I love me some little jealousy before ending up in a poly situation with all spies *sigh*
ooh yes yes yes maybe you’re brought in to help them and they’re already a unit so they’re automatically less trusting of you and the first time you meet you’re obviously very polite and professional and they’re not sure if you have the spirit it takes to be one of them. to get acquainted you do a training exercise with them, like a simulated mission, and all of a sudden you’re rolling with all their jokes and giving them exactly what they need and when you yell “Calum, DUCK” he does without thinking and the trap goes off where his head would have been and there’s immediately that unquestioning trust
and when they get to the locker room after the successful mission Calum and Michael go “dibs” in unison and Luke and Ashton both say “veto” at the same time, which is usually their system for making sure no guys go after the same girl but now it’s obvious all four are into you and in that case they’re not sure what to DO so one of them proposes they run their own operation against you so they get an idea of if you’re a good enough spy to stay and if you’re not they’ll reassess, see if that’s a dealbreaker for anyone
so on your way home you hit every red light and then there’s a door-to-door salesman in your building who corners you for five solid minutes and he looks oddly familliar so you know something’s up when you get home. Your security footage doesn’t show anything odd but when you comb through your apartment looking for bugs you find a ton of microphones and even a few little cameras and you pretend not to notice them, just memorize the make because they look like the ones you use... after finding evidence your security footage was altered, taking fingerprints from the pamphlet the salesman gave you, and then going through your house and disconnecting every bug you can find before sending a message to all of them - you didn’t have their numbers, but that’s not a problem - that’s just a picture of the bugs like “I don’t appreciate friendly fire. also, Michael, great costume”
and they’re all a little embarrassed and a lot turned on so they arrange a meeting with you to be like “we had to see if you were the real thing.” and you’re like “what happened to trust?” and Ashton’s like “well we sure as hell trust you now. anyone who’s fast enough to dismantle our operation within half an hour has earned that” and you roll your eyes like “I’m honored.” and then Michael’s like “yeah, that’s important, anyways, we’re all lowkey into you” and you’re like “.......well ya lost me there” and Luke butts in like “we usually try to avoid fighting over the same girl, but you... we want to give it a shot” “...a shot at fighting over me?” “well - no, not exactly, just - we wanna date you. give us all a chance. if you pick one of us, we’ll accept it, if you don’t, you don’t. either way, no hard feelings.”
and you look over them like “...and you’re all in on this?” and they all nod unquestioningly, even Calum, who hasn’t said much more than “hi” but keeps giving you these eyes that you can feel through your whole body, and you’re like “this is against so many rules” “so you don’t want to try it?” “I didn’t say that.”
His eyebrows knitted together, leaning forward and opening the glass separating them from the drivers. “Hey, guys, you just passed the exit for the airport,” the blonde spy questioned, gasping as the passenger side driver turned around to face him.
“Oh we know, Agent M, we know.” he said, punching the spy back before crawling through the small opening, holding the blonde back and glaring at Jay as he restrained the blonde, pulling blindfolds from his pocket.
***********
Michael woke up, head fuzzy as he processed that the world was still dark, but no longer seemed to be moving. He let out a groan, shoulders stiff and sore, processing the cotton stuffed in his mouth and tied behind his head. He stretched his arms, finding those restrained too, as he was about to test his feet a voice fuzzily entered his head from the surrounding room. “It looks like our guests are finally waking up, remove the sacks.”
Michael’s eyes squeezed shut as the bag was removed from his face, the room bright around him. He turned his head to look over at his girlfriend, her hair disheveled from the bag being removed. She looked like she had put up a fight against their captors, the drivers not having the element of surprise to get a jump on her like they had with Michael.
He took in the room further around him, noticing the two drivers on either side of them, the smaller one who had crawled through the window next to him, the larger one who had been actually driving next to Jay. He gave her his best smile from around the gag in his mouth, they’d clearly learned who was the bigger threat. But he also knew that they were underestimating him, having been able to surprise him in the car so he couldn’t fight back. He didn’t mind though, he was used to it as the tech guy. He still managed to surprise Calum and Ashton from time to time in the gym when they were back at home base.
Finally he remembered the man who had first spoken as he and Jay woke up, bringing his slowly sharpening gaze over to the center of the room. He squinted as he took in the man’s face, recognizing it from some of the posters on the wall at hq, searching the fog that was his mind for his name.
“Take out their gags, men, want to hear their thoughts.” He ordered, lazily approaching the couple from his spot at the front of the room.
“But she--” the smaller henchman by Michael started, only to be cut off by a wave of the boss’ hand.
Begrudgingly, both henchmen removed the gags from the two spies’ mouths. “There, that wasn’t so bad, now was it?” He stated, less than ten feet away now. “Agent M, I’ve been waiting so long to meet you, as the man who’s been compiling so much information on me for your bosses. And with the fine Agent J at your side as well. I’m sure that comes as no surprise though, I’ve heard that the two of you are hard to separate when she’s at headquarters.”
Michael’s ears heated, the idea of a mole somewhere within the organization starting a fire in his chest. He slowly began minutely wiggling his hands, trying to tighten the zip tie holding his arms back so he could attempt to snap it so he could free his hands while their captor continued his spiel.
“I wanted to bring you in, obviously Agent M, since you’ve collected so much intel on me, but I needed someone to bring with you to make sure that you actually would do what I ask. So once my informants tipped me off to your relationship with the lovely lady next to you, I knew I had to make a move the second that the two of you were out together.
“You two are a bucket of charm you know? Showed myself on that video camera to force Agent A out, since I’d already met him earlier on in my planning stages, decided he wouldn’t be useful to me in getting you to do what I want and went back to the drawing board. Then I got intel that you were looking into Belaggio and I set myself up with him, and made sure that it would be you paired with Agent J at the gala, see the way you two interact in person.”
Michael continued to work to free himself, attempting now to try and snap the zip tie around his wrist. He focused his anger about their current predicament, minutely shifting his arms to bang his wrists against the chair. He felt the zip tie snap after the fourth attempt, maintaining a neutral expression and keeping his hands locked behind him, waiting for an opening as the man he had only known as Aaron, but looked nothing like the kindly, bald, body guard, continued with his villainous monologue.
“Now, what I need from you, Agent M, is to clear everything about me from your database, most importantly. After that I want you and sweet Agent J’s real names, as well as the names of the rest of your team, and finally, the location of your headquarters, none of my contacts were willing to hand over that final piece of information to me. However, with your beautiful girlfriend here, I’m sure we can manage to get you to give it up for me, hmm M?”
