The Greatest Pretenders

01.2

London (England)

Rousseau-Constantini residence

5 04 2016

1730 hours

"So who do you think is behind this whole bombing thing?" Poe asks Irina later that day when they're both at their house in Southwark, sitting on the couch and watching BBC News.

The SIS bought Irina the house when she joined MI6, and Poe moved in a year later when he himself joined, right after he solved a mission together with Irina. They clicked as soon as they met, since they both had similar interests and were quite new to the whole spy thing.

Their home is a gated villa in Central London, with an equipped gym, a home cinema, and a hot tub in each bathroom. It's definitely way too luxurious and expensive for their lifestyle-they barely get to live in it since they're always on the road, but they're not complaining. It's good for throwing parties and it's incredibly secured with the latest security systems and cameras scattered all around the house, just in case someone finds out their real identities and decides to pay them a visit.

The house is seven kilometers and five minutes away from the MI6 building, so whenever they get called in for an urgent meeting, they'll be there quick thanks to the cars they were also given. Poe has a black Aston Martin, and Irina has a convertible BMW. They don't use the cars as often as they'd like to, since they only get to drive them for errands and during missions that take place in England.

"I don't know who's behind the 'bombing thing'," Irina replies and lights a cigarette. "If I knew, the mission would already be solved."

"Jesus, what crawled up your ass today?"

Irina sighs, and pinches the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger. "It's just that I want this to be over. We've never had a case as serious as this. When was the last time a bombing occurred in London? Or the last time someone targeted the government? We're dealing with serious people here, probably terrorists, and if we get killed off or don't solve this, everything's going to shit."

Poe scrunches his nose. He's always been the one with a positive outlook on things out of the two of them. That's why they work, really, because Poe is the optimist, and Irina's the realistic (although on the edge of pessimism) one, who's always there to keep him grounded.

"We can't afford to think like that, at least not until we know for sure who and what we're dealing with."

Irina just shrugs and leans over to the coffee table to grab her mug.

"Have you talked to your family already?" Poe asks.

"Yeah. Called my mum earlier to let her know that I won't be in contact until the mission is over. God knows how much that'll take."

Another downside of the job is their families. They're allowed to contact them and even see them, but at least one month after they close a case to make sure they're protected. During a mission, they're not allowed to even mention their names or location, in case someone overhears and wants to hurt them in any way.

"I should probably call her too before I completely disappear for three months."

"You think this mission will take three months?"

"Just assuming."

"Our last mission wasn't even half as big as this and it lasted half a year."

Poe doesn't say anything else as he stands up and walks upstairs to call his mother.

When he comes back, Irina is in the kitchen with two papers on the table, reading through them.

"What are those?" he asks and sits down across from her.