THE ASSASSIN - AU/CC/Adult - Epilogue - 11/6/16

[Alien_Friend]

OMG!! I love it! Alex has game. I have confidence he'll be wearing Val down soon enough.

Poor Maria thinking it was Michael with Val. I hope she finds out the truth soon enough. Perhaps Mike heard the noise like she did and went to investigate and that's why she didn't see him in bed with her?

It's so sad learning how deep the cover up of the whole thing has been. I can't help wondering if maybe they didn't plan for Michael to survive so they could get him as an assassin. It wouldn't surprise me at this point. I hope Alex is right and they are somehow controlling them to not remember their past. But how? Another device perhaps? I imagine it would be hard to get them to take anything regularly enough since they are all over the place usually. I worry though if they were able to get their memories back could they live with what they have done and how they have been used and how many people they have killed? That would be tough. I can't imagine.

Excellent stuff ladies.

Eagerly awaiting more.

[sarammlover]

My my what a tangled web they've weaved. This deception goes back so far and reaches so many people. It is going to be hard to unravel it all. I hope at the end of all of this, Maria is able to see past Liz and Max's initial deception and see that they really do like and care for her. I think she will come out of this a better person. And Alex....balls...I like it! It's good to show he isn't intimidated by Valkyrie.....good for him.

Great update!

[Double Trouble]

keepsmiling7: Yes, she is, lol, and will probably continue to be.

begonia9508: Thanks for reading!

Eva: The Circle is an insidious group and unmasking them is going to be quite a task.

Oh, you know she would!

Roswelllostcause: Yep, there’s a lot more going on.

Alien_Friend: Lol, he sure does! He’s gonna do his best and we all know he can be very determined when he puts his mind to something.

Yeah, that would be terrible to continue thinking something that didn’t happen. The imagination can be a person’s worst enemy at times.

It’s hard to say this early in the game what their plans were and are but we’ve got a pretty good team investigating. It’s going to take some work to uncover how the Circle is controlling their memories. That’s an insightful question. If they were to suddenly have possession of their pasts, could somehow access those memories, they’d essentially be dealing with two very conflicting sides of their personalities.

sarammlover: The situation’s pretty twisted and it’ll take some work to get to the bottome of it. Maria’s hurt by their deception and right now she can’t see past it. Things are moving fast though so she may find the strength to move forward pretty quickly. Alex, lol, well, he’s definitely not showing any sign of being intimidated, is he?

Thanks!


Part 29

“Knock, knock.”

“I’m not hungry,” Maria grumbled into the pillow she was hugging to her body and her face. She knew someone had started breakfast based on the smell of freshly brewed coffee as well as bacon and pancakes and her stomach felt empty since she hadn’t been able to eat more than half of her meal last night. But she didn’t want to face the people in the kitchen. She didn’t want to face Max or Liz because she didn’t know how to handle to situation between them. She didn’t want to see the female assassin because she was a cold bitch and it had only taken her a few hours to get something from Michael that he had denied her.

Well, and she didn’t want to face her protector for obvious reasons either.

“Come on,” Alex urged her, waiting in the doorframe until she looked at him. “You gotta eat something, Maria. We don’t know how long either of us can stay here or when our next meal will be.”

“You sound like the asshole,” she complained.

He smirked. “Well, I do agree with him when it comes to your wellbeing and safety. Now get your pale ass outta bed an’ join the rest of us.”

“My ass isn’t pale.” She sighed and pushed the blanket away. “Go, alright? I’ll be there in a minute.”

“If not, I’ll come and get you,” he warned and wandered off again, taking an empty place at the counter next to Max.

“Were you able to convince her?” Liz asked worriedly. She had no clue how to reach her friend, but she refused to give up.

“Yeah, she’ll be here in a minute.”

Bane poured himself a cup of coffee and fixed it the way he preferred before leaning back against the counter next to Valkyrie. His plate rested on the counter between them and he took a bite as he watched the others like a hawk. He’d gone to get Maria earlier, threatened to physically remove her from the bed, and all he’d done was get attitude from her.

“What has you grumbling this morning, Bane?”

“Nothin’,” he muttered.

“Already fed up with protecting civilians instead of killing them?”

“Are you?”

“Hell yes,” she snorted.

“We can hear you, ya know?” Liz said as she shot a scathing look at them.

“All night,” Max said loudly, referring to the sounds that had rattled the house a few hours ago.

Maria made a face when she overheard his comment as she entered the kitchen. Her eyes wandered to the two assassins standing next to each other and all she felt was disgust. Where had they done it? Here? Maybe on the counter where they were all eating now?

Valkyrie shot a bored look at them. “Do you have a point?”

Bane grinned to himself when it was obvious the couple had made the wrong assumption. There was no need to correct them if Whitman didn’t do it himself though.

“No, they don’t have a point,” Maria interrupted before the conversation could get any worse. “They’re just as inconsiderate as you are.”

“What’ve I done to you this time, princess?” he gritted through his teeth, only realizing how tightly he held his mug when his fingers started to hurt.

“There aren’t enough hours in the day,” she snapped as she got a glass of orange juice and left the kitchen again. She couldn’t stomach sitting with the rest of them and eating.