Michael gritted his teeth, jaw aching as he watched ‘Aaron’ step closer to Jay, leaning down in front of her and gently lifting her chin. “I really can’t wait to learn your true name, Agent J, what could it be? Jennifer? Jessica? Jasmine?”
He ran his pointer finger over Jay’s lower lip as he listed names and she leaned forward, taking the finger into her mouth and biting down, hard. The villain gasped as she released his finger, holding it to his chest as he backed away, anger bubbling across his face. “Try that again and you’ll be short a finger.” she spat, sitting back in her chair.
“We tried to warn you boss,” the henchman by Michael squeaked, “she bites.”
“Well, I’m sure I can take care of that,” he stated, dropping his hand from where he’d been staring at the bite mark and approaching Jay again, shoulders squared as he towered over her.
She just stared back at him defiantly, Michael watching to see what he was going to do. His legs tensed as he watched their captor raise his hand, anger finally taking over at the image, the two halves of the plastic ties dropping to the floor as he sprung from the chair. He had caught the henchmen off guard, their boss’ focus completely on Jay, so he froze in surprise as Michael’s legs wrapped around him from behind, his arms going around the larger man’s throat. “Don’t even fucking think about it.” The spy snarled as he squeezed.
Jay grinned up at her boyfriend, standing from the chair, her hands still bound as the two henchmen got over their surprise, moving in. She kicked back the henchman nearest to her, running through the spacious room, arms still behind her back while Michael fought to keep his hold on the spluttering leader. He thrashed beneath the lanky spy, the man Jay had kicked back recovering and coming to his boss’ aid. He prised Michael’s arms from around the man’s throat, Michael loosening his legs’ grip on his waist and dropping to the floor. He sprang to his feet, feeling slightly satisfied as his captor dropped to his own knees, coughing as his lungs tried to bring in air again.
He looked at his new opponent, the larger henchman, and took a step back, guard up as he analyzed the situation. He could hear Jay fighting behind him, trying to pinpoint the sounds as they echoed through the large hall, but also not taking his eyes off the approaching man. He feinted to his left, ducking the punch that came at him before pushing in closer, one, two, three, quick jabs to the larger man’s muscular torso before backing up quickly again.
He kept up this pattern, doing his best to get closer to his girlfriend each time. Unfortunately, on his final backup he misstepped, shoes slipping on the polished marble floor, and going out from under him, leaving him sprawled on his back. He could see the henchman advancing on him and pushed backward with his elbows and feet, trying to slink away. The man towered over Michael’s body and the spy began kicking upward desperately, but he heard a thud to his right, a muffled cry that sounded like Jay’s voice and his wide-eyed gaze went her direction, freezing as he saw the small henchman crouched over her, holding a cloth to her nose. The small moment of distraction gave his opponent an opening, the large man crouching over Michael and before he knew it there was cloth covering his mouth and nose too. Just before his world faded to black again, Michael heard his captor’s strained voice, yelling at the henchmen, “I told you two not to underestimate him!”
********
“Somethings wrong.” Ashton stated as he looked up from his watch for the upteenth time in the twenty minutes since they’d arrived at the airfield.
“No shit.” Luke replied, hunched over one of Michael’s laptops, using the live satellite app Michael wrote to track the path their van should’ve been on. “There wasn’t any traffic and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of a crash anywhere on their route between the safehouse and here, they should’ve beat us.”
Ashton nodded, continuing pacing around where Luke was sitting on the tarmac. Calum walked over from where he’d been talking to their drivers, hand running over his shaved head, “Nelson says that the two guys that were driving Mike and Jay were different, told him that our other drivers for this mission had come down with something and that they were covering for them.”
“Shit!” Luke exclaimed, hand smacking against the asphalt.
Ashton grimaced, exchanging a glance with Calum. “Lu, you need to get back to HQ, give them the intel from the mission and then tell them that Cal and I are tracking down Mike and Jay, to send backup.”
The young blonde looked up at Ashton, blue eyes blazing. “I’m not leaving without any of you! I don’t want to sit at HQ not knowing what’s happened!”
Ashton chewed his lip, this was a hard call to make, he knew, but someone had to be the one to split off. “Look, Luke, the longer we sit here the further away they get. I’ll have my tracker on, we don’t know who has Michael and Jay, so we’re going to need someone to get word to the brass to send help while also making sure that they get the information we were in the field for in the first place. You’re the best man for that job. You can come right back out here as soon as you do that. But we need to move now.”
Luke sighed in defeat, handing over the computer to Calum as he got to his feet, watching as Ashton fiddled with the dial of his watch, turning on the tracker. Nelson handed the car keys over to Ashton, nodding to him and Calum before following Luke and the other driver up the steps of the jet, all of the gear already loaded on.
They both ran over to the car, Calum awkwardly climbing into the passenger seat while still cradling the computer as Ashton punched the ignition. Ashton sped away from the runway, heading for the interstate as Calum typed in the plate for the car their teammates had been in. It may have been a phony plate, but the traffic cameras wouldn’t know the difference and that was all that mattered in the moment. “They’re still on the same interstate, we’ve got ‘em, let’s go.”
Ashton nodded as he punched the gas.
He sped down the highway, Calum keeping tabs on the SUV they were tracking, eyes staring unblinkingly at the computer screen. The car changed lanes but never got off the highway until….”They didn’t come out of the tunnel,” Calum stated, brows furrowing.
Ashton cursed, hand striking the top of the steering wheel. “There any high vis vests or hard hats in this car?”
Calum nodded, scrambling to dig through the center console and the glove box before climbing into the backseat and then into the trunk. He procured the items and slowly clambered back to the passenger seat. He set the hats and vests on the dash, pulling the seat belt back across his body before grabbing the computer again, double checking that the car had in fact disappeared in the tunnel.
Twenty minutes later Ashton pulled into a gravel parking lot alongside the highway, meant for turning around semis with a clearance higher than the tunnel that hadn’t used the last exit, as well as for maintenance staff. They put on the hard hats and vests before climbing out of the car, flashing badges quickly at the other staff as they continued to stride towards the maintenance path of the tunnel. They weren’t questioned as they continued down the walkway, eyes scanning the wall for any sign of mechanism that would allow the other car to vanish.
