Once I step into the room, I see that Lucía's face has been bandaged and only one eye has been left uncovered. She flinches slightly when she sees me, but quickly recovers to give me an arrogant grin.

"What is it? Come to beat me again just because I tell you what you don't want to hear, what no one will tell you?" she taunts, now sitting up. "Or does the great mission leader feel bad, and want to apologize?"

My fingers curl into fists, but I force myself to take a deep breath to steel myself. "I will not apologize for the fact that you needed to be put into your place. The way you have treated Mission Leader Allard is disrespectful and subject to disciplinary action. I will admit, however, that I did get carried away in the moment, and I will only apologize for that."

Lucía raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms, "That sure sounds like a half-assed apology."

My blood boils slightly as I take a step forward, finding that troublesome glint in her eye is similar to the one in Beau's. Tch, of course those two are similar... though Lucía is more thick-skinned and doesn't have a soft spot, at least, not one that I know of yet-

I pause in my thought, wait, I do know her soft spot... it's Beau obviously.

I cross my arms, "Do you believe that Agent Allard and I are in a relationship?"

Lucía's lips twitch as she throws out her hands, "Obviously, everyone-"

"And what makes you think that we are?" I quickly interrupt, leveling Lucía with a hard stare.

Lucía glares back at me for a few seconds, before sighing and running a hand through her waist-length cocoa hair. "It's obvious from the way that he looks at you, the way he desperately needs to be near you."

I frown, "So you believe we're in a relationship based on the way he looks at me?"

Lucía chews on the inside of her lip in silence for a few seconds, before an understanding expression crosses over her face. "Oh I see, he likes you, but you don't like him... is that it?"

Lucía merely grins as I remain silent, searching for the right words to say and finding all of the wrong ones instead.

"¡Toma! Now, this is rich!" she shouts, shaking her head as she continues to cackle. "He really screwed himself over this time!"

Lucía suddenly pushes up from the medical bed and swings her feet over the side to hit the floor, then strides towards me as she looks around the room with that same cocky grin. "I can't believe he would put his career on the line for a woman who doesn't even like him back!" Lucía's lips curl up as she finally meets my eyes. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen, and the lowly have risen. I have to say, I do respect you Americans and your cunning nature."

"Cunning nature?" I spit, as Lucía chuckles again. "You think I manipulated Beau into making whatever deal you two made just now?"

"Beau eh? I see the formalities have already been broken as well, proving my point." Lucía grins, taking a few steps back to perch back down onto the edge of her medical cot. "Don't worry, I won't tell. I believe that cocky bastard deserves to be wrapped painfully around someone's finger, even if it is you."

"I don't have him wrapped around my finger! Beau-Agent Allard does not like me unprofessionally, and I do not like him unprofessionally." I state, but Lucía merely shakes her head.

"If you believed that was true, then why didn't you deny it from the start?"

"I don't know!" I exclaim irritatedly, before remembering that Burris, and Beau are on the other side of the med door. "That's not the point, the point is that we're not dating, and to make you aware that it wasn't my intention to..." I trail off, as Lucía points to her face.

"Do this, yeah yeah we're past that. I won't tell Harks about your little stunt because of the delicious bargain your partner made me, so you don't have to worry about that."

"And what was this, bargain, hmm?" I drawl, as Lucía laughs and flops back against the sheets of her med cot with a large grin.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. But you won't get any more out of me, so how about you not waste any more of your time and leave."

I consider pushing her further on the matter, but I can tell by the way that Lucía's bright red lips press together that she's not going to say anything more useful.

"Fine, but just know that this isn't over."

Lucía snorts and covers her eyes with her hand as if to block out the sight of me. "Whatever you say, boss."

I turn on my heel and shove open the door leading from the room, finding Beau and Burris frowning at each other with their arms crossed.

"You done?" Beau drawls angrily, as I ignore him and turn to Burris.

"Is there anything else you have planned for us?"

Burris shakes his head, which causes me to turn on my heel. "Good, because I need a good drink."

"Don't you remember the last time you had a drink?" Burris sighs, as I glance over my shoulder to see him run an exhausted hand through his blond hair.

I turn my eyes back to ahead of me and tilt up my chin. "You mean how I kicked five assassins' asses by myself? Yes. But don't worry, I'll bring Mr. Allard with me for 'safety.'"

