^^^NOELLE'S OUTFIT

***

Since some of you are still oblivious, even at this point in time, so:

One - Nigel

Two - Nadia

Three - Mordecai

Four - Malachi

Five - Aziel

Six - Xander

Also, 'D' is what Elle calls Six because of the 'D' in his name Xander. It's her nickname for him. Nothing else.

***

"Where's my-" I gave her the phone before she finished her question.

She blushed. "Thank you."

"You're adorable blossom," I said before kissing her forehead.

I headed to my closet to pick out my all black outfit for the day. I was shirtless, dressed only in my black sweatpants and slippers, while she was dressed in another pair of my black sweatpants and a white tank top with my socks.

She loves my clothes more than her own for whatever reason.

"I'm also not ready for school," she whined.

"But school is ready for you," I mocked as I walked back out with my outfit for the day.

She threw a cushion at me, making me laugh. "Why do I love you?"

"You don't really have a choice considering I could kill you for not loving me," I told her, putting my outfit down.

She giggled. "I'd like to see you try and kill me."

I surprised her and jumped onto the bed, landing on her with a knife to her throat. "You were saying?"

"I could ask you the same question," she said with a smirk. I wasn't sure what she was talking about, until I felt the cool metal on my abdominal section.

She had a knife set on my stomach.

"How?" I asked, getting up.

She shrugged. "My boyfriend told me to always be ready for anything."

"You listen to me too much," I said with a scowl.

"My life depends on it D. Of course I listen to you," she replied. I detected the fear and sadness in her tone.

I got back onto the bed so that I could collect her into my arms. "I'm here for you blossom. I promise no one is going to hurt you again."

"I know. I'm just on edge, and it's going to take a while before I can feel fully safe again, but having you there makes me feel a whole lot better," she said before kissing my cheek and heading towards the bathroom.

I sighed and headed downstairs. We were at my house and it was just the two of us since it had been agreed that we'd be going back to normal for now. Franco left for his businesses while Silo headed back to Genesis after swearing that he wouldn't say anything about blossom.

It had been four days since we'd revealed everything to Nick, Mrs Solano and the girls. Mordecai and Malachi wouldn't be joining us at school since it's too late. They were finishing off high school with their assigned home school tutors and teachers.

As far as I know, we're all headed to Massachusetts. Nigel, Malachi, blossom, Nick, Sunny and I were all heading to Harvard. Aziel, Mordecai, Cash, Eli, Jayme and Bridgette are headed to MIT, and Wes and Felix are headed to Boston University.

Yeah, we're all a bunch of rebellious geniuses who still want to stay friends after high school.

The truth is that now that we'd told the girls the truth, I wanted to let the guys in on it too. It would be much to ask from Margaux, that much I knew, but I couldn't hide the truth from them. I've come to value their friendship, especially with my trust issues.

With us all going to the same area, it makes sense to let them in as well. It will also make it easier to protect them all if Cypher is aware that they know everything. Plus, I know it would mean the world to blossom to know that absolutely everyone she cares about is protected.

Nadia is another story altogether. I received the email from Ayah, and Jayme managed to decrypt the data she sent. From the data, it's clear to see that she's gone dark, but I have this itching feeling that she hasn't gone dark and that she needs our help.

I just need the guys to scratch with me.

Both Nigel and Mordecai don't believe she's in danger, while Malachi and Aziel believe that we should wait just a while longer. She's been off the grid for almost three months now, so we're waiting for it to be exactly three months before we make a move.

It's what we've always agreed on. We're all very much aware of the fact that the job we do involves very real danger, so we came up with an agreement that if any of us ever goes off the grid, and hasn't checked in within three months, the rest of us would go after that person after the three month mark.

We've only ever had to do that twice, and both times were for Malachi.

I may be the best of us six, but Malachi is definitely the riskiest. The higher the danger threat, the more excited he gets. His personality is by far the most confusing of us all since we all haven't figured him out, his twin included. Mordecai has never understood why his brother is the way that he is.

Their story isn't like any of ours. With them, their parents went rogue, while they refused to be bad. They were also recruited by Silver when she learnt that they wanted to be nothing like their parents. Their parents died in a bombing, and they couldn't have been bothered because they cut ties with them the moment they went rogue.

"I can't find my-"

"It's on the table in the lounge," I replied before she could finish her sentence. I heard her footsteps head that way before she walked into the kitchen.

"I love you," she said with a smile as she walked over to me. She wrapped her arms around my waist.

"Are you still in denial?" I asked. We still had ample time to get ready for school since we hadn't slept.

She wanted to train the whole night.

I've learnt that trying to talk her out of training is futile. Training makes her feel better, despite the physical strain it has on her. What I've managed to do is to get her to train less, something Mr and Mrs Solano are grateful for.

