"Beau?" I mutter confusedly, lowering my pistol as he barrels past me and into the room. He jerks out a hand to push me behind him as he surveys the room with the flashlight of his phone, breathing out a sigh of relief when he sees that there's nothing threatening lurking in my room.

When he glances back at me, I've crossed my arms over my chest, the pistol loosely clutched in my hand. "Do you really think I would point a gun at you if there was an intruder in my room?" I drawl, glancing down at the hand he has hovered over my stomach.

"You can never be too careful, I suppose," Beau shrugs as he reaches up a hand to run through his curls wearily, causing his firm bicep to flex. My eyes zero in on the movement, slowly roving over his tanned chest and the impressive set of washboard abs he has.

Damn, I think to myself, not even realizing that I've uncrossed my arms to press one of my hands against my cheek as I take in the amazing physique in front of me.

"Harper? Did you hear what I said?" Beau asks in front of me, causing me to shake my head and look up into his confused jade eyes. "What are you so focused on-" he asks, glancing down at his chest. I can tell the exact moment when he finds the answer to his question, as his eyes widen and his jade eyes dart back up to me.

"Merde!" he laughs, shaking his head as he gives me a wry grin. "I forgot to put on a shirt... that explains the peculiar look you were giving me."

My cheeks warm, causing me to quickly turn away so he doesn't see them. I set my pistol back onto the drawer and flick it away from me slightly. "I'm fine. There's no intruder, I was just having a bit of a..." I pause, running my fingers across the cool metal of my pistol. "A nightmare."

"A nightmare?" Beau asks, before I hear a soft plop behind me. I spin around to see Beau sitting on my bed with his chin in his palm, his jade eyes glowing as he looks up at me in the hazy dark, only the light from his flashlight which he has placed on my bed illuminates the room.

My eyes flick to my door, which has been left wide open. With a frown, I turn back to Beau and give him a threatening glare, not being able to help my eyes as they dart down to his bare chest again. "Don't you realize how bad this would look if someone walked by?"

"What?" Beau asks, placing his hands behind his bed and flopping back onto my bed, as he grins up at me. "The fact that you can't take your eyes off my impressive abs?" he chuckles, wiggling his eyebrows as I roll my eyes.

"No, the fact that my mission partner is half-naked in my bed." I snap, as Beau chuckles and sits up.

"Ah," he says, bouncing his leg up and down as he stares up at me. "Well, the sooner you tell me about this nightmare of yours, the sooner this half-naked man will get out of your room."

"Yeah no," I shake my head sternly. "You can leave now."

"Oh come on," Beau says tiredly, not budging. "You woke me up at three in the morning, the least you can do is tell me why."

The room around me blurs slightly as I remember Greyson falling into my arms with bullet wounds in his chest, the feeling of his face in the palm of my hand, and how he said my name... his voice is different from how it usually sounds in my head.

And then I remember the crowd in the sparring room, and the bombardment of asking if I was okay, before they pulled me to the ground and into darkness. My head throbs slightly when I remember the utter panic I felt. I press a palm to my forehead and stumble back slightly as my vision suddenly snaps into focus again.

"Hey, it's okay," Beau says, leaping to his feet to steady me, his strong fingers curling around my biceps. I suck in a startled breath, remembering the feeling of the people who held me back in my dream.

Though instead of dragging me back or holding me against my will, Beau just keeps his touch tight enough to steady me, yet light enough for me to comfortably pull away.

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to," Beau says gently, the bare skin of his chest rubbing against the thin fabric of my T-shirt. My mind goes wild with the contact, forcing me to quickly step out of his touch.

"I-I just had a bad dream about an old friend," I affirm, walking over to my bed and perching on the edge. "And... it just felt so real," I mumble, my eyes beginning to water slightly as I grip the bed below me. "So, so real."

"This, old friend," Beau begins, as he crosses his arms and leans back against my wooden dresser, the room too dark for him to be able to see my eyes. "Where is he now?"

I draw in a deep breath, my fingers trembling as they grip the mattress. "He's gone," I croak, as a single tear trails down my cheek. The word cruelly repeats in my mind as I desperately try to press down a sob that threatens to overtake me.

Gone, gone... gone.

I see Beau's head tilt to the side as he hears the crack in my voice, before he realizes that I'm crying. "I'm so sorry," he says softly, coming to my side once again as I desperately try to wipe away the rebel tears now streaking down my face.

"Do you have these nightmares often?" Beau asks as I sniffle.

"Yes, I'm surprised this is the first time you've heard me have one... I can be quite loud." I try to joke, as Beau places a hand on my back and rubs his fingers in soothing circles.

Usually, I don't have to worry about people hearing them when I live at home, because I live by myself.

"Well I'm usually a deep sleeper... but I couldn't sleep very well tonight." Beau turns to look at me with a worried glint in his eyes. "I was half tempted to bust down your door by the way you were yelling, I'm surprised you didn't wake up the entire floor."

I cringe as I drag the palms of my hands over my eyes. "Thank god you didn't knock down my door, that would've been embarrassing... not to mention given me a heart attack."

Beau laughs awkwardly and scratches the back of his neck. "I think we both know it wouldn't be possible for me to give you a heart attack, but if it was the other way around..."