He inhaled deeply to remain in control, but in spite of his better judgment to stay where he was, he went after her. “Why don’t you just stop with this bitchy attitude? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Why don’t we try what’s right with me because it’d be a helluva lot shorter list and it could be summed up in one word: Nothing!”

“Then suck it up and don’t give everyone else a headache.” He moved in closer, caging her in a corner of the hallway. “Everyone in that fuckin’ kitchen is here to help you an’ this’s how you show your gratitude?”

“Gratitude? It’s your fault I’m in this mess!”

“My fault?” he echoed loudly.

“Your fault!” she repeated angrily.

“It’s not my fuckin’ fault. You’d be dead if I wasn’t here.”

“I’d be dead either way, wouldn’t I?”

He grabbed her around the neck, feeling the fast angry beat of her pulse there. “You’re not dead as long as your heart’s beatin’.”

“That’s a matter of opinion, isn’t it?” She hated the way her heart tripped over itself when he touched her.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Yeah, it is. If you give up, you’re as good as dead.” His hand dropped from her and he backed away again. “Make your decision whether you wanna fight or not.”

She watched him walk away and couldn’t help but question why he bothered; couldn’t help but wonder what the point of fighting was. She had no family left, she had no friends... No, she corrected herself, she still had Alex and he’d done nothing to warrant her behavior. He was stuck in the middle of this and it was because of her. She would fight; fight to get out of this alive, fight to do what she could to avenge the deaths of her family members, and fight to make sure he got out of this alive. He deserved that much from her. Beyond that, it didn’t matter. The rest of them didn’t matter.

“Maria,” her name was called and she saw Alex standing in the hallway. “Hey,” he moved closer when he saw the conflicted feelings in her expression.

“What is it, Alex?” Why was it every time she had any kind of conversation with her protector she was left feeling drained?

“I know this’s hard, but you need to eat, okay? If you can’t do it for you then do it for me.”

She sighed and nodded, giving in to his request. “I’ll eat, but only under protest.”

He chuckled. “Well, that’s better than nothing.”

“I’m not eating in the kitchen though.” She made a face without realizing it.

“Where ya wanna eat?”

“I guess the living room’s fine. Maybe I can find something to watch before asshole gets his hands on the remote.”

“The decrypting of the files we found on the boat is done. You wanna see what’s in them?”

“You managed to get around all that encryption?” She was impressed. “Alex, that’s amazing!”

He grinned. “I’m amazing, didn’t you know?”

She couldn’t help but laugh at his expression. “Sometimes I just need a reminder. Alright, I’ll get a plate and you can show off what you’ve found.”

Liz turned when she felt someone behind her and she shifted slowly, holding the plate filled with pancakes and bacon out to her former friend. “I was saving something for you for later.”

“Now’s fine, thank you.” She accepted the plate and went back to the living room, doing everything she could think of to keep her mind focused on nothing but the plate of food. She’d told Alex she’d eat and she wanted to keep her word for him.

“Hey, hacker boy,” Val called out teasingly and gestured to the TV when she sat down in one of the armchairs.

“Yes, assassin girl,” he mocked with a smirk as he settled down on the couch next to Maria.

Bane rolled his eyes. “Just put the freaking files on the screen.”

Valkyrie watched him for a moment. He was annoyed and it was so rare that he outwardly revealed emotion of any kind that she found it amusing. “You’re entirely too tense, Bane.”

“Yeah, maybe sex would help,” Maria snarled, digging into her pancake.

“It always helps me,” the female assassin said and exchanged a glance with Alex as she motioned to the screen again.

“Apparently,” the other blonde felt sick but she forced her food down and hoped they would finally concentrate on the important things.

“Alright,” he brought the files up and opened the main folder. “It looks like the information’s broken down into subfolders. The names are in Latin and I’m afraid my grasp on the language is a little rusty.”

Valkyrie focused on the screen while she read the words. “Open the third. It says contacts.”

“You read Latin?” Liz asked incredulously.

“I’m guessing that isn’t due to a Catholic upbringing,” Max said with a snort.

“You two don’t have any sense of knowing when to shut up, do you?” she spit out.

“Oh, hell,” Alex muttered, as much to diffuse the mood as in response to the list of names popping up on the screen.

Maria followed his gaze and stopped chewing when some of the names unfolding on the screen sounded familiar.

Reginald Halverson and George Newman were only two of many more.

“Sandra Perkins, she’s the governor of Vermont,” Liz spoke up. “And Alan Duchane, he’s a Supreme Court judge.”

“Marten Tucker,” Alex muttered, trying to remember where he had heard the name before.

“He’s the Dean at Georgetown,” Maria whispered.

“This list is insane,” Max muttered. “We’re looking at a network of politicians and people of influence across the entire country.”

“It’s not just the United States,” Alex said and highlighted a name further down on the list. “We’re talkin’ about a global organization.”

Bane clenched his hand when the name of his commander back when he’d been in the SEALs was listed too. “The question is: what’s their goal?”

“That’s a damn good question,” Valkyrie muttered. “They’re obviously working towards taking control of the entire government, but there has to be more to it. With Halverson’s run for the presidency they would’ve had the most powerful position out there.” She shrugged. “Granted, to have total control they’d have to infiltrate Congress as well, and so far their control there appears to be limited.”

