"When will our client be here?" I wondered from across the couch, curiously looking around and admiring the luxurious hotel room Harry and I were currently in as we waited for the person our mission revolved around.

In response, Harry checked his watch, the usual, serious expression on his face before he flickered his green eyes back up to me.

"In a few minutes." He answered, crossing his arms over his chest and going back to resting as he closed his eyes and rested his head back against the cushions, making me smile softly to myself knowing he had spent all night last night trying to fix my nightgown he had accidently torn.

I of course understood he didn't mean it and although it was a beautiful gown, it was a materialistic thing that could always be replaced.

But the fact that Harry had tried to sew it back just for me absolutely warmed my heart.

"Grazie compagno." I thanked him in Italian when I plopped down besides his body on the couch, making him open one eye to send a sideway glance my way with a straight face before a small smirk spead across his pierced lips.

"Non siamo compagnos." Harry responded, going back to closing both eyes and ignoring me as I gaped up at him.

"Of course we're partners." I insisted with confidence, reaching out and gently tugging his shirt to get his attention as he maintained his calm, resting, face.

I placed my chin on his shoulder, watching him with furrowed brows as I patiently waited.

"Harry I know you're awake..." I whispered in a soft voice, not wanting to disturb him just in case I was wrong as his chest rose and fell in a steady manner.

"No I'm asleep." He answered in a deep, husky voice as I blinked up at him.

"Oh, okay sorry." I apologized, moving away to give him some space as I put a greater distance between us, bringing my knees to my chest and patiently waiting.

"It's fine neonata." Harry said, eyes still closed.

After a few moments of silence I finally raised my head and snapped my gaze to him in realization.

"Wait a minute, you are awake." I accused, going back to him as he continued to ignore me, a hint of a miniscule smile on his handsome face.

Harry was very confusing, one moment he was kissing me and the next he claims we're not even partners in our work together.

"Harry, do you like me?" I asked with uncertainty, wanting to check just in case since his mixed signals were confusing me as I rested the side of my face on his hard, tattooed bicep.

"No." He almost said immediatly, making me frown as I pulled back to look at him, not saying anything.

"You didn't ask if I loved you bambina." He smirked with his eyes still closed, taking my silence as a sign of defeat before a spark of joy ignited inside of my chest at his words, making me raise myself up from the couch to lean over him with excitement as I brought my hands to my face, peering down at him with wide, eager, eyes, squealing to myself.

"Do you love-"

"No." He cut me off without hesitation as my shoulders dropped along with my smile before I slumped back onto the couch with disappointment.

"Alright, then I'll just wait." I simply said, taking a deep breath and smiling as I brought my legs up on the sofa, crossing them over the other while Harry opened his eyes at my statement.

"What do you mean you'll wait." He commented, raising an intrigued brow at me as I beamed up at him.

"I'll just wait till you love me, I've been told I'm really good at waiting and I have a lot of patience." I informed in a casual, cheery tone, taking one of the couch pillows and hugging it to my chest as Harry continued to stare down at me with an incredulous look.

"So you take your time," I reassured him, dropping the cushion to grab his face with my hands, momentarily surprising him until he met my gaze with his own.

"But if you ever feel like you're falling in love with me then let me know please. That would make me really happy." I requested, searching Harry's face as he furrowed his brows, fighting back a dimpled grin before he grabbed my wrists and playfully pushed me away, making me giggle as I fell on my side over the cushions while he resumed his previous position, going back to resting with his arms crossed over his chest.

I sat myself up again, watching how peaceful and almost boyish he looked resting like that as I stared at him with admiration.

My heart almost jumped out of my chest when something warm grazed my fingers, making me look down to find Harry's hand on the couch slowly enveloping mine, our palms meeting and his tattooed fingers intwining with mine before I glanced up, his face still the same, void of any expression but his hand was comforting against mine.

"You're so confusing." I sighed in content, not complaining as he squeezed my hand and I scooted closer to his side, leaning my head over his broad shoulder and closing my eyes as well just to enjoy the moment.

Time seemed to be unimportant to me as I sat there with Harry, the seconds ticking by for I don't really know how long before I slowly rose from the couch in an almost zombie like manner, my eyes blank and my movements not made on my own accord as my hand slipped from Harry's while I kept my gaze on the gun that was on the table across from us.

Walking over to it in an almost robotic manner, I grabbed the shiny, silver weapon, handling it in my grip and loading it with a bullet with a straight face before I slowly turned, possessed as I raised the gun, aiming it at Harry's head as he slept on the couch across from me.

My hand was shaking while the room began to spin, the furnitures changing into something entirely different yet familiar at the same time as the constant moving disoriented me before everything slowed.

      The new setting around me was drained of color, settling into a variety of grays as I blinked in surprise when I realized I was no longer pointing the gun at Harry.

In his place was the little boy with the changing eyes as he cried, crying out to me in fear in a foreign language while the faceless man behind him let out a sadistic laugh, keeping him there as a hand with sharp, red nails dug into my hand that was holding the gun, forcing me to keep it aimed at my friend.

