AN: So I see Whit being played by Bradley Cooper, think like Hangover Era Bradley Cooper hehe, I feel like they have similar personalities. Also, the song for this chapter is "How You Like Me Now," by The Heavy :)

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Oh no, would you see right through me?If I sing a sad sad sad sad songWould you give it to me? Would you?
So how you like me now?How you like me now?How you like me now?How you like me now?

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Tate

     I breathed out in amazement as Harry put two and two together and deduced that his dad's half of the key was in a little knick-knack in his childhood home.

   It's kind of funny, how when you're a child, you tend to automatically assume that you know everything that there is to know about your parents. When in reality, at least in our case, it was anything but.

    It hurt to see Harry while he pieced together that story. I swear, it was like his body was here, but his soul was elsewhere. I tried so many times to speak to him, but it's like the man sitting next to me was merely a shell for a mind that was no longer there.

  And it was scary. It was scary to see someone who you viewed as the strongest person in the world look as though they could break if you breathed too hard next to them. 

   We sat there in silence for a bit before Harry finally spoke up.

 "We need to go down to the Fort. Whit has been blowing up my phone for the past week, I need to catch him up, and I need to tell him our plan," he stated, staring straight ahead.

  I nodded slowly. "Yeah, and what exactly do you plan to tell him? "Hey, Whit! Just FYI, we recently found out our family past is extremely sketchy, we might give you the information for the software, we might not! That's just showbiz baby!"?" I asked, giving some little jazz hands for effect at the end. 

   Harry chuckled and nudged me a little bit.

    "You're pretty funny, you know that?" He smirked, and I was just thankful to see him in a better mood.

   I shrugged. "I'm basically the best thing since sliced bread, I'm surprised you're just now noticing it."

   "Oh, trust me. I've known that for a long time," he winked, and I felt myself blush.

   "Oh, really now? What made you finally come to your senses?" I hummed.

   He put his finger to his lips, acting as though he were in deep thought.

  "I mean, there's just so many options! Maybe it was the time I saw you fall flat on your ass when you picked up my knife, maybe it was when you nearly gave yourself a concussion when I came into the restaurant, perhaps it was the time you practically force-fed me peanut butter and honey toast? I don't know how I'm supposed to pick!" He replied in a teasing tone.

    It was my turn to nudge him now. "Oh, can it, Styles. I know you wanted me from the second we met," I joked.

    He leaned in closer to me and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

   "Well, clearly I did something right, look where we are now," he smiled.

     I placed a hand softly on his cheek and brought his face closer to mine, and pressed a kiss onto his lips.

   We pulled away after a moment or two, and Harry opened his mouth to speak.

   "Well, I guess it's time to talk to the boss man."

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Harry

    As we pulled up to the Fort, I felt as though I hadn't been there in months. It also felt different this time, because I knew that I would most likely have to lie to the only father figure I had ever had. 

    Tate and I got out and entered the building, going through all of the tedious security procedures, including...Ralph.

    "Tate!" He cried out when he saw her, completely failing to acknowledge my existence. 

  Normally, I would have rolled my eyes at this, but now, it just made me smile.

   Of course, he was happy to see her. Who wouldn't be? She was sunshine in human form. 

   And I was lucky enough to bask in her rays as much as my heart desired. 

   "Hey, Ralph!" She cried, and my mouth dropped open in shock as Ralph reached out to hug her in his large arms.

  "Careful with her shoulder," I instructed, and he peered up at me in confusion.

   "What happened? Who do I need to kill?" He asked, quickly turning serious.

  Tate chuckled. "No need, Harry already did," she smiled, looking back at me.

  Ralph looked up at me and raised an eyebrow.

   "Did he now?" he hummed, pausing for a moment, "Okay, well, I hope your shoulder heals quickly, Tate. It's lovely to see you again, Styles, you're clear," he muttered, and I wasn't sure I had heard him correctly.

   "I'm sorry, what? Don't you need to prolong this for about twenty more minutes?" I asked in astonishment. 

   "Not today. You took care of her," he explained, nodding at Tate. 

  I put my hand over my heart and gushed to him sarcastically.

   "Ralph...are we friends now?"

    He just rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Slow your roll, Styles. Don't make me change my mind," he huffed, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop the small smile from forming on his lips. 

   I gave him a similar small grin as we walked by, my hand placed on Tate's back as I guided her to the elevator. 

   We took the familiar trip up the elevator and into the lavish walls of the fifth floor. 

