Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Lies

The George Bush Center for Intelligence in Langley, Virginia was normally a hive of activity and that was all the more true on Mondays. However, Emmett noticed that there seemed to be an unusual flurry of activity since morning. People were running this way and that while others were milling here and there trying to understand what was happening.

Dismissing his surroundings, Emmett turned to the urgent report he needed to submit following his most recent operations with his partner, Rosalie Hale. The blond agent was sat behind him in their shared office and was currently researching and compiling the available data for a more thorough and accurate report.

Rosalie Hale had been transferred from Texas along with her twin brother, Jasper, who was also a CIA agent and the blond beauty had been his partner for a little more than two years now. Most of his colleagues thought that Emmett and Rosalie were an item but that was not the case. After all, they worked well together and were often hanging out with their colleagues. Plus, they were the stereotype sport jock and prom queen type and incidentally, they had been the prom king and queen in the respective high schools. But that was just a stereotype and anyway, Emmett was a happily married man.

He'd been married for three and a half years with a woman he'd met exactly five years ago. He'd made a reservation at a fancy restaurant for tonight and had carefully planned a romantic time for the special day. His eyes glanced to the photo frames on his desk containing the most important persons in his life. He smiled as his eyes landed on the picture of his wife and him. Yeah, a romantic night with his girl was all he needed and he was certain he'd be properly rewarded later in the bedroom.

Emmett looked up when he heard someone running on the floor. As he'd noticed earlier, there had been an unusual flurry of activity and people had been running this way and that during the day. However, the heavy footsteps seemed to be coming his way and as he looked above the rim of cubicle, Emmett saw that it was his younger brother, Edward, who was running. He knew something was wrong the moment he saw his younger brother run towards him on the floor. It was his gut instinct. Edward had always appeared very in control of his emotions and that was what made him an efficient agent. But, once Emmett glanced at Edward's face and saw the urgency and panic there, a ripple of fear went through him.

"Emmett," cried Edward, once he was standing in front of him. His brother was slightly out of breath but Emmett still picked the panicked tone in Edward's voice.

"What?" he asked, fear tensing his shoulders.

"It's … it's," he breathed, his eyes shifting to look at Rosalie who'd moved to Emmett's side.

"What?" Emmett urged. "What is it, Edward?"

"It's Hermione," he finally said, in a flat tone.

It could have even been a murmur floating in the wind but Emmett still heard it loud and clear. He snatched his jacket on his chair and said, "What's happened to Hermione? Where is she?"

The thought of a severely injured Hermione crossed his mind and Emmett blinked. He forced it out of his mind refusing to believe that the worst had happened to his beloved wife.

"She's under arrest, Emmett," informed Edward.

"What?" he again asked. "Why and where is she?"

Emmett started moving out of his cubicle preparing to go find his wife when Edward's answer stopped him.

"They're bringing her in," he replied.

"Here?" inquired Emmett. At Edward's nod, he added, "When?"

"Like right now," answered Edward, glancing with horror at a scene behind him.

Emmett slowly turned to look in the same direction as Edward and true to his brother's announcement, there was his Hermione being escorted by heavily armed agents wearing thick bulletproof vests. Emmett temporarily looked at the three women and one man who were also being escorted to the detainment cells that were found on the other end of the building. It was easy to distinguish who were the detainees from the detainers. The five of them were the only one handcuffed after all.

His eyes moved again to look at his Hermione who was looking back at him with a blank expression. He felt someone move beside him and without looking, he knew it was his younger brother. He noticed Hermione's eyes briefly move to his left to look at Edward before she looked back at him. The escort party disappeared out of view as they entered the exit corridor. Emmett's eyes never left Hermione's.

"What the fuck is happening?" He thought.

"Cullen and Cullen," someone exclaimed, shaking Emmett from his thoughts. He turned and saw his boss standing at the door to his office motioning Edward and him in. Their boss was their own and favorite uncle, Marcus Cullen.

He sighed before the two Cullens moved in direction of the office. Emmett glanced over his shoulder once more in direction of the corridor where Hermione had disappeared from his sight. His eyes moved to the little crowd of friends that had assembled near his cubicle. Rosalie was standing next to her twin brother, Jasper. The latter smiled briefly at Emmett when he noticed him. Sitting in Rosalie and Emmett's place were Isabella 'Bella' Swan and Leah Clearwater who were respectively Edward and Jasper's partners. Bella seemed to be telling Leah something but Leah only shook her head in disagreement.

He turned back as they neared their uncle's office and walked in. They remained standing as they watched Marcus Cullen closed the door to his office before he walked behind his desk.

"Sit, please," he invited. It was only after his two nephews were sitting that Marcus Cullen took a seat himself. "I know that you have questions on what happened today, so I'm going to tell you everything that I know on this matter and that is in my capacity to share with you."

Their uncle didn't wait for any reply from them before he ploughed on, "Just this morning, we received a confidential report from an analyst here about a potential terrorist threat that was supported and probably backed up by foreign intelligence agencies. The Bureau and the Agency had to coordinate a rapid task force to apprehend the suspected terrorist. It was with great surprise for us to discover that it was true. We apprehended four suspects with high-tech surveillance material in an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Washington."

