Hold me closer

Nostalgia

Quinn was a bit shocked. "You do?" "Well, of course it's not one guy alone doing this, but our person of interest for now is Arlen Kay, also known as AK." Quinn rummaged around the room to find a pen and paper. "He's a man that's very careful, and therefor hard to find. There are no records of him anywhere but he still has access to a worrying amount of resources, probably including moles inside the government. All we really know about him is that he sells oil and other natural resources illegaly."

Quinn was writing intensely. "But why would he go after Nia and not her parents?" Hal sighed. "Look, the feds have been looking into this guy for some time, and I'm telling you this is just like something he would do. Kidnapping, extorsion, that's his answer to any problem. He knows someone else would just take over the company if he killed the Nazari couple. If he had the owner's daughter, he could make them do God knows what with their oil and money."

Quinn looked at Nia who was now smiling with her whole face. "Thank you, Hal. Don't worry, I'm never going to let anything happen to her."

Quinn was snacking on some bread when Nia hung up the phone after a long time. Quinn went to sit next to her on the bed. "They're okay. They are in the hospital, my mom had a pretty bad concussion and dad needed some stitches. But they're safe, almost their entire security team are with them." Quinn gently placed her hand on Nia's and smiled. "I'm so glad to hear that." She came to think of their dance right before the explosion. "Did they...?"

Nia understood what she meant from the look on her face. "I hadn't come out to them before, so I kind of outed myself on the dancefloor. But I don't regret it one bit." Nia slightly hardened her grip of Quinn's hand to show affection. "My mom was accepting, but dad didn't really understand bisexuality. I think he'll come around though." Nia smiled and Quinn pulled her in to a congratulatory hug. They held each other close for a long time.

"So. What now?" Nia was sitting on the kitchen countertop after a well-needed lunch consisting solely of french bread. Quinn got up from the bed and walked over to Nia, putting a string of her hair behind her ear. "Now, we steal a car." Quinn said it in her most seductive voice, which made Nia giggle. "I love it when you're bad." Nia pulled Quinn in to a loving kiss.

It didn't take long for them to get ready. Wearing as discrete clothing as they possibly could, Quinn and Nia checked out of their hotel and ended up on the streets of Paris. It was evening, and dark outside in the fresh springtime air. Quinn went along the streets checking for cars without alarms with Nia in toll. "Got one!" Nia looked over the damaged, red volvo with a judging look. "Old cars are easier to hotwire." Nia seemed to get where Quinn was coming from.

Quinn covered her hand with her sleeve and punched the car window to break the glass. She opened the door manually and got in to start working her magic. Soon, the engine turned on and Nia got in the passenger's seat. "Welcome to your home for the next God knows how many hours!" Quinn just laughed at the face Nia made. It didn't take more than five minutes for her to start messing with the stereo.

"So, Quinn, what's your jam?" Nia said ironically. "Honestly, anything but country music." Nia laughed. "Agreed. What about 2010's rock?" Quinn nodded her head. Rock used to be her and Eve's thing. What a lot of her friends didn't know was that Eve wasn't really a good person. Whenever Quinn heard the rock songs she listened to before 2014 it was like they were just the background music to Eve's constant yelling.

They were in a cramped, smoke filled apartment back then. None of them were happy. Quinn was dealing with getting back to real life after Iraq and Eve... well she was never really happy. To that day, she could only imagine how many other people Eve slept with while Quinn was deployed. "That's fine." Quinn kept her eyes set on the road ahead of her, blinking to try to keep the tears back. That was the moment she decided that maybe, she actually needed help.

They had been on the road for four hours. Nia had already made friends with the clerk at a gas station and managed to get enough free gas to last an eternity, for giving him one of her small diamond earrings. Nia would probably never cease to amaze Quinn with her numerous skills and abilities. Traveling long distances in a crappy car could be exhausting, Quinn would know. But Nia could light up her life in the most unexpected ways, and this was definitely one of them. "Okay. Question challenge?"

Quinn laughed. "Is there anything you didn't get an answer to last time?" Nia looked confused at Quinn's words. "Are you kidding me? I thought we were just getting started!" "Fine. You go first." Quinn figured there could be no harm. "Let's start with an easy one. Do you have a middle name?" Quinn nodded. "My middle name is Alys. I actually don't know why." Nia smiled. "It's really pretty! But I think I can do you one better."

Quinn laughed, ready to have her mind changed. "Try me." "My full name is Nia Kamaria Nazari." Nia's voice beautifully hugged those words, putting her own touch on them. Quinn was silent for a while, before she just said "Holy fuck!" And Nia laughed loudly. "Told you so." Quinn turned her eyes back to the highway. "Okay, my turn. Who was your childhood crush?" Nia's face lit up.

"Easy! At first it was Taylor Lautner, and then when I was around fifteen I had a real thing for Emma Watson, even though I denied it heavily. Since then we've moved on to bigger and better things, want a list?" Nia sounded enthusiastic, but Quinn didn't feel the same. "Of all the smoking hot celebrities you should probably leave me for? No thank you!" Nia laughed. "Come on. You don't have a celebrity crush?"

Quinn didn't need to tink of that for long. "I don't watch movies or TV, and most of the people whose music I listen to are either old, men, dead, or a combination. So, no, I much prefer you." Nia's face shined as she smiled at Quinn. "That's really sweet. Unfortunately, I have a tough one for you. You don't need to answer, but it's something I'd much like to know." Quinn took a deep breath, suspecting what was about to come. "Sure." Nia spoke her words calmly and carefully, "Who really was Eve?"