Re: THE ASSASSIN - AU/CC/Adult - Part 27 - 8/2/15
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2015 9:00 am
by Alien_Friend
Outside consultant my ass he must be connected with the circle somehow or at the very least friends with Maria's uncle. But if he is a part of circle maybe he was the person who planted the bomb or whatever made the explosion.
It's so sad to read Maria feeling so isolated.
I am glad she heard Liz out though. I think Liz did her a favour by not revealing everything about Maria in their reports. And she was just looking out for her when she called to check out on Michael. Why would they be there with her now if they didn't care? I think Max is right though, all they can do is keep their heads down and prove through their actions that they care about her by helping her through this mess.
The fact that Liz spotted Newman proves to me they all have vital pieces to uncovering this puzzle so they need to work together in order to get through this thing on top.
I sure as hell hope that the kill switch can't come back online. Man if only they could know it was a possibility and tried again somehow to remove it.
Awesome stuff ladies. It gets more and more intriguing with every update.
Eagerly awaiting more.
Part 28
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 4:25 am
by Double Trouble
Alien_Friend: Lol, it’s definitely looking that way. We’ll learn more about his connection in time.
Yep, if they didn’t care they sure wouldn’t be there. It’ll take time for Maria to see that, but considering how fast things are moving in their situation she may have to process things a little faster.
They do need to work together in some way because while they don’t know it, it’s going to take all of them to bring this organization down.
Yep, that’s definitely information that would be useful!
Earth2Mama: That would suck! Lol, we’re not sure Liz would live long enough to enjoy the satisfaction of smacking Valkyrie a good one.
keepsmiling7: Yep, now the question is, what role does he play in this mess? We will get to that answer eventually.
Eva: Lol, a perfect reaction to that information! Yep, it’s not good news.
It’s really not helping the situation that Maria feels so isolated within the group. That bond with Michael is going to take time to mature and unfortunately he’s not in a position to be of much help. He’s completely off balance with Maria but we do see his humanity make an appearance on occasion.
sarammlover: She’s in a tough position and things just don’t seem to be getting any easier, lol.
Part 28
“It would make sense,” Val mused walking towards the screen, ignoring everyone but Bane. “This Newman guy works for the Circle, he’s at the wedding to place the bomb and make sure it’ll have a deadly affect. And then later Halverson hires a couple of private bodyguards for his niece since she – in spite of their plans – survived, to make sure she’s not acting up. Newman works within the same company and is able to get any information Evans and Parker report.”
Michael nodded. “An’ when she started to investigate her past, the Circle was alerted.”
“Is this the last video taken before the explosion?” she asked Alex.
“Yes, my memory card was full and I went in the house to upload everything so I could delete it off the card and take more pictures and videos,” Maria spoke up.
She shifted her attention to the woman. “Was there a professional photographer there? Maybe one was videotaping the wedding?”
“No, I don’t think so and if so, then the person would’ve ended up dead like the rest of my family.”
“Alright, so we have no more footage from before the explosion.” She sighed and rubbed her hands over her face. “We’ll need to view the video taken by the crime scene investigators. We should see if anyone else we recognize shows up.”
“Do you think it’s true?” Liz asked Max while Alex worked on getting the information the female assassin had demanded. “Did they put us on this job so Newman could spy indirectly on her?”
“The way this whole thing’s unfolding I wouldn’t be surprised,” he answered. “We reported anything suspicious and if the people they work for,” he nodded at the assassins, “have infiltrated the firm we work for, our entire job was most likely compromised from the beginning. Chances are they had us under surveillance and we probably weren’t the only ones assigned to keep an eye on her. They obviously knew things we never reported and that right there indicates we weren’t the only eyes and ears on her.”
Her whole life was one big fucking lie, Maria thought as she dropped her head between her knees while she sank her hands into her hair. For years she had believed her uncle as well as Max and Liz were good to her because they cared but none of it was true.