Mrs Solano almost had a heart attack when she walked into the gym at the safe house to find us fighting each other with swords. Blossom picks these things up really quickly, and then she excels at them. I'm yet to train her with other weapons, but she's definitely got the basics down.

She sighed. "I am very much in denial, but I have more than an hour to get over it."

"Why are you so against going back so much?" I asked curiously.

"My final year hasn't exactly been a normal one, and as much as I've caught up with everything and my record is still untarnished, I just don't think I want to go back," she replied.

"We're at the end blossom. You just need to pull through," I said.

"That's easy for you to say. You were away for two months. Speaking of which, how come the school doesn't say anything about your disappearances?" she asked.

"Cypher made an agreement with the principal to send me everything I miss out on via email. If it's a test, then I take the test mid mission with a Cypher invigilator present," I explained.

She frowned. "Wait! So Cypher doesn't actually let you miss out on school or give you free hand outs?"

"Cypher takes education very seriously. We all have to pass school by our own doing. Of course we're all intelligent because of the resources they pump into our learning, but it's all up to us to actually do the work and studying. They were shocked when I decided that I wanted to settle in one place and actually attend school since all Cypher agents are schooled on the move. I had to present my case, and it took a lot of convincing on my part for them to let me go to WPA, but a friend of mine was able to help me with providing solutions for every problem they would throw my way," I elaborated.

"Are Mable and Tim the only reasons you settled?" she asked, curiosity dripping from her tone.

"I want to say yes, but they weren't entirely the reason. I had been feeling empty for the longest time, and I honestly thought settling might help. It did to an extent when I made friendships with the guys, especially since they didn't ask a lot of questions. It was starting to fade, and I was about to drop out and move back into the schooling on the move system," I replied.

"Until...?" she trailed off.

I was going to sound cheesy for this, but I didn't care.

I smirked. "Until you ran away after hitting me with that textbook."

She blushed. "I'm only now realizing that I never did apologize for that."

"We're heading towards nine months since the incident. I'm touched," I feigned hurt.

"I'm sorry," she pouted.

I chuckled. "What for exactly? For hitting me or for taking so long to apologize?"

"Both?" she said unsurely.

"You suck at apologizing blossom, and I'm going to deny your apology just for that," I informed.

"What? You can't do that!" she whined.

She's too adorable.

I laughed. "Watch me."

"What will it take to make this little problem go away?" she asked.

"Why do you sound so shady?" I asked amusedly.

"I didn't mean it like that," she replied, hiding in my chest.

"I don't know blossom. Surprise me," I told her.

"There's nothing that I could possibly do that would surprise you," she said, looking up at me with a scowl on her face.

I grinned. "See, that's what makes it such a great challenge for you."

"This is just cruelty on your part," she murmured, but I still heard her.

"I could've lost my eye blossom. Imagine that! I would have one eye, which would make me that much weaker at my job, and could've ultimately cost me my life since my enemies would catch word that I'm weaker and come and take me out," I pointed out.

"Geez! I get it!" she huffed.

"So, any idea how you're going to make it up to me?" I asked.

She was about to reply when her phone started ringing. She pulled it out, but I didn't get to see who was calling as she walked away from me. "Hello?"

I watched the expression on her face change. "That's not possible."

She looked absolutely livid.

"I can't talk right now. I'll call you later," she said before hanging up.

"What was that about?" I asked. She ran out of the room, only to come back in seconds later, typing away on her phone.

"Nothing you should worry about," she sighed.

There was something off about her.

I raised an eyebrow. "Keeping secrets are we?"

"Yes we are," she said as she nodded.

She didn't even think twice about answering my question.

"Why don't I like the sound of that?" I asked.

"Because you're being paranoid for nothing," she replied.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Your shadiness is making me paranoid."

"And if I said this is part of my surprise apology, will you let it go?" she asked.

"You're visibly upset blossom. I highly doubt this has anything to do with me, so I'm going to go with no," I replied.

"Well, as upset as I am now, the more I think about it, the more I can use it as my apology to you, so you're just going to have to trust me here," she said.

"You're probably going to be upset with me for this, but I don't trust you right now," I admitted.

I was taken aback when she laughed.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because you're very out of character right now," I replied.

I managed to open the drawer, grab a knife and duck in time. I was hidden behind the island when I heard a crash from upstairs, but I had to trust that she could handle herself. I still had to fight this imposter. I heard more footsteps coming into the house, and I knew we were being raided.

Again.

I'd already shown blossom all the places I hide my weapons, so I knew she'd be able to defend herself. I reached for the compartment under the stove and pulled out my two guns and a sword. I got up and faced the five people in the room, including the blossom imposter.

"Who sent you here?" I asked them. None of them looked ready to say anything.

