"Will you just fucking tell me already?" Troy growled.
Pulling her arm around Troy's back and resting her hand there, Gabriella slowly rubbed it soothingly. "Calm down, Troy." She whispered.
Troy gulped slowly, nodding his head back at her before focusing all of his attention on Joe and Marc.
Marc smiled. "It's not that we think you aren't capable, Troy…because we know you are," What the hell was that supposed to mean? "It's just that, with Gabriella, you tend to get a bit..."
"Distracted," Joe added in.
Marc nodded, watching as Troy chuckled emotionlessly. He ignored him and continued. "…which is why we think Gabriella should just do this part of the job on her own."
"What exactly will she be doing on her own?" Troy asked.
"I'll be close by her-" Joe said, only to be interrupted by Troy.
"You didn't answer my question." He snapped.
Joe rolled his eyes, ignoring Troy's tone of voice. Marc quickly took a breath and spoke before Joe could. "We only need her to deliver something to The General."
Troy laughed. "You can't be serious…" He looked over at Joe, his jaw tightening. "You're not serious, right?"
Joe sighed. "We don't have access into the warehouse, Troy."
"Obviously she won't either." Troy groaned in disbelief. "They probably have the place covered with extra guards."
"We never said anything about Gabriella going inside…" Marc stated.
"What?" Gabriella murmured from behind, finally speaking aloud and joining in on the conversation.
"We just need you to possibly get a hold of one of your friends that work there." Joe said shortly after.
Didn't he understand how dangerous that could be? "I-I…" Gabriella stuttered.
"Then, I'll do it." Troy said firmly. Gabriella shifted behind him, her heavy breath gaining on him. "I have a friend there too."
"No, Troy." Gabriella groaned, reaching around his body and tugging harshly at his shirt. Troy grunted in response as he was flipped around to face her. "Why won't you let me do anything?" She hissed. "I'm not some baby, dammit."
"I know you're not." He answered with a growl. "But you're my baby, and its way too dangerous for you."
She rolled her eyes. "It's not your decision, Troy."
Averting Gabriella's eyes, Troy angrily turned back around to Marc and Joe, giving them one small smile. "What do I have to give to my friend?"
Behind him, he could practically feel Gabriella's deathly stare boring into the back of his head. She was her own person, he understood that, but she never really thought through things like these.
Blinking rapidly, Marc watched the couple with an extremely baffled expression and opened his mouth to speak, only to close it again. With Gabriella stepping in front of Troy, neither Marc or Joe even had time to explain.
"Do you mind giving us some time to think about this?" Gabriella asked softly, but it was drastically hard to hide the annoyance in her voice.
Marc nodded, racing quickly out of the room with Joe close behind. He shut the door as fast as he could, his breathing heavy with relief that he was out of the room.
Once they had departed, Gabriella swiftly turned around to meet Troy's angry eyes. "How dare you decide what I can or cannot do?" She snapped, her arms instantly crossing over her chest in a huff.
Troy let out a sigh, rubbing his forehead slowly. "Gabriella…"
"No." She growled. "I'm a spy for God's sake! I was trained for this kind of stuff, Troy. You don't think I can handle this?" She stepped forward toward him, his mouth instinctively opening to speak, but she stopped him with another loud growl. "I am perfectly capable of doing this. In fact, for three years, I did the most deadly missions you could possibly imagine! And where were you?" Gabriella huffed. "Off screwing random girls, I assume."
Troy scoffed in disbelief. "That's hilarious, Gabriella..." He spat. "…because from what I remember you were also off satisfying your needs." He trailed off topic, immediately bringing back something he would regret later.
Gabriella nearly jumped out of her shoes in frustration. "Shut the fuck up, Troy." She closed in on him, her face merely inches away from his. He could see the anger in her eyes, but nonetheless, the same amount of anger was in his. "I didn't do shit with him, you asshole."
"And I didn't do shit with anyone else," He told her hastily. "I didn't care about anyone else but you."
Her face lightened up a bit, but she couldn't bring herself to calm down completely. "If you care about me so much, why can't you let me do this?" She asked harshly.
That was exactly when she brought out something in Troy, something he was trying to keep locked inside, safe and private. He had tried to push the thought aside, plenty of times it had worked. But just remembering the danger they were in, it was hard to hold it in. "I can't fucking lose you, Gabriella." He hissed in annoyance. "I told you once before with Francisco, but Gabriella…this is different. If the General catches you, you'll be gone. I will never get to see you again. Don't you understand that? I'm so fucking in love with you; I can't bear to see anything happen to you. She will take you away from me and I won't be able to do anything about it."
Gabriella noticed Troy's eyes changing into a darker shade of blue, simply watering with tears as they fell below his cheek.
"Troy…" Gabriella said softly, lifting her hand up to wipe away the tears that continued to fall. "I love you so much…" Troy looked down at her, sniffing silently as she wiped another stray tear. "But you need to have faith in me. Nothing, and I repeat, nothing can take me away from you. Not even death."
Troy's eyes suddenly widened at her last word, but Gabriella quickly shook her head. "Nothing is going to happen to me, okay? I promise."
With a slow nod of the head, Troy used all his will power to answer back to her statement, whether or not he believed it, he believed in her. And of course she was right, once again. He should have faith in her. She was a well taught spy, one that was very intelligent and strong in the mind.
Even if it killed him inside, he would have to let her win this argument.
"Let me do this, Troy." She whispered.
Troy's eyes locked with hers, and for a moment all the worries he had faded. "Okay…"
"Now, does this all make sense?" Marc asked.