As they walked along Ashton let out a thought he’d been having since entering the tunnel, “I just don’t understand how they’d be able to make a sharp 90 degree turn in here if the entrance is somewhere in the wall.”
Calum hummed before holding a hand out to stop Ashton, pointing at a spot on the road, “Because they don’t, c’mon, let’s figure out how to get that to open.”
Ashton nodded, scanning around before spotting an antenna sticking up on the railing, “Here.” he called, walking over to the piece of metal.
Calum jogged after him, flicking through settings on his watch. “Just gotta find the right frequency to set it off. Then we can see how long it takes to lower and raise and then head back to the car.”
Ashton turned, hazel eyes wide as he stared at Calum. “Why don’t we just hop down there as soon as it opens? We don’t know who has them or what they want, why waste time walking all the way back to the car?”
Calum furrowed his dark eyebrows, taking a moment before responding, “We don’t know where this tunnel comes out, Ash. It could be a thirty mile walk for all we know, in which case it would be faster to go back for the car and drive there than just go ahead and start walking down there as soon as I find the right frequency to set it off.”
Ashton anxiously chewed his lip before agreeing, nodding at Calum. Calum gave him a quick smile before turning back to his watch, dialling it in before they heard a small beep from the antennae. They watched as the section of road angled downwards, revealing a tighter tunnel below the roadway. Fortunately, traffic was nonexistent right now, so there weren’t any cars at risk of unexpectedly driving into the new tunnel. Once it was open it stayed that way for ten seconds before raising back up to hide the other tunnel once more.
The two spies grinned at each other, nodding and beginning to speed walk back to the surface and their car. They shrugged off the vests as they climbed into the dark SUV and tossed them in the backseat with the hardhats, Ashton throwing the car in drive and speeding out of the gravel lot and onto the highway, staying in the right lane as Calum stared intently at the railings, waiting to see the antennae, knowing they’d be on it much quicker than when they were looking for it on foot. As soon as he saw it he hit the button on the side of his watch, setting off the hydraulics that would lower the road to a ramp. Ashton slowed as they started driving downwards, shoulders stiff as they entered the new tunnel. “Now we just gotta hope that us opening that thing didn’t set anything off.” Ashton joked, nervous chuckle passing his lips as he moved one hand from the wheel to toss his curls.
Calum licked his lips, nodding along as his fingers tapped in his lap as Ashton continued to drive, switching the topic to what they were going to do once they made it to where Michael and Jay had been taken, if they would wait for Luke and backup before going in or if they’d head straight inside.
*******
Michael woke again, head pounding even more than the first time. His body ached as he moved to sit up, finding a mattress beneath him. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was better than the cold floor. He ran his hand over his face, wincing slightly at the slight pressure. He knew he hadn’t escaped the fight earlier without a hit, the adrenaline blocking any pain from the contact, but what he could feel now felt worse than what he anticipated.
He sat on the edge of the bed, taking slow, deep breaths, trying to turn the pain into background noise for a moment. He grunted as he got to his feet, arm around his stomach as he took in his surroundings. There was a large, tri-monitored computer in the corner across from his bed, an open door leading into a bathroom between the two furniture pieces and two of the walls of the small room were glass. One glass wall looked out into the hallway, and the other looked into another room like the one he was in, sans computer.
Michael gasped as he saw his girlfriend curled up on the mattress in the other room. He strode over to the wall, placing his hand on the cool, thick glass. “Jay,” he whispered, green eyes watering as he looked her over from across the room, her body barely stirring, her chest moving up and down slightly as she breathed. “I’m gonna get us out of this.”
Slowly he forced himself to turn away, deciding to go into the bathroom and check himself out further. He flicked the lightswitch on as he peeled off his shirt, coming to stand in front of the large mirror behind the sink. His eyes scanned the dark bruises on his pale torso, sighing before leaning in closer to look at his face. He hummed as he spotted a bruise hiding beneath his growing beard and another under his eye. He traced over the two spots before taking in his bruised knuckles, carefully flexing his fingers.
He turned away from the mirror, eyes lighting up when they fell on a duffle bag in the corner. He unzipped it, looking for his toiletries, sighing when he recognized Luke’s pink silk button down as he dug through. He hummed, grabbing the smaller bag, he wasn’t going to complain too much, knowing he could have just as easily not been given any change of clothes. He grabbed Luke’s shampoo and bodywash, setting them in the shower before taking off his jeans and boxers, starting the water as he found Luke’s sweatpants, setting them on the counter before checking the water.
He grinned at the feeling of warm water, quickly stepping under the stream, body relaxing as the water hit his body, soothing his aching muscles. He only stood under the water for a minute, quickly moving to wash himself, wanting to save hot water for when Jay woke up. He got out, drying off slowly, stretching his limbs as he did. He pulled on the sweatpants he’d gotten out, looking at himself in the mirror one last time before stepping out of the bathroom.
He grinned when he saw Jay sitting up on her bed, rushing over to the wall. “Hey there sleepyhead,” he said, the relief clear in his voice.
“You say that like I had a choice in being asleep,” Jay said back, the gentle smile on her lips taking away any possible bite, “what time is it?”
Michael sighed, shaking his head. “No idea. Saved you some hot water if you want to get a shower or anything. Hopefully they gave you the right bag, I’ve got prince charming’s clothes.”
Jay laughed softly, slowly getting to her feet and hobbling over, wincing every other step. Michael frowned immediately, watching as she came to stand right in front of him. She cooed softly as she looked him over, her hand touching his through the glass. Michael shook his head at her, “I’m fine, love, nothing a hot shower can’t fix, you need to get off that foot until you can get looked at. I’ve got a plan forming.”
Jay was about to respond, before she dropped her head, nodding. “I’m gonna go freshen up, be back.”
Michael gave her an encouraging smile, watching as she carefully made her way into the bathroom, turning and going to sit on his bed, pulling his legs to his chest as he began to think. After what he figured was about thirty minutes of staring at the ends of his bangs and trying to pull the well worn sweatpants further down toward his ankles, clearly Luke had had some trying times with his washing machine and these pants, he saw Jay emerge from her cell’s bathroom.
Her face was a pale green as she hobbled over to the bed, dressed in Michael’s basketball shorts and hoodie. She sat on the bed, head drooping from the effort of crossing the room and Michael frowned, getting to his feet and approaching the wall. He placed his hand on the glass, concern crossing his brow as he spotted the makeshift splint on his girlfriend’s ankle.
