A/N: a scary surprise <3 for y'all happy Halloween
11:03 AM
Date: May 12th, 2018
Location: Safe House
Harry Styles
These never ending questions have finally come to an end.
I just finished telling my side of the story within the last hour or so and all I wanted was to go back to sleep and make sure these stitches were to be healed within the next few weeks. My head sits behind the cushion of the sofa and I close my eyes for a quick five seconds.
That is until I sense a warming presence crawl onto my lap. Arms wrapping around my neck so tightly and to my right side is a pair of wide eyes in a pool of golden amber.
They stare back at me, trying to reach deep into my brain. It seems weird and disturbing, but we're still figuring each other out. One way or another.
"This morning already feels like a busy day by the time we got up." Sloane's voice ripples just before it hits my ear.
"You think it's too late to change the locks and kick them out?" I say.
Cade has started a conversation with Cory which seems to be going well about things that interest them the most. Devon went to go make some late breakfast while Carter wanted to smoke a new roll in his pocket.
She giggles. "You're gonna have to tell my uncle that when he comes to find you staying in here with me."
The thought almost haunts me, knowing he would find every weapon in his position to come and kill me off. It'll send me to my grave faster when he learns that his niece is giving me a safe haven while I've been making her mine.
My hand covers my eyes. "I think it's better if we just kick them out so we can go back to bed."
"I think I would agree with you on that." She replies.
Her hands move over to the back of my head, fingers crawling through the roots of my hair as it soothes me so easily. It's hard not to keep my groans from echoing off these walls.
"I like when you do that to me, darling." I mumble, my eyes falling back.
As she continues toying with my hair, I start to wonder how the hell are we going to survive off the secrets that are now being told to our friends. Either way, I was hoping we could escape somewhere off the country and start our new lives there.
Just the two of us. I can almost picture myself in a quiet cottage home and with her by my side as we watch the sunset come down and the stars fall into place.
I want that so much knowing she would too.
"Since we got sidetracked for the past two hours-" Sloane disturbs me as I open my eyes. "Tell me more things about the real you."
My memory still lagged on the past experiences before meeting her, but she told me she wanted to hear everything I would unfold. There's no more hiding from her.
During breakfast, she unraveled the long adventures and missions that put her life on the line just so she could be a higher rank. Both of us didn't attend school once we entered the task force. The high school was just a cover-up for her and I; she graduated a year early. Turns out, she speaks 4 languages but uses French to talk amongst her organization.
"Well if I can remember aside from the long lists of profiles and names that I was ordered to go by, I never really had to change my name. It didn't seem a big of a deal to me and it was easier if I could finish them off."
"Okay then." An awkward smile lets loose from her mouth. "But not once did you ever go by an alias?"
I shake my head. "Only when I was undercover for take outs and missions. All the names they had up for me were kind of lame and stupid."
"Like?"
"I think..Nick Burroughs or something like that. I can't remember." I shift in my seat but keep her body still on my lap. I switch my arms as one wraps around her waist and the other on her knee.
"Actually..my last name isn't really my last name." She admits.
"Then what was it before?"
"Devereux. It was my father's until I was born and I decided to change it to keep me away from CASTA before I had to step in and join the forces."
"Huh. Sloane Devereux. I kinda like it better than Davenport. It's got a good ring to it."
"Not as much as Harry Edward Styles." The way my name rolls out from her mouth makes my face grin. She draws her face closer, eyes still wide searching for something deep within my pupils.
"Any more secrets I should know about you stranger?"
"There's a lot more than meets the eye. But I'll explain it when we have our spare time alone." She whispers. Her hand is now resting against mine jawline, her thumb stroking my cheek over and over. If the house was too occupied, I'd take her back to the upstairs room and bury myself in her evergreen scent.
Her lips, pecking each inch of jawline, sends shockwaves in my body. My hands can't help it and I pick her up and straddle her onto my lap. Our foreheads pressed together, skin cut off by our clothes yet our hearts linger every time she's next to me.
What's more tempting is to do right where our mates are on the other side of the room as my erection is becoming more than semi-hard at this point. Another moan escapes from her lip. I tug on her hair, grasping every strand in my fist and press my lips on her neck.
"God, I wish you did this to me earlier." She mewls.
"Ditto on that." I reply, laying another knick on the corner of her neck.
My hands travel down her backside, mindful of her stitches on the shoulder blade and crawl under her sweater. I run my fingers along her spine, making her back arch in complete ecstasy. I want to turn her on in every single way to keep her in my arms.
