I drew fog figures on the glass pane of the shower. I drew myself, I drew Axel, I drew Helene, I drew Kora, I drew Sammy, I drew Ash, and then I drew one more male figure. Whether that was Chestin, or Liam, I didn't have enough time to think before the fog condensed and I could see through the glass. Lying on the sink was a neatly folded pile of sleepwear I assumed was for me. Once again, Liam managed to sneak in and place it there, much to my irritation.

I rolled my eyes and turned off the shower faucet, rinsing my hair of excess water before grabbing the towel hanging at the top shelf embedded on the wall and getting out. Cool air engulfed my warm figure and sent chills down my body, which aggravated several wounds that had not healed yet, including some of tonight's episode.

After changing, I wrapped my hair up in a bun with— to my surprise— the black ribbon laying subtly atop my clothes. There's something strange going on with the Liam, I thought silently with a tilted head as I eyed myself in the mirror, gazing at the material, Could he have regained some memories?

I wasn't sure how I felt on that topic. Everything was fine now, but why did I have a bad feeling that things haven't even gotten started yet? That the moment Liam gets his memories back, there's trouble. And not the usual trouble that I was used to, there was something about this situation that gave me an odd, unsatisfying gut feeling. Something.. irreversible almost.

It was an old habit. I sensed danger from a mile away when I didn't even know what it is. But I didn't have the power to stop it. I gave up my freedom to face it head-on.

The girl staring back at me from the mirror seemed anxious, yet mildly relaxed. I didn't like her. She didn't know how to have fun, how to look past false-alarms, how to become better. The more I looked at myself, the clearer I realized just how confused I was. Who was I? What did I do? Who were my allies? Who were my foes? Where is everyone? What am I doing? And why?

There.. was something wrong with me lately. I closed my eyes in exhaustion and hung my head for a while, getting that same feeling from various moments before where I felt out-of-place as Agent W. I was so tired. I wanted to tell someone I was so tired. What exactly was I tired of? It... couldn't be? There's no way I'm starting to think that being an—

knock. knock.

I snapped out of my thoughts as my eyes traveled to the door of the washroom through the mirror ahead of me.

"Lennon," I heard the man outside call.

I raised my brows slowly as I moved my arms again to finish smoothening out my shirt. "What?" I said to the door.

"I'm coming in to wash up."

It took a split second for my mind to process his words. ".. what..?!" my voice choked out, eyes widening in horror as I saw from the mirror that the door knob was being turned.

"Carter, I'm naked!" I fumbled, cursing as I saw his head slowly pop in and his eyes meeting mine.

"Psh," the man scoffed, waving away my comment as he surveyed my fully-clothed body, "You think I wouldn't know? You've been in here for over an hour. But just so you know, even if you weren't done I would've gone in. I need to shower too, okay?"

I couldn't believe my ears. "Carter, a decent man doesn't just barge into the washroom where a woman had just been unless you're like her husband. Even on boyfriend-status I'd kick your ass out." My voice died down when I observed his eyes traveling to my hair and resting upon my bun. He stayed silent, but eventually he looked away without any words.

"Oh yeah, Ash's asleep," Liam came in, side-smiling before he sighed in slight exhaustion.

My eyes lit up on the mention of the child. "Is that so? That fast?"

"She always listens to me," he chuckled softly, "Actually, she listens to anybody.. that's my concern."

"Hmm," I frowned, turning my body so that I leaned on the sink's edge as Liam stepped in, "You know earlier I asked her about Rosella and Ben?"

"Yeah?" and when I nodded at him, he continued, "What'd she say?"

I sighed, "She said all nice things about them. How Rosella cooked food for her, hugged her, and ruffled her hair." Liam raised his brows and glanced at the door that he came in from as if little Ash was behind him so that he could question, "Seriously?"

I smirked and pointed my thumb to the side at the towel that Ash had used earlier. My smile wiped away when Liam realized Ash had only been reciting what the pictures on the towel were, not her actual mama.

Liam shook his head slightly and sighed. "That kid," he said as his hand ran through his hair.

