salute ➳ 〚h.s.〛 〚a.u.〛

you get in, you get done and then you get gone

"D'you think you're ready for this?"

Piper took one last look at herself in the full length mirror on the back of the closet, smoothing her hands carefully over the fabric of the dress that clung to her body, adding definition to her shape as it curved over her hips and tucked in at her waist. It was an absolutely decadent gown, the sort that Piper would never have a chance of getting her hands on by herself. This dress had been a loan from the SIS for tonight's purposes and she had to admit that she was reluctant to give it back. They'd have to pry it out of her hands.

"Hello? Still there? Or are you too busy looking at yourself."

"Shut up, Zayn," Piper snapped loud enough that the speaker phone could pick up her voice up and relay her frustration back to the man on the other end of the call. "I happen to look bloody fantastic and I'm taking the time to appreciate that, if you don't mind."

"Apologies." Zayn chuckled, his usual ease of countenance coming through loud and clear. It was helping to keep Piper from freaking out knowing that Zayn wasn't worried in the slightest about what was happening tonight. "You all ready to go then?"

"Five minutes," she told him as she smiled at herself in the mirror to give herself a little boost and then left her reflection behind entirely. She ended the call with Zayn and then scurried around to get all the things that she would need for the night.

Typically, there were certain things that got stuffed into a purse when going to a high class event — her mobile phone, lipstick, money, breath mints, maybe a condom if she thought she'd get lucky with her date. Tonight, she was putting in a tracker to stick on her target and a small Glock service weapon (her lipstick too but that was only because spies didn't have faded lipstick).

That's what she was now — a spy. At least for tonight she was and she was determined to embody the role as completely as possible while it belonged to her. Tomorrow she was going to go back to being boring old Piper, junior analyst and T branch dweller. Tonight, well, tonight she was a whole lot more.

She jumped a bit when she heard knocking at the door downstairs. Zayn had a key to HQ so she wasn't sure what he was doing knocking. Either way, he was waiting. Lifting a hand to her updo to make sure it was straight and smoothing out her bangs a bit, she plucked up her shoes and scampered down the stairs and to the door.

Sure enough, when she swung it open, Zayn was waiting on the other side wearing a sharp suit, a chauffeur's hat tucked under his arm. He had been looking back at the car sitting in the drive out front but he tore his eyes away when he heard the door open. Letting his eyes drop, he gave her a once over, his lips tugging into a crooked smirk.

"Well, well." His eyes drifted back up to meet hers as she waited hopefully for his response. "You clean up well, Miss. Stone."

Piper glanced down at the champagne coloured fabric that swished around her bare feet, nervously sliding her hand over her thigh to smooth it down. "You think?"

"You look gorgeous," Zayn reassured her with a proper smile that helped the nerves that had gripped her drop away. She laughed a little and so did Zayn. "You sure you're okay to do this? There's still time to back out if you want. Don't feel pressured to do it just because we've asked you to."

"I want to do it," Piper cut in a little too quickly. Zayn quirked a brow skeptically. "I do, I swear. Admittedly, I'm a little nervous." She cleared her throat, concentrating on stepping into her high heels so Zayn couldn't see the extent of her nerves written all over her face. "But this is the job I want to be doing. I need a chance to practice, to get better."