Secret Agent Man

Gerard watched Lyn as she slept. The red glow of the digital clock said it was already two in the morning and he knew he would have to be up in a few hours, but he was too much on edge to sleep.

‘Why didn’t she tell me she had a daughter?’ he thought as he studied her slow breathing. She shifted in her sleep, causing a lock of her hair to fall down in front of her face. He carefully brushed it out of the way. When nothing else happened, he stood up and walked over to the window, sliding his sunglasses over his eyes as he did so. He pressed an almost invisible button on the side of the left lens, making the built-in camera zoom in on his view of the faraway casinos. He studied each one for a moment, then took the glasses off, folding them as he set them down on a nearby table.

“Still awake?” Lyn muttered, loosely wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her chin on his shoulder. He shrugged.

“Can’t sleep.”

She softly kissed his neck. “Something on your mind?”

“Isn’t there always?” he muttered. She laughed quietly. Gerard reluctantly pulled away from her grasp and turned around to face her.

“I know what you’re going to ask,” she said casually. He showed no response. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it mattered.”

One corner of his mouth turned down, a tiny fraction of the emotion he was hiding. Lyn frowned.

“Unless you…think otherwise…”

Gerard did think otherwise, but he refused to tell her. He placed both hands on her waist and kissed her for a few slow seconds before walking away and crawling back into bed. He still didn’t feel like sleeping, but his mind was tired and forced his eyes closed before he could think of any other questions for her.
-
“Have you ever been to the Mirage?”

Gerard’s eyes slowly opened when he heard the question. Sunlight filtered in through a small gap in the curtains, making him wonder how late in the day it was.

“Don’t think so, no…”

“Good. We’re going there today.”

He sat up and rubbed his eyes with one hand. “Why?”

“You’ll see.”

“No.”

Lyn turned around, frowning. “Excuse me?”

“Not good enough. Tell me why we’re going there.” He hated acting so stubborn with her, but he wasn’t going to let her drag him around the city without a good reason. He was starting to feel like they weren’t actually getting anything done.

“If you must know, I think I’ve found where our kidnapper is,” she answered with a sigh. “We’ll be going to a party there later tonight.”

“But why go there now?” he insisted. Lyn rolled her eyes.

“Because from what I know, he owns the white tigers that live there. He loves to talk about them, so the more we know, the more we’ll be able to say. Right?”

Gerard turned a shade whiter than usual. “You mean…we have to go near…the giant cats?”

“That was the general idea, yes,” she said nonchalantly. She raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong with that?”

“…No, no, nothing at all,” he said quickly. He sighed and shook his head to clear his thoughts, wondering whether he should tell her how terrified he was of them.

“Relax. They’re behind fences.”

Gerard remained completely silent as Lyn checked them out of the hotel and drove to the casino, fighting daily traffic as usual. His thoughts focused on the plan at first, but they hung up on the idea of being near the huge lions and tigers. A lion had once mauled him – one criminal mastermind had liked the idea of a Colosseum-style fight between humans and big cats – and it had almost cost him his life. He wasn’t exactly ready to face such a creature again, even if it was a different color.

They arrived at the Mirage too soon for his liking. Lyn had the car valet parked and checked their luggage at the bell desk, and they walked into the casino.

“We can’t check in until three, but our stuff will be in the room by the time we get there,” she explained. He nodded numbly and followed her with the directional sense of a lost puppy. She led him through what seemed like a maze of well-placed rainforest trees and plants to get to where the animals were kept, and soon enough they were standing before the huge cats. A mesh wire fence hardly seemed like enough of a barrier between the animals and the hordes of gawking tourists surrounding the two agents.

“They’re so beautiful,” Lyn said absentmindedly, smiling. Gerard could only stare at the sleeping animals; one was resting on a rock and letting one heavy paw dangle off, its black claws hanging loose and open. He swallowed nervously and stepped a little closer to her.

“You’re unusually quiet today,” she said with a giggle. “Cat got your tongue?”

He didn’t laugh.
-
Gerard Way had never been one for extravagant parties. Though fine liquor was almost certainly a staple of such events, the idea of purposely spending time around people with money to burn and nothing to talk about just didn’t appeal to him. Yet there he stood several hours later, wearing a tuxedo and waiting for Lyn to finish getting ready.

“I’m hardly a patient man, Lyn,” he said in mild annoyance. “If this is so important, shouldn’t we try to be on time?”

“Shut up.”

