Chapter 8.

*****

I punched the bag in front of me hard before I kicked and jabbed at it a few more times.

It was sometime past midnight, probably one or two in the morning. I was in the gym because I could not sleep. Firstly, Rave hadn't answered yet, that was stressing and then past twelve, Liliana called me to wish me a happy birthday, after he did Tony and Gerard did too. I had not even remembered...

I stopped and grabbed the bag hearing something behind me. I heard a chuckle and looked to see that Adrian had just walked in trying to open the door silently so that I would not hear him, when I had turned he just shoved it open.

"My life's mission is to sneak up on one of you agents. I will prove that the impossible is indeed possible on day." I gave a laugh at his words before I tilted my head as he pushed the two doors closed as they were before he had come in.

"What are you doing up?" I asked taking in his attire. He wore white silk trousers and a buttoned-up long sleeved jacket that matched. He was wearing a pair of formal black shoes. He even looked formal in his pyjamas... I was beginning to wonder if he even owned a t-shirt or track pants. Well, his hair was an uncombed black mess – that was a first.

"Why are you practicing in a dark room?" he answered my question with one of his own. I rolled my eyes; the room was pretty lit by the moon and stars from outside.

"Light would make the room warmer; I didn't want to turn on the fans." I shrugged answering him.

"I had some work to finish. I tried to tell myself I would do it tomorrow so that I could get some sleep but procrastinating is not something I do very well." I smiled at him as he shook his head looking upset. "So I finished it now and I was heading back to bed when I heard noise from in here." He said.

"Sorry." I said.

"Do not be... Tell me, Jessica. Do you dance as well as you fight?" he asked giving me a smile.

I lifted my hands and began thumb wrestling feeling slightly embarrassed under his eyes. "I don't dance," I shrugged turning to hit the bag again.

"Ah, you said that you do not, not that you cannot. So it is correct for me to assume that you can dance but choose not to?" He asked. The way he – and his brothers – spoke made them sound so much older than they were...

"No. I- I can't dance. Don't know how to... never had to." I said kicking the bag.

"You have never danced?" he sounded shocked.

I turned around and found him about two feet away from me. I shook my head pulling the sleeves of my shirt down and over my hands. I had no idea why I felt so embarrassed right now. Why was I so self-conscious around him? Was it his obvious authority?

"Jessica, life without dance is like... a workout with no warm up." I cringed at the thought and he smiled having gotten a reaction, "Or a day without the sun." He added holding his hand out to me.

I looked at his hand. "Y-you want to dance?" He nodded, "But I just said –" I was saying.

"Let me teach you." He cut me off. I looked at him uncertainly and he gave me a warm smile and I felt a little fuzzy before I reached out and took his hand.

He stepped close to me and put his hand on my waist. I bit my lip following his movements and he laughed.

"No, your hand goes here." He took my hand and guided it to his shoulder.

I felt my face burn furiously as I mumbled an apology and he chuckled. My breath caught in my throat as I felt his hand gently against the small of my back. I looked down and watched his feet, copying his movements as he moved forward and to the side.

"Relax... look at me." He said.

I swallowed as I looked up and decided that staring straight ahead at his collar bone would be easier than looking into his eyes. I stumbled as his foot kicked against mine because I had lost my footing.

"Look into my eyes," he said. I nodded following his instructions and looked up at his green eyes. They were staring right back into my own and he had a smile on his face that made my stomach feel tight, not bad tight but stuffed with butterflies tight. Which, come to think of it, is bad tight...

I found us flowing easier, I trusted his movements and he seemed to be guiding me really easily.

"Now I am going to twirl you." He pushed me gently and I tried to twirl but my legs somehow got tangled and I cried out as I fell but he caught me laughing before I could hit the ground. "I cannot believe someone who fights like that dances like you do."

"Hey! I tried!" I shoved his chest as he laughed before I crossed my arms, "And I wasn't THAT bad." I added in a mumble.

"True, you really were not that bad for your first time," he said, "Though, we have to admit it is because you had a great teacher." He added.