She read his expression easily, giving him a pained smile as she said, “I think I broke it. Whole thing is purple.”
Michael’s face filled with rage towards their captor, tension filling his shoulders as he tried to collect himself. He took a deep breath, slowly letting the air out of his lungs before saying, “I wish I could come over there and help you, love. Neither of us know how long we’ve been here, but I believe help is on its way, we’ll be out soon. We’re gonna be ok, Jay.”
“Glad to see you two are finally up and about, good morning.”
Michael’s anger surged again at the sound of their captor’s voice, wheeling around and leaping towards the other wall, fist striking against the glass perfectly in line with the other man’s head. He yawned, boredly rolling his eyes as the tempered glass protecting him from the spy shook as a result.
“It’s cute, how much hope and faith you have in your team, Agent,” he continued as though nothing had happened, Michael’s body shaking as his green eyes stayed trained on patronizing blue. “How’re they supposed to know where we’ve brought you when they don’t even know it’s me that has you? Your only ticket out is helping me, Agent M. I highly suggest that you get started.”
Michael was still shaking, jaw tense as he stared through the glass. “I can get started.” he gritted out, “Problem is, your guys took the car with the clothes, not the equipment, it’s going to take me a while to get through the security system before I can even get to the files you want.”
“Get started then. Or else your sweetheart over there is going to have more than an ankle to worry about.”
Michael was about to snarl a reply when he caught sight of two men outside of Jay’s room, heart dropping to the pit of his stomach and shoulders drooping. “Mi-my love,” Jay caught herself, her brown eyes on the two men outside her cell too, “It’s going to be ok, please…”
Michael closed his eyes, nodding in the direction of the boss, slowly making his way to the computer, reaching under the desk and hitting the power button. Each monitor flashed the loading screen and he heard, “Good choice. I’ll send someone by in a couple hours to make sure you’re still working. Maybe we’ll bring some food too.”
Michael ignored him, just bowing his head and pinching the bridge of his nose as a homescreen appeared in front of him. He heard three sets of receding footsteps and a heavy door slamming.
A minute later, Jay spoke, “you don’t have to do anything, babe, I can take it.” Jay’s voice was weak and Michael licked his lip, swallowing the lump in his throat before spinning in the chair to respond.
“I do, Jay. You’re not getting hurt if I can stop it. Besides, I have a plan, I just need to stall a little. Alek Turner is not getting away with this.”
He turned back to the computer, opening one of the apps he recognized and slowly began his work. He carefully picked through lines and lines of code, someone checking in at some point, but nodding satisfactorily when he saw Michael still typing and disappearing back down the hall again, returning with food and some tylenol for Jay. She scooted off the bed and pushed her body across the smooth floor toward the plate and medicine, trying to keep off her injured leg. She opened the bottle first, smiling at the tamper seal, removing the paper before giving the bottle a cursory sniff before taking out two pills, taking them with her food. As she sat there eating, she heard Michael’s typing pick up. “That doesn’t sound like stalling, love.” She teased.
Michael just hummed in response, blazing through the familiarity of his own lines of code, “Part of my plan, sweets. If people in the lab didn’t know it was me trying to get in before, they will now.”
Jay smiled, nodding to herself from where she was sitting and Michael continued with his work, hitting every possible alarm bell he had put into his own protective layer. He began adding in a new line of code, smirking at the idea he had just gotten to announce himself to the lab, slipping through and finding the lab’s speakers, putting on a Peppa Pig song and punching the volume. While that was playing he kept typing, making up a chat box before bringing down the volume on the song, hitting enter on his message:
M: Whose attention have I got? M here if you couldn’t tell.
S: M! It’s S, where are you?
Michael sighed in relief at the information that it was his mentor on the other side of the screen. The man was beyond loyal to their organization and he knew he could trust whatever he was told.
M: Alek Turner has me and J. She’s hurt. He wants his info erased, our team’s real IDs and the location of HQ.
S: We sent out an X team for you two in the afternoon after L was dbed and he told the brass why the rest of the team weren’t there. A & C were tracking you two and we have a pin on them. It’s about 2am here now.
Michael sighed, nodding at the computer and rubbing his head, the ache from everything that had happened previously making timezone math more difficult than usual, plus he wasn’t sure if he was still in the same one, all he knew was that it was probably dark out and he should be in bed, not staring at a screen.
M: Cool. Gonna keep stalling and hope for the best. Oh, we have moles, Turner brought that up when he was giving his whole monologue. Can’t wait to find their sorry asses when we come in later.
S: Noted. Best of luck.
Michael smiled to himself before closing out the chat window, continuing to work through the security code until his previous work was no longer on the screen. He rose from the chair, stretching his limbs. He met Jay’s questioning gaze, giving her a smile and thumbs up before turning towards the bathroom. He picked up his clothes from the floor, finding one of Luke’s shirts and pulling it on over his bruised torso. He splashed some cold water on his face before walking out, rubbing at his eyes.
He did a few more stretches, approaching the wall that separated him from Jay. “Just wondering, love, do you actually have my bag, or are those clothes you stole? Would be nice to know where my glasses and a fresh pair of contacts are, in case.”
Jay laughed softly before answering, “It’s your bag alright.”
Michael smiled, nodding at her, “Did you refold and put away things after you made your splint?”
“Of course you mess.” she teased lightly, but understanding of what he was trying to signal to her showed on her face and he nodded once more before returning to the desk.
*******
Calum and Ashton had made it to the underwater compound, a fact made clear by the glass dome that covered the entire complex. The pair of spies had parked their car in a lot of identical black SUVs, taking an empty space before crawling into the back cargo space. They’d agreed to give Luke and any team he could procure about nine hours before they’d move on their own. Knowing that they wouldn’t get much chance for sleep once they’d broken in, they decided to sleep in shifts, Calum taking the first four hours to rest while Ashton kept watch.
Eight maddeningly quiet hours later the pair were readying themselves to carry out their solo plan, just in case the next hour was just as quiet. Ashton was carefully looping a grappling hook to his belt when they heard a familiar knocking sequence on the bottom of the car. Both men grinned, pausing in silence as they waited for the sound to repeat itself. Once the sequence had been knocked through a second time Calum scooted back, finding the button that opened up the floor beneath them.
