trouble.

Zayn didn't know exactly how long it had been since Louis and him had been living in South Africa, but it was a nice escape from London and their old job. They quit, fair and simple, told Simon that this wasn't for them and that they couldn't continue trying to be the heroes when they weren't. So, maybe it was more like they are now living off the grid in a shitty apartment in Port Elizabeth to avoid ever having to do another mission, but he knew that their days were dwindling down for how long they could remain in hiding. He flopped down on the bed that Louis currently occupied, poking the other to awaken him. "You should get up, there is nothing to do without you awake," he said. He didn't even truly know why he was awake, knew that it was because recently he had been put more on edge. He continued to get calls from private numbers, giving him no indication as to who was trying to contact him. It was Simon's corporation, there was no maybe about it, but he still refused to tell Louis about the calls, just thankful that his number was still safe. When Louis didn't move soon enough, Zayn went to wrap his arms around Louis, pulling him closer as he sighed. "Can't sleep," he muttered, nuzzling his nose into the back of the man's neck. It was a simple contact, kept him grounded when he was too strung out or stressed and he was so thankful for Louis for that. There wouldn't be anyone else he would think about spending time with, but he was still mortifying to him since he had nothing to do.

---

"No, Simon, I refuse," Liam said, eyes narrowing as he was finished being briefed on his latest mission. He was in the plane, already in the air since Simon told him how important this mission was and how crucial it was that this be returned. He didn't realise that the thing turned out to be people and he sat gripping tightly to the control wheel, practically seething at the news. "You can't refuse this, Liam, they are needed for this mission, this is crucial. Harry is with you to help you, so you aren't going into this alone," Simon's voice spoke over the intercom, voice clipped and showing no room for argument. "They left, Simon, they left us and didn't tell us. This isn't right, they don't want to be here," he said, though he still lead the plane to the direction the GPS was telling him to take. He didn't want to think about how Louis left before he could say most of the things he wanted to say, the anger still embedded in him due to it. Zayn was no better, being Liam's best friend and then suddenly splitting away as if it was nothing to them. "There is no word for argument, Liam. Harry and you will do this," was the last thing Simon said before he disconnected the call. Liam groaned before he shook his head, grinding his teeth down as he stared ahead at the clouds that surrounded them. "Niall," he said, bringing the artificial intelligence into awareness again. "Yes, Mister Payne?" The proper voice sounded. "Give me the location of Zayn and Louis on the plane," he said before he went to stand up, "also, autopilot." There was a ding before the plane seemed to control itself, making Liam feel capable of getting up and moving to the back of the plane, running a hand harshly through his hair.

Louis groaned as he hid his face into his pillow. The days were long and rather boring, and he liked to passed them by sleeping or playing football right around the back on a nice, warm day, or even a rainy one, it was fun trying to keep his balance on the muddy ground. "There's nothing for us to do even with me awake" Louis points out as he feels Zayn crawl into the bed and proud his fingers into his side, making Louis annoyed and active, losing the sleep he had rather easily. He was tempted to just knock Zayn out of bed but that could be too mean, and he didn't have the energy for it either, not yet at least. He knew there was no chance for him to go back to sleep, not with Zayn at his side, nuzzling and prodding him awake, which was a switch of their usual where Louis would be the one annoying the other awake. Groaning Louis refrained from elbowing Zayn in the side, the soft nuzzling action far too familiar and close to comfort when Louis' mind was drifting off. "Are you hungry? We could go into town" Louis offers, knowing their food supplies was dwindling down to nothing, they refrained from going out to the shops as much as possible, keeping their appearance to a minimum.

