#𝐯. 𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐚𝐝. ——— zafar younis.

[mambosfive]

@hadaad ♡’d for a starter (still accepting) !

"unless you're here to pay for a dance, i don't think i'm the girl you're looking for. mary isn't even my real name, you know that right?"

[lindscys]

@hadaad ♡’d for a starter (still accepting) !

"can't a girl eat some lunch in peace?"

[lindscys]

there was a wash of relief, even just in the confirmation that zaf did trust her. that was important to her, if nothing else. "funny." she commented, shifting her body back to veer away from the conspirator persona she might have inadvertently claimed for herself, though slight smile curved at the corner of her lips nonetheless. "won't mind taking those car keys though, actually. bet it wouldn't take me all that long to acclimate driving on the wrong side of the car." she believed that there was truly nothing that could stop her from mastering that, if she really put her mind to it. it couldn't be so difficult. "oh come on, let me take it for a joy ride. i'll bring it back in one piece –– i promise."

It's a welcome interruption to an otherwise routine day and Zaf can't help the way the corners of his mouth twitch the slightest bit upwards. "I trust you, yeah." Dark eyes scan the room as he stretches, weight shifting until the crack of bones grown stale from sitting falls between them. "Did anyways. Until about ten seconds ago when you leaned in like a conspirator and asked." He's teasing her now, friendly agent and officer banter, and the quirk in his lips turns to a genuine smile. "What am I trusting you with? Gossip? Plans for my next prank? Done. The keys to my car?" There's a pause, a short whistle of air as it's sucked between teeth, and he gives a slight shake of his head. "Nah. Sorry."

[mambosfive]

@hadaad ♡’d for a starter (still accepting) !

"you're not from around here, are you? i can tell."

[mambosfive]

@hadaad ♡’d for a starter (still accepting) !

it's just a part of the job. emira had to remind herself of that on a daily basis at this point. it was one thing being the assistant to the man known as the biggest mob leader in new york city (and to the woman who actually did all the thinking) but adding professional witness to those duties had been a big thing for her to agree to.

she was lying.

not only that, she was lying in a country far from the one she was used to. new york police she'd worked out, saw some of the same faces on a semi-regular basis, knew exactly what answers they wanted to their questions. but england? london? mi5 was a whole new ball game that she didn't know how to play at all.

"emira baysal. but some people just call me erica. it's –– an inside joke, thing." she explained, fingers fiddling in her lap. "what exactly did you need from me? i told the other guy everything i'd seen, i thought this was all over with. i'd like to actually enjoy my vacation." what vacation? the whole story was a rouse, she just had to try and sell it.

[mambosfive]

@hadaad ♡’d for a starter (still accepting) !

"you need to leave. i don't care who you are or who might have sent you. there's only one person i'll speak to, and you're not it.'

[mambosfive]

@hadaad ♡’d for a starter (still accepting) !

"no, you don't understand. you're –– you're talking to the wrong person."

[mambosfive]

@hadaad ♡’d for a starter (still accepting) !

"how about instead of asking questions you don't want the answer to, you just mind your own business?"

[mambosfive]

@hadaad ♡’d for a starter (still accepting) !

"but how would they find out if you just stayed and had a little drink with me? i won't tell anyone. i promise."

[mambosfive]

@hadaad ♡’d for a starter (still accepting) !

"you haven't seen this place around, have you?" monica asked, turning her phone towards the others, the picture of mambo number five on it. "i got taken there the first time i went, but now i can't seem to find it again. it's. not closed, is it?"

[mambosfive]

@hadaad ♡’d for a starter (still accepting) !

"don't you think it would just be so much easier if you could turn the clock back? just reset things a few years back, and make different choices?"

