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Mrs. Blades' eyes glanced back and forth from Alexander and I as she watched for our reactions.

"If what I said is the case, both of you must be careful of who you trust."

I closed my eyes for just a short moment. "I'll check into our systems, see if anyone hacked in."

"If there's someone that betrayed our trust here in headquarters, we'll find them," Alexander assured his mother with a stiff nod.

"I will get you the unredacted file as soon as I can, but I can probably get it tomorrow morning at the earliest." She sighed and winced slightly in pain. "The safe the file is in needs my eye, finger, and voice."

"I understand." I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to contemplate what to do next, but the thought that I could have really lost Mr. and Mrs. Blades today continuously invaded my mind and made it hard for me to do so.

I must have spaced out, because Mrs. Blades eyed me with genuine concern in those bright hazel eyes of hers. "Are you really okay, Vita?"

I nodded, but I couldn't meet her gaze as the tears began to form in my eyes.

"Come a little closer to me, dear."

I scooted a little closer to her like she asked, as she pulled me into a warm motherly embrace.

"You don't have to put up that strong facade in front of me, Vita. What's bothering you?"

A tear fell down my cheek as I laid my head on her shoulder, liked I've done so many times for as long I could remember. "This wasn't what I was expecting when I was able to come home. Mom and dad are gone, and we're no closer to finding them than we were on the first day of this case. I just keep thinking, what if we didn't get to you guys in time?" I swallowed a lump in my throat as another tear rolled down my face. "Mr. Blades still isn't out of surgery. I can't lose you too."

Mrs. Blades rubbed my back, waiting for me to calm down, as she remained silent for a few moments. "Look at me, my dear."

I closed my eyes to calm myself down, and then lifted my head up look into her eyes. "We are closer to finding your parents, Vita, and my husband will come out of that surgery because he is one of the strongest man I know. You can't keep thinking of the what ifs. We're both alive and going to be fine because you both came in time." She gave me a smile. "Besides, I refuse to die before I see my grandchildren. Will that be anytime soon?"

I could feel my face reddening in mortification. "I-uh... we... um..."

"Hmm, I don't think that was a yes." She gave a disappointed sigh with amusement twinkling in her eyes. "Alexander, please take her home and take care of her arm."

"My arm is fine, Mrs. Blades. A nurse patched me up." I shrugged away from her and stood up next to the bed, close to Alexander. "And we'll leave as soon as we know Mr. Blades is okay."

Mrs. Blades didn't bother to look at me as she eyed her son. "Make sure she's really okay."

Alexander stood next to me and leaned forwards to plant a kiss on his mother's cheek. "Don't worry, I'll take care of her."

"Just a quick question." Mrs. Blades began. "Are you both really engaged or already married?"

I froze absolutely still and kept my gaze on the ground, standing like a child being interrogated for stealing extra sweet treats.

"You're wearing a ring as well, son."

There a short stretch of painful silence, and there was no way I was willing to be the one to break it.

"Married." I heard Alexander's answer and winced slightly when I heard him tell the truth to his mother.

"Papers-"

"Signed."

"Both of you are in big trouble."

I gathered the courage to tilt my head up to take a quick glance at her, and saw that she was eying us both sternly, but not unhappily, at the news.

Suddenly, the door to this room was yanked open.

"I will need you both to step out." The same nurse that treated me, came in and warned both Alexander and I.

With one last look at Mrs. Blades, Alexander and I walked out of the room only to see that Mr. Blades was being wheeled in.

"Are you both family?" A doctor still in scrubs walked towards the both of us.

"Yes." Alexander answered.

"Your father was very lucky. The bullet was a through and through, and missed important organs. However, we'll be keeping him here for a few days to check for signs of infections and to make sure that he's healing. Please wait in the waiting room and someone will get you both after they're finished setting Agent Blades up comfortably."

I thanked him and he gave me a small smile before leaving the two of us. Relief flooded though me and unconsciously, my hand found his and laced our hands together. I looked up at him with relief written on my face, content that both his parents were going to be fine, and Alexander gave me very small smile. I could tell that he too, was very content that his parents were going to be okay.

Alexander and I walked back to the waiting room, both of us deep in thought.

*

The moment I stepped into the waiting room, I was attacked by a body running towards me. I let go of Alexander's hand to brace myself.

Emmaline began to sob as she wrapped her arms tightly around my torso. "I-I thought... I-"

She couldn't finish whatever she wanted to say because when the frightened tears subsided, she began to hiccup. Emmaline took a moment to take a deep breath. "Worried. I was worried."

