Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Anya really didn't know what to do with that information.

It wasn't all that uncommon for her not to  understand what people's thoughts meant in its entirety, but normally those were from the grown-ups. Kids her age used to have more straightforward mentalities and the voices in their heads would say things like 'I hate studying' or 'I wonder what Bondman is doing next episode'. You know, things that she could relate to or at least see where they came from.

So, when she overheard Damian thinking 'why does that violent commoner have to be so cute!?' while he tried to steal a glance at her during the lecture, Anya had absolutely no idea what to make of it. 

She turned around to look at him, just to have the boy blushing furiously as he looked the other way. His minions didn't seem to notice that their leader was caught red-handed staring at his enemy, which made the three of them having more and more confusing thoughts. Anya turned back to the board, whatever the teacher was saying completely forgot over her headache. 

"Are you alright?" Becky would ask her at lunch, seeing how her friend had had more difficulty concentrating at class than usual. "I can take you to the infirmary if you're not."

The girl stopped, fork halfway to her mouth. Maybe Becky could indeed help her. Anya didn't know where that could have come from, but 'cute' was a compliment, right? Maybe with her apology and the dodgeball game, Damian was warming up to her after all — and if that was the case, it was a great opportunity to put Plan B into action and become his friend to be invited with her parents into his home and finally save the world!

A cheerful smile spread over her face at the thought of Papa being so proud of her that after his mission is over he would marry Mama for real and then all of them would move to that castle. Maybe they could even have another kid! They let her stay with Bond, so convince them to give her a little sibling shouldn't be so hard.

(Some tables from the girls, Damian was left flustered again. 'What is it that made her shine like that!? Is that commoner trying to play tricks on me!?')

With a determined expression, Anya looked at Becky straight into her eyes and asked "What do you do when a boy thinks you're cute?"

For some seconds, all she was greeted with was silence as Becky's eyes widened and her mouth fell agape. "W-w-what!?"

...

Somewhere far away from Eden Academy, agent Twilight suddenly put his hand over his heart, distaste evident on his face.

"What's it? Somebody's coming?" Franky's voice leaked desperation. If the spy took much more time to disarm that bomb, they were doomed!

"No, it's..." He groaned in annoyance as he got back to what he was doing, although the worry never left the back of his mind.

For some reason, Twilight felt that something that deserved his attention was happening that exact moment and he didn’t like it.

...

By the time Anya finished her explanation about what was going on, leaving aside her secrets, Becky's eyes were as bright as stars.

"Oh my god, I can't believe it! That boy is more stupid than I thought!"

"So, what should I do now?" They were walking down the corridor, going back to class. Since she didn't have much experience with befriending other kids (even more so with a history like hers and Damian's), Anya would really appreciate some advice.

"It depends." Becky turned her head to face her as they passed through the door. "Considering what you said, you want to use it in your favor, right?"

"Right."

'Anya... I'd never expect this from you, but dumb Damian really deserves to be put in his place after being mean to you. How can he say it's a crush when he treats Anya like this!?'

Anya sat down at her desk more confused than when they left for lunch. Had Becky misunderstood the situation? It's not like Damian was strong enough to crush her (she would be the one to crush him by any means), and what exactly finding someone cute had to do with putting them in their place? Well, she did want to be his friend to go to his place, but Becky didn't know that. Anya really couldn't find the connection.

"Okay, I have an idea." Becky pulled some paper and a pen from her backpack, lending it to Anya before she could ask any question. "Why don't you write him a note saying that you know his feelings and that he'd better confess them unless he's okay with everybody knowing about it? I'm sure he'll be in your hands after this."

Anya stared at the piece of paper and at the pen, as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. Yeah, maybe it actually was a good plan. Telling Damian that she knew he wanted to be her friend, and that it was fine if he wanted to acknowledge this only when there was nobody around because he was too shy to admit it, seemed a path of action safe enough for her. With another smile plastered on her face, the fantasy about her little family coming back in full force for her, she wrote everything down with Becky's supervision.

Papa and Mama and Bond would be so proud!

...

Far away from Eden Academy, at Berlint City Hall, a crash could be heard from the place's kitchen.

"What was that!?" Millie walked in, pretty alarmed at the sound.

"Yor let a cup slip out of her hands." Shanon said matter-of-factly, sipping her own cup of tea.

"How disastrous. Yor seems more aloof than normal today."

"Sorry..." The woman barely heard Camilla's insult as she picked the broken pieces to throw them away. "I have something on my mind now..."

