A/N: I hope people are still enjoying this fic. Your comments, reviews, kudos, favs, etc mean a lot to me. I don't think I'll be doing anymore flashbacks, now that I've told Beca's story. Unless you guys have ideas or things you'd like to see. Anyway, here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it to anyone who's still following!
Chapter 28: For Idiots Only
Chloe had been pleased with her and Beca's relationship. She would never call herself celibate, but she wasn't exactly familiar with long term relationships. She wasn't a one night stand girl like Beca had once been either, but she was somewhere in the middle. Her longest relationship had been before she got into the Agency. It lasted four months. Hers and Beca's relationship was coming up on two months and there was no sign of stopping.
There was the obvious physical attraction. Chloe had no complaints about their sex life. But there was a deeper attraction there too, emotionally, mentally. It was hard for Chloe to put into words. But as she walked to the elevator with Beca, she felt happy and safe and comfortable. This was getting serious fast, and she wondered where everything was going to go. They hadn't said I love you yet or told Aubrey. She was enjoying their little bubble, and keeping their relationship just to themselves. But she felt that bubble was about to burst, not in a bad way. She knew this wasn't just a fun and exciting dating thing they were doing, this could be the real deal. Beca could be the one. And the scary thing was that Chloe wasn't scared at all.
"Okay, why are you looking at me funny." Beca finally broke the silence in the elevator. "You picturing me naked or something?"
"Hmm...always." Chloe's eyes roamed over Beca's body suggestively.
"For real." Beca grinned and shoved her shoulder lightly. "What were you thinking about?"
"I was thinking maybe we should tell Aubrey about us?" Chloe shrugged and looked at Beca hopefully. "I mean I don't know about you, but I don't think this thing between us is ending anytime soon. I don't really want to keep it a secret anymore." Chloe turned bashful, worried slightly about Beca's reaction. She didn't want Beca running for the hills, not that she was really afraid of Beca being scared to announce their relationship. It was just a big step. Or it felt like one.
"Dude, yeah." Beca sighed in relief. "I've been nervous about her catching us or something awkward. I just thought you were embarrassed or worried about her reaction, so I was cool with whatever you wanted. I'm totally down for telling her today."
"I wasn't embarrassed." Chloe rubbed Beca's forearm reassuringly. "This was all just really new and I didn't want to mess anything up. But yeah, how about we go tell her before the briefing?"
"She won't kill me will she? Best friend code and what not."
"Oh she'll give you the best friend speech for sure. But you can handle it." Chloe winked as she stepped out of the elevator.
They entered Aubrey's office and before Chloe could even open her mouth to speak, Aubrey yanked off her glasses and sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness you're both here. I wanted to be the one to tell you."
"Tell us what?" Beca furrowed her brows, glancing between Chloe and Aubrey.
"Kommissar has been released." Aubrey ripped off the band-aid, folded her hands, and waited for the reaction. There was silence. Beca took a moment to process the simple statement. And Chloe, surprisingly, started laughing.
"I'm sorry." Chloe put a hand on her hip as she contained her laughter. "I thought you said Kommissar had been released. The German terrorist who's tried to kill me twice, who's plotted against America for years, who's working to destroy America's economy, who's building up her own army like the modern female hitler. That Kommissar? I know I heard wrong or you're making a terrible joke."
"It's not a joke." Aubrey said quietly. "The U.N got involved and long story short we couldn't hold her any longer because we don't have enough physical evidence."
"Are you shitting me?" Beca's jaw dropped. "What about her whole basement armory and counterfeit money? We caught her red-handed! You cannot tell me I let that she-demon kiss me for nothing!"
"The photos that were taken…" Aubrey swallowed, clearly trying to contain her own anger. "Were lost because Agent Donald is apparently an incompentant buffoon and broke the SD card."
"Where is he?" Chloe growled.
"He's been taken care of." Aubrey held up her hand. "He's actually undergoing an extensive interview process to make sure he wasn't acting deliberately. And then he will be stripped of all association with the Agency."