"Alright then, if that's how you want to play, let's play," I said.

That was enough to kick them into gear as they all charged to attack. It was an easy enough battle, except the blossom imposter wasn't going down without a fight. The more I fought her, the more I realized I knew who I was fighting.

"Really? This is what it's come down to?" I asked her just as one of her men came rolling down the stairs. I could still hear things crashing upstairs.

"You have to pay for your sins," she said, taking off the digital mask to reveal herself.

"I have to do nothing of the sort. I was not responsible for Cuba," I replied. She moved to attack me with her sword, and I had to defend myself without hurting her.

She's just  angry, and she doesn't deserve to die for it.

"You are, and you won't tell us the names of your assistants. I saw you with a girl there. I will find her, and I will kill her," she vowed.

"Go anywhere near her, and I will come after you," I warned. She only moved to attack me some more.

"You don't want to kill me and you know it," I told her.

"You don't know what I want. You know nothing about me!" she spat, missing my neck.

"I know you better than anyone, and you hate that. I get it, but you need to really think about this. What the hell could I have possibly gained from things going the way they did in Cuba?" I asked while defending myself.

She was trained by some of the best fighters in the world, hence why this was taking longer than usual.

"You hate that I chose him over you," she said, still attacking.

"I couldn't care less that you chose him. I'm pissed off at the fact that he actually thinks that you're worth it. He deserves better," I replied. She stopped fighting, looking genuinely upset by what I'd just told her.

"You think he doesn't deserve me?" she asked.

"Not for as long as you still work for your father," I responded. She scowled before thrusting a knife at me. It just about missed, slicing my arm before hitting the wall.

"Firstly, you don't get to make that decision for me or him, and secondly, you're telling me to abandon my family," she said as she started attacking me again.

"Those people don't love you, so I don't understand why the fuck you would stay. However, you can let your father know that my peace treaty is over with him now that he's attacked the most important person to me," I replied, slicing both her arms.

"He had nothing to do with this. This was all me. I want vengeance," she said before running out the door.

I ran after her, but she was quicker and managed to get into the car that was waiting for her before driving away. I knew that shooting at the car wouldn't be of any use, so I settled for going into the house to check on blossom.

There were four dead guys, including the guy on the stairs by the time I reached my room. She was nowhere in sight, and I panicked for a split second before she stepped out of the bathroom in just her sports bra and my sweatpants. She'd wrapped her tank top around her hand.

"What happened?" I asked as I went to evaluate her hand.

"The fucker sliced my palm," she said as she unwrapped the tank top to show it to me.

"Let's get you sorted out," I sighed.

I led her back to the bathroom where my mirror was shattered, together with my shower. There was a dead guy in it. I grabbed the first aid kit before getting to work on her hand. She hissed when I used the antiseptic before we were engulfed by silence.

"You're mad at me," she commented once I was done.

"Mad isn't the word I would use. I'm confused more than anything. What the hell just happened?" I asked.

"You're going to be mad at me, but I'll take it. That phone call was from Cee. She called me to tell me that we were about to get attacked. I ran out of the kitchen because she told me to find your phone and send a code to the boys. I didn't think she meant we were about to be attacked at that very moment. I only saw the girl that looked like me go into the kitchen as I reached the top of the stairs, and I couldn't tell you because I was already being attacked," she explained.

I frowned. "You talk to Cee?"

"I bumped into her and we sort of became friends. D, she's innocent. I know you believe that she's guilty for what happened in Cuba, but she's innocent," she said strongly.

"I know she's innocent," I sighed, leaving the bathroom.

She followed after me. "So why would you tell her that she's guilty?"

"Blossom, I love you, but this is something you really shouldn't be involved in. I can only protect you if you don't interfere with things I do not let you in on. What happened in Cuba is something you shouldn't even know about. You could be killed for that. In fact..." I trailed off at the realization.

I headed over to my phone and called her. "I'm sorry. I didn't know someone was tailing me."

"For fucks sake Cee! I've already got so much to deal with when it comes to blossom. I don't need this shit right now," I said in frustration.

"I honestly didn't know and I'm tired of you making me feel like I'm some incompetent agent. I'm good at my job and you know it. You've made mistakes too, so give me a fucking break!" she snapped.

"How did you even know about the attack?" I asked.

"Rio tipped me off," she replied.

"Does Genesis know?" I asked.

"No! Apparently Silo tipped Rio off about Elle, and she's upset about the whole thing, but she promised she wouldn't say a word to anyone at Genesis. However, she wants to see you," she informed.

"I don't want to see her, or at least not yet. Keeping blossom safe is my number one priority right now. Black had her, and now The Dragons want her dead," I said.