After that, her colleagues started to gossip, letting Yor be for the moment. Her heartbeat had increased out of nowhere and her mouth had a bittersweet taste even without properly drinking her tea. Maybe shopkeeper would assign her a new client that night? Or Yuri was planning a surprise visit to check on her?

She sighed deeply as she raised.

Whatever it was, Yor just knew that something wrong was happening at that exact moment and she didn't like it.

...

Damian was crumpling the paper with more rage than a 6 year old should have, at the school's court after classes, where the note he found under his desk said he should wait if he wanted to accept the terms.

That was the very first time someone the... frea... threete... black mailed him (he thought he heard his father using that word once) and it was that adorable ugly commoner girl! The courage she got to do that after also being the first person to ever punch him! He couldn't believe it! Did she not know who his father was by any means!?

"I don't know who your father is but I want to meet him."

The boy let out a loud squeal as he turned around and found himself facing Anya herself.

"I also want to get closer to you, and meet the rest of your family too, if you'll accept me and my family."

Anya smiled, pretty satisfied with herself. At the same time she went straight to the point (being his friend and going to his house with Mama and Pa), she also was the one to start the topic. She reckoned Damian would be too stuck up to admit he wanted to get closer to her by himself, so Anya decided that a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Meanwhile, Damian was having a mental breakdown.

'She's talking about meeting the parents!? Already!? She wants to be a Desmond this much!?'

Okay, now Anya couldn't get more confused. Why was everybody thinking in code? People were supposed to lie in their speech but be trustful in their minds, not the opposite.

"Tomorrow."

"Uh?" Anya raised her head to look at Damian, only to find the boy avoiding her gaze as much as he could, his cheeks reddening fast.

'I wonder if he has a fever.' Anya thought. 'Things would make a lot of sense if that was the problem.'

"Meet me here again tomorrow, same time, alone. I'll answer you then."

Her smile only got bigger at that, just like the boy's blush. She knew he would ask his parents if it was okay to invite her and her family that weekend to their home. 

"Thank you, I can't wait!" 

"A-a-and don't you dare get close to me during the day! If people knew I'm getting involved with Cecile's violent..."

"Yeah, got that!" In the heat of the moment, Anya hugged the boy tightly, and turned around to exit the school's court and go home just as fast. "'Til tomorrow!"

This way, an impossibly flustered Damian Desmond, almost with smoke getting out of his ears, was left standing alone in the middle of the place; as Anya Forger got into the school bus, mentally singing about her little fantasies finally coming true.

Tomorrow Papa would get so proud of her!

...

Far from Eden Academy, at the Forgers' home, Bond raised his head from his afternoon nap, also having a feeling about his little girl.

He envisioned so much disaster that weekend.

Then he went back to sleep, as if nothing had happened.

Chapter Text

The invitation was pink, heart-shaped and it laid on their dining table, staring ugly at the (fake) couple as said couple returned the ugly stare.

"A family meeting this weekend...?"

"At this Damian Desmond's residence...?"

"Yeah..." Anya's face fell, a total contrast to the cheerful girl who had jumped into her parents' embrace, telling them she had 'good news', just a few moments before. That was not the reaction she was expecting. "I thought Papa and Mama wanted to go with me...?"

Unconsciously, Twilight clenched his fists, his glare only intensifying at that offensive piece of perfumed paper. He should be delighted by quite an unexpected turn of events. Damian Desmond, his target's second son, actually had a crush on Anya, which only made Plan B a lot easier to be achieved than expected. If they are being invited into the Desmonds' house, then he can almost consider Operation Strix over, finally!

And yet…

Why does he feel like he has more urgency to meet and discuss things with this spoiled brat than with his father?

Despite the deep sorrow inside her chest, Yor couldn't help the knowing smile that grows on her face. She doesn't need telepathy to see what's happening inside her (fake) husband's head. She has an overprotective relative herself, after all. If there's someone in that family who understands the signals of jealousy, that's her.

Besides, it's not like Loid was the only one having murderous feelings about Anya dating a boy when she's so young anyway…

Anya just stood there, with her usual shocked face, between her papa and mama.

'Is being Damian's friend and going to his house really meant to bring world peace at all!?' She had heard lots of worrying thoughts coming from them before, but nothing could ever compare to the depressing energy that fell over the room the second she proudly showed the invitation.

"Papa, Mama...?"

Twilight blinked, the sound of Anya's pleading enough to make him snap out of it. He smiled tentatively at her, in an attempt to reassure her that she did a great job.

