Come Back Soon.

Frantically searching throughout her house Erin was in a panic, she'd somehow lost her personal computer the previous day.

Needing it urgently to finish some extra work she'd left out in her office she figured she'd get it done on her PC.

She has been searching for it for over 2 hours, but still no luck.

"Ugh!... where is it?!" She murmured frustratingly to herself.

She ended up taking a break from her search, sitting in front of the TV she mentally traced her steps since yesterday.... and nothing gave her the slightest clue if where it could be.

''Hey, I can't get the WiFi password on this thing, I tried all the ones I could think of but still nothing, care to share?" Jess came around a corner with the computer in hand and sat down next to Erin, who was almost trembling with anger.

Composing herself she then spoke. "May I?" She took the pc from Jess and closed it, then left with it, calmly as if taking a stroll through the park instead of showing what she was actually feeling. She'd gone without sleep for a long time and was feeling very irritable.

Jess sat still in her place wondering what just happened. Then shouted after Erin; "I just wanted the password, what's wrong?"

Erin who was still angry stopped in her tracks and stormed back into the lounging area.

"You stole my computer since yesterday! Now you come to me asking for the WiFi password?! Do you know how many deadlines I have missed?! I'm going, obviously I can't use this here without you taking it!!" Erin breathed heavily after her rant, a frown crossed her face.

Jess had her eyebrows raised in a bit of shock from Erin's outburst. In her mind she did nothing wrong, she just borrowed the computer when Erin was in the shower and even left a note saying; 'Took your PC, I'll bring it back later - Red.'

Erin didn't see the note though, that's why she thought it was lost, or right now 'stolen'.

"S-sorry bout that, how about I make it up to you?." Jess said with hesitancy.

"No you've done enough, I'll be back in a few hours don't wait up." Erin suddenly left a very confused and concerned Jess sitting in the living room.

"Come back soon!" was the last thing Erin heard before she closed the door.

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"I strongly suggest staying away from our targets, you don't have the best track record when it comes to finishing your assignments Vic." The man in the white suit sat across the blue haired girl called Victoria.

Victoria looked at him in annoyance.

"I strongly suggest you DON'T call me Vic! How many times do I have to tell you it's Victoria NOT Vic." she huffed and folded her arms.

"Whatever. I've come to inform you that you are to monitor and report daily on Erin Shaw, they don't think she's a problem yet but we never know. Don't get caught, be on time and lastly don't fool around. I don't want to keep cleaning up your mess little sister." The man said.

"Why monitor her when our prime target is Anastasia Romanov?" Victoria inquired.

"Anastasia -or rather she goes by Jess now- is undeniably the best agent in K's branch, going after her with no plan is suicide for the average of ours. Instead we exploit her weakness for everything it's worth."

Victoria nodded at him in agreement. "Understood, now get out."

Victoria's older brother rolled his eyes and left.

She sat in front of a file which was named 'Shaw. E', opening the file she came across several photos of the Shaw family, from Erick Shaw to his wife and their daughter, Erin.

Detailed reports about Erick's career, how he became so successful, his workings with underground organisations etc.

Information on Erin's mother was very little due to most of it being irrelevant or classified. This was caused by Ameila (aka. K) who was the sister of Erin's mother.

The next one was basically an overview of Erin Shaw's life, from her birth certificate to her last checkup, they've been watching her since the beginning but have done nothing yet due to her involvement with the long lost child of the Romanov family.

Some of the higher ups found an interest in Erin Shaw's progress and her success in running her father's company.

Victoria closed the file and called for James, her mentor, but she'd like to think they're friends.

"Jay Jay, we're going out I've got things to do." Victoria said with a wide grin.

James have her a quick glance, but said nothing.

'Oh this is going to be fun!' Victoria thought to herself before leaving with James.

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"It's late, where are you?"

Erin rolled her eyes at Jess's voice on the phone.

"Yes mother, I'll be back soon." She responded with a sigh.

"You didn't tell me where y---"

"I need to get back to work, see ya." Erin hung up the phone quickly after interrupting Jess.

Erin had already finished with all her work a while ago. She left work for some alone time, she felt like going to a place that would calm her.

Erin sighed heavily, looking up at her childhood home in front of her. It had taken her a few hours to drive here from the city.

