Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Season 5, Round 3 – Wigtown Wanderers vs. Pride of Portree
Position: Keeper
Prompt: Write about a Truth being hidden from somebody OR write about a Dare that reveals somebody's true feelings.
Word Count: 2,745 Words
Betas: Aelys_Althea; Kage Kitsune; DinoDina
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Entry for the Last Ship Sailing Competition
Ship: Katie/Marcus
Round 1
Prompts:
(word) direction
(object) chair
(colour) peach
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Secret Agents!AU
I hope you enjoy it, I'm looking forward to your feedback!
Lost To Oblivion
"So, here we are again," Marcus Flint said with a sigh as he leaned against the wall of their surveillance van, his gaze gliding over the woman sitting next to him. Katie Bell only hummed in affirmation, her gaze fixed on the computer screens in front of her, her fingers busily typing on the keyboard. "More long hours in this warm, muggy van... only us two... no way to escape..."
An annoyed noise escaped Katie and she stopped typing, turning her head to glare at him. "Yeah, Flint, could you please come to the point? Because you normally don't open your mouth if you have nothing to say at all."
"I waited at the pub for you yesterday. For three hours. Those looks of pity weren't pleasant."
Marcus leaned towards her, an expression of mock disappointment on his face while he obviously tried to wake some guilt inside of her. Not looking impressed at all, Katie took a sip of her coffee, then she replied calmly: "You overlooked an important detail, Agent."
"So? Enlighten me."
"You forgot to ask me if I would join you."
"Oh," Marcus mumbled, a little bit taken aback, and Katie chuckled while he shifted on his chair, his confidence dropping for a moment.
"Why don't you ask me if I will join you for afternoon tea tomorrow? See if I would show up if you ask me seriously." Her voice carried an enigmatic yet flirty tone in it, and Marcus smirked at her, suddenly appearing a lot more content.
"Well, then... how about tea tomorrow?"
"Guys, you realise that we can hear everything?" Katie and Marcus both almost jumped when they heard the voice of Adrian Pucey in their ear pieces; a second later, Alicia Spinnet entered the communication as well.
"Yeah, it's quite annoying. Some people are trying to work here."
"Sorry," Katie grumbled before turning her attention back to the computer in front of her, though she couldn't keep herself from smiling happily.
OoO
Katie checked her equipment, hands working calmly and methodically as every object was put into the right place in her utility vest. She sensed Marcus' presence before she even saw him leaning against the doorframe from the corner of her eye, and she smiled while inspecting her rifle. Even after a few months of being in a relationship with him she still felt warm on the inside when he was gazing at her.
"So you dragged yourself away from your desk to see me off?" she asked when she finished her inspection and he finally moved into the room, pulling her against him with his arms looped around her waist. For a moment they ignored the presence of their fellow agents in the room and kissed softly, lingering a little longer than necessary; they knew that the others were rolling their eyes about them, but they didn't really care.
"I wish I could come with you on this mission," Marcus whispered with a sigh, their faces still so close that his warm breath tickled Katie's lips. She gently cupped his cheek, smiling up at him as she ran her thumb over his skin.
"Like I said, without action you're like a tiger in the zoo, pacing along the bars. Poor baby."
Adrian and Alicia chuckled about her mocking tone and Marcus shot a dark look into their direction before focusing upon his girlfriend again. Patting his cheek, she said: "You'll survive, Marcus. I'll be back in a few days and you better have gotten through your paperwork before then so we can go on our vacation like we planned."
"Your wish is my command, love." He leaned down to kiss her one last time, then Katie grabbed her equipment and left the room together with Alicia. Adrian wanted to follow them on their heels, but Marcus grabbed his arm, holding him back.
"Promise to keep an eye on her for me, mate."
"Of course, Marcus. Don't worry," Adrian answered with a calm smile and Marcus let go of him, watching his friend leave.
No matter how many times he told himself that they were all excellently trained agents, he wasn't able to get rid of a heavy, indefinable feeling in the pit of his stomach.
OoO
"Quick, access the files we need. We have six minutes," Adrian hissed, turning his back to Katie and Alicia and letting his gaze wander down the empty corridor, gun at the ready. The two women hastily moved around the small control room, connecting a laptop with one of the terminals to load a virus into the system of the base. Despite them working quickly and with a certain routine, tension was hanging in the air; neither of them said anything if it wasn't completely necessary.
"We're in. Downloading now."
