FOUR

❛ He wasn't the first to scar me ❜

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PRESENT

Tangerine stares at his wife in astonishment after hearing the story of how her brother had nearly been killed because she chose the Twins over her own mission.

"You fucking idiot," He mutters, running his hands through his slicked back curls, "Why on earth would you choose us over your brother's life?"

"Well, I didn't fucking know that my boss was going to torture my brother instead of me," Vanessa snaps back, "And you should be bloody thankful. I saved your fucking life."

He shakes his head before looking past her and jabbing a sharp finger at Ladybug who's still watching the pair with a dropped jaw and wide eyes.

"You," He grumbles, "You fucking stay there."

Ladybug raises his hands into a surrender, "Oh, no. Don't worry, I'm staying put. I'm far too interested in this love affair than anything else. Please, carry on."

After grimacing at him, Tangerine wraps his hand around Vanessa's rest and pulls her towards the bathroom at the very end of the train before locking the door securely behind them.

Without saying a word, he grabs a few sheets of toilet roll and wets them before cogently grabbing her uncut cheek and turning her face away from her own reflection in the mirror. Her eyebrows stay slightly cinched as she looks up at him while he carefully wipes the blood from her nose and slightly exposed chest. Eve yet now and again he'll mutter under his breath how stupid she was for not telling him sooner and then apologise for his small outburst earlier.

Carelessly dropping the bloody toilet paper into the bin, he tilts her head to the side so he's able to access the damage of the cut on her cheek. His jaw clenches the more he looks over it, and Vanessa looks back at him with raised brows.

"That fucking cunt scarred your cheek," He mutters lowly, his thumb running gently over her other cheek.

She hums, raising a hand to point to the small scar under her eyebrow and then moves her finger to under her lips, "He wasn't the first to scar me," She chuckles, "It's in the job description."

He purses his lips, "Really fucking wish it wasn't in your job description," He watches as she squeezes her eyelids closed and pushes her cheek further into his palm, "Please tell me there isn't anything else you've lied to me about."

She shakes her head gently, "There isn't anything else I've lied to you about. I never wanted to lie to you, Tan," Her eyelids flicker open, "But I didn't want you to see me differently."

He snorts in disbelief, "Don't be stupid. I fucking fell in love with you the moment you patched me up. Nothing could change that. Fucking nothing."

Smirking, Vanessa presses her lips against his before moving one of hands up to the back of his head to run her finger through his smooth curls. His other palm drops to her waist and squeezes as she deepens the kiss, humming against his lips.

A knock rattles the door, causing Tangerine to pull away and curse lowly before releasing Vanessa and sliding open the bathroom door to reveal Ladybug waving a ringing phone in the air.

"Sorry to interrupt the moment, but, your phone has been ringing for the past five minutes and will not stop," He shrugs, "Seems important."

Rolling his jaw, Tangerine snatches the phone away and accepts the call, leaving it on speaker as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah, what'd you want?" He snaps.

"The White Death says to get off at next stop holding the briefcase or he will kill everyone on that train," The man on the other end informs him sternly.

"Okay, yeah, I can make it, but Lemon, he's a little tied up right now," Tangerine mutters.

"Both of you this time. With the case. Or everyone dies," And then the line goes dead.

Tangerine throws his arms up, rolling his eyes as he glances over his shoulder at Vanessa, "Fucking paranoid, this lot," He whirls back around to Ladybug, "You don't happen to have the case on you, do you?"

The blonde purses his lips, "No."

"Yeah, I don't think I'd reach Lemon in time anyway," Tangerine shrugs, "You've still got his phone. Do you have a gun on you?"

Ladybug shakes his head again, "Don't like them."

"Well," Tangerine leans against the wall with a sigh, "Game's up," He jabs a finger at the blonde man, "For what it's worth you seem like a right fucking asshole and I'm glad you're gonna fucking die with me. What kind of fucking man gives a woman a nose bleed anyway?" He motions to his wife behind him, "You fucking stupid cunt."

Ladybug's mouth drops open, "I didn't want to do that. She attacked me first."

Vanessa ignores him, turning to look at her husband, "Do they happen to know what Lemon looks like?"

Removing his hands from his face, Tangerine meets her gaze with wide eyes of realisation, "No. No, they don't," His head whips over to Ladybug for a moment before snapping back to Vanessa. He jumps forward slightly, grasping her face in his hands and pressing a kiss to her lips, "My wife is a fucking genius."

With a smirk, Vanessa pats his chest before pointing to a storage rack behind Ladybug, "Use one of those briefcases, and hurry the fuck up because the next stop is coming up right now."

❁

Vanessa slips down into a seat by a window as Tangerine and Ladybug step off the train with a random case. They stop side by side, staring across the station at a large group of men.

The lead men laughs, "You two do look like twins, huh?"

Tangerine and Ladybug share a slightly disgusted glance, causing Vanessa to snort and hide her smirking lips with her hand as she attempts to focus on the conversation.

"Yeah, okay. We got the case, now what?" Tangerine snaps angrily, rolling his sleeves up to reveal his tattooed forearms.

Walking closer, the lead man explains, "You still take the train to Kyoto station."

"Mhm, yeah," Tangerine hums with a nod, "We can do that. Wonderful," He turns and begins to head towards the door.

"Hey," They're brought to a stop as the man calls, "Have you opened the case?"

"No, of course not," Tangerine spits, "I never asked for the combination, you know what I mean? Keep it safe that way."

Ladybug begins to raise the case into the air, waving it around, causing Vanessa's eyes to widen at his stupidity.

"So no one gets greedy," He grumbles out in the worst british accent possible. He runs his fingers against the combination code, causing the lid to drop open and the contents to spill out onto the station's field floor.

Vanessa knocks her knuckles frantically against the window as she hears the train departing call. Tangerine's head snaps in her direction and a moment later he's sprinting towards the closing door, dragging Ladybug behind him. Vanessa slips out of her chair, turning to meet them as they dash inside with the door slamming closed behind.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she leans against the door frame, while her and her husband glare daggers into the blonde American.

He notices their stares and sighs, holding his arms out in front of him, "I know, I know. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I have this bad luck thing."

"Oh, is that what you call it?" Tangerine mutters, shaking his head, "Why did you even bother trying?"

"I was trying to sell it," Ladybug argues.

"Well, I don't think they were in the market for fucking dildos and pantyhose, were they?" Tangerine runs his tongue over his teeth.

"But they were buying it," Ladybug shrugs, "Ugh. I had them."

"They were buying it until you opened your fucking mouth, "Vanessa rolls her eyes, "You didn't have to say a fucking thing. You're job was to stand their holding the case and look pretty. Not try to speak in the most horrific british accent I've ever fucking heard."

Ladybug turns to her, "That was the best accent I could've done!"

She narrows her eyes, "You didn't have to do one at all!" She sighs, "I don't even know why I'm having this fucking conversation with the man I'm supposed to be murdering. I'm off to find a phone so I can contact my brother and make sure my boss hasn't fucking chopped him to pieces," She looks at her husband, "Stay with him."

"I was planning on it," He nods, "Ness— Trigger, or whatever the fuck, be fucking careful."

She smirks over her shoulder at him, "I'm off to find a fucking telephone. I'll be fine."

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WORD COUNT: 1480