The Chase

2

"You're awake," Dorian said, keeping his attention on the file we had already gone over.

Although it wasn't entirely a question, I nodded nonetheless.

"It's hard to sleep on trains." My phone fell to the floor as I situated myself upright.

Dorian reached down, handing me my phone without hesitation.

"Thanks."

We continued to sit in silence for a few minutes until finally, "You got to the top of your class."

He looked up, "What do you mean?"

I thumbed my phone case as I considered a better way of putting that.

"It was made clear to me," I motioned to Cheche who was fast asleep across from me, "Well us. That you work alone. You choose that."

He nodded, "I don't see your point, princess."

"Yeah, that nickname isn't gonna stay."

Dorian shrugged, watching as Cheches leg fell off the seat.

"You could have any partner you wanted is my point I guess. Why do you work alone?"

"When I'm alone," He hesitated "I'm the only person I need to worry about."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his dramatic comment.

"So then why are you working with us now?" I opened my phone & started going through my camera roll, "What changed?"

Next to me, I heard him let out a deep sigh.

"The agency assigned me to this." His words were coated in annoyance. "Any other questions?"

My eyes met his and I nodded.

"That's a bunch of shit, Dumont, and you know it." He looked away. "You've turned down other assignments. Rumor is that you haven't been paired with a team since you joined." I waited to see if he'd say anything but no luck. "So why now."

I leaned back against the window, waiting.

"No other assignments were out of London. I needed to leave for a while."

"So go on a vacation."

"Work has become my life. I don't take vacations."

Cheche stirred as we spoke, mumbling something about meeting the king.

Outside, rain began to fall against the window. "You're such a cliche man who works in espionage, you do know that right?" I joked, turning my phone off.

Dorian glanced over to take a look at my home screen before it went black, "How?"

This man was giving me a headache.

"Seriously?" I started counting on my fingers, "You have this entire secret past, you work alone, you don't go on vacations, you carry a gun with you everywhere, you're no fun,"

"I'm fun." He interrupted, "Also, this is just a security thing."

He lifted his jacket, revealing the gun I truthfully didn't even know he had, which just proved my point further.

"Right. No, you're right." I smiled, "You're so much fun."

I watched him clench his jaw at my sarcastic tone.

"Though, I don't think I'm the one with a secret past." He tilted his head slightly. "When did he die?"

"Who."

"The boy on your phone."

I turned my attention to the window, taking in the trees outside. It was all a blur of green, a sign that the forest was flourishing.