The Pentagon
Miriam pulled up to the gate. It had been left ajar. Was someone here? As she pulled into the driveway, she saw a strange car parked in front of the house. She stopped behind it and got out. The license plate said, of all things, “ U LUCKY.” What the hell?
As she got closer, she saw that the front door was ajar as well. A shiver went up her spine. She moved as silently as she could up the steps, until she was close enough to see through the door. No one in view. “Hank?” she called cautiously, twisting her keys so that they protruded from between her knuckles like claws. “Hank, are you in there?”
When he appeared in the doorway, she nearly fainted with relief. “Hey. Sorry, forgot to close the door.” He had gone blue. She hadn’t seen him go blue in months. He gave her a lopsided grin, fangs showing. She’d missed his blue grins.
“Is someone here?” She gestured at the strange car.
“Yes, it’s…well…you’d better meet him for yourself.” He stepped aside, gesturing for her to come in.
She did, absolutely baffled. But if Hank was relaxed, even if he was still blue…she tucked her keys into her purse. Whoever this stranger was, he must not be dangerous.
A man stood at the foot of the stairs, saying something to Charles, who stood on the landing above. Charles seemed more drunk than usual, and a little shaken. He turned his back on them and looked out the window instead.
“What’s going on?”
The man turned around at the sound of her voice. A grin spread across his grizzly face. “Miriam McCoy! Good to see you. God, you look so young.” He came up and clapped her on the shoulders. Hank nearly jumped out of his skin. Miriam McCoy?
Miriam pushed his hands away and stepped back, face flaming red. “My name’s not McCoy, that’s Hank. Who the hell are you and why are you in our house?”
The man grinned. “Whoops, guess I was a little early on that one. I’m here to recruit the professor here—” he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder “—to help me fix the future.”
—
Miriam could barely look at Hank. This man, claiming to be from the future, thought she and Hank shared a last name. That meant only one thing, assuming he really was a time traveler.
The backseat of the car would’ve been cramped with just one person, but Miriam insisted Hank join her instead of sitting up front with Charles and the stranger—Logan, he called himself. “What happened before I got home that made you go blue? Who the hell is this guy?”
“He forced his way in the door and when I tried to stop him, he punched me in the face.” Hank shrugged.
“And we’re just…going along with him? To break into the fucking Pentagon?”
“I can hear you, you know,” Logan said from the passenger seat. “No, left here,” he told Charles. Charles turned left.
Hank shrugged, a wry grin on his face. “Seems like Charles believes him. Besides, this is the most fun we’ve had in ages.” She heard his unspoken words, though. This is the most engaged Charles has been in ages. He’s actually out of the house.
“Fair enough.” She sighed. This was absolutely insane.
Then, without warning, she became conscious of how close they were. Her thigh and his, pressed together. Their shoulders. Their eyes, meeting. She felt her face heating. Logan’s words echoed in her head. Miriam McCoy. She took a deep breath. “Hank, I—”
“We’re here. Everyone out.” Logan opened the door, letting in a gust of fresh air. Charles followed him out, and then Hank, who turned back and extended a hand to help Miriam. She almost ignored him, but…instead, she took his hand. It was soft, warm.
“Thanks,” she murmured.
“Let’s go, come on!” Logan called. Hank rolled his eyes when Logan turned away, and Miriam chuckled.
The kid was a speedster, and annoying as hell. But he was also a bit of a kleptomaniac, and so as soon as they told him they’d be breaking into the Pentagon, he was on board.
—
Miriam and Hank had to disrupt the security cameras. Well, Hank would. Miriam’s job was to keep anyone from seeing what he was doing. “You’re sure you can operate that remote by touch?” she asked for the tenth time, as they lined up for their morning tour of the Pentagon.
“You know I can.” He bumped her shoulder with his. “Don’t worry so much.” The bucket hat on his head was lopsided. It made him look silly. Just like a tourist. She pushed the wide brim of her own hat out of the way for the umpteenth time. Stupid thing. She’d definitely take it off once they were inside, disguises or not.
“Hank, this is the Pentagon. How am I not supposed to worry?”
He laughed softly. “Fair.”
Their tour group was called, and they went into the Pentagon, acting like wide-eyed tourists. And when Hank pulled out the remote, Miriam bent the light around it, making it invisible, creating an illusion of Hank’s hands in his pockets instead. She felt her heart pounding, tried to keep her breath slow, tried to look around and see the sights. This really was a fascinating tour. Shame she couldn’t focus on it at all.
Her illusion didn’t slip. Hank grinned at her reassuringly every once in a while. But she didn’t relax until they heard radio chatter about the security cameras getting broadcast signal. Exactly as Hank had intended.
The alarms went off soon after, and the tour guides and security guards began to usher everyone out of the building. She and Hank lingered at the back of the crowd, trying to keep their interference signal up as long as possible. At least until the fire sprinklers went off; that was Charles’ signal that he and Logan had gotten inside. The sprinklers went off just as their tour guide approached, waving for them to follow her.
“Quick, quick, this way, we have to evacuate!” The tour guide, clearly concerned for their safety, hustled them out. “I’m so sorry your date was ruined, but we have to follow protocols.”
Date? “Oh, no, we’re not—”
Hank cut her off. “We’re not upset. It’s fine, we understand. C’mon, dear.” And he took her hand and led her away. “We’d better get back to the hotel.”
As soon as they turned the corner, she rounded on him. “What was that?” She yanked her hand back. It immediately felt cold.
Hank looked surprised. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry, I just thought…it’d be our best cover. You know.”
"Our cover! We never talked about doing that, Hank! You could've at least asked me first!" She felt close to tears. Their cover. He'd only been pretending. Of course.
They stood in silence. Hank broke it first. “They’re going to pick us up soon. We’d better go, we’re almost a block away.”
Miriam looked up. “Hank, I—” But he was already a few steps ahead and walking fast, hands firmly in his pockets. She followed, wondering if she’d just ruined everything.