I can't help but snort, as Beau gives me a lopsided grin. "Well, you've got that right,"

Beau chuckles and rises to his feet, "Yeah, yeah. Now, would you like me to stay, or do you want to try sleeping again?"

I open my mouth to tell him to leave, but for some reason end up shutting it. I don't want to go to sleep again, but I don't want to be alone either. I frown, chewing the inside of my lip as Beau silently leans back against my wooden dresser, waiting for my answer.

Suddenly, an idea comes to me. I quickly jerk up from my bed and snap my fingers. "I know what I need," I decide, stepping towards the drawer, and Beau who leans against it.

Beau raises an eyebrow as I walk toward him, his eyes widening when I stop in front of him and lean forward, our lips drawing closer. "Harper-" he mutters, his jade eyes flicking down to my lips as I lean forward even more.

I reach out and fumble for the handle of the top drawer in my dresser, where my cigarettes sit. My arms curve around Beau's waist as my fingers finally wrap around the handle, and when I look back up at Beau, he's staring intensely at the bottom of my face.

"Uh, can you move?" I growl, yanking on the handle of the drawer so it bumps into him. The movement startles Beau, causing him to jump and accidentally knock his chest into mine.

I gasp as I start to fall back, my feet bumping against each other when I try to right myself. "Beau!" I cry out startledly, my eyes widening when he quickly reaches forward and wraps his arms around my waist, catching me.

I grip the front of his shirt to keep me upright as he keeps me from falling, both of us breathing heavily as we stare into each other's eyes. Before we can even move, I hear the door to the room next to us creak open, before Rene walks into the room rubbing her eyes.

"Harper?" she calls, squinting into my room as she flicks on the light. Her eyes widen when she takes in me wrapped up in Beau's arms, who is still shirtless and barefoot.

We all stand there looking between each other, before the implication of our situation slaps me in the face. Beau's eyes dart down to my mouth as I begin to say the first word that comes to mind.

"Fuc-"

"Don't." Beau snaps, shoving a hand against my lips to keep me from saying the curse, when another set of footsteps echoes down the hall. This time we all freeze when Burris walks up to the door, glancing at Rene.

"What is all the commotion-" Burris' eyes trail to Beau and I, his mouth gaping open when he sees Beau's shirtless state and how his hand presses against my mouth. "The hell?" he snaps, rubbing a hand across his eyes before staring back at us.

Beau and I's eyes widen as we glance at each other in raw shock. I quickly squirm out of Beau's arms as he works his jaw, obviously trying to think of what to say.

"Sir," he says slowly, as Burris levels him with a pointed glare. "I assure you that it's not what it looks like, we can-"

"Medley," Burris snaps before Beau can finish, turning to give me a stern look. "Outside."

I grit my teeth together as I start toward the door, when I suddenly remember something and spin back towards Beau. I look up at him as I yank open the top drawer of my dresser and pull out my pack of cigarettes and my trusty lighter.

He gives me a disappointed look as I shrug and turn back towards Burris.

I sure as hell am not going to have this talk without a good smoke.

Burris also gives me a reproachful look as I walk past him and out into the hall, gripping the cigarettes in my hand as I cross my arms and glare at him. He turns to look back at Beau and Rene.

"You two need to get back to your rooms and get some sleep, Harks wasn't exaggerating when he said that we have stressful days ahead of us, so I expect you to follow orders."

Rene quickly nods and ducks her head as she quietly darts to her room, though not before I see the slight smirk on her lips. My eyes narrow as she shuts the door behind her, leaving just Beau, Burris and I.

What was that smirk about? I think to myself, as I turn just to see Burris glaring at Beau, who has crossed his arms and refused to move.

"Don't you think it's a bit inappropriate for you to be with your agent alone at three am in the morning?" he asks suspiciously, as Burris practically seethes beside me. "Superior Harks gave me strict orders to accompany Miss Medley anywhere off Raven Sector grounds."

"You forget that I am still an I.S.A.I.A superior, and that Medley is my agent. Now go to your room, Allard," my superior says slowly, and I can tell that it takes everything in him to not launch at Beau and put him in a headlock.

An annoyed "Tch" passes Beau's lips, before he turns to me and cocks his head pointedly. "Do you feel comfortable with this, Harper?" he asks, using my first name to further irritate Burris.

Burris side-eyes me sternly as I shrug, but I can tell that Beau catches the slight quirk of my lips. "I'll be fine, Beau. And besides," now I fully grin as I pat Burris on the shoulder, who narrows his eyes. "I could take this old man any day."

There's a moment of silence as Beau scrutinizes my expression before he finally relents and strides out of my room. His shoulder gently knocks into mine on his way out, as I step forward to grab my room key and my phone.

I pull the door shut and shove the key into the lock, before turning to see both Burris and Beau eyeing each other skeptically.

"Text me when you get back," Beau says, turning slightly to give me a firm look as he leans back against the doorway of his room.

"And what if I don't?" I challenge, raising my eyebrow as Burris glances between us warily.

Beau tilts his chin down, giving me a dark look. "Then I will be forced to hunt you down, and you won't like it."

Burris rolls his eyes beside me as I turn, waiting until he steps in front of me slightly so I can flip Beau off behind my shoulder without my superior seeing. I glance over my shoulder to see Beau merely shake his head and walk into his room, pulling the door shut with a quiet click.