Arwin looked even more professional than normal. She was still wearing her forest green suit jacket, but her black turtleneck had been replaced by an off-white button up and jade green tie. A silver tie bar was clipped to the tie, reflecting the fluorescent lights. Arwin’s short, platinum blond hair was somehow combed even neater than normal.

The only thing that was off was the absence of her eyepatch.

I don’t think I had ever seen her without it before.

In the place of the cotton square Arwin used as a mask was an eye. It was slightly unfocused and not quite the exact color of her genuine, emerald green eye. I could see her scar, a thin white line drawn across the pale structure of her cheek.

“So.” I strutted over to her, trying to keep a tone of nonchalance in my voice.

“It’s a glass eye.” Arwin answered dryly, almost as if she had been reading my mind.

“Interesting.” I responded. I didn’t know what else to say. “Why don’t you.. uh.. use it more often?”

“It’s not comfortable. Plus it's easier to stay undercover when I lose my most defining physical trait."

I nodded. I was sure Arwin had some sort of ulterior, more complex motive for using the glass eye, but I wasn’t in the position to ask her.

“So, are you ready?” Arwin asked.

I looked down at my outfit- a somewhat-skimpy black dress reminiscent of a long gone and wildly misinterpreted historical era, complete with a choker necklace and heels that made me a full 4 and a half inches taller than Arwin.

“Yeah. I think I am.” I said with my signature cocky smile.

Arwin laughed and returned the smile. “Let’s go crash a gala then, shall we?”

The wealthy part of Baron city was a jewel to behold, especially at night. The gleaming streets reflected neon lights in every shade from golden yellow to frost blue. Well-off passerby’s strutted the streets in their designer trench-coats, a soft jazz tune played from a nearby discotheque. It seemed straight out of a tourist advertisement from the forties.

I knew that the amount of splendor was an incredible waste of resources and taxpayer dollars, yet it didn’t hesitate to take my breath away. I had my face so close to the window of our limo that I could see my own breath on the glass, fogging up the view of the street.

I sat back in my seat as we turned a corner. Arwin was sitting next to me, reading something on her phone.

“So.” I asked. “Ever been to the Baron heights before?”

Arwin set down her phone on her leg. “A few times.” She responded. “You?”

I nodded, even though Arwin couldn’t see me. “Same. I haven’t been in a couple years, though. It’s very pretty here. Atmospheric.”

“Guess so.” Arwin responded monotonously.

I fought the urge to continue the conversation by biting my tongue.

Arwin turned to face me. “So. Let’s brief the mission.”

I nodded.

“I’m Doctor Casey Berlin, and you’re my wife, Adina.”

We had gone over all this before in the mission briefing. The thought of being Arwin’s wife surely was.... something.

“We’re infiltrating the annual Mooring Foundation Charity Gala in order to meet our contact.”

“Who’s our contact?” I ask, even though I know exactly who it is.

“Zachary Jules. No physical description provided but he is confirmed to be wearing a blue suit. Says he’ll find us rather than us finding him.”

I frowned. An operation like this was risky, even for my taste. A wrong move and all the info we’ve worked so hard for could end up in the hands of our greatest enemies.

“Wait-“ I asked Arwin. “Did you memorize all the information on our mission briefing?”

Arwin looked away, slightly embarrassed but too prideful to let it show. "Obviously. It's not like you're going to."

I laughed. Arwin didn't tend to show her humorous side, but when she did it was amazing. I looked back out the window, but before I turned completely I glanced back at Arwin. She was facing her own window. I couldn't see her expression, but I caught a glance of her smile in her reflection.

The moment I stepped out of our limo, I was greeted with all the splendors of luxury and wealth. A golden carpet led Arwin and I to the ballroom, paparazzi lined the street begging for our opinions on the latest eyeshadow trends. It was honestly quite disgusting.

Arwin exited the limo right after I did and wrapped her arm around my waist. The gesture surprised me and made my heart race.

"We're married, remember?" Arwin reminded me. I nodded. We walked up to the ballroom, arm in arm. A few news reporters tried to stop us- namely me- to ask a question I didn't hear over the roar of the crowd. I paused for a moment to register what they said, but was pulled along by Arwin's arm. She was stronger than I was- much stronger.

A doorman wearing a crimson red jacket greeted us at the ballroom's door. "Might I see your invitations?" he asked. Even though he said it with enthusiasm, his words seemed false and scripted.

Arwin let go of me for a second, leaving me feeling vulnerable and alone, to take out the invitation replicas we had been given. She handed them to the doorman, who promptly checked them over.

“Very well, Doctor Berlin,” the doorman responded, the same fake cheer in his voice. “I hope you and your wife have a lovely time at the ball!”

As we walked through the doorway, Arwin wrapped her hand around mine. Somehow, this felt more intimate than when she had held my waist. It made me sweat.

The ballroom was more glamorous than anything I had ever seen. Red banners lined the walls in between ceiling-high windows looking out onto the city sprawl. Lanterns that looked almost like fairy lights floated above the crowd, suspended by silver chains. The crowd itself was mildly sized and comprised almost entirely of upper class businesspeople. Flashes of jewel tones danced across the floor as a lively tune played from the bandstand.

“Let’s split up.” Arwin said, releasing her grip on my hand. “It’ll be easier to find Jules that way.”

I nodded, gripping my hand. It felt colder now that Arwin wasn’t holding it anymore. “Yeah.”

“Good luck!” Arwin called over her shoulder before.