“And they just killed their best chance to buy a president.”

“If they felt taking Halverson out was warranted then they have a backup plan.” She looked at Bane’s charge. “Your uncle must’ve known who else intended to announce a run for president. That announcement would have to be made soon.”

“I wasn’t interested in politics.”

“It would have to be someone who already has their foot in the door politically,” Alex mused. “Someone popular, someone with heavy financial backing, and someone...” he moved down the list, scanning the names.

“That one,” Liz spoke up. “Right there,” she leaned in and pointed, “Jim Stanton. There’s been a lot of talk that he intends to enter the race by the end of the first quarter.”

“Then we take him down first,” Bane said coldly.

“You can’t just go around shooting people,” Maria insisted.

“Better now before his face is plastered to every damn tree in the country.”

Liz shook her head. “Stanton’s favored to win if he tosses his hat in the ring. He’s not exactly an unknown candidate. You may not recognize him, but he’s the senator for Kentucky. You take him out and the manhunt will be nationwide.”

“Well,” Valkyrie crossed her legs, “maybe we don’t have to kill him.” She glanced at Bane. “Just his reputation.”

“That’s easy enough to do,” Alex said with a nod.

“What do you suggest?” Liz asked.

“Well, there’re several options... sex scandal of course, but then again, that’s not as much of a shock as it was at one time. Financial scandal, misappropriation of funds; that might be more beneficial here.”

“He had that huge charity event last summer,” Maria muttered when she remembered how her uncle had dragged her there, squeezed into an ugly dress and forced to act like an upper class lady all night. “Maybe we don’t have to pretend anything. Maybe he actually did use the money for his own benefit or for the Circle’s instead of the sick kids he said he would.”

“Yeah, that’d discredit him to the voters.”

“So how do we prove such a thing?” Maria asked.

“Follow the money,” Alex said.

Bane nodded. “The Circle wouldn’t risk a transfer that you could track online though,” he mused. “Someone will have to pay him a visit.”

“He’d still have to cover those donations. He’s accountable to his constituents for every penny.”

“That’s easy enough to do. He just needs to scale the donated money, publish an income that’s still high enough to show even the smallest result and he’s free to use the rest without public knowledge,” Val said coolly. She had witnessed such things countless times.

Alex narrowed his eyes at her when she completely side-swiped him. “Okay, but unless he’s dealing in high volumes of cash that money left a trail.”

“If you’re so smart, then why don’t you work on finding it?” Bane narrowed his eyes at him.

“He’ll find it.” The female assassin leveled her gaze on Alex. “Won’t you?”

He smirked. “On my way.”

“Okay, say they’re siphoning money from the charity funds,” Max said and held his hands up when both assassins turned to glare at him. “That money, and consequently any other money, going to, what’d you call it, The Circle?” He nodded when Bane huffed impatiently and made a rolling motion with his right hand. “That money has to be traceable.”

“Yeah,” Alex muttered while he kept hitting the keys on his keyboard furiously. “But it’ll be hard to discover if we don’t know what we’re looking for.”

“They’re obviously using money like that to fund their organization; campaigns,” he motioned to the two assassins, “hired guns, payoffs. You’ve recovered quite a bit of information from the senator’s yacht and whatever you got off his computer at his house, right? And you haven’t been able to access all of the files, so maybe there’s something still in there that details accounts and transactions.”

“Can’t you just hack the computers that belong to the people they work for?” Liz asked.

“I can try, but they most likely have a good firewall to prevent intrusions like that.” Alex shook his head. He had a lot to do over the next few hours.

“Don’t you think he’s already thought of all that?” Val rolled her eyes at the so-called security detail.

“I’m gonna go someplace quiet and I’ll inform you when I have something.” Alex got up and grabbed his laptop. He needed to concentrate and for that, too many people were interfering right now. “He’s probably right though,” he nodded towards Bane, “if I don’t find any hot tracks in the Senator’s files then we’ll most likely have to pay one of those people on the list a visit to get a clue.”

She grinned at him. “I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on one of them.” She’d love to see one of those politicians squirm.

“Newman’s throwing a party next week,” Liz suddenly sprung up from the couch when she remembered everyone at work talking about it. “He invited all the employees.”

“And you can’t go. By now you’ve been identified as being there at the time of the senator’s untimely demise.” Why hadn’t she just left them on the side of the road somewhere?

“How do you know that?”

“You parked right in front of a security camera, bitch! I was able to trace that rental right back to the agency you rented it from.” She shook her head at them. “You might be able to keep it off the books, but there’s always a way to trace things with...” she shot a disdainful look at the brunette, “rookies.”

“Why don’t you just shut up, BITCH?” Maria burst out. She was sick of the woman behaving like all of them were a burden and though she held a grudge against Max and Liz, she wouldn’t just sit back and watch the assassin treat everyone like gum on her shoe. “Just because you’ve killed tons of people, you have no right to treat everyone around here like we don’t know anything about life when it’s you who doesn’t have a clue about anything but hunting and killing.”

She hadn’t taken more than a step towards the woman before Bane issued a quiet, warning growl of her name.

“Put a muzzle on your civilian.” She didn’t move for several long seconds as their eyes locked and then she nodded. She needed to get out of here. She couldn’t handle being cooped up in such a small space with all of these people for much longer. She nodded at the rookies. “They’re yours now too,” she said before pivoting on her right heel and striding out of the room.

