Morph [EDITING] || Wattys 2017 Winner

~TWENTY TWO~

~amelie~

"Okay," I start, settling down onto the bench. We're all outside the Lynx, and Ryan and Amber have joined us again. A river of pedestrians separate us from the hotel, and a cloaked and unconscious Fletcher is propped up on Amber's shoulder.

"We can't leave her," Hunter had pointed out, before we left the hotel. "What if she wakes up?"
Lila had rolled her eyes. "After the beating we gave her? No way."
But eventually we'd decided that we couldn't risk her being alone, and so she's with us now.

"Okay," I say again, snapping out of the reverie, and look at my teammates. "We were meant to get the information Fletcher had, right? But what if we could find out even more?"
"What are you talking about?" asks Lila.
I spread my hands, palms up. "I'll go to the meet, disguised as Fletcher, and we can capture my dad."

My words are met with utter silence. They just look at me for one long second, before shock spreads across Hunter's features and the twins break out in matching smiles.
"That could work," Amber remarks.
Lila's grin widens. "How did we not think of this before? We could -"
"No," Hunter states.
"What?" My smile fades, and I turn to look at him.
He's frowning as he talks, his words full of concern and worry. "It's way too dangerous. You have no idea what to say, or how to behave. He'd see through you instantly, Amelie, you would be captured just like the others. You could die. It's not worth it!"
I'm struck by the panic on his face as Amber tells him, "She's a rebel. Just like us. She can handle it. Right, Amelie?"
"Right," I mutter quietly, but my concentration's vanished. I zone out slightly as the others start talking about details of our plan, my plan, and I'm just staring at Hunter as he stares back at me. But before I can fully decipher the expression on his face Lila elbows me, and I jump.
"Earth to Amelie," she says, rolling her eyes at me. "Are you up to it or not?"
"Yeah. Yes."
"Good. What do we do? If you're in there with Carmichael?"
I pause. I haven't actually thought that through.
Suddenly, Ryan says, "You should go back to the base. Tell Elian where we are. I'll call Iya to get you back."
"Are you sure?" Amber asks, frowning. "Don't you need backup?"
"It'll be fine," he replies. "Amelie can handle it, and then I'll extract both of them as soon as I can. We're good."
"I don't like this," mutters Hunter, eyeing Ryan with distrust. His target merely takes out a strange-looking phone, taps a few times, and starts talking.
If Ryan believes I can do it, then I know I'll be able to. So I turn to Hunter and say, "I'll be fine. You should go back."
He looks at me with desperation. "But-"
"-yes, that would be great. Thanks, Iy." Ryan lowers the phone and says to us, "I just spoke to Iya. She's teleporting you out now."

Hunter says, "Be careful."
I nod at him and smile, which seems to ease his fear a bit. "I'll be okay."
Mauve mist rises and begins to envelop them, and I hold Hunter's gaze as the fog covers him fully and he disappears.

Something hits my shoulder, and I make a surprised noise. A passerby stares at me, but keeps walking. I turn round to find Fletcher's body slumped against me, and I realise in the excitement of this plan we completely forgot what to do with our captive.
Ryan gestures to the unconscious woman. "I'll take care of her later. Right now, we need to get back up into the hotel."
I nod, smiling at him. "Okay. Let's go."

~~~

~sophia~

i peer around the doorway, and i see dr elian and another man talking with two other people. i recognise them from when ammy rescued me, but i don't know their names. i can hear them talking, though.

"...told us to come back here. lila's gone to talk to iya," one finishes. she has brown braids hanging down her back.
dr elian says, "i'm not impressed that you went off mission without backup... but i do need to congratulate you on your plan. it was a good one."
the girl pauses. "wait, you're not angry?"
"no," replies elian. "we were hoping you could find the initiative to infiltrate the meeting, but we didn't want to tell you to do it. it had to be your decision."
"why?" asks the boy.
"to be a team again," he answers. "didn't you feel excited when you came up with the idea? it was the only way to get you truly together again." he pauses. "although, for future reference, abandoning your teammates is never okay. if your leader suggests it again, feel free to tell him off. i'm not sure why that even entered his head in the first place," he finishes, frowning.
both of them are silent, and they just nod at the doctor.
he smiles. "good. oh, and amber, can you take care of sophia for me? until her sister gets back?"
the girl frowns. "isn't she in training or something?"
"no," replies elian. "because she's listening at the door."

i duck out of view. i didn't realise they could see me. suddenly, amber appears in front of me with the boy at her side.
"hi, sophia!" she says brightly.
"i'm sorry, i wanted to know what... what you were saying." as i start to apologise, amber shakes her head, and grins at me.
"don't worry, it's okay. it's pretty brave of you, to be honest." she bends down to my level, and looks me in the eye. "how would you like to go watch something with me and hunter?"
"yes please," i tell her, and i smile at her. she laughs.
"come on, then."

~~~

~amelie~

As soon as we enter the suite, Ryan starts cleaning up. He drags all the unconscious guards over to one corner of the room, where he shoves them unceremoniously into a cupboard. I ask him whether that's such a good idea, but he doesn't respond - he just grabs Fletcher.
"I'm going to dump her. Far away." he says curtly. "See you when the mission is over."
I tell him, "Don't forget to take her phone."
Ryan nods quickly, expression like stone, turns, and flies out of the window. For a moment I feel annoyance - anyone looking up could spot him - but then I relax. Ryan's good enough not to get caught. I check my watch - it's three o'clock. An hour until the meeting. I look at my clothes, a practical suit copied from Fletcher, and I feel safe in that I look just like her. If I can act the same way, my dad will never notice the difference. I'll be able to take him, with Ryan's help if I need it.

A noise from the doorway startles me, and I turn round to see Ryan just standing there. He stares at me with a dark expression, and unease curls in my gut.
"Hey. What's happening? Aren't you dropping Fletcher somewhere?" I ask.
Ryan stays silent, and immediately I realise something is wrong.

Very, very, wrong.