4
(Insert song: Totally Spies theme song slowed + reverb + instrumental)
"Leander, do you know why I called you here?"
"No, I don't. Why are you still calling me that, Jerry?"
"It's a nice name, a great name really for, one, of my spies."
Lee just sighed, his head down low, a yawn came over him, his body ached, his eyes were sore, and Kat had just texted him over 12 times. He was not in the mood. Jerry smiled at Lee as they walked to Jerry's office.
(flashback three days prior)
It was 8:30 pm, It was a cold, dreary day in the California area. The wind was blowing hard against the windows, making a loud, rattling noise. The sky was a darkened blue, and the clouds were slowly creeping in, obscuring the sun. It was going to be a long, cold summer break for the two of them. The office itself always gave off this offputting, low, very adult-like aura, as the two spies walked towards the older spy's office room. Lee was confused, but he had done these types of meetings, types of WHOOPING bullshit for years now, as Lee was looking out the window, the wind was blowing hard on the windows, the sky a darkened blue, and the clouds were slowing creeping in causing a dark energy to emerge into the office cube, Lee and Jerry were sitting in the WHOOP office, Lee sitting on top of Jerry's desk, his legs crossing with a blanket wrapped around him that he took when Jerry WHOOP'D the 15-year-old spy. Jerry is drinking his tea, nice and "just like Mummy make it" he quotes, and Lee has an iced mocha in his warm caramel hands, sitting so patiently for Jerry to explain why he called him here. As Jerry sat there, he felt a deep sense of resentment and bitterness boiling within him. He couldn't stop thinking about Lee, his Leander, the perfect WHOOP spy, and the way he spent so much, too much, time with Kat.
Jerry was in grey sweats and a white tee shirt with Hello Kitty slippers his spies, Clover, got for him as a thank-you present for her years spent as a spy being the same pair that Lee and Kat owned. Lee, in his spy uniform, his hair had grown into a short wolf cut and was in a tiny ponytail, Kat said was" the hottest look ever since the last time they saw each other, he looked like a pencil" in which he ignored her antics.
Lee's vintage, ocean blue eyes struggled to keep up, considering it was 8 fucking 30 at night on a Wednesday night, he should be sleeping, sitting on Jerry's desk, reading emails, talking about Lee's school life, cracking jokes, talking about manhood, while they spoke about the last mission Lee was on.
"It's regarding your relationship with Katherina-"
He knew it. He fucking knew she would be brought up.
"Kat, Jerry. Her name is Kat. Don't be weird towards her." Lee corrected but Jerry kept talking.
Jerry made a face. Eyes burrowed into his face. His eyes shot towards Lee's phone, the text message popped up with photos of Kat and Lee, a mirror photo, and his hand on her waist, him with no shirt on, abs glowing as she's wearing his shirt. She's awful.
Why, no, who the hell does Lee think he is? Why is this…boy…correcting him on this...this...bitch's name?
He sighed.
"Well, Lee, on the last mission, while everyone was informing me of their input on the mission you were, one, you and…Kat kept…. texting. And two-
Lee paused at that.
Kat.
Katherina.
His Kat.
His girlfriend.
Of six months.
Katherina, the girl who is Megan's rival; kidnapped everyone who shared the same birthday as her. Jealous of everyone around her, so she could have a special birthday, the same girl who made fake dolls of Tami so she could have a special doll, Katherina, sweet smile, pink hair with blonde highlights, British accent, tall girl with freckles, who always had her cute face piercings.
The same girl that Lee made out with inside her prison cell, Jerry punishing him for it, who, then a week after she got out of jail and landed in the UK, she, (somehow) got his phone number and began texting him. The same girl that he had shared that moment within a dark, cramped prison cell, messy hair, messy lip gloss smeared over his tanned face, body slamming her into the prison walls, was now blowing up his phone, even though they had just Facetimed. UGH. Girls from the UK. She was now in the UK after spending almost two years behind bars. She had somehow managed to get his phone number and begin sending him texts. She was later kidnapped and landed in WHOOP's custody. Kat then landed herself into WHOOP as a receptionist after taking down a huge evil tech company and Jerry decided to team up with her, earning her some respect in the WHOOP office. Jerry, trying to be nice, gave Kat the hacking job. Megan and she became close after she got kidnapped.
Which Lee was dealing with, earning a kiss on the cheek. The fact that Kat, out of all of the hackers that he knew, out all of the female villains, managed to acquire Lee's phone number, indicated that their relationship still mattered to her, even though they had their moments, it seemed like she cared for him despite the distance and time apart. She must also have some level of feelings for Lee, way before the prison cell incident, he thought it must have been the three times he had been face-to-face with her. Kat was surprised that Lee didn't block her number as he was not immediately annoyed by her flirty messages. The ease of their communication highlighted their natural chemistry and deep bond. Rest was history.
Now that he thought of it, why and how did she get his number? Did she hack into the WHOOP database, trying to get data on Megan and his info was there, if so, why wasn't there a notification about it? Was Jerry being careless about it? Does Sam know? He had so many questions about Kat's hacking, so he figured he'd ask later when his boss wasn't so... upset at him for dating Kat.