After a moment trying to find where Arwin went off too, I stumbled to the concession table. It was on the sidelines of the dance floor and made it easier to watch over the crowd. I tried to focus on finding Zachary, whatever he was supposed to look like, but instead I found myself scanning the crowd for Arwin, her familiar green jacket, her platinum blond buzzcut. I couldn’t find her.

I turned my attention to the table in efforts to refocus myself. It was a simple, long table decorated with what I presume was a silk blue tablecloth and fake flowers. If Arwin was here, she’d no doubt give me an entire essay on what type of plant the imitations were trying to resemble and how the real flowers were much more atmospheric and beautiful. On the table were glasses of punch, no doubt spiked with something, and plates of chocolate cake. I didn’t grab anything, getting drunk on the job was never a good idea and I had a record of not holding my alcohol. The only other person standing at the table was a petite young man.

He was shorter than I was and almost as pale as Arwin. His long blonde hair was cut in a choppy mullet. If it hadn’t been for his baby blue suit, he would’ve seemed an anachronism amongst the well-to-do of the gala.

The man met my gaze and strutted over to me.

“So. The moon’s surely blue tonight.” He greeted.

The code. “Yes, I’m afraid I’ll drown.” I responded. The appropriate response to let him know I was with the Grey birds.

“The name’s Jules. Zachary Jules” the man said, extending his hand. I shook it. “I assume your the retrieval team?”

I nodded. “That would be me.”

Zachary nodded and handed me a pen. “Get this back to base unharmed. The techies will know what to do with it.”

Before I could respond, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned around. It was Arwin.

She seemed a mess. Somehow she had lost her coat jacket, and her tie had come undone.

“I have the info.” I said, handing her the pen. My dress had no pockets, so it would be safer with her.

Arwin pocketed the pen, glancing around instead of making eye contact with me. “We need to leave now.”

“Now?” I asked, startled.

“Emer!” Yelled a voice from the crowd. The party stirred as a large man in a black suit came barreling towards us. We had been found out.

Arwin grabbed my wrist and immediately fled towards the window. I struggled to keep pace with her, tripping over my own feet.

Arwin stopped when we reached the window, but only for a second. Adrenaline rushed through my veins as we leapt through the opening into the streets below. I didn’t stop to look back if the man had followed us, I couldn’t afford too.

We didn’t stop for breath until we were a decent amount of blocks away from the gala. Arwin and I collapsed onto the sidewalk, out of breath.

“Jeez.” I said, taking off my heels. “That went well.”

Arwin laughed. “Guess you could say that... at least we got the info.”

“Yeah....” I nodded. “Think I might have sprained my ankle.”

“Yikes.” Arwin respires. “Well, we can’t exactly go back to base in this condition. Too far away to walk.... we could book an inn.”

I nodded and stood up. “Alright. Let’s go find a hotel!”

The hotel we found was budget and almost completely booked. Just so happened it was prime tourism season in Baron City, which made it very hard to get an actual room. Arwin hassled the receptionist for a good seven minutes but eventually reasoned for us to get a room and a free change of clothes (we were a mess after all).

The hotel room was modest- a window overlooking a pool and parking lot, an old fashioned heater, tacky curtains and wall art of a field. There was a singular queen sized bed with two pairs of hotel-branded sleepwear- White shirts with gray sweatpants.

Arwin sat down on the bed. “You can take the first shower. I’ll call base.”

I nodded and picked up one of the clothing sets.

The hotel bathroom was small and it took me a while to figure out the shower controls. Even then, the water was an unsettling cold when I first stepped into the shower. The soap provided by the hotel smelled like rosemary (or so the bottle advertised). I could feel it getting in my eyes. I couldn’t help but think of Arwin, her hands gripping mine.

I could hear Arwin on the phone after I shut off the water. As I dried myself off and got dressed, I listened to the conversation she was having. She seemed to be arguing with someone, presumably whoever had received her call back at base. Her first real mission and she had fucked it up. I kind of blamed myself for that.

By the time I reentered the main room of the apartment, Arwin had hung up. “Shower’s open.” I announced. Arwin nodded and headed over to the bathroom, carrying the other set of clothes.

“Everything going ok?” I asked as she left.

“Just fine.” Arwin responded dryly.

I climbed onto the bed and turned on the tv. A news channel, a sports channel, a kids channel, the food network. None of it seemed too interesting but I kept it on the food network. The volume was low and the quality was kinda bad but it was mildly interesting reality tv.

Arwin took a remarkably shorter shower compared to mine and was back out in no time. The hotel clothes fit her better than they did me- mine were all loose and oversized on my lean frame.

Arwin set her watch on the nightstand and sat on the bed next to me. It was just big enough that we didn’t touch- but only barely.

“Food network, huh?” Arwin asked monotonously.

“Yeah.” I responded. “Only good thing on.”

“Mhm.” Arwin responded.

After about half an episode of Tiers and Tears: Cake Catastrophes, Arwin stretches and yawned. “Ready to go to sleep?”

“Guess so.” I responded, turning off the television and getting more settled in the bed.

“Mind if I..?” Arwin asked, hovering her hand over the glass eye. She didn’t offer any other context, but the question was clear.

“Yeah, sure.” I responded, turning away from Arwin. I turned off the lamp on my side of the bed and laid down. Moments later, Arwin turned off her lamp and laid next to me, her back facing mine. The hotel room was completely dark. I turned over, facing Arwin. She smelled like rosemary, or maybe it was me. My heart began to race. She was so close to me, closer than she ever had been before, in such a vulnerable state. She trusted me enough to let down her guard around me. It truly was something to think about. “Night, Arwin.” I said.

“Goodnight, Glass.” She responded, a hint of a smile in her voice.