[mastermicd-arch]

the repetition of the name, danny, the person she'd actually been expecting to find her, told her that she hadn't been wrong in her assumptions about the other man. perhaps that mi5 instinct was still working inside of her, despite laying dormant on the other side of the world. once a spook, always a spook, she supposed for a moment, before reaching for the glass of her own. "danny holed up in some hospital bed somewhere? i'd pay to see that." zoe brought the glass to her lips, savouring the liquid for a moment before she allowed it to once again come to rest in front of her. it was why people went to the pub, after all –– a quiet drink with a companion. if anyone were to look, they'd look completely normal, nothing out of place. she wasn't a fugitive, she was just a woman with a book. "zoe," she started, head turning to look at the other, "but i think you knew that already." he'd been sent for her, after all. "hardly a vacation." shoulders rolled in the slightest of a shrug, fingers finally closing the book she hadn't been reading, resting it on the surface beside her beverage of choice. "hiding away, worried about who might track me down. it was nice for a while, but that novelty wears off pretty quickly." she explained. "besides, i never loved the beach anyway." not entirely true. of course, the sunshine, the freedom that had been stripped away from her back in the uk was something, but there was always something that was missing. it wasn't the life that she wanted. "i think someone tracked me down there." finally, the real reason she came back, risked it all by coming back to london. "and i figure the people that knew me best might protect me a little better."

He's not usually meant for jobs like this, shoulders curled into the wind and lazy strides with hands in pockets, but The Grid has been quiet lately .. boring almost...so when the offer of an errand had come, Zaf had practically jumped at the chance. An afternoon spent meeting a pretty girl at a pub? Best objective he's been given in ages. It's easy enough to find - small, out of the way, nondescript .. a sign outside advertises incentives for patrons who win at the local trivia night, and the agent briefly wonders if it's prize money or just a free round or something. Inside, it's all but empty - no one except for a scattering handful of other people, the staff who look at him curiously and a woman with her nose buried in a book.

He orders a drink with the ease of a man comfortable anywhere, shooting the bartender a smile like he's a regular instead of someone who just stumbled their way in off the street .. and it's not until the bottle is set in front of him that he hears the woman - Zoe, Harry had said - speak.

"Danny?" Zaf all but chokes on the name, chasing it with a swallow of beer and a cough meant to distract. There's a possibility of difficult questions, Adam had warned. Be ready. And he had been... he'd practiced the lines until he could rattle them off instinctually, muttering half truths and answers that spun the conversation in circles while evading whatever it was this woman sought.. but .. Danny?

Shit.

"He's .. moved on for the moment. An operation went badly. He's had to take a leave of absence. I'm Zaf, by the way." The lie is heavy on his tongue, leaves a bitter taste that half a bottle can't even wash out, and Zaf furrows his brows, dark eyes glancing at Zoe's profile before moving to watch the beads of condensation gather along the cool glass of his drink. "I'm sure Harry will fill you in.. As soon as you tell me why you've decided to cut your wonderful vacation short."

[mambosfive]

"logistics?" that was one way to phrase what it was she did on a daily basis. bouncing between persona's, organising schedules, giving false statements –– it was far more than she was sure they knew about. "sure, let's say logistics. but with all due respect, i don't know you. nor do i know what you might want me to talk about here."

" it's alright, you can talk to us. we know you're just in charge of logistics..."

@mambosfive (for 'erica' ) one liner s.c

[mambosfive]

she'd seen this type many a time before. you didn't become the star dancer in mambos without crossing paths with law enforcement a few times. she liked to think that she could hold her own, but each one came with their own challenges. "it's double the rate tonight. if you do want a dance." another attempt to get him to bother one of the other dancers, or at least just leave her alone. but the look on his face told her that even that wasn't going to cut it. he'd come prepared. "and if i don't want to give you my real name?" she asked, holding the money up in front of her face. "i won't take it. i'll toss it on the floor, or give it to someone else. i don't just give it all up when a man with money asks me to." at least, that's the line she'd stick with. she'd certainly done a lot more for a lot yes in her time employed by mambo. "what do you wanna know it for, anyway? think you can change me? save me from this life?" she asked, latter questions asked with a laugh.