"That's not good enough." Chloe shook her head, seething in rage. "How are we going to capture her again? She may be stupid, but she's not stupid enough to fall for the same trap twice or stay in her same location."
"We'll have to wait."
"Wait?" Chloe scoffed. "Waiting is your best option?"
"My hands are tied, Chloe."
"Un-fucking-believable." Chloe muttered before storming out of the office. Beca quickly followed as Chloe marched to their office and sank into her chair.
"We'll get her again." Beca tried to be reassuring as she sat on the side of the desk.
"How, Beca?" Chloe's shoulders slumped as she looked up, exasperated, at her partner. "How are we going to catch her again? She's going to change up her whole operation and it'll take years to figure it out again."
"It's you and me. We can do it." Beca said softly, trying to send her confidence into Chloe.
"We wouldn't have to do it, again, by the way, if our superiors could get their heads out of their asses and actually do their job to protect our country." Chloe angrily rubbed at her eyes.
"I heard you guys got the evil German chick. Way to go!" Emily popped her head into their office with a bright smile. Beca closed her eyes, cringing at the remarkably poor timing Emily had in making her congratulatory comment. Before Beca could say anything, Chloe slammed her hands on her desk, making both Emily and Beca jump.
"That German bitch is actually getting to go home because apparently the U.S government is run by a bunch of spineless cowards who can't tell their asses from their faces and would rather let a murderess, soulless, she-devil, run home with a smile on her face to plot how to hurt our country than actually lock her up in a cold, windowless cell with nothing but a toilet and dirty mattress to think about all the damage she's caused for the rest of her miserable God-forsaken life! I need to get out of here. Tell Aubrey I'll be back in an hour." And with that, Chloe grabbed her keys and left the office in awkward silence. Beca's eyes were wide and her body was frozen. She watched as Chloe disappeared from her vision and slowly turned back to Emily.
"She scares me." Emily blurted out.
"Don't worry, she scares me too, sometimes." Beca gave Emily a wink, then immediately regretted it. She was abundantly thankful Chloe didn't witness the wink in that moment or her life might actually be over.
"Thank you for being nice to me." Emily smiled shyly.
"Of course." Beca shrugged like it was nothing. "You're a nice kid. Super smart. Very helpful." Beca realized she was dishing out compliments left and right, and heard Chloe's voice in the back of her brain telling her she might be leading Emily on.
"Thanks. You're such a great agent. And person, too, Beca. I'm so happy to get the chance to work with you sometimes." Emily shyly tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked to her feet. Beca watched the younger girl act all shy and felt a burst of bravery to just lay the cards on the table and clear the air.
"I don't want this to sound harsh or egotistical or whatever, but if you...um...have like a crush?" Beca paused, bravery waning. "On me? Um, I just wanted to say that I'd be flattered but I, uh, have someone else."
"Crush?" Emily burst into laughter and then, mortified, grabbed her blushing cheeks. "I'm so sorry, I don't mean to laugh at you."
"It's fine." Beca sort of felt like laughing too, but wanted to finish out this conversation. "So then...why do you get all-" She paused trying to think of the right word.
"Fangirl on you?" Emily offered to help. Beca nodded and shrugged, urging Emily to answer. "I read the reports on your missions. The way Chloe described you and your actions, you were just amazing. Like a superhero almost. She made you sound like the most talented agent the Agency's ever seen. I can be a little over the top...a LOT...with many aspects of my life. So I might have been a little over-eager to work with you, a real-life superhero agent. And I'm so new to this, so I felt like I hit the jackpot."
"Seriously?" Beca felt the laughter bubble up. "Chloe said I was a superhero?"
"She didn't say that exactly." Emily tilted her head back and forth, thinking. "It was more the way she described you. She never said anything outright, but it was clear she was impressed. She's a good writer too, she might've been one in another life. And I was so happy to work with her too but I think my excitement over you may have put her off."
Beca just shook her head and laughed. She was glad she never came out and said Chloe was jealous thankfully, Chloe would've been mortified. But this little bit of info was intriguing to Beca. It made her regret not reading any of the reports Chloe worked on.
