lovefool // niall horan spy au

iii. when i saw you, everyone knew i liked the effect you had on my eyes

Harry is a nurse by profession, but Sameera has worked with him enough to know that he's a damn good asset to any team.

She trained with him way back when they first started at the agency, so she knows he's capable of so much. She also knows that the drawback having Harry in the house is that he eats all the damn food.

"Where's all my cereal?" she's griping now, as she opens the pantry door only to be met with an empty box of her favorite cereal.

Harry, who is busy sitting at the kitchen island, shoveling spoonfuls of Frosted Flakes in his mouth, simply shrugs at her. "Guess you ran out," he gets out through his mouthful, milk dribbling down his chin.

She rolls her eyes, tossing a hand towel at him. "Disgusting."

Niall's voice comes from somewhere upstairs. "Harry, mate, d'you wanna play a round of Fifa?"

"Gimme a few!" Harry yells back, and Sameera makes a face.

"Harry, mate," she mocks in a high-pitched voice, rolling her eyes yet again, much to Harry's amusement. "I don't fucking understand. He literally couldn't stand me when we were assigned together and you just waltz in and he wants to play Fifa with you?"

Harry shrugs again and this time she smacks him with the hand towel. "What can I say, I'm that charming."

She huffs, tossing the empty cereal box in the recycle bin. "Unbelievable," she mutters under her breath.

As soon as Harry finishes up the cereal and washes his bowl—at least he washes his dishes when he's done, Sameera thinks in annoyance—she follows him up the stairs to where Niall's set up the Xbox.

The two of them set up camp on the bed of one of the spare rooms, and Sameera just frowns at them as she watches nearby. "So what exactly do you need to be briefed on?" she asks Harry. She's not sure on what Hodges must have told him about their...situation. Harry hasn't said much on his role in their mission since he's come in.

Niall doesn't seem to be interested in this though, which is completely strange because Niall gets crazy when it comes to this mission. She distantly wonders if Niall got another secret briefing from Hodges and she huffs to herself at the thought. She thought they were finally starting to get along.

"Not much," is Harry's response. "Just that you two are having 'trouble in paradise,' if you will, and I've been sent to play therapist."

Sameera simply gawks at him, but Niall snorts. "What d'you know about being Cupid?"

Harry tuts. "I'll have you know, Niall, I am an excellent Cupid. All the women and men I've dated have said that I'm a great lover."

At that, Niall actually laughs. "Shut up, you slag."

Harry ignores him for the most part, his signature grin spreading wide across his face. "And you two clearly need training on how to be pretend lovers if you're to have any chance of getting close to the Snatchers."

Sameera sighs. She doesn't really want to go through couple's therapy with Niall and Harry right now. She turns around to make her way out of the room.

Maybe she just needs to go on a walk to clear her head.

~

It happens so unexpectedly that it's almost ironic.

Sameera's in the cereal aisle at the nearest grocery store when she realizes she's standing next to none other than the infamous Karla freaking Blakely. They've been trying to figure out a way to get close to their criminal neighbors for days now. They've only gotten as far as formal waves in greeting as they pass each other during evening runs—which Niall had planned out to the second. He's somehow managed to map out their entire schedule by just observing them for a few days. But he failed in anticipating Karla shopping for groceries today.