"Jesus fucking christ, get a room you two."
I lips pause before leaving a kiss on her neck. I roll my eyes to myself and turn my head slightly to the opposite of Sloane's.
Carter stands behind the sofa looking down on both of us. The stench of his joint lingers onto him as he chugs a water bottle. "You guys seriously can't go 5 minutes without being all attached with one another?"
"Hey we're stuck with each other until we get caught by both our agencies." Sloane defends us. "As long as you don't snitch about our location and yours as well."
With our organizations looking for our bodies, we're ghosts in this world.
"Whatever, it's not like I'm gonna tell anyone besides you and Cade." He shifts his attention to me. "But I don't think it's safe for me and him to be staying at headquarters anymore since we got here. There's eyes everywhere."
"You got a point though." Sloane adds. "I mean there's plenty of room in this safehouse if you need to-
He uses his hand to gesture a waveoff. "No, it's okay babydoll. I'm living in an apartment on top of Angel's Hell. Rent's pretty easy aside from working most nights but they allow me to work on my music more for the live sessions. But thanks for the offer. I'll keep it in mind since you seem already occupied with your boyfriend."
She turns to me as she gives me an awkward silent look of embarrassment. I don't say anything but she laughs anyway. The way she laughs is a beautiful sound I want to hear on repeat.
"Well that leaves those two out of the question. Just gotta tell Cory and Devon that same situation since they can't be traced back here if they want to visit."
"They're already staying at one of my uncle's safehouses. As long as they don't have trackers on them, they'll be fine." She uses her fingers to smooth my hair.
"How many safehouses did your uncle make?" Carter asks her, still standing behind the couch.
"Too many to count if that's what you're asking." She responds. "His cover up was a construction builder along with my dad but they had better purpose for doing something with it."
"Shit. Why not build me a recording studio?"
I shake my head and groan. "Carter, you're almost banned from every recording studio after you almost took down that rapper's bodyguard from trying to get a selfie with and pickpocketing." I remind him of his vicarious sins.
"Hey I just wanted to see if he was lying about that 10k he sang about in his pockets. Plus I still have some of it stashed with my belongings." He shrugs his shoulders and walks over to the end of the sofa near the fireplace. He ends our secret moment of getting tangled up together but I keep Sloane in my lap and wrap my arms around her.
Cade and Cory quickly join us later as Devon finishes eating what seems to be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Who would've thought that I'd be in a room with SIDD and CASTA agents that seem to be getting along pretty quicker than a bullet to the chest.
I guess some differences can have their common interests in this world.
"Lemme get this straight-" Devon stands in the center of the couches. "If we keep both of your lives a secret just by staying in the safehouse, you'll be fine right?"
"I mean, if it continues to work we'll play it like one of us ended the other and vice versa. There's always a cover up needed." Sloane suggests. "Wilkins would definitely need a physical corpse of me to prove you killed me." Her eyes glance at me.
"Not to mention, the cameras installed at the venue." Cory chirps.
Cade shakes his head at him. "Hate to break it to you but Harry asked me to erase every footage there was. That way the police wouldn't use it as a digital footprint to trace us."
"Well there goes that plan for saving Slo."
"Do you think the commander will find you?" Carter inserts him into the conversation.
"Too soon to tell. But knowing how he wants to know whether I made it out is the only thing that matters to him." I shake my head. "As long as he doesnt where I'm keeping the key."
"Oh shit you're right." Cade's eyes light up.
"What key?" Devon asks.
"Does she still have it?" His question roams over to Sloane who's confused as much as her friends are. I shift my body to face her from the side, ready to tell her what is now being discussed at the touch of her skin.
"You still got my necklace right?" I murmur only for her to hear.
She nods, yanking it out where it was hidden underneath her sweater. The chain and cross pour like water into her hand. Then, her face paints an expression of realization. "Wait, this key? For what?"
"It's something the commander has been planning for a long time. To take down your organization from the day war broke out between us. I don't know what it's surprise is. That's why I stole it when I was younger and kept it with me. He never came down to visit me, asking where the hell it's been. It's the only thing that's stopping his reign of terror and from underground destruction."
When I finish explaining, almost everyone's mouths are on the floor. Cade looks like he just lost another round of poker while Carter's eyes are bigger than when he usually gets faded.
"When I told you to tell me everything, I think that should've been the first thing on the agenda." Sloane's face is now flustered with a warm shade coloring her cheeks. "And most of all, letting me wear this knowing I'll be hunted for it."