"Okay, well this has been sufficiently awkward. I'm sorry for assuming. You probably think I'm this cocky asshole who thinks everyone's in love with them." Beca rubbed her forehead, feeling a tinge of embarrassment.
"Oh, its fine. I know how I come across, I don't blame you." Emily reached out and touched her arm. "But for the record, I am strictly dickly."
"Emily." Beca blinked owlishly at the younger girl. "Please don't ever say that again."
Beca fiddled around on her computer as she debated doing what she was thinking about doing. It wasn't really an invasion of privacy to read the mission reports. After all, they were her missions too. And if she had been a better partner, she would have had a hand in writing them anyway. So she shouldn't feel guilty for wanting to read them. Even if the only reason was because Emily became a fangirl over her because of Chloe's writing. She had to know what Chloe said about her, especially before they were together.
She pushed herself up from her desk and marched over to the secretary's desk. They rotated day and night shifts at the job. She knew their names were Jessica and Ashley, but for the life of her she wasn't sure which one was which. And they didn't wear name tags. Beca just mentally flipped a coin and hoped she was right.
"Hey...Jessica?" She smiled hopefully, but received a glare in return.
"I'm Ashley." Ashley huffed before returning her attention to the computer.
"Sorry, Ashley." Beca leaned her forearms on the desk, flashing her best apology smile.
"Please don't lean on my desk." Ashley sighed. Beca quickly stood back straight. "Is there something you needed Agent Mitchell?"
"Um, I was wanting to get the mission reports that my partner, Agent Beale, wrote up." Beca bit her lip and bounced on her heels slightly.
"Fill this out." Ashley rolled her eyes like she was put out and grabbed a form. "And then I'll go grab what you need."
"Why do I need to fill this out? They were my own missions?" Beca looked disgusted at the form in front of her before looking up to see Ashley's death glare. "Nevermind, sorry, I'll just, uh, fill this out real quick."
Beca took a seat in a chair across the office. She grumbled in her mind about the formality of filling out a form to look at your own damn mission reports. She rolled her eyes when she couldn't remember her Agent number and had to go back to her desk to look it up on her computer. After a more aggravating than necessary ten minutes, the form was filled and she handed it to Ashley.
"Be right back." Ashley said flatly as she disappeared into the vaulted archives. She returned with a small stack of brown folders that were tied shut. "You have 24 hours to peruse. If you need copies you'll need approval from Captain Littner."
"Thanks, Ash." Beca took the files and gave her a small salute.
"Its Ashley." Ashley sighed again before returning her full attention back to her computer. Beca's eyes widened in annoyance as she spun around to leave. Her charm didn't seem to work on everyone. She hurried back to the office, excited to read the things Chloe wrote that made Emily fawn over her.
Before she could dig into the reports she could hear that Chloe had returned, talking calmly to Aubrey down the hall. Beca fumbled to stuff the reports in her bag so Chloe didn't see just before the redhead walked back into the office.
"Sorry for getting so angry earlier. I'm just really disappointed." Chloe slouched at her desk. "Aubrey wants to go over our next mission when we're ready."
Beca returned home after the briefing, deciding to give Chloe some space to deal with the Kommissar situation. And she might have had ulterior motives, since she could read the mission reports in peace and see what Chloe had wrote about her to make her sound so amazing. Yes, she realized her ego needed to chill, but how often did one get to read about thoughts that their significant other had about them. She poured a glass of vodka, put on a record and plopped on the couch with the stack of reports on the coffee table.
She flipped through the first one while sipping her drink and her eyebrows creased the further she went along. She ended up pouring two more drinks after reading through several more reports, getting more and more upset. She finally slammed a folder down on her coffee table and moved back to the kitchen. After pouring another drink and snatching some sticky notes, she sat back down on the couch to get to work.
Chloe had finished her dinner and was putting leftovers away when a thunderous knock was heard at her door. She quirked an eyebrow and grabbed her gun from a secret niche under her kitchen sink. She approached the door slowly, gripping the gun tightly. She looked through the peephole and sighed in relief when she saw Beca. She swung the door open and smiled brightly.
