Abstract Shadows and Painted Stars

Friday.

Percy palmed a few pills and tossed them in his mouth- They looked like two small white pearls. He threw his head back, making his glasses bounce on his nose bridge, and swallowed hard.

"Were those anxiety pills or something?" I asked with a confused expression.

"No. Just some Tik Tacs," Percy said in a dramatic tone. He breathed deeply. "I'm hoping they'll act as a placebo."

"For your anxiety?"

He set his lip into a thin line. "Mhm."

We were standing by an arched doorway in a cylinder-shaped tunnel. It was a small cemented passage-way that led to the back yard. Two officers had guided Greyson through this tunnel earlier tonight to take him outside for a walk. Soon, he would have to be brought back through the archway to be led back into the Cabinet vault.

The archway was only big enough to fit 10 people comfortably, but somehow Percy appeared claustrophobic all the same. I covered my grin with a gloved hand. "Are the Tik Tacs working?"

"No," he said as if I'd just asked the dumbest question anyone had ever posed. "I just swallowed them."

"Duh, Ashlyn." I hit my forehead. "He has to give them time to dissolve."

Not able to hold back the laughter, even though my own anxiety was through the roof, I earned myself a sour look from my best friend.

"Smart ass," he huffed.

Percy and his frog-green suit were stuffed inside a heavy white hazmat suit. He and I were dressed like one of the engineer Agents. Those guys often dealt with toxic waste, ancient relicts and space debris that - often times – carried some radioactive elements. For that reason, their uniforms were designed to be impervious and be full-coverage. Meaning that, from the top of your head, right down to the tip of your toes, this uniform was made to hide everything. It was the perfect camouflage for what Percy and I were about to do. No one would ever fathom the likelihood of two investigation Agents hiding inside these hazmat suits, having stolen three of them from the PPE closet in order to sneak an alien out of the Agency.

Once Greyson was inside the spare suit, the disguise would make him practically invisible to the eye, while he walked the long hall of the building - A ghost among paranormal experts.

It's quite ironic, really.

"I still can't believe you're here with me," I admitted as Percy pouted in his corner. I could see his face because we had decided that, while we waited for Greyson and the guards to return, it was allowed to keep our masks off. No cameras were facing us under that arch, anyway. "I'm surprised you're not freaking out, and asking yourself: 'What am I doing here?'"

"Ha, ha." Percy looked down at the dart gun he was holding, and his composed derailed so abruptly that it gave me a fright. "Oh my god! What am I doing here! How the hell did I end up here?"

Here it is.

"Guess those Tic Tacs are not working, after all." I leaned against the wall behind me, keeping myself a certain distance from my frazzled Partner.

Percy was on the other side of the arch, opposite me. Both sides had sufficient space to shield us from view, but I was starting to question whether that would matter if he kept panicking like this. "Percy, you need to calm down, you're going to draw attention."

His head snapped towards me, making his red glasses nearly fall off his nose. "I can't just calm down, Ashlyn!" His glare turned into lava. I could feel his stare burn through my skin, sizzling me until I turned to ash. "Our literal lives are at stake if this doesn't go as planned!"