How long has it been? It couldn't have been much more than a couple of minutes. Half an hour… at most…

To Twilight though, it felt like an eternity.

It seemed like the world had come to a complete standstill. He couldn't remember a situation in his adventurous life where time had ever ran so mindbogglingly slow. And he had been in his fair share of mentally taxing situations over the years. You could say it was an occupational hazard of some sorts.

In his line of work, in most cases, it was a blessing in disguise.

When you are deciding which wire to cut in order to defuse a bomb at the last possible second, before it blows up in your face, or if you have to react at the speed of light to prevent an important target from getting away, once it had realized it was led directly into your trap, you are thankful for every extra second you can get.

There was this one time in particular during a mission in Romania a couple of years ago where this very "talent" most definitely saved his life.

Would he have waisted only a fracture of a second on an inefficient movement or a not perfectly thought through sentence, the whole plan of stealing their state encryption would have gone down the drain immediately. Together with his blood if his identity had been revealed.

Despite the predicament he found himself in, Twilight smiled a tiny bit at the memory, but it was a somewhat tainted expression.

If he had made it out of such predicaments, that had to mean that he had been through worse situations than the one at hand… right?

"Loid-san…"

Right. He had to focus. If not for his own sake, then for hers. There was a lot at stake at the moment for the both of them. The only difference being that he brought this upon them and he was the only one who could get them out. It was his responsibility.

He knew that.

However, he caught himself again trying to momentarily distract himself from the situation at hand by looking out the window, checking the position of the sun to estimate more accurately how much time he might have left to make his move.

The final play, which could very well be his last.

Once more he was reminded that the weather wasn't reflecting his desperation whatsoever.

It never does.

It was a beautiful day outside. Not a cloud in sight, as far as he could see from the position he was in. Autumn had arrived in Berlint. The streets were filled with leaves of every color, covering the whole spectrum of green to yellow and finally orange-brown. On their latest family stroll through the park, earlier that day, Anya had brought his attention on the many chestnuts which were spread out all over the meadow, simply waiting for the energetic girl to pick them up.

Together with Yor she had collected a whole bag full of them. She wanted to craft some figures out of them later on and her mother had, of course, agreed to help.

She had looked so innocent then and Twilight had completely felt at peace with the world… It seemed like forever ago now.

He forced himself to focus on the sun, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out if it had even moved an inch since the last time he had checked. It was no use, even though time stood still for him, he knew that it was proceeding none the less and he needed to act now, before it was too late.

Too late…

It was then that he registered that damn sound again, coming from his right side, which he had tried to suppress with all his might.

*Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock*

He was far too good at his job to have ever been caught before, so he had no first-hand experience on the matter, but he could swear that this was what mental torture had to feel like.

One more time he scanned the field before him. Asking himself again and again how it could have come to this. How could he have gotten himself in this predicament? What did he do wrong? Did he not take his opponent seriously enough?

No. By all accounts, he hadn't made any glaring, obvious mistakes.

Sure, in his confidence, he had taken the task relatively easy at first, who wouldn't?! But it was not for long.

A spy had to recognize danger well before it actually came for him and so he switched into full on battle mode long before other people in his situation would have.

*Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock*

"There has to be a way out of this. There is no problem you can´t solve Twilight. Just think!" Mentally trying to motivate oneself was a sign of desperation and he knew it. It was textbook.

He never should have placed himself in this position. There had been literally no need for it.

Now that he thought about it… had he been the one who was led into a trap for a change? But… how could she know?!

Had she played him like a fiddle? Knowing that he couldn't say no in so many circumstances? Had she maybe discovered her importance towards operation Strix?!

No. Now he was being ridiculous. There was just no way.

Although… the way she was playing-

Then it hit him. It was like a lightning bolt shot through his mind.

One more look at the board and he saw it. Right before his very eyes. The golden path.

One deep breath, followed by another… game face. Total concentration.

The more confidence he could exert, the more likely it was that his opponent would make a hasty mistake.

Still… looking her in the face was something he simply couldn't do at the moment and in retrospective… maybe that's what sealed his fate.

Collecting every ounce of strength he had left in himself and his game he reached out for the figure before him, knowing that a wrong move might very likely result in his ultimate demise.

His palms were sweaty, knees weak, arms were heavy, but he had to do it!

It was now or never.

Mere millimeters away from his target he heard it.

.

.

"Heh."

.

.

Every hair on his body shuddered under the sound and he stopped in his tracks right away.

He felt her eyes lying on him and even though he didn't look, he knew the face she was making at this very moment.

When he had first seen it a couple of minutes ago, it was the first sign that things were taking a bad turn.

Unsurprisingly, he hesitated.

This wasn't a fake, only to make him doubt himself. She was far to direct for such an underhanded approach.

It was a show of utter domination and... it worked.

Before his mind could again fall into a complete chaos, he felt two soothingly soft hands in his left arm.

As was so often the case, Yor had sensed his distress and was trying everything in her power to comfort him. Even though he could clearly see the fear in her beautiful cherry red eyes, he could also sense all the trust she had in him. He had never met someone who could warm his heart with such easy actions… nor at all if he thought about it.

Well… with the exception of the little person on the other side of the table of course. But right now, he had to dismiss thinking of her that way, right now she was his enemy and worse, she was about to crush him.

