#n: lloyd hansen x f!reader x court gentry

[adoreyouusugar]

OOOO WEEEEE I WOULD SLURP HIM BAD something about when he has this little ugly stache…delicious

#lloyd hansen #n: lloyd hansen x f!reader x court gentry #lloyd hansen x black!reader #lloyd hansen x black reader #chris evans #chris evans x woc #chris evans x poc!reader #chris evans x black!reader #chris evans x black female reader #chris evans x black reader #chris jamal evans #chris evans x black women #chris evans x best friend!reader #trash stache #handsome devil #make it hurt daddy #crazy love #daddy asf #slurp him #harder daddy

[arrieebooks]

Precious Weapon (8)

Pairing : Lloyd Hansen x F!OC (Elle) x Sierra Six (Court Gentry) x glimpses of Denny Carmichael.

Summary : She has her first kill but things get messy. Lloyd starts to feel feelings for her. They all three have a conversation about what they really are.

Warnings : Guns. Detailed murder. Violence. Assassination Gore. Lloyd thirsts over her ass. Nudity. Taking clothes off. Polyamory relationship. Fun trysts in a hotel. Lots of implied sex. Teasing. Making out underwater. Slight happiness for a short time. References to home theater. (Check it out, it deserves more recognition!).

Word count : 14k words.

Author's note : This takes place exactly two weeks after chapter seven.

***

Lloyd has no idea what kind of spell she has put him under to be this whipped to her.

He is obsessed with her. Captivated. Bewitched. She controls him, unintentionally and subconsciously. Anything she wants, it's hers. He does whatever she says. He has never been this glued before with any other women in his life. And she doesn’t even do much. She just simply exists in his radar.

He finds her completely flawless. Everything she does is perfect and attractive to him. It doesn’t even matter what she’s doing. It could either be when she’s eating up all of their food hungrily or blowing up buildings and warehouses or bursting with laughter loudly whenever Six tries to crack up a stupid joke.

Even today, as she's bent down and arching her ass while gripping a huge sniper against the hotel room's window, she looks absolutely sexy and tempting to him. He's never seen any woman handle a gun so perfectly composed — Six taught her well. He could see the curve of her ass through her thin black leggings. Lloyd scrubs his hand over his stache, drifting his eyes toward the view of the mall in front of them instead of her ass.

He squints his eyes due to the usual hot sunny day of the city. The room smells like a fresh new hotel room and he missed it. He's sitting on the uncomfortable chair in the desk, right beside her where the gun is placed. Six is somewhere on the bed, reviewing the surveillance cameras in his laptop and the blueprint of the mall to look for loopholes.

It's her first big mission after two weeks of waiting and recovering from everything that’s happened. An assassination mission. To eliminate one of the corrupt politicians in the city. She’s been studying his case during her week off and he is truly the fucking worst.

She had flinched a couple of times just looking at his files from what he had done to thousands of poor innocents just for the sake of money. The bastard doesn’t even care nor is he scared of being caught. Instead, he’s chilling in a fancy outdoor café from the mall with his family while he's calling some other politician as well.

They’ve been in that mall before, it just wasn’t a mission. It was a nice day out with just them because she wanted fresh air that time. He wishes the circumstance could be the same now. He hates assassination missions. It always gets messy real fast, somehow.

“You know, I could just shoot him right here and then we could enjoy this nice room for the rest of the day.” Elle remarks casually, her eyes still watching the man from the sniper’s lens.

Six looks up from his laptop and frowns. "We just need to be patient. Get him alone and do it in a secure place without too many cameras in every single angle." he calmly tells her.

Lloyd looks down at her even though she can't see him. "That's not exactly the purpose we got this room for, sweetheart." he retorts coldly.

She rolls her eyes, retreating from the sniper to look straight into his eyes. "But, it is a pretty expensive room just to waste it for a few hours, spying on this asshole doing nothing." she grumbles but he still finds it so fucking attractive. She's just like him.

He glares at her as his jaw tenses. "You're the one who told us to get this room in the first place." Lloyd reminds her, proving to himself even more that he does whatever she says.

She finally stands up straight and her eyes look down at him. "Yeah, because it had a clear view of the whole outdoor mall. But I didn't think that we would be holed up in this room for hours. He practically hasn't moved a single muscle." she states.

Lloyd shakes his head. "We can't kill him with the gun. The room's window that we booked is clearly going to leave a hole. A fucking bullet hole. We're too close to the target. They'll trace it back to us." he states the obvious.

She shrugs. "We used a fake identity to book this room, they can't trace it back to us. We'll be fine." Elle still insists.

Sometimes her stubbornness gets on his nerves way too much. His jaw clenches and clicks while his eyes glare up at her.

"No. it's not how it's done. You're here to make it look completely clean and untraceable, without any sort of evidence at all. That's your purpose, Elle." Lloyd sternly tells her.

She huffs, rolling her eyes again. She knows that he's making a perfect point now. She just hates admitting it.

"And I can't believe I've put up with you for one month now." she says with a sigh, a small smile slowly forming on her lips.

Lloyd's face gradually relaxes a little bit and realizes this is her way of telling him that he's right, for the very first time.

Six perks up from his laptop, glancing between them. "Has it really been a month? I don't keep track of dates." he casually says.

She snaps his head to him and nods. "Yep. A month or so." Elle answers before walking up to him and Lloyd's eyes follow her every moment.

She sits on the bed, right in front of him. "So, when do we finally get down there? I can't hear anything he's saying from up here." she asks him, sweetly.

Six looks down at his laptop again to study the blueprint so he could get them a nice exit strategy.

Lloyd clicks his tongue in disapproval. "He's probably saying something useless anyway. Like which stripper club he wants to buy next." he remarks.

She turns around to him. "Have you ever been to a stripper club before?" she teases him intentionally with a smirk on her lips.

Lloyd casually nods. "Yeah. In France. Just not really my scene. Too dark and flashy. Tacky. And, embarrassing. Every guy is there to see some ass and everyone knows it." he comments.

She furrows her brows, cocking her head to the side. "Why'd you only say ass?" she asks.

He stammers, evidently panicking. "I—what? What does that even mean? What else was I even supposed to say? It is like that! It's all ass!" Lloyd tries to defend himself but she just laughs at him.

Six still remains calm and focused on the screen of his laptop. They don't bother his focus by talking like this, he likes it when they talk. He was the one who suggested in the first place to include Lloyd in their thing because he genuinely likes the guy.

She shakes her head. "It means you like ass more, Hansen. There are other body parts of a woman that aren't just their ass. The fact that you only said ass, means you're an ass man." Elle explains to him.

Lloyd scowls, looking very offended by her true statement. "That's not true." he denies.

She raises her brows. "Really? How about my ass, then?" She keeps teasing him and Six finally looks up to them. He knows Lloyd loves her ass more than anything. Six could tell by the way he was always staring at it. Even earlier, he noticed.

He shrugs plainly. "What about your ass? It looks fine to me." Lloyd pretends to not like her ass even though he has been staring at it this whole time.

She giggles. "You like my ass, Lloyd. Admit it." she urges as Six stares back down at his laptop to hide a smile.

Six clears his throat before the other man could even open his mouth. "Guys, I think I found a plan," he announces.

Lloyd smirks at him, now focusing all his attention on him. "Well, let's hear it, ken doll." he gestures his hand for him to continue.

"Right, so we'll go in there separately. Maybe, one of us as a couple. We disguise our way in there and act like clueless tourists just wandering around. We'll bring one of our agents so I can walk with them." Six makes a plan out of the top of his head since he's never really done this before.

She frowns. "So… me and Lloyd as a couple?" she asks slowly.

Six casually nods. "Yeah. You guys look more fitting for it. I'll be a solo traveler with a friend. Then, Lloyd and you are going to follow him after he leaves that café. Make something up so he could be in a secluded place. Wherever you decide to do it, make sure to destroy the cameras before it could even catch you. Are we clear?" he explains to them.

They're both an attentive partner to him, always listening to him no matter what the situation is. Six rarely makes plans for missions. He usually just does what he's told to. He only ever strategizes when he urgently has to.

Lloyd immediately nods. "Clear. I'll go and tell our team in the other room." he declares, getting up from his seat.

She nods her head too. "I'm going to prep and cloak our weapons again so it doesn't beep during security." Elle states before all of them part their ways to do their own thing.

***

Beep

Their hotel door opens as Lloyd comes into the room with the key card in his hands. He's just finished briefing the team of their plan. He bought some clothes in the mall for their disguise as well.

Elle is in the bathroom, doing her hair to make it look like she's a tourist because she clearly doesn't. She's already learned to blend in since she was born. She's lived in this country her whole life.

Six is taking off his shirt and jacket in the room, that certainly doesn't make him look like a solo traveler. He looks more like a rich guy about to murder a guy. It's not exactly his fault that Lloyd always buys his clothes expensively. He just told him that he wanted comfortable clothes.

Lloyd's knuckles knock on the bathroom and Elle snaps her head with a straightener and a brush still in her hair. "Yeah?" she asks him as he leans on the doorframe.

He shows her three shopping bags. "Bought you guys some clothes. You know, for the disguise. I've already memorized both of your sizes." Lloyd tells her.

She nods, calmly putting the burning hot straightener on the counter. "Okay, what am I wearing?" she asks, fully turning to him with a hand on her hip.

Lloyd takes a clothing item from the bag and reveals it to her. "Well, this." He hands her a very long, flowy maxi pink sundress with white flowers and ribbons for the straps. Something to wear in an island destination or on a beach.

She sighs. "You've got to be kidding me. I have to wear this? Lloyd, we're in Jakarta, not in fucking Bali or something. This is not something you'd wear in a city." Elle complains.

Lloyd nods. "Yeah, stupid tourists, remember? They wear whatever the fuck they want." he argues.

She shakes her head in disbelief. "Fine. If I have to wear this shit, then you can't wear this either." she says, her finger pointing out his clothes that certainly make him look too rich and not like a tourist at all.

He frowns, looking down at his black patterned polo shirt and his white trousers. "What? No. These are my clothes. I'm not taking it off. Ever." Lloyd firmly states.

She smirks, stepping forward to him and her hands rest against his chest. "Yes, you are. Because I'm the one taking it off of you." she softly demands, her fingers already slowly taking his buttons off.

Lloyd huffs. "Are you fucking kidding me?" he grumbles but he doesn't move a single muscle, he's letting her do it.

She nods, flicking off three buttons on the top of his shirt. “Yeah, wear a normal shirt and normal pants to blend in as a tourist. You know, I knew you weren’t just some tourist or a guy who worked a 9-5 job here, back at that bar. Because of how you dressed. Now, let me style you, Lloyd.” she says before finally finishing taking off all of the buttons.

He rolled his eyes, glaring down at her. “Whatever. Just make it quick.” Lloyd mumbles and she lifts his shirt above his head quickly.

He’s left shirtless and while this isn’t the first time she’s seen him like this, it has been a long time since they’ve seen each other fully naked. It’s only been two weeks. Lloyd wanted to give her some space, after everything that’s happened. He didn’t want to push her. He wanted to let her body heal properly. She’s been with Six a lot and he's been helping her sleep every night.

She looks down at all his toned abs and abdomen. “You’ve gotten ripped.” Elle remarks teasingly.

Lloyd frowns. “That’s not true. I haven’t even been working out.” He refers to something else that isn’t related to actually working out. He knows she knows what it means. He knows how smart she actually is. Smarter than him, sometimes.

Her lips turn into a smirk as she slowly stares up at him with those big, innocent eyes. “Well, we could fix that tonight if we decide to stay the night here.” She teases him.

He slowly nods. “We'll see later.” Lloyd seriously tells her and a smile gleams on her lips.