"And then I asked about her papa." I eyed Liam who didn't know anything. He looked at me to continued. "Said right away that she loved him. Because he gave her bread, played with her at night, and told her she's a good girl." I said everything slowly as if trying to remember what the child had told me, but truthfully I remembered it word-for-word.

"Ben?" Liam scoffed, "He's a child-beater. He'd throw the bread down the toilet before giving her a crumb. Ash may not be lying, but her views are twisted."

"Yeah?" Liam let out, eyes searching mine slowly, "I figure he'd call you something like 'Princess?' Don't you know they're all dumb fuck-boys trying to get some?"

I let out a soft laugh at him. "She was describing you." The man stared into my eyes with a slightly confused look. "Me?" He pointed to himself and then laughed, "I'm not her papa."

"And I'm not her mama," I chimed in, arching my brows at him, "But she calls us that. Even from the description I could tell there was no way she was describing either Rosella or Ben. The child loves you, Carter. I guess what I'm trying to say is while your outside's a bit.. eh, effy," an amused look from Liam got me to laugh and quickly continue, "your inside's pretty decent. Alright, I give you some credit."

My face gradually turned into an amused expression when Liam raised his brows and stepped forward, eventually hands both on either sides of me grabbing onto the sink. I leaned back as his face came close to mine, tilting my head with a frown.

"Is it really? I'm a dangerous man. I'll treat you right when the sun's out, but once it's gone so is my act." His breath hits my neck as l process his words.

Then I let out a small laugh. "You're not like that. If we're alone at night we'd try to kill each other, if not kill, one of us leaves. Besides, have you forgotten I'm an agent as well? Who said I'd be the one looking behind my back for trouble?"

"You still need to be careful," Liam frowned at me, finally letting me understand what he's trying to say, "I'm not saying you can't handle yourself, but I don't want to see you hurt."

I tilted my head as I met his eyes and held it, a smile forming that I couldn't stop. "You do care," I said softly, a simple grin surfacing, "You're worried about what happened tonight?"

"No.. I'm just saying-"

"Nothing happened to me, don't worry," I said up at him, "I didn't mean it when I said I was raped."

"That's nothing to kid about."

"There's nothing to kid about in this mission one way or another. If I wasn't an agent I would've been, Carter," my voice turned grim, "Sorry. I just didn't want to suffocate every second."

"How long did he touch you?" His voice was a mixture of disgust and concern.

"However long you were gone," I said with a thin line forming on my lips, "The moment I saw you though I couldn't take it anymore. It took more energy in me to hold back from murdering Ben then to resist him. At least you saw I didn't go behind your back and disobey your command."

"That's not important."

"Then what is important?"

He took a breath in and stopped, hanging his head down. "Never mind."

Something in me felt the need to ask my next question. "Are you.. mad at me?"

"No."

"You are."

"Does it matter?"

"Yes it does!" my voice raised so that he was forced to look back into my eyes, "Why is it like this? Why can't we ever get along? The moment I think we're done patching things up, there's always something to argue about. We bicker like kids. I'm exhausted. I just want a normal conversation!"

Liam's eyes softened and I found it hard to keep going as I stared at him. Confused, I angled my head away before his hand cupped my chin and gently tilted it back to the front.

"Hey," Liam started, eyes searching mine, "There's something strange going on with you. You're acting distant from the mission. It's as if you're..."

Even he noticed it.

I jerked my face away and got out of his hold, getting to the door and opening it. "Shower. I won't be in your way anymore."

_

The night dragged on quietly. I had positioned myself in front of the bed on its long side, back leaning against the mattress and butt on the ground as Ash slept comfortably behind me on the bed. Minutes later I began dozing off, not until I heard the man come out of the shower and quietly shut the washroom's door.

His eyes rested upon my form and I knew he'd ask, "Why aren't you sleeping on the bed?"

"Who'd keep watch?" I answered back half-asleep.

The man shook his head, "Just go to sleep. Nothing will happen. Ash can sleep between us." So that's exactly what happened. Ash laid between us as I laid to her left and Liam to her right, closest to the door. The lights went off.

_

3 am.

I heard shuffling. I felt the bed cave in before it rose back up slowly. My eyes fluttered open to come into contact with Liam sitting upright at the edge of the bed, head in his hands as he mumbled to himself quietly, "Shit. I said... shit. Shit."