The bathroom light clicked off and the door opened. Lyn stepped out, suddenly looking about three inches taller. It took him a few seconds to realize she was wearing heels.

“There, I’m done. Happy?” He didn’t say anything, so she sighed in aggravation and walked over to a mirror on the wall, playing with a few strands of her hair. Gerard almost laughed; he had never seen her act so feminine before. “I hate my hair…”

“You look lovely,” he said with a smile, pulling her away from the mirror and wrapping his arms around her waist. He tried to kiss her, but she pulled away from him.

“You’ll mess up my lipstick,” she joked. He rolled his eyes and followed her out the door.

The sounds of quiet chatter echoed down the hallways as they neared the room on the top floor of the hotel. Elegant piano music provided a soft undertone for it all, but it did nothing to change Gerard’s opinion of the situation. Lyn sighed.

“Can you at least try to pretend this isn’t torture for you?”

“Not a chance.”

The first thing Gerard noticed when they entered the wide room was not the lavish decor or the clearly expensive outfits of the guests. Instead he was focused on the two white tiger cubs resting in front of the ebony piano. He paled slightly, but tried his best to act like nothing was wrong.

He studied the man sitting at the piano. He focused all his attention on the ivory keys, acting as if no one else was in the room. His brown hair stuck up in a few places and, combined with the rest of his facial features, gave him an almost birdlike appearance. Gerard made the immediate decision not to go anywhere near that corner of the room.

Unfortunately for him, Lyn couldn’t read his mind and led him in that direction before he could say anything to stop her.

“Welcome back, Lyn.” The man spoke quietly and with a clear British accent, never losing pace in the song.

“I wasn’t gone that long,” she replied. “A few days, a week at the most.”

“Still too much time, in my opinion.” The man finished the song and stood up, giving them a swift bow before walking to the other side of the room. Gerard nearly jumped back when the two cubs suddenly woke up and darted after him. To his surprise, no one else in the room seemed fazed by this.

“I need to go talk to a few people. Don’t leave the room, and try not to break anything,” Lyn said suddenly. She disappeared into the crowd before he could stop her. Gerard sighed and did the only thing he could do.

He headed straight for the bar.

“Here you are, sir,” the bartender said, placing a martini in front of him before he had even ordered anything. He could smell the vodka in it already, but didn’t entirely trust it.

“Actually, I’ll have a White Russian, thanks,” he said innocently. The bartender shrugged and discarded the martini before preparing the second drink for him.

“I never thought of you as a man of impulsive decisions, Mr. Way.” Gerard turned and saw the same man who had been playing the piano earlier. The man sat next to him, and the bartender also placed a drink in front of him without being told. It smelled strongly of apples and looked like nothing more than carbonated water.

“Too many martinis lately,” he said with a sigh. “Thought I might try something different.”

“No harm in that,” the man said before taking a sip of his own drink. “But I’ve always found that sticking to a routine is the only way to get anything done. Consistency is the key to success.”

“That would never work for me. I’d probably go crazy first.” Gerard was already fairly suspicious of the man, but he chose not to draw attention to it. Still wary, he picked his drink up, pretended to take a sip, and intentionally set it too close to the edge of the counter. A nearby guest accidentally knocked it off and onto the floor, where the glass shattered. He instantly saw Lyn approaching out of the corner of his eye; her light blue strapless dress was noticeable from almost anywhere in the room.

“I thought I specifically told you not to break anything,” she said with an exasperated sigh. The man gave a light laugh.

“Accidents happen, Lyn. I’ve got it taken care of.”

Gerard fought back the sudden shiver working its way down his spine. Something about the way the man spoke set him on edge.

“You seem unhappy about something, Gerard,” the man continued. Gerard shrugged halfheartedly.

“Parties just don’t do it for me.”

“Truth be told, I don’t care for them either,” the man admitted. “Why don’t you come back tomorrow for dinner? I’m sure that would suit you much better.”

“…Sure,” he answered warily. He almost asked if he could bring Lyn with him, but something in the back of his mind stopped him.

“Excellent. Lyn will tell you where to go. Oh, hi there little one…” He reached down and picked up one of the two tiger cubs, setting it on his lap and stroking it as if it was a normal cat. Gerard was not quite as afraid of it, but it still took every ounce of self-control he had to keep from running the opposite direction. The man stood up and began walking away, still holding the purring snow-white cub.

“What’s your name?” Gerard asked, raising his voice just enough for it to be heard over the crowd. The man smirked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”