She grabs the dress she’s about to wear and snatches all the shopping bags from his hands. “Come here, we have more space in the room.” she says before grabbing his hand, dragging him into their room.

Six turns his head to them and frowns confusedly. She goes to stand in front of him while throwing all the bags onto their bed. Lloyd still has his hand glued on hers as he stands behind her.

"What's going on here? Why is Lloyd suddenly shirtless?" Six asks them, holding in a laugh as his lips slowly tug into a small smile.

She smiles softly. "I'm styling him now. You need it too, you know. So, take your shirt off please." she demands him and he immediately nods, already taking his shirt off from him. Six doesn't hesitate at all because they've both seen him naked already and he trusts them. If this was anyone else, he'd rip their skin off.

Lloyd tilts his head to the side. "You keep ordering us to take off our shirts, when are you going to do the same?" he asks her, wrapping his hand around her waist as he presses himself against her from behind.

Six casually throws his shirt somewhere on the bed before glaring at the other man.

"Now's not the time for that. We need to—"

Wordlessly, she casually takes her crop top off of her body, revealing her white bra that matched her shirt. "I need to change into my dress first before I style you guys." she innocently says.

Lloyd's eyes wander all around her body from behind and somehow, he's so relieved that all her scars from two weeks ago are gone. He knows it has been gone for long already but he remembered the fear he felt when he saw all those scars on her body that weren't healing yet. He thought it was the end of her.

Six's eyes respectfully stare down at her body before looking back up at her eyes. "Change quick, Elle. This isn't a…" he softly trails.

She nods. "I know. This is a mission. And the mark's still in the same place until now." she states as a matter of fact.

Lloyd looks at their window and she's right. He glances at the blonde as he smirks. "Come on, Six. Loosen up. She's just styling us. It's a requirement for the mission." he remarks.

"Since when do you ever loosen up for a mission?" Six casually asks, knowing how he used to be so uptight with them during a mission. But that was before having her.

Lloyd shrugs before she pulls away from him and walks towards Six, standing beside him. "Because he's changed, right?" she teases.

He nods. "Maybe," he admits.

Six looks over to her and the dress she has in her hands. "Take your pants off and wear the dress." he softly demands, grabbing the dress she's holding.

She does what she's told, kneeling down a little to take her leggings off smoothly. Lloyd has to retreat his eyes from the view in front of him to not get that distracted. He does have to do a mission after this. He can't get hard for this.

After completely removing her leggings off of her feet, she throws them onto their bed. She stands up and looks up at Six due to their height difference. Sometimes she forgets how tall he is compared to her. She's not exactly short, he's just too tall.

Elle turns to him and he puts on the dress above her head carefully. She didn't even think he'd do this for her. He places the straps on her shoulders correctly and smoothens them out before he observes the dress on her body quietly.

"Nice dress for a disguise." Six quietly remarks, "Lloyd bought you this, didn't he?" he asks before turning to the man in question.

Lloyd nods at him. "Yeah, obviously. She wouldn't have worn something like this."

She turns her eyes to him and rolls her eyes. "Because this isn't some island. It's a city. We don't wear shit like this." she retorts, tidying her dress.

He frowns. "I've seen some girls wear this at that bar and then in this mall. Even more revealing and shorter ones." Lloyd comments casually.

She shakes her head. "Other girls aren't me. I have a damn principle. I wasn't raised that way." Elle firmly states. She doesn't think that other girls who wear that are sluts or anything, it's just a matter of preference and principle. She was raised by abusers, but they still taught her about values, regardless.

Lloyd cocks his head to the side before slowly smirking. "Well, then, maybe it's a good thing that you'd only be revealing yourself to us and no one else. It's exclusive." he affirms.

"Yeah, except for now." she retorts, still not really okay with having to wear this dress just for the mission.

Lloyd sighs, regarding her with a soft look. "I know, baby, but we're gonna walk together out there. If anyone says some stupid shit I'll shoot their fucking mouth." he swears. He's never called her that. That was usually Six's thing for her, sometimes.

She breaks into a giggle. "Yes, please. I'd love that very much." she says before realizing what he just said. "Wait. Did you just—"

And Lloyd just had noticed what slipped out of his mouth, accidentally. "Okay, let's just change our clothes and you know, do it quickly." he tries to change the subject.

She's okay with it. She knew he wasn't ready for it yet, anyway. He never is going to be. He doesn't have the guts to make things more serious. Even after a month. A month of enduring and living together. That's the longest he's ever stayed with anyone before and the most he's done with a woman.

She clears his throat before a smile touches her lips. "Alright, so, you guys stay here." she tells them, walking to their bed and grabbing the shopping bags.

As she turns around to them with the bags, she takes a step back to observe both of them like this. Still and shirtless. Just for her. Like two sexy supermodels perfect and ready for her only. She has no fucking idea how much power she has over them. They'd do quite literally anything for her if she asks. Even this. This is something they both would've never done if it wasn't with her and for her.

She won't admit this, but this whole thing is turning her on a little. A little too much, perhaps. It does spark her a bit that they'd both just strip their whole body for her whenever she asks. She knows it's a sensitive thing for them because their body is full of scars and survivor wounds that no one else would've been allowed to see. Except for her, that is.

Six turns to her and frowns. "Elle? You good?" he softly asks her.

She snaps herself back to reality and looks at him, nodding. "Yep. Yes, all good. Okay, so, Lloyd's turn first. Because… there's a lot to work with." Elle states, walking to him.

Lloyd straightens up and places his hands on his bare hips as she steps closer to him.

She stands in front of him, staring down at his pants before she grimaces. "Your pants… It's too douchey. It reeks of an asshole rich guy who's about to murder someone. Not a clueless, stupid tourist." she remarks.

He rolls his eyes. "Fine, what am I wearing then?" he asks her and she pulls out some white linen pants from the bag.

Lloyd already shakes his head at the sight of it. "Absolutely not. That was for Six." he argues.

"Wear it." she orders sternly and he's just speechless, eventually taking the white pants from her hands. She sneaks a peek into the options for the shirts and finds a dark navy polo shirt. Which is still from a fancy brand but at least, it doesn't look like it from the front.

She casually hands him the shirt and he just accepts it, without any complaints. "See, you can even still wear a polo shirt, just a much more normal one than your usual. I have no idea why you bought a dozen clothes for this disguise. This is like a week's worth of clothes for the three of us." she comments.

He scoffs, looking down at the clothes she chose for him. "Because I thought we'd need some clothes if we're going to stay the night. Our fake suitcases are all filled with weapons and comms. That you magically made it invisible." Lloyd remarks, quietly praising her.

Elle nods. "I know, I'm amazing. Anyway, take your pants off and wear all this. I'm not gonna look." she assures him before turning around from him to walk to Six.

Six's face slowly relaxes at her as she steps closer and closer to him with the bags in her hands. Lloyd begins to take his pants off to wear the clothes she told him to but Six completely ignores the sight. Instead, his eyes study her every movement, as usual. Her long dress sways with her body as she walks and he just noticed how perfect she's wearing the dress she hates.

She meets his eyes and gives him that soft, warm smile he secretly likes so much. Her cheeks blushes and her dimples show whenever she smiles. "You look nice, you know. Just saying. Regardless of the situation." Six quietly compliments her.

Her lips stretch further as her smile widens. "Thank you." she sweetly thanks him.

Looking down at the bags again, her eyes light up as she finds the perfect clothes for him. Along with an accessory. She takes them all out and reveals it to him.

Six's eyes look down at her clothing choice for him and he has absolutely no complaints. Even though he's never worn anything like this before. There's some khaki linen pants, a white linen button collar shirt and a dark blue baseball cap.

She looks at him for approval. "What do you think?" she asks him.

He stares up at her again and his lips form into a small, genuine smile. "It's perfect. I'll wear it." Six softly tells her as he gently grabs the clothes from her hands.

Her smile glows again and brightens up the whole hotel room. "Great, okay. I'll let you change." she says, turning around again to Lloyd. It's like she's a spinning wheel the whole time.

Once she finally sees Lloyd all dressed in the exact outfit she chose and wearing it surprisingly well, her smile widens again.

Lloyd looks down at his final outfit and smiles at her. "Satisfied with the result?" he asks her while she walks closer to him.

She casually nods, placing all the bags on their bed again before grabbing two pairs of sunglasses from it. One for her. One for him. She doesn't even know why he bought so many sunglasses for a one time disguise and one night in this hotel.

Elle steps closer to him while she could hear Six take his pants off and she tries to ignore that. She needs to focus. This is a serious mission. She's about to kill someone. She's never planned that before. It has always been self-defense.

Lloyd grabs the sunglasses from her hands and examines it closely. "It's decent, I guess," he mutters before staring back up at her, regarding her. She's glowing in that dress as her face focuses on her leopard print sunglasses.

He tilts his head to the side and tucks her hair under her ear. Her eyes finally looked up at him. "You do look nice, you know. You could pull anything off. Even my shirt." Lloyd softly tells her.

She laughs out loud, smiling widely and his heart bruises again. He has no idea what the fuck is going on with his heart or his mind or anything inside him. He doesn't know what's wrong with him. She affects him so much. Everything that she does impacts him. Even the tiniest things. He hates feeling this way. Confused. Lost. Helpless. He has never felt all these emotions for anyone. He's never even felt emotions for himself. She changed everything and he's starting to hate it.

She shakes her head. "Not your polo shirts. I want to wear your normal shirts. The one you wear to bed. It'll be much more comfortable." she says.

He frowns. "I don't wear anything to bed, sweetheart. You'd know that if you spent a night with me." Lloyd remarks. A little harsh, since he was the one who kept his distance after what happened two weeks ago. He just wanted to give her space. He didn't want to touch her. But, she wanted him to. She just thought he wanted space as well.

She nods seriously. "We will, Lloyd. Soon enough. Or tonight, in this hotel room." she teases.

Six clears his throat, tidying his shirt as he's all dressed up. "I'm done. We should go now. Lloyd, we need a few agents watching the area as well. Are they ready?" he asks him.

Elle and Lloyd immediately turn around to him as she takes a second to properly observe him, up and down. He looks way too good in those linen pants than he should be. He's used to being dressed by people and ordered around. He usually just wears whatever the agency tells him to. But this time, it's different. She's styling him, not demanding him. In a much more affectionate way, too.

Lloyd nods at him. "Yeah, they are. Are you guys ready?" he asks both of them, about to walk to the door as Six steps forward towards them.

She turns around to him and nods. "So, we need to do a little PDA if that's okay with you, you know to be more convincing. We'll walk with our arms tangled together and our bodies sticking the whole time while just admiring the place." she tells him in detail.

He knits his eyebrows. "Are you okay with that? I know you hate all that shit. It makes you uncomfortable." Lloyd reminds her, knowing her all too well by now.

She hums assuringly, her eyes gazing up at him. "No, it's okay. It's just for the mission. I just want to get this over with before this guy hurts more people." Elle firmly states.

Six is already standing behind her, resting his hand on her shoulder. "We'll do it right. I believe in you." he softly murmurs to her.

She moves her eyes to him and gives him a small smile. "Yeah, I know." she whispers back.

Lloyd glances between them while they're still focused on each other. He clears his throat, gaining their attention. "Let's go. We don't have all day." he declares, sternly.

They both agree to that, leaving their hotel room all at once.

***

It's the most annoying thing to pretend. She hates pretending. She'd rather walk into a burning fire.

But this time, she doesn't really have much of a choice but to follow the protocols of the mission. It needs to be discreet. Quiet. Quickly.

There's nothing discreet about murdering an influential politician in the biggest mall in the city, though. It was the only way. He was in his office every other day.

Unless she was planning to execute all of the corrupt politicians in the city at their own office, she'd have to work with what she has now.