"Ah, that's where Max gets it." He laughed as I liked Maximilian's cockiness to his own.

"No, Max gets it from Edgar... I am not that bad." He said.

"True." I smiled before it fell as I sucked in a breath realising why he was making me feel funny, "Um, we should – bed – we should get to bed. I mean us – no, not 'we', but – you know, you go to your bed and I... I'll go to mine." I wanted to knock myself out for how I was acting, I couldn't even bring myself to look at him as I flushed with embarrassment, "Good – good night –" I stuttered before attempting to leave but he grabbed my wrist. He chuckled.

"Good morning, Jessica... happy birthday." I was shocked. How did he even know it was my birthday? "Tell me your real name." He added.

"I can't." I said back into agent mode, which I never should have stopped. Wait, since when is there something other than agent mode? That was the only one I had, it was who I was. "Good morning, Adrian." I gave him a nod before I left as fast as I could without looking like I was running from him.

-----

"Yeah, but see he has not been in good shape all season –" I was currently walking through beside Maximilian as he spoke to Gabriel about soccer. They had been having the same discussion since this morning when we walked in; apparently there was a match everyone watched last night.

"If he was in bad shape, he wouldn't be playing, Max. This is his shape. I think it's time you and Barcelona realise his career is over." Gabriel said as bit a piece of his chocolate before he held it out to me.

I was going to decline but Maximilian gave a snort cutting me off as he took the chocolate and shoved it into my hand shooting me an 'It won't kill you' glance before looking at Gabriel. "His career is far from over. And, do I have to point out that the only reason Madrid won was because of that penalty for the fake foul they acted out."

I sighed looking at the bar of chocolate. I could count the amount of times I ate chocolate every year, once. When my sister insisted I try it on Christmas Eve every year. It wasn't part of the agency diet.

I took a bite and my brows rose at how amazing it was while it melted in my mouth.

"You're just a sore loser. Biggest point is: Real won. You suck, accept it." Gabriel tried to take the chocolate from me but I pulled my hand back and glared at him. Both guys looked at me before Maximilian chuckled.

"It's her birthday, let her have it." He said to Gabriel.

"Oh! You didn't tell me! Happy birthday!" He let out a grunt when he tried to hug me but I shoved my palm into a part of his chest that would make his entire body weak for a second.

"Oops." I mumbled looking at Maximilian as his friend recovered.

"It's better than a punch; you're getting better at this, Cousin." He whispered ruffling my hair.

My response was punching him in the ribs after I had surveyed the area and found an angle where no one would see it from. He grunted gritting his teeth and Gabriel looked at him confused.

"Cramp." He gave a crooked smile as he covered and I smirked.

"You better fix that before the game." Gabriel responded as we reached our maths class.

When maths was over, I walked out following Maximilian's lead.

"Babe," I heard someone kiss their teeth and glanced at Shayne's annoyed face as Candice's arms circled Maximilian's neck and she pecked his lips. He wasn't the only one annoyed by her presence, Maximilian's other friends looked quite annoyed as well, I was itching to find out why but I brushed it off. Teenage drama stories are none of my business. "You coming over?" she asked.

"I cannot, you know I have practice right now, Baby." Maximilian looked apologetic as he brushed her hair behind her ear.

"There's a teachers conference, your practice is cancelled." Candice said.

"It's true." Gabriel spoke up sounding annoyed.

"And no one thought to tell me about that?" Maximilian looked at his friends raising his eyebrows.

"You were busy." Jaime shrugged.

"See? Let's go." Candice said.

Maximilian looked at me, I was confused for a moment before I realised he was actually asking for my permission, I was shocked but gave a slow nod of approval. Why was he being so nice?

"Yes, we can go." Candice giggled as Maximilian gave her a kiss on her lips.

"See you tomorrow, Man," Gabriel and Maximilian did their man-hug followed by some weird handshake I memorized as they did it, "See you tomorrow, Jess!" He pulled me into a bone-crushing hug that I had not been expecting before Jaime and Shayne did the same thing after greeting Maximilian.

