lovefool // niall horan spy au

v. it's not that we're scared, it's just that it's delicate

Apparently, they were wrong.

Frederick O'Connor is the mastermind behind the Snatchers ring, and, it seems as though there's a method to his madness. The kidnappings are all of young women from affluent families, but it's unclear if he's simply holding them for ransom or if he has other ulterior motives.

Which means: he's their new target.

"That's...insane," is Harry's response after they brief him on these new findings. Sameera was so excited to tell him that Niall let her do the honors, and now she's buzzing so hard that she could nearly jump off the walls. She's just so, so happy that they've actually cracked something in this case and they're only a few steps away from solving it.

That, and she's probably had way too much coffee.

"Anyway," she gets out, taking a deep breath to calm herself down, and she can see Niall shaking his head at her from her peripheral. "How's dick piercing dude? I heard you met his mommy!"

Harry sends Niall a scathing look and he just shrugs. "She heard us talking on the phone."

She hums. "Yeah, gossiping like school girls." Harry rolls his eyes at her, a scowl still on his face, and she laughs. "What? Didn't go well?"

He huffs. "I met his mum because he still lives with her. She caught me on my walk of shame and insisted that I stay for brunch."

Sameera slides him her plate of fruit that Niall forced her to eat because she can't possibly eat more. "What's so bad about brunch?" she asks as he angrily spears a strawberry with his fork.

Harry looks at her warily. "People kept talking about politics and I stress-drank nine mimosas. Nine, Sameera." He slumps into his hand. "Day drinking is terrible. I don't recommend it."

Behind her, Niall snorts. "Noted, mate."

Sameera pouts at Harry. "So you're gonna break up with him?"

Harry groans. "He's not my boyfriend! And I couldn't just tell him that I didn't want to see him anymore while I was wearing a Hakuna Matata shirt."

Niall comes up behind her to place the updated case file on the surface of the island in front of her. "I mean," he says to Harry while pointing out something new about O'Connor: his next location. "You could have."

Sameera looks up at Niall. They've been holed up in the house for a few days trying to get as much information on O'Connor as possible, which meant many sleepless nights. He looks ragged, especially because he hasn't shaved in a minute, and she nearly wants to give him a hug. "He's gonna be in L.A.?"

"Who's gonna be in L.A.?" Harry asks, only to be ignored.

"Yep," Niall tells her. "Gonna ask Hodges to try and get us into that banquet."

Harry's phone starts to buzz and he groans. "Oh my god, he's calling me. Shit. What do I do?"

Niall laughs at Harry's panic only to have a grape thrown at him. "Mate, just answer it and tell him that you're not into him like that. You just wanted him for his dick piercing."

Sameera breaks out into a loud laugh at that and she gets a grape thrown at her too. "You guys are terrible," Harry gripes, slipping off his stool and running to lock himself in the guest bedroom to take his call.

Sameera's still laughing when she looks up at Niall, and he smooths back her disheveled bed hair. She hadn't had time to comb it this morning. He looks exhausted and she pouts at the soft way he smiles at her. "Are you okay?" she asks, arms going around his waist to give him that hug.