"Awsten?" I turn to him. The drive had been silent only for five minutes and it was driving me crazy. He hums and glances at me. "How are you holding up?" I ask softly. 

He takes a deep breath and taps his finger against the steering wheel. "Tony was my friend. No, we weren't that close, and no, we never worked on a case together, but he was a good person, and you don't see a lot of that in our area of work." He clears his throat and stops at the red light. "I've only met a few truly, honest to god, good people in the agency," he says. "One of them being your boyfriend," he smiles at me. 

I smile and stare out the window. "Is another one your boyfriend?" I ask, turning to him again. He laughs and speeds the car up. 

"Who says he's my boyfriend?" He sighs. "And, who are you even talking about?" He raises an eyebrow. 

"Andy," I grin at him. "I see the looks and the little touches that you think no one sees. I'm a freaking hawk, I see all."

He rolls his eyes and stops at the safe house. "We're here. Are you ready to... Not kill Remington?" He asks, nudging my side. 

I groan. "Not my proudest moment, okay?" I sigh and get out the door. He laughs and walks over to the guards showing his badge. The guard glances at me and nods. 

We walk in and I spot Remington talking to Emerson. Remington looks up and Emerson turns. "You made it," Remington says softly. Emerson stands up and helps Remington up. 

"You're limping," Awsten says, walking forward. "What happened?" 

"I need to speak to Kellin, and only Kellin," Remington says. "May I?" He turns and opens a door. I nod and glance at Awsten, giving him a reassuring look. 

We walk into a private room and he sits down. "Kellin, I wanted to tell you... I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen. But what I'm about to tell you is going to change everything." I take a deep breath. "Your fath- uh, Jeuse, is dying." 

My breath hitches. "What? What are you talking about? How is he dying?"

"He never said why, but he has some illness, and it's killing him. He has two years at most, maybe you don't care, but this is why. Whatever he has, he needs you to fix it, someone about family blood or something."

I cross my arms. "So what? I'm going to kill him anyway. This just makes it fun. It means I have a timer and I get to make sure he's dead before two years." 

Remington shakes his head. "You don't get it. He's willing to kill for this thing. You can end all of this if you just give it to him. I can find out what he wants and-"

"Are you dumb?" I scoff. "I'm not giving that bastard a thing. I want him dead, not to save his life," I roll my eyes. "No."

"But... No one will have to die, and-"

"Shut up," I snap. "I'm not going to save him. I'd rather die," I pound my fist against the table between us. "I have watched as people around me get hurt countless times. I'm not helping that bastard. If he wants anything from me, he's going to have to kill me for it." 

"He'll kill everyone until he gets to you. You can get out of this. You don't have to keep dying for this. Just... Think about it." 

"You don't understand. I could kill you right now and no one would blink a fucking eye, do you get that?" I say lowly. 

"I know more people than you think."

"I could throw you in a cell right now. Nothing is stopping me," I stand up and turn away from him. "Don't be surprised if one day, you walk out the front door with cuffs," I mutter and walk out.

Awsten gives me a look before shaking Emerson's hand. He walks over to me. "Are you okay?" He whispers into my ear. I give him a short nod. He clears his throat and turns towards Remington and Emerson. "If you need contact, speak to a guard," he says before leading me out. 

I walk over to the car and sit down, staying completely silent the whole time. Awsten pats my shoulder. "What did he tell you?" he asks. 

I shake my head. "Mindless rambling, nothing worth... Anything at all," I sigh. He narrows his eyes and stares at me. 

"Lie. Tell me the truth," he says. 

"I- fine. You're not allowed to tell anyone," I say. He nods. "Jeuse is dying. He needs something from me because he thinks it'll help him."

Awsten scoffs. "Why would you give him anything?" I shrug. Awsten clicks his tongue and starts the car. "I'm supposed to send you home. Vic will meet you there." 

I nod and sit back. The car ride was silent, other than the hum of the car and Awsten tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. 

"Hey, Awsten?" I turn to him. He side-glances me and waits, stopping at the red light. "Thank you. For helping me through this."

"Of course. You're innocent in all this. You're the one going through every second in this mess. I'll never leave you to deal all alone," he says. "I care about you and the people in this mission, and as much as they won't admit it, we need each other if we're going to get out of this mess."

I nod and he stops the car. "This isn't my apartment," I say, looking around. "Awsten, what's going on?" 

He checks his watch. "Stay here," he says, leaning over me and grabbing a gun from the glove compartment. "Don't move. If someone comes, scream," he says and gets out of the car. 

I look out the window, I don't see anything, but that's probably why Awsten has a gun. I hear a thud and Awsten comes back. 

"Sorry for scaring you. I got word that someone might be here, I had to make sure we didn't have a tail," he says. 