Alex shot a worried glance at his friend while he waited for some of the files to decode. He had never really been close to his family and he’d never had a lot of friends either, but he couldn’t imagine what it would be like to discover a total new truth about your life. A beeping sound brought his focus back to the screen and he nodded to himself. “I think I found the stuff you were looking for, but I’m afraid it’s not gonna be very pretty to watch.”
“Maria, maybe you should take a break,” Liz suggested. She could only imagine how it would feel to have to relive the worst moment of your life in gory living color.
“No-”
“She’s right,” Bane interrupted her and nodded towards the bedroom. “You don’t need to watch this.”
It wasn’t that she wanted to watch it. Hell, she didn’t need to watch it; she could still see the aftermath of the explosion without the visual aid. She was just sick of people telling her what to do, dictating her life and deciding what was best for her.
“Hey, didn’t someone mention earlier that there was a sauna an’ a hot tub?” Alex asked, wiggling his eyebrows. “Why don’t we leave ‘em to the ugly stuff while we test them out?”
She smiled faintly at his attempt to ease the tension in the room. “You’re kinda the one runnin’ things with the computer.”
“It’s downloaded on the hardware. I think they know how to press the play button.”
“Go on,” Bane spoke up. “Go play cards or somethin’.” He didn’t see any reason for them to be checking out the sauna or the hot tub. “Hot tub’s outside so no dice.”
“You don’t get to order me around,” Maria informed him when she got up and passed him.
“What’s with the files from the yacht?” Valkyrie blocked Alex’s escape.
“The programs are running, but they’re highly encrypted. It’ll take at least the night if not longer.”
“You get the feelin’ neither of our assassins wants their civilians hangin’ out together in the sauna barely clothed?” Max muttered quietly so only Liz would hear it.
“Interesting, huh?” she snickered.
“Yeah, very.”
“That sauna’s callin’ my name,” Alex said with a grin and a salute. “I’ll be back shortly.”
“Think I’ll need a bikini?” Maria teased.
“Not on my account,” he laughed.
Bane snarled under his breath and leaned over to punch the button to open up the evidence video when they disappeared from sight. The footage shuddered for a moment before the scene came into focus. It opened with a shot of an officer.
“The date is May 21st, 2005. Officer Ben Pritchett, badge number 1247. We’re on the scene of an explosion that occurred at approximately 1:43pm this afternoon.” The camera was turned and the scene showed the carnage in the wake of the explosion. “Early reports are suggesting the possibility that a bomb detonated and resulted in the damage we’re seeing here.”
“So they suspected a bomb but then turned it into a gas explosion,” Max muttered.
“Pritchett, can the commentary,” a voice ordered, “and save the speculation. You’re not here to make conjecture or wild guesses. Just take footage of the scene.”
Michael stood like a rock with his arms crossed over his chest while they watched the video. He hadn’t remembered one little detail from his part and he still didn’t. The fact that he’d seen his family, himself and what happened seemed unreal and yet it was.
“Conjecture and wild guesses my ass,” Pritchett muttered but the microphone on the camera was close enough to pick his words up.
“We’ve got a live one over here!”
He panned the camera when one of the other officers shouted and the footage became unstable, bouncing all over the place as he navigated the rubble to get to the group of officers that had gathered around the survivor.
“It’s a girl,” one of them said and couched down.
“Someone get the doc.”
The camera was still unsteady until it caught the blurred sight of a much younger and smaller Maria. If they hadn’t known it was her, she wouldn’t be recognizable in the state she was in. Blood was all over her body, matting her blonde hair to her head.
Bane had seen a lot of blood in his life but somehow the tape sickened him.
“Her vitals are weak. If we don’t get her stabilized and fast she’ll never survive the flight to the hospital,” an EMT said a few minutes later.
“Pritchett, get that camera over here!”
“Look, right here.” Valkyrie leaned over and paused the video. ”You can clearly see bomb fragments in the lower part of the frame.” She moved to the screen and pointed them out. “Pritchett’s young, he’s inexperienced, and he had no idea what he was catching on film. The pieces are small, but if he’d had any idea what they were he’d have noted them in his reports.”