The longer I stayed awake, the more I realized that he was beating himself up over that one time when we were in my dorm room and he had talked bad about himself. "Wow. That was.. me?" I finally heard the man ask skeptically to no one but himself, "Oh god, oh fucking god," he rubbed his face in irritation, "This is so unfair. What did my mouth do, fuck."

He sat there mumbling a few more words, being frustrated, and then there was a long silence. An extremely, odd silence. I laid there pretending to be asleep, but I couldn't help but glance over at his form. My eyes widened when the man appeared devastated before he pushed himself up and went to grab his bag. By this point my body had already sat itself up unconsciously, watching him reach the door slowly and hesitating for a long time.

"Liam?" I called out quietly.

Liam turned around and his eyes dilated in concern, snapping out of his daze. "I'm going outside," he reassured me, "for a breather."

1.

My eyes narrowed as I tried again, hands propping my body up as I tilted my head towards the man. "Liam, it's late. The sun's almost up."

"I'll be back," he struggled softly, "Go back to sleep, Lennon."

2.

"Aren't you tired, Liam?"

"I am, I just need a breath-"

❝ Hey. ❞

My low voice echoed throughout the room as the mood changed abruptly. I could tell Liam could sense it too. The man turned around and from the look of his eyes, I could tell he realized what had just happened. Our eyes stayed on each other for a moment before he dropped his bag softly on the ground.

❝ you remember.. don't you? ❞

Liam's eyes frowned and he kept silent, waiting for me. I narrowed my eyes, "I called your name three times. You responded to Liam each time." Before the man could say anything, I asked firmly, "What is your name?"

He hesitated before shutting his eyes tiredly and answering, "Liam. Carter."

He remembered.

I stood up from the bed and stepped off, standing next to it. "What's going on?" I asked him barely above a whisper.

"I.." Liam started, hands behind his neck as he rubbed it gently, "Yes, I remember."

"What do you remember?"

"Everything, Jamie."

My breath stopped when I realized it wasn't the first time during this mission that I had subtly heard him call me Jamie. "Oh my god. You really do. Since.. when?"

Liam looked lost. He looked tired and redundant. "Since the kiss. I don't.. know how it happened. I just knew that the moment we pulled away, I recognized who the woman before me was."

My eyes widened in confusion, "The kiss? You remembered after the kiss?"

"Yeah."

My eyes softened, "Welcome back, Liam." He looked at me with pain in his eyes for some reason, "You should've told me."

The man sighed and walked a bit towards me. "I tried, and I wanted to. But you seemed tired. It wasn't the right moment, I was trying to find a moment that I could."

"In the shower earlier?"

"It slipped my mind. We were talking about Ben."

"That's not all we talked about," I raised my brows, crossing my arms.

"Well that's all I remembered," he finished as a hand ran through his hair and he glanced over at Ash sleeping.

"Where were you..." I began, remembering him trying to get to the door before I interrupted him. My chest tightened and my breath hitched upon a new thought. "You were.. trying to leave?" My expression darkened as I took a step back in disbelief upon seeing his face.

Liam looked tired as he tried to defend himself, "No I.. well I... yes.. but-"

"You wanted to leave?" I asked again, unable to raise my voice. My body unconsciously shook as I took another step back when he tried getting closer to comfort me.

"No Jamie, no I wasn't going to.. I was.. maybe, I was thinking that but I really wouldn't have," he said, eyeing me in concern, "trust me Lennon.. I won't leave."

"You took your bag," I eyed the thing in pain, "You were planning to leave without anyone knowing." My voice came out almost accusingly. Maybe it was because of the many experiences in my past where I could no longer trust anyone. Everyone left. Everyone turned their back on me. I was tired of being the one at the end of the stick waiting for it to happen.

"Jamie," Liam came back sternly, but then his eyes averted somewhere before he said, "Yes. I was planning to leave. I was planning to do it before you woke up."

"You asshole," I growled in his face, "I trusted you. This is your mission. Where do you think you're going?"

