Hayley Atwell | One-Shots

G - The Key Pt. 1

Odessa:
With Ethan by my side, we walk fast through the airport. The CIA is after us. Ethan didn't want me on this mission with him but I always end up getting dragged through his shit. Not that I'm complaining. It keeps me on my toes.

"It's up ahead," I say softly. "One hundred feet and closing."

The key is what we're after. A key. We don't know what it opens, but we're sure to find out eventually. Ethan's good at what he does. And so am I. I have a background as a thief to put it lightly. It would take me all day to list the things I've done in the past that have led me here.

"Split when I tell you. Go right. Whoever gets to it first grabs it. We circle back once we have it," Ethan tells me. "3... 2... 1... Split."

We instantly part ways, me going right, Ethan going left. We walk with the crowd until we reach the location of the key. It's on a man up ahead. I'm one person behind him when all of a sudden, I'm being hit by someone and knocked out of the way. I take a moment to look at who hit me but I can't pinpoint them. When I look back at the location of the key, my sensor is telling me it's gone. I follow the arrow that tells me where it is and it pins to a woman.

"Hunt, it's been taken."

"Taken? By who?"

"Her." I'm already on her tail. The woman looks behind me and we make eye contact and I swear I know her from somewhere. She speeds up. So I do too. "I've got her."

I follow the woman through the airport until she turns into a restaurant. When it's just us, I grab her arm. She spins to face me.

"Grace?"

She smiles, her shiny white teeth practically blinding me. "Been a while."

"So it has."

She looks down at her arm that's still in my grip. "Need something?"

"You have something of mine."

"Last I checked, it wasn't yours."

"Well, it's not yours, either. And it's a whole lot safer with me."

"Since when were you one of the good guys?"

"Never said I was."

"Last I saw you, we were in Rome."

"Yeah, good times. Now give it back."

Of course, she plays dumb. "Give what back?"

I smirk. "This." I hold up one half of the key. The half she just stole. "Thanks."

"O, we gotta go," Ethan tells me through my earpiece. "They're closing in."

I look around and see Ethan running past the restaurant we're in. I look far behind him and see some CIA agents. "Shit," I curse. Without letting go of Grace, I start running, pulling her along.

She pulls back. "No way."

"Grace, if you don't come with me right now, you'll be arrested. And with your past, you're never getting out of it. Trust me."

"Last time I trusted you–"

"We don't have time for this. We can talk later. Come on," I urge.

Grace gives in, running with me. We join back up with Ethan and run away from the agents that are following us.

"Who's this?" Ethan asks as we run up some escalators.

"Ethan, meet Grace. Grace, Ethan," I say simply, pushing through groups of people.

We run outside and head for the parking garage. Ethan stops at a small sedan that'll fit all three of us. He breaks the window but before we can all get in, we're being shot at. I break the passenger side window, yank open the door, and crouch down behind it, pulling Grace down with me and shielding her body with mine.

"Just like old times," she comments.

I roll my eyes and keep shielding her while Ethan climbs into the car and gets it started. Once the engine is running I open the back passenger door and shove her in, climbing into the front with Ethan. He pulls the car away and we get away in the stolen car.

When we're sure we aren't being followed anymore, Ethan brings us to the safe house. There, the three of us get settled and work on our whole plan.

There are only three bedrooms here. One for Ethan, one for Ilsa, and one for me. So, naturally, because I know her, Grace is in my room. Wonderful.

The first thing I've said to her when we're alone is: "You better have a damn good reason for trying to steal that key."

With my back turned to her so I can get changed, she responds, " I have a reason for everything."

When she doesn't immediately tell me, I add, "Okay, so what's the reason?"

"I was hired."

I spin around just as I'm letting my shirt fall into place. "Hired? By who?"

"I don't know. They never gave a name. I don't even know if they're a he or she."

"So some mystery person hired you to steal a key? Did they tell you anything about it? Like what it opens or anything?"

"Again, no. And I didn't care to ask. You know me, I'm only in it for the money."

"How much are you being paid?"

"Enough."

I'm about to press her more on this topic when Ethan's voice is heard calling for us. I warn Grace to not do anything stupid then we join the other two in the main room. Ethan pulls me aside before we start our meeting.

"Are you sure we can trust her?" he asks quietly.

"She may be a thief, but I know her well enough to know she won't be an idiot. She knows what's at risk. If you trust me, trust her."

All he does is nod so we go back to Ilsa and Grace. We stand around the kitchen island and Ethan gets started.

"Alanna Mitsopolis is hosting a party where the second half of the key will be. We want to negotiate. The key isn't safe in those hands. All that power shouldn't be in one single person's hands."

"And what are you planning on doing with it?" Grace asks now.

"I'm going to shut it down. The AI. It's going to be weaponized, I want it destroyed."

"Right. So this party," I continue.