Chapter Text
Agent Twilight would describe himself as a cold and calculating efficient individual. His only goal is to complete his missions in a timely manner and keep the world safe for another day. Nothing else mattered.
The same could not be said about Loid Forger.
Loid Forger was a family man, he would do anything for his daughter, including marrying someone he knew nothing about just so his daughter could get into the best school available, his deceased wife's dying wish. He was a kind, compassionate man who cared deeply for the well-being of others. Not that Twilight didn't care for other people, he just had a very different way of showing it
It was difficult to keep these two personas separate at times.
There would be moments where the painfully short demeanor of Twilight would accidentally slip into Loids tone, and he would have to apologize profusely to Yor and Anya, saying that there had been a particularly tough patient that day and that he was just tired.
And there were also times when Twilight would open the door after a particularly draining day of whatever the handler ordered him around to do, just to see Loid Forger's family curled up on the couch, and his chest would feel just a bit lighter at the sight, his mind even risking the thought of joining them.
He really was losing his touch.
Twilight was often having to remind himself that everything was for Operation Strix, once completed Loid Forger would be cast aside, along with his wife and child.
His chest ached at the thought.
The soft tug at his pant leg pulled him away from his thoughts and onto his fake daughter Anya and her beaming smile.
Instantly he felt himself smiling with her, it was a highly contagious grin.
He set down the newspaper he was holding, making sure to keep it a distance away from the coffee he had been drinking. The paper held the information about his next mission and while he would still be able to decipher it if gotten drenched, it would be an unnecessary pain.
Anya quickly whipped her head towards the coffee and paper, making Loid send her a questioning glance before she herself reached out gently nudging the cup further from the paper.
How considerate she was.
Loid picked his daughter up and brought her onto the couch he had been residing on that evening. "Hi Anya, did mama get you from the bus today?"
Anya shook her head, probably more times than necessary. "No Anya walked home all by herself!"
Yors probably working late again.
"How brave of you, remember to be careful doing that alright."
"Ok papa!"
"Good," he gently ruffled her hair. "Now, how was school today, did you make any new friends?"
“Ideally Damian Desmond.”
Anya scrunched her nose slightly, her eyes trailing to the side. "Not really, but I talked to Becky a lot today."
Not really helpful but it's good that she has a friend.
"Well that's nice, did anything interesting happen in class?"
Her eyes immediately lit up again "Yes, I have extremely important top secret info I have to share with you and mama!"
"Top secret you say?"
"Yes! The teacher said I can only share it with my mama and papa!"
"Well this certainly does sound urgent, are you going to tell me?"
She shook her head "I can't yet we have to wait for mama! We can't risk other people overhearing if I say it more than once papa!"
Loid watched her for a moment, his fingers drumming against the couch cushions.
“Yor probably won't be back later tonight, is this a ploy so she won't have to go to bed on time?”
Anya gasped.
"Are you sure-"
"Papa! This is super super important I swear! Mama has to hear it with you!"
Loid was slightly shocked by the outburst and cut off from her, maybe it was really necessary they both be there.
He hummed, giving in. "Alright, we can wait until mama comes home, but you better do all your homework before she gets back."
"I promise I will!" Anya excitedly hopped off of the couch and started looking around. "Papa where's bond? I need him to help me study."
“How on earth could that dog help you study?”
"I believe I saw him sleeping in your room last."
"Bond bond bond! We have a special secret homework mission we must complete before mama's return!"
Loid heard Anya's door open and shut, and the distant speaking between her and Bond. Mostly just her speaking and Bond woofing along.
Loid exhaled and went to pick up his newspaper again, the cipher was between the pages, the first letter of the 3rd sentence of each paragraph spelling out his next mission.
Agent Twilight
There's been a recent issue regarding a corporal building housing a certain amount of Westalis information, we believe this could be connected to Donavan Desmond and his plan for another war, there's a specific room located on the 28th floor nearest to the statue, it has secure locks that require a 7 digit code, along with an alarm security system that will immediately notify the owner of the intrusion if the password is entered incorrectly, or if the room is broken into.
Your mission for the next three days will be to slowly infiltrate and gain the trust of someone who has access to this room, find out the code, and return all the stolen information being held by the Ostanian owner. You will do your final break-in on Saturday at approximately 9 pm, an hour after everyone is gone.
Good luck.
Loid put the paper back down on the table, this time closer to the coffee in hopes of it spilling all over it.
A short brief on the mission, as they always are, for something so complex even he would need a reread of the message.
They really need to stop giving him such tight deadlines for seemingly impossible things.
Befriending someone in such little time, and gaining enough of their trust that they would give him the code to a top-secret room holding all of Westalis' information, it's just ridiculous. He'd have a better chance just guessing the code himself.
Loid let his head fall into his hands trying to come up with a way not only to explain the reason he'd be in the corporal building but to also make someone enjoy his company enough to befriend him.
He'd also have to use a different name again. He's been meaning to try out Winslow for something.