Lee took a sip of the iced mocha from his hands.
Jerry is staring at him. He's waiting for him, and Lee's sitting there, trying so hard not to panic, holding onto the iced mocha cup, trying his hardest to not seem like he's upset, and prepared to come up with something to make Jerry stop questioning him.
He took a deep breath.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
"Jerry, you need to understand, I love Kat, she's sweet, loving, loyal, she makes me feel like I'm cloud 10; I am surrounded by cloud people waving at the both of us as me and her walk into Clouding Cloudnuts, she's a fresh breath of air, and sometimes she texts me while I'm on missions, that mission can be, J-man, a little, well,…. depressing. And ever since we got together, texting is kinda new to her, her phone isn't updated on the latest tech, plus she's my girlfriend and somethi-wait, are you jealous?"
Jerry made a face but made sure Lee didn't notice. He was jealous, but not for the reasons Lee was thinking of. Lee was perfect; an amazing, well-rounded, perfectly trained spy who had friends, who was going to be an amazing spy for WHOOP professionally, a great guy with a personality to match, the one guy that everyone likes, who got training from one of his California spies, Alex, and she said he was a natural athlete. The more Jerry thought about it, the more resentful he felt. He couldn't stop thinking about how close Lee and Kat were and how they always seemed to be together. He also couldn't help but think about how he never had that kind of love and affection growing up, and it made him feel so bitter and insecure. In short, Jerry envied Lee; but Lee didn't know this.
As the night went on, Lee found himself getting increasingly concerned about Jerry's behavior. He had noticed Jerry lingering around him a lot when he was alone at his desk and was aware that he was staring at him frequently...
"Well, if-i-if you must know since you're so nosy and somehow end up in my business, Lee, I-I haven't had a lady on my, well, side in my years, so-"
"Jerry, are serious," Lee was holding in a laugh, crossing his arms, his warm mocha cup, which he threw in the trash, was now empty. His sweet blue eyes youthful, kind, and loving landed on Jerry's old, mysterious, heavy-lidded, saddened, lonely, and gentlemen-like eyes, which made Lee's kind, brightening, laugh drop, causing the small office and the tension between the teen and his boss to go quiet for a couple of seconds.
Lee put his hand on his boss's shoulder, and with a look of sympathy, Jerry's eyes smiled for the first time since he and Lee walked into that office together.
"Jerry, you don't need a little lady to be by your side, you have your spies, we are your family, we will always be there for you. You taught all of us so much, it must be amazing; All of that talent that you trained all of your spies for basically 70 years now"
"Lee, you are not funny. I will inform Katerina of this."
"You won't."
"Leander."
Lee's face softened at that. He loved J-man. Jerry was the best person you could come to for advice, a small history lesson, wanting to go for weapons, or just,wanting to share a story with him, Jerry was the best person to go to; he was like a sweet older teacher to him;
"So you're just a little jealous of a little teenage love; it… kinda normal, kinda creepy but not being in love can be a good thing. Jer!"
"And why is that?"
"Well, from what Sam told me, your love life is a little-"
"Hmmph! Leander, how rude of you!"
Lee laughed at that, while Jerry huffed his cheeks turned a shade of pink. He had zero clue about how much of an impact Jerry had on him; how much Jerry admired him. Sure Lee knew he was popular, handsome, and charming, but in a way, he felt small and weak, and his voice sometimes felt like it wasn't reaching the right people, that his voice attracted the wrong people, and with Jerry, his voice was loud enough to be heard with an echo.
"So for your next mission, Lee, you will be in Japan for a week, going undercover, as a waiter in a small hotel run by some, what they called;mapfiea...mafia group of ruff men. All of my other spies are out, so I will be sending you alone for this mission, it appears to be some...sex trafficking work at this hotel and I need more info, I can't send my girls, and you're pretty enough for the-"
Pretty.
Lee is pretty.
That was all Lee could focus on.
Jerry just call him pretty.
Yeah, it seemed like Lee was fixated on Jerry's comment and couldn't stop thinking about it. It was both flattering and uncomfortable at the same time.
The more he thought about it, the more intrigued Lee became with the compliment Jerry had given him. It was an odd and even unsettling way to phrase it, but he couldn't deny how much he liked it.
The effect of Jerry's comments on Lee was akin to an emotional rollercoaster, riding the waves of flattery and discomfort. Lee's internal turmoil was palpable, a fusion of adrenaline and unease that left him torn between the allure of the compliment and the unsettling nature of its delivery.
"Leander"
Lee's eyes shot back into reality as Jerry stared at him waiting for the boy to say something.
"Ok, yeah, just excited to go to Japan. So, what type of gadgets do I need, J-man?"
Jerry smiled and began explaining the tools he'll need. But Lee was stuck on that comment.
The pretty spy.
Pretty spy. and Lee.
Lee just realized how much Jerry cared for him.
He always will have Lee by his side.
Lee will always be loyal to him.
Lee will always be Jerry's favorite.