"Hey hey, it's gonna be alright." I place my hands on her, one on her cheek the other on her shoulder. "I found out there was a tracking device by the time I left my old home and had Cade disable it. I even made sure that that was the only copy he had. For all I know, he doesn't know you exist in my data files."
Everytime I put myself in a situation where I'm at fault, there's always collateral damage that is brought along. After 5 years and the trauma I had to put behind on what happened with Julia, Sloane needs to be kept away. I know she can fight, but my father's bandwagon of loyal hunters will burn the ground until she's found alive but soon to be killed.
After the events of last night, I'll take down hundreds of men if that's what it takes to protect her. I learned plenty of ways to kill a man and some of them don't have to be with weapons.Picturing a world without her in it, I'd destroy it in extinction hoping it would never come true.
There was never one time I had to die for a person's life. I now reconsider my options.
I'd die for her..Whatever it takes to make sure she lives her life.
"Harry, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Sloane asks me.
"It's in the works, but I have a plan on top of what I'm going to do. It may take some time but as long as we keep ourselves undercover, we're going to be alright, okay darling?"
Her throat hitches a stuttering breath but she nods in compliance. I smooth out her cheek, imprinting a soft kiss as a small gesture of affection.
I turn Cade and Carter. "I need you guys to stay undercover. Burn every device you have from SIDD that could serve ties to my father. He'll send dozens of spies to take us out so make sure you don't do anything stupid."
"Pff, like I'd throw myself into the cage of sharks already." Carter says. "Cade and I will be safe. We got enough armory at Angel's Hell to supply after we got robbed." He shows a slight side eye to Sloane and her friends on the couch.
To her dismay, she can't help but grin and shrug her shoulders.
"We'll need to get more resources from what's left of headquarters and the house too." Devon adds on. "Whatever we need is what's going to protect our lives from now on. Slo, do you think we can get to your old location and find any more weapons?"
"Yeah. Contact my uncle and tell him that I'm okay, just don't mention Harry yet. I need to explain to him myself rather than unfolding how it was this morning." Sloane warns them.
"What's the game plan if we get compromised?" Cory asks.
"Find a safer location if all of us get caught. We can't be close to any big cities or towns that could give us away so think of one location where we can all gather and find escape routes if you can, that's all we can do for now." I set the rules straight as they all nod in agreement.
All hell could break loose in a matter of seconds if our privacy and our bodies are found at this place. Even worse for the person I choose to stay and keep her alive at the very being of the time of war.
"We're gonna start heading back to the safehouse and stop by the house. But I'll use the aerial drone instead and have Dev inspect it inch by inch." Cory and her stand up as they gather their guns from the coffee table. Sloane gets up to hug them both and show them out the door, wishing them safe travels.
I whistle loud enough for both my roommates to pick it up and look at me. "Okay you two hit the road." I gesture to the door with my thumb pointing to it.
"Aw cmon, mate." Carter groans. "Can't I just sleepover with you two?" He pleads.
"Unless you wanna get hunted down by your own organization and CASTA's and possibly the commander, you're welcome to become a dead man walking." I say.
He scuffs. "You're absolutely a buzz kill, man." He gets up from his seat as well as Cade with Sloane still standing at the door. I walk over with them as I stand next to Sloane.
"I seriously can't believe you actually make yourself suffer even more with his ass in your own home." Carter talks to Sloane as she unlocks the door.
"Yeah, but at least I'd suffer with him than stay with my abusive ex."
Carter louds a larger hiss from his sour expression and shakes his head. "You two making falling love such a weird and disturbing relationship."
Wrapping my arm around the crook of her neck and the other to her waist, I plant a kiss on her head. "I learned from the best. Now get out before you two get caught by highway patrol."
"Whatever you say dad." Carter claps my hand as he flips his hoodie back up.
"I'll keep you updated on everything, Harry." Cade greets me a goodbye as we pat our backs. "Take care Sloane." He nods his head down to her and I can feel her body warm up my chest by the way she pushes up against me.
We watch them go to the car and close the door, with the security system automatically locking ourselves in. Once the car finally is out of sight, I make my move as I turn Sloane around to face me, with my only attention to gaze at. She's now pinned against the door with my body covering her eyesight and my arm leaning against the wooden material.
"Sooo, where were we?" I murmur.
She grins at me like an idiot, using my long sleeve to tug my head closer to hers. The closer I am with her in the house, the less time our clothes will be attached to our bodies. At this point I'm ready to just quarantine ourselves for god knows how long.