Luke’s blonde head poked up through the opening, smile on his face as he recognized that his two friends that had gone ahead were still in the car, a breath of relief passing his lips. “Ready to go get our friends?” He asked, holding his bare arms out to help Calum and Ashton down into the passage they’d discovered.
Once the three highly experienced team members were in the tunnel with the rest of the extraction team, the trio got changed, pulling on black clothes, masks, and gloves, leaving only their eyes exposed from the clothing. As they all crouched in the cool, damp tunnel, Luke pulled out a tablet, showing the images on the screen to Ashton and Calum. “So, based off of your location we were able to use some satellite images to get a rough schematic of this place. We think that they’d be holding Mike and Jay about here,” Luke explained, scrolling through the different layers and plans he’d written up on the fly. “So the three of us and Simon are going to go and get them, and the other four, are gonna see if they can get visuals on who took them in the first place. If they’re not injured, we’ve got diving equipment to get out, if they are injured though, we’ll take them back here to the car and drive back the way you guys came.”
Calum and Ashton nodded at Luke’s plan, the team splitting to go their separate ways, slowly creeping through the tunnels, hoping they’d find what they were looking for where they expected to. There were spots where the tunnel sloped down, the final slope ended in a T, Luke and Calum went to the left, Ashton and Simon to the right. They kept crawling a little further until they reached what looked like a bathroom vent. Ashton looked through the slats, spotting a familiar bag on the bathroom floor, nodding excitedly to the other spy before carefully removing the vent. Both men carefully lowered down, landing lightly on the toilet lid before hopping to the ground. They slowly made their way to the bathroom door, pausing on the inside of the door, waiting a moment. The sound of Michael’s voice reached their ears, “Did you refold and put away things after you made your splint?”
“Of course, you mess,” came Jay’s teasing response, the volume of her voice softer to them than Michael’s, but it, along with the lack of things scattered around the bathroom, gave Ashton the information he was waiting for, Michael knew they were coming.
He felt a lightness in his chest from his friends’ faith in their team, smile crossing his face as he heard Michael acknowledge someone else, muttering something about code and security measures. Ashton held back Simon, waiting a moment for whoever Michael had spoken to to go away, some sort of guard probably. He peeked out the doorway, spotting Calum doing the same across the way. He nodded at his friend, holding up his hand and counting down from five.
As soon as he put down his last finger, they stepped out into the room, four spies moving quickly and quietly towards the two that had been captured. Michael spun in his chair, having seen two figures moving towards Jay’s bed in the reflection of one of the computer screens. His guard was up as he approached Simon, pulling back a fist. Ashton quickly pulled back his mask and hood, “Hey, hey, it’s us, we’re here for you,” he waved quickly over at Luke and Calum, both of them doing the same as Ashton.
Michael sighed with relief, letting Ashton wrap him in his arms, “Sorry, just...stressed.”
“Jay thinks she broke her ankle,” Michael said as he pulled away, looking to the glass wall that Ashton could now see separated the couple.
Ashton nodded, quickly pulling a tool from his belt, cutting a hole in the glass. Michael gasped, running through it immediately, leaning down to give Jay a kiss. “Get her out, please, Alek Turner is the one who took us, wants names, we have to try to bring him in. He has people on the inside, need to find out more.”
Ashton, Calum and Luke nodded, understanding. Calum carefully took Jay in his arms, heading for her bathroom. Ashton ran over, grabbing Michael’s bag from his bathroom handing it to Luke before grabbing Michael’s arm, making him move. Michael looked at the computer he’d been working on, pulling against Ashton to go for the computer, “Need to get out of our system before we leave.”
Ashton stared for a moment, Simon already getting the glass into the hallway cut. “Is the only thing on that computer hacking software, nothing we can use against Turner?”
“Yeah, but--”
Ashton shot at the CPU three times, Michael staring slack jawed as the screens slowly flickered off, “There, they can’t use any of your hard work getting started to figure out how to get in from there.”
Michael nodded slowly, letting Ashton lead him out into the hallway. Ashton pulled his hood and mask back over his head, nodding towards Simon. They took off for the doors, Ashton smacking the guard with the butt of his pistol, knocking him to the ground. They’d run up a few flights of stairs when Michael realized something. He grabbed Ashton’s shoulder as they paused on a landing, “Fletch, he knows you.”
Ashton’s hazel eyes widened as he processed what Michael was saying, “No fucking way.” he whispered.
Michael just nodded, pausing at the door out of the stairwell. He listened quietly for a moment before pushing out into the hallway, waiting for the other two to follow him. The sound of fighting came from down the hall. Luke had clearly alerted the other team’s leader that they needed to go after Turner now. Michael took off down the hall, Ashton following right behind him. The two dove into the fray, bobbing and weaving through the fighting spies and henchmen, landing hits when necessary. They’d lost track of Simon, but figured he’d be elsewhere helping their teammates.
Michael caught sight of Turner trying to slip away, his silken pajamas rumpled. He leapt in the larger man’s direction, tackling him to the ground and struggling to gain control. He ended up on top of the other man’s chest, satisfied smile on his pink lips as he recognized the purple bruise around Alek’s throat from their tangle earlier in the day. He gripped the collar of the pajama shirt, lifting Turner just slightly as he leaned in, growling “I’m gonna be so happy to lock you up. This, is for my girlfriend,” he paused, landing a punch to Alek’s nose, “and this, is for all those slimeball snitches you’re going to tell us about, you bastard.” He punctuated the second statement with another punch, this time to Turner’s cheek, before twisting slightly to look at Ashton. “Care to do the honors, Fletch?”
Ashton nodded, stepping forward, cuffs already in hand. He restrained Turner while Michael turned him to his stomach, face squished against the marble floor. “C’mon Fletch,” Alek started, using the sweet, innocent voice he had spoken with as Aaron, “we were friends, take it easy, yeah?”
Ashton snorted, tightening the first cuff, “Fletch was friends with Aaron, if I’d known who I was talking with at the time I’d have knocked you in the head with my trowel first chance I got, no questions asked.”
Michael smiled, though he knew Ashton with any makeshift weapon was dangerous, the image of his friend with his bright red hair standing over the large blonde they were taking in, dressed in overalls and weilding a trowel tickled him just a bit. He was about to make a joke about it when he heard the clicking of a revolver. He turned, locking eyes with Simon, his mask and hood removed as he stood over Michael, Ashton, and Alek. He glanced around, the four other members of the extraction team were all staring, standing in a sea of unconscious and subdued henchmen, shocked that one of their own was pointing a gun at the spy they’d come to rescue.