At least this way, she gets to finally be close enough with Lloyd. He has sort-of ignored her for this whole week. She's missed him. So much. But, she didn't want to push him either if he somehow wanted space. She understands him. More than himself, even.

So now, here they are, walking side-by-side with her arm clinging onto his and her body leaning against his while they walk through the mall as a fake tourist couple. Well, technically, it's not really fake but they're not exactly a couple. They're okay with touching each other and being close but they're definitely not in a relationship. It's too complicated for both of them.

"Where did he go now?" Lloyd asks, whispering into her ears as he smiles just to make people think that he's saying something affectionate to her.

She fakes giggles, leaning onto his ear. "I don't fucking know. How long do we have to pretend like this again?" she asks him.

He looks down at her with no expression this time. "Until he's dead, sunshine." Lloyd says, close to her face and somehow, he manages to make his tone affectionate.

She frowns slightly, looking ahead. "Somehow you saying actual murder and mixing it with a sweet nickname gives me the chills. Honestly, Lloyd, how can you be so casual about this?" Elle genuinely asks him, finally looking into his eyes.

Lloyd stares back at her, regarding her with a small, tender look. He just realizes that she's still not used to all this yet. "Because I've gotten used to it. I had to. And you will too, one day. At least, you have us. I'll guide you step-by-step." He actually means it when he says it. He wants to help her. Something that he didn't have when he had his first kill.

She wonders for a moment, what it would be like when she'll be all alone, doing all the missions for the CIA and not having a home to come home to. Or anyone to come home to. It'll be just like before. Her pretty, wide eyes continue to stare into his as they walk straight ahead into the crowd. Over here, the people give them space to walk just because they're white. They respect them more due to the color of their skin. It's an unfortunate fact.

She nods slowly. "Yeah. Okay." she replies before drifting her eyes to where they're going.

Lloyd looks around them, searching for their mark. "Fuck, I think we lost him." he mutters, pressing the comms in his ears and she does too.

"Six, where are you?" he asks him through their comms and it immediately connects to him.

There's loud noises of the crowd heard through his comms before he clears his throat. "I'm walking through the bridge above you. There's a huge balcony here and he just dropped his family off to go to the other connecting mall. He's alone now. Come meet me." Six flatly explains while casually walking through the crowd alone. He's got his navy baseball cap on with a backpack behind his back and a field agent beside him.

She hums in response. "We're on our way to you." Elle immediately answers.

Lloyd glances at her and frowns. "You know exactly where he is?" he asks.

She nods calmly. "I know the place that he told us about. I've been in this mall since I was born. I've memorized every inch of this place even before it was all renovated and shit." she tells him.

His lips form into a thin line. "Right. Okay. You know best. Sorry, sweetheart." Lloyd quickly apologized and she smiled casually.

It was really unlike him to apologize. Especially to admit that he's actually wrong. Problem is, his ego is bigger than anything. It makes him feel better to know that he's smarter than anyone else. But for her, he'd be willing to forget about his ego for just a second.

And nowadays, he's doing that a lot.

***

Her eyes searched through the crowd for Six. She knew she couldn't approach him but it'd feel nice just to see him.

"I'm sure he's here somewhere." Lloyd mutters in her ear.

She nods, not even looking at him as they're holding hands like a couple. She guides him further into the enormous bridge balcony between the two new malls. It's way too crowded and suffocating in here that he's practically squeezing her soft hands. He hates crowded spaces.

He unhooks his sunglasses from his shirt and puts it on due to the brightness of the sun, despite being in the shade already. It smells weird here. Like all kinds of different smells combined into one and are all in the same place. People have been staring at them with wide eyes ever since they've entered the mall and he despises it. She does too. She's always hated it.

Lloyd's eyes scans through the place again, seeing the huge amount of people walking everywhere and suddenly, he spots the target from across the other balcony. He's casually walking with a suspected mistress while holding a bunch of shopping bags in his other hand.

He leans onto her ear. "Hey, he's here." Lloyd whispers and she whips her head, immediately looking for Six. "No, not Six. Our mark, I mean. He's with a young woman. Fucking pathetic." he comments.

Elle frowns before turning her eyes to where his eyes are staring at. And there he is. Her mark. Not exactly the man she was looking for but it'll do. She wants to finish this mission as quickly as possible, anyway so she could enjoy the rest of her day peacefully. Though, now that the moment's perfect and he's almost right in front of her, she hasn't actually thought of how to do it. Of course, it'd have to be with her mind. But, how? How could she do it without making it look completely ruthless?

She leans to his ear. "I'll just make his heart stop from here. Quick and easy. Less bloody and everything." she says, with a slight hesitancy.

He furrows his brows, glancing at her. "Are you sure? You know he deserves way worse, Elle. I know you think that too. I know you." Lloyd encourages her more. He means well. He's not trying to push her limits. He knows her limits. And this is barely crossing it. He just wants her to live up to her actual potential and he wants to guide her to it.

Suddenly, she stops walking and he does too, turning to her. He frowns in concern, gently holding her hands between them. Her eyes are focused elsewhere, to the mark and around them. All these innocent people. It's already bad enough that she has to get them to witness a murder scene and now she has to make his death more painful.

She frantically shakes her head, finally meeting his eyes through her own sunglasses. "No… I can't. Not with all these people." she whispers.

Lloyd sighs softly, squinting through his sunglasses. "Elle, there's barely any people around them. Plus, we could still make it less bloody if you want. I'll teach you. Just like you wanted." he assures her, calmly. He knows how to convince her.

She doesn't exactly nod or say anything approving of it. She needs to make sure first. "Are we out of the camera's sight?" she asks first.

He nods immediately before pressing on his comms. "Tell our IT team to disable the cameras now. We're on standby." Lloyd orders the team.

"Okay. Well, what do I do now?" she hesitantly asks him.

His eyes gesture across them, to where their mark is still standing there, watching the city view with his mistress. Lloyd gets behind her and she turns to get a clear view of the mark. He hugs her from behind affectionately while his arms wrap around her waist. They're making it look like they're just a tourist couple, enjoying the view like everyone else is.

Her soft hands rest on top of his as he leans onto her ear. "Focus on the mark and on your energy." he whispers softly and she nods.

She turns her gaze, paying close attention to the man across from them. He looks so calm and happy, despite all the crimes he's done that no one else knows about. He doesn't give a single shit about all the innocent lives he's ruined. He only cared about his money and his wealth. He took advantage of so many people in this city. And that really enraged her. It sparked rage in her. That's enough energy for what she's about to do now.

His mouth brushes against her ear. "Now, do it. Kill him, Elle. He deserves it." Lloyd coldly says, giving her the official order.

She nods obediently, inhaling a deep breath as her eyes sharply glare at the mark with anger still inside her. That anger fuels her powers and her mind focuses on the mark before the man starts to feel choked, like there isn't any more oxygen for him. He holds his neck with both of his hands to try to breathe but before he could even move again, his neck snaps by her mind. He drops dead on the floor while everyone around them screams in panic.

She widens her eyes in shock, not expecting it to go like that. She just killed a man in public brutally and now she's feeling guilty of it. She looks around the dead body and all the people terrified of their life, worrying that they'll be next. She never wanted it like this. She doesn't want to scare people to death.

Lloyd slowly smirks, ignoring the chaos around them. "Good girl, baby. Let's get out of here." he whispers in her ear and she lets him take her out of there.

What the fuck was that?

***

She's been quiet ever since they went back to their hotel room. She's waiting for Six. Lloyd's in the bathroom, cleaning himself up.

She's just sitting by the desk, staring out at the window, showing the crime scene happening downstairs. It's utter chaos. A respected politician died mysteriously, out in public. There's no evidence. Not even a trace. They'll be investigating this for ages.

But, she isn't stopping here. This is only her first. There are still more kills to come.

She's still questioning herself, though. Is this really what she wants? Killing all the corrupt politicians in the city to insinuate fear for everyone? That wasn't her purpose. She wants to clean up the city. Not make it way worse. She wants to make it better for the people in the city. And this definitely doesn't feel like it.

Suddenly, someone knocks on the door and she immediately gets up from her seat, already knowing who it is. The man she's been waiting for.

She opens the door with her mind, standing in the middle of the room. Six steps in the room and the door closes itself behind him. He looks at her with a small smile.

"Oh, you're back!" Lloyd shouts from the bathroom as he's still showering and the blonde chuckles softly.

Her lips slowly tug into a tired, relieved smile at seeing him. Wordlessly, she runs to him and throws all her weight against him as her arms wrap around him. She gets on her tiptoes and rests her head on his chest. Hugging him has always been a comfort for her. In any situation. She feels so much better once she's in his arms. She feels safe. Secured. Content.

Six's arms wrap around her back and he kisses her head. "How are you feeling?" he softly asks in her ears. The most tender voice she's ever heard. The only thing that could really comfort her. Him and his voice.

She shakes her head. "It got messy." Elle mutters against his chest.

He nods. "I know. We'll have better ones next time. You're still learning. My first was also quite messy." Six admits bluntly.

She pulls away from him, resting her hands on his shoulders. "How did it happen?"

Six sighs, looking down at her with tenderness. "Well, I was supposed to just use the sniper but… he got away. So I had to do it another way. A more brutal way. The reason they had me using a sniper for my first time is because it lets me keep my distance from the mark. It's almost the same as what you did today. But, the closer you get to the mark, the more experienced you are." he explains.

She nods, her eyes staring up at him and she gazes openly at him. She's so glad that she has him. She can't imagine doing all this alone. She needs him for this mission. Both of them. Without them, she'd probably be unstable and reckless.

He cups her face and his thumb gently caresses her skin. "It's almost getting dark. Do you want to just stay in and order room service? We can go back to the penthouse first thing tomorrow." Six softly suggests.

She hums in response, smiling up at him and he admires her quietly. She's too fucking beautiful and pure. Everytime she smiles, it feels like his cold heart is starting to fill up. She makes him better. Not just better. Whole. She accepted parts of him and embraced it. Only her. She's the only one he wants. She might just be the best, unexpected thing that could ever happen to him. He never expected anything for himself. And then, she came to him.

"Sounds like a good idea, Six." Lloyd interjects while coming out of the bathroom with his hair still wet and ruffled. He put on some gray sweatpants and a black t-shirt from his shopping earlier.

They both turn to him and she walks further into the room. "It's chaos down there." Elle remarks, gesturing to the view from their window.

Six and Lloyd stand beside each other as they both almost nod in sync. She quietly observes both men, seeing the invisible bond between them. In one full month, they've managed to become each other's most trusted partner that they've ever had in their life. They trust each other with their life. They'd kill and die for each other. They have the same admiration for her. They care for her. They're practically inseparable. She wonders if it's more than just buddies and partners. They've both seen each other naked. They've fucked her at the same time. It's not entirely impossible for them to feel something.

Lloyd looks at her, his eyes only focusing on her. "I don't think that was messy back there. But, I see your point. You hated the fact that civilians needed to witness all that. We could fix that. We'll find a much quieter place next time." he firmly tells her.

She slowly nods, her hand resting on her arm. "I don't want them to be scared, Lloyd. That's not my purpose."

He nods, understanding her. "I know. Your heart's already in the right place, Elle. It always has been. Your intentions are good." Lloyd seriously says with sincerity as he gazes openly at her from afar.

He actually meant it when he said her heart is in the right place, unlike anyone who's in the agency. Even with all the violence and chaos around her and everything horrible that's happened to her, she still managed to do good. She wants to fix and clean the city. Not burn it or corrupt it. She cares about the people in the city as well. And that's rare. He's never seen anyone so compassionate and kind like her. He knew it the moment he met her in that dingy bar.

Her eyes directly stare into his and an easy smile curves on her lips. "Right. So, we're officially staying here, right?" she asks him.