“Go, DeLuca,” Max cheered quietly and winked at Liz.

Bane stared at the three of them. He had his hands full with Maria, what the hell was he gonna do with two more civilians? No, they couldn’t stay behind when Valkyrie and her civilian moved on. He had to come up with something for them to do. Something useful and relatively safe, he mused, because angry and hurt as Maria might be, she wouldn’t stand for them being sent out to do anything that compromised their safety beyond a reasonable expectation.

“You don’t have to stay,” Maria said, her tone cold. “You know I don’t have more answers for you. There’s no reason for you or her to play protector. I’d rather die than hang with someone who sees me as nothing more than a burden.”

“And you might just yet get your wish, Princess,” he snarled. “But I told you I’d see this through and I intend to do just that.”

*****

“Something smells good,” Alex said hours later as he rolled his shoulders and turned from right to left in an effort to pop the kinks out of his back. He glanced at his silent companion, noting the way she was staring at the computer screen, and he was careful not to move too quickly or startle her. He’d made that mistake once and she’d had him up against the wall with the tip of her knife pressed uncomfortably close to a vital part of his anatomy. He’d been certain not to repeat that mistake. “Val?”

She blinked and turned her head slowly, realizing right away that he’d called her more than once to get her attention. “What?”

“I think maybe we should take a break and grab a bite to eat.”

“Very well,” she said with a tired sigh.

“It might not be much but at least we did find something.”

“And it might turn out to be nothing.”

He chuckled. “You have got to be the most negative woman I’ve ever in my life known.” And in less than a heartbeat he found himself pressed up against the door he’d just been reaching for.

Valkyrie studied him, searching his eyes for the faintest traces of fear and finding none there. “Why are you here?” She shook her head. “Any normal, sane person would’ve run screaming when I put a gun to the back of their head. Why didn’t you?”

“Maria was in trouble.” He shrugged. “You wouldn’t like the rest of the answer.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“You’re deadly, Val, deadly and confident.” He watched her, lowering his voice to ensure it wouldn’t carry beyond the two of them. “But she’s not the only one who needs saving.”

Her spine stiffened at his answer. “I don’t need you to save me.”

He smiled and shook his head as he reached up to brush his thumb over her cheek. “Don’t you?” he asked gently.

She pushed away from him and reached for the doorknob. “We should tell Bane what we’ve found.” His words hit home. For so long she’d wanted someone to save her and now she wasn’t sure she could handle it.

“You won’t get rid of me that easily,” he warned as he moved aside so she could open the door. He exited the room, unwilling to get into a battle of wills over who left the room first. He made his way down the hallway, following the scent of cooking food, and he paused in the kitchen doorway when he saw Evans bustling around while Parker fussed with the plates on the counter. “I had no idea the two of you could cook.”

“I don’t cook,” Liz denied with a shake of her head as she reached for a stack of napkins. “Max is the one who’s completely domesticated in the kitchen.”

“Hell, they had pretty much everything we needed to make a decent dinner. The rest was just a matter of knowing how to whip it up from scratch. Country fried steak, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and homemade biscuits and gravy.” He shrugged. “Easy enough to do.”

“You’ll make Liz a fine wife one day.”

Liz snickered when Max just shot the finger at Alex and went back to the gravy he was making. He was a good cook and he didn’t care about being teased for it. She caught movement from the corner of her eye and she paused when she saw Maria. There was a time her friend would’ve been leading the teasing conversation and then as soon as the food was on the table she would’ve dived right in and complimented the chef.

“Have you found anything?” Bane asked. He was slouched down on the couch in the living room, feet propped up on the coffee table and while nobody could see him from where they stood at the kitchen counter, his presence was easily revealed by the growl in his tone.

“Maybe,” Alex said as he snatched a carrot off of the counter. Yes, he’d been right to insist they stop for a few supplies before reaching their destination. “It looks like the senator had a safety deposit box in Salem. He kept it under an assumed name.”

“Do we know which bank?”

“Maritime National.”

“Dinner’s ready,” Max said, turning the oven off.

Bane was off of the couch in one fluid move. They might be pushing the limits of his sanity with their very presence, but he wasn’t one to turn down a meal. “Any idea what’s in the box?” he asked as he surveyed the food that had been prepared.

“There wasn’t a hint,” Alex shook his head. “We’ll most likely have to go and find out before someone else does.”

“Do we know what name he used to open the account?”

“Yeah, we have the name and the password key.”

He sat down at the counter with his plate. “Any idea how often he went out there?” He’d imagine it couldn’t have been often if he’d wanted to keep it off the radar.

“I looked through the bank’s security system. They keep a record of their safety deposit customers’ visits. According to their files, no one’s looked at it for almost ten years now.”

“Then they won’t have a physical description of the owner. That’s good.”

“If my uncle hasn’t been there for almost ten years,” Maria started hoarsely. It could only mean that whatever was in there was something related to her past and what had happened in Cape Cod.

Liz reached out a tentative hand to help Maria over to one of the stools when she looked like she might collapse at the news.

Bane pushed away the insistent feelings welling up in him to help the fragile blonde. He focused on Alex who sat next to her. “What about the money trail?”