"Was anyone there?" I ask. He hesitates before nodding slowly. "Are they taken care of?" He nods again. "Good. Are we okay then?" 

"Alright, let's go then," he says awkwardly. "I guess you've gotten used to being targetted," he comments. 

"Not used to it, I'm just too tired to care," I sit back against the seat. "How are you doing? Do agents ever get tired?"

He smiles. "Of course, all the time, after a while, you learn to sleep while being awake, and sometimes, we can survive with five minutes of sleep and seven gallons of coffee." 

I roll my eyes. "I don't want to drink that much," I glance at him. "And I like to sleep, makes me feel safe."

"I think you meant to say you like Vic," he teases. 

"Oh shut up. It's not like you don't feel like that with Andy," I groan. "I just want to go home and lay down, maybe get some sleep. All of this shit just keeps coming and never stops." 

"You and I both know you won't be able to sleep. I know you well enough to see the nightmares just waiting to get in your head." He sighs and stops the car. "Call me if you need anything." 

I nod and walk out I turn and wave to him before walking to my apartment building. 

"Kellin."

I stop and turn to see Tay, she's leaning against a wall with a smirk on her face. "I have news." She steps forward and looks around. 

"No one's here, Awsten left and Vic is in my apartment. Now, what do you know?" I ask tiredly. She rolls her eyes. 

"I looked around, and apparently Jeuse is planning an attack on a gang tomorrow. They need more weapons which means they're weak. I'm going to talk to Andy and Gerard, but I figured you could talk to Vic and Awsten, maybe it'll help."

"Wait so you're saying we might be able to take them down, tomorrow? As in, it's all over?" 

She nods, still smiling. "It might be. I don't want to give you too much hope, but, we have a chance. I just thought you should know, by the way, turn around," she says. I turn. 

"There's nothing-" I turn back around and she's gone. I let out a soft laugh and walk into the elevator. 

"Vic?" I speak, tossing my keys into the key bowl. I flick on a light and see Vic staring out the window. "Vic, what's going on?" I ask, walking over to him. He turns and smiles at me. 

"Nothing you have to worry about, I was just looking. I saw Ms. Jardine walking out of the apartment," he speaks, standing up, wrapping his arms around my waist. I nod and press my lips against his. 

"Are you really going to ignore me?" He mumbles against my lips. I sigh and pull away. "Did she tell you something?" 

I nod again and sit down, patting the space next to me. He sits and I take a deep breath. "Basically, Jeuse," I purse my lips. Saying his name tastes sour on my tongue and I never want to say his fucking name. Vic places his hand over mine and gently squeezes it. "He's having a bunch of people raid a gang for weapons, meaning-"

"They're low. This gives us a chance to attack before they do," he finishes. "That makes sense on why they didn't just shoot Ton-" Vic stops. "Yeah, Andy and I were trying to figure out why they blew up the car instead of shooting." 

"I also found something from Remington," I sigh and curl my legs up on the couch. "Apparently Jeuse is dying," I speak bitterly. "And he thinks something from me is going to save him."

"Like... A blood donor or bone marrow?" He raises an eyebrow. I nod. He scoffs. "Idiot. He's probably dying from cancer or something," he pauses. "You're not going to give yourself up, are you?" 

I shake my head. "That would mean he wins, and I can't do that. Except, the more I think about it-"

"He'll kill you. You won't do it, promise me?" He squeezes my hand slightly harder. I nod and he pulls me into a hug. "I can't lose you, Kellin." 

"One thing never made sense to me though," I speak, sitting up. "How were you planning on keeping this away from me. Or was it all planned for me to know." 

"Well, the original plan was for me to be around you, but you were never supposed to meet me. If anything escalated, like it has now, I would have to get you and bring you to a safe house, like Remington and Emerson's. That was the plan."

"So, what happened? What changed?" I ask. 

The corner of his lip twitches. "I met you. I saw you and I went to Andy the next day to tell him it would be better if I was around you, face to face. He agreed, thinking we'd only be friends or acquaintances. Then it would be the same plan and everything, except you'd know I exist beforehand."

"How long are we going to have to do this?" I roll my eyes. "Obviously that entire plan was ruined, what happened."

"I fell for you," he smiles. "That's what happened." 

I smile back and bury my face in the crook of his neck. "You're so sappy," I mumble. 

"Hey!" He whines. "How rude," he sighs and pats my back softly. "After I realized what was happening, the whole thing went off the rails. I'm not really sure which plan would have been better."

"This one," I answer, looking up. "I don't know if you've realized, but I don't like being kept in the dark." 

"Oh yeah?" He raises an eyebrow. I nod and he glances at the lamp next to us, our only source of light. 

"I swear to god if you do that I'll-"

He shuts the light off and lets out a soft laugh. 

"I hate you," I mumble. 

"Love you too."