Headquarters had turned into a fully-stocked, well-oiled machine. Every employee, every former assassin, was doing some duty to make this mission go off smoothly. Compiling data, proposing budgets, gathering intel, checking sources.

They were so close to finishing this Louis could actually taste it. Then it would be Île de la Liberté, or Freedom Island as Harry named their future oasis, for forever and a day. They'd all but packed their bags. They already had a construction team working on the two grand homes that would be placed many miles apart, for privacy (Zayn insisted), and one smaller house in the middle in case they felt like visiting each other for extended periods of time.

The deal closed on the previous unclaimed land just a few days ago, and Louis and Harry celebrated with a few hours of deliriously giddy sex.

But before they could go, they had to get out of here. And to do that, Harry called in a favor. 

***

Harry and Louis were stood outside a large brownstone with trimmed bushes and two high-end luxury cars inside the open garage. They looked to each other before gathering their apparent strength as Louis led the way to the door and raised a fist to tap on the door twice. The knocks were stunted by the thick wood of the door and Harry rolled his eyes before pressing the doorbell.

Louis sent him a silent 'whatever' just as the door opened and a more than middle-aged man appeared in front of them. Harry smiled at the man and stepped forward to hug him. "Richard," he greeted.

"Harry, boy, I thought it was a joke when the email said it was you." He led Harry inside and Louis followed. "I'm so sorry for your loss. Anne was an incredible woman."

"Thank you, Richard. And I know you've been elected into her place."

"Which I didn't take lightly. You know how much I respected your mother."

"I know. Of course."

A lull fell into the conversation and Richard finally seemed to notice Louis. "And who might you be?"

Louis stuck out a hand. "Louis, sir."

Richard looked from Louis to Harry, giving him a raised brow, and then back. "What can I do for you boys?"

"Can we sit somewhere?" Harry requested and Richard nodded easily and led them into his sitting room. Louis settled down next to Harry, fighting between pushing him slightly behind him in protection and letting Harry take the lead because Richard knew him. He decided to let Harry start the discussion. "With your position, I'm sure you've been briefed on things that aren't public knowledge."

"I'm not sure what you mean?" Richard deflected.

Harry smiled, expecting the push around. "I know you know about the organization and that Headquarters is in a bit of a mush right now."

"How did you-"

"I know you know about my mum." Richard was quiet, just looking between the two. Louis' entire body was tensed, ready for anything. "I know you know about us."

Louis' brows furrowed at that. He didn't know Richard knew about the current status of Headquarters, considering they cut all connection to the government after he killed Anne. He wasn't even sure if Harry was sure of what he was saying.

"Why are you doing this, Harry? How could you do this to your own mother?"

"Mothers don't lie to their children about things like secret murderous societies. They don't kidnap and torture their children for their own selfish reasons." Harry's voice was cracking now, full of emotion, and Louis placed a firm, but gentle, hand on his back. "She wasn't my mom, then. And she was going to Louis."

Richard's gaze once again landed on the blue-eyed boy. "Louis, was it?" Louis gave a tight nod. "I've read your file. Only once, though, because all the files from Headquarters mysteriously became unavailable to anyone outside the building."

Louis couldn't help his smirk at that. Zayn was a master of his craft. "And what did you learn?"

Richard seemed to catch the sarcastic air of the room because he smirked back at Louis. "Top dog. One of the best in the business. But towards the end you become somewhat of a rouge."

"Blame this one, then," Louis chuckled and flicked a thumb towards Harry. "He's the one that opened my eyes."

Harry went a bit soft at that and pressed his cheek to Louis' hair. He straightened back up and regarded Richard. "We just want to do the right thing."

"And what would that be?" Louis knew his cue, so he took out one of the folders he'd been holding and handed it over to the new Head of Defense. Richard flipped it open and almost rolled his eyes before actually looking at it. But when he did, his mouth fell open a little and he looked up at Louis and Harry with shocked eyes. "Why are you giving me this?"

"We were hoping you'd agree to help us do the right thing."

"I could send a team to take him out. He'd be dead in an hour. I'm not sure what you're aiming at."

Louis sighed, a touch exasperated at Richard's short-term vision. "This is a gift. You know we hold the location and information on every major threat known to man in our current home. We understand some are too dangerous to live, like this one. But what we're aiming at," he mocked, "is what to do with those that aren't top level threats."

"What about them?"

Harry took over. "The number of kill orders that went out from Headquarters, involving mid-level or containable threats, is disconcerting in the least. This organizing is killing people in cold blood."

"Prove it," Richard ordered.

Louis handed him another folder and Richard opened it with more respect this time. "A list," Louis explained, "of every threat killed, in the just he last year, that could've been handled with detainment or lawful punishment."

Richard flipped through the pages, the small novel worth of names. "If you're handing this to me, I assume you have an alternative."

Harry smiled but tried to contain it. He didn't want to assume they had this in the bag quite yet. Louis pat his knee quickly and nodded. "We've spent countless hours planning budgets, locations, a system to determine better how to handle each case individually," Louis assured him.