Lloyd breaks into a soft chuckle and nods. "Yes, we are. Six and I are going to the other room and do a quick debrief with the team and Denny. You clean up and relax. Order room service all you want." he explains.

Six simply nods. "Okay. Sounds like a plan." he says to him before glancing at her. "See you later, okay? Are you sure you're okay with being alone?" he asks her.

She smiles at him. "Yes. I'll be fine. You really are going to be quick?" she asks both of them.

Lloyd frowns at her. "Of course. We'll be quick for you. Promise. Okay, let's go before they knock on our room." he says, looking at the blonde.

She giggles softly as she watches Lloyd drag Six to the door. They both wave goodbye at her before they exit the room together.

The door closes behind them and silence settles in for her. Peace, as well. But she does hate being alone, especially at times like when she's stressed. It's consuming.

She's going to fix it though.

***

Finally, she got herself to relax and forget about all the mess that happened today.

She's drowning in clear, cold water inside the round bathtub of their hotel room. The only thing that could get her to relax.

She feels so calm and at ease when she's inside the water. She can't hear anything, or feel anything or think of anything at all. It's like the world doesn't exist anymore. And it's just her and the bathtub.

This bathtub isn't exactly as big and comfortable as the one they have in the penthouse, but it'll have to do for now. She didn't know how much the penthouse means to her until now as she finds herself missing it. It's her home now. It brings her so much comfort there. Plus, she feels so much safer there than here. As secure as this hotel is, it still isn't home. She can't wait to go back to the penthouse.

She tips her head up in the water, feeling more relaxed than ever. She knows it's almost been half an hour that she's inside the water. The guys haven't come back though. She's just waiting patiently for them.

Before she could even sink deeper into the water again, her phone annoyingly rings loudly beside her. She thought she placed her phone in the room to charge. Guess she just forgot. She's choosing to ignore it instead. It's probably from someone not that important.

But, after one ring, it keeps ringing again. That means the person has called her twice now. So, maybe it is a little important.

She groans, lifting herself up off the water and drying her hands with the towel next to her. Her eyes take a look at the screen still being shown on her phone and she gasps.

It's Denny. The chief. He's calling her, again.

Ever since she memorized his number from Lloyd's phone and put it on her phone, they've been regularly texting and sometimes calling. Rather, he has been texting and calling her. They don't talk much, though. He just frequently asks how things are there, how she is, how the missions were and if the agents were cooperating well or not. Just short and simple texts. But it's the most he's ever done with an asset. He really values her opinion on things. He wants to always hear her perspective first. He has her personal number. It's not strictly professional anymore between them.

Quickly but carefully, she gets out of the bathtub and dries herself. She puts on the hotel bathrobe, grabs her phone and rushes out of the bathroom.

The phone still keeps on ringing as she sits up on the bed. She answers his call and places it on her ear while leaning against the bed's headboard.

She clears her throat. "Hi. Sorry. I was in the bathroom. What's wrong?" Elle casually asks like she isn't talking to her boss anymore.

Denny sighs, turning around on his chair in his office that's overlooking the view of Croatia. He's in another CIA station again, sitting on his ass all day and debriefing missions from all around the world, just from his screen. He had just finished a debrief with the team, Lloyd and Six. He wanted one with Elle too, just much more casual and informal than a usual debrief.

"Nothing. I just wanted to ask how the mission was. I know how important it was for you." Denny calmly asks her and she bites her lips anxiously.

"Well… I didn't expect it to be like that. I thought I could just make it less gory. It was in a public mall. Everyone was there and they had to watch that horrible scene." she naively says.

He clicks his tongue. "I don't think that was horrible. I think it was the cleanest kill I've witnessed in the CIA. You did good. There's nothing to feel bad about. We'll make the next ones less public." Denny assures her.

She nods to herself as she hums in response. "Okay. Oh, by the way, weren't you just doing a debrief with Lloyd and Six?" Elle asks him.

He hums affirmatively. "Yes. I was. It was done. Now they're briefing their own team. How are they, speaking of?" he suddenly asks.

"The team?" she innocently asks before realizing what he actually meant by it.

"No, Lloyd and Six. How are they to you? Do they treat you well? I know Lloyd can be a little stubborn sometimes. It takes time to adjust." Denny asks her again.

She realized that his question was plainly asking if they treated her well as a teammate. He doesn't know anything about their relationship at all. And he shouldn't. It'd be unprofessional and weird. Even though this thing between them already is.

She turns her eyes toward the view as she massages her temples. "Yeah, they've been decent to me. I mean, they've never had someone to work with so it did take time to adjust. But, living together certainly made it easier for us to tolerate each other." Elle gives him a logical answer that wouldn't lead to him suspecting anything.

Denny hums quietly. "That's good. If they're ever misbehaving or disrespectful, let me know."

She nods. "Okay. I will."

"Good. You did a good job out there today. I'm saying it again because you really did." Denny tells her and she hums affirmatively.

Suddenly, from afar, the hotel door makes that annoying beeping noise when the key card scans the door. It opens and she could already hear Lloyd and Six entering the room while having a conversation. And then, she just realized that Denny can't know that they're sharing a room together. He knows that they booked a few rooms in this hotel for the mission but he'd obviously assume that she has her own room.

She clears her throat, quickly getting up from the bed as she walks to the window so he can't hear the men in the background. "Right, so, I'm gonna go. It's almost dinner time here and I am starving after that mission." She makes up a fake excuse.

"Alright, talk to you later." Denny formally says before she hangs up the call. She places her phone on the desk beside her and walks to them like normal.

Lloyd steps in further into the room with Six behind him. She smiles at them as she approaches them with a bathrobe still on.

He frowns at her. "Were you just on the phone with Denny?" Lloyd bitterly asks. He's not too fond of their interactions lately.

She casually nods as Six goes to stand beside her in the middle of their room. His hand gently wrapped around her lower back, turning to her with a relaxed face.

"I can't wait to get in that bed with you and not think of anything ever again." Six murmurs sweetly to her as she giggles softly.

Lloyd frowns, stepping forward to her. "Elle. Could you stop calling him? It's disturbing." he grumbles.

She looks at him, knitting her eyebrows. "What's wrong? We're just casually talking. Platonically." she confirms.

He scowls. "Yeah, that's the point. You're not even supposed to be platonic with him. You're just supposed to keep your distance because he's your boss. It's better that way." Lloyd states firmly.

Her eyes bore into his. "You don't control me, Lloyd. I don't see anything wrong with us just talking. He asks me how I am and how the mission is. That's it."

"Nothing more than that?" he asks her, his eyes glaring at her as his jaw tenses.

She shakes her head casually before frowning. "No. I'd never cheat on you, dumbass. You're too good to be cheated on." Elle cracks a joke with a small smile on her lips.

Six lets out a light chuckle at seeing Lloyd speechless. "She's too good for us, isn't she?" The blonde teases him.

Lloyd hides a smile on his lips before rolling his eyes. "Whatever. I'm starving. Let's order room service." he declares as Six and her exchange knowing looks.

***

Despite everything that happened today, she seems to be better now. With them. In the privacy of their hotel room, enjoying every moment they can.

After they had dinner in the living room of the hotel room, they each did their own thing.

Six went to shower, Lloyd's doing some work on his laptop right beside her on the bed and she's just quietly reading a book, also on the bed. They're both already dressed for bed.

It's not that late, but they're both tired and just want to relax. The city lights luminates on them and it's even brighter here than in their penthouse. They're in the center of the city. It overlooks the view of the whole city, not just a small part of it like what they're used to seeing.

"What book is that?" Lloyd suddenly asks her, still actively typing on his laptop.

She frowns confusedly, focused on her book. "Since when are you interested?"

He nods. "You're right, I'm not. I kinda just want to throw that book away from you and pull in for a kiss." Lloyd bluntly admits, not looking at her yet. He's teasing her.

She scoffs, putting her book down on her lap as she playfully rolls her eyes. "Put that laptop away, then. You can do it tomorrow. We have all the time in the world." Elle says, turning her body to him.

Lloyd finally looks down at her and her playful smile before giving in to her. "Fine." he mutters, closing his laptop as he places it on the nightstand beside him.

He turns to her, wrapping his hand around her waist as she giggles and leans her body against his side. Her pretty, tired eyes look up at him and smiles warmly.

Her body curls up against him as she rests her hands on his chest. She sighs contentedly, enjoying him like this. "I like you better this way. Calm and tamed." she remarks.

His face approaches hers. "I was never like this before. You did this." he tells her seriously, close to her face and their lips are inches from touching.

Her smile widens. "Are you glad that I did?" she slowly asks.

Lloyd nods almost immediately, staring down at her lips. "Yeah. I am." he softly answers before leaning down and kissing her lips gently at first. This is the first kiss they've had in almost a week.

She moans softly into his mouth, melting into the kiss and her hands reach up to his jaw. "We haven't kissed for ages." she complains.

He chuckles against her mouth. "You're exaggerating, sweetheart." Lloyd retorts.

She frowns, breaking the kiss. "No, I am not." Elle pulls away from him, "You haven't touched me for over two weeks. And, no, that night in our home theater doesn't count."

Lloyd sighs in defeat, his eyes gazing openly at her as he quietly admires her facial features. She's so fucking beautiful and gorgeous even when she's tired and has just murdered someone. To his eyes, she's the most perfect thing in the world. He'd never find anyone like her. Ruthless and pretty at the same time. She's not always ruthless though, she still could be kind and compassionate because it's who she is. It's in her nature. That's what he loves about her.

He shrugs off his thoughts. "I wanted to give you space. You know, after what happened." Lloyd finally answers truthfully.

Wait a minute—

She frowns again, that crinkle between her eyebrows revealing which he's already so familiar with. "But, I'm fine now. I healed completely. Psychically and mentally. I'm not some fragile fucking baby. I handled it well after. I got something good out of it, too."

Lloyd knits his eyebrows in confusion. "Yeah? Like what?" he asks her.

Then, she smiles up at him. That pretty fucking smile with her dimples and teeth showing. He's so addicted to it. It's one of his favorite things about her. He could start a whole list of it.

She blinks at him. "You saved my life. And now I know just how much you care about me." she sweetly murmurs, taking his hand to guide to her heart, just below her tank top. Her hand is on top of his as he feels her heartbeat against his hand. "Feel that? It beats for you now, Lloyd. You saved it."

His hand rests on her heart, beside her breasts. "You don't have to be so cheesy about it. But yeah, I'd do it again in a heartbeat." Lloyd firmly states and her smile lingers for him.

The bathroom door opens as Six comes out of it, with only his briefs and a white t-shirt. His hair is still wet from the shower. He casually walks to her side of the bed while shooting Lloyd a passing glance. She watches his every movement, paying close attention to his large, thick thighs that are showing off his muscles.

"What happened to your pants?" Lloyd asks him, genuinely. He thought that he had bought some extra sweatpants earlier.

"Didn't want to wear them. It's too humid." Six flatly replies as he makes his way to her, laying next to her on the bed. She's between them again. Sandwiched with two needy men.

He sits up as she turns her body around to him and she immediately smiles. "Hi," she mutters to him while Lloyd rolls his eyes at their disgusting cuteness. They don't even have to say anything sometimes. They could just look into each other's eyes and know what they're thinking.

Six looks down at her, cupping her face before grabbing her chin gently. He leans to press a soft kiss on her mouth, his lips slowly stretching into a smile against her lips. He's just happy to be here, safe and sound with her.

"Hi." he whispers and pulls away from her lips. He stares into her pretty, brown eyes. "What do you want to do now?" he asks her.

Lloyd smirks, glaring at him. "You know, there are a lot of things to do together in a hotel room, Six. A lot of fun things." he teases them.