I felt awkward and I ended up patting her back as she let go of me. With another hiccup, she wiped away her tears and when her eyes landed on Alexander, he also got the full brunt of her genuine concern and worry. He too, gave her a pat on her shoulder.

"What about me?" Victor spoke up and I shook my head with a small smile.

Victor didn't await my answer as he wrapped his arms tightly around me and squeezed. "That was reckless. Don't do it again."

I rolled my eyes as he let go.

"Don't do what?" Emmaline spoke up and I realized that she didn't know every detail about what had happened today.

Victor opened his mouth with a smirk on his face and I immediately glared at him to shut it. If Emmaline got an understanding of my reckless actions, I had a feeling that being squeezed to death would be the least of my worries.

"One word and you will be knocked out till tomorrow." I growled lowly as I pulled Victor's ear lower towards me so that I could whisper my threat without anyone else hearing about it.

Victor let out a chuckle. "Miss. My-fists-will-solve-everything."

I pinched his ear a little harder and got a slight wince out of him.

"Got it, Simmons." Letting go, his hand went to rub where I had grabbed it. "Didn't anyone ever tell you violence is never the answer?"

"You're telling me as the person that picked a fight with me on my first day?" I questioned with a raise of an eyebrow.

Victor looked at me sheepishly. "Ah, true, I guess."

"We brought you guys food." Emmaline sniffled as she handed Alexander a plastic bag.

"Thank you, Emmaline." Alexander took the bag and gave her a gratefully nod.

"About the people that were brought in," Victor started, his face wiped of humor and replaced with seriousness, "I will interrogate and Emmaline will run them through our systems, see if we get a hit from anywhere. You both should go home. It's getting late, so Emmaline and I will wrap things up then head home as well."

Alexander nodded and I looked over at him in disbelief.

"You're agreeing?" I asked in confusion.

Alexander ignored me as he continued to talk with Victor and Emmaline. "We'll be getting the completely unredacted file tomorrow, so as soon as you're done, head home and get some rest. I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a long day."

Victor and Emmaline both agreed.

"Stay safe, both of you." Emmaline pulled me into another hug before she left with Victor.

"We'll be heading home as soon as we can check up on mom and dad one last time," Alexander informed me.

I shrugged since it wasn't too big of a deal. As long as I had my computer, I could figure out if anyone hacked in or someone was actively giving the enemy classified information.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Alexander's outstretched arm offering me a sandwich, and I took it. Sitting next to him, we ate in silence as we waited.

"What do you think?" I asked Alexander quietly as we both finished eating.

He didn't even ask me what subject I was talking about, he simply answered. "I think mom's right."

"You know the tattoos they all have?"

Alexander leaned back into his chair with his long legs straightened out in front of him, and tilted his head towards me with his powerful arms on the armrests.

"I think I've seen that design somewhere before," I admitted gravely, sitting up straight and looking into his dark greys.

"Where?"

I shook my head. "Don't remember where, but I just think that I've seen it somewhere before."

"Okay, tell me when you remember." He ran his fingers through his hair and I could tell he was stressed.

We waited for at least fifteen minutes when a nurse peeked her head into the room and looked at the both of us. "Agent Blades? You can come see your parents now if you would like."

He stood up silently and walked out, I followed right behind him. Mr. Blades was still asleep, so we said our goodbyes to Mrs. Blades and headed home knowing that we was going to be fine.

*

By now, the amount of time I was typing way at my computer had accumulated to hours. I wasn't too sure how long I was searching through the network and system, but the sun had set completely and the moon was already shining brightly in the sky. My neck was stiff, my back creaking at the slightest movement, and my rear felt numb for sitting far too long. I was halfway through my security check, but so far, nothing.

The door to my room opened and Alexander walked in freshly showered with the tips of his hair still wet, wearing a pair of sweatpants and a navy t-shirt.

"Any luck?" I asked as he came towards the bed and sat down next to me.

Alexander shook his head.

"Me neither, but I'm not done checking yet."

"I've been thinking, when mom gets checked out of the hospital tomorrow, I want to bring her here."

"Sounds good," I answered back as I continued typing.

Alexander lifted my hands by my wrists off the keyboard, forcing me to stop typing, so I looked up at him in annoyance. "What?"

"My mother knows that we're married."

"You told her today. So?"

"Our contract was that you were going to help me convince my mother."

"Get to the point, Red." I wiggled my hands out of his warm grasp with a frown.