 I didn't want Whit to know that Tate and I were dating yet, not because I was ashamed, how could I ever be ashamed of someone as beautiful as her? I didn't want him to know because I didn't want him to react the same way that Will had on our flight up to Scotland. It was beyond infuriating, that after four years of loyal service and a perfect track record of doing whatever the fuck I was told, that they still chose to doubt me. 

   I leaned down ever so slightly to whisper to Tate. "We just gotta play it cool."

 Without even turning her head up to look at me she responded, "I'm all cool, baby baby, don't go blowing my cover."

I tried desperately to suppress the smirk that was threatening to appear on my lips. Tate had always had a spitfire side to her, but in the time that I had known her, I watched her bloom. She was brave as fuck. She was a smartass, a quality that we both possessed, that we both used to despise about each other. But now? Her sarcastic comments were one of my favorite things about her.

      And the way that she shot that one guy in the house when they came after her, I mean, I know that I had taught her how to use a gun, but I never thought that she'd actually have to. And I never thought that she'd be able to hit her target the first try. Then she fucking stabbed someone...to say I was impressed would be the understatement of the century.

       And one of the most impressive things of all was how even when she was being held captive by those sick bastard yesterday, who were far worse than any of the people here had been to her... when she was faced with death, she didn't budge. She didn't give up any information at all.

      I had known guys who had been in this line of work for years, trained to be like a locked vault, who, when put under pressure, had cracked. Grown ass men, who devoted their entire lives to this career, who immediately caved when threatened. 

     And then there was my girl, who was new to every aspect of this life, who managed to keep her poker face, and who was willing to die before she would ever consider giving up any information.  

   Tate was becoming quite the little badass, whether she realized it or not. 

 My train of thought was interrupted by the very man that I had came here to see appearing in front of us.

  "Harry, Tate! Lovely to see you!" Whit gushed, and I rolled my eyes. 

   Whit's life was like a movie, and he always had to be playing the part.

 I went to respond, but Tate began speaking before I had a chance.

 "We can skip the fake formalities if you want, I don't feel like wasting my breath," she quipped cooly, and I stared down at her with wide eyes. 

  I snapped my eyes up to take in Whit's expression. His mouth was slightly opened, and his eyes were wide like my own. 

   I quickly closed my eyes and sucked in a sharp breath, not knowing how he would react to her sudden attitude.

  I opened my eyes when I heard him chuckling lightly, his hand placed on his abdomen. His laughter grew as time went on.

   Normally, unless you were one of Whit's best men, if you dared to talk back to him, it was basically an open invitation for him to put a bullet in your skull. Even if one of the trainees said something he didn't like, it could result in their death.

   And yet, here was Tate. Five-foot five Tate, who was literally being held hostage by one of the most powerful organized crime groups in the world, practically telling the leader to fuck off.

  And he was fucking loving it.

 When he was finally able to somewhat catch his breath, he began to speak, his words getting caught in a few breathy chuckles as he attempted to speak while also trying to compose himself.

  "Damn, what happened to that cooperative, quiet little girl I first met?" He laughed.

    "She got tired of being quiet," Tate replied cooly, shrugging her shoulders dismissively. 

  Whit raised his eyebrows in amusement, and I stood there like a fucking prop in a film studio. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what Tate was doing.

    And part of me loved it, but the other part was just praying that Whit would keep loving it.

  "I see, has Styles been rubbing off on you a bit?" He prodded, and I once again remained silent. I couldn't help but feel that Whit was trying to analyze the dynamic between Tate and me, trying to see if there was something more there. 

     Tate crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow back at Whit. 

 "No, he has not. I come up with all of my material myself," She joked, and I watched as Whit's mouth quirked up into a grin. 

   "You're a trip," Whit breathed out, shaking his head at her in amazement. 

     Oh, he had no idea.

  "Right then, well, you ready to chat?" I finally spoke up.

 Whit turned his attention to me. "Yes, do you want Tate to come with us, or...?" He asked, not even being remotely subtle of what he was trying to hint at.

   Once again, Tate spoke before I even had a chance to open my mouth.

  "I think I'd rather swallow my own vomit than hang with you two any longer, but thanks for the offer. I'll be in the conference room if you need me," she spoke casually, turning around on her heel before either of us had a chance to respond. 

    Whit and I stared after her, and while I wasn't facing him, I allowed the smirk that I had been holding back to quickly make an appearance. 

   She was covering for us, and I hadn't even realized it. 

    That's my fucking girl.

I spun back around to face Whit, who's jaw was still slightly slacked from his encounter with the bold and brazen woman than I got to call my girlfriend. 

   Whit let a low whistle out of his lips, chuckling as he looked up at me. "She seems like a handful, she's not too fond of us, is she?" 