He's standing with the cocksure air of a man in his element - all smiles and arched brows with fingers that rest inside denim pockets, lazy and quiet as if the agent has all the time in the world. Her attempt at redirection makes Zaf grin all the harder and he shrugs his shoulders, words soaked with an amusement that it would take a better man than him to disguise. "Don't think one was on my schedule, but ... I've always been good with last minute changes." Brown eyes flicker across their surroundings, hand digging out his wallet with practiced movements and the agent cocks his head slightly. "This should be enough for a dance, yeah?" The money is pressed into her hand, followed quickly by another wad of bills. "So that means this should be enough to hear about that real name of yours."

[mambosfive]

an eyebrow raises carefully as a smile begins to tug at the corner of the brunette's lips. it had been plain as day, to her at least, as someone who had been not from around here not so long ago before. "you might as well be. although, i think you can get shirts like that at the bodega down the street." perhaps it was just from being in that position herself that had had her spotting him out of the crowd. perhaps that was why he'd been the one she'd opted to talk to. "oh, it's absolutely that you're certainly more charming than any american in this place." sandra conceded, laugh of her own following the words he'd all but asked her to say. who was to say that they were a lie? she certainly wasn't in a position to make that call for herself. "people don't stumble in this place by accident either." she commented, eyes looking around the room. mambos was certainly a one of a kind establishment, in more ways than one. "how'd you find it? i hardly think it's in the new york for dummies guide."

"Oh, you can?" The answer is incredulous, words covered in sarcasm and underlined with a carefully constructed frustrated amusement while dark eyes slide sideways, studying the woman's expression. "And to think I'm not even wearing my help me, I'm a tourist t-shirt." Lips twitch against the threat of a grin as he shifts his weight, using one hand to rub at the back of his neck .

Every bit the clueless idiot.

"Let me guess .. the accent, right? I've been working on it, but -" Zaf twists his mouth into a grimace meant to coax forth a laugh, voice lowering as if he's sharing a secret. " - it'd be a save for my ego if you say it's something else. Like I look half starved or something because I can't find a good place to eat. Or that it's because none of the guys around here look as charming as me. That'd be nice to hear too."

[mambosfive]

she'd played this game back in new york, danced around police officers, but it felt that little bit more risky on the other side of the pond. she didn't know the system as well as she did back home, and she didn't know just how much they might try to catch her out in a lie. she'd been a skilled liar for as long as she could remember, it's what made her valuable to mambo. but it still wasn't without risk. "so i have to waste my time here again because one of your colleagues can't do his job correctly the first time?" she asked, tone sharp, annoyed. for once, that wasn't false. "i don't quite think that's fair on me and my vacation, personally. perhaps he needs to be addressed." a new tactic for her –– perhaps kicking up enough of a fuss might get her let go. it was a long shot, but she'd always been willing to try new things. "yep, flew here alone." again, still true. just because there were people waiting here for her already didn't take away from that. it wasn't lying in her eyes –– she'd answered the question given. just not elaborated to give more truth. her plane tickets, which she was certain they'd have checked, would show that she was alone anyway. "i like travelling alone." she didn't need to explain more than that, did she? "i'm not caught up in anything." deny, deny, deny. "i told the other guy, i don't know what happened. i was just trying to get a decent cup of coffee and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, and now i'm wasting my vacation here." the cup of coffee had been true –– but she'd been exactly where she'd meant to be. making sure orders had been executed the way they'd been instructed. that didn't make her a criminal though, not in her books.

There's a grin there, carried on a huff of breath that could almost be a quiet snort of laughter... and Zaf quirks a brow, lean form sliding into the chair across from where his newest interviewee sits. "Protocol. Unfortunately my colleague isn't known for his attention to detail." It's a lie, of course.. words that hold no shred of truth and yet fall between them with an ease that's more instinct than practice as one finger taps the folder he's set between them. "Forgot to do the paperwork. But.. don't worry. I'm a fast talker. We can get you back to your vacation in no time. Maybe with a pass for a free meal complements of the establishment or something."

Weight shifts as Zaf leans forward, offering another smile as warm brown eyes study unfamiliar features. She's good... if she's actually hiding anything, that is....and the agent quirks a brow, cocking his head slightly to the side. "Did you come here alone? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but ... by yourself in a foreign country - no family, no friends - and caught up in all of this? Bad luck, I'm afraid.