She worked up the courage to go inside. It hadn't changed since she moved out of it at 16.

It bring built in the 19th century it looked like an old mansion, the inside had changed over the years to match the changing times but it never lost its overall classic look.

Heading up the stairs to her old room. She'd often visit the childhood home and clean it up if needed be so it'd not be all dusty and dirty.

For the next few hours she reminisced of the few good memories she had in the house and then just think... finally Erin decided it was time to leave, it was already very late at night and it was dark outside.

Carefully walking back to her car, she was stopped by someone leaning against it. A man with black hair that had white tips, wearing ragged looking clothes.

"Hi there!" The unknown person said with an unusually cheerful expression that didn't suit his strict looking face.

His personality definitely doesn't match his face.

Erin was cautious around this person because no other car was here and this house was a ways away from the city, she wondered what the person was doing out here this late.

"Hey... you are?"

"I'm James, nice to meet you." He said with a smile that sent chills down Erin's spine.

'Why is he alone at my house this late?' Erin thought to herself.

"Can I help you with something James?" She tried sounding polite.

James nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his neck before answering.

"Yeah, I'm lost so~... I saw the lights on in your house and thought of knocking, but the the lights turned off suddenly and you came out.. I was hoping for some directions."

Something about his story didn't seem quite right to Erin.

First: why was he walking alone this late.

Second: Doesn't he have a phone?

Third: Why was he leaning on my car if he was going to knock on the door that's 15 feet away.

'He seems like such an airhead.' Erin sighed.

"Do you want a ride into town?"

James nodded like a child with a smile plastered on his face.

Before entering the car Erin's phone vibrated in her pocket, she saw it was Jess calling.

"I still have some stuff to handle, I'll be back soon, stop worrying Jess." before Jess could say anything Erin said quickly.

On the line Jess sighed sadly.

"Ok, just be careful and come back soon."

Erin's face felt slightly warm but she dismissed it and climbed into the car driving her and James back to the city.

"So James, how did you get lost?" she asked her passenger.

"My friends and I got separated and I ended up walking in the wrong direction." he replied.

Again his story didn't seem right but Erin just brushed it off and focused on driving.

"Alright, is there any place you want to be dropped off in the city?" Erin kept her eyes on the road.

"The residential district is fine, I know my way around there." James answered.

Erin nodded and briefly glanced at James, she noticed something familiar about it but she couldn't find something very specific about him, just that he seemed familiar.

----------

They arrived in the city and Erin dropped him off a little into the residential district and drove to her own home.

Before she could even reach the door handle the door swung wide open and Erin was engulfed in a tight hug.

She was surprised to say the least, her body was being squeezed harder by the second and she was running out of air.

"Can you not do this in the doorway?" Erin asked with a little irritation.

She was met with an almost teary eyed Jess staring at her. Jess said nothing, only follow Erin around and looked dejected for the most part.

Erin knew the reason for Jess's 'sad puppy' look was because of this morning and her disappearance the whole day, she felt bad for making Jess worry.

"I'm making lasagna, do you want to grate the cheese for me?" Erin called to the sulking girl sitting behind the counter.

Jess's mood immediately brightened. She went about her task with a small smile on her face.

'How is she so easily satisfied? Was she only looking for my attention? I guess I was a little harsh earlier..' Erin thought while laying the pasta sheets.

Seeing Jess had a hard time even grating cheese Erin really thought she was hopeless in the kitchen.

"Here let me help you." Erin went behind Jess and showed her how to do it after a few tries Jess got it right.

Soon it was all ready to eat although it was a little late.

It was a relatively silent meal until Jess put down her fork and nervously looked to Erin.

"Something wrong with the food?" Erin asked.

"N-no it's good.. uhm, I was wondering... c-can I sleep with you tonight?" Jess glanced up at Erin who was practically choking on her food at the moment.

"What?!"

Jess chuckled a bit and said: "I noticed you haven't been sleeping well recently after I stopped sharing a bed with you, so I figured being with you might help you sleep better."

Erin was surprised at how observant Jess was.

"Yeah, thanks.." Erin continued eating her food with Jess who suddenly couldn't stop grinning.

'Of course she benefits from this too, doesn't she.'

They night both slept in each other's arms peacefully, and Erin finally got some sleep in the comfort of Jess's arms.

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End chapter Eighteen