"You will?" Beau asks surprisedly from behind me.

"Yes, I believe we have a few things to talk about." I stop in front of the elevator and turn to give Burris a clipped nod. "Evening, I will see you tomorrow." My head snaps up to catch Beau's jade eyes, the only thing running through my mind is the deal Lucía had been talking about. "Let's go Allard."

Beau steps into the elevator behind me with an odd expression on his face; a single one of his eyebrows is raised in question while his lips press together in a fine line, obviously wondering why I want to talk to him and only him.

"Don't you think you should be in bed resting? I know what happened with Agent Parks rattled you, even though you're pretending to be fine," he says somberly, jade eyes darting across my face to watch for any tell that will give me away.

"I'm fine now," I wave dismissively, pressing the first-floor button on the elevator panel.

"Are you sure?" Beau asks, unconvinced.

I turn to him annoyedly and cross my arms. "Yes, Beauregard, I'm fine."

Beau frowns at my tone, before the elevator doors open before us. "Then what exactly do you want to talk to me about?"

And that's when his left eye twitches ever so slightly, tell number one. I turn my head back forward with the hint of a smirk on my lips. "You're nervous, aren't you?"

Beau snorts behind me as we stride down the hall of the first floor, and past our room doors. "Nervous? Why would I be nervous?"

I open my mouth to say because of the talk Lucía and I had, but then Lucía's words ring through my mind. It's obvious from the way that he looks at you, the way he desperately needs to be near you.

I quickly shake my head, refusing to believe the words. No, he's merely playing our little game, and he's very good at it because he has experience and just got out of a relationship with the flirt that is Lucía.

"Where's a good bar?" I ask suddenly, instead of answering his question. "The last one I went to, they didn't have the nicest people."

Beau narrows his eyes at my evasion of his question, but seems relieved that I'm not pushing the topic. His eyes brighten slightly as he steps forward to open the exit door for me. "I have the perfect place, actually."

I frown when he doesn't say more, and merely takes my hand and leads me down the sidewalk, and circles around the Raven Sector Complex, towards a large parking lot.

"What are we doing?" I ask, as Beau withdraws something from his pocket, a fancy key card. He glances over at me with a wry grin. "It'll be more fun if you let it be a surprise."

He then walks over to a teal Renault Zoe and clicks the button on his key card to unlock the doors, his jade eyes sparkling mischievously. "Unfortunately, we won't be able to walk there, so I guess you'll have the privilege of riding in good old Zo."

"Privilege?" I drawl, as Beau steps around the car and opens the passenger door for me. I rest my forearms over the top of the door and look up at Beau. "How about I have the privilege of driving, eh?"

Beau's cocky grin falls as he gives me a startled look. "Drive? Absolutely not."

"Oh come on," I grin, reaching up to gently smack him in the face. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Uh, you crash my very expensive car," Beau drawls as I roll my eyes heavily. Suddenly, an idea pops into my head.

I lower my lashes and close the door, before walking up to Beau and throwing my arms around his neck, pushing his back against the window of the car. "You really think I'm that irresponsible?" I tease, my smile widening when Beau takes in a shuddery breath as his eyes quickly dart to mine.

With one hand, I slide it up into his curls, as I slowly slide the other from his neck and down his arm, towards the hand that holds the key card. His eyelids lower slightly as I lean forward, even more, to have our noses brush gently against each other's, fully stealing his attention away from the keys that sit in his hand.

It sure feels good to not worry about those panic attacks anymore, I think to myself, relieved as one of my hands plays with a curl of Beau's hair.

"You sure you don't want me to drive?" I whisper, my other hand snaking down Beau's wrist and resting on his curled fingers, as Beau's eyes flick down to my lips.

"I-" he begins to say, but I quickly grab the key card from his loosened fingers and twirl it around my finger with an arrogant grin. Beau scowls as I slink over to the driver's side and open the door, giving him a mocking salute.

"Thanks for the keys, loverboy."

Beau rolls his eyes as his cheeks warm, but doesn't protest any further as I slide into the driver's seat and start the car. "Now, where to?"

Beau glances at me out of the corner of his eye, "I still want it to be a surprise, so I'll give you the directions."

I roll my eyes, but set my hands on the steering wheel of the car anyways. "Oh fine, but this better be good."