"It's nice to see you're on good terms with him now, after that unfortunate first day." He got on one knee to caress the girl's hair, ignorant that it was the easiest lie the esper had ever caught from him. "Of course we'll be happy to take you there, won't we, Yor?"

The woman didn't answer. She still had darkness covering her disgusted expression, the sudden bittersweet flavour invading her mouth again, as she spaced out, imagining a bloodbath happening in more than 800 different ways. Anya shrieked. 

"Yor?"

"Ah? Oh, surely we'll accompany you!" She came back to her (usually) right mind with a small smile of her own. She shouldn't kill innocents, and Anya and Loid were not the ones Yor wanted to scare off anyhow. "Maybe I should cook something to give them? Mothers use to do it in this kind of meeting, don't they?"

Twilight was about to say no but stopped when he noticed the potential his wife's food had in that situation.

"Stop it, please!" Both of them were caught by surprise at the kid's sudden snap. Anya was looking down at her feet, trying to avoid her parents' strange thoughts. "If you don't want to go, then you don't need to. I don't even like Damian all that much anyway."

It was a bit selfish, but if Anya had to choose between world peace and her parents' peace of mind, she would pick the second option a million times.

Yor and Twilight exchanged looks, as if they in fact were an old married couple mentally communicating about their daughter - She would know.

"It's alright, Anya. We are going to your... Play date." The man clearly struggled to speak the last word. Anya gulped. "We're just surprised that it happened so soon. Don't worry."

She did worry, though. Did kids really take much longer to become friends and invite each other into their homes? Anya had been friends with Becky since the first day; she didn't think that had been a big deal. Besides, the faster her Papa could meet Damian's father, the better, right? 

Adults really were too complicated, even with their thoughts exposed.

"Hey, look at the time!" Yor suddenly broke the uncomfortable silence that fell in the room, catching Anya's hand to take her to the sofa. "Isn't your favourite show on TV now? We can watch it before homework."

Anya had a lot on her mind but she'd never miss the opportunity to skip homework or watch Bondman, or both. Clever move.

"Yeah, Bondman!" She chirped, earning a much more honest smile from her Mama and catching Bond's attention.

The three of them walked happily to the living room, leaving Twilight to himself. He blinked, in an attempt to get out of his Loid Forger persona. He had a job to do.

"Franky here." His informant's voice promptly answered the call, as soon as he disked the secret phone number.

"It's Twilight. It seems Desmond's second son got a crush on Anya and is inviting us to have dinner in his house this weekend."

"Oh, my! That's excellent! It looks like operation Strix is ending sooner than expected, then!" He truly seemed surprised by the news. When it was put a 4 months time limit for it, he thought they were screwed for real. "I'll tell Handler right away. Is there anything you think you'll need for this mission?"

Twilight then proceeded to list detailedly everything he deemed necessary, from listening devices to weapons. Before he could finish, however, Frankie interrupted him with a nervous laugh.

"Agent, you know your mission for now is just to collect information, not kill Donovan Desmond, right?"

For one brief second, Twilight wondered why his friend was telling him that, when he remembered the reason why they were going to the Desmond residence in the first place.

"They are not for the target."

It took a bit more than one second for the meaning of said sentence to click.

"Goddamit, Twilight! They're just kids!" The man sighed deeply before going on. "And anyway, it's not like she was your real daughter. The Forgers will cease to exist once the mission is over, you know that."

Franky kept talking about the mission but Twilight had already turned off, lost to his own thoughts. He had got so used to this life as Loid Forger that he didn't think much about the afterwards — his next mission, next fake name and next fake life, with fake relationships and fake feelings — but surely things would get better for all of them once their forced union was over. Yor would be free to marry whoever she wanted, Anya would be handed to a real family who could take care of her properly, and he... Well, he would be able to do the assigned missions on his own again, without anyone at home for him to worry about.

Twilight unconsciously put one hand over his heart once the call was over. Why had this weird feeling from the day before's mission come back at the thought of those things happening?

"Loid?"

"Yor." He wondered how long the woman had been standing behind him. From her face, it didn't seem like she had listened into something she shouldn't know, though. "Are you free to go there this weekend? Sorry, I didn't even ask you before telling Anya..."

"It's okay. I normally stay with you on weekends, we'll just have some new company this time." Although she had a smile on her face, it didn't reach her eyes, as she nervously fidgeted with her fingers behind her back. "It's just... I don't want to intrude too much. It really looks like something a family would do."