“Nothin’ on that so far. Just hitting one wall after another. Our best shot at getting anything on the money’s probably gonna be getting access to a computer belonging to someone fairly high up in the organization.” He chewed a mouthful of food thoughtfully. “The higher the better since they’re the most likely to have the most useful and damning information.”

[begonia9508]

Oh my god! I am quite sure that Maria's uncle deposited documents, in the safe... documents which could could destroy him but which he need them anyway...

Wal and Bane are getting on my nerves, these days!

Thanks EVE

[Roswelllostcause]

The plot thickens as they say. What is in the safety deposit box? Could it hold the keys to finding out what really happened all those years ago? Questions! All I got is questions in my head!

[keepsmiling7]

LOL.......Max is the domesticated one.......he'll make Liz a fine wife someday.
The senator has a safety deposit box under an assumed name........now that's interesting.
Thanks,
Carolyn

[Eva]

Maria is jealous, angry, hurt,... and it doesn't make her a pleasant person to deal with. Maybe it isn't that bad to split up again. It'll turn out the tension between all of them with a notch of two.

[sarammlover]

I love that Alex is the only one that actually gets along with everyone. What a guy. I still feel bad that Maria has lost everything and Val is a BITCH. SHe is driving me crazy with her bitchiness....maybe Alex needs to give her a hard screw more often! Great update.

[Ms_BuffyAnneSummers]

Loved it!!! Can not wait to see what is gonna ballpark next! Hopefully Maria can work things out with Max and Liz....more importantly find out that it wasn't Michael with Val! Bump bump bump ASAP!

[Double Trouble]

begonia9508: The contents will be revealed in time.

Lol, well, they may do that for some time yet.

Roswelllostcause: Good question... there’s a possibility it might provide some answers.

keepsmiling7: Yep, it sure sounds like he will, lol.

Question is... what was he hiding?

Eva: No, it doesn’t. She’s under a lot of stress and pressure and that anger’s coming out without a filter. It would help to turn that tension down a notch or two.

sarammlover: Lol, yeah, he’s pretty easy going. Well, Val doesn’t hold back and probably won’t any time soon. However... Alex is definitely on board with your suggestion.

Ms_BuffyAnneSummers: Thanks! We may just see some thawing in the friendship department. Lol, and the truth is coming soon.


Part 30

“You have someone in mind?” Liz wanted to know.

“Well, there’s Stanton of course. He’s likely to have information because large amounts of money are being funneled through his charity organization, or at least that’s what we believe. And then there’s Newman, since we’re certain he’s playing both sides of the fence. There are other names I’ve run across, but haven’t been able to get any real information on. Alan Baxter, Steven Morris, and a third man Jaan Welling. There are indicators that Baxter is the head of the organization and the other two are most likely just below him.”

“Stanton,” Bane said and looked at Valkyrie. “We start with him.”

She nodded. “He’s leaving day after tomorrow for a ski trip with his family. The house will be empty until after the holidays.”

Holidays? Maria frowned, but then it finally dawned on her. Christmas! Of course, it was almost that time.

“You’ll go,” Bane said. “An’ take Whitman with you.”

“We can take a crack at the safe deposit box,” Max offered. “I mean, if it hasn’t been touched in ten years and it was set up under an assumed name we should be able to get in an’ out without any trouble.”

“Yup,” he agreed without a complaint.

“So you’re just gonna send all of them out into these totally dangerous situations?” Maria asked. “They don’t even have anyone with them to watch their backs!” She was still mad at them but she didn’t want them to get killed over this.

“Maria,” Max said calmly, “it’s okay. Liz and I know how to defend ourselves and we can’t just sit around an’ do nothing.”

Liz nodded. “And we can’t all go together, that would be too suspicious and you’re presumed to be dead.”

Alex cleared his throat. “Yeah, speakin’ of that... so’re the two of you.”

“What?” Her head snapped to him.

“Yeah, it’s in the news. Your building went up in flames earlier today. It looks like everyone else got out but the two of you were listed as being inside at the time of the fire.”

“Welcome to the dead side of life,” Bane said with a wink at them.

“This isn’t funny,” she bit out. Their entire lives were in that apartment.

“At least no one’s looking for you,” Valkyrie said, unimpressed. “And you’re still going to the bank. No one in Salem is interested in a couple who burned in DC.”

“Thanks, but please don’t overburden yourself with the sympathy,” Max said as he rubbed his girlfriend’s arm. He focused on Liz. “Just ignore her. We’ll get through this.”

Bane glanced at the silent blonde at the counter, who was once more just pushing her food around her plate without eating more than a few tiny bites. “Eat, Maria.”

“I can’t,” she denied and got up, shaking her head. “I can’t.” Everyone she knew was dead, presumed dead, or soon to be dead and it was all her fault. How could she ever live with this?

“You can and you will.” He grabbed her arm and forced her back into her seat.

“Get your hands off of me,” she smacked his arm away harshly.

“You think this’s a picnic for me?” His fist thumped against the surface of the counter next to her. “I don’t enjoy havin’ to baby you because you won’t do what you need to do to stay strong. I don’t give a fuck whether you wanna eat or not. You don’t move until you clean that plate, you got it?” His angry gaze shot to the brunette when she snorted. “You got somethin’ to say?”