"So? Where is it, this plan?"

Harry rested his elbow on his knee and his chin on his fist. "We couldn't give away all our goodies at once, could we?" Richard huffed a small laugh at Harry's familiar sense of humor. "We do have a preview but we'd like your verbal and contractual agreement to a few terms of ours."

Richard assessed them both slowly, looking down at the list before pinching his lips. "What sort of terms. And I want to see this budget before I agree."

Louis could've cried out with joy. This was practically a yes. Their budget was solid, their plan was good. The hundred of trained assassins, with specialities in different areas, that spent weeks on this knew, it was ready. Louis reached out and place the final folder in Richard's hands. "We want full pardons for every person under the command of the old leaders. We want to be left alone, not bothered, not watched. We want to use the money the way the budget explains and for nothing else. We don't want to keep Headquarters. We'll gladly give it back to someone who we trust to handle it better than its previous owner."

Harry flinched at Louis' words, but nodded. "We think that's you, Rich."

Richard loosed a dry laugh. "I'm honored you think so highly of me, but I am just a man. A man who will need to see details before I agree to anything. I'll take a couple days to look this over, look everything over, and I'll get back to you." Richard stood, signaling their time to leave. "How should I contact you again?"

"You won't," Louis quickly answered. "We'll call in forty-eight hours."

Richard pressed his lips in a firm line and nodded. "Supposed as much." He reached out to Harry and hugged him with the arm that wasn't holding Louis and Harry's freedom. "It was good to see you, son."

"Of course. Good to see you, too."

Louis and Harry were let out the front door and into the mid day sun. They contained themselves until they were in the car at the end of the large circular drive.

"So?" Louis ventured. "How'd it go, you think? Does he seem willing?"

"He's definitely open, but he wasn't lying. He's never been a man to make a decision lightly. I really don't know."

***

Zayn had Liam under him, sitting on his stomach while he drew patterns on his skin and through his chest hair idly. "And I want one of those spinny things that holds cheese."

"A lazy Susan?"

Zayn pinched Liam's nipple in excitement. "Yes! One of those."

Liam moaned and his back arched off the bed, almost dislodging Zayn in his surprise. "Don't do that, Zee."

Of course, when told not to, Zayn blatantly ignored the instruction. Instead, he rolled a thumb over Liam's now pebbled nub, making Liam suck in a shoddy breath.

"I like that," Zayn noted and did it again, gaining almost the same reaction but with an added squeeze of Liam's hand on his hip.

"Stop," Liam tried to sound stern but instead mostly begged.

"I don't think I will." He didn't. He moved over to the other one and pinched it between his fingers. Liam groaned and fisted Zayn's loose vest in his hand. "This is good. I'm glad I discovered this. I can't wait to use it later."

Liam managed a breathy laugh as Zayn gave both nipples quick tug. "Shit." He shook his head to clear it. "Later? Later, when?"

Zayn bent over his boyfriend and mouthed along his jawbone. "Later like in our new giant bed in our beach house. Later, when I can finally feel you. Later, when everyone else is miles away and I can be as loud as I want."

Zayn tickled his fingers down Liam's chest to the top of his ribs, making his abs flex and clench from the ticklish touch. He sat up and kept trailing his hands up his own legs to the hem of his shirt. Liam released it when Zayn pulled it over his head and dropped it on the floor. Liam gave his torso an appreciative once over before fitting his large fingers into the spaces between his ribs possessively.

Zayn bent back down and nibbled sharply on Liam's earlobe as he whispered into his boyfriend's ear. "Can't wait much longer. Don't know if we'll even make it off the boat."

Liam groaned and rolled his hips, looking friction and finding air. "You're the worst."

"Oh no, love. I'm the best, you just won't let me prove it."

Liam groaned again and threw his arm over his face. "For good reason. Now, please, stop teasing and come here so I can kiss you."

Zayn smiled wide at that idea before moving Liam's arm and bending over to press his lips, scruff and all, to Liam's full, pink mouth. He released a pleased sigh at the soft feel of Liam's lips, moving surely against his. He pulled back when he needed air and playfully licked across the plump curve of his Cupid's bow. "And I want one of those spotlight closets. You know, the ones that highlight each shoe slot. I'll need a lot of them."

"You're worse than my ex."

Zayn growled. "That's an awful thing to say."

"Don't worry, babe," Liam assured. "He wasn't nearly as pretty as you."

Zayn refused to be turned on at being called pretty. He refused. In rebellion, he curled his fingers into Liam's hair and pulled him back into a heated kiss. They locked lips and battled tongues until they both pulled away gasping.

"Oh, and I want one of those drawers that open and close on their own."

Liam just sighed fondly and rolled them over so he could press his lithe boyfriend into the mattress and shut up his requests.

***

#HappyBackfireMonday! We're getting pretty close to the end. I've got a little surprise that I'll reveal when this is all done. Enjoy

COMMENTS AND VOTES! MWAH!! Xoxo