"I already told you; you're as much part of the family as Anya and I are." Besides, there was no way he would be able to watch Anya in case she did something wrong when they were there by himself. Yor was moved by his comment nonetheless. "I should be the one sorry for always bringing you into this kind of situation."

"Well, I do bring you into weird things too, so I don't think I can complain." She shuddered at the memory of Yuri and their 'almost kiss'. Really weird, indeed. "It's just the nature of our contract, I suppose."

The contract, right. They had agreed to do it. That's why they were there anyway.

"I just wanted you to know that... What you're going through is normal, even more so when she is so young — None of us could have expected this. It only shows that Anya is really important for you and that you're a doting father. And even if I'm not her mother or your real wife, I'll support whatever you two decide on this matter. I just want Anya to be happy, with a childhood love or not."

(But she was rooting for it to be without. Kids could be very mean to each other. Maybe she should take her poisoned needles to the visitation after all. Just to be safe.)

Twilight's expression didn't change but his heart skipped a beat at that. So, that's how people would see his actions during the mission...

"Thank you, Yor. This means a lot."

Her cheeks blushed, followed by a very faint redness at his own. Neither of them knew what they were doing.

"Dinner!" She spoke out of nowhere, just to break the silence.

"Oh, it's really getting late." Twilight appreciated the change in topic. If he was honest, he would rather not keep thinking about that. "There must be enough leftovers from yesterday for all of us."

(At the dining room, they were greeted by the offensive invitation again. The paper barely escaped alive.)

While that, Anya was all alone at her room, with Bond centimetres from her face.

"C'mon, Bond. Do the future thing again." She pleaded, touching both sides of his face. "The world needs me to know what'll happen this weekend."

The dog just barked and licked her nose. Even if he understood human language, he couldn't control his power.

"Anya, dinner!" Her parents called from the dining room.

The girl sighed, drool dropping from the point of her nose.

'The world is doomed.'

Chapter Text

Anya was raising her head up and up and up, but she'd never be able to see the top of Damian's house. 

The Desmond's residence was huge . Huge and large, but at the same time beautiful and traditional. It really looked like a castle(!), although a very dark, intimidating one. Anya couldn't help but be mesmerized anyway. It was like playing Princess Anya all over again, with her spy papa there to save her and the world from the evil Desmonds, but now was much better because he had assassin mama in his team too!

Okay, maybe going there wasn't all that bad. She would have some fun.

"C'mon, I don't wanna miss the baguette!" The girl grabbed her parents' hands and pulled them towards the front gates. Yor almost tripped over her own feet, from how much excitedly her daughter would drag them.

"Banquet." Twilight corrected.

The secret agent also observed the mansion carefully. Franky had got the original project for the place's building, so he had all the floors and rooms memorized, even though he hadn't been able to pass there and leave some hidden cameras and listening devices beforehand. It was known that Donovan Desmond is a paranoid man, and his home's security system reflected that. Not even Twilight would risk compromising his mission to try and get in that fortress — that's why he had to marry and adopt a child in first place: because, unfortunately, the only way to get in is to be invited in.

(And now he despised that fact for more reasons than one, even if he had trouble acknowledging it.)

That's also probably why there was a dark figure curling in itself in front of the gates.

"Yuri!? What are you doing here?"

At the sound of his dear sister's voice, the man hurriedly stood up and straightened his clothes, missing totally the tree leaves on his hair. 

"Yor! I couldn't let you and your daughter go through this by yourselves so I came to this family meeting too!"

Twilight held back a sigh. Of course the universe would give him another person to babysit throughout his mission. He wouldn't be surprised if they were expelled from the country by Donovan before the end of the day at this point.

Anya, however, had her eyes shining. Her super cool uncle from secret police was there too!

"Uncle Yuri!" She let go of her parents' hands for one moment to run into him, hugging one of his legs. "I'm Anya! You're cool, like Papa and Mama!"

"A-anya..." The girl's sudden outburst took the three adults by surprise. "You can't just run into people like that..."

"It's alright, Yor." Yuri said calmly, very out of character, as he held his niece and brought her up on his arms. "Hi, Anya. We don't know each other but since you're my sister's daughter I'm going to protect you from ill-intentioned men just like I do for your mom."

'Even though she's Loi-loi's kid from his first marriage, it seems Yor cares a lot about her, so I'll make her like me for when they divorce little Anya chooses to stay with us rather than with that guy. Besides, being a child I'm sure she could let some important information about their daily life slip.'

