longer than me, I'd like to note) we pulled out of our driveway and began the two hour drive to Roseville, Virginia.
Now, sure, you might think that, since we're world class operatives and such, we might live somewhere more exotic. But I hadn't wanted to be far away from the Gallagher Academy, and Zach was nice enough to oblige.
After a car ride of comfortable silence, over which my loving husband and I exchanged only occasional snarky comments, we pulled into the driveway of a picturesque house in Roseville.
Slamming the car door behind me, I ran up to the steps of the house and banged on the door, to excited to ring the doorbell politely. Finally, after long months filled with dangerous missions and missed phone calls, I got to see-
"Liz!" Bex called, opening the door. "Cammie's here!" Glancing behind me, she added "And she brought Zach!"
Liz appeared in the doorway as well. "You don't have to scream, Bex. The entire neighborhood probably heard you." She scolded our best friend then turned to me, smiling. "Cammie! I'm so glad to finally see you! Entrez-vous!" She reverted to French for a second, inviting Zach and I inside (because all those years spent learning fourteen different languages don't just disappear, even after you graduate).
I stepped into the house, and Zach followed. Liz led us into the kitchen, where papers with codes Liz was working on cracking covered the table. A table that currently had a person sitting at it.
"Josh." I said, forcing a fake smile. "How have you been?"
Yes, Liz had married Josh. I could remember a couple of years ago, when she had told me the name of her fiancé.
Flashback************************
Twisting the sparkling ring that I had pointed out just a few seconds back and forth or her finger, she said to Bex and I "You guys… I'm engaged."
"We can see that." Bex said slowly. Then she grinned. "So who's the lucky man?"
She glanced up at us, then went back to staring at the floor. "Josh." she said. "Josh Abrams and I are engaged."
We stared at her in disbelief. "Josh Abrams as in… the Josh Abrams I dated ten years ago, when I was fifteen?"
She nodded, keeping her eyes on the ground. No one spoke, and then, because Liz was never good with silence, she burst out. "I'm sorry, Cammie. But I was just passing through Roseville to get to Gallagher Academy and our eyes met and it was love at first sight. He proposed a few weeks later and… I couldn't say no."
I gave a fake smile. "It's fine, Liz. Don't worry about it. I'm over him." I lied. Because that's what spies do best.
End Flashback********************************
And even though I was married now - happily married - it still sent a little pang through me every time I saw him. I knew Zach didn't like it much either, because every time we came over, Zach lied just as much as I did.
But Liz, doing her work safely behind desks and in offices, was happy. She led a (fairly) normal life. And that was all that mattered.
"Oopsy daisy." Liz said, spotting the mess on the table. She gathered the papers together, giving her husband a chaste kiss on the cheek as she did. "Josh, the girls and I are going to stay in here. Could you boys go in the living room, perhaps?"
"Grant's already in there." Bex said, naming her fiancé. Yes, Bex was getting married to an ex-Blackthorne Boy as well. "You boys have fun."
Zach brushed past me, going into the living room with Josh trailing sullenly behind. It wasn't until us girls sat down at the table with cool glasses of wine in front of us that I realized Zach had brush passed me a note. It read:
We can't stay long tonight. I know you want to catch up with Liz and Bex, but I have to leave early tomorrow for the mission in Singapore. Two hours tops.
- Z
I tried my best to ignore the note, but two hours and several glasses of wine later, Zach appeared in the doorway. He didn't speak, but Bex and Liz looked between us, and the meaning was clear.
"You have to leave so soon?" Liz asked, disappointed.
"I'm sorry, Liz. I really am." I said, then lowered my voice. "But we have to get up early for work - and he has an extra early day tomorrow."
They both looked sad, but seemed to understand. Bex probably had exotic places to go tomorrow as an operative as well, and Liz was used to it, by this point. I said goodbye to them, grabbed my coat, and left with Zach.
The car ride back was silent, but instead of being a comfortable silence, like it was on the way there, it was strained. Neither of us said a word as well pulled into our driveway and went upstairs into our bedroom. At that point, the silence was killing me.
"Zach?" I asked as he took off his shirt and put on pajama pants "What's wrong?"
He slid into bed and I joined him, hoping he wasn't so - angry? sad? disappointed? - in me that he pushed me away or left.
"What's wrong? You're the spy, Gallagher Girl. You tell me what's wrong." His words were sharp, and they hurt me more than sticks and stones ever could.
"This is about Josh, isn't it?" I asked softly
He flipped over towards me, eyes bright and angered. I shrank back. Because even though I could stop a bomb from detonating with a single copy of People magazine, I could not act calm, cool, and collected when my husband was angry at me.
"Yes, this is about Josh." he hissed. Then, seeing how scared I was, he calmed down a little, wrapping his arms around my body and pulling me close, so my head rested against his bare chest. "I just don't see why Liz had to marry him." he said, softer this time. "She can have almost any boy and he chooses him. Your ex-boyfriend. What type of friend does that?"
"Believe me, Zach." I said "I asked the same thing when she told me. But she said that it was love at first sight." I glanced up at him, trailing a finger down his cheek. "Just like with us."
"Just like with us." he repeated softly. I nodded against his chest, waiting for him to speak again. When he didn't, I glanced up at his face, realizing he must have fallen asleep.
It didn't matter that we had been arguing just minutes before. It didn't matter that when I woke tomorrow, Zach would be gone, on his way to Singapore. The only thing that mattered was that I had the man I loved here in my arms, safe with me.
A/N: So, cuteness, right? Well, thanks for reading! I ask you to please review, because reviews help me decide if I should move forward in a fan base or not. Thanks!
Queen of Air and Darkness