"Hey!" Chloe stepped aside automatically to let Beca in. Beca mumbled a 'hi' as she cautiously stepped inside glancing at the gun. "As an agent you answer your door with defense when an unexpected visitor violently knocks on it." Chloe explained.
"Sorry." Beca shrugged and walked into the kitchen. "I know I told you I'd be at my place tonight to give you some space, so sorry to show up unexpectedly." Chloe squinted her eyes as she closed the door, feeling a weird vibe coming off the brunette.
"Everything okay?" Chloe asked as she put the safety back on and hid the gun back under the sink.
"Sure, yeah. Perfectly fine." Beca started pacing and her tone was laced with aggravation. It was like she was a little fireball just needing one little push to send her into a full on explosion. Chloe eyed her cautiously, wondering what could have set Beca off in the few hours since they had seen each other.
"Becs?" Chloe asked again as she slowly slid into her a chair at the table. "Want to sit?"
"No. I'm good standing." Beca pulled a file from her bag and slammed it on the table.
"What's this?" Chloe jumped and then her hands hovered over the file as if it were a potential bomb.
"You tell me." Beca barked back when she folded her arms and leaned against the opposite wall.
"What are you doing with our mission reports?" Chloe flipped through the first folder curiously.
"I was confronting Emily about the flirting thing. At least what I thought was flirting. Apparently she's 'strictly dickly.'" Beca used air quotes along with a disgusted face to get her point across.
"Strictly what?" Chloe let out a bark of laughter.
"Well, she wasn't flirting." Beca snapped and continued in a serious tone, making Chloe immediately stop laughing. "She was just happy to be working with me. Because she thinks I'm some superhero. Because of the way you wrote our reports. She's a fan apparently. Well, me and my ego had to go and find out just what you wrote about me to cause such a strong reaction from someone. But imagine my surprise when as I'm reading, I find out how you really feel about me?!" Beca's voice increased volume with every sentence until she was nearly yelling.
"Beca I don't know-" Chloe gulped, trying to figure out why Beca was so angry.
"I put a little sticky tab on certain parts I found interesting." Beca folded her arms and nodded at the reports.
Chloe's expression fell as she read the parts Beca had highlighted and realised the reason for Beca's anger. She gulped, as she kept her head focused on the files, not wanting to look at Beca until she had time to figure out what to say to her.
"Agent Mitchell is impulsive, struggles with listening. She would be better solo, as would I. Agent Mitchell puts missions at risk regularly. One of the most frustrating people I've had to work with in any capacity. I strongly recommend Agent Mitchell see the Agency's psychologist. Sleep issues that could affect missions. Has psychological issues that I'm not sure I can help with which may jeopardize missions in the future. I would like to formally request a partner change even though my last attempts have been denied." Beca recited from memory a few key lines she remembered.
"I know those things sound...so, so bad." Chloe sighed and closed the file she had been looking at.
"Bad? It's like everything I think is wrong with me and how much of a fuck up I am was just confirmed. And by my girlfriend!" Beca threw her hands in the air and started pacing angrily.
"Beca, some of those things were written when I was really frustrated with you. And it was fairly early in our partnership. And you're clearly skipping over the good things I wrote about you. Things that made Emily a fangirl mess." Chloe tried to defend herself.
"You didn't know I had sleep issues until our fake honeymoon mission. That was not early in our partnership." Beca corrected harshly.
"Okay, yes, but I only asked for the partner change before that. I really only wanted you to get help, I didn't want to hurt you or anything. I didn't want a new partner, I wanted to help the one I had at that point."
"So you think I have psychological issues?"
"You do." Chloe raised her hands, palms up like it wasn't a big deal. "So do I."
"Fuck this!" Beca shook her head and stomped toward the door.
"No! You don't get to just storm in here, yell at me, and storm out!" Chloe followed her and blocked her exit from the door.
"I don't have anything else to say, Chloe!" Beca clenched her fists. "I know how you feel about me now. Just wanted you to know that sucks."