She sighs before yawning tiredly. "While that sounds fun, I'm kinda worn out after today. But, I mean, if you guys want to do something, feel free to do it while I'm asleep. I have a special kink for that." she teases, glancing between them before winking smoothly.

"You have a what? How does that even work, Elle? How could you be turned on by something if you're fully asleep?" Lloyd asks so many questions. He's curious, but also genuinely concerned about the amount of kinks she has.

She laughs softly, moving to the side as she rests her body on Six's chest. She turns her head to Lloyd, still smiling for him. "Well, I'd have to be half awake, technically. You just gotta find a way to wake me up, I guess." she plainly explains.

Lloyd frowns, cocking his head to the side and taking a moment to think about it. He's never heard of a kink like that, because in order for it to work, it needs to be done in an established relationship but he's never had one before. It needs a lot of consent and trust beforehand. He has that all with her, though they're not necessarily in a relationship. None of them even know what it is. But, they trust each other and would kill if anything happens to one of them so that's more than enough.

Elle looks up at the man laying behind her. "Hey, can you pass my phone please? It's over there," she nicely asks him and he quickly looks over to where she's pointing her finger at. He reaches over to the nightstand beside him and grabs her phone, handing it to her.

She takes the phone in her hands and smiles up at him. "Thank you." she thanks him quietly as he just returns her smile. She doesn't even have to thank him, he'd do anything for her whenever she asks.

Opening her phone, she quietly scrolls through her apps to find the camera app. She scoots over to the middle with both men glued to each side of her. Wordlessly, she quickly aims her phone screen in front of them and takes one selfie. She smiles in it and both men just look confused, staring into the camera.

Six is caught off guard and Lloyd frowns at her. She looks back at them, plainly.

She shrugs at him. "What? I'm not gonna post it anywhere or something. I'm not an idiot. It's just for memories. I don't have a single picture of any of you on my phone." she defends.

Lloyd nods, his eyes staring down at her. "Yeah, but you can't keep that, Elle. Six, take it from her." he orders the blonde behind her.

Six tries to grab her phone from her hands but she dodges him. Lloyd quickly pulled her in closer by her waist, dropping his head down to leave kisses along her neck to tickle her with his stache. She giggles uncontrollably, her grip on her phone starting to get loose as Six takes it from her hands, placing it down on the nightstand. He doesn't delete it though, he does want her to have the picture.

She pulls her neck away from Lloyd and cups his jaw. "Assholes!" Elle exclaims at both of them, looking behind her.

Lloyd lets out a hearty laugh at her reaction, throwing his head back as Six laughs loosely with him. They both haven't had a good laugh like this for a while. She's the only one truly capable of making them laugh genuinely. The only one they'd want to spend their entire shitty mission with.

Lloyd sighs. "You can take pictures of us. Just not in a unsecure phone. We'll get a polaroid or something." he tells her in a serious but sincere tone. He understands why she took that picture. Because when one day, they're not going to see each other again then the only thing they'd have are memories.

She nods. "Okay, fine. But I'm still keeping that one. Even if you delete it, I'll just retrieve it back again." she warns, her finger pointing at him.

He frowns. "You can hack your own phone or something?"

She smirks at him. "Don't underestimate me, Lloyd. My brain is much more developed than an average human being. So, don't fuck with me or my phone."

"Right. Tell me what you can't do, then." Lloyd teases and she laughs softly.

She leans her body onto his, looking up at him through her eyelashes. "You, apparently."

He tips his head back onto the bed's headboard. "Oh, come on. I'm sorry, okay? What happened two weeks ago was so fucked up and I wanted to give us space. Maybe, to think about it again." Lloyd softly admits. He can be soft, sometimes. With the right motivation.

She shrugs, furrowing her eyebrows lightly. "What's there to think about? Do you think we're a mistake?" she asks him.

Lloyd grimaces at her words. "No, not a mistake. I don't think it's a mistake. I think it's the best fucking thing to ever happen. To all of us. I just… Maybe we could've given it a little more time. We did everything so quickly. Because what if we're doing it all wrong and then we're just going to fuck it up in the end? I don't want that." he explains to her, a hint of fear almost evident in his tone.

She knits her eyebrows. "I don't know what you're referring to, Lloyd. What do you mean by 'it'? Tell me. Do you think we're in a relationship?" Elle carefully asks since the question has never popped up before. She knew he hated relationships and probably have never been in a lasting one.

He frowns confusedly, trying to figure this all out. "I—I don't know? Maybe? Yes? What do you think, Six?" Lloyd asks the man behind her for advice. He's completely lost in this. He is stressed out.

Six meets his eyes as he breaks into a small smile. "I think it's more complicated than a relationship or anything that could be labeled. We work together, we live together and we fuck together. We share almost everything together. It's special what we have and rare. We've never done anything like this before with anyone else."

Lloyd nods, immediately agreeing with him before looking back at her eyes. "See? What he said." he says, grabbing both of her hands to hold them gently. "Look, Elle, I couldn't really give a shit about labels. What matters is us. We're together and I don't want to fuck this up in any way." he tells her, seriously.

He has never confessed anything like this before or expressed his true feelings to anyone. There's a first for everything. Especially with her. He's done so many things with her that never in a million years he'd thought he'd do for anyone. He'd never try so hard to save anyone's life. Ever. Wouldn't even bat his eyes if someone was dying in front of him. Doesn't even matter if he might even know them. Anyone could kill themselves beside him, he wouldn't care. No one has ever mattered this much to him until her.

Elle slowly smiles up at him. "You could start by fucking me for one. For the record, I don't think you're going to fuck it up because you've done a good enough job. You saved my fucking life. I owe you my life, Lloyd. That's not nothing. We both mean a lot to each other to ever just mess it up so easily. But, you know, if you meant it by accidentally sticking your dick inside of someone else then—"

Lloyd quickly grimaces in disgust, shaking his head. "Hey, no, fuck no. I would never do that to you. Plus, you've got the best fucking pussy in the world so why even bother looking anywhere else?" he teases with that stupid smirk of his that's undeniably attractive for her.

She lifts her eyebrows in surprise. "Really? Is it because of my strength? Because I've never used my strength in bed with anyone else before you guys. I still had to keep it a secret." she genuinely asks. Six stays quiet. He isn't going to say anything about this because he's got a feeling she already knows.

Lloyd nods. "Yeap. You also give really good hand jobs because of it." He casually compliments her.

She hums in realization. "Well, that's why you'll never be bored of my hands." she states.

His lips curve into a bigger smirk, getting near her face. "Exactly, sunshine." he replies.

Six shakes his head, chuckling quietly. "I thought you wanted to sleep." he reminds her.

Elle rolls over to his side of the bed and nods. "Yeah, I still am. I'm getting sleepy already." she answers, yawning softly.

Lloyd pats her back and pulls the white, thick hotel blanket to spread equally on all three of them. "Okay, go to sleep, sunshine. I'm going to finish some work. I'll wake you up if something interesting happens." he tells her, grabbing his laptop from the nightstand.

She tugs into the bed, getting more comfortable as she leans her body against Six. He wraps his arm around her and she lays her head down on his chest. "Wake me up if your dick gets hard too. I don't mind it at all." she casually says and Six snorts, holding in a laugh.

Lloyd scoffs, chuckling softly and he's opening his laptop to start working again. "I will. Good night, Elle. Sweet dreams."

She hums sleepily, already shutting her eyes closed with her legs tangled with Six's as he waits for her to fall asleep. He's not going to sleep just yet. He can't. It's too early for him and he's got a lot to talk with Lloyd. But he'd rather not have her listen to whatever they're about to say.

Sleep takes over her quickly and she's finally asleep peacefully.

***

While Lloyd tries to finish his work as quickly as possible, the guys continue to carry on a casual, quiet conversation. She's still sleeping quietly on Six’s chest.

She sleeps like the dead when she's with him. She's always been so comfortable with him. Not a single care in the world as long as she's in his arms, safe and sound.

Six stares at him intently, his eyes playing close attention to Lloyd's focused and serious face, suddenly. His eyebrows are furrowed and his fingers type quickly on the keyboard. He's almost done with his work and it's crucial for him to get it right. He can't make mistakes. He's an extreme perfectionist. And he'd hate to redo this all over again.

"You know, you can sleep if you want. I know you're getting tired. It's late, Six." Lloyd softly suggests to him, still looking at his laptop screen.

He lets out a quiet yawn as he nods. "You're right. Hey, don't stay up too late." he reminds him.

Lloyd gently scoffs and a small smile pulls into his lips. "Sure. I just need to finish this tonight so I can spend more time with her. And, you."

"Wel, just don't deprive yourself of sleep. It's important to have at least eight hours of sleep a night." Six tells him, really out of character for him.

He frowns, glancing at him from the side. "Oh? Since when did you become like a dad or something? You used to sleep for only two or three hours per night. Sometimes you don't even sleep at all." Lloyd reminds him in case he somehow forgot who he used to be.

Court chuckles lightly, shaking his head. "I haven't become a dad, Lloyd. I've just got more time to actually sleep more in a long time. And, you know, she has an early sleep routine, so." he says.

"Still, it's weird seeing you like this. Also, who knows? Maybe, you could become a dad in the future. It already suits you." Lloyd nicely remarks.

He's complimenting him. And subtly telling him that he'd be a good dad. With her. He'll just be mom and dad's friend who always visits the house. He's not a very good person to have children and he's completely aware of it.

"It's impossible for her to get pregnant, Lloyd. Scientifically. Her words." Six casually explains, already assuming that she's in his future.

He didn't even ask who with. He automatically thought of her because she's all he thinks about. He does see her in his own future even though he rarely thinks about the future itself. He's always thinking of the present and sometimes, the past.

Lloyd nods. "I know, but still. Miracles could happen."

Six frowns confusedly at him. "Since when do you believe in miracles?" he asks him.

He just shakes his head, not answering his question. He refuses to admit the truth to him. That she changed him. Really, truly changed him. The man hated false hopes, especially miracles. But she is the living example of a miracle and he witnessed it himself. "Whatever, go to sleep, Six." he tells him.

Court casually nods. "Okay, good night." he simply says, sliding his body lower and closer to her. His temple rests against hers before he plants a soft kiss on her head. He closes his eyes, relaxing under her touch as he drifts to sleep.

Lloyd stops typing on his laptop to stop and look at them. His two most favorite people on earth. Sleeping so peacefully like nothing else matters anymore. They both feel so safe and secure around him. Him, too. They're his only home. The only one that matters. He's the luckiest man alive to have both of them in his life. He sure feels very damn lucky.

It must be a miracle.

***

This morning is magical for her.

The sun is shining beautifully. Breakfast is served. Laughter fills the room. Her flowy sundress from yesterday is clinging onto her body again. The boys are right beside her, bickering playfully.

All her problems from yesterday went out of the window the second this morning started for her.

They're back home in their penthouse again. And they decided to spend today in their private indoor pool, on the third floor of their place. It has an enormous view of the city. They've never been here before. They checked out from their hotel pretty early in the morning so they could enjoy the rest of it here.

Lloyd ordered them breakfast. She made them fresh smoothies. Six carried everything from downstairs to here. She's sitting on one of the long pool benches between them. They haven't touched the water yet but they're definitely planning to. Either voluntarily or not.

"So, you know the picture I took of all of us last night, in the hotel room? Yeah, I'm going to print it out and put it in a photo frame for my room." Elle announces, her hands gesturing a picture frame.

"Almost like a polaroid." Lloyd remarks, smirking proudly at her for listening to him. His advice is starting to grow on her.

She looks at him and smiles, squinting her eyes through the sunlight reflecting from the huge window beside the infinity pool. "Yeah, exactly like a polaroid."

His lips curve into an actual genuine smile and somehow, he can't stop smiling like an idiot. "Right. So, who's going to dive in the water first?" Lloyd asks them.