Emmett was in complete disbelief of everything he was hearing pouring out of his uncle's mouth and in his peripheral vision, he felt a little bit satisfied to note that Edward wasn't faring better.

"Fleur Delacour from the French DGSE and Viktor Krum, a Bulgarian working for Russia's FSB were apprehended in company of Cho Chang, an agent of the Chinese Ministry of Secret Service, the MSS, and a Parvati Pati from the Indian security service—the Research and Analysis Wing—better known as RAW," continued Marcus Cullen.

Emmett found himself to be incredibly tongue-tied and he was thus very grateful when Edward voiced the question that had been bugging in the last minutes. "Uncle Marcus, that's all fine and everything, but how is Hermione tied to all this shit? After all, she's a librarian, a civil. How could she be tied to secret services from four different countries?"

"That's actually the problem, Edward," Marcus answered and this time he looked directly at Emmett before he continued. "Hermione is or was a very efficient agent working for the MI6. We still are unable to establish if she is still an active agent. But we can establish that she's maintained contact with a missing British agent—one Luna Lovegood—whom we've been able to formally identify with an active status. An active search is being conducted for the British agent and unidentified accomplices."

"That's bullshit," finally exclaimed Emmett. "She can't be a spy. She just can't."

"It may be true," conceded Marcus, "but all the evidence gathered proves the contrary. She'll be under stringent interrogation for the time being and unfortunately, I can't let the two of you approach her. And that also applies for the four others. So, please don't do anything rash and that's not your uncle who's talking, it's your boss giving you strict orders. Do you understand?"

"Yes, we do," replied Emmett and Edward, synchronously.

Marcus sighed before he glanced at the wall clock behind his two nephews. "Look, it's nearly five. You've worked enough for the day and with everything that's happened in the last half-hour, I think you should head back home. I'll ring you if I've got any update, okay?"

Lost in his thoughts as he was, Emmett was in no position to answer his uncle, so Edward agreed before he pulled his brother up. He guided the latter to the door and told Emmett to wait for him by the elevators. He walked towards his brother's cubicle and picked up Emmett's car keys and muttering only an urgent "Later" at Bella's insistent questions when he saw Emmett had stopped and was looking down the dark corridor where his sister-in-law had disappeared into.

He steered his brother in direction of the elevators but not before also glancing in the same direction as Emmett. He also had trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that Hermione might be a spy or even worse, a terrorist.

Emmett surprisingly didn't protest when Edward told him he was driving. It was a very silent and uncomfortable ride back home. Edward, Emmett and Alice, their little sister, lived in the same building. They'd grown up together and had found it difficult to leave the family nest and thus, it was as much for convenience and family ties that Edward and Alice shared an apartment together while their older brother lived in the opposite apartment on the same floor. Alice was in her final year at Georgetown University studying politics.

Once home, Edward didn't leave his brother at the door but walked in with him. It was to no surprise to the two brothers to see their younger sister dozing off on the couch, a political talk-show still playing on the television. Startled by Emmett sitting heavily next to her, Alice woke up with a start.

"Hey, you're back early," she chirped. "How was the day?" she asked in her usual chipper tone.

She frowned noticing the somber look on her eldest brother's face and was going to ask what was wrong when Edward beckoned her forward. She raised an eyebrow but still followed Edward to the kitchen. Only after asserting that Emmett was still lost in his own thoughts did Edward tell his sister everything. Alice was properly shocked by the day's events and in order to process the news, started making some very strong coffee.

She poured some coffee in three cups, left one for Edward before walking back to the living room with a cup for Emmett and herself. She placed Emmett's cup on the small coffee table before seating herself on the chair facing Emmett. Edward and Alice stayed silent or long minutes as they observed their normally boisterous older brother occasionally sipping into their cups.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Alice, finally fed up with the uncomfortable silence.

"No," simply replied Emmett.

"You know that you can count on us, Emmett," said Alice, looking at Emmett with sincerity.

"Yes, we're here if you need us," agreed Edward.

"Thank you," answered Emmett.

Alice rose from her seat and took her cup to the kitchen to wash. She, in turn, beckoned Edward in the kitchen. "You should stay here for tonight," she said.

"I know," replied Edward.

Alice walked back to the living and hugged Emmett before walking out of the flat. Edward stood awkwardly near the kitchen door. He glanced at the calendar in the kitchen and was reminded to his horror of the date, their five-year anniversary. Damn.

The soft pitter-patter of small feet broke Edward and Emmett from their musings when a little six-year old boy walked into the living room from the other side of the apartment wearing a red and gold stripped pyjamas.

"Uncle," he started, looking up at Edward, "Where's Mummy?"

Edward bent down to pick the still sleepy boy up before he glanced at Emmett for guidance. At the latter's nod, Edward said, "Mum is helping some people out of town, so she's not gonna be here for a few days."

"Okay," the little boy accepted. "But she'll be back for Independence Day holiday?"

"She'll be back soon, Robbie," answered Emmett, this time. "She'll be back soon."