Never As It Seems

The Ceremony

The auditorium at AY5 was packed. Practically everyone at the agency was present, and were slowly finding themselves chairs in front of a small stage in the front of the room. The heater was on, and combined with the mass body heat from everyone it was beginning to become quite hot.   

Flames sighed. He and the others were standing to the side of the stage, behind a thick blue curtain. It was even hotter in that area, as there wasn't a whole lot of circulation to keep it cool. The ceremony would start in a few minutes, though, so they would be getting out of there soon enough.  

"You know, I never thought this would actually happen," he said to the rest of them. "I didn't really want a ceremony. All I wanted was maybe an announcement or something at the very least. It's not that big of a deal, is it?" 

"It's pretty big," said Samantha, who was nearest to him. She tugged at the strap of her dress in an attempt to adjust it. "Stupid thing. But yeah. I mean, how long have we been trying to get this guy?" 

"A while. But there are worse things out there that we've taken care of, and they didn't render a ceremony." 

"I don't know. Maybe it's because of the maze. It was pretty convoluted. Ugh, I hate this dress!" 

"Why didn't you wear something different?" 

She scowled. "I don't have anything different. Anyway, you're wearing a suit, you don't need to worry." 

Flames glanced down at his suit, a light blue one he had once worn to a wedding and had never gotten rid of since. "It's a bit tight." 

"Better than this. I don't know who the heck they made it for, but it sure wasn't me." 

"I'm sorry." 

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. It's only temporary, anyway." 

Flames nodded, not sure of what to say. He wandered over to the spot where Annmarie was sitting, looking very bored. She was wearing a crimson minidress and didn't seem to be having any problems with it at all.  

"Ann," he said. "You look amazing." 

She looked up and smiled softly. "Thanks, Flames. You do too." 

He shook his head. "Not nearly as much as you." 

"Uh huh. Do you know when this thing is supposed to start?" 

He glanced at his watch. "In a couple of minutes, I think." 

"Good." She looked away from him and focused on the curtain that led to the stage. "Very good." 

"This is a bit much, isn't it?" said Flames. "This whole fancy ceremony? Doesn't it seem a bit superfluous to you?" 

"I like it," said Annmarie. "We all look nice. Plus, we did go through that horrible mission in perfect shape, and I think that deserves at least some sort of credit." 

"This is an awful lot of credit." 

"Well, it was an awfully big mission. Cheer up, people like you now." 

He raised an eyebrow.  

"Yeah, they do. You're not a fugitive anymore. That's enough to render a ceremony in itself." 

"Hmm," he said thoughtfully. He studied the group around him. Samantha was still adjusting the strap of her dress, and was looking more and more agitated with the process. Nicholas and Rick were standing to the side, talking about something. Annmarie, of course, was sitting down. Breanne was sitting down too, on a chair across the narrow space and sipping a cup of coffee. Adam, meanwhile, was leaning against a file cabinet and was furiously typing something down on his phone. Flames walked over to him.