TAMED

Here we go again

"Levi, I don't want to talk about this. Anyone could be listening...I mean shit, you're listening..." The young blonde argued as a cup of coffee was brought to the table and set before him.

The Italian rolled his eyes and accepted his coffee as well. Vince eyed the man across from him. None of this seemed possible, how in the hell was this guy out of prison? Could he do nothing wrong? He was like the brat at the toy store that always got whatever he wanted, or the kid who always cheated just enough to win but never actually be caught. It wasn't fair.

"I know what you're thinking. You don't know enough about laws to talk to me safely, all you know is the whole 'I want my lawyer' bit. But with you, if you're truly guilty of what they say you're guilty of, then I doubt the best lawyers in the world can save you from being locked up for a very long time."

"Do they know you're here?" Vince wondered, keeping his voice low and gazing about the room for any suspicious looking characters. He also peeked out the window to his left, the streets bustling on as usual.

"Dunno."

"What!?" Vince whispered harshly.

The Italian laughed as he sipped the coffee which was still a bit too hot. He licked his upper lip to soothe the scalding sensation.

"I mean, I told them not to track me or I wouldn't help them. So for now I've managed my get out of jail free card without an anklet."

Vince wasn't amused.

"Of course I wouldn't put it past them to spy anyway."

"Levi, I just want him back..."

A longing filled the space between them. They had both become very attached to the Hound, as far as either of them were concerned, they were family at this point. Armani nodded slowly as he poured a little cup of french vanilla into his drink. His dark semi-curly hair framed his face and gave him an attractive yet unkempt look.

"I know. But you're going about this all wrong. I'm guessing you're trying to hunt down anyone with information on the guy who took Ares, but you don't..." He glanced around, lowering his voice even further and ducking his head down just a hair more. "You don't murder people to get what you want."

Vince's eyes narrowed as they locked onto the hazel's across the table.

"I haven't murdered anyone. But if I were to witness a highly unfortunate accident, then I guess that person didn't have anything useful to say to begin with did they?"

Levi sucked in a breath and sat back, never breaking eye contact with the much younger man before him.

"Vince." He said sternly. "This isn't a game. You're walking into a world you're not ready for. Once you go down this path, the one where you cause the deaths of other people, there is no going back." He paused, letting his words sink in. "Pretty soon the nightmares will come, you'll argue your own intentions, your own sanity. The blood is on your hands regardless of if you laid a finger on your victims."

Vince listened and set his jaw tight. He didn't want this.

"I don't want to be scolded by you. You've killed more people than I'm sure you'll ever tell me, agent Levi Armani, and I-"

"4,331." Levi interjected plainly.

Vince tilted his head in confusion. "What?"

"That's how many lives I am responsible for ending. Some of them were from me directly, I was an assassin after all, but many of them were the by-product of what I was doing. I kept count so that I would never forget the value of a life."

Vince sat back, and fiddled with the napkin on the table. His chest felt tight, his head felt hot, and he could feel the sting of emotion threatening his eyes.

"I didn't ask you to come find me..." Vince replied bitterly. "I don't want your lectures. I just want Ares. For once in my life...I am willing to fight for what I want, and I want him. Hes mine."

In that moment, his words sounded foreign to him, like he had admitted something that he himself had needed to hear. He blinked in surprise, and then sank in his seat a little more. A deep, heavy, and pure feeling of understanding reaching within him, as if he himself had been waiting one hundred life times to come to this conclusion.

He realized, that he didn't just miss Ares...

He loved Ares...

Or rather...

He was in love with Ares...

"Shit...what is wrong with me...!?" He mumbled to himself as he tried to understand the full wave of his emotions. The weight was so strong that a wave of nausea washed over him. This military boy, this trained killing machine, this wild animal of a person...and he had fallen for him.

Head over heels...

Face first right into something he'd never even considered before.

But it was there. It had been there all along.

Levi listened patiently as a few tears escaped down Vince's cheeks, though he quickly wiped them away.

"For once in my life, I've found something...that makes me feel like life is worth living." Vince stuttered through the tense muscles of his throat. "It's you and Ares. I refuse to let those bastards take you guys away, and I don't care how many people die in the process..."

A new, fresh wave of excitement and motivation coursed through Vince as he stood from the table.

"Like it or not Levi, I am going to find him, so I can't let myself be arrested right now."

Levi groaned...

"Hm." The man paused. "Well Romeo, you're not going to get far with a fake ID and 30$ cash."

Vince watched with a stark face of confusion as the man stood to his feet.

"How do you-?" Vince began but was cut off.

"You need to use your head though, once you find him what are you gonna do? You're gonna be on deaths door knocking...and if you do manage to free Ares, there's a very high chance he's been brainwashed and retrained which means he may very well try to kill you and I both."

Vince pursed his lips.

"I don't care. No offense."

Levi shook his head.

"Plus, we are gonna have to figure out how to get off the grid or something because once you and I and Ares disappear, it's gonna be a worldwide manhunt. I don't think even I could sweet talk us out of life in prison...and if the US military gets ahold of Ares again, he will probably be put down or locked away...there's just...a lot of if's..."

Vince digested his argument but then scoffed and gave him an entertained smirk.

"Are you scared?"

Levi raised a brow and sighed, pulling out a cigarette and walking past the kid and toward the exit, but not without first roughly messing up his hair.

"Not on your life." He replied sarcastically. "Well...let's go. Gotta keep up."

Vince gave him an irritated side glance but then followed the man out. Though he was ready and willing to run to find his Hound, he had to admit...that he was a little uncertain with how the two of them were going to pull it all off.

"Here we go again..." Vince grumbled as he quickly trailed after his friend. "Do you at least have a plan?"

Levi continued his stride down the street through the dark.

"Only one. And if it doesn't work...well..." He paused. "Let's just hope it works..."