"On the part where you wanted to take me on the couch. But we can settle where we are right now." A soft laugh falls from her mouth and I silence her by one single press of our lips colliding.
Her hands intertwine with my hair as I take hold of one side of her face, tilting to over so I have an open space of her delicate neck. I pucker every inch of her softness as her moans travel down her throat.
My body pushes up against hers so she's now glued to the door. My dick is throbbing with these oversized sweatpants that come between me and her lower half.
There is absolutely no control when it comes to her and her presence because I want her all to myself.
"Harry.." She cries out my name.
"What do you want now, little freak?" I whisper on her skin but continue to make my marks on her.
"What's that..bag?" She says catching her breath.
Her words catch my attention as I stop my trail of kisses up her neck. I completely forgot about my tasks earlier before her friends showed up with a gun to my face and Carter being a complete fool. My eyes fall back on her with my full attention now on hers.
"I..uh.. I wanted to be a surprise, but we had some unexpected visitors."
"Oh.." Her face drops. "What's in it though?"
"Um..well it's nothing too fancy but.." I scratch the back of my head trying to confront her on how to say this but I don't want to scare her for being such a lurk in her life. Instead, I go over and grab the drawstring bag that lays on the floor and open it up for her to see.
I let her take a peek of what's inside and with a questionable look on her face, she reaches down the rabbit hole and pulls out a prescription bottle.
"What are the drugs for?" She asks warily. "Are they for you?"
I shake my head fast. "No darling. I..uh I know you're struggling with your night terrors and insomnia and we obviously are limited with the outside world so um I uh..decided to ask Carter to grab his stash of drugs he keeps for god knows what."
Her head slightly tilted, as her eyes grew bigger. "You were trying to find me prescription pills?"
"Yeah." I confess. "I tried to find the ones you need the most because I don't want you to be wrecked with the lack of sleep. I know you try to ignore how much it bothers you and I don't want you to ever be ashamed of how terrible it makes you." I cup her cheek as if it was water and she doesn't shy away from my gesture.
She holds my hand as we stare at each other and draws herself closer. Our foreheads come into contact as they bump gently.
"Didn't realize you've got it bad for me huh, Harry." She smiles.
"When it comes to you, you're always the extra mile, stranger." I can feel both of my dimples lift higher. My thumb brushes her cheek and moves a loose strand away.
"Because now you're my only priority, Slo. I hate to see you suffer whenever you're around me 'cause it feels like I'm helpless. I want to be the one who is always going to be there for you. And trust me, one single touch from my agency and I'll kill them in 60 different ways which half are illegal here."
"This might be the sweetest thing no one has ever done for me."
"Well there's always a first for everything, Slo." I kiss her but this time I lay my lips only to hers without moving them. Even though we may have stitches that are to be torn by our roughness, I act as if her skin was made of feathers, with easy care.
She pulls away from our kissing. "Thank you again. I don't think I could even survive without your quick thinking."
"I call it preparing for anything. I always think three steps ahead before the next thing. It's a habit of mine."
"Better than the forgetfulness I have." She closes her eyes and laughs. She stuffs the prescription bottle back in the back and closes it up. "I'll dig through this later and find the right ones." She takes the bag from my hand and puts to the floor again. "C'mon I wanna show you something."
"You already gave me a tour of the house." I say.
She takes my hand despite my comment. "I know but this is obviously no ordinary safehouse especially made for agents like us." A mischievous grin paints on her face as I mirror her expression back.
Sloane guides me past the guest bathroom and in the hallway where a wooden dead end stands in front of us with a painting of a forest.
"I'm assuming there's a secret passage that has a vending machine behind here?"
"Very funny. But no." She lets go of my hand and goes up to the picture frame. In the right bottom corner she twists it so that the frame piece is now correctly in place. The picture is divided into two as a black screen is now displayed.
She places her palm directly in the center after a single scan.
"Password." An automated voice replies.
"Devereaux est le nom." Devereaux is the name. Her accent is smooth as she walks backwards to me.
A small beep triggers the entrance. We wait as the walls separate into two, splitting down in the middle where the frame lies. In front of us is a small cubicle of the size of an elevator.
She takes my hand once more and tugs us both into the claustrophobic box. When we're inside, she presses the button with the symbol of a B, as I assume it's for the basement level. The doors close and suddenly we're riding down from the surface.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna murder you." She whispers.
