Red vs. Black

Chapter 17

Fitting his key into his front door always ends up being a struggle any time Zayn's overzealous. Or drunk. Which is probably to blame for most of his lock related troubles, but tonight's different.

He bursts into the flat on his fourth attempt to find Louis watching TV alone; the volume lower than it usually is tells Zayn that Harry's probably already asleep.

Unphased by the sudden entrance, Louis barely glances over his shoulder before going back to watching the flatscreen in front of him.

"How'd it go?" He asks, turning the volume down even lower when Zayn joins him on the loveseat after leaving his shoes at the door.

"Couldn't have been better."

As Zayn feverishly undoes his tie and starts to take off his jacket, he senses the judgement in Louis' stare.

"You're serious," Louis states, rather than asks. "Did Liam blow you in one of the empty rooms to keep you sane?"

"God, I wish."

It's a nice visual to have, but Zayn's still not done scolding himself for letting Liam take public transport and not his sixty quid for a cab home. He should've forced the man into a car, not be ok with knowing his tattoo would alert him if Liam was in danger.

"I need your help," he adds, undoing the buttons of his shirt and pushing the material off his left arm first so Hera can jump out. Her miniature body lands on the carpet, growing to full size in three seconds flat.

Louis tucks his feet up onto the sofa so the tigress has ample space to lay. "I guess this means your supervillain hiatus is over then?"

"This is it Lou," Zayn declares enthusiastically, throwing his dress shirt on top of where he previously discarded his jacket. "This is the big one."

"I'm scared to ask what that means."

"My boss pulled me aside and introduced me to this woman from one of our partner organizations. I'll be honest," Zayn divulges, "I tuned out most of it." Neither look surprised, not even when staring at Zayn involves watching him unzip his trousers and shimmy them off. "But before I went back to get Liam so we could leave, she mentioned how on Friday, her son-in-law's going to be attending a military fundraiser in that same building."

Louis gazes on, confused. And not because Zeus is now free to cuddle up next to the other wild animal in the sitting room. "What am I missing?"

Folding up his clothes, Zayn smirks to himself. "Who do I hate the most in this world?"

"You've got it narrowed down to one?"

Both laugh quietly at Louis' sarcasm, the younger of the two getting up and walking to his room so he can hang up his suit and grab a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that are reserved for sleeping in.

"The bloke who sold your sister?" Louis guesses when Zayn's back in his presence.

"Yes," Zayn replies between gritted teeth, choosing to sit down next to his pets this time. "But if it weren't for the West inserting themselves into our business and letting civilians pay for terrorist mistakes, I could've stayed in Pakistan. My sister and I wouldn't have ever had to cross the border to begin with. The only greater target than a room full of British soldiers, would be one full of Americans.

"I'm gonna get the three other leftover villains to do the groundwork," he informs Louis. "They owe me. Plus, if I threaten them again with your intelligence, they definitely won't say no. Which leads me to you. I need you to-"

"Wait." A held out hand and a face of disgust hints at what's to come. "You've already said too much," Louis tells him. "I can't help you if I know beforehand that you're going to use my intel to kill people."

Regardless of his friend's strongly worded desire to stay out of his plans, Zayn goes on to relay what he came up with on the cab ride home anyway.

"I'm going to have George," he pats the tattoo of a monkey wearing a spacesuit on his upper right arm, "place explosives in the main room. Spark will enter the building's wiring and detonate the bombs by tripping the electrical system. I just need to know where the most strategic spots are for George to attach the fuses to. I already scoped out some of the ducts when I was supposedly in the toilet." He turns his head away from where he's petting Zeus and towards Louis. "You supplying me with blueprints and the building's electricity map would merely be a way for me to save time. It's happening no matter what. You won't be saving anyone if you decide to become a hero all of a sudden and refuse me help."

So maybe that was a little blunt, but it's the truth.

"This could be satisfying enough to end my streak for good," Zayn continues, bringing things down to a level he knows will erase the glare of betrayal Louis' giving him. "That's what you want, isn't it? That's what Harry wants? For me to quit using my powers for evil?" He drops his raised eyebrows, only to bring them together in determination. "They deserve to pay, just like I, and the rest of the developing world have had to do for decades. There couldn't be a more fitting way for me to end this than by making sure the crusaders who started this all, suffer."

Zayn's up and off the floor immediately after delivering the final knockout punch, his animals following in his shadow, leaving Louis to make his own decision. Alone, like Zayn found him.

No regret or shame weighs Zayn down when he slides into bed, his guardians curled up around each other, on lookout next to the metal frame. How could there be when he's sent a "home, wish you were here" text and given the opportunity to enact the picture perfect revenge? Any person would fall asleep like a baby with a night like that.