"Don't act all wounded. If you had actually gotten off your ass to help with the reports back then you would've had nothing but wonderful things to say about me then?" Chloe stood her ground, asking sarcastically. "You would've had your own list of complaints and you know it."
"I never wanted a different partner at any point. Yeah you could be frustrating at the time, but we worked. I thought we worked." Beca scoffed as she looked away from Chloe.
"We do work." Chloe said immediately, trying to get Beca to look at her. "We work amazing together. A few frustrations and complaints in the beginning of our partnership doesn't change that. You weren't perfect and neither was I. I was just trying to be honest in the reports."
"I wouldn't have said you needed psychological help." Beca said softer, the hurt feelings clear in her voice.
"That was a bit far, I'll admit but-"
"But nothing. There's nothing to talk about, just get out of my way."
"No. I'm not letting you leave until we talk."
"Ask for your partner change again, you might get what you want." Beca pushed past Chloe and opened the door.
"That's not what I want! Stop acting like a child." Chloe looked to the ceiling, wishing Beca would just calm down.
"Well since I'm such a child, I'm going to go for a ride on my bike that you hate so much." Beca smirked snarkily. "I'll be going to my own apartment tonight, and I'm staying this time, so don't wait up or anything." Beca started marching down the hallway. Chloe, not wanting to yell for her neighbors to hear stepped out and sighed.
"Text me when you're home at least." Chloe said, frustrated out of her mind, but still wanting and needing Beca to be safe.
"Sure." Beca waved her hand in the air before stomping down the stairs and Chloe could hear the door to the street open and slam shut.
Beca, of course, ended up at Harvey's, venting to Stacie. She couldn't go into details about why they fought, and thankfully Stacie didn't press. She just brought her another shot glass and a glass of water, demanding Beca finish the water before her next drink.
"I should be alone. I know it. I don't know what I was thinking jumping into a relationship." Beca shook her head as she gulped down half the water.
"Please, you didn't just jump into a relationship." Stacie said softly. "You took your sweet ass time getting into a relationship with her."
"Which was obviously a mistake." Beca laughed darkly as she slid the empty water glass back and nodded at the vodka bottle. "She clearly thinks I'm an immature idiot. And I can't say she's totally wrong."
"Stop being so hard on yourself." Stacie said forcefully. "So you have flaws that Chloe pointed out. Big deal. We all have flaws."
"Yeah but how would you like it if the person you were dating pointed out the flaws you were most insecure about, the flaws you hated about yourself?"
"No one would like that, Beca." Stacie said with an implied duh. "But now you get to decide if you want to prove her wrong and be mature about this, or stay here and drink all night until I have to drive you home myself and prove her right."
Beca gave her a long look before pulling out her wallet. She slammed a twenty down and stood up. Stacie sighed and looked at her regretfully.
"I wasn't telling you to leave, Beca."
"Well, I am. I gotta go be by myself for awhile. Keep the change." She said as she whipped her leather jacket back on and stalked out the door.
Chloe sat down at the TV with her glass of wine after Beca left. She didn't really want to watch anything, just wanted some noise in the apartment to distract her from her thoughts. There was a tug of war going on inside of her. The angry and annoyed side that was mad at Beca for overreacting and then storming out was battling the guilty and hurt side that wishes she could re-word some of the things she said in the report, or at least told Beca about them. She looked at the mission reports now resting on the coffee table. It was like they were mocking her. She was finally in a good relationship, probably long-term, and they had to go and screw everything up.
She decided to indulge in a little self-pity as she flipped a file open as the TV played in the background. They gave her flashbacks of their early time together. She remembered there always being an attraction that almost made her mad. She never had to worry about that with Agent Price. He was married with kids. No romantic possibility. But then this sexy brunette strolls in and flirts with her unashamedly. There were so many times Chloe remembered wanting to kiss her, but having to fight with herself to control her urges. And Beca was no help at all.
Looking back, she's not sure why she was so opposed to it. Even Aubrey gave her blessing early on. And Beca clearly was attracted to her in some way. But then she wondered if they had hooked up and gave into that attraction early on if they would've been able to get where they are now. It probably would've been a fling, and ended poorly. They really would have probably had to change partners. But now? Now it was love. Chloe was in love with Beca. And she'd be damned if these stupid words from months ago were going to screw that up.
