Liam heard Kai say, watching the boy dust himself off a bit before hopping up from the concrete ground. He followed suit and shot a knowing look at Isla to signal her to get up.

From the corners of his eye, he silently noted the shadows of Lennon's teammates also getting to their feet.

The crew — their crew —let their eyes wander from person to person, taking in the moment that would eventually be erased permanently from everyone's memories.

He unconsciously let his gaze rest on the girl before him. Tall, strong, stubborn, witty... beautiful.

There was never a good time to dawn on his thoughts or emotions, as life as assassins always forced him to throw those feelings away. He played with every target's emotions — he played with every girl he had set eyes on, and had thought, 'beautiful.'

Because all of them were clueless. They did not know what they want. They wanted him, because he killed. Because he was tough. Because he could put on a smile.

Those who put up a cold front eventually catered into their true desires and forced themselves on him. Those who did want him began lusting for more of his attention.

But this girl. Why. Why was it different? Or was it not different? She looked like any other, acted like any other, even talked like any other.

So what made her special?

Liam noticed the pure, dark-filled curious sets of eyes that found its way to meet his blue ones.

But she wasn't looking at his eyes, she was deep in thought. Her brows creased in concentration as her mouth parted a bit to get ready to form words. But every moment failed her as the lips shut softly each time, unable to express what's bottled up in that head of hers.

And finally they both snapped to, and realized where they were, and realized who they were, and realized what was going on.

And her voice didn't fail her this time.

She avoided his eyes, because the message was directly meant for him. How did he know? There was just a feeling. He felt like he understood the girl before him like he'd been her teammate for years now, yet there were still uncertainties that made him hold back unlike with his usual targets.

He stood there studying her face, realizing with a grim fact what she wanted him to know.

No goodbye. No second look. No hesitation.

The Renai's and the R.U.'s separated upon her word. Jamie, Carlos, and Helene took the flight down through jumping to the floor below, heading quietly back into the school.

Isla and Kai brought forth a rope with claws that scrapped the edge of the roof, keeping a sturdy hold for the climb down the side of the roof.

"Liam," Isla called back to him, "You coming, babe?"

He turned his head to her, took in the girl gesturing to him next to Kai, and smiled.

"I'll come later at night. Should be back before sunrise."

Kai cocked his brows at him. "That late? What're you planning to do here? You were the one that suggested we leave, bro."

Liam smirked. "I just need to get my stuff. Lennon had her room blown up so she has little to pack, Carlos and Helene were barely here for more than a day or two, Isla doesn't even stay at the dorms, you aren't even registered. I actually have a dorm and I decorated it."

Isla laughed at his words. He glanced at her lips, and looked up at her eyes.

"Can we not do some dramatic scene here where y'all kiss in this weather," Kai grumbled, kicking a pebble at his shins, "We're about to jump off of a building, I don't want to barf my breakfast on the way down."

"You had none," Liam snapped, "You didn't even bring up a strawberry milk carton like Lennon."

"Don't talk to me about her," Kai softened, "I'm going to cry."

Caught off guard, Liam couldn't comment more on the topic as the boy had climbed down first, brushing past Isla who snapped her head at the location where Kai used to be.

"Tsk," he heard Isla say, "His jokes go too far."

She looked back up at him and raised her eyebrows, "Go pack up and come home quickly. I haven't been able to have time alone with you in a while, Liam."

He ran a hand through his hair as the wind blew harshly against his face. "I'll be back."

"I love you," she let out confidently all of a sudden, walking over.

Liam watched the girl come closer and closer, her individual freckles coming into view, and her parted lips.

She kissed him.

-

Night began to fall as the students were settled somewhere inside or outside of I.O Academy, glad to be set free from their classes. In a couple of hours it would be restricted hours, and no one would be allowed outside their dorm rooms, so most students made it easier on themselves to just go back early.

Liam slipped back into the school unnoticed through picking at the latch of a high window built on the submissive side of the school building that no one cared about. Unnoticed, he crept in the shadows of the trees outside, casting their bodies before the sun.