Yuri gulped when she suddenly wore her usual shocked expression. So Uncle Yuri didn't like Papa??? Why??? She would have to change that!

"Well, if that's all, I'm happy you decided to come here too." Yor got Anya from his hands, kind of regretting telling him their plans for the weekend. At least she and Loid could show him what a 'lovely couple' they were once and for all. "Isn't that right, Loid?"

"Oh, yes. Anya was so excited to meet you. I'm happy it finally happened."

The two men stared into each other's eyes, doing their best to hide the hate from the girls. Twilight conceded that maybe having a secret agent from Ostania there would make Donovan less apprehensive about telling them his plans, and Yuri conceded that maybe faking a good relationship with Yor's new 'family' would make her less apprehensive about having him around them. This way, they silently agreed to a truce, at least for the day.

'Oh, nevermind. They're just two tsunderes.' Anya relented as an oblivious Yor took her to the front of the house after the gates were open for them, the men walking right behind them.

The front door opened before they could even ring the bell. An old man dressed like a butler greeted them, leading the odd family to the room where the other odd family was waiting for them.

"The Forgers, sir."

All the four sets of eyes turned to them.

Donovan Desmond surprisingly was a small man, shorter than Yor. Even his wife was taller than him, although it didn't make the couple seem any less elegant by their patriarchal society's standards. Their oldest son looked like a mix of them and was a very composed teenager — a bit stuck up, though, if you asked Anya.

And there was Damian, who stood up as soon as the other four entered the room.

"Oh, I see our guests have arrived." Donovan also raised from his place, being followed by the other two. "It's such an honour to meet the family of Damian's first girlfriend."

Both Yor and Twilight had to be extra careful not to break the hands they were shaking. Yuri's eyes twitched.

"Dad!" Damian blushed as he protested, by Anya's side. Why out of all times he tried to catch his parents' attention, it had to be now!?

 "I think it's a bit early to call them 'girlfriend' and 'boyfriend'..."

"But I do hope our kids can have a good relationship, and the same goes for us." Twilight added to Yor's comment after the greetings were exchanged. Even though he agreed with her, he still couldn't let his mission fail.

Anya was really confused, both by the adults' weird thoughts and the return of Damian's embarrassment. What was the matter about her being his girl friend? She also had a girl friend in Becky and no one complained, just like nobody cared about Damian's boy friends.

"Let's get out of here."

Before Anya could make sense of the words whispered in her ear, the boy had already held her hands and now was pulling her towards his toy room. As they disappeared from their view, Yor and Twilight almost had a heart attack.

"Is... Is it alright for them to be alone...?"

"Of course, this house is equipped with the most modern security system in the market. Now, would you like to have some tea while we discuss the matters?"

"That was not exactly what I meant..."

"I can go and watch them!" Yuri said out of nowhere and walked to the same direction the kids had gone to. He couldn't let his sister worry, after all. Besides, his niece in fact seemed too innocent to be left alone with such a mischievous-looking boy.

"Yuri!" Yor tried to call him back, but it was in vain. The woman tried to muffle a nervous laugh when she turned to the Desmonds, who had already sit down on the expensive sofas and were pouring the tea for them. "Sorry, my brother can be very eager sometimes. Maybe I should call him back..."

"Oh, so he's the uncle. I was wondering who he might be." The wife tapped her hand on the couch, as if inviting the remaining adults to sit, at the same time she raised from her place. "I'm going to check on them too, there's something I was intending on giving little Anya. I'll be right back."

She also left the room, leaving Twilight, Yor, Donovan and Desmond's first son by themselves.

'Maybe it was for the better that Yuri came, after all. Since he's so determined to satisfy Yor, he must be able to take care of the children just fine, even more so with Mrs. Desmond there too. This way, I can concentrate on my mission just fine.'

Twilight smiled at the men, being closely followed by Yor, who was desperate to make a good impression after what just happened. Although the teenager was more interested in the book he had in hands than at the conversation, Donovan seemed too excited for a paranoid far-right party leader. The spy did not see that coming but he had dealt with more unexpected outcomes in the past. Having an easy-going target rather than a reclusive one just made the mission less complicated anyway.

That's what he believed, at least.

"Sorry for being so forward. My wife and I are just really excited since it is the very first time one of our sons shows an interest in a girl and bring her family here."

"Is that so...?" Twilight's eyebrows twitched, something almost undetectable for untrained eyes. Yor choking on biscuits was much more obvious. Loid had to tap lightly at her back.