"We're sleeping in different bedrooms at the moment."

My eyes widened at he was implying. "Absolutely not."

"She's already suspicious. You want to feed that doubt?"

I growled at him, but I didn't have anything to rebuttal his argument.

"Go take a shower and sleep. I'll move your things to my room tonight since she'll be here tomorrow morning."

"Fine," I spat out unhappily. Just when I thought things were going well between us. "But I get this room tonight."

Shutting my laptop down and getting my clothes from the closet, I walked into the bathroom without sparing another glance at Alexander. I ripped off the bandages and got in under the warm spray of water, feeling my stiff muscles loosen slightly.

By the time I got out, the bathroom was filled with steam and the was mirror fogged up. Getting dressed was easy, but it was trying to rebandage my arms that was tough. I must have been trying for at least ten minutes when I ultimately given up.

"Red?" I called his name as I walked out the bathroom and my room, and into his.

He was working away on his laptop and when I entered, he had lifted his head up slightly to look at me.

"Help?" I gave a small, sheepish smile.

Alexander raised a dark eyebrow as he got off his bed and stood up to his full towering height. "You took it off?"

"Yeah, I thought I could redo it when I got out."

Without another word, he tilted his head towards the bathroom. I got in and sat on the counter while Alexander got out the things that he needed and washed his hands. I could smell the scent of his shampoo and the clean scent of him as he stepped closer to me and leaned down to examine the cut I had gotten today. It was addictive.

He grabbed my arm lightly with one hand, lifting it up to get a better view, and got the alcohol to clean it with his other hand. Looking away, I waited for the sting of alcohol, but it never came so I looked back at him. "Any time today would be great, Red."

He began cleaning the wound and I winced from the sharp pain. Then, he lightly smeared some kind of ointment on it and wrapped it up.

"Thanks," I mumbled as I inspected his handiwork, waiting for him to step away so that I could jump off the counter without injuring him, but he didn't.

Alexander looked up from my arm and gently cupped my face as he stepped between my knees. His dark grey eyes bore into mine and I could see quick flashes of worry that flitted across them.

"I almost lost you today, Angel." His thumbs caressed my cheeks tenderly and his behavior threw me off kilter.

"I did what I had to. But you, don't run off without backup," I cautioned him pointedly.

He gave me a small smile and my breath got caught in my throat, but his features soon turned melancholy.

"When you ran, I realized how much I didn't want to lose you."

"Watch out, Red, I might think you like me," I whispered as he leaned in closer and so did I.

"I never hated you." His minty breath fanned over my lips as we were mere centimeters away connecting.

My heart began to pound a little faster as his eyes darkened considerably. "Alexander..."

He planted his lips against mine and I responded by wrapping my arms against his neck and kissing him back. The desire that we both held within ourselves erupted and heat consumed us both.

Alexander tilted his head to the side to deepen the kiss as his hands left my face to trail down to my waist. With a light tug, he pulled me across the counter so that my upper body was firmly pressed against his and my thighs were on either side of his torso. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he lifted me up easily with one hand at the bottom of my rear and the other firmly on my back, pulling me impossibly closer to him. I could feel the muscles in his body contract and tighten as he walked us both out the bathroom and into his room.

Before I knew it, he laid me down his soft mattress and loomed over me with his elbows on each side of my face. I could feel the warmth on my cheeks as I breathed heavily and reached for the hem of his shirt. He must have understood what I wanted to do, because he sat up to pull the shirt over his head and tossed it on the floor.

I trailed my hands from his hard pecs down towards his abdomen ripped with muscle with each ridge defined and cut. He let me explore for a moment, but then took both my hands into one of his and placed them right where his heart was, making my mine stutter. Keeping my hands on his chest, he leaned down and placed a kiss on my forehead, then my temples, then my cheeks. He took his time with each and every kiss, savoring the contact and lingering before moving on, and he was so gentle and tender that I felt that he cared for me when this probably didn't matter to him.

He lifted his head and I saw that he had a small, carefree smile on his face. I couldn't help but smile back at him as I got my hands out of his and cupped his face, pulling him down towards me so that our lips could meet once more.

Right now, with him, all of my worries and pain floated away as a moment of peace descended upon the both of us. Even if he was pretending so that I would lose the bet, I took what I could get.

Today's events made me realize something and I don't know what I terrified me more. The fact that in this world, I only had him to rely on, or the fact that I no longer despised him, and I was slowly falling for him.

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Until next time lovelies,

InvincibleBunny