________
There were many names Yor went by, and she felt a connection to all of them.
Yor Forger, a loving wife, and mother.
Yor Briar, a concerned caring older sister that just wants the best for her little brother.
And Thorn princess, assassin, the product of Yor Briars needs and desires.
Without one you can't have the others, they all add up and equal to the same person.
Yor.
It's true that it was difficult at times to understand herself, and what she truly wanted, but that's bound to happen when you have 3 different aliases, it's practically unavoidable. But she could always feel Yor within her, the true proper Yor would always shine through at the end of the day.
It started with her just needing to keep her brother safe, and ended with her protecting a fake family of her own.
She aggressively scrubbed at her dress, she'd already gotten all her weapons washed and dried off, but of course the dress would always be an issue, it had splattered all around as well, making it more of a nuisance than it needed to be.
Yor took a moment to assess herself in the hotel bathroom mirror, making sure there weren't any cuts she had possibly missed. She can't remember feeling her face get cut, but she wouldn't want to risk it and have to make up something on the spot to tell Loid when she got home.
While in the middle of checking her neck the hotel phone rang through the room, normally she wouldn't bother answering, usually a phone call meant she needed to leave as quickly as possible in case someone came to check in on her “client” but the shopkeeper had mentioned needing to call her after she finished up.
She quickly grabbed the skirt of her dress out of the sink and made her way to the phone, and answered.
“Shopkeeper”
“Hello Thorn Princess, I take it your current job has been completed.”
“Yes sir”
“Excellent work. Now listen, I know this isn't customary but there is another job that will need to be taken care of.”
“Oh that's fine, just tell me the address and I can finish up quickly and get back home.”
“Ah yes, see that's the thing about this particular task. This won't be like the others where you will be given a certain room and address, no, this will be a bit more difficult.”
“I see, should I be worried?” she gave a nervous laugh.
“No, I believe you'll be rather delighted in actuality.”
“That's good to hear.”
“Yes, now listen closely.”
There was a brief pause over the phone, and the sound of rustling on the other side.
“This task will take place over the course of three days. We have recently been given the lead that Agent Twilight will be attempting to infiltrate a corporal building somewhere nearby Eden College to steal government information and take it back to Westalis. It is your job to find out which building this is, and assassinate him before he can retrieve the information. Remember Twilight is a master of disguise, don't let him fool you, Thorn Princess.”
“Yes Shopkeeper, I'll do my best”
“Good, I have all the trust in you, you are very capable with your skills, try not to fail in the end.”
There was a click on the other end, indicating that their conversation had come to an end.
Yor set the phone down, processing everything just given to her.
Agent Twilight.
After all these years of his harassment and painful interference with Ostania, she was going to have the honor of taking his life. No longer would he be able to harass and ruin government affairs, and bring them closer to another war.
She couldn't live through another war, she wouldn't let Anya go through one at such a young age, or ever for that matter.
And she couldn't bear to see Loid go through another one either. He'd barely said anything about his time during, but it was enough that she felt her heart break for him when he was a boy.
But now, in just 3 days' time and the world would be a painfully safer place without Agent Twilight around. She could barely hide her excitement with her hands shaking so much.
She needed to start preparations as soon as possible. Normally she gets at least an hour to prepare for a job, three days was a dream come true in her eyes.
Yor made her way back to the bathroom and started quickly scrubbing more of the notable blood from her dress, luckily it hadn't torn this time, she got slightly worried when the scumbag brought out his own knife, but it hadn't been much of an issue, and her dress was safe.
She needed to get home quick, she didn't realize she'd be out so late so she didn't mention it to Loid. Though he probably already realized when she didn't get Anya from the bus.
It was around 11 and she hadn't had time to eat either, her mouth was practically watering at the thought of Loids cooking waiting for her when she returned.
She did hope he wasn't worried about her, this was the 3rd time this week she'd had to stay at work late, which is sometimes hard to explain why you'd be required to stay at work until 11 pm when you arrive at 10 am each morning.
But Loid always understands. He himself normally is required to stay out late an abnormal amount of times with his job as a psychiatrist. You can never really gauge what time someone's going to have a psychotic break.
He mentioned he was basically free for today though, no patients were scheduled until tomorrow, but he was still on call for work.
Yor was happy when he mentioned it, he'd been working so hard lately, and it seems like everyday the rings under his eyes grow darker.
She needed to make a plan while she walked home, starting tomorrow Twilight was going to make his move, and as a master of disguise Yor knew this was going to be no easy task.
But her smile grew and she almost wanted to skip down the road on her way home while she thought of exactly what she would say to Twilight the moment she punctured one of his eternal organs, maybe she'd go for the abdomen this time around, she hadn't hit the liver in a while.
________
Yor creaked the door to their apartment open, she stepped quietly in case her family had decided to go to sleep before she got back, she could immediately smell the food Loid had prepared that night making her mouth water at the thought of eating it.
