Chapter Text
It is a common thing with WISE agents, the inability to sleep soundly. What they go through, what they see, can sometimes be too much for them to deal with - even after years of intense training. And Twilight was no different. Sometimes his missions bested him. He saw many disturbing things but some of them stuck with him. On this chilly night, his mind wouldn’t stop reminding him of the events of a previous cover.
He had spent weeks seducing a woman thought to be working for a terrorist organisation. He worked around her schedule, trying to find out anything and everything he could. After three weeks of slow updates, WISE had sent in another undercover agent as they wanted things to happen faster.
The mission turned for the worse. It ended with the woman losing her life, Twilight holding her in his arms as she cried in pain as she bled out. He could remember the feeling of her tears mixing with her blood as he held her head into his shoulder. He could feel the shaking of her body as the realisation of her coming death hit her. He could still taste the smoke that was in the air.
It wasn’t that he had an attachment to the woman, he would never allow such a thing. It was that it felt too familiar. A loss of control. A preventable loss of a life. He had been granted three days of rest after that, an apology from his handler, “I should never have let them encroach on your mission Twilight. Rest up, we need you back soon.”
The scene of her death, her final words, the smell of smoke mixing with the smell of concrete, blood and salty tears. It was too much for the man to handle that night. He had spent at least three hours trying to remove the image from his mind. But it seemed that this night would be one unallowing him to sleep. So he got up. He threw on a warmer night shirt and slid his feet into his beige slippers. He slipped out of his room, ensuring that he made no noise - not even a simple click from the door closing.
The man navigated the halls of his residence in the dark, not wanting to turn on the lights in case he woke up Yor or Anya. They would both worry that something had happened, and Loid really didn’t want to make up an excuse as to why he was still awake. Once he had reached the kitchen, he switched on one of the small wall lights that only emitted a small sense of light. It was enough for him to safely navigate his way around to make a cup of coffee. If he wasn’t going to sleep, he would need some caffeine to help him through the rest of the night and the next day.
“Loid?” he jumped, spinning around, spilling coffee grounds across the kitchen counter. He silently cursed himself out, for both spilling coffee everywhere and for jumping. A spy should never be weak enough to be caught off guard. Especially in their own home. One should be prepared for anything. “Is everything okay?” the worried voice speaks again. He finally tore his eyes from the mess and met Yor’s striking red eyes, creased with slight worry.
“Yor? I am so sorry for waking you up. I thought that I was quiet on my way to the kitchen.” Loid replies apologetically. It seemed he really was in need of a refresher in stealth and agility. He would have to report this to Handler when he was next called in. Whenever she decided that would be, of course. With Operation Strix being so huge, his handler wanted to prevent any suspicion so would rarely ask the man to reach out to update her.
“You didn’t, don’t worry Loid. I couldn’t sleep so I decided to get some water. I see you had a similar thought?” Yor gestured to the coffee. He let out a small sigh.
“Yes. I think tonight will be a restless one. I thought that I could catch up on some work to not waste the extra time that I will be awake.” He said, turning back to clean the spill. He finally boiled some water while he was there. “Here you go, Yor.” Loid passed the woman a tall glass with some fresh tap water.
“Thank you Loid! Would you like some company while you work? I wouldn’t want you to be alone a tonight if you are in need of some company,” Yor offered. A kind smile ever present on her face. Twilight thanked her but shook his head, rambling about patient confidentiality and not wanting to make her tired for her next day at work.
“If you say so Loid. You know where to find me if you change your mind.” And with that, she walked away silently, glass of water in hand. Loid smiled. How had he been so lucky to get the kindest woman alive to agree to be his fake wife?
For the rest of the night, Loid Forger sat at the dining table with patient records spread everywhere writing notes upon notes in each case file. It was necessary for his cover that he stayed on top of the admin for his job as a “feelings doctor” as Anya put it. He got up three more times for coffee that night, being cautious to not make any more mess or noise.
Once Anya had woken up in the morning, all of the case files were placed in a neat pile on the floor next to his seat, laid with the intent to be moved back to his room where they would remain away from potential prying eyes.
After Anya had been fed her breakfast of crepes and fresh fruit, Loid walked back to his room to drop off the patient files. They were placed on his bed, and he walked out of the room backwards. As he took a step back to close the door, he felt his body come into contact with another. A small “Eek” could be heard from Yor, who was too exhausted to have noticed Loid’s presence. A small blush dusted her face, realising how compromising the situation would seem from an outside eye.
“I am so sorry, Yor! Are you alright? I didn’t hurt you did I?” Loid asked, turning around in worry, eyes scanning over his wife to ensure that she had not been hurt from his bumping into her.
“I'm okay, Loid. Sorry. I didn’t mean to bump into you. I guess I haven’t woken up enough yet.” Yor said, exhaustion present in every word. Loid’s expression stayed worried. Had he kept her awake with the light? Was he too loud when he got up for coffee?
“I can make you a coffee if you would like Yor. With two sugars and cream. And I can get you some breakfast too. It’ll be about fifteen minutes if you want some time to freshen up a bit more?” Loid asked, his voice betraying him slightly. There was a sense of both apologeticness and worry. He couldn’t help it. Yor was always so collected around him. Well, most of the time. He had never seen her quite like this though. Yor graciously accepted the offer and went to take a shower whilst Loid prepared her breakfast.
He was placing the last berries onto her plate when Yor walked out of her bedroom in her favourite red dress, looking more awake despite the bags under her eyes. “Thank you, Loid. I am very sorry for walking into you earlier. I didn’t sleep very well last night.” Yor said as she sat at the table, “But not because of you. I didn’t hear anything from my room. I just have a lot on my mind, with work. But I am okay.”
Loid nodded in understanding. Yor always worked so hard at the city hall, sometimes not even making it home in time for dinner. He was glad that he wasn’t the cause of her exhaustion though. But he did save the information in a small part of his brain. He didn’t want her to overwork herself. He made a mental note to take on a few more chores around the house, like the laundry.
From there, the Forger family entered a comfortable silence. Anya made her way to the bus stop with Bond, Loid drank yet another coffee before having to make his way to the hospital, and Yor had called in sick from work, choosing instead to stay to do some housework and rest. If Loid had returned early and found her sleeping on the couch, television showing Berlint in Love on a low volume, he said nothing.