I could feel the warm yet chilling breath of the faceless woman that was controlling me, a malevolent smile on her painted lips.

"You two are assassins, trained to kill and look out for only yourselves. What happens when that little friend of yours grows up into a man, a killer. You think he'd hesitate to put a bullet through your head?" She tested, the waves of memories coming back to me as I quickly shook my head, my flushed cheeks already stained with tears.

The words, they came out of my mouth like they had so many times as if I was reciting lines from a play, going against her with all my might as her sentences cut through me.

And then she pressed my finger down with hers over the trigger.

I let out an ear piercing scream in an instant, the air still ringing with the deafening sound of the shot bullet only for me to realize that the faceless man behind the sobbing boy had blocked the bullet at an inhumane speed, deflecting the metal pellet with his pocket knife before him and the woman let out corrupted laughs.

"Look at their faces, she really thought we'd let her kill him." The man barked out in hysteria as my body shook, the woman's sickening cackle filling my ears while I made eye contact with the little boy.

His eyes usually changed colors, from brown to blue, to hazel to black.

But they were such a piercing green as we stared at one another.

And it remained that way.

I let out a small gasp when my hair was violently grabbed and tugged back by the frightening lady who lowered the gun in our grasp.

"We won't be killing you two off so easily, you're both much too important." She grinned a cheshire like smirk, pushing my head away from her as if she was the one who was violated before her partner untied the little boy from his restraints.

"Report back to your rooms." The man ordered in an equally chilling tone as I watched the boy slowly approach me, his small bruised hand twitching to hold mine only for me to subtly shake my head, not wanting him to get punished if we held hands again.

The boy and I followed his instructions, tears flowing down my friend's cheeks while I tried to hold back my as our little feet padded away to our confined dorms.

I was the one who closed the door to our room shut even as I continued to hear the faceless man and woman's voice out through the corridors.

I was the one who slowly led the little boy back to his gray bed across from mine, feeling his wondering green eyes on me as I wordlessly tucked him under the covers.

Before I left I cupped his round face, wiping his slightly wet cheeks while he silently blinked up at me before I let him go, waddling to my own bed and retrieving under the sheets, turning to face the wall so I wouldn't have to face him, wouldn't have to look at him even though I could still feel his gaze on me.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled, staring at the blank wall with a creased brow, swallowing and fisting the mattress cover underneath my eight year old hands in hidden frustration as my eyes began to water.

"I couldn't protect you- and I cried..." I trailed off in sorrow, knowing he could hear me.

I had never cried when I was being tortured or punished until today.

I was just so scared.

The bed suddenly shifted beneath me, making me turn to find the green eyed six year old crawling under the blanket to join me, hugging me as I wrapped my arms around him in return, our usual roles reversed as I cried while he held me.

He began to speak in his foreign language with his soft small voice, the enchanting words leaving his lips as he pressed his head against my chest and even though I couldn't understand him, I knew he was trying to comfort me, just like he knew I was apologizing.

I didn't know I fell asleep until I had woken up to find the little boy gone from my side, not seeing him in his bed before I spotted the slightly opened door of our room causing me to tense up in fear.

His name left my lips in a desperate, hushed call as I peeked out of the cracked door, the syllables of his name rolling off my tongue but not fully registering in my mind as I traveled down the empty hallway until I got to the kitchen quarters where the sounds were coming from.

Walking in I spotted the little boy hungrily stuffing his face with crackers, reminding me that we had not eatten dinner before I rushed to him with urgency.

"What are you doing? You'll get in trouble if they find you here-" I began in a nervous whisper, quickly shaking my head and rejecting a cracker he was offering, crumbs over his full cheeks as I attempted to rub the evidence away from his lips, both of our small bodies freezing when the sound of footsteps outside suddenly bagan to near.

My eyes widened in alarm as I frantically looked around while the little boy huddled closer to me in terror, my hands placed over his arms before I glanced at the cabinet.

"There, quickly." I instructed into his ear for only him to hear as the person got closer, hurriedly opening the cabinet enough for him to squeeze into as I grabbed the bag of crackers away from him.

"Do not come out, no matter what." I told him with a stern look despite my slightly shaking voice as he quickly shook his head, reaching out and grabbing my shirt in protest, shifting inside the cabinet trying to pull me in only for me to pry his persistent hand away.

"We both can't fit in there." I said with a small knowing smile, giving him one last lingering look as he furrowed his brows up before I closed the cabinet doors, hiding him and gripping tightly onto the bag of eaten crackers, turning to face the entrance right as the faceless man who had restrained my friend entered.

"What are you doing with those." He demanded in a low growl as I shifted awkwardly on my feet.

"I got hungry." I meakly replied, taking in a deep breath when he neared me.

"Who did this.." He trailed off in a challenging tone, towering above me as I pointed at myself before he surprised me and crouched down as I looked into a faceless void in front of me.

"If you tell me who really did this I'll let you off with a warning. No punishment needed for you." He offered in a cold tone as my grip on the bag tightened unconsciously.

"Now I'm going to ask again," He continued, leaning forward.

"Who. Did. This." He sneered, making me think about the little boy who was probably shaking in the darkness of the cabinet behind me, hiding as I straightened my spine.