“So it was a bomb,” Bane stated. “We knew before that it wasn’t a gas explosion. The Circle planned to eliminate everyone at that wedding.”
“Trammell, take over for Pritchett,” the off-screen voice ordered.
The camera changed hands and it was apparent by the change in focus that the officer handling the taping was more experienced. It also quickly became apparent that he was carefully avoiding the areas where Valkyrie had identified remnants of the bomb.
“We’re lookin’ at an explosion due to a gas leak,” the voice declared.
“Detective Newman, you’re ignoring evidence that directly contradicts your theory,” Pritchett argued.
“Newman,” Valkyrie snorted. “Go figure. That little bastard.”
“So this guy was a cop,” Liz mused. “It’s no wonder they’ve had control of the situation since day one.”
The minutes ticked by but not surprisingly the video didn’t reveal more clues now that it had been infiltrated by the Circle. There was no sign of another survivor and Halverson was only mentioned briefly as luckily surviving because he wasn’t around.
“They must’ve taken you away before the cops even got there,” Valkyrie mused.
“And turned you into an assassin,” Max added.
“You don’t remember anything from your past?” Liz leaned forward. “Did they do something to prevent you from remembering?”
“If they did I wouldn’t remember it, would I?” Bane snapped.
“So what now?” Max placed a calming hand on his girl’s thigh. Fighting with this assassin – verbally or otherwise – would turn ugly. “What’re we gonna do? They want to see Maria dead.”
He ignored the question. “We have a lot of pieces but we don’t know how they fit together.” He looked at Valkyrie. “Your boy needs to get to work on those encrypted files.”
“I doubt there’s much we can do but wait,” she pointed at the screen that showed numbers scrolling up the screen.
He widened his stance and ran his hand through his hair as he stared at the screen. “What else do we have?”
“Nothing until the other files can be read. Better pray there’s something in the files from the senator’s yacht that’ll help.”
He snorted and shook his head. ”If he had somethin’ worth killin’ for it’s probably incriminating evidence about the Circle.”
“There’s nothing more we can do right now,” she said and started to leave. “As for my part, I’m getting some sleep.”
He waved a hand dismissively and glanced at the couple left with him. “You should do the same.” He did not want to be stuck with the two of them.
“Well, not that we need to listen to you,” Liz stated, “but we’re gonna do just that.” The last few days had been rough and a night of sleep sounded good in so many ways.
Bane smirked at her show of spirit. “Keep that in mind when the bullets start flyin’.”
“No clue how she’s been able to bear that egotistical prick for so long already,” she muttered to her boyfriend.
“He’s the guy with the gun standin’ between her and the people comin’ after her,” he said with a laugh. “That probably makes him a helluva lot easier to deal with.”
“I’m also the guy who’s gonna kick you outta this house if you don’t leave me the fuck alone now,” Bane gritted through his teeth. All these people in his space were making him sick.
Max smirked. “She might housebreak him but she’ll never domesticate him.”
That made her snort, but she ended up laughing.
*****
Alex scrubbed one hand through his hair as he stood in front of the refrigerator contemplating its contents. He was tired and he’d given sleeping a good effort but he was just too wired for his body to give in and crash. He could blame adrenaline, but that argument only went so far. He could blame it on a myriad of things… the rush of adrenaline, stress, anxiety, but even though he wasn’t the most experienced guy around that wound up feeling had nothing to do with any of those things.
He reached inside and his middle finger rested on the cap of a water bottle for a moment before it slipped off and his arm swung back to settle at his side. He didn’t want water. He didn’t want a midnight snack. He wanted something that was about as far out of his reach as the North Star. Oh, sure, she’d implied that at some point he’d get his shot, but really? A woman like her and a guy like him? Not that he was down on himself or anything. He believed he was a good catch and some woman would be lucky to have a guy like him.
It would be an uphill battle to convince a woman like her though. She was like a force of nature, something that would be next to impossible to contain. He’d give it a shot though, given half a chance. He didn’t know what her history was but he was gonna do his research, do his best to find out what it was. For her as well as for him, he thought. He didn’t know how the organization they worked for was able to control the suppression of their memories, but amnesia was too unpredictable, which meant that something else was in play. With the possibility of their memories returning at any moment they would be unreliable. He’d never heard of any medication with that capability, but there was always the option of programming or brainwashing.