“I suggest you think about what you’re doing, Si.” Ashton warned lowly, “You’re outnumbered, plus if you even try to think about shooting me or Agent M, you’re going to be risking shooting your boss here, and you don’t want to do that, do you?”
Michael nodded, green eyes meeting brown, “Yeah, just put the gun down, Simon, maybe the brass will consider leniency since you helped me escape, but only if you cooperate now, otherwise...who knows?”
Simon lowered the gun slightly, still not dropping it to the ground. Michael took a heavy breath, glancing towards Ashton. He nodded, shifting on top of Turner. Michael moved quickly, barrelling into Simon before he knew what was happening. The gun went off, bullet grazing Michael’s arm before embedding itself in a wall. Michael yelped, but wrestled the revolver out of Simon’s grasp, pinning him in his arms before looking to another agent. “Kay, help us to bring him in?”
“With pleasure,” they responded, Michael easily handing over the mole to them, watching as Ashton stood with Turner, nodding to the team leader and they all walked out the door.
Kay put Simon in the car with Alek while Ashton stood under the liftgate, looking over Michael. “M’just bruised and sore Fletch,” Michael stated, aware that there still could be listening ears, even with Alek Turner in their custody.
Ashton sighed, nodding and letting Michael get to his feet, lowering the trunk as Kay came around the side, “They’re secured, gonna head out with the rest of the team. Meet you guys at the rendezvous point.”
Michael thanked them, giving them a quick hug before he got in the passenger seat next to Ashton. The drive through the narrow tunnel was quiet, Michael listening to the calming playlist that Ashton had on. He smiled as he sat there, car slowly moving upwards. Ashton stopped ten feet back from what appeared to be a dead end, putting the car in park as he fiddled with his watch. Michael stared wide eyed as a ramp lowered down, Ashton punching the gas and driving up it, the car coming into a wider tunnel. Michael’s mouth hung open and Ashton turned to look at him, confused, “Did you not see any of this when they brought you down?”
“No, I got knocked out as soon as I asked why we had passed the airport.”
Ashton nodded slowly, continuing to drive out of the tunnel, heading for the surface. Once they were full out of the tunnel and back on the highway they could see the sunrise over the bay. Michael hummed, taking in the orange and pink reflected in the water, “Haven’t seen one of those in a while.”
Ashton laughed heartily, smiling as he continued the drive to where they were supposed to meet up with Luke, Calum, and the rest of the team. Once they arrived at the airport Michael scrambled out of the car, running for where he could see Luke and Calum waiting at the bottom of the plane stairs. He wrapped both men in his arms, pressing to their chests. “This is a total 180 from you almost punching Simon’s face when we came in.” Calum joked, eyes sparkling until he saw Ashton holding a cuffed Simon.
“Shoulda punched his lights out when I thought you guys were henchmen taking Jay somewhere because I wasn’t working fast enough. Fucking mole.” Michael grunted, noticing the shock both men held. He shook his head as Ashton walked Simon up the stairs, followed by another team member with Turner. “Anyway, how’s my girl?”
Luke nodded, leading Michael onto the plane with everyone else, Michael quickly strode over to where he saw his girlfriend, laying on a couch, her foot propped up on a pile of pillows. He smiled, crouching next to her, holding her hand as another few people walked past, carrying the go bags from the back of the car, Turner’s henchmen having just grabbed two when they brought the spies in that afternoon. Michael hummed, content to just sit on the floor in front of his girlfriend as the plane took off for HQ.
~~~~~
Michael had dozed off at some point during the flight, body content to finally knock out of its own volition, giving him two hours of proper sleep before Calum was shaking him awake on the approach. Once they landed they all filed off the plane, Michael cradling Jay in his arms as he followed everyone to the three cars waiting on the tarmac. Luke, Ashton, and Calum clambered into the third row seats, Michael ducking his head as he buckled his girlfriend into her seat before he ran to the other side of the car. Alek Turner and Simon were put in their own car, being taken straight to HQ for processing while the entire extraction team were taken to their doctors to get checked out.
Michael was cleared quickly, and he walked over to Jay’s room, waiting patiently for her to come back from having x rays taken. The nurse who wheeled her back in simply nodded and left the room, and he rose from his chair, rushing over to give Jay a long kiss, holding her gently. “After everything we’ve been through today, I don’t fucking care what they do to us for this, so long as I still get to have you.”
Jay smiled, running her fingers through his hair. He carefully lifted her from the chair, going to sit on the exam table, holding Jay sideways in his lap. Before the doctor came back in with the x rays, Luke, Ashton, and Calum had all joined them in the small room, finding various spots to sit and wait for the update on their teammate. He sighed when he finally came in, shaking his head slightly before putting up the images on the light board, showing the injury Jay had sustained when the henchman she’d been fighting had caught her mid-kick, twisting her foot before dropping her to the floor.
Michael grimaced at the memory of the sound of Jay yelling before a thunk, right before they’d both been knocked out for the second time in one day. Jay squeezed his hand gently and he turned his head, giving her a smile as the doctor explained that she was going to have to be in a cast for about a month and a half, confined to desk duty for that time period.
As soon as Jay’s leg was wrapped in a clunky purple cast they were cleared to go. Calum carried Jay’s new crutches while Michael opted to carry her to their meeting with the brass, the team of five standing strong together as they entered the office. They looked up at the five leaders of the organization, their identities concealed even to their own employees. The one standing in the middle spoke first, looking down at the five spies in front of them. “So, first, glad to have you two back safe and sound, agents. Good job thinking to apprehend Turner before escaping to safety, Agent M, who knows how long we would’ve been searching for him again had you not insisted that that was the priority.”
Michael bowed his head at the praise, waiting for the shoe to drop. “However,” spoke up another member, “This is exactly why none of you are supposed to be in a relationship with another team member. What would’ve happened if no one came to get you?”
He cleared his throat quietly, waiting a beat to see if any of the other leaders would chime in or if he was to answer. He licked his lips before nodding, “I was already stalling for time when my team members came in to get me. I had set off alarms in the lab, getting a conversation in with my mentor, Agent S. If I’d been informed that no one was coming at that time I would’ve continued to stall and try to get him more information. Turner would not have gotten anything from me unless I had absolutely nowhere else to turn.
