Unravel

The sunny weather didn’t quite match Liz’s mood. With each step she took towards the concrete tower her body felt heavier, weighing her down and making each move more strenuous than the last. Her mouth was dry and if she hadn’t put her hands into her coat’s pockets, she was sure one could see them shaking.
Even Ewan walking swiftly besides her didn’t calm her down. As far as it concerned her, she probably could walk with a gun in her pocket and it wouldn’t make much of a difference.

She had never felt this scared. At first she had pretended to didn’t know why she was suddenly feeling this way. She had worked on dangerous assignments, with and without partner, and never had she ever shook like a leaf. But now she was, and as much as she wanted to ignore the reason, she couldn’t. It was him.

“You okay?” Ewan piped up beside her, coming closer to her side. Despite his cheerful voice, he looked tired and worn out. Dark bags under his eyes made him age at least five years.

“I want to say yes,” Liz sighed and straightened up before she walked into the building, “but we both know that’s not true.”

“Fair enough,” Ewan answered with a shrug, and walked with her towards the reception, eyeing her for a few seconds. “I’ll wait upstairs for you, okay? Get your stuff.”

Nodding absentmindedly and ignoring his look, she turned towards the reception. “Good morning, Melissa.”

Without responding, she swiftly turned around to retrieve a small box, filled with Liz’s belongings before slamming it onto her desk. “Hawk wants to see you.”

The sudden harsh response startled her. Melissa was usually nice enough. Sure, she could be cranky but who wouldn’t be. The people who came into HQ each day were quite a few and usually not easy to deal with. But this was new.

“O-kay,” Liz replied, not in the mood for already getting in a row at half past 8. Ignoring Melissa’s burning glare, Liz grabbed the box and turned around on her heel, heading towards the elevator. Behind her, she could hear Melissa scoff, causing her to pinch her eyes shut in hurt. This was unfair. If even the receptionist, a person with one of the lowest clearance levels would treat her like this, what would her entire floor be like?

She didn’t want to dwell on it but her arrival on her floor was imminent and if everyone was going to treat her the way Melissa did, she wouldn’t be able to be there for long. But she knew Ewan had her back.

The moment the elevator came to a halt, Liz’ heart stopped beating altogether. The deep breaths she had been trying to take up until now turned shallow and the trembling of her hands worsened. However, when the doors slid open to reveal her office floor, only two or three people glanced her way, then ignored her again, devoting themselves to their cases again.

She didn’t know whether to feel relieved. Were they ignoring her by default or did they just really not care? Liz decided that she would get to the bottom of that some other time. For now, she had other problems.

Gripping the box filled with her belongings tighter, she slowly but steadily moved towards her cubicle. But when she came to a standstill in front of it, she noticed that Ewan was nowhere to be seen. Looking around the office, she suddenly saw him walking towards her, visibly distressed, talking to someone on the phone.

Trying not to draw attention to herself and Ewan’s state, she waited until he was about to enter his own cubicle again, to ask him what was going on.

Hanging up, Ewan cleared his throat and loosened his tie before sinking down on his chair, returning to his work as if nothing had happened. “Nothing, Hawk wants to see you.”

But Liz couldn’t ignore the state he was in and wondered if it was someone from the FBI. However, if they had found out what Ewan and her were currently up to, the only way they would have left this office was in handcuffs, if they had even made it to the entrance this morning at all. But something still wasn’t right. However, Ewan seemed dedicated to ignore her as well.

Swallowing her own distress, Liz dropped her box on her desk and quietly made her way towards Hawk’s office. However, this time she was aware of several heads popping up from the cubicles.

Pushing the door open, she was greeted by a familiar sight, Director Hawk behind his humongous desk with files strewn all over it. But his eyes were not on them.

“Agent Moore,” he greeted and nodded with his head towards the seat in front of him.

“Director,” Liz replied before breathing in deeply and lowering herself onto the chair, folding her hands in her lap. She felt like a child about to be scolded.

After a few moments of silence, Hawk sighed and clapped his hands together. “As I am sure you are aware, you have been cleared of all accusations. However, most agents are still wary of you, Agent,” he started and Liz nodded. She had noticed that. “And I can understand that because even I am still not entirely sure.”

“What?” Liz’ head snapped upwards before she caught herself, “Why? The accusations were unsubstantiated.”

“Because,” he replied slowly, “no such accusations just happen in a workplace like ours. We are supposed to be defenders of the law.”

Liz kept her scoff to herself but the way Hawk kept staring at her, she knew that he could read her like a book.

“You’ll be reinstated,” he continued, adding more force to his words. “But we have decreased your clearance level significantly. Do you remember your first years here? Your clearance level then was higher than it is now. You will have to work harder than you ever thought you could to get back to where you were, including the trust of your colleagues. Have I made myself clear?”

She wanted to yell and fight his decision but it would only have resulted in even more severe punishment. So, swallowing her pride she nodded.

“Now get out.”

Obeying, she left to go to her own cubicle again. It could have been a lot worse, she kept telling herself. But in reality, it was bad enough. She might as well have been a beat cop again for all it mattered. But she was still here.
Breathing in deeply, she sped up before she made it there, a frantic Ewan caught up with her, grabbing her arm, “We need to talk.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, searching his face for clues but he kept dragging her along towards the stairwell. The sweat on his forehead, the dilated pupils and the fear in his voice could mean anything. Hell, he could even have inhaled some of the cocaine in their evidence room for all she knew. He didn’t give her an answer and kept pulling her along, into the stairwell, one flight up, two, three.

Liz’ leg already protested but it seemed urgent, so she tried to keep up. When Ewan started racing up the fifth flight of stairs, however, Liz had to stop him.

“Jesus, Ewan, stop!” she called and rubbed her thigh, hissing due to the pain the exertion caused. “No one is here, what is wrong?”

“I-,” he started but frantically looked around the stairwell before grabbing her arm again and dragging her towards a narrow nook off the stairwell. When they finally stood face to face, Liz could hardly make out his face due to the lack of light in the small space. But his breathing was laboured and she was just as confused as before, albeit definitely more concerned.

“Ewan, what is it? Is it Hawk? Karen? Hydra?” At the last one she noticed him wince, causing her to fall silent, trying to prepare herself for what was to come. But instead, Ewan hugged her tightly to him, murmuring something in her ear she could not make out.

Pulling away from him for a second, she asked, “What?”

“I’m so sorry,” he repeated himself, making her frown until she felt what he was sorry about, pressing into her stomach and making her blood run cold.

“This is not happening,” she whispered, confused and terrified. But he never replied. The only thing she was aware of was that she felt two, three bullets enter her body, each one hurting more than the last, the blood dripping from her stomach and the way she stopped breathing, making her collapse in a heap.