killer, gbd (EDITING)

4

I wake peacefully. The light that shines in through the window catches my eye, making me shift to the other side. But I find that the same light still shines in my eyes, so I sit up and yawn. Stretching, I look to see if Grayson is awake, but to my surprise, he is no longer in the seat.

Now fully awake, my brows tighten and I look around the car for any sign of him, nothing. I turn around to check the backseat, but instead find that the trunk lid has been opened. Rubbing my eyes, I open my door to call out to him.

"You okay?" I ask, unable to see him.

His head pops out from behind the trunk lid. Half a smile lifts the corner of his lips. "Morning, Kitten."

My eyes roll and I step out of the car to stretch my legs. Taking a walk around the car, I notice that he has changed. "Where'd you get the clothes?" I ask. "I remember distinctly that you had a hole in the leg of your jeans." I joke. Grayson breathes a laugh.

"I packed heavy," He shrugs and shuts the trunk.

"How's your leg?" I ask, noticing he can put weight on it.

"Great, a little sore, but nothing the Codeine can't handle." He smiles and walks around to the driver's side. "Want me to drive for a bit?" He asks, but holds the door open for himself like I have already answered.

"Sure, whatever you feel up to." I hold up my hands and crawl into the passenger side, putting the seat up. He does the same with his seat and starts up the car.

As we drive, the radio plays quietly. I drink my iced tea while Grayson puffs on his cigarette, which he failed to thank me for. "It's a shame it took a gunshot to the leg for you to take my pants off," He mumbles through his cig and a laugh.

"It's a shame you're not that smooth, or maybe I would have enjoyed it," I smile at him, and he laughs even harder. "On a more important note, tell me more about who's following us please." I roll up my window so I can hear him clearly.

"Well," Taking the last drag from his cig, he discards it and rolls up his own window up. "They want information about your father. You are his only living relative, so it makes sense to go to you first." He sends a glance my way.

"My father has been dead for almost two decades, why would they want information about him?" I shake my head, all of my fathers studies were burned when he died so that no one could continue his work. "What do they want from you?"

"Information on my father as well." He nods. His eyes, though looking at the road, seem distant.

"Why?" I ask, confused. "And why come after us?"

"They don't believe that they are truly dead, they think they faked their deaths somehow," He runs a hand through his hair, steering with one hand. "Our fathers worked together to build weapons and bombs, the people that are out to get us believe that they've gone into hiding and plan on eliminating every enemy they've ever had." He says, shaking his head.

"I watched my father die. He is truly dead, if he were going into hiding he would have taken my mother and I with him." I see the image like it lays before me now, my family's bodies littering the floor of our small house out in the country. "So who are they? Another agency?" I ask, not wanting to dwell.

"We're not sure, there are theories that they are a group of agents who dropped out of our usual program to form their own." He shrugs, sounding unconvinced.

"Is there any reason why we are running together? Wouldn't it be better to separate?" I ask, thinking we could divide their forces, weakening them.

He shrugs and glances over to me again. "De Luca thought we had a better chance together. Neither of us would have survived that attack, last night, alone. So I guess she was right." I nod, looking out at the world passing by. I have never trusted anyone as much as I trust De Luca, so out of respect, I feel obligated to carry out her dying wish.

"So where are we going?" I ask.

"We have some business to attend to, we're meeting with a man who worked with De Luca. I used to work under him, and he has requested our presence." His eyes tighten and his lip catches between his teeth.

"Where is he? Another safe house?" I ask, chewing on my own lip now.

"No, well kind of. He has his own personal safe house. We won't be staying there." He says, looking over to me. "It's not far, he can help us come up with the best plan for survival."

"Okay, so we won't know our next move until we talk to him?" I ask. He shakes his head.

"Our original plan was to get to another safe house and negotiate our working situation with a manager there, but he called me last night saying he wanted to meet with us." I remember his phone call, and his dark eyes set on me as I entered the house.

"Do you know the way there?" I ask.

"Yes, and if we get lost there is a laptop in the back that can give us direction, from there we can also contact any safe house." I nod, impressed. "It's how I've been receiving missions."

"Nice," I smile. "I just get flown in and out of De Luca's safe house. I rest for a day or two and get sent out again. It's been that way for years. I guess things are going to be a little different." De Luca and I worked very well together. She knew my boundaries and respected my wishes. She has know me since I was very young, and now all of that is over.

"It'll be okay," Grayson says. "At least you're not alone." He shrugs.

I breath out a laugh. "I'd almost prefer to be alone. I've never done well working with someone." I admit.

"I've only ever had one partner," He tells me, I find sadness in his eyes when I look at to him.

"Did you enjoy it?" I regret pushing the subject as I watch his knuckles turn white around the steering wheel.

"Yeah, but it sucks to lose a partner," I watch as the muscles in his jaw flex, taut against his skin. "That's why I'll never want another."

The car grows silent as we think to ourselves, but I can't help but notice the tear that slips down his cheek.

We had settled into a pace, so when Grayson started speeding up and taking turns that would lead us in circles, I got confused.

"What's wrong?" I ask, looking in the mirrors.

"They found us," He watches the rear view mirror, the muscles in his jaw working vigorously.