She downed her wine glass and quickly called Beca's number. It rang until voicemail. She immediately redialed. That time it went straight to voicemail. And then her anger was back.
"You've got to be kidding me." Chloe mumbled as she stood up and grabbed her keys.
Chloe jogged up the steps to Beca's apartment building and knocked on the door. She sighed heavily when there was no reply after a few minutes.
"Maybe she's working on music or showering." Chloe mumbled to herself. She waited outside the door for ten more minutes. Calling and texting every so often and not getting an answer. She would get angry, and then worried, and then angry again. It was beyond frustrating. She wanted to just go home and sleep and let Beca act like a child, but she wouldn't forgive herself if something had actually happened. So she drove to the next best place: Harvey's.
"Stacie, have you seen Beca?" Chloe asked as she tried to hide the concern in her voice.
"She was in here about an hour ago." Stacie replied, shocked to see the redhead standing in front of her.
"Where did she go?"
"I'm assuming home? She had a few. And she was upset." Stacie looked a little sheepish, knowing about their fight, but trying to be somewhat neutral.
"I'm assuming she told you about our little fight?" Chloe tilted her head, not feeling like beating around the bush.
"Yeah. She did." Stacie shrugged. "I told her she needed to be mature and she left in a huff."
"Shocker." Chloe rolled her eyes.
"She had been drinking so I'm sure she went home."
"I was just there. I knocked and waited for twenty minutes. Her bike wasn't out front. And I called and texted. Nothing." Chloe took a deep breath, trying not to let her anxiety get the best of her.
"Okay. Maybe she's just still mad." Stacie said encouragingly as she pulled out her phone. "Let me try." It rang several times until it went to voicemail. Stacie smiled nervously at Chloe. "I'm sure its fine."
"Call me if you hear from her." Chloe demanded before jogging out of the bar. She was now worried about Beca's actual well-being. Something could have happened to her. She could've gotten in a wreck on that stupid motorcycle. One of the many enemies they have accumulated being in the spy business might have attacked her. As she drove around, looking for motorcycles or ambulances, she started to get more panicked. So she drove to the only other place her nervous mind could think to go.
It had started pouring outside, which made it twice as hard to steer her motorcycle. But Beca stubbornly shoved her helmet on and drove on instinct. She drove past her apartment a little ways out of town. She pulled up to Nick's race track, parked her bike, and hopped the fence. She landed awkwardly since she was still buzzed, but some it had worn off a little since the bar. So she pulled out her handy flask and chugged the rest of her vodka like it was water. She gave her head a little shake and clapped her hands together, feeling energized.
She found her way to the shed, where she knew the hiding spot for Nick's key. She slid the garage door open and found the bike she wanted. She hopped out and sped out of the shed to start doing laps around the rain slicked track. She felt the back tired jerk but she righted herself quickly as she started to take her fourth turn. She felt herself losing control of the bike and tried to brake, but that only made it worse. The tires hydro-planed, sending Beca into a tailspin. She closed her eyes and just gripped on tightly to the handles, just hoping to not fly off. She was going almost 100 miles an hour and that would not end well.
The bike finally crashed into the fence landing hard on Beca and sending her head whipping back against the concrete. Smoke was coming from the bike. One tire was already flat from the impact. She groaned when she tried to breathe, instinctively reaching for her right side. She took a few steadying breaths to see if she was bleeding or could possibly have a broken bone. Thankfully, she felt fine, aside from the pounding headache, dizziness, and sharp pain coming from her side.
Once she got the bike off of her and was able to scoot herself free she picked up her phone. She called Nick. That's what was stressing her out in the moment. She wrecked one of Nick's bikes, while drunk, while trespassing. He'd never trust her again. Next, she called Stacie. She didn't text or call Chloe, figuring her partner wouldn't need to find out about this little episode until a later day.