If Donovan noted the discomfort, he didn't care.

"Yes. You'd think that your 8-stellas, 15-year-old son would be the first to find a suitor, but I'm happy that the Desmond bloodline still has some hope in Damian and Anya."

At the same time Twilight tried to discreetly put a listening device under the coffee table and Yor spaced out about a bloody line between Anya and Damian, the teenager finally looked up from his book with a stoic face.

"Dad, could you please stop talking me down to other people? Just how many times will I have to tell you I won't find any suitor because I hate human beings in general?" With a sigh, he returned to the book, without waiting for an answer. "Besides, isn't it the deal? While I'm going to be the one in charge of the party, Damian's going to be the one in charge of producing the heir, isn't this the whole point of this meeting...?"

You could pinpoint the exact moment Twilight and Yoru's souls left their bodies.

Chapter Text

"And this is the bar, where I normally have meetings with my party's people."

"This is quite something..." Yor said aimlessly as she stared at the gigantic line of alcoholic drinks while Twilight hid the nth listening devices and micro cameras of the day.

After the initial shock, Donovan asked his son to stay in his room for the rest of the day (request that was answered with a 'thank you, I didn't want to interact with people anyway) and tried to apologize for the boy's bluntness by offering a tour through the mansion. The Forgers had accepted without giving much of a thought, still trying to process that utterly despicable piece of information. Damian was lucky that his playroom hadn't been presented yet, otherwise he'd be dead in seconds. Maybe literally. Who knows.

Twilight at least had managed to bug all the rooms they were led to, so he hoped this would be the first and only time he would have to bring Anya there. Having those crazy people making those insane plans without consulting anybody wasn't doing any good for what remained of his sanity, and he could see that Yor wasn't doing much better. Unbeknownst to him, thoughts very much alike the ones she had when she found out Anya was in the waiting list for Eden Academy were occupying her head.

"Where are Anya and Damian again? I'd like to see them..."

"Oh, that's right. It's been quite some time since my wife and your brother are with them, we should call everybody for dinner." Donovan answered, also completely ignorant to the woman's trail of thought. "It's getting pretty late, the kids must be hungry."

The two adults walked behind him. Twilight had to watch himself not to go faster — he wasn’t supposed to know where all the rooms were, after all. For some reason, he felt like they should get there as soon as possible.

“No need to hurry, you two. I can guarantee our kids are just fine, although your worry is certainly adorable.”

Yor and Twilight exchanged glances briefly. Both of them were doing their hardest to use their training as agents in order to appear discret, and yet their anxiety was noted right away. How could they become this careless, and at the enemy’s territory at that!

“Here we are.” The man said as they finally arrived at the right door, opening it. The three of them went into the room quickly, earnest to see how the children were doing…

Only to find the room empty, except for Yuri, who was all tied up in the corner. 

“Yuri!? What on Earth...!?”

“What happened here!?”

“Where are the kids!? And Mrs. Desmond!?”

As Yor kneeled beside her brother in order to free him, the man was unable to look up, too embarrassed to acknowledge his own defeat at their faces.

“I swear I tried to stop her, but… That lady… She’s stronger than she looks! I’m sorry, Yor!”

He had failed his dear sister, lost her precious daughter… and worse; he was found in that deplorable state, in front of Loi-loi! He’d never be taken seriously as his rival anymore! He could bet that he was making fun of him inside his head!

(Actually, Twilight just wanted to go back home and sleep 14 hours straight at that point but there are more important matters right now.)

“Who!? Yuri, who did this!?”

“Mrs. Desmond took Anya and the boy to the other room, I tried to…”

Before Yuri could finish his sentence, Twilight and Yor ran to the room he pointed to with his head, Donovan right behind, leaving him totally alone among the toys once again.

Well, not totally alone — He bitterly thought while Desmond's dog reapproached him and kept on licking his face. That would be a long day…

At the same time, in the other room, the three adults were all left in shock, for very different reasons each.

The place was a dressing room, full of mirrors and mannequins, positioned in a way that made it look like a scenery from a horror movie — however, the real horror for Twilight and Yor was in the center of the room.

Mrs. Desmond was there, with a measuring tape around her neck, writing down notes about clothes she had put on the children for some reason. While Damian was all red, trying to hide himself (and his apparently new tuxedo) behind his own hands, Anya was all smiles as she danced around in a fancy white dress…

...A kid sized wedding dress.