"Tell that to your boss," he snapped back for the first time since his memory recovered, "Did you think I'm over your people acting like I don't know anything and manipulating my actions by feeding me lies?"

I narrowed my eyes and listened, guilt also climbing up my throat to choke me.

He continued. "The R.U. assigned me this mission. I'm not an R.U. agent, Lennon. You people disgust me. I'm an assassin. So you," he pointed to me, "Finish this by yourself or let the child die. I won't continue a mission not meant for me in the first place. And you said my heart's nice?" The man scoffed and grabbed my wrist, making me wince, "Look here, Jamie. The moment these cuffs came off, I was ready to run."

I frowned up at him as my eyes flashed hurt and betrayal, jerking my hand away from him. "We really can never get along," I finished, keeping eye contact with the man.

His eyes narrowed, "We never should have. It's all been an act. He grabbed my shoulders and forced me to pay attention and keep eye contact with him, "Have you noticed that every time we talked comfortably around each other, it's because we're both not ourselves? Three years ago we met as classmates, three years later we meet as allies. Now tell me if any of that was the actual situation, Jamie."

I gritted my teeth and choked on my words. "Stop," I let out weakly, looking at the ground, "I'm sorry. Please stop." I was slightly begging in my words to him so that he would stop bringing back the past.

"Sorry?" He asked skeptically, laughing, "Sorry? Is that the best you could do? You were the one that said let's never meet again, or did you forget, Lennon?" He eyed me silently with a frown, eyes seeming to be aware of something.

"That wasn't my fault," I tried to tell him, my eyes filling up, "I didn't know-"

"You knew long enough afterwards and you still acted like you didn't," he yelled.

I winced at the amount of force he was using in his voice and his arms as he held me by my arms. "And what about you?" I came back, my voice low, my brows raised, "I kept quiet because we might blow up if you knew and triggered the cuffs. What about you?" I stressed my last words again, ripping his hands off of my arms, "Tell me if you had any good reason to keep quiet."

He was frustrated by the way he looked at me. "I kept quiet because I lo-"

We both snapped our heads to the side when hearing Ash make a sound and potentially wake up. The child however, only turned to the side and her expression became sad when she felt no presence around her. My eyes softened and I struggled with what to do next as I turned back to Liam, who was still eyeing Ash after I had looked away.

"I have a life," he continued when he looked back at me, "I have a friend and a girlfriend waiting for me all these years. If things go wrong between my group, I'll never forgive you. Never." The man backed away and began walking towards his bag, picking it back up and heading towards the door.

I watched him move about the room in disbelief, standing there not daring to make a move to stop him. I saw his hands grab the doorknob and before he turned it, he said softly, "I'll make sure this is the last time we meet each other. If I see you again.. forgive me for wanting to shoot you. I might not if your hairstyle changes."

Confused on his last words, it was confirmed that the man was leaving after I heard the soft click of the door returning back to its closed state. Exhausted, and confused, I sat on the edge of the bed with my head in my hands, remaining in that position for the rest of the night.

Somewhere around me, I heard faint tickings.

-

Morning came and I tried getting a hold of Axel. He didn't pick up any of the ten times I called and my heart raced in panic, calling Chestin instead. He didn't pick up either. I called Helene as my third resort and she finally picked up on the second call.

"Helene, what's going on-"

"Jamie I can't right now, urgh— tsk, did Axel not explain to you what's happening?" There was rough movement on her side.

"No, what's going on with you?" I asked with a frown, glancing to the bed to see that Ash had woken up. I tried to smile at the child before covering the phone and walking further away so that she couldn't hear.

"Chestin... Axel..." the line cut off.

Chestin?

My eyes traveled to the door. I ran to it and to my horror, the doorknob was locked.. even though the lock was from the inside. I struggled a few seconds with the knob, then I jammed my body up against the door.

Nothing.

"Mama?" Ash called out at my sudden bursts of noise, "Where's Papa? What are you doing?"

My breath hitched when a face popped up before me through the glass on the door. She wore a grin as fresh as the sun coming up and her red lips raised. Though taken by surprise, I angled myself so that Ash couldn't be seen and quickly untied the ribbon so that my hair blocked views in the back that my body couldn't cover.