I place my hand on my chest for the dramatic flare. "Oof, you got me there, stranger. I was wondering if you decided to get rid of my ass once and for all."
She giggles again making her cheeks blush in a warm shade. "It ain't the first time someone tried to assume that."
The elevator comes to a slow stop after ascending down from the main level. The doors slowly open and reveal a dark and cold setting before us. However the lights turn on, signaling our presence.
Underneath the safehouse is a room where an agent or hitman would enjoy their spare time. The walls are painted in a charcoal gray to match the mood of the lighting and dozens of black enclosed shelves. Black placemats cleaned and unused, a small shooting range in the corner that stretches to the far side and dummies with the faces scratched out.
Sloane walks into the room, soaking up the cold draft that hits our skin.
"I assume your uncle had this built too." I said to her.
"Well originally it was a panic room but soon after became a training area if I ever had to relocate." She walks over to the black shelves, unlocking it through a combination and reveals a heavy load of all the armory one assassin could live off of.
My mouth drops to the floor as I see every gun designed to man; ammunition lined up perfectly and with more in steel cases. Sloane opens the next shelf with one dedicated to small weapons, preferably the knives.
As she picks one up I suddenly walk over to her before she can spear it anywhere. "Might wanna put some restraints on you for a while."
"I wasn't going to throw it at you. I just wanted to see if it needed any sharpening, that's all."
I don't buy it at all, knowing how last night turned into a stabbing contest. "Hmm..sure."
All she does is smile and shake her head to herself. She walks over to the third shelf and unveils enormous amounts of grenades in various forms.
I see one that catches my attention and take it off the shelf. "What's this one do? Tase a thousand volts?"
"No, it's a hand-grenade."
"Shut up." I say in disbelief and she takes it out of my hand. "What about the knuckle brass?"
"Those are actually wired with volts to electrocute a fraction second into the abyss of death." She says coolly.
"You've never touched any of this?"
"Some only to test in the backyard forest. The guns, knives and and the rest were to pick up on my skills before I entered the field."
"Oh." I nod my head and look around the area more. There's a desk in a smaller room, filled with computers and other tech that is on the wall. I turn on the light and see weapons disassembled and in the process of being put together.
There's a picture frame sitting on the corner desk. It's a little grainy and creased by folds. I take a closer look at it and pick it up.
A man with a much younger look with his sunglasses on his head staring straight to the camera. Underneath him embraced by his arms is a young girl, brown hair swept by the wind. Her cheeks lifted by her smile with a few missing teeth.
Both of them, careless and free on the cliffside of the ocean. With only a few hints of where they are, I know where this was taken.
By the time I set it down, I feel footsteps come closer to the doorway. Sloane leans against the frame, arms crossed and a small look painted by sadness of the memory it might have given her.
"My dad took that picture of me and my uncle." She draws herself closer to me. "I always liked being drawn towards the sea whenever my parents and I would visit him."
I don't have to waste my time turning my head to feel her arms loop around my torso. My heart beats slower whenever she gets this close and I never have to feel worried whenever she's right with me.
"That smile never changed, darling." I comment.
"Except for the missing baby teeth." She murmurs.
"Never stop smiling because it will always be the first thing that I'll ever think of you."
I turn myself around to meet her eyes again, tucking the loose ends of her hair to the back of her ear and setting my arms on her shoulders. Her smile still stains her mouth as her eyes shimmer with complete adoration.
"I don't think I've smiled in a long time because of the feud between us." She says.
"Well, then I guess it's time I give you another reason why." I grin.
"Do you think we got a real shot at this?"
There's anxiety in her voice that creates a small crease in her eyebrows. I want to kiss that spot so badly that it will fade away easily.
"As long as we stay together, Slo. I meant when I said I'd be here for you no matter what happens to us. It's you and me against the world now even if the devil will be playing games on us."
I use my hand to cradle the back of her head, shrinking the gap between our foreheads. Her breathing hitches as I lay my other hand on her waistline. The necklace glistens under the fluorescent light in the room.
With those doe eyes and soft doll skin, she is utterly the most beautiful person I've ever crossed the line for.
I know she's afraid as much as I am. I don't think I've ever dealt being stuck in this position before.
"You have my word, Sloane. Do you trust me?"
She doesn't take her time but only to answer me with her lips on mine. That is for sure the only thing that ties us stronger together. And she'll be with me till we end up in flames.
She is only to be mine, nobody in the fucking world will ever take her from me.
"I trust you, Harry." She whispers. "I'm all yours."