However, Turner was sloppy, he took us when we were expected to be somewhere, left behind people who would do anything to make sure that Jay and I came back safe. Plus, as you can see, we didn’t go down easy either, we were both knocked out twice within a single day. I think the more important question here is how did Turner get access to agents and turn them to his side to give him any information at all, regardless of the fact that they all refused to tell him where this building is. We need to get him to tell us how many informants he had and who they were, all we have right now is Simon and that’s solely because he pulled a gun on us while we were restraining Turner. How much loyalty do the other moles feel for him if Simon was willing to point a gun at people who have trained and worked alongside him for years?”
There were murmurs from the leaders, the five of them talking to each other while the team waited patiently. Finally, the head of their entire organization rose, at the far end, her gaze falling on the couple before turning to the rest of the team as well. “There’s no way that we can stop the two of you right now. We will question Simon and Alek Turner thoroughly to discover who else answered to Turner and bring them all to justice. All five of you are to take leave for the next week before returning to work. Get some rest, you’ve all done well.”
All five team members nodded, quietly exiting the room. Once they were out and had gathered all their things they smiled at each other. “Breakfast? I’m starving, I haven’t eaten since we left the safehouse.” Michael said, grinning.
They all nodded, making their ways to their respective cars once they agreed on a place. Michael got Jay buckled in before accepting the crutches from Calum, laying them in the backseat before getting in himself. “You should wear clothes like Luke’s more often, looks nice, probably be better without the sweats.”
Michael chuckled as he started the car, slowly backing out of his spot before responding. “Probably would be. The pink is definitely starting to grow on me.”
Jay hummed as Michael pulled out onto the street. “Got a whole week at home together, then you get me sitting in the lab with you for like a whole month, that’s gonna be nice.”
“Sure is sweetheart, I can’t wait.” Michael smiled, leaning over to give his girlfriend a kiss at the stoplight, Luke and Ashton hooting on either side of his car. He shook his head, “So long as we get a good amount of time away from them,” he joked, smile on both their faces as they continued their drive to the restaurant, looking forward to their freetime, together.
Tag List: @irwinkitten @calpops @goth5sos @wildflowergrae @empathycth
going off of hurt spy Luke. Since his ribs are cracked he has to stay with you while the boys go out and you’re doing your thing but Luke is all pouty so you bring your stuff over and sit next to him in bed. you tell him that if he talks too much you’re moving again so Luke just rests his head on your shoulder and is quiet as a mouse while you work. Ooh and the boys get into a tricky spot during the mission which makes Luke all anxious and he doesn’t know how you do it cause it’s torture for him
it’s funny bc as the guys are suiting up one of them’s like “Luke you’re being surprisingly chill about having to stay behind” and another’s like “it’s bc he gets angel all to himself today” and you both blush a little but one they’re off you’re like “alright, I’m going to get started in the other room. if you need anything, scream, okay?” and he’s like “wait wait wait wait where are you going?” “...all my monitors are set up in the living room.” “I thought you were gonna stay here with me :(” “babe how am I supposed to fit all that equipment in here with you?” but once you’re settled in and you have your headset in and you hear him come in wincing and you’re opening your mouth to tell him off when he eases himself into the other chair when he’s like “if you kick me out, I’m gonna have to get up and that won’t be resting my ribs at all” and you roll your eyes and you’re like “if you distract me, I’ll crack a few more of your ribs myself, okay?” and he nods earnestly and rests his head on your shoulder so he can hear the rest of the team through your headset
and of course he’s been holding on to your arm absently but when things get tricky his grip tightens and you can tell it’s killing him to not be out there and to be helpless next to you as you type frantically. when he spots motion on the cameras you’ve hacked into he’s tugging at your sleeve, trying to get your attention while you’re like “- the office door is rigged with an alarm that I can’t disarm for you, and Cal’s gonna take care of the guys headed down the hall, right? He’s in position, I’ll let you know if he needs backup if he can’t - yes, Luke, I see them, it’s okay, I’ve got a plan for them, their tasers are linked to the cloud so they’re about to go off on them, and -” and he feels a little silly for bothering you but he doesn’t know what else he can do and he can hear Calum fighting and he can’t reach out to help or even talk to him, and by the time things have cooled off he’s been gripping you so hard you have little nail marks in your arms and once the mission is done and they’re on their way home, Luke takes your headset off for you and holds your hand, rubbing the back of it with his thumb. “I always thought you were lucky, staying back here. I didn’t get it.” “It’s okay, I get it” and Luke’s quiet for another moment like “...sorry I scared you when I got hurt” “I’m sorry I couldn’t prevent it” and you guys look at each other for a long moment before he leans in and brings his face so close to yours he’s all you can see and he just says “thank you” before he leans in and kisses you gently enough that there’s no pain from his ribs to distract him from your lips on his
secretly dating one of the guys in spy!sos and then ending up in a poly relationship with everyone
ooh yeah maybe one night after a mission that was a bit too close for comfort Michael stays behind to comfort you and calm you down by wrapping you in his arms and eventually he sits down with you still in his arms so you’re half in his lap and you look up and he’s looking down at you and you’ve seen these guys through the worst of it all but you’ve never seen any of them with that much softness in their eyes and you just slowly press yourself up to kiss him and when he kisses back you can smell the sweat on his skin and feel his stubble and so much of your life is a lie these days, but he is real
and of course you two talk it over and decide not to tell anyone until you have to or you know it’s really serious bc you don’t want to jeopardize the team or anything, so you guys have fun for the next few days with acting as usual, feeling proud of yourselves for keeping even the edge of i’ve-got-a-secret joy out of your voices as you banter on comm with your boys and you’re feeling pretty good about everything until you’re leaving your office and you turn the corner and Calum is right there, he’s obviously been waiting for you, and you pray he didn’t catch the look of guilt that flitted across your face.
He doesn’t waste time. “So you’ve made your choice, have you?” You can’t hide your surprise that time. You really did think he hadn’t noticed. you have no idea what to say, so you just shrug. Cal’s choosing his words carefully too, he wets his lips before he speaks. “I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get a fighting chance, love” he says, finally. “you don’t trust your own team members?” you chide, meaning it as a joke, but Calum doesn’t give you any relief.
“I would trust Michael with my life. I don’t know if I trust him with you.”