"I really am sorry Six. Elle can be very persuasive, and I really needed someone to talk to. Let me help with protecting her," she pleaded.

"Letting you help means everyone knowing that you're alive, and we both know why that can't happen," I reminded.

"You do know that Elle is just going to talk you into agreeing," she pointed out.

"There are lots of things I can't be talked into doing, and this is one of them," I said, looking straight at my inquisitive girlfriend.

"She's your weakness. Don't say I didn't warn you," she said before the line went dead.

"What was that about? Who exactly attacked us?" blossom asked.

"We were attacked by the daughter of The Dragon. The Dragons are the most dangerous criminals in the world. They are also the people who suffered most from what happened in Cuba. We were attacked because the daughter of The Dragon wants revenge," I informed.

"I'm lost," she admitted.

"And that's how you will stay. I can't even express to you just how pissed off I am right now. I can't believe that you went behind my back and befriended Cee," I told her.

"Oh I'm sorry. I don't recall us having a conversation with you telling me I couldn't be friends with her," she replied.

I shot her a dry look. "I didn't think we needed to have one."

"Look ok? Dating you doesn't come with a guide of dos and don'ts. In fact, just being in your life doesn't come with a guide of dos and don'ts. If you're going to be mad at me, that's fine, but make sure that you're mad at me for something I was actually wrong for doing," she said.

"What exactly are you saying?" I asked.

"I'm saying that you should make me a guide of dos and don'ts so that your anger in the future is actually justified. I couldn't have hinted any clearer than that," she huffed.

I sighed before walking over to hug her. "I can't lose you blossom, and your personality is going to get you killed."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked as she poked my chest.

"It means that if you want to live, you need to be careful. I will make you a dos and don'ts guide, but you have to promise me that you'll actually follow it," I replied.

She looked up at me with that cute pout. "I promise. Just don't be mad at me please."

"I'm not, or at least not for this. I'm still mad that you hit me with your textbook though," I said with a smile.

"I'll make it up to you," she said before kissing me.

With all that had transgressed, we no longer had that much time to get to school. We took a joint shower to save time, and we were both bruising. I could hide my bruises with my outfit, but she had to change her outfit completely. She chose a maxi dress that hid all her bruises, except the ones on her upper arms, which she then covered with a crop jean jacket.

"These bruises had better be gone before I go back home," she sighed.

She was going back home in two days. She didn't want to be surrounded by people after finding out that we didn't find any information on her or her mother. Her parents were ok with her staying over with me, but her dad requested that she come back home after a week.

"We'll pick up some ointment on our way back from school," I replied.

"Who else can say that they've already been through so much before school?" she asked as we walked over all the wreckage in the house.

I laughed. "Not even we should be able to say this though."

"Yeah, well I messed up, so I guess this is my fault," she said.

"Blossom, don't start blaming yourself for something I've forgiven you for," I said, stopping her from getting into the car.

"I just feel like such a burden. Things have gone wrong in your life since you met me," she said sadly.

I pinned her against the car and gave her the kind of kiss I was hoping would abolish such negative thoughts from her brain. "I love you Noelle Solano. My life was dangerous before you came into it, and it will continue to be so with you in it. It has nothing to do with you. It's my own fault for bringing you into my life, but I don't regret it because you are the greatest thing to ever happen to me. Don't ever doubt that ok?"

"You're the best thing to happen to me too, and I don't regret being in your life. I just wish all this danger could go away already," she admitted.

I caressed her cheek. "And we're all working towards making that possible, but I need you to trust that and try to stay out of trouble ok?"

She nodded. "Ok! I promise."

"Good!" I said before kissing her one more time.

We left for Starbucks first. She was hungry, and I knew she wouldn't be able to function without eating. We had to be in school in twenty minutes, and I knew that we would be late, but I'd rather we be late than have her starve until lunch.

"I'm going to talk to Malachi and Mordecai. Order anything for me ok?" I told her as I watched the brothers leave the office.

"Ok," she said before kissing me and going to order.

"What the hell happened?" Malachi asked. I'd already texted them that I needed their help.

"I need to get a new place and get my house debugged. Someone's been watching my house, and they've actually been inside. My security needs upgrading as well. It doesn't help that Margaux has cut me off of my system. She almost cost me and blossom our lives," I replied.

"Then tell her to get you back online," Mordecai told me.

I sighed. "She thinks I'll do something stupid if I'm fully online."

"I still say try it. We can set you up with a new place in the mean time. Is Ellie ok?" he asked.

"I think at this point she's just trying to stay strong, but she's going to crash one of these days. I just have to be ready for it," I responded.

"She's not going to crash for as long as you keep supporting her now. Just make sure she remains on a constant, and that she's being with you always," Malachi suggested.

I'm starting to learn that they may not be as easy as it sounds anymore.