𝑨𝑹𝑬 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑨𝑭𝑹𝑨𝑰𝑫 | four, six underground.

xi. HELLO TROUBLE

"Hello, trouble." Four's scratchy morning voice announced his arrival.

     The male lazily strolled into a room the ghosts had set aside for training. His dirty blonde hair was messy from sleep and was only dressed in a pair of light grey sweatpants. A yawn escaped his pale lips as he stretched his toned arms above his head. Way
too early in the morning for his liking.

Four was unexpectedly greeted by a sharp, glistening blade, wizzing past his face and embedding itself into the wall behind him. "Almost took my ear off, love." He chuckled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

     Zero had not slept last night. Instead, finding herself training in an attempt to keep her mind occupied.

"How dare you." She spat.

"W-what?" Four stumbled on his words.

She let another knife fly, this time nicking his ear. However the stinging feeling followed by a drop of blood that escaped the small wound, was nothing in comparison of how much hurt Iris felt.

"You-you came into my life, and the second I begin to let myself love again, you almost died. How fucking dare you!" The woman was practically shaking.

However to Four, her words could've been in a different language. As soon as 'love' flew out of her mouth, nothing else mattered. The three paces between them suddenly felt a thousand miles, he craved closing those paces and simply holding her, never to let go again.

"I know we're doomed love, alright. Either of us could die at any moment, and we have a million odds against us. But I can't help it, I can't help but loving you." Four's mouth let his heart bleed out. "You can throw your knives, you can yell and scream and call me a dick. But, I don't care. I'll take it. I'll take the chances and face a million odds. Zero. Just let me love you. Please."

The final knife slipped from her hand, falling to the ground. The sound echoed around the silent and dusty room. They were both frozen in time.

     Iris threw herself onto Four, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Out of shock, he stumbled back despite returning the embrace. His large arms found themselves snaked around her waist as she felt her feet leave the ground.

"I'm just so fucking scared of losing you." Iris whispered in his ear.

"Til' death do us part, sweetheart." He softly smiled into her neck.

The ghosts found themselves back in the food market, there they could keep a low profile. No one asked questions in the market.

     With a cue from a stone faced Two, Four dragged Murat towards a more private area. The captive daren't say a word. Once they were all grouped together in their oasis of the bustling market, Seven let fly.

"This shit isn't sitting right with me, man. You made a promise. You said you'd always let me pull the trigger."

"Yeah, yeah. I did say that." A vacant one sighed.

"Oh? You remember that!" Seven grabbed One by the collar of his shirt, pushing him aggressively against the wall.

"Seven, easy." Zero warned.

"You wanna know why we don't use names? You wanna know why! No offence Four, I'm glad you're alive. But you left us out on that street totally exposed." One raised his tone at Seven. "If I was up there, I'd expect you to leave me and not turn back."

"No, fuck that." He shook his head in response.

"The mission is more important than the man."

"Fuck the mission."

     Iris didn't like where the argument was going, Four noticed her worry. The usually confident girl shrunk down and her bottom lip found it's way in between her teeth. The tension in the air was suffocating. Four reached down and placed his hand in the small of her back in an attempt to comfort her. Zero's body melted in bliss.

"You don't leave a solider behind."

"Yeah well, I got news for you." One begun. "Seven, you're not a solider anymore. She's not a doctor. She's not a spy. He's not a hit man. He's no longer a thief and this one here, isn't a runaway." He ended, pointing to Zero.

"What's your name?" Seven ignored, turning to Four. "I'm Blaine, I just saved your life. What's your name."

     Zero looked up at the man she cared so deeply for with wide eyes. She noticed his sculpted jaw clench. His eyes found hers.

"It's Billy."

Billy. His name is Billy. The group then went around, exposing their real names as Zero's mind raced. She couldn't let them know. Ones words were trapped in her head and all she could think about was Six. How she let Six in and all it brought her was heartbreak.

"Zero?" Seven asked.

"I- I can't." The woman frowned, looking towards the ground.

"Hey ghosts this is Blaine. We're below radar and entering turgistan airspace. Four days until the day of the dead."

     Zero and Four were immediately sent into the hot turgistan mountains, more specifically to the TV relay. The lions stalked their way through the grass until they reached the barbed wire fence, guarding the satellites.

     Four let the ghosts know they had reached their desired location as Zero cut open the padlock on the tall gates with a pair of large wire cutters.

"Are you afraid?" She asked.

     Fours's ears pricked up and he turned to face Zero. He paused, simply wanting to stare into her eyes for just a second longer.

     Deep down he knew his answer would scare the woman so he just smiled and leant down, placing a short kiss on her plump lips.

     Zero watched Four jump the fences and climb. Doing what he did best, the man swiftly went out of sight as he climbed higher and higher, scaling the sattaltie dish.

"Inverters in place." He informed over the intercoms after a couple minutes. Zero smiled, knowing he completed his task safely.

     The mission was about to begin.