It was humbling to say the least, that the mother of the person next to him had to comfort him at the moment and not a mere child of only six years of age.

Regardless, for a tenth of a second he focused completely on Yor.

She believed in him, so he had to believe in himself as well and if he truly believed in himself, that meant that he had to continue believing in the tactic he laid out in his mind before the beginning of the conflict, including every possible way it could have been countered after every single move.

Unfortunately the worse outcome had always been the one that had come true.

Maybe… just maybe, the peanut loving, schoolwork hating, bundle of joy was simply a protegee in this particular field.

"Why could she be a protegee in math instead?!" He wondered and for a small moment, he believed he saw her wince a tiny bit.

Be that as it may. Yor believed in him. He had to make the move and he had to make it now.

One more time he quickly scanned the field for the worst possible outcome.

He had to admit, it was a high risk high reward maneuver, but it was his only option.

It was kind of ironic that Loid Forgers supposed Queen, which of course was his wife, was now making him put another Queen of his in danger.

She would dangerously threaten two vital pieces on her side of the board, but it was the third, hidden threat that was aiming at her core.

The only way she would be able to come out of this alive would be if she just totally ignored the threat and instead reacted with a mere pawn on the completely other side of the field.

If she did though, it was game over.

Twilight saw everything clear as day before his eyes. Yor had helped him see things clearly, the fog had lifted and he knew now, that it was his only option.

The prevent them both from suffering the horrible future that the other side had surely envisioned, he needed to win.

It was all or nothing.

Loid returned the small smile from his wife an at last spoke to his opponent.

"Queen to B4."

He swiftly moved the figure across the field and waisted no time, finally shutting up his side of the clock.

Now, time was ticking for the pink headed girl in front of him.

Now at last, she was surely showing some sign of weakness, some sign of desperation, something that would resemble the pressure he was putting on a small little girl.

Now he would be finally able to look at her again.

He kind of felt bad for acting like this.

Maybe he should have taken the bullet for her, but that would have meant that Yor would have to suffer as well and he couldn't let that happen! Not again.

It had been bad enough the first time around…

He would make it up to her. Maybe he would get her a big bag of peanuts, or the latest limited edition Bondman toy.

Then he noticed that their resident canine had come around the table and was now looking straight at him.

Bond had always been a perceptive fellow.

Right now, Twilight could swear that he was reading everything that was going through his mind.

To his surprise, he didn't bark his signature tune. Instead, he just… shook his head!

"Papa…"

Loids eyes snapped back to his daughter.

He knew his fate was sealed the second he saw her. No doubts, no worries, nothing but confidence.

His heart did a one-eighty.

Has he ever been so proud of her? Probably, because he was often proud of her, but this was definitely a standout.

One last deep breath and then… he smiled at her.

She smiled back. That wonderful smile that would warm even the coldest hearts and could literally melt ice.

Maybe… that was worth it?

Then she reached for the pawn.

.

.

.

.

"Agent Robo-Mama! Agent Robo-Papa! It is time to complete the mission!"

"Anya, please, indoor voice…."

"Sorry, agent Robo-Mama!"

Twilight rolled his eyes, but nobody was able to see it, because of the gigantic robot-plush he was holding in front of his face. It matched the one his daughter and wife were holding right now.

Anya was only marginally more quiet when she spoke up again and he knew that people around him were looking at them. Some smiling, others giggling and some only looking confused.

"It is now time to safe the ice-cream stand here in the museum! Our Objective is to gather aaall the new peanut flavored ice-cream they have there! Are you ready?!"

"D- do we really have to? We could just get you some the normal way…" One last try, which he knew would be for naught.

"Agent Robo-Papa! This is for world peace and not only for Anya´s tummy! Aaand you promised! Now grab each other's and Anya's hands, so I don't get lost. There are a lot of suspicious people around!"

"They are not sus… you know what, all right. On it Agent-Anya!"

Loid took hold of his wife's hand first. Her head had already been red from embarrassment, but he could swear that it got an even darker shade of red when he initiated physical contact.

"Sorry, ehem, Agent Robo-Mama for putting you in this predicament. Who knew that Anya would be such a natural at chess, am I right?" He rubbed the back of his head in an attempt to calm her down a little. "I will make this up to you I promise."

Yor tightened the grip on his hand.

"N- no need Loid. It´s… not all bad." Once again she showed him that blinding smile. Or at least he guessed as much, her face was still mostly hidden behind that robot. He could'nt help but smile back.

"… Agents Robo-Mama and Robo-Papa are lovey-dovey again… during our mission!"

"No we are not!" They shouted in unison.

"Shhh! Indoor voice."

Anya grabbed both their free hands and pulled them forward.

"Infiltration! Now!"

Twilight tried to remember if he had ever been on a mission with someone who yelled out "infiltration" while actually trying to infiltrated something. Well, he guessed it was just another one of the many firsts he had experienced since he was part of this family.

Even though he didn't want to admit it just yet, a part of him was actually looking forward to the next surprises.

…and to registering Anya in the schools chess club! If she played like a cute, female, pink haired Bobby Fischer against him, than surely she would kick all the ass at school!

Ehm, he of course meant; she could get a star for that and improve the chances of success for Operation Strix!

Yeah… yeah that's what he meant.