Katie didn't know why, but while the download was processing, curiosity got the better of her and she clicked her way through the most recent files, skimming through the texts and chemical formulas. The more she saw, the more prominent the heavy feeling in her stomach became, telling her that she'd just discovered something truly alarming.
"Guys... I'm not an expert, but these files give me chills. It almost looks like they're experimenting with mind-control. Sounds like the stuff thrillers are made of," she whispered, trying to keep her composure by not allowing her mind to concentrate on all the possible scenarios surrounding her discovery. "They want to start a test phase with human subjects."
Alicia briefly glanced over her shoulder and Katie could hear her friend holding her breath for a moment before she said dryly: "I'm glad we don't have the time for details."
"Indeed," Adrian grumbled darkly. "Start to pack up. We're getting company in thirty seconds."
Like so many times before, Katie was grateful that her training took over in this moment; she remained calm and focused while Alicia and she stuffed their things back into the backpacks. Adrian led the way as they left the control room, following the route the controller gave them over the comm system, and Katie secured the rear of their fast-moving trio.
Unfortunately, their escape plan didn't work out as smoothly as their bosses would have preferred. After turning a few corners in the seemingly endless labyrinth of hallways, they suddenly ran into half a dozen soldiers. The enemy started firing at them immediately, and Adrian yelled something about moving back, but his words were swallowed by the noise. Bullets whizzed through the air, hitting the walls, and a second later, Katie felt a hot, burning pain shoot through her leg. The leg buckled in immediately, and she hit the floor hard, panic and agony making her blood run cold.
Gasping for air as though drowning, she tried to push herself to her feet, but her body wouldn't obey her commands.
Time seemed to slow, and the next seconds felt like minutes to her. Katie could hear her blood rushing in her ears, throbbing alongside muffled yells. Looking up, she saw Adrian attempting to run to her, only to be forced to duck behind the corner to avoid the ricochets. Plaster sputtered from the walls, and then Katie screamed – hands were grabbing her legs, dragging her over the concrete. The pain seemed to intensify exponentially, but still she struggled, her fingertips scraping desperately over the ground.
She could see Adrian and Alicia peeking around the corner just as there was a hard tug on her injured leg, and Katie immediately passed out. While she was sinking into the darkness, Adrian and Alicia were forced to move back, unable to keep the enemy from taking their fellow agent.
OoO
A heavy silence was hanging in the air between Alicia and Adrian as they flew back to Great Britain, typing up their detailed mission reports. They'd barely made it out of the enemy base alive, yet they still felt guilty about leaving Katie behind – despite them knowing that they probably wouldn't have been able to save her without being killed themselves.
Alicia waited until Adrian leaned back in his seat and ran a hand over his face with a defeated sigh before she asked quietly: "What are we going to tell Marcus? You and I both know that she's still alive out there. They're probably torturing her, or... or if those files are as serious as they looked like... I don't think I can tell him that Katie could be used as their lab rat."
She watched how he gulped hard, his Adam's apple bobbing, and a pained expression ghosted over his face. Alicia knew exactly how he felt in this moment.
Guilty.
Shocked.
Angry.
Sad.
Distressed.
Had they done everything they could in their attempts to save Katie?
The situation was painful, and the circumstances made it impossible to mourn their friend's loss. She was still alive out there, and who knew if death wouldn't have been better than what awaited her.
Adrian bit his bottom lip, and then he nodded slowly. "You're right. We can't tell Marcus about what we found there and the implications. Like us, he would put the pieces together. It would break him."
He pulled his laptop closer and looked at the documents about the mission he still had open. "So, what do we do? Tell him that she was killed in the line of duty?"
"Yes," Alicia replied quietly, sorrow written across her face. "Officially mark her as KIA and classify the files and mission reports."
Nodding, Adrian began to type on his laptop and they didn't speak another word about the plan; they both knew that it wasn't right to lie to their friend, but they also thought that it was necessary to protect him from a truth that would break him.
OoO
Alicia and Adrian decided to inform Marcus together. He wasn't at the headquarters anymore, as his paperwork was complete, and so they drove to his apartment, both feeling tense.
The second Marcus opened the door for them he seemed to sense that something was wrong. His smile – he'd obviously expected Katie – fell and his shoulders slumped while he stepped to the side to let them in.
Only when they sat on the couch in the living room did he hesitatingly and quietly ask: "Did she suffer?"