“No,” Liz said, amused as she watched Maria from the corner of her eye.

“An’ I don’t give a fuck what you think I should do,” the blonde next to him snarled and the next moment the contents of her glass ended up in his face. “Maybe this will help cool you down, Guerin.”

Bane practically roared in anger and while he was busy trying to wipe orange juice out of his eyes she made her escape. “Fuck!” Now he was sticky and wet... and not the good kind either. “Son of a bitch!”

Max grinned at his girlfriend, hoping he could hold his laughter back. It was hard though because even the female assassin had an amused expression on her face.

“Wow,” Alex said and shook his head. “You’ll probably wanna hit the shower pretty quick. She mixes sugar in her juice.” His gaze lifted to the drenched man’s head. “Yeah, that dries and your hair’s gonna be a real mess.” He pushed away from the counter. “Think I’ll go check on Maria.”

Why didn’t he just leave? Bane wandered as he stalked into the bathroom angrily. Why bother with any of them any longer? He slammed the door behind him harshly, making everyone wince at the sound.

Alex wandered down the hallway, not surprised when the pictures on the walls rattled in response to the force of the slamming door. He knocked on the door to Maria’s room, expecting it when he was told to go away before she bothered to ask who it was. “Hey, girl, it’s just me. Can I come in?”

She sighed and rolled onto her back on the bed. “If you must.”

“I must,” he teased as he slipped inside and shut the door again.

“What d’you want, Alex? I’m not gonna eat.”

“Well, I’m not your mommy or your daddy and I’m not here to tell you to eat all your veggies like a good little girl.” He flopped on the bed beside her and laced his fingers behind his head. “Interesting parting shot back there.”

“He’s a jerk.”

“I’ll give you that,” he said agreeably. He sobered after a moment. “He’s also tryin’ to keep you alive.”

“Maybe, but he’s just doing it because I gave him some answers about his past. He wouldn’t care otherwise and...,” she sighed. “Alex, he can’t even be nice to me.”

“Y’know,” he said as he rolled over and shoved his arms under the pillow, “they’re not like us.”

“No, they’re definitely not. They don’t have a conscience. All they do is kill, try to stay alive, eat and sleep. Oh, and fuck.”

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t go so far as to say they don’t have a conscience. I think they’re just more capable of suppressing it to complete the missions they’ve been groomed for. Think about it, Maria. They have no knowledge of their pasts beyond age sixteen or seventeen, that can’t be a coincidence.”

“That’s no excuse to hurt the feelings of everyone around them,” she denied.

“No, it’s not an excuse, but it does explain a lot about them. I mean, imagine having your past basically wiped out.” He tapped his head. “Up here, to have no memory whatsoever of who you were.”

“Sometimes that wouldn’t be so bad,” she whispered. To forget that her whole family had been wiped out? She had wished more than once that she could forget that.

“Maybe there are some things that’d be good to forget, but would you do that if it meant wiping out all the good things too?”

“Gosh Alex, I really need someone to rant to, alright?” She pulled at her hair. “If you wanna go on and defend them then just leave me alone, because that’s not what I need right now, okay? Am I being unreasonable? Yeah, maybe, but I don’t give a fuck right now.”

“Alright, fine, rant away. I can bitch with the best of ‘em.”

“It’s too late now. You completely ruined the moment.”

“Sorry.”

“Can you stay the night here?” she asked, shifting her head to look at him. “I don’t want him next to me. He can share her bed so they can fuck all night without the rest of us hearing them.”

“You think the two of them are hookin’ up?” he asked with a snort.

“I don’t THINK, I know.”

“And you think you know the two of them have been together in that time?”

“I heard them last night. They were going at it in the kitchen.”

“Make quite a racket did they?”

“Yeah,” she said sadly. “They don’t give a fuck if someone hears them.” Of it if would hurt someone, she thought.

Alex tugged his collar away from his throat. On the one hand he wanted to ease her mind that her assassin wasn’t the one responsible for at least part of that racket, but on the other he wasn’t sure what to even say. He was still trying to figure it out when the door was thrown open and Bane stood there looking like a soaking wet rabid dog.

“What do you want now?” she spit out, ignoring the way the water was running down his bare upper body... or the way his drenched hair was matted to his head, giving him a very dangerous and sexy look.

“You,” he nodded at the computer geek, “get outta my bed. Now.”

“It’s not your bed,” Maria said, sitting up on her knees.

“I wasn’t talkin’ to you, Blondie.” His gaze locked on Alex. “I have to say it again and Val’s gonna be scrapin’ you off the floor.”

Alex lifted his hands and slipped from the bed. “Chill out, will ya?”

“No, Alex, you don’t have to go,” she insisted as she leaned over and wrapped her hands around his wrist.

“It’s okay,” he winked. “We’ll talk later, alright?”

Bane cleared his throat and his thumb beat out an impatient rhythm against the doorknob.

“What’s your problem?” she asked when Alex was gone.

“My problem?” he echoed. “I’m the one who just ended up with a face full of juice for tryin’ to get you to see reason.”

“I wasn’t talking about that,” she said stubbornly and got up from the bed.

“I’d sure like to know what the hell it is.”