Nick and Stacie arrived almost at the same time. They rushed over to where Beca was slouched against the fence in the rain.
"Beca! What happened? Are you okay?" Stacie dropped to her knees and put her hands on the sides of Beca's face, getting her to look her in the eye.
"I'm fi...fine. The….bike's worsh..wor..worse off." Beca mumbled drowsily, trying to keep her head up.
"Dammit, Beca." Nick whined as he looked over the bike and assessed the damage. "What were you thinking?"
"I wanne...was...nt." Beca blinked slowly, struggling to pick her head up.
"I'm taking her to a hospital." Stacie said authoritatively. "You can deal with her and the bike situation after, okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, of course." Nick waved her off, feeling a little guilty for being more upset about one of his bikes. "Let me know how things go."
"Will do. Now come on you little dumbass." Stacie carefully picked Beca up around her armpits and slowly led her to her own car to drive her to the hospital.
Chloe nearly stormed through the doors of HQ, rushing to her and Beca's office. The lights were out and it was silent. Chloe still looked around just in case Beca was in the sort of mood that she would sit in the dark. She spun around and hurried downstairs to the mat room to see if she decided to use exercise as a coping mechanism for their fight. It would also explain not having her phone on her. But it was basically empty aside from two other agents doing a little light sparring.
She knew Aubrey was still in her office. She enjoyed working late. She'd be putting in mission reports and different intel into the database. It was time consuming but worth it to have all files in a central location than in the dusty vault downstairs. Chloe opened the door and felt a little bad when Aubrey's head popped up and she yanked her glasses off.
"Chloe? What's wrong?"
"It's Beca." Chloe swallowed hard, trying not to burst into tears. She had worked herself up into a mild panic over the past hour. "We had a fight and now I don't know where she is. She's not answering her phone. I'm worried."
"Chloe. Its okay." Aubrey walked around her desk to give Chloe a reassuring squeeze to the shoulder. "And...I'm sorry, but haven't you guys fought before? Why are you so stressed this time? What happened?"
Chloe closed her eyes and sighed. She really wished they had been able to tell her about their relationship before this moment. She was too tired and emotionally drained to try and come up with some excuse to give Aubrey so that she and Beca could tell her together later.
"Aubrey, there's something I haven't told you." Chloe opened her eyes and watched as Aubrey sat on the edge of her desk, motioning for Chloe to continue. "We...me and Beca...we've been...dating. For about two months now. And we were going to tell you today, but you dropped the bomb on us about Kommissar and I got distracted. But we fought tonight. Our first real fight. And she left. And she won't answer her phone. I don't know what to do." She put her hands on her head as she started pacing in a short line back and forth, trying to stay calm.
"Chloe, calm down. You forget we have resources. We'll find her." Aubrey grabbed Chloe by the forearms and waited for the redhead to look her in the eyes. "And we'll talk about that whole dating secret you've been keeping after we find her." She gave Chloe a little smirk to lighten things up as she spun around to get her phone.
"You're not mad, are you?" Chloe asked hesitantly.
"No." Aubrey said softly. "I mean, I wish you didn't feel like you had to keep it from me. But I'm happy for you. I told you a long time ago you'd be good together."
"Yeah, that's why I didn't tell you. I didn't want to hear the "I told you so" speech." Chloe let out a small smile, grateful for her best friend right now. Just as Aubrey was about to start putting effort into finding Beca, Chloe's phone rang. She nearly dropped it as she nervously snatched it out of her pocket. It was Stacie.
"Stacie? Did you hear from Beca? Is she okay?"
"She's okay, Chloe. She's fine." Stacie said quietly and reassuringly as if there was something important she needed to add. "She's...in the hospital."
Beca sighed as she looked up at the ceiling in her hospital bed, still feeling a little dizzy and short of breath. She ended up bruising a couple ribs, getting a concussion, and spraining her knee. All in all, with the rain and the slick track and the alcohol in her system, it could've been a lot worse. She was just relieved she didn't need surgery on anything.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Stacie came in with a cup of coffee.
"Fine. Just kind of stupid." Beca mumbled, not looking up to meet her eyes.