   I rolled my eyes, preparing myself to play the part that Tate had so perfectly cast me for.

  "To say that she is a handful would be an understatement. And no, she is not too keen on us," I laughed. 

   Whit nodded at me. "Abel and Niall seem to have taken a liking to her though, and it seems like she likes them too," he commented.

   "Yeah, well, she keeps things interesting I guess," I shrugged, hoping that he would just fucking drop the subject already so that we could discuss what I came here for. 

   As if he read my mind, Whit spoke up.

 "Shall we?"

   I simply nodded and trailed after him as we made our way to his office a the end of the hall. He dramatically pushed both of the tall wooden doors open, revealing his sleek and expensive office. I rolled my eyes from behind him at his arrogance. I couldn't wait for the effects of his remodeling to wear off so that he would finally shut the fuck up about it.  

   He strolled over to his large desk, which he had specially made. It was made of one hundred percent carbon fiber, and it took six months for it to be built. 

     I don't think I would ever understand the purpose of flashing money around the way that Whit, and so many other people that I knew, tended to do. And that was coming from someone who had quite a bit of money themselves. I just always thought that if I was going to spend money, it should be on something that I genuinely care about, something meaningful, not just something that I think will impress other people. 

      I smiled slightly as I kind of was reminding myself of my mother right now, thinking about sentimental things. It was kind of nice to have a memory of her that wasn't immediately connected to pain. 

    I slumped down into one of the extremely uncomfortable, but outrageously expensive chairs that Whit had across from his desk. 

  "So," Whit began, folding his hands together and placing the tip of his fingers against his mouth.

     "What the fuck has been happening lately? I feel completely out of the loop, Styles. I need to be kept up to date on every part of this mission, I don't need to remind you how important this is-"

 I cut him off abruptly. "No, you don't. I'm a good listener, I heard you the first time." I spoke harshly, and Whit widened his eyes in surprise, but then gestured with his hands for me to continue.

  "I would have been in contact more, but I was pretty fucking busy. We got the next part we need to unlock the passcode, but we hit a bump in the road when some men were sent to grab Tate," I explained, and Whit raised his eyebrows at my words.

    "They took her, and they were demanding to know what she knew about the software, they wanted access to it. One of their names was Darren Kent," I continued.

  "Was?" Whit smirked. 

     "Yes, was. I tore he and his accomplices quite literally limb from limb," I replied.

  "That sounds like you," Whit chuckled. "Did you find out who they worked for? I swear, I can't fucking keep up. Everyone wants this shit. I don't know how to tell if all of this is coming from Quinton, or some other bastard," Whit sighed in frustration.

       I shook my head. "They wouldn't give it up. But Whit, I think this shit runs pretty deep. I don't know who this boss is, but they've been after this software for a long time. Way before we even found out about it," I replied. 

   "I think you're right," Whit mumbled against his fingertips. "How much longer until we can get this software up and running?"

     I leaned back against the uncomfortable chair and sighed. "I think there's only one more thing we need. But, that's also what I wanted to talk to you about."

    Whit gave me a quizzical expression, waiting for my explanation.

    "As I said, I think this thing goes a lot deeper than we even realize. Whoever the fuck is sending these threats, is clearly a very powerful person. I think that when I go to get the next, and hopefully last bit that we need to crack this software, it should be just Tate and I," I started, and Whit opened his mouth to speak, but I wouldn't let him.

   "We need to be as discreet as possible. It's much easier to go unnoticed in a group of two than in a group of five. Without all of the extra people, it will actually be much quicker to complete. A lot of people are going to keep coming after Tate, and they know that she's been recently traveling with the four of us. Trust me, Whit. I've thought this through a lot, and I genuinely believe this is our safest bet. I will take Tate with me, and we will retrieve what we need, and then we will come back here," I finished, never taking my eyes away from his.

    Whit narrowed his eyes at me and tapped his fingers lightly against his mouth for a moment, before finally replying to me.

    "Harry, for as long as I've known you, you have never once given me a reason to not trust you. Am I correct in assuming that this won't change? That someone isn't changing you?" He asked.

   I maintained my best poker face. I didn't know how this would end. I didn't know what we would find. But I had to be prepared for whatever the outcome was.

     And so, I nodded my head firmly and pushed the lie out through my gritted teeth.

    "You can trust me."

AN: AHHHHHH WHO IS EXCITED?!?!? AND WHO LOVED SASSY TATE?!?!? I KNOW I DID! I HAVE LOVED WATCHING YOU ALL SEE HER CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT THROUGHOUT THE STORY! I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER! PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT! ILY ALL SM! xx