“What do you want? I was talking to Alex. I didn’t ask you to come in here. If you need a new shirt then just fuckin’ get it and then leave me the hell alone.”

“I’d like to,” he muttered as he walked over to the closet and yanked the door open. “You have no idea just how much I’d like to.” But for some reason he just couldn’t.

“Then leave,” she shouted at him.

“I’m not goin’ anywhere until you tell me what the hell crawled up your ass this time,” he said as he turned around to look at her. She was pissed but it was more than that. He just wasn’t versed in all of these crazy emotions.

“Nothing you’d understand. I don’t wanna hang with people who don’t like me. Life’s too short for that.”

He slung the shirt over his right shoulder and walked over to the bed, his gaze unwavering. “This isn’t a popularity contest, Sunshine.” He shook his head. “You got a problem with me you say it to my face.”

“I don’t like your attitude,” she started, walking towards him, “I don’t like the way you treat people like everyone other than you – or her – isn’t worth your time. I don’t like the way you don’t care about hurting someone else’s feelings.”

“Keep it comin’,” he said with a come-on gesture.

“I don’t like you ordering me around like I’m child who can’t do anything right.”

He repeated the gesture.

“I don’t like that my life depends on someone like you.”

“The door’s open any time you choose to use it.”

Sighing, she turned away from him. She wasn’t going to run again because it hadn’t brought her anything but trouble the last time. “Just leave me alone. I’m not running and whenever you say we have to move on or whatever, I’ll follow. But it doesn’t mean you can treat me like a dog.”

“I’d really like for you to break it down for me because I don’t know what the hell I did other than tell you to eat your goddamn food!”

“You obviously spend too much time alone because you don’t even notice when you’re rude to people.”

“Please spell it out for me.”

“F - U - C - K Y - O - U.”

He moved closer, crowding her until her back hit the wall. “That what your problem is? You’re pissed ‘cause I didn’t nail you through the mattress the other night?”

“You’re so full of yourself,” she rasped, taken aback by his sudden attack. All of her senses were aware of him and she wished she didn’t have such a strong reaction.

“Well, I’m runnin’ out of options here. You don’t wanna give me an honest rundown then all that leaves me with is conjecture.”

“Fine. You know what? I don’t like a lot about you. And I’m really ashamed of myself for even considering you might-” she stopped when she realized that the others would probably hear them if she kept yelling at him the way she was.

“Might what?” he rasped, the sound low and dangerous.

Maria dared to look at him, even though she wished the ground would swallow her whole. “Might be the one to take my virginity,” she said quietly.

That’s what it was all about. He should’ve known. His voice lowered in volume. “That’s nothin’ to be ashamed of.”

“Yeah, maybe not for you. You were the one being asked, not the one asking.”

He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter which side it was.”

“I sure as hell know it sucks to be on my side,” she muttered.

“It’s not that great on this side of the fence either.”

“Really?” she asked in a low sarcastic tone and snorted. “Sounded like you had a lot of fun last night.”

And there it was. “You think it was me shakin’ the walls last night?” He snorted and shook his head. “Maybe you should’ve given your good buddy Whitman a second thought.”

“Alex?” She frowned. “Yeah, right.”

“Don’t have that much confidence in him?” He angled his head as he looked at her. “Gotta give your boy some credit ‘cause she’s not easily impressed.”

“But you weren’t in bed!”

“Give me some credit, will ya? I couldn’t sleep with that racket and layin’ here with a hard-on with you sleepin’ next to me, that wasn’t helpin’. I went down to the basement to inventory supplies and clear my head.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to decide if he was telling the truth or not. But Alex hadn’t said anything earlier. Why would he lie to her?

“Is he normally the type to announce his conquests?” Granted, the guy couldn’t have that many notches on his belt but he didn’t seem the type to brag about what happened between the sheets.

It wasn’t him. He hadn’t slept with that female assassin. Relief washed over her even though she didn’t know why. It didn’t change anything, but it was good to know he hadn’t just had sex so soon after telling her no. “He’s not the type who has random sex a lot.” Truth was, she had no clue about Alex’ sex life, they had never talked about such things.

“Uh-huh,” he said skeptically. He just couldn’t see the two of them sitting down and discussing sex. It just didn’t fit either of them.

He was still standing right in front of her, confining her and making it hard to breathe. “I believe you,” she said and raised her hands to his chest to push him away gently.

“You might not like what I have to say most of the time, but I’m not a liar.” He flexed his muscles and barely moved back an inch just to see what she’d do.

Her eyes dropped to her hands where they were pressed against his strong chest. “No, you’re not.”

He should move. He knew he should but somehow his feet weren’t getting the message. Against his will and his own better judgment his eyes dropped to her lips. “You should get back in there and finish your meal.” Before I make a meal out of you, he added in his thoughts.

Was the air on fire? Because it felt like it with every breath she took. “Then let me,” she said without much persuasion in her voice.

This time his feet cooperated and obeyed the messages his brain was sending. He gave himself a shake, his eyes never leaving her as she shifted to step around him. What the hell was going on with him? He’d already had this conversation with himself and she was off limits.

*****

Though there wasn’t an annoying couple rattling the walls that night Bane found it hard to sleep. Too many thoughts crossed his mind, creating a busy highway that wouldn’t let him rest. There were still too many questions. He hated being clueless, it wasn’t a good feeling and it kept him on edge.