“Papa, mama!” She squealed happily as soon as she noticed her parents had entered the room, running towards them. “Don’t you think I look like a princess?”

The poor girl stopped when she heard their murderous thoughts again, though. What is it now!? They were at Damian’s house, like papa wanted, and he got to meet Damian’s dad, like he wanted too, so how were they still mad at all of this? Was it because Mrs. Desmond fought uncle Yuri? Anya also didn’t understand why he was against their dress up play but Damian’s mom was awesome too! Besides, it was the first time Damian was so silent about his disgust of the situation, and was even mentally complementing her — Anya had to give that woman some points for achieving that.

“Oh, you’re already adjusting the wedding clothes? Why didn’t you call us, dear?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise! Making the kids try them was so hard already…”

“Mom! Dad!” Damian shouted, exasperatedly trying to get away from them. "You're embarrassing me!"

‘You're scaring Anya and her family off!’ — Is what Damian was thinking, complementing perfectly Yor and Twilight’s thoughts, that — ‘So, the one we should be worrying about isn’t the boy, but those lunatic Mr. and Mrs. Desmond!’

Anya’s head would switch between her paralyzed parents and her embarrassed, untruthful friend repetitively. What would she do? She probably should help her papa with his mission, but if she was not mistaken, he just had to talk to Damian’s dad — something she couldn’t really do for him. Well, if the trouble was their clothes, like the (fake) couple’s thoughts were telling her, then they should just go back to what they were wearing before, right? Anya was rather sad to be separated from her brand new ‘princess dress’, as she would call it, but if it was necessary for world peace...

“Auntie, I wanna go back to my normal clothes…”

“Oh, sweetheart, but we haven’t finished the measurements. Come here, your parents can help.”

“Don’t you think it’s too early for… preparing a wedding? They shouldn’t be marrying anyone in less than 20 years, and until then a lot can happen, you see?”

“As far as we know, the kids just wanted to play with each other. We’re surely boring them with all this adult stuff.”

Twilight was tightening his fists, while Yor was involuntary looking for her non-existent poisoned needles behind her back. Anya gulped. Why does everything she do to try to help ends up worsening the situation!? If only Bond had let her see the future…

“It’s just that making the attire since they are little and just adjusting them as the kids age is the latest tendency in the fashion world! As Desmonds, we just cannot get behind! Mr. Henderson told us the Forgers were extremely elegant, so I’m sure you understand the meaning of what we’re doing, don’t you?”

“Darling, I think I can see the matter we have here now.” Donovan stopped his wife’s rambling before a murder could happen in the room. He turned to a shocked Anya and a very confused Damian with a big smile on his face. “Why don’t you go back to your playroom? I’m sure Anya’s uncle will be happy to have you two there again.”

“Oh my God, uncle Yuri!” Anya shouted as she remembered they had left him all tied in the other room, and ran before anything else could be said. Damian went right behind her, crazy to get out of that nightmare.

It was only the parents now.

Twilight sighed heavily. Yor also wasn’t much better by his side. ‘It’s just for the mission.’ — He thought bitterly, as he tried to compose himself for both of theirs sake. — ‘I’ve already bugged practically all this house. Now I just need to look like a ‘protective father’ like Yor said to maintain our disguise, and then we can go out and Operation Strix is officially over.’

He very conveniently didn’t add the bit about erasing the Forger family from existence to his reasoning.

“Desmonds, we are…”

“You’re going through ‘the bride’s parents’ syndrome, right?”

Yor and Twilight stared at the couple in front of them, smiling stupidly, oblivious to the Forgers’ inner panic.

“Ah, so that’s why they’ve been acting so weird. It’s just like when we got engaged, your parents- I mean… my parents would try to kill you at every opportunity they got!”

“It’s just the fate of beautiful girls’ parents, I suppose. We’re lucky we have only boys…”

‘The bride’s parents syndrome’... Yor had told him that this was how people would see his worry about the family day at the Desmonds’, but it was still pretty shocking that he had gone through all of this without noticing. Both his and Yor’s actions just sounded so… natural, that he had barely thought twice about how he was behaving that day. 

‘Shit, I’m almost compromising my mission by being too much in character!’ Twilight scolded himself, ready to apologize for their lack of composure, but Yor was faster than him.

“Bride’s parents syndrome or not, you’re still overstepping a bit here! We just won’t accept you doing whatever you want with Anya-”

As she proclaimed that, she raised her arms and that’s how her hands forcefully hit a mannequin she hadn’t seen, making it fall over another, which fell over a mirror, which fell over a coat rack, which fell over Mr. and Mrs. Desmond, as if they were in one of Anya’s cartoons.

