21 Days - Love and Deepspace

21 Days

Prologue

The undercover mission that's currently posted on the Hunter's Association task board is not a job that anyone particularly wants to do. It has been open for weeks and everyone seems to be pointedly ignoring its existence even as it rises in priority. The payout has nearly tripled since it was posted, but it still is not enough to tempt you into touching that thing with a 10-foot pole. Undercover stakeout missions were long and boring, and you weren't exactly excited about the idea of being away from home for that long. It just seemed like the worst of all possible worlds: no real action, lots of aimless waiting, and none of the satisfaction of kicking ass. The first and last stakeout you ever signed up for was a few months ago, and all you had really gained from that experience was five extra pounds from eating your feelings and a pat on the back for extensive note taking.

At this point, you are basically blind to the listing as you scroll through the open investigations for the day, until your eyes happen to catch on the participant counter: 1 of 2. Curiosity gets the best of you - who would willingly sign up for this thing - and you absently tap the listing on your phone.

Undercover Mission - Linkon Suburbs

- Minimum 2 Hunters
- 3 months on-site, 24/7 monitoring
- Priority: HIGH
- Participants: 1 of 2
- Status: Open
- Payout: 200,000 credits per hunter
- Requirements:
- Must be willing to live on-site for up to 3 months
- Must be willing to cohabitate
- Minimum 1 Alpha Team hunter
- High level of discretion and attention to detail
- Participants: Xavier (Alpha Team)

You nearly drop your phone in surprise as the name is displayed as clear as day: Xavier. He signed up without telling you. It's not as if the two of you are particularly close, but you had started spending more time together recently after finding out that you are neighbors. His omission stings more than you'd care to admit.

The mission isn't slated to start until the end of the week. There's a chance he just didn't get around to mentioning it. You try to think of the reason why he might not have brought it up, but you can't come up with one, and it drives you crazy. If he didn't tell you, you think to yourself, then maybe it's because he didn't want you to take it as an invitation to join him. But that's ridiculous, isn't it? The two of you make a great team. You're partners. It would be weird for him to go on this mission with anyone else, right?

Unease unfurls in your gut as you think of Xavier not only being gone for three months, but being gone for three months and living with someone who isn't you. You know rationally that you do not have any sort of claim to him, but the idea of him being so far away and out of reach makes you feel sick. He's always been there for you when you really need him. And what if he likes this other hunter more than you? What if the two of them make a better team? What if it's a girl? God, what if it's a pretty girl? What if he abandons you completely?

You're being crazy, you tell yourself, because there is no way that Xavier would be that cold. He's your friend, and you're pretty sure he's fond of you, in his own aloof way. You're sure of it. The same way you're sure that you'd drop dead before you let anyone go on this mission with him but you.

The phone is already ringing before you have time to second guess yourself.

"Hello?" Xavier answers in his typical sleepy monotone. "What's up?"

"You're taking the undercover mission, Xav?" You blurt out immediately, not even bothering with pleasantries.

Xavier is silent for a long moment, and your mind works quickly to fill in the pause. Maybe it was a mistake? Maybe he got auto-assigned to the mission due to the urgency and doesn't even know about it yet. He would have told you otherwise.