---

Harry knew the details of the mission before he even got on the plain, haven been spoken to by Simon about it and the sensitivity and importance. He also knew that Liam would have taken it a little worse and so he kept his mouth shut during the ride, letting Liam find out when Simon briefed him. Harry sat more towards the back of the plane, the end of a pen in his mouth as he tried to finish off a word puzzle, he knew he ought to be doing something else, perhaps consulting with Liam or even being mad himself but where he came from they didn't very well hold grudges, if someone has done them vastly wrong then they were to be killed but on this Earth that was frowned upon so he couldn't very well doing anything else- nor did he want to kill Louis, or Zayn for that matter. Hearing Liam's footsteps approach Harry sat up slowly, looking up just in time for the other to come into his line of sight,"Liam" he calls the other calmly, a worried look on his face because he knew that humans were an emotional species and Liam could be taking it far worse. "You need to breathe, separate your emotions from this mission" He tells the other, crossing out a word as he found it in the puzzle. "I know it's difficult" he says, his deep voice getting a bit tight because deep down it bothered him too.

@ zayn.

Zayn laughed as he wrapped his arms tighter around the brunette man. "I think it would be easier to withstand the boredom if you were awake with me," he said. He was more put on edge than ever, frequently changing their IP address to avoid detection. This was how he was trained to be, paranoid and distrusting everyone around them. He felt like he had to walk around with a knife against his calf and a gun in its holster around his shoulders. It was why he was even awake, put off from sleep the night before when the private number attempted to call his cellphone five times in a row before he heard nothing from it anymore. He had bashed his phone afterwards, still refusing to tell Louis in hopes to believe he was just being insane and that there was no way they knew where the two of them were. "How much food do we have?" He asked, moving to glue himself against the other's back. He was put off by the idea of going outside of their apartment, the idea that Louis was in on it crossing his mind. He felt like puking even at the idea of that being the truth of the matter. Louis would never do something like that, even though Zayn was the one who suggested it. "Don't leave me," he said, voice softer as he tried to hide his face into the fabric of the man's shirt. He couldn't think of the man that way, though his nature brought him to believe that was the point. He was exhausted with fighting, trying to keep themselves secretive. He should have bought the plane tickets those days ago when the calls started.

---

Liam huffed out an unamused laugh, looking into Harry's green eyes. They always had a bit of a calming effect on him, the emeralds looking like oasis and home to anyone who saw them. His shoulders relaxed slightly as he took a seat on the leather chair next to the other. "They left, they went away without saying anything," he said, his eyebrows furrowing in despair and frustration, "now it's our job to retrieve them? Like they're fucking dogs that we lost in the first place." It made no sense in Liam's head as to why Zayn and Louis would be required to assist them after months of saving England and the world just fine without them. Zayn could have potentially been the best assassin he's ever seen and Louis was fantastic at mental manipulation, but Harry was a god and Liam could transform into anyone he's seen and mimic voices like no other. Not to mention that Niall could call in droids to help them in their battles. They were set, didn't need the other two in their lives once more. He shook his head. "South Africa, of course, fucking Africa," he muttered. Zayn always had an attachment to Africa, loved the views and how the sand could make your footprints disappear in a matter of seconds. South Africa didn't even cross Liam's mind when he first hunted for them, desperate to find them again. "I thought they were gone forever," he muttered pathetically, leaning against the chair in defeat. He wished that there was a way to forget about them both, to continue onward without having to be constantly reminded of the two - especially Louis.

Louis gently caress his thumb over the hand that was wrapped around him, groggily and slow, trying to bring himself to staying awake for Zayn, just to keep him company because he knows that it isn't fun to be awake alone when there's nearly nothing you could do for fun. Finding himself stuck to the position he was in, not wanting to move and disturb the position they were in Louis shrugged one of his shoulders, eyes dropping closed as he tried to think about exactly what they had in the fridge and what was and wasn't expired. It was hard to think with his stomach empty and the thoughts having to be about the food they didn't really have. "Three cup of noodles, half a box of pancake mix, I think we've got some canned fruit but I can't remember how old" Louis comes up with, sighing into the softness of his pillow. There was never much to do where they were at, it had a gorgeous view and it was more secluded but they couldn't relax and enjoy it, not with fear or agents finding them when they were trying to stay low and live a different life. One where saving England wasn't on the weight of their shoulders. Frowning Louis opened his eyes and shifted a bit on his side, enough so that he could look over his shoulder at Zayn, or more so the top of his head since the others face was hidden into his shirt."Mate" Louis murmured, just as soft with furrowed brows. "I wouldn't dream of it Z, you know that" Louis curled his hand on top of Zayn's and sighed,"Come on, let's go make some cup of noodle yeah? We don't have to go out"