“Find what you’re lookin’ for?”
He turned his head when his fantasy woman suddenly came to life and stepped out of the shadows of the hallway. “Not really.”
“It’s 3am, I thought normal people would be sleeping if they had the chance. We’ve been on the road for days.” Valkyrie walked further into the room, well aware of his hungry gaze when it moved up and down her body. She was dressed in a pair of black panties with a matching tank top and stopped on the other side of the counter.
“Yeah,” he muttered, “well, sleep’s the furthest thing from my mind right now.”
“What’s on your mind?” she asked, staring at him bluntly.
He returned her stare. “Sex.”
She had known the answer, but she hadn’t expected him to admit it so openly. “Been a while?”
He shrugged. “Long enough.” She’d pretty much nailed his sexual history that first night so she already knew the answer.
Valkyrie nodded. Whitman wasn’t her usual type. Normally she’d pick a guy like Bane for a quick hook up, they’d done it before. He was a guy who knew how to stay emotionally distant when it was just sex. And he was a guy who could snap out of it if they were attacked in the middle of the act. Alex didn’t have such abilities yet she found herself drawn to him.
Slowly, she walked around the counter, one hand never leaving its edge. “Maybe I could help you with that.”
His body, already on edge, leapt to attention. “Yeah, you could,” he rasped as his hungry gaze moved over her. There was no way she didn’t know what she was doing to him.
She stopped right in front of him with her back against the counter. “You want me.”
He lifted his gaze to hers and nodded mutely.
Valkyrie smirked and lifted herself onto the counter. “And what’re you gonna do about it?”
“Anything you’ll let me,” he admitted as he moved closer.
“Hmm,” she reached out to curl one finger into the belt loop of his low hanging jeans to pull him closer. “Try an’ find out how far you can go, Whitman.”
“Don’t play with me, Val,” he warned.
“No?”
“No. If you get off on yankin’ my chain and then puttin’ the brakes on, don’t go any further.”
She leaned in closer, inhaling his scent just before her tongue licked a path from his collarbone to his jaw. “I didn’t know I had you in chains.”
He growled low in his throat at her comment. “You’re full of shit if you think I’m so stupid as to believe you don’t know the power you hold over men,” he said as his hands settled on her ass and yanked her closer.
She chuckled a little breathlessly. “It’s all about confidence.”
“You have that in spades.” His hands slid up and made quick work of the clasp on her bra.
“Comes with the job,” she muttered, groaning when his hands moved along the sensitive areas of her sides.
He believed she deserved so much better than her current situation but he didn’t voice his thoughts. She wouldn’t appreciate them. Not yet anyway. His thumbs played over her nipples, bringing them to life and making her moan.
“I don’t know about you,” she breathed, reaching for the waistband of his jeans to yank them open, “but I’ve never been a huge fan of long foreplay.”
“I’m good with that,” he grunted when her impatience reared its head. “One of these days maybe you’ll let me show you that it has its place.”
She silenced him with her lips, kissing him roughly and words became needless. She never made plans for the future. She lived in the here and now.
Any thoughts of speaking fled his mind the moment their lips met and the urgency in her unleashed his own need. His hands dropped to the black panties and his fingertips traced over them for a moment before his impatience made itself known and he tore the lacy material in his haste. Making an apology was the furthest thing from his mind as he touched her.
He definitely knew what to do with his hands, she thought while she fumbled with his pants and boxers to jerk them down enough to free his hard-on. As soon as her hand wrapped around him, she became aware of his impressive size and her thighs squeezed him in anticipation.
He was prepared to enter her but he forced himself to pause. He had no problem reading her cues and he was more than ready. There was just one thing... he didn’t have any protection on him. He hadn’t had a need for it in a while. He sure as hell didn’t want to stop now, but he didn’t want to screw her over either. “I don’t have anything with me.”