Gabriella rolled her eyes playfully. She was not some child, hadn't she made that clear? "Yes, sir." She smirked.
Marc laughed as well, realizing how stupid that actually sounded when he asked her. Of course she understood what he was saying, she was brilliant.
"So tomorrow sounds good, right?" Joe asked from the side.
Gabriella nodded and added in a bright smile before looking next to her to Troy. He was looking down, not seeming to be paying attention to anything they were talking about. Gabriella noted that he was also fiddling with his hands, his nerves racing back.
"Troy?" Gabriella softly asked.
Troy's hands broke apart quickly and he looked up, his eyebrows lifting. "Hm?"
Gabriella smiled slightly. "Is tomorrow okay?"
Troy coughed. "Yeah – yeah…sure."
Gabriella nodded. "Would you like to know how safe this will be?" She grinned.
Instantly, Troy's eyes perked up, his body jerking forward in eagerness.
Gabriella could've laughed if the situation wasn't as serious.
"Well, I will be completely disguised. From head to toe." She smiled. "You probably won't even be able to recognize me."
Troy gave her a small smile, which she gladly returned. "All I actually have to do is stop by Sharpays apartment and give her this letter." Gabriella pointed toward the small piece of paper lying on the table. "She gives it to The General, and bam…the truth is uncovered." Gabriella giggled softly.
Troy nodded. "What's in the letter exactly?" He seemed to have warmed up with the whole situation of Gabriella doing this, but he wasn't completely okay with the idea yet.
Marc chuckled. "If you were listening, you probably would've known."
Troy rolled his eyes and looked back at Gabriella who was still giggling. It only made him want to laugh along with her, but he just couldn't.
"It's going to tell her everything about Alex, Kristen, and Francisco…How Alex faked his own death to get out of her hold, and how Kristen is a backstabbing bitch."
Joe smirked. "We also threw in a little proof as well."
Troy raised his eyebrow. "Like?"
"Let's just say, we had a few pictures of Alex and Francisco. If she isn't stubborn, she'll believe us and you'll be cleared." Marc told him.
"And when you're cleared, you can return to the warehouse." Joe said.
Troy nodded. "What then?"
"Then, you guys are going to get that diamond."
Gabriella smiled at Troy, giving him a little encouraging nod. "It'll be like the mission all over again." She giggled. "But this time, it won't be a fricken fake diamond."
Troy finally let out a chuckle, remembering the mission training with Gabriella he had endured. Oh, good times. "What about Alex?"
Both Joe and Marc grinned. "After Francisco goes to prison…" Joe said slowly, Marc soon completing his sentence.
"We take him down, along with the rest of them." Troy knew he was referring to the others he met, including Kristen, but for some reason…it felt like he was only referring to one person; Brooke. The woman who broke his heart. Honestly, it didn't feel like he was even talking about Alex.
Gabriella quickly sat up. "I call Kristen." She said loudly to get her point across.
Troy grinned. "Make sure I'm there to watch."
Gabriella giggled, nudging Troy in his shoulder. "You'll have a front row seat…" She winked. "Hey, maybe if you're lucky I'll take my shirt off."
Marc coughed loudly, patting his chest hard. Joe quirked his eyebrow and looked at Marc as he seemed to choke on air.
Unlike the clueless guy and the dying guy, Troy suddenly felt very hot. If only he could kick Marc and Joe out at the moment.
Damn.
Nearly an hour ago, Marc and Joe had left the pair to get some more supplies for tomorrow, along with Gabriella's necessities for her disguise. She told them, well demanded, they get her a blonde wig with large sunglasses, and a massive trench coat as well. She had seen movies where they dressed up like that, and it only urged her to try it out. She never once had a disguise that hid all over her features that made her, her. But now, now that she had to hide herself completely, she needed to become someone else. And she even named herself. Yep, she was now going to be Angelina. If only Troy understood why. Oh how clueless he was when it came to Brad Pitt; the husband of her dreams.
"What happens if Sharpay isn't there tomorrow?" Troy asked suddenly, out of breath as Gabriella also breathed heavily with her hands placed on her knees and her back slouched.
"Then I go to Taylors." She responded shortly after, barely getting out the words. She knew what was next, so quickly, she continued. "If she's not there, I'll just slide it under her door." Gabriella lied. If none of her friends were present, that would mean they were in danger as well. Which means…the only option would be to get to The General herself. She just hoped it wouldn't come down to that.
Troy nodded, grabbing his bottle from the side and chugging down some cold water. When he was finished, he handed it to Gabriella and she quickly gulped down the rest. "Sharpay used to leave for work around 8, so I should probably go there with Joe…" Gabriella took another deep breath. "By 7."
"Okay." Troy said softly. "If you're not back by-"
Gabriella giggled, cutting him off. "Will you stop with the worrying? I'll be fine. We talked about this."
Troy rolled his eyes, slowly walking closer to her with his hands gradually extending out to her. "I know, I know." He sighed, pulling her into his arms. "It's just hard not to worry."
She rested her head against his chest and inhaled his scent. "I'll tell Sharpay to tell Taylor to tell Chad you said hi," She whispered and giggled.
He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against her hair. "Let's get back to training." He told her. "I need you fit and ready for tomorrow in case something happens."
She ignored his worries for just this moment and moved away from his grasp, giving him a small innocent smile before pulling him into a head lock.
With a taunting tone, she whispered into his ear as he struggled to get out of her grip.
"What was that you said? I need to get fit and ready?"