Elle immediately shakes her head. "Not me. If you're pushing me in there, I'll punch you in your dick, Lloyd. I mean it." she warns, her index finger pointing at him.

Six lets out a loose laugh, adjusting his sunglasses. He's only in shorts and a thin navy shirt while leaning his back on the bench. "He enjoys that shit, Elle." he retorts, glancing over at them.

Lloyd's smile turns into a smirk, leaning closer to her. "Well, he's right, sunshine."

She smiles wider, her beautiful dimples showing. "Yeah, but you won't be able to handle my strength. I'd break your dick off, Hansen." she teases him in an innocent tone.

His hands rest on each side of her chair, trapping her. "You know I fucking can." Lloyd's voice turns low.

She rolls her eyes at him, hiding a smile before looking at the pool for a second. It is good weather to swim in. "Looks like we're jumping together, then." she whispers, caughting him off guard.

Lloyd frowns, about to protest but it's too late as she wraps her hands around his waist and pulls both of them to jump into the pool. She's too strong for him to handle sometimes. They both land inside the water, staying underwater for a while. Six chuckles softly from outside.

She opens her eyes underwater and he does too. Their clothes are floating and somehow, none of them want to get up. They stare into each other's eyes intensely as her heart starts to race. She doesn't get why this is turning her on so much. The tension between them is so thick even under the water. Her face gets closer to him before grabbing his jaw roughly and connecting her lips into his.

She kisses him passionately and wildly under the water, not giving a shit of anything else anymore. His hands wander on her ass, his lips biting hers into the kiss and they almost forgot that they've been holding their breath. She's immune to drowning and he's held his breath longer than a few couple of minutes.

Six frowns confusedly, wondering why it's taking them so long to get out of the water. He rises up from his bench and slowly dips himself inside the pool, the depth only reaching his shoulders. He might be too tall for this pool. He doesn't even remember when's the last time he's been in a pool for fun. Without trying to escape or fighting some guy or drowning someone.

He looks down at the water and squints his eyes to properly see what they're actually doing. Their bodies are both bent and sunken into the water while they're holding each other's bodies as their lips seem to be stuck together. They're making out underwater. What a romantic way to start the morning. He's so glad that they're finally close again after two weeks. He's proud of them. His lips form into a small smile at the sight of it.

Lloyd grasps her waist as he brings both of their bodies out of the water. Her lips are still attached to his and he pulls away from her to catch his breath. She giggles softly before realizing that Six is already behind them.

"Looked like a nice spot to makeout." Six remarks, suddenly completely different from how he usually is. He's loosening up, finally.

She turns around to him and immediately stares down at his lips. She is in heat. "Yeah, how long can you hold your breath for?" Elle asks him, breathlessly.

He casually shrugs. "Ten minutes, maybe? It's not the longest I've held my breath for but it's my maximum limit for now."

She nods, heavily breathing. "Good. Let's test that out." she demands and there's hesitation written all over his face. He doesn't want to turn this into a competition or something. He knows how competitive she and Lloyd are.

Lloyd snorts. "Trying to compare who's the best kisser underwater, Elle?" He taunts her and she rolls her eyes.

"Fuck off. You're just scared of a little competition, Lloyd. You always are." She coldly insults him and she is right.

He scoffs. "You're so mean sometimes. Meaner than me. Turns me on so much." Lloyd admits as she turns around to him. Somehow, he's attracted to women who are way worse than him. She made him realize that. He's never met anyone as bad as her.

She smirks, then smiles genuinely. Her smile is so fucking beautiful that it pains him. He won't be able to witness this smile forever. "I've never met anyone like you too." she confesses back.

Six swims closer to her, wrapping his hand around her waist and stares into the other man's eyes. "There's not going to be a competition, right? I'd like to just enjoy this morning peacefully."

He chuckles lightly. "See? You're starting to act like an old dad again." Lloyd taunts him.

She frowns, looking over her shoulder at him. "What does he mean by that?" she asks him.

Court smiles softly at her. "Just some stupid joke he made last night. I told him that I've been sleeping earlier than I've ever been and then he called me a dad." he explains.

Elle stops to think about that for a while. Even though it's just some silly joke, she wishes that it's true. She's never actually thought about them like that because it's too fast. They've only been together for a month. But a lot has happened and it has affected her life so much. They feel like home for her and they're the only family she has in the world. The only one who matters anyway. Maybe, if the circumstances were different, she'd want to start a family with them. She may not be capable of being a mom biologically, but there are millions of ways now. It just takes the right parents and a safe home.

She snaps herself back to reality, clearing her throat and smiling. "So, what's the agenda for today?" she asks him.

Lloyd smiles almost immediately. "Swimming. Eating. More swimming. Drinks by the balcony. Movies in the home theater. We haven't touched that room yet, you know, for actual movies." He lists all of them down, and refers to something else that happened a few weeks ago.

Her face grimaces into disgust and laughs. "Oh, please don't remind me of that. Hope you cleaned the carpets." she hopes he did.

Six frowns confusedly, trying to figure out what they're talking about until it dawns on him. The thing that happened in their home theater which he had to witness from the door. He laughs softly, shaking his head.

Lloyd laughs loosely at her, throwing his head back as he holds his stomach from laughing too hard. He can't recall the last time he laughed like this. They haven't had a good laugh for a while too because of what happened a few weeks ago and he's been avoiding her to give space. But, the mission yesterday made them closer again and she's grateful for that. Despite all the shit she's been through over this month, she got something good out of it. Them. Her real home.

She smiles faintly at him. "Seems like a good plan." She agrees on his agenda for today since there aren't any new missions yet. Denny gave her a short break after yesterday.

Six drops his head down to kiss her shoulder as he smiles against her skin. She giggles softly, her hand reaching out to his. Lloyd nods, his eyes quietly observing them and he starts to admire their bond. He could clearly see their deep connection for each other without even having to say anything. They could talk with their eyes and their touch.

That's something he wishes he could have one day with her. It will definitely take some time but he's willing to wait. For her. However long it takes. She's worth the wait. She's worth everything in the world to him. He could never find anyone as precious as her. Ever.

Court's eyes look up at him and he knows exactly what he's thinking. He always does. They have a strong bond, too.

***

Elle got out of the pool to get some more snacks and drinks upstairs while the guys remained inside the water. She grabbed a bathrobe with her as she took the elevator, still soaking wet.

But, she could care less about anything anymore. She's happy again. Finally after a while. There's no other problems between them. Everyone's being honest and open now. Lloyd isn't avoiding her anymore. Six is much happier too. They're closer than ever, Everything's all great as of this moment. Nothing could ever make their happy bubble burst.

Stepping out of the elevator, she walks into their kitchen to go to the fridge. As she opens it and takes out three cold water bottles, her phone on the counter top rings loudly. Her ringtone is very loud and irritating but it's effective for her ears to not miss a call. She places the bottles on the surface beside her phone before looking at the screen.

It's Denny again. Two times in less than twenty four hours now. What's wrong with him? He doesn't usually call his assets constantly and has their personal number. She isn't weirded out with all the casual stuff with him because she thinks it's normal. She doesn't know the real boundary between an asset and the chief.

She tilts her head to the side and frowns confusedly before picking up the call. Her ears are still wet so she puts him on speaker. "Yes? Did something happen?" she casually asks him.

He clears his throat through the call. "Are you alone? I have some classified information. It's sensitive." Denny immediately says, wasting no time.

She nods. "Yeah, I am. What is it?" she quickly responds.

He reviews the documents on his laptop. "Elle, that incident a few weeks ago was a set up from the local police and corrupt government officials. Lloyd wanted to investigate more and so did I. We worked together with our field agents there. They intentionally released those criminals so they'd find out who threw them into jail. However they failed to do so because Six eliminated them after they shot you. They did all this because they were scared of you. What you could do in the city. They'd rather hunt you down instead of doing their own job of catching the criminals. That's how corrupted they are." Denny informs her in his most serious tone she's ever heard.

Just as life was getting slightly better for her, it hit her like a thunder. Lloyd never told her anything about an investigation. He should've told her. This is important for her to know. She didn't think that the corruptors would go to these extreme lengths just to find out who was helping them do their job. They released them, gave them a loaded gun and told them to go to the local hospital to terrorize and harm innocents. Sick patients, doctors, nurses who were all uninvolved in this mess. The corruptors did not care about them. Only of themselves and their money. She needs to fix this sooner than she thought she would.

She runs her hand through her wet hair and exhales. "Why are you telling me this?" she softly asks him. She's back to being distressed again. Lloyd's known about the investigation for weeks and said nothing. Perhaps, he thinks she wouldn't be able to handle the truth.

Denny sighs. "I'm not supposed to but you deserve to know for your mission. So you could focus more on hunting them down instead of feeling bad after every mission, like yesterday. I can start giving you these missions when you're ready. You can do it all alone. You're capable of it. I know you are." he encourages her, trying to manipulate her into killing more corrupt politicians. He's a twisted man and he's not doing this for her. It's for himself. He's using her as his own personal weapon. It has been what he's always wanted the moment he first saw her.

This is the only time she's ever been so blind and naïve with someone. She can't think too far of his intentions because she's too angry to see it. Blinded with her own rage. Lloyd lied to her face. He clearly got all this information already from last night when he was reviewing paperwork. That's why he looked so serious and intense. She connected all the dots by now. She's too smart for him. She guesses he conveniently forgot about that fact. He was right when he said he'd fucked this up with her. He did it. He sabotaged whatever thing they had going on. He's ruined it already. He just messed up the one good thing in his life.

Elle nods to herself, leaning on the countertop with her hands on it. "Okay, give me a few weeks to prepare. Keep it classified and don't let Lloyd know about our mission." she seriously tells him. She's never been this tense before in her life.

"Of course. Whatever you need." Denny immediately answers before she ends the call.

In truth, Denny is so much worse than Lloyd. He uses people for his own gain but this time, it's different with her. He had to gain her trust first which was easy since she's inexperienced with the CIA and their tactics. He's fond of her, too. He likes how powerful she is and he sees her real potential. He could make her more than just some shadowy asset. She could work by his side. As an equal. He wants that with her. He could give her everything in the world. Anything that she wants, it can be hers. They could be so powerful together. So many things that they could accomplish in the world. It's his darkest fantasy.

She walks away from the kitchen counter and turns around to the view of the city. It's the same view that they're looking at upstairs too right now. She's contemplating on everything now and questioning if it's the right thing to do. But, there's no other option. They're too corrupted to be salvaged. The only language they understand is violence. They were responsible for that horrible, traumatic event that she had to endure. The horrific pain of eight bullets inside of her was unimaginable. Not to mention that Six had watched her suffer like that.

She's doing all this for a good cause, actually. If all the corruption in the city is gone, she can finally start a new life and a fresh start somewhere that's not here. Hopefully with Six, as well.

As for Lloyd, well, she's still trying to figure that out. She doesn't exactly want to let him go or leave him. She has cared too much about him to do that. She does genuinely enjoy his company despite his sociopathic tendencies. She actually got to know the real him and he isn't so bad after all. She likes how he takes care of her and would sacrifice the world just for her. He did save her life. She won't let this be the end of them. She'll secretly investigate why he did what he did. For now, she's giving him the benefit of the doubt. She won't let one single lie define him. She has trusted him enough.

And that's how badly she's fallen for him.