His question was like a punch to their stomachs, and it took them significant self-control to conceal it. Alicia took a deep breath, then gave Marcus a sad smile. "No, it went quickly. I'm so sorry, Marcus."
He stared into space for a few moments, as if he couldn't quite process the situation, but then he blinked rapidly and tears made his eyes look glassy. Adrian looked down at his hands, unable to find any words that could possibly comfort his friend; they all lived with the possibility that they would die on a mission, but they tended to avoid thinking about it too much. And so the death of a fellow agent they'd been close to was still not an easy thing to stomach.
"If you need anything... we're here for you, okay?" Alicia said softly, touching Marcus' forearm, but he didn't even seemed to register that she spoke to him. It was as if he was slowly drifting away, silent tears running down his cheeks as reality started to sink in and the weight hit him fully.
Alicia wished she could do something for him, but she knew that no words in the world could take away the pain he felt coursing through him in this moment.
OoO
The darkness faded away only slowly and Katie could barely get her mind to focus on one clear thought. It seemed like dozens of feelings and thoughts swirled around in her head, creating chaos, and she was unable to catch even one of them.
She couldn't remember what had happened, how she'd landed in this situation, or where she was.
Hot white pain was pulsing through her body, making her want to thrash, but she couldn't move. It was as if a weight was resting on her eyelids, keeping her from opening them. Panic and fear mingled inside of her, causing her heart to beat faster, and the only thing she could grasp was Marcus.
His face sometimes surfaced from the chaotic collection of memories and thoughts, but he slipped away as quickly as he'd appeared. Katie just wanted to go home to him and forget about how horribly lost she felt in this moment...
A shiver ran through her body as a wave of cold swept over her, intensifying the pain. She could hear herself scream, but the sound was muffled, seeming so far away.
Her head felt like it was being split open, agony welling through her. At the same time it was as if all her memories were draining from her mind, disappearing into the nothingness while leaving darkness and emptiness behind.
No matter how much she tried to hold on to something in a desperate attempt to slow the process, it still slipped from her grasp.
And when the memory of Marcus slipped into oblivion as well, Katie felt like she had been ripped apart from the inside.
The darkness pulled on her and she stopped fighting, surrendering without knowing why she'd struggled in the first place.
OoO
Marcus sat on the edge of the bed, staring down at the peach coloured dress lying on his lap; it had been her favourite. The piece of clothing still held Katie's scent, and he inhaled it for what seemed like the thousandth time, closing his eyes while imagining that she was sitting right next to him.
His attempts were fruitless, though; the pain of the realisation that she wasn't with him anymore upon opening his eyes was making him regret the action.
He did it again and again anyway.
A part of him just didn't want to believe that she was gone, again and again starting a war with his rational side – two of his best friends had seen Katie die.
She was dead.
If he'd only been there to protect her...
Anger was boiling inside of him, and he couldn't do anything about it, even though it was trying to consume him. It was all his fault in his eyes, and he would never be able to forgive himself for failing the woman he loved. Katie had been the colour in his life. She'd given him the feeling that he was a person worthy of love and she'd shown him what it meant to live...
He hadn't protected that beauty.
OoO
"Do you really think we did the right thing?" Adrian asked with a heavy sigh, eyes fixed on the other side of the gym where Marcus was sparring with a fellow agent. He fought with more aggression and violence than ever before.
Alicia gulped, a familiar guilt rising inside of her, and she hesitated for a very long moment before she replied, her voice quiet. "Maybe there was no right or wrong this time."
They were both worried about their friend, and his change of behaviour constantly made them question if they'd made the right decision. Marcus had begun to withdraw from them, lashing out whenever they tried to help him; it seemed like he was permanently angry – with himself, with the world... He'd never been the cuddly type of person, but now all words that passed from his lips were sharp, meant to hurt.
What worried them most, though, was how self-destructive he'd become in his work, leading to their boss seeing him unfit to go on missions as everyone feared that he would get himself killed.
Alicia and Adrian had tried everything to help him, but by now they were out of ideas and close to giving up.
Obviously, Katie's death had broken him; maybe he would have been able to hold on to a tiny bit of hope to keep himself going if they'd told him the truth?
But now it was too late, and they had to live with their decision and the consequences.
"What if he finds out?"
Shifting from one foot onto the other before straightening her back, Alicia whispered back: "He won't. He can't, do you understand?"
Adrian nodded, his shoulders sinking, and there was defeat in his voice. "Never."
THE END