Agent With a Shotgun

Five

"Why the hell would you set the terms to helping him at never seeing him again? I mean, did you see him down there. He was kind of hot, why would you never want to see that again?" Celia asked as she sat on Amelias' bed. After she agreed to help Colton, he told her that she needed to pack a bag with some clothes tonight because they had to leave tonight. It was time sensitive that they got as close to catching up to him as possible, so she made her way back upstairs to get ready. Celia following in tow.

Amelia paused to think. Sure, Colton was attractive. Even more so than when she last saw him. His dark brown hair was only slightly longer than what she remembered, but it suited him. It had slight curls to it now too, a few falling in front of his light icy blue eyes, which also had a dark tint to them as well, it all depended on which way the light hit his eyes. It was obvious that he had been working out since she last saw him too. It was evident from the tight shirt had had on. The short sleeves showing off his upper arms that were bulging out from beneath the shirt, a sliver of the tattoos he had on his arms showing as well. Colton was hot yes, but she wouldn't admit it out loud. To anyone, or herself.

"Because," Amelia stated from the bathroom, "I made a promise to myself that I would never go back to him. He was my best friend when we were partners, my other half. We worked so well together." She paused from what she was doing and trailed off. Her eyes dropping to the necklace she had put in the small jewelry dish on her bathroom countertop. The necklace Colton had given her after their first year of being partners. They had spent so much time together that first year, late nights filled with vulnerable conversations. She told him everything about her in those nights, the same with him.

After they hit their one year of partnership, he had gifted her a necklace with a small rose pendant hanging from the gold chain. Roses were her mother's favorite flowers before she died due to breast cancer a few years before she joined the academy. Her mothers dream was become an agent one day and be one of the top ranking people in the FBI, to show that a woman can do that job just as well as a man could. She died before she could achieve that dream, so Amelia took in upon herself to live out the dream her mother couldn't. She had shared that fact with Colton one night and admired the fact that she was doing this for her mother, to make her proud.

When she had gifted the necklace from him, she wore it everyday, on every case. It brought her comfort when things got tough, he brought her comfort. But when she had been fired from the bureau and Colton turned his back to her, the necklace had stayed in that dish for the past five years collecting dust. She never put it on after that day.

Now, she picked it out of the dish and held it in her hand, making her way to where Celia was seated.

Amelia sat beside her and turned to face her, "Colton was the one person I believed would always have my back, through everything. The same way I had his. There was nothing I wouldn't do for him. That's what made us work so well together. We made each other stronger by having each other's back and supporting each other. Through every decision. That is until the Willkins' case." Amelia looked down at the necklace in her hand and twiddled with the rose.

"I made the decision to go in before back up got there and because of that, six people died. I never let that go," Celia placed her palm over Amelias' and squeezed. Amelia squeezed back before continuing, "I felt so much guilt that they were dead because of me that I drove myself mad. I had this gut feeling Wilkins didn't die in the explosion but every piece of evidence I had to support that was all coincidental or way too far fetched to make sense. People within the bureau saw me as the crazy, guilt-ridden agent who was trying to fix her mistake with something that couldn't be proven. Before long, the director had had enough of me making all these claims when it was clear at the time that he had died. I was fired and forced to turn in my gun and badge. I thought that maybe Colton would have my back and at least defend me with the director or the other agents who talked behind my back, but he didn't. He turned his back on me when I needed him most. And I've never forgotten that." Celia was quiet as she let Amelia speak and say everything she's been holding. This is the most detail she had ever share about her old job and life to Celia, so she allowed her to get everything out.