“Yor!” Twilight exclaimed, letting a little of his panic slip off at the same time the woman covered her mouth with her hands as she processed the chain of unfortunate events that had just happened in front of them. He muttered disapprovingly to himself. How could he have let the situation get to this point!? Was it really possible that he was getting too slack because of this familiar life…?

However, even their panic attack had to stop for a little while as their eyes met the other couple’s also panicking eyes.

The coat rack had ripped the Desmonds’ clothes, exposing their bodies in their underwear. It is a situation horrible enough for happening in front of two people who were just slightly more than strangers, but what made the Forgers really stop in their tracks was that, apparently, under all of those expensive clothes, Mr. Desmond was a woman and Mrs. Desmond was a man.

For long, awkward seconds, the four of them just stared at each other, too scared to make a move.

“We can explain.”

Twilight internally smiled in triumph. He was sure Handler would love hearing it as well.

Chapter Text

Twilight was walking very calmly down the street, coming back from their usual meeting point. He had reported to Handler, and Operation Strix should have been officially considered closed. He was taking his time, watching the buildings and people passing, allowing himself to be lost in his thoughts for once. He had believed that when this time came he would feel relieved, ready to go to his next mission and leave his current character's obligations behind.

Yet, as he returned home feeling dizzy, his heart was fluttering in a way that made him warm inside. His feet would also almost leave the ground, as if the weight of the world had just been lifted from his back. His conversation with Handler would replay endless times during his trajectory, although he couldn’t bring himself to really mind the distraction.

Since he was dispensed by his boss to go home, he was feeling weirdly out of character.

“From what I could get from our meeting, it seems Donovan's parents had problems conceiving, so when the only child they had was a girl, they raised her as a boy so that their family wouldn't lose prestige." Twilight hadn't believed it at first when they told him that. It looked too much like an old Tezuka-like cartoon to be real. "She can only act like herself when in private, thus why she rarely goes to public events; and was lucky enough to find a loving wellborn husband willing to play the wife's part to keep appearances. Apparently, not even their kids know about this secret, for their own protection. If the party were to suspect that Donovan Desmond has always been a woman, she and her family would suffer severe consequences, after all.”

“Indeed. It’s disgusting how society is still far from being ready to accept a powerful female standing by herself.” Handler nodded as her agent’s last update on Operation Strix came to an end. She took a sip of coffee before continuing. “You did a good job, Twilight, as expected. This information is going to be very useful for Westalis.”

And that's when he normally would receive the orders for his next mission and leave Loid Forger and everything this character made behind, to wear another mask somewhere far away from there and start a new life all over again as if nothing in the last months had ever happened.

The orders never came, though.

"What are you talking about? We still need an agent who can get into the Desmond Residence whenever we deem necessary. The spy devices you left there aren't programmed to do the human part of the job, you know."

Twilight hadn't noticed he had been holding his breath until the suffocating sensation was gone.

In the end, Operation Strix was not over yet. Loid Forger was still needed, more than he imagined.

When he opened the front door — the front door to the Forgers' apartment, his home — Twilight was immediately caught in a tight hug by Anya, who didn't have any intention of letting him go.

"Papa is home!" She shouted to the top of her lungs. She had listened in on his thoughts in the morning, and she was so afraid he wouldn't come back anymore! The girl was so relieved to see him again.

To their surprise, though, the man returned the hug just as tightly, lifting her from the ground. She yelped during the process, but with a pleased smile on her face.

"Loid? Something happened? You were fast…!"

Yor couldn't finish her sentence, since her lips were very suddenly claimed by her fake husband's own lips, as he put his other arm around the woman's waist, bringing her to the embrace as well. Yuri, who was still recovering from their visitation on the couch, screamed in protest but none of the Forgers paid him any mind. Even Bond ignored him in order to jump into the hug too.

If he was still Loid Forger rather than Twilight, the spy thought, then he could allow himself to have this life just a bit more. His mission wasn't over yet, after all. He had to act on character, and this was just what Loid would do with his daughter and his wife in such a situation.

Anya, however, knew better than him. Her smile only widened as redness spread throughout her mama's cheeks and uncle Yuri tried to throw objects towards the couple in a fruitless attempt to separate them.

Her tsundere papa might not understand his own feelings, but Anya sure got it this time.