Something Hopeful

By
Ed woke to a start, not knowing where he was for a moment before he regained his sense of establishment. He looked down at his sheets and laughed nervously as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
            Spiders, you idiot, he thought, of all the things to dream of, you dream of fucking spiders...
            Just as he laid back down, his alarm starting going off. He used to just bash the thing in and return to his sleep but he felt fully rested, so instead calmly silenced the alarm and got out of bed and started with his morning rituals, which meant that he had to get coffee first.
            He went downstairs and started the coffee. Expecting Ian to come downstairs any moment. Instead, he was greeted by Danny, who only wore another one of Ian's shirts, just as before. And just as before, Ed was stumped, though he recovered pretty quickly this time.
            "You know, I'll never get used to this," Ed said as he handed her a cup of coffee.
            "Didn't you used to bring your dates home -- apparently night after night?" Danny asked as she took a sip.
            "Ian told you, didn't he?" Ed said with a embarrassed grin, "not that it's much of a secret. Yeah, but that was way back when. Hormones and all that, you know?"
            "I do."
 
Ian came downstairs a few minutes later, fully dressed. Ed knew that he wouldn't be able to stay away from work, whether it involved coding, or... And then Ed thought of something.
            "Morning," Ian said as he kissed Danny and looked up at Ed.
            "Hey! You remember back in Paris!"
            "What about it?" Ian asked, slightly intrigued.
            "Danny and I just had a little discussion about my, err, past time way back when, and I don't know why but it brought me back to Paris!"
            "Yes, I get it. What happened in Paris?"
            "Well, you remember we were stationed in an apartment south of the Eifel tower. The room across from us had Dev's replacement for the time due to his exceptional --"
            "Hacking skills!" Ian finished and slammed his fist on the island counter. He then pulled out his phone and started typing a group email.
            "How likely do you think that it could be that son of a bitch traitor?"
            "Highly," Ian answered as he put the phone down on the counter and stared at Ed, "we finally have a lead..."
            "I'll take care of it when it comes to it," Ed answered Ian's hidden question.
            "Do you mind if we leave the house to you?" Ian asked Danny, knowing that she has the night shift. "Don't worry, JR is spending some time at Bernard's. I didn't want him in the middle of all of this."
            Danny nodded with approval, and Ian headed upstairs to get his things. Ed did too, finishing his coffee as he put on a pair of pants with straps near the ankles -- strapped the pants tighter, then put on a white long sleeve shirt and a dark green turtle neck jacket over that. He pulled his sleeves up a bit and started fitting his weapons which he had cleaned, calibrated, and restrung the previous night right before bed.
            After kissing her goodbye, Ian grabbed his keys and followed Ed out the garage door where they got into his Subaru and drove off.
 
On the way there, Ed had to remind Ian that he still needed to at least try and drive safely, though he knew how important this had been for his friend, especially after what had happened merely a day before.
            Ian had just ended the call which he informed Devon of the newest findings when Ed took out a packet of cigarettes, played around with it, and put it back.
            "Damn those are old," Ian said.
            "So are these pants," Ed answered and slapped his legs. He then looked down and fiddled with the straps at his ankles.
            "Nervous, or angry?"
            "Think he'd recognise me?" Ed asked as they had to wait for a traffic light to turn green. "It's been so long..."
            Ian shook his head. He still did not really know whether it was him or not, never mind whether he recognised his voice over the phone the day before.
            "I mean, if that is the case, he'd know that I have an arrow just with his name on it."
            "And I, a blade. What troubles me most is, if it even is him, what could have made him turn."
            This time Ed shook his head. The last time Ed had been in a room alone with him, Ed proved just how much he liked the taste of blood of a man who almost managed to kill his best friend.
            One thing was for certain though: the innocent, next-best-thing new blood agents they were approximately ten years ago had grown up and learned a couple of new tricks.

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