"I did." I claimed again in a stronger voice, making the faceless man in front of me pause and if he had eyes he'd probably be studying me before he rose back to his feet, adruptly yanking the bag of food out of my small hand before he grabbed me by the back of my collar as I held back a frightened scream.

"That's your choice then." He said, dragging me away from the kitchen as I stumbled over my feet.

The last thing I saw before I was pulled out of the room was the little boy peeking out from the cabinet, green eyes wide with worry as we locked gazes before I sent him a small, shakey smile of assurance until I was fully carried away.

I woke up in a daze, slightly disoriented as I looked around me in relief at the sight of the sight of colors around me before my gaze focused on Harry who was in front of me, still holding my hand while the other was on my shoulder.

"Our client's here." He simply informed, a small dimpled smile forming over his face when I tried to rub the sleep from my eyes, realizing my hand was still intwined with his but not caring as I rubbed my face with our clasped hands.

A question left Harry's mouth but I wasn't listening, too busy entranced with how green and familiar his eyes looked as I blinked at him in wonder.

Why did he look so familiar...

He pulled his hand away from mine, slowly, our fingertips brushing against one another, the fleeting touch slipping away as we continued to stare at one another.

He was getting closer, his scorching gaze flickering down to my lips only for a moment as I slowly blinked up at him with half closed eyes, leaning in and angling my head as he decreased the space between us.

"The towels here smell like an angel's ass." An unfamiliar voice entered the room, causing Harry and I to immediatly break apart before our lips could touch as we both straightened under the stare of our client, a young well dressed man who seemed almost around our age as he looked between us, tucking his gold ring clad fingers into his pockets.

His brown eyes then settled on me as I stood to my feet, a flirtacious smirk spreading over his face.

"I don't believe we met," He began in a charming voice, approaching me while Harry watched us with a straight face.

"The name's Spencer Pierce, but as my temporary bodyguard you probably already knew that." He grinned as I smiled and nodded, having already been prepped about him from Angelo.

"Yes, Harry and I will be escorting you safely to your destination." I promised, watching Spencer eye Harry from the side before he turned his attention back to me with a relieved expression.

"Oh thank god you speak English. When I first got here I tried talking to this guy here and everything that came out of his mouth was in damn Italian. Not a sliver of English." Spencer announced, placing his hands over his waist and gesturing to Harry who simply blinked at him with a mutual expression as my eyes widened slightly before I quickly composed myself.

Harry always did these on missions with me.

If our client annoyed him he would pretend to only speak Italian so he wouldn't have to bother with them, just like he did with me.

"Oh well," I began, catching Harry's eye before I looked over at Spencer.

"Don't worry, if you have any concerns you need to discuss you can come to me." I reassured him as he smiled.

"Cool," He started to clear his throat, turning to Harry.

"Nice... tooo... meeeet... youuu..." Spencer said in a slow demented voice, staring at Harry who raised his pierced brow at him, crossing his arms over his chest while I watched the two from the sidelines before Spencer looked at me with a hopeful smile.

"Here," I said, admiring his enthusiasm as I took out something I hadn't used in a long time.

"An Italian dictionary. Muy bueno- ha I'm getting it." Spencer laughed, taking it in his and hand and flipping through the pages in curiousity as I nodded, even though what he had said was actually Spanish and not Italian.

"But don't you need it?" He asked, furrowing his brows as me as I simply shook my head, biting back a smile when I made eye contact with me.

"Not anymore." I told Spencer even though my gaze was locked with Harry's as a hint of a smirk appeared over his face, one only for me to see before it disappeared when Spencer looked up at him.

"Ciao..." Spencer slowly greeted, running his pointer finger under the printed word in the small book as I felt Harry's gaze on me.

"Ciao. Questa sera mentre si è addormentato sarò degustazione questa bella donna di fronte a me nell'altra stanza." (Tonight while you are asleep I will be tasting this beautiful woman in front of me in the other room.) Harry drawled out in a low husky voice, the foreign words rolling off his tongue in a promising manner as my eyes widened at his statement, his dark green eyes pinning me to my spot while Spencer pursed his lips in confusion.

"That sounded a lot longer than a hello..." He suspiciously said.

"Oh- that's because, that's because he said he'll protect you no matter what!" I quickly covered up, my voice unusually loud as I became flustered, trying to focus all my attention on Spencer who stared at me.

"You're turning red." He blinked as my breathing quickened.

"No, no I just- don't worry I'm fine really-"

"She's turning red." Spencer smiled, pointing at me and looking at Harry for confirmation who only smirked, continuing to stare at me as I quickly ushered Spencer out of the room he proceeded to talk, glancing back at Harry before looking at me.

"I think he said something dirty to me in Italian."

I opened my mouth to protest but Spencer looked over his shoulder behind him, making me follow his gaze to Harry in the room we left watching our movements, pinching his pierced bottom lip between his tattooed fingers with dark eyes.

"Oh he definitely said something dirty to me in Italian." Spencer trailed off.

AN: Amazing drawing of the Assassin above by the talented @the1dfanfics