Ok but spy!sos and one of them got hurt on the last mission and they’re half trying to stay out of your way and half trying to help while you’re working on making sure the rest of the team is safe
oh my GOD let’s say it’s Luke bc let’s face it with arms that long he’s got to be prone to injury and HQ told him to take the time off until he’s healed but he begged until they let him join you in your office “helping” you while the other three go on the mission and he’s got one arm in a sling but he’s happy to be there with you “all to myself” and of course whenever he says anything like that the other three guys are groan and yell at him over the comm link and he winks at you with that megawatt smile and you roll your eyes and he takes off his headset and says something like “how’m I supposed to go back into the field when I know how sweet you look when I’m teasin’ you angel?” without the boys being able to hear and when you say “you know the rules, put your comm back on” they can hear the smile in your voice but they don’t get to see it so Luke still acts smug as he puts the headset back on.
while the guys are going on with the mission he’s poking around the office and trying to figure out what all your stuff is and you have to smack his hand away from your monitors all the time and he’s always like “oh guys guys guys there’s this guy heading towards you -” and you’re like “don’t worry about it, he’s about to get a call from his boss that pulls him away” and Luke’s like “...are you always doing stuff like that for us? we gotta give you a raise, angel” and he still doesn’t quit fucking around until shit actually hits the fan you get him to step back and if he liked you before seeing how you work behind the scenes to keep them safe now he’s just in awe of your composure and grace under pressure and once the mission is done and the guys are as safe as they ever get and the comms are off Luke helps you out of your hair with his good hand and doesn’t let go, just smiles at you for a second like “...you know how incredible you are, right?” “I’ve been told I’m a miracle worker” you smile but he presses on like “yeah, but that’s not the same” and you shrug with a little smile but he still doesn’t let go and after a long moment he’s like “once my arm is better I wanna take you out, sweetheart. dancing or something. at least to say thank you, if it can’t be more” and you’re like “...I don’t know if that’s a great idea.” “our lives are always in danger, angel. live a little with me.”
*high pressure situation* *one of them trying to distract you with their hot ass outfit/charm* “is someone distracted angel?” “i’m the only reason all four of your asses aren’t fixing to get fried by lasers-“ “what lasers?” *lasers commence* “those lasers. now stop distracting me and get back to the mission before you get your asses kicked.” SKSKSKSKSKS I CANT WITH THIS. I LOVE A GOOD SPY AU
YEAH YEAH he can hear you typing furiously over the comm link and he’s like “sound a little flustered over there angel” and you’re like “yep you could say that” “oh yeah? who’s got you so worked up, baby?” “first of all, I thought we settled on angel, and second of all - oh shit -” and one of them yelps as a laser fires right about their head and you’re like “that’s what’s got me so worked up, so either start running or shut up so I can fix this - oh, you tricky little bastard” and at that point they know you’re talking to whoever coded this security system so they leave you alone but later in the mission when it’s quiet he’s like “hey angel? just so you know? you might be our angel but you’re my baby” and while you’re blushing and trying to process that one of the other boys is like “you know we can all hear you right? rude of you to do that while Ash’s in stealth mode and can’t take his shot too”
I’m ? Obsessed w the spy au PLS that’s so hot and like the 4 of them being over protective of u and flirting outrageously I’m weak
YES OMG you get a day off in the middle of winter and you’re ready to just have a quiet day in, no international emergencies, no fuss, just you and good book and a scented candle you haven’t even had time to light before this. of course you’re barely finished your breakfast when the doorbell rings for the first time and once you check the door and let the delivery man in and examine the package for explosives and whatever and finally open it up and it’s a massive home spa package from a “secret admirer” in remarkably familiar handwriting so you’re like. 90% sure it’s not a trap. anyway it’s not long after that that the second package comes and when you make sure it’s safe you open it up and it’s a bunch of incredibly soft clothes and a few pieces of choice lingerie from another “secret admirer” and after that you’re expecting the next two packages - one turns out to be a lot of chocolate and other rich foods including some body chocolate or whatever for couples, and the other is a set of really beautiful jewelry
anyway after they’ve all been received you take a pic of them crowding your kitchen and send it to the groupchat you have with your team like “you can’t all sign it secret admirer it’s not fair” and Michael’s like “which one was your favourite bc that one’s mine” and you’re like “you know I’m gonna figure out who sent what, right? like it’s my job to solve those mysteries” “and it’s ours to keep secrets. good luck, angel”
spy luke getting hurt during a mission and since michael is such a 'no man left behind' he almost gets hurt as well getting the two of them out of there. and while you're patching luke up you have three australians just hovering in the doorway. and of course mike cal and ash are flirting once you're done with luke who just thanks you with the biggest blush ever.
OH NO and the worst thing was hearing Luke cry out and then try to hide it when you asked if he was hurt because he didn’t want to fail the mission and then the second worst thing is having to hear Michael go after him even though you’re telling him it’s too dangerous and it’s not protocol and that the other guards are going to beat him there but somehow the four of them get out and you’re immediately requesting to be flown out to the rendezvous - you usually don’t leave HQ but they make an exception this time because know you’ve got the best shot at calming down the team and assessing if the mission can be saved
once you get to the safe house and Ashton lets you in you throw yourself into his arms and let him hug you for as long as he needs, and then Calum, and then when you get to the bedroom where Luke’s resting you smack Michael on the chest before hugging him like “I could have lost both of you” and you’re mad and grateful all at once and Mikey just holds you and presses a kiss to the top of your head because he gets it, he really does, and then once you’ve calmed down you turn to look at Luke, who looks pale and wan, and he gives you this brave sickbed smile like “I’m the hurt one, you should have hugged me first” and you laugh tearfully and kneel down at his side and you don’t hug him, you don’t want to hurt him more, but you do tuck a strand of his hair behind his ear and after a moment you’re like “...well. let’s see the damage those bastards managed to do. Obviously I’m talking about whichever of you goons had to patch him up in the field” and Calum’s like “ouch, angel” but once you’ve seen for yourself that it’s not life-threatening and if it weren’t for the cracked ribs he could go out in the field tomorrow you can all relax
of course once Luke’s thanked you he asks if you can kiss it better, and you roll your eyes but he pouts until you do, and then the other boys all find tiny injuries that need tending to until it’s like “I cut myself shaving yesterday :(” “that wasn’t on my watch so idk if it’s my responsibility pumpkin” “well it could get infected and impair my work :(” “...FINE but this is the last one, ok?”