She grinned and nodded towards the hallway. “In the bathroom.”
He groaned in frustration but nodded.
Her legs around him tightened. “Carry me over and we won’t waste any time.”
“We sure as hell don’t wanna do that,” he grunted as he picked her up and moved as quickly as he could.
She could feel the muscles in his upper arms flexing as she carried her. Wow, he was definitely stronger than one would expect of a computer nerd. Chuckling at the thought, she attacked his neck, biting and licking the flesh there until her ass came into contact with something cold and she realized it was the counter next to the sink.
“Damn, you’re distracting,” he said as he jerked drawers and cabinets open in a search for condoms. “Yes!” He snatched the box out and shook it open, wasting no time as he ripped the packet open and rolled the condom on.
“It’s not a distraction when it leads to the same result,” she argued halfheartedly.
“Can’t argue that one.” He pulled her closer to the edge and without hesitation entered her in one smooth move.
“Fuck,” she hissed and grabbed the counter, not caring when it sent several items down to the tiles with a loud clattering sound.
The racket was like music to his ears. He, Alex Whitman, was totally responsible for short-circuiting a beautiful assassin’s control. His grip on her tightened as he pounded harder into her.
Maria woke up to some rattling sounds and she sat up in alarm, holding her breath and listening in the dark. Maybe it was just a dream, she thought when the pounding of her heart slowed and the rush of blood in her ears faded.
Yeah, it must be-
Her breath hitched when she heard a moan. “Michael! Wake up.”
There wasn’t any reaction so she turned her head and found the bed next to her empty. It was what she had requested earlier, but of course the jerk hadn’t listened and had slipped in next to her while she had pretended to be asleep.
Maybe he had heard something and was involved in a fight out in the hallway? She should move to a safer place and hide, but she couldn’t move, so all she did was sit there like a stone and listen.
Valkyrie dropped her head back when his lips attacked her neck and she didn’t bother trying to contain herself. She enjoyed sex and she didn’t really care who was listening. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders as she urged him on. She was so close, her body felt strung so tight, and when he responded to her order to move faster, accompanying it by bringing his fingers into play she nearly came undone.
“Fuck,” he hissed, the cabinet thumping against the wall as he moved inside of her. It was like the whole earth was shaking but he didn’t care.
No, it definitely wasn’t a fight, Maria thought as she dropped her forehead against her knees and reached up to cover her ears with her hands. There was no mistaking the female assassin’s voice, even muffled. The man with her had to be Michael. Why else wouldn’t he be next to her where he insisted he needed to be to ensure her safety?
“Asshole,” she muttered and flung herself back in bed, blanket over her head so she didn’t have to hear the groaning.
Couldn’t he at least make sure no one would hear? No, of course not! He had to rub it in her face that she wasn’t what he wanted.
Alex felt her nails dig deeper into his flesh as his hips shot forward with enough force to rock the cabinet below. He felt the tremors racing through her body as she tensed for a moment, the sensations rioting through her visible on her face. She had to be the most beautiful, deadly woman he’d ever encountered and she was his. Maybe only right here and now, but he’d work that out later. Right now he wanted to make sure she never forgot this moment. He pushed himself to the limit, making sure she would come once more before he gave in to his own needs and dropped over the cliff behind her.
They both took some time to catch their breath before she used her hands to push him away from her slowly. “Whitman, who knew you had such qualities?”
“Well, I knew, but no one listens to me,” he complained lightheartedly.
She snorted and slipped from the counter. “I’m positive you’ll sleep better now.”
He straightened himself up. “I could stay the night with you,” he offered, expecting to be turned down. “Be a shame to waste a good hard-on first thing in the mornin’.”
“Huh-uh, I don’t sleep well with company.” She shrugged, getting ready to leave. “Need my space in bed.”
He’d expected it, but it didn’t suck any less. There were a limited number of rooms in the cabin so he’d been making use of a futon in the office. Who wanted a damn futon when there was a bed close by with a tall leggy blonde in it? “Well, if you change your mind you know where to find me.”