---

Harry tapped the end of his pen against his thigh as his eyes shifted from Liam to the crossword puzzle on his lap, his face blank as he crossed out yet another word and then another, the puzzle wasn't difficult for him at all but it kept him busy, kept his mind going and his focus elsewhere. He liked to aver his attention to different things, especially when he was trying to forget or blindside something important-like the two members who had ran away and left them in what felt like the middle of the night. He's seen movies like these of the televisions, they were more romance based but it felt the same, the hurt was the same. Sighing Harry placed the pen and book down on the table in front of him, not being able to keep his mind occupied long enough when Liam seemed so distressed and out of it. he knew just what he was suppose to do, comfort the other. "They're not, we know where they're at now Liam, and we're going to see them. Perhaps we can reconcile with them?" Harry offers, moving over to the end of the seat so he could be closer to Liam, his large hand reaching out and resting on Liam's knee, a calming smile on Harry's face. He felt like he was good at this, speaking with humans and connecting with them, when he first came to Earth it was hard. He didn't understand them but Zayn was the first to really help him. The thought of seeing the two after so many months was daunting but they had no other choice, it was Simon's demands.

@ zayn.

Zayn knew that Louis was right, knew that he was just overreacting at a private number didn't mean much if it was just a recycled phone number. "I'm scared that they've found us," he said, blaming the slight tremble in his bones to the air conditioning suddenly kicking on. He didn't want to go into detail about how careless he had been, how he should have taken better precautions and not gone out as much. It was a stupid idea to think that they could run away, but he decided it was still better to have Louis on his side than not. "If they did, you know, we have to fight back," he murmured, slight remorse in his tone. He wondered how Harry was doing, if he went back to his home after he left. It was hard to teach him everything he should know about humanity and how to blend in, but he was sure that he found it easier to be home since Zayn was the only one to get it through his thick skull that he can't just kill or break things that frustrate him. He smiled somberly at the memory as he sat up, patting Louis bum playfully as he got out of the bed, his moment of weakness over and replaced by his normally cool demeanour. "Let's go back some of those noodles, yeah, mate?" He asked, quickly exiting the room before Louis could truly pry at Zayn to continue opening up. By the time he heard footsteps behind him, he was already busy looking for a pot to boil the water in. He continued to search and search and he swore that he left it right fucking there in the cupboard, but he came back fruitless. It frustrated him, making him run a hand through his ever growing hair as he bit back his emotions. "Fuck, where is that bloody thing?" He asked, voice tense and tight as he continued to search and search.

---

Liam nodded his head, knowing that Harry was always the more logical one. He blamed it on how he was raised, though, he wasn't ever sure if Harry knew how to do anything that wasn't strategic in some way. It was probably why Simon liked him so much, how he managed to mold himself into the team so well because of how easily he could remain level headed. "It's hard," he said, smiling at the hand on his knee. He remembered when Harry wouldn't have known what he was meant to do if Liam was blowing off steam like this, but he was proud of the progress that his very close friend was giving him now. They had each other - including Niall - and that was enough for Liam now. He didn't expect them to ever find Zayn or Louis, especially not together. He thought that they would have split up far long ago, never to see each other again either. "If they tried to both escape from this," he said, vaguely pointing around everything to make his point, "why would they remain together? It'd just be easier to be sidetracked. Zayn's smarter than that, Louis is definitely smarter than that." He knew how intelligent the two were, but he also knew that they were both too close to separate. He just thought that maybe by the time they decided they were safe, they would've broken apart. To be caught for something as simple as a cellphone was also stupidly simple, which made Liam on edge and think that Zayn was excepting them. Maybe he wanted to end it all before it began again with them.