The apartment was fairly dim, the only light she could properly see was the light emitting from the crack of Anya's room door.
She set her bag down onto the kitchen counter, getting ready to call for Loid, when she noticed a figure sleeping on the couch.
She almost questioned if it was Franky, because Loid usually never fell asleep anywhere but his room. But low and behold she was proven wrong tonight.
Loid was gently sleeping on the cushions, his hair tousled around, almost begging for Yor to reach out and fix it for him.
Her night just kept getting better.
She gave him one last glance, before heading over to Anya's door, it was already around 11:30 and she was supposed to be in bed by 8.
“Anya?” she knocked gently, the door creaking open a tiny bit more.
Immediately, Yor heard the bounding of footsteps, and the next thing she knew the door was wide open for her, so she stepped in.
“Mama! Your back” Anya hugged her leg, making Yor smile.
“Hi Anya, what are you doing up so late? Papa is already asleep on the couch in there”
“Oh no, papa can't be asleep!” Anya exclaimed, letting go of Yors leg.
“Why not?”
“Important things mama.” Anya crept out of her room, Yor watching curiously behind her, as Anya brought a finger up to her lips, signaling to be quiet. Bond started softly padding behind her as well
Loid was still unconscious on the couch, his soft breathing not making a single sound, the only way you could see he was still alive was from the slow rise and fall of his chest.
Before Yor even had a chance to say anything, she saw Anya crawl up the side of the couch, and immediately jump onto Loids stomach.
He immediately shot up from his lying position with a pained grunt, grabbing at the disturbance. Anya was as good of a wake up call as it could get.
"Anya! Are you trying to kill me, what are you doing!"
"Papa, it's time to wake up mama's back now!"
"Yes you clearly already made sure I was awake." He scowled, pinching at Anya's cheeks, causing her to flap her hands in an attempt to bap him away.
Yor chuckled from the side, grabbing the attention of Loid.
"Ah Yor, welcome home, how was work?"
“Oh you know, just normal boring stuff, like filing, I had to stay so late because Camilla left almost all of her unfinished work to go on a date with Dominic this evening.”
Loid frowned at her words. “You should tell someone, she shouldn't be allowed to get away with that. Maybe your boss should be informed?”
“Oh no! It’s fine really, I don't mind all that much, it gives me some time to think and everything, you know?”
“More like time to get blood out of my dress.”
Anya jumped slightly.
Loids frown lessened only a little as he readjusted Anya to sit in his lap instead of crushing his stomach. “Well if you’re alright with it, I guess I can't really stop you.”
“Yes it's fi-”
“Mama, papa, stop talking. I have something top secret to tell you! And i can only say it once because it's super super important, even bond doesn't know yet” she cut Yor off.
“Even Bond? Then this must be something big!”
“It is!”
“Yes she's been refusing to tell me the entire day because you had to be present, and now it's past her bedtime, you better not complain about being tired in the morning Anya.” Loid grumbled, rubbing his temples.
“I won't, I promise, now listen, listen!”
“Alright, yes, go ahead and tell us.”
“Yes! Ahem, ok” Anya climbed out of Loids lap and got onto the arm of the couch
“In exactly 3 days time, you” she whips her hand out pointing at Yor “Mama Forger,” she moves it slightly to now point at Loid “and you Papa Forger, are invited to a once in a lifetime opportunity, to see Anya Forger,” she greatly gestured to herself. “receive her final Stella Stars, and leave her 1st year of Eden Academy, and enter the 2nd year of her school career, and of course Bond is invited too”
The dog gave an excited worf at the invitation.
Anya stood with her hands out on the arm of the couch, her bright smile lighting up the dimmed room. She felt nothing could ruin this moment for her, the entire year has led up to this for her, she had been worried papas super spy mission would have ended already, but she was lucky enough for it to still be ongoing.
“That's the same day as my mission!”
Of course, there was only one issue.
Like a candle going out, all the joy on her face left as soon as the voices flooded her head. Of course, she almost forgot their family wasn't normal, mama and papa couldn't just ask for the day off like Becky’s could.
Before she had the chance to mention that it wasn't a big deal, Loid stood, picking her up from the couch, and swinging her around.
“Anya, I'm so proud of you, congratulations!”
Yor clapped “Yes I'm so excited to see how everything turns out, that was super important information, I'm so honored to be invited!”
Bond started barking happily as Loid hugged her. “That's amazing Anya, I know you've worked hard for this moment I wouldn't miss it for anything.”
Yor joined the hug “I can’t wait to see you up there Anya, you're going to get so many Stella Stars.”
Bond jumped up onto the couch, making room for himself, leaning up against Yor, and gently licking Anya on the cheek.
“Whatever it takes, I will be there!”
Those final thoughts from Mama and Papa almost made her cry right then and there in their arms.
She would stop time here if she had been blessed with the power to freeze time instead of telepathy.
This was the perfect moment, she couldn’t possibly trade it for anything else.