I said goodbye to them and they were gone.

"Um... why are you still here?" Candice asked me.

"Candice," Maximilian gave her an annoyed glance and she smiled.

"Let's go." She took his hand and led him past me.

They didn't look back and I let out a long sigh deciding to keep less of an eye on them than last time – I think I was scarred enough from what I witnessed the first time – before I followed them.

I had been sitting in the tree outside of Candice's house, I could see them in the mirror, but not too much of them. I could also see the door. I heard music blast loudly as they did what they did. I had no idea why they got busy with her curtain open. Yes, give your sixty-year-old neighbour a show... ew...

I had been keeping busy by texting Gabriel and Jaime while eating skittles until I saw something move from the corner of the downstairs lounge's window. I abandoned my conversations and sweets as I jumped out of the tree silently. I climbed into the house through Candice father's study's window. I had Maximilian open it earlier, just encase I needed to get in without using the front door.

I walked to the door and peaked into the hall. I saw a tall guy with black hair sneaking towards their room. I noticed his hands clutching something and cursed under my breath seeing the gun he held. I intended to keep this as silent as possible so Candice didn't have to know who I was.

I followed him; he kept his eyes focus in front of him. Maybe he assumed no one else was in the house?

Deciding not to waste any time, I snuck up behind him quickly and covered his mouth with my hand as I brought my knee to his back; it reached his lower back, which was enough to send him falling back with a grunt. He tried to aim the gun at me but I effortlessly twisted it from his hand because he wasn't holding it correctly anyway. Though, when I had focused on the gun, he brought his foot up between us and kicked me in my stomach.

I grunted falling beside him. He quickly scrambled to his feet and made his way to the stairs. I jumped to my feet and followed him. I kicked his head since he was lower on the stairs than I was and he went tumbling down the stairs. He hit the bottom and didn't move. I walked up to him still clutching the gun. I couldn't focus on hearing his heart or breathing because the music upstairs was still blaring.

I cautiously walked up next to him, aiming the gun at his head just to keep him still if he was alive. I should have assumed that he would know that I was trying not to make a noise, because if I didn't care, I would have shot him when he ran downstairs, but I hadn't assumed that and the rookie mistake got me a kick to the back of my knee causing me to fall before his other foot hit the side of my head and then he punched me in the face before he ran for the kitchen, but not before I got a kick at his jaw. He still recovered quickly; I followed him but cried out when a steel pan was slammed into my cheek.

Just shoot him and make this fucking battle shorter.

I had fallen back against the cupboard and in an attempt to get the gun from me, he hit my wrist causing the gun to fall out of my hand and slide across the hallway floor, but before he could try to get it I shot out at him and punched him in the face a couple of times before I grabbed the pan and twisted it from his hand to slam it into his face, just so he could realise how much that fucking hurt.

He fell to the floor and I jumped onto him. I had two options, punch him till he passes out and or just use the tranquilizer dart I had in my jacket pocket. I found option one more appealing and began hitting him but I was forced to stop when he pulled out a drawer causing all the utensils to fall around us before he grabbed the first thing he could and slammed it into my temple. I fell off of him and he quickly reversed our earlier positions so he was on top of me, but instead of punching me, he wrapped his fingers around my throat.

I tried pulling his hands away as my eyes bulged but realised if he was anything, he was strong. I reached for the tranquiliser in my pocket and tried to stab it into him but he caught my wrist before plunging it into my stomach.

He chuckled. "When did ACC agents get this pretty? Too bad you're dead." His hands moved back to my neck as I felt myself weaken.

I reached for whatever was beside my head and as a last resort, plunged it into his neck. His hands moved to the object, but pulling it out only made more blood squirt from his neck. I pulled my phone out and dialled Steve as my hand fell limply beside my head while I began seeing stars because of the tranquilizer and my previous lack of oxygen.

"Aria?!" I heard him yell in concern. It was his emergency number.

"Clean up." Was all I could mutter before everything went black as the guy fell on top of me.

*****