"Well you were kind of stupid." Stacie sat in the chair beside Beca and took a sip. "Really stupid actually. Storming out and going to speed drive your bike in the rain while drunk? You could've killed yourself."
"It wasn't my bike." Beca said as if that were an important fact. "It was one of Nick's."
"Oh, even better. Destroy other people's property to help you ignore your problems." Stacie scoffed as she shook her head in disappointment at her friend lying in the hospital bed.
"I'm sorry." Beca sighed, genuinely sorry about the whole night. "I already told Nick I'd pay him back for any damages. I just don't always know what to do when I get that mad and driving as fast as I can go helps."
"That's fine. Just don't do it in the rain after you've been drinking." Stacie said with her voice raised. "You don't know how guilty I'd feel if something worse had happened to you."
"I know. I know...it won't happen again."
"You're damn right it won't because that's the last time I give you more than one drink when you're upset without making sure you have a ride home." Stacie folded her arms and sat back in her seat.
They sat in silence for a moment. Stacie sipping on her coffee and studying Beca with an intense glare. Beca awkwardly picking up the itchy hospital blanket, feeling like she was a little kid in trouble. And it was only about to get worse.
"What the HELL, Beca?!" Chloe stormed into the room, hair damp and frizzy, clothes drenched, and eyes full of anger. Beca's eyes widened and she sat up in fear, passing a glance to Stacie.
"Oh, yeah, I called Chloe." Stacie smirked as if it were an afterthought, enjoying the look on Beca's face.
"Chloe, look-"
"No, you look, Beca." Chloe interrupted and stepped further into the room. "You scared the shit out of me tonight. You come start a fight and storm off. You don't answer your phone like a stubborn teenager and then I have to get a call from Stacie that you landed yourself in the hospital because you were driving that fucking motorcycle while drunk. Are you proud of yourself right now? Did you get what you wanted?"
"No." Beca said simply, thinking the fewer words she spoke, the better. Stacie was a little fearful herself. She'd heard the saying that redheads could have a fiery temper but she'd never witnessed it firsthand.
"I swear, Beca, this better not happen again. I'm not putting up with this childish shit when I'm in an adult relationship, do you understand me?"
"Yes." Beca nodded. "It won't. It won't happen again." Then she winced, her headache coming back in full force, and the room started spinning slightly.
"Are you okay?" Chloe's voice softened, but still had a hint of aggravation when she saw the look on her girlfriend's face.
"Yeah, just a headache. Its fine."
"She has a concussion." Stacie interjected to give Chloe all the information. "Bruised ribs and a sprained knee. Nothing serious, just a little pain according to the doctor."
"I'm glad you're not seriously hurt. But in all honesty, I'm glad you're in a little pain." Chloe shrugged with a frown, feeling grateful Beca was alive and relatively fine, but still wanting her to suffer a little.
"Thanks, Beale." Beca mumbled.
"Here, you can have my seat." Stacie moved to get up for Chloe to sit.
"You don't need to stay, Chlo. I'm not even seriously injured." Beca said quietly. "You could meet me back at my apartment or something and we can talk then."
"It's fine. I'll stay."
"You don't have to stay out of girlfriend obligation. I won't be offended."
"I want to be here, Beca." Chloe sighed in mild frustration.
"Why? Why would you want to stay in a gross hospital with terrible coffee and an uncomfortable chair with your girlfriend that you're currently mad at?"
"Because I love you, you idiot!" Chloe blurted as Stacie's eyebrows rose to her hairline. Stacie looked down with her lips attached to her coffee cup and quickly excused herself from the tension in the room. Beca's eyes were wide and her mouth opened and closed as she tried to figure out what to say.
"Shit." Chloe closed her eyes and mumbled to herself before spinning around and bolting out of the room.
A/N 2: I was going to put what happens next in here but I might've ended up with a 12,000 word chapter lol plus its been awhile since I've done a little cliffhanger.
How do you think Beca's going to respond to that L-bomb? And even more fun, how do y'all expect Aubrey's chat with Beca will go? Lol