#sierra six #lloyd hansen #sierra six x reader #lloyd hansen x you #lloyd hansen x y/n #lloyd hansen x reader #lloyd hansen smut #lloyd hansen x ofc #lloyd hansen x fic #lloyd hansen x innocent!reader #lloyd hansen x female reader #lloyd hansen x f!reader #the gray man #court gentry #court gentry x reader #court gentry x y/n #sierra six x y/n #court gentry x female reader #chris evans fanfiction #sierra six x you #sierra six smut #sierra six x female reader #court gentry x you #the gray man fanfiction #chris evans #ryan gosling #denny carmichael #chris evans fandom #chris evans characters

[sirdindjarin]

Six Days, Part II - (Sierra Six x F!Reader)

I wrote this because ✨️Six deserves a lil more than a kiss✨️ 😌 I read the first The Gray Man book, and some characterization is based on it, but mostly this is movie-based. Let's pretend Lloyd Hansen survived his ordeal, shall we?

A/N: I had not yet read Ballistic (Book 3 of The Gray Man series) before writing this so the unintended similarity between Ch 36 and my work here was unintentional. I'm gratified to know Court Gentry so well lmfao. 💀 My bad, Mr. Greaney.

Lil Spotify playlist I listened to while feverishly typing. (Wipe Your Eyes is a Sierra Six song, I said what I said.)

Beginning / Ending / Prequel

TAGS: Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Angst, Six x F!Reader

WARNINGS: MINORS DNI 18+, sexual content, mention of rape (rape is not threatened nor occurs), drugging, blood/wounds/death.

WORD COUNT: 8.6k (yeah, I'm REALLY sorry)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IIII

The room is dim when you wake. It can’t be later than six o’clock, but the bed is empty, cold where he should be. The bedsheets rustle as you twist to read the green-lit clock on the bookshelf. Your face ticks in confusion at the numbers spelling out 9:09 a.m.

Must be a cloudy morning. Too bad I can’t see out this fucking frosted window, you grumble internally.

Sitting up, you pull the sheet a little tighter to your naked chest and squint at the bathroom door, bringing it into focus despite your sleep-laden eyes. It seems completely closed, but if Six is in there, he’s unusually quiet. 

You drop the sheet and leave the bed, looking for your clothes on the floor. On Six’s chair, a pile of material catches your eye. Your hand trails across the folded, new clothing; you pick up the top item, the tags still attached. A smile splits your face in two. He’d laid out a pair of plain white underwear, denim shorts, and a green t-shirt. You quickly locate your old bra and underwear and throw away the bottoms. You’re too uncomfortable without the support of a bra, so you put it back on despite its desperate need of a wash. 

Once clothed, you knock on the bathroom door but it swings open with the contact. It’s dark and unoccupied. A sudden wave of fear hits you and you take a step back. 

Where's Six? 

Irrationally, your mind taunts you: Did he leave me? Get what he wanted and cut his losses? A small sound escapes you at the intrusive thought, but you remember the way he had held you all night, the gentle yearning of his touch, the devotion in his sapphire eyes. You silence the unhelpful worries. No way. That’s not him.

Shit, shit, did something happen? Oh, my god, I hope he’s okay. The fears cycle through your mind. He’d never left without telling you before. Not back at the original safe house, not here, not ever. Unease settles in your chest like a virus.

It was evident he had left and come back this morning to bring you new clothing, but where was he now? You move into the bathroom, quickly flipping on the light to try to dispel some of the dread. You drop to your knees and begin feeling around the floor as grime and dirt pile along your fingertips. 

Oh, god, I bet it’s under this disgusting-ass flooring. 

You lean left to grip the rough edge of the linoleum where it lies underneath the sink. Pulling at the aged material, it comes up easily enough, and you’re rewarded by a discolored section of hardwood floor. The linoleum slips from your dirty fingers, and as you reach to grab it again, a loud crash booms behind you. 

The front door bangs open. You spin around, knocking yourself on your ass. Your heart fears it’s an intruder, but your brain expects it to be Six, mad at you for not hearing his knock. 

As the door swings wide, you’re faced with an unfamiliar man, clad in a blue patterned shirt and slacks, standing with a firearm in his right hand. It’s the first thing you see, but it’s not pointed at you. The man looks relaxed - happy, you notice. 

“Hey, doll. Been lookin’ everywhere for ya.” His voice is upbeat yet menacing.

“Whatcha doin’ to that floor?” He marches over to you, roughly grabbing your upper arm.

As his fingers dig into your flesh, you stare at the stumps where his little and ring fingers should be. He hoists you to your feet. You don’t even struggle as your brain tries to play catch-up. 

“Who- the fuck are you?” Your voice trembles despite your efforts to the contrary. Your heart is throbbing, painful aching in your veins; your worst nightmare is coming true.

“You haven’t heard of me?” He sounds surprised. “Well, isn’t that hilarious. Mr. Moral Compass has been keeping secrets from you.” He makes a mockingly sympathetic face.

“Where is he?” Your voice cracks and pain pricks in your eyes, your vision watering. You’re petrified of this man’s answer. 

To your great discomfort, the man laughs. It’s a terrifying laugh: somehow, all of his features seem warmed by his mirth, like he’s energized by your distress.

“That's supposed to be my line, buttercup.”

He makes a condescending gesture, “Someone saw you clomping around this hallway out here. Not very smart, are we? And wherever you are, Six is sure to be trailing like a sad puppy. But I’m not too worried about where he is right now; he’ll follow us, and that saves me quite a bit of effort. Not to mention bullets and bruises.”

It takes a second for his words to find you through the panic, but when they do, you’re nearly lightheaded with relief. You’d thought you managed and processed that first night well. It had given you confidence in your ability to persevere. But standing here, face-to-face with a man who seemed to know things you didn’t, who exuded the dangerous energy of a wild animal, you were frozen in fear. However, if Six was still out there, still okay, you had some hope. You had every hope in the world, in fact.

Six. Six, please. Please walk through that door. All your wits could offer was to repeat his name like a prayer.

“Let’s head on out, shall we? Car’s waiting.”

His grip on your arm tightens painfully, and you still don’t fight him. He steps toward the bed and, with a flourish, places a piece of paper on top of your pillow.

“MapQuest for 007,” he explains without explaining. 

You know you can’t win a physical fight with this much-larger, armed man, but the dam in you breaks as he pulls you toward the exterior hallway. You’re already leaning forward from the way he’s holding you, so you aim at your closest target. Your right fist slams just below the zipper on his slacks and he exhales with a yelp, doubling over. He recovers too quickly, though, and whirls you around, leveraging your throat with his forearm. He squeezes and wins a pained, high-pitched rasp from you.

“Do it again and I’ll leave your dead body for him to find instead of that paper,” he says through gritted teeth. 

You shiver and try to swallow, panicking when you can’t. He loosens his grip enough for you to shuffle along, and when he tries to walk you both through the door a second time, you let him. 

You were right, the sky outside was blanketed by wooly clouds threatening to let loose a deluge. The old city you’d holed up in was quiet for the time of day, and no one saw the well-dressed man toss you into a waiting black SUV. Your cheek smacks the faux-leather gray seat, and you push your arms underneath your body to reorient yourself. 

The air inside the vehicle is artificially cold and smells new. The pleather squeaks as the two armed men who had been waiting outside your room seat themselves on either side of you. You hadn’t seen them until the well-dressed man had dragged you from your shelter out into the sterile-looking hallway. It seemed to you that they were reasonably sure you were alone. There was no way he wouldn't have sent an entire team in if he’d thought the two of you were together, right? This man didn’t dress like it, but maybe he didn’t have the funds for a whole team. Six had mentioned to you once how expensive one mercenary could be, and the going rate for a whole group could feed a small country for a week. 

A thumb and forefinger pinch your nose, and your mouth drops open automatically. Your hands shoot upward to fight off whatever assault is beginning, but then the agent to your left pops something small into the back of your throat. You try to choke it out, but he had thrown it skillfully, and you accidentally swallow. You lurch forward violently as the driver accelerates. 

You gag but nothing comes up. Coughing, you ask, “What'd you give me?”

The kidnapper’s smooth voice answers you from the passenger seat, “The ineloquent call it the ‘date-rape drug’.” 

Utter fear shocks through your body at his blunt words. You’re a chemist, you know exactly what it is he gave you. 

He turns a little to face you, “Sugar, you look nervous. Don’t worry,” his voice is jovial, “This is a date, not a rape.” 

You shrink into your seat as best you can, trying to protect yourself. City blocks quickly turn into dilapidated housing, then farmland since Six’s safe house was close to the outer edge. You don’t know anything about the country you’re in, so memorizing the now-green scenery would be useless. Instead, you decide to evaluate and catalog the men next to you.

The man on your right is tall and tan. With his ironically trustworthy face, you would’ve never given him a second glance if you passed by him on the street. He’s holding what you believe to be a submachine gun, and a pistol butt pokes out of his waistband.

Your friend on the left is his friend’s polar opposite. This man makes you feel like the kidnapper does, and your hands shake just by looking at him out of your peripheral vision. His sharp, pale features keep anger at the forefront. His dark eyes, though rarely on you, twitch with menace. He’s carrying the same weapons as his partner, but you see an added hunting knife hanging from his black cargo pants. Unconsciously, your weight shifts to your right side, trying to put as much distance as you can, though, of course, you know the other man is truly no better.

Heavy exhaustion suddenly falls on you like an anvil. Lethargy places immense pressure on your limbs. Your world goes startlingly black for a second, then you realize you’ve closed your eyelids. You try to lift them, but it’s so difficult. Straining, you see a sliver of blurry light, but your eyes return to darkness. It feels like a weight is pressing on your chest - like Six did last night. Delirious, you half-smile at the recollection. Your head drops to the side with its own weight, and your final conscious thought is that you hope you fell to the right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Feeling more peaceful than he ever had in his life, Six had woken that morning on his side with your head on his right bicep. You were asleep facing him, your right calf sandwiched between his thighs, your hand curled on his chest. If he didn’t include every other time he looked at you, it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Six felt a sense of possessiveness surge through him; he was never going to let anything take you from him. If you wanted him, he would be there.

Six had never told a woman that he loved her. Certainly not romantically. He wasn’t completely confident in how it all worked, but he no longer wondered what it felt like. Six knew by the way he wanted to care for you as you did him. It was evident in the way he found himself pulling your favorite mug from the cabinet each morning before you’d even woken; it was evident in the way his body thrilled as he counted your not-so-sneaky glances at him. Six knew how powerful love was because he felt all other aspects of his life drop in priority to you. He didn't pretend to be good at it, but he couldn't stop himself from trying.

In a matter of excellent timing, you rolled away, tucking your head down and off his arm. He extricated himself from the bed, intending on performing a quick errand. He was incredibly energized; after yesterday’s long-awaited activities and then the full night’s sleep he’d gotten, he felt sure he could do anything. 

After showering, he located an old, plain black tracksuit set that he’d hidden years ago in the bathroom closet. It wasn’t exactly clean after all this time, but it wasn’t the disgusting shirt and pants from the past few days which was all he cared about.

He thought about leaving a note, but it was so dark outside that he knew you’d still be asleep when he returned. And also, he had no pen. Nimbly, he moved to your side of the bed where he carefully tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, his feather-light touch never waking you. You sighed into his hand as it curved down your cheek, and he felt himself twitch at the familiarity. He quickly decided that he’d be keeping you in bed today; his high energy would be put to good use.

Six casually moved out onto the streets of the old world city. It was just past eight-thirty. The air was nice: warm and breezy, hinting at the coming storm. It wasn’t a bustling locale, but its population was large enough to provide some cover. Six’s furtive yet discreet searches around the area told him that all was well, so he trekked through the city to a store he knew supplied women’s clothing. He figured your old clothes were no longer suitable - he himself had torn them off in more ways than one - and he had nothing in his cache that would be practical for a woman. He was still cautious, still calculated. If he needed you to run, you couldn’t be tripping around in too-long pants.

The brightly lit store didn’t have much, so he purchased the first items he saw that best fit the summer weather, making no guesses as to your size since it was something he’d memorized for this exact situation. He thanked the shop clerk in his native tongue, then took a shortcut back to the room. 