Annoyed, he jerked the blanket away from him. When Maria shifted in her sleep, he had to remind himself that control was needed so he took a few deep breaths before getting up and wandering down the hallway towards the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and stood in the door for several minutes, just letting the cool air soothe his nerves. He grabbed a bottle of water when he started to shiver and walked over to the counter to uncap it.

The cabin lay in darkness and was pretty much silent, a state he was comfortable with. All his life he had been alone, whatever lonely place he was had felt like home. Once this was over he had to decide where to go. He owned several houses spread across the world and each of them was in a secluded location. Away from civilization and all the annoying complications that came with humans and their relationships.

The blinking of a red light in the living room got his attention and when he walked towards it the shadowed outline of Whitman’s laptop came into view. He reached out and gave the mouse a little shove with his finger, which was enough to bring the screen to life. A box with several folders was visible on the desktop and he realized it was the files the guy had been hacking over the last couple of days. He had put them in order by date and source.

Impressive, Whitman, he thought and sat down. They had already looked through all of them but it was hard to concentrate when everyone felt the need to express their opinion out loud. Maybe if he looked at them alone and in silence he could make some connection they had missed before.

He spent the next hour opening one file after another, reading through reports, looking at photos and videos, but all he ended up with was more questions. He pinched the bridge of his nose and hit the exit button with a loud frustrated click of the mouse. This wasn’t getting them anywhere. Hopefully there was a real clue at the bank and at Stanton’s house.

Grabbing the water next to him, he was ready to get up when a single icon on the desktop got his attention. ‘Maria – private’ was the name and he remembered how she had told Alex about the files that shouldn’t be viewed by anyone.

Looking at the little key symbol for more than a minute, he fought an internal battle over whether to open it or not. She had said it was private – nothing that would help their case. But then again, what did she know about stuff like this? Any little detail could offer answers; details she wasn’t even aware of that could help.

He needed to see them just to make sure they didn’t miss something important. Reaching for the mouse again, he double clicked the symbol and almost expected to be asked for a password but it opened up without any complications.

A box appeared, showing two new icons. One said ‘Photos’ and the other was a book icon that said ‘Journal’. He opened the first and went through at least a hundred pictures. Most of them were taken when Maria was older and he couldn’t see anything suspicious in them so he went to the other one.

“What’ve you been doin’, Blondie?” he muttered when it took a long time for the huge file to open, showing something that actually looked like a virtual book. It contained scans of written pages, photos and computer written texts. After browsing through it for a few minutes he realized what he had stumbled over: Her personal journal.

He started at the beginning, browsing through the dated entries and realizing she had started it not long after the bombing. Her injuries had kept her hospitalized for several months after the so-called accident and with Reginald Halverson being her only relative he could imagine losing herself in her journal had been a coping mechanism. Her style, her choice of words and phrases, it changed over time, growing stronger as she recovered.

There were entries about the hospital staff, which doctors and nurses she liked, the physical therapist she both loved and hated, depending on the day, and other patients. He could almost feel her excitement as she wrote about her impending release date and her disappointment when an infection caused her to suffer a setback and that date was pushed back several weeks.

Then came the day she was released and taken home. There was a myriad of emotions in her words as she expressed her anger, pain and loneliness. She didn’t feel a connection to her uncle, which wasn’t all that surprising. She felt like a burden to the man and the journal was probably the only place she’d felt safe enough to unleash all she was feeling.

His eyebrows lifted as he ran across the next entry. Her first birthday after the explosion. Her first birthday without her family there with her.

April 15th – 2006

My 13th birthday. Should I really count it as that? Or is it like my first birthday since I died several times before they managed to bring me back?

No, I guess it’s still my 13th because I’d look weird for a one-year-old.

I wondered if I should make an entry. It feels like a day where I should make one but yet… it feels like every other day since the accident. No one in school even knew it was my birthday or if they knew, they didn’t mention it.

Uncle Reggie got home late as usual, but he didn’t forget! He had a present and it’s sitting next to me. I haven’t opened it up yet and he didn’t have time to be around for it. He has another late meeting. I think it’s the jacket I showed him last month when we were in the mall. I pointed it out to him a few times and he just kept saying it wasn’t my style. Yeah, he must’ve picked it up later after he sent me home with Rob.

Okay, I’m going to open it….

… It’s not the jacket. It’s a stupid new dress!!! It’s ugly and too loose around the waist.

I hate him. He’s such an idiot! Mom would’ve gotten me the jacket. She would’ve noticed the way I wanted it and even though Dad would’ve disagreed with the price, she would’ve gotten it for me.

I miss them so much, but no one wants to see my pain. Not even Uncle Reggie. He didn’t even consider today would be hard for me. He pretends I’m okay and I pretend I’m okay because it’s the only thing he wants to see.

But I’m not okay. I wish I could just go back and make sure I died with them.

Dark thoughts for a thirteen-year-old, he mused, more affected by the pain in her words than he was willing to admit. Halverson was a fool or he had been. The man had been obsessed with his career and he’d been completely blind to her pain and isolation. He shook his head and continued reading, scanning over more entries and learning so much more about the girl who would grow up to be the woman currently driving him nuts.