A couple of strides in and he noticed an uneasy feeling erupting from the pit of his stomach. His steps quieted and slowed down a fraction, his ears tuning into the supposedly empty hallways.

Liam snapped his head around.

Nothing.

Scoffing silently, he surveyed the area before determining that the coast was clear. He turned back around and kept walking with his hands casually placed in his front jean pockets.

Liam reached his dorm and opened the door, rushing in to grab his necessities. Clothes were quickly folded and tossed to his luggage, and toiletries were clutched together in a sweep and put in a different bag.

He reached his desk and let out a small scoff, picking up his science homework cautiously with his thumb and pointer finger and eyeing it with distaste. Liam didn't look twice at his textbooks and notebooks before reaching for the pens and pencils that he was going to bring back. Every agent always seemed to never have a writing utensil when they needed it.

Satisfied, he began turning around, until he felt his fingers brush upon a silky, cold fabric that laid to the very edge of his desk. Curious, he picked up the thing and realized that it was the black ribbon that he tied on Allison's box.

And the black ribbon that Lennon used on her hair.

"She had her hair up in the mall," Liam muttered to himself, "At the party her hair was down. So she did leave this here."

Suddenly, he heard faint movement of feet on floor. He quickly stuffed the ribbon in his back pocket.

A moment later his hands emerged with a swift rip out of their pockets and withdrew his handgun, spinning around to the door he left open with a sharp gaze at a gold, blinding figure charging for his head.

Considering the girl wasn't using a gun, he only used the butt of his gun to inflict injuries to her chest and arms. She hissed and glared at him after stumbling back, panting a few breaths in.

He pulled himself together and reloaded the gun with a purposely loud click, and reverted it to her head.

"What do you want," he snarled dully, "coming for my head?" He watched her every move and wondered with a confused thought on where she had been all week.

Allison scoffed with extra emphasis, straightening her body. "Where is Jamie?"

Liam frowned, "How the fuck am I supposed to know?"

Without warning she thrusted a fist at his face again, and he blocked it sorely with his forearm. "Don't think I'm stupid," Allison hissed after failing to hurt him, "I know you've been helping her. Now where is that damn bitch?"

His face turned dull and he let out, "I. Don't. Know. Frances. Leave Lennon the fuck alone. It seems you're the dumb one here, getting your father to come after her and hurt her even though she's related to you."

"And what do you know?"

"Enough to know that sisters don't bail each other out for torture," Liam spat in her face, getting her to twitch with irritation, "Your sister has every right to give you a good punch to the face."

With not enough time to lock his window, 10 men managed to jump through from behind him as he arched back from a punch from the girl before him, resisting to fire his gun considering that Lennon was related to her. He thought she should have the say on what happened to Allison, and death didn't seem professional at the moment.

He struggled for 20 or so long minutes and managed to shoot down four men in black in the midst of being sprung on. Eventually, the small room gave little space for him to move around, which allowed him to bump and knock into his attackers.

They took advantage of the contact and jammed the butt of their guns with a splicing cut to his head. Liam crouched down, feeling the pounding getting louder in his ears, and tripped a male running towards him before shooting at Allison from afar who was trying to shoot him a few feet away with someone else's gun.

The fighting slowed immensely when he ran out of ammo in his magazine and his knuckles and ankles became sore. They kicked him down, all simultaneously landing a lethal hit somewhere on his body. Gasping out for air, Liam gritted his teeth when warm, dark blood began seeping out of his mouth.

They formed a circle around him and gagged him, forcing the fabric in his mouth and covering his nose. He refused to breathe it in and kicked his gun up with precision and aim to Allison's face with a loud smack while laying on the ground.

The girl shrieked out in pain and ordered for his execution. One man said they could bring him to Allison's mother while another stepped on the side of his face for daring to hurt their master's daughter.

Liam surveyed the lot of them and tucked the image into the back of his head, holding onto the last of his consciousness to remember.

Allison grabbed a gun from her minions out of frustration and shot at his form on the ground. He dodged the first one by a millimeter, but the second one pierced him square in the chest.

His breathing stopped.

-

extra long chapter

- M I N N A