He returned as the green numbers glowed exactly 9:00 a.m. to find you still sleeping as he had suspected. He laid the pieces on the chair and then moved to the kitchenette. His jaw set as he realized the food was entirely gone; there wasn’t any substantial meal to be eaten, and canned peaches weren’t going to satisfy the both of you. Grumbling, he took another survey to confirm your slumber, then exited once again, locking the door as he left. 

On his ten-minute jaunt to the corner store, Six felt uneasy. Now he believed the electricity in the air had nothing to do with the impending thunderstorm. He felt the breeze rustle through his blonde locks and tried to relax a little. He had a few - well, he couldn’t call them friends - in this general part of Europe, but only one lived in this area. He hoped the man hadn’t seen him; or you, considering the man might know about the situation. 

He’d run out of cash, and his nearest stash was about a four-hour drive away in Latvia, so he was forced to steal a loaf of bread and two chunks of meat. Six left his not-inexpensive watch as payment, but he regretted being forced to this level. He’d never stolen anything in his life (except the odd vehicle, those almost couldn’t be helped) and he hated it. He was paid well for his services; he never needed to steal. Every bit of decency he could afford, he performed. If you hadn’t been waiting, he would’ve contented himself with the peaches for the next few hours, but you were injured, and moving on to Latvia could wait one more night. 

His walk back from the store was circuitous by habit. He took two extra turns and an alleyway before opening the glass-paned door to the building. The room you two had been sharing was the very first on the ground floor, and something was horribly wrong.

Groceries fell to the floor, replaced instantly by his gun. He swept into the room, then the bathroom, already knowing you weren’t there. A sharp intake of breath sounded as he realized the linoleum had been disrupted. 

Thank God, you’d gotten into the safe room. 

He grunted as he pried open the heavy trapdoor, already beginning to tell you everything was okay, when the dusty hole gaped empty beneath him. The breath heaved out of him. He cursed loudly and slammed the door shut with such force that it reverberated throughout the lower floor. He spun around and his eyes snagged on the paper positioned on the pillow you’d occupied only moments earlier. He snatched it up.

 - Do you miss her like I miss my fingers? -

Below the handwritten taunt was an address. Six needed no further information - he sprinted out of the building and up the street.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Groggy and unsteady, your left eye opens a little before your right. Warm light streams from a small round window at the other end of the room. It’s dusty, and motes float about in the beams. Your hands chafe at the handcuffs, but the most uncomfortable aspect is the rickety chair you’re roped into. Your shoulders ache and your neck is pained at the position you’d been unconscious in. 

Fear rises in your throat, bubbling like lava in your chest. But it’s mutating with another emotion you’re not sure of just yet. You rock forward violently and shift the old chair forward a little, trying to move toward the window. The impact of your weight rattles the rafters, and you realize that endeavor is hopeless if you want to remain alone. You try to scoot, using your untied feet to pull you along, but the chair catches on a warped floorboard, and you’re left stuck.

Panting from the claustrophobic panic and the exertion, you begin taking some calming breaths you’d read about once for test anxiety. It helps, but then you hear the creaking of hinges as a trapdoor falls away a few feet from you. The ladder slides down smoothly, and moments later the head of a man appears. His fit, sweater-wearing body follows. He glares at you.

“You got bits of ceiling plaster on my sweater.” 

“What’s going on? What do you want me for?”

You expect him to say something about your job, to demand access to the research, to complete some of it yourself; maybe he wants you to oversee a project of their own. You have no idea and you’re not prepared for what he answers.

“I don’t want you at all, honey. Sorry, you’re not my type. I like women who don’t punch me in the dick.” He says testily. “No, I want your boy, and I want him to be sad. I had no idea you existed ‘til a friend snapped a few pictures of the two of you getting cozy.” 

He unfolds three photos from his back pocket. The first is through the large glass backdoor in your original safe house, the telephoto lens capturing Six’s hand nearly touching your lower back, your head turned to smile at him. A second photo was taken from a distance through a window, and it shows Six sitting on the couch beside you, talking. The man holds up a third photo, this one of the two of you outside, Six’s face glows with that reluctant smile he favors, though it's much larger than usual; facing away from you, he looks downright joyous at something you must’ve said or done. 

The emotion you’d had trouble naming finally identifies itself as you spit, “Fuck you.” 

The man backhands you hard enough to split your lip, but he doesn’t knock you over. Tears spring to your eyes instantly, and you yelp. The moment this man had stepped through your door, you’d done your best to prepare yourself for physical pain. You were still surprised, still shocked by it. 

The man crouches in front of you, his eyes level. Your upper lip curls into a snarl.

“I know Sierra Six. That man is a goody-two-shoes. Although, apparently he’s been lying to his lady love. See, I did do my homework: your employer’s security contract with Six ended a month ago. He’s been bunking with you because I sent him those photos the day before termination. If he stayed with you, I knew it was genuine.” He pauses, then jeers, “He doesn’t allow himself to get attached to people.” The man smiles, perfect teeth flashing behind pink lips as he waves the photographs, “But I found the one he has.”

Unable to fully comprehend what’s happening, you just stare. You’d been through quite a few emotions over the past twelve hours and the tumult in your head was raging. Your admittedly hands-off employers had never told you when the protection detail’s contract ended, they probably had just assumed Six would leave of his own accord. The house had been furnished with anything you would’ve needed so you’d kept on working, and your employers kept getting what they paid you for. As long as the status quo remained, no one would’ve questioned each other.

“So, you’ve got me here in this dry-ass attic because you don’t like Sierra Six?” Your confusion manifests with righteous anger. This man is using you, not for your brain, but to get to someone you care about.

He sharply raises his left hand as an example, “I fucking hate him, actually.

“Don’t your manicures cost less now?” You hiss venomously.

Your chair nearly tips when his hand connects once again with your face. You spit out blood, but you’re weak and it lands pitifully on your shirt. 

Your mouth already open, you ask one last question, ”And when Six comes for me… you’ll kill him?” You are still angry, but your worry over Six causes your voice to break.

“All part of the show, babe. I’m not monologuing to you.” He shrugs, smiling as if he wasn’t just monologuing to you. He stands and jogs forward-facing down the ladder. You hear his rich voice say something about a knife, and your body goes rigid. More pain. Your heart rate skyrockets and traitorous tears fall.

Calm down, get calm, I can’t be calm, just be calm, this is insane, deep breaths, it won’t help, you’ll be fine, your thoughts race uncontrollably. 

Stressed wood and hinges ring out from the ladder as he reappears with a switchblade. He squats and ties your ankles to the chair legs with little effort, despite your kicking. Then he pulls another chair from the far side of the attic to face you. 

“Oh, I’m Lloyd, by the way.” He grins as he slices at your already-injured leg. 

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Though he’d brought a comfortable chair, Lloyd didn’t stay long. He made a few cuts, watched you scream and squirm a little, but then his stomach had growled. He stood, wiped the bloody knife on your denim shorts, and folded the weapon as he left the attic. He made a little quip about letting bed bugs bite, and then the trapdoor squealed as it shut, as he left you in darkness. 

The window across the room is dark blue, now. You beg your mind to relive the previous sunset, but the pain in your wrists and your leg are agonizing. Lloyd had cut a shape into your leg, and you didn’t want to see it. You’d not looked as he worked, and you were unable to do so now. Maybe it’ll be gone by morning, you childishly wish.

Again and again, your mind returns to Six. As much as you may have had a right to be, you didn’t have the capacity to be upset with him. Certainly not right this moment, as all you wanted was to be secure in his arms, and it was unlikely you’d be too pissed later, either. Six was your friend. Sure, he was generally reserved, closed off - but those were his natural defenses, and it was impossible not to feel his sincerity, his regard. Six had stayed on without payment for an entire month. He’d asked for extra men, probably calling in a favor instead of offering a reward. Just because he wanted to protect you. If he’d felt it was best to keep the truth hidden, then the truth was probably best kept hidden. After all, the man was the best tactician around; even you knew he had a near-mythological reputation. 

Simply put, you trusted the man unequivocally. You just wished that he would both hurry and stay away. If this lunatic managed to kill Six by using you as bait, you weren’t sure you could live with the guilt. Six spent so much time walling himself off from everyone, and you’d purposefully broken down those defenses. Now you were both in danger. Six was all you had, all you’d wanted, and now that you had him you were about to lose him. 

You sat there as time slipped by, in the dark, crying, until your body exhausted itself.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IIIII

A splitting headache wakes you. Your neck is screaming at the position it’s been in for hours, and you feel a little nauseous. The strong light from the round window allows you to clock the time at late afternoon, and you regret waking. Your body straightens when you realize that the sound of the trapdoor opening is what woke you. The sound sharpens and you tense, waiting for more pain. 

As expected, Lloyd’s face beams at you. Immediately, you’re on edge: if Lloyd is happy, you shouldn’t be. He finishes climbing the ladder, and when he does, he motions to someone else to come up.

“Guess who,” he raises his eyebrows conspiratorially. 

“No,” you plead. "No.”

“Mhm. ‘fraid so.” He couldn’t possibly smile wider.

A blonde head that you’d recognize anywhere materializes. He’s shoved by someone else you hate to see: the pale man on your left. The pale man looks terrible. His face is swollen and bloody. Since the ladder rises away from you, you don’t see the prisoner’s face until the pale man roughly turns him around, but you knew it would be Six. He’s slammed into his own rickety chair. His beard is sticky with blood, and a cut near his right eye oozes more blood. His black tracksuit is filthy and torn, and his hands are bound in front of him with zip ties. The instant he faces you, he holds your tearful gaze, and he winks. Your eyebrows constrict briefly in confusion, but you return to utter despair quickly. Lloyd was never going to let you go if he captured Six, and you’re pretty sure he never even offered that lie up to you. Now you were both going to watch each other die. Your chest heaves in sorrow.

“I’m sorry,” your voice is a hoarse whisper, but Six frowns and shakes his head. His attention is forced away from you, however, when Lloyd steps in front of him.

“Wow, Lloyd, you should’ve squeezed the CIA for a better patch job. You look like shit.”

Lloyd laughs, “Aw, don’t make me kill her already. I was just getting excited.”

“Did you do that to her face?” Six asks conversationally. 

“It wasn’t the only thing I did,” Lloyd answers suggestively. And though you can’t see his face, he grins at Six who barely keeps a leash on himself. He files that comment away for later fuel. 

Lloyd begins to speak, cajoling as Six flexes his jaw, his expressive eyes never leaving the threat. “The CIA didn’t ‘patch’ me up. They’ve pinned that whole … situation… on me. Rather unfairly, wouldn’t you say?” He doesn’t give Six time to answer before he continues, “I have other powerful friends who aren’t hunting me for war crimes. But they don’t matter. They support my little personal revenge mission, although they’re not funding it.” He holds up his hands, “Don’t be offended I didn’t send a whole squad after you, Six. I’m pretty depleted after all your shenanigans. But anyway!” He claps his hands, “Don’t you wanna know how I knew?” He sounds thrilled.

“A little birdy told you?”

“Your friend Denver. Now isn’t that just the worst? He sold you out. ‘Six has found himself a girl.’ His plan was to live that night, but hey, can’t win ‘em all, right?”

Lloyd moves to grab his chair, and you’re able to see Six’s reaction. His face doesn’t change, but you know those eyes. He’s not completely shocked, he can’t afford to be in his line of work, but you can see the betrayal, the sadness pooling there. 

Since he has line of sight on you, again, he takes advantage and the corner of his mouth quirks up quickly. The smile is gone before you’re even sure it existed - but that’s the second time he’s signaled you. Trying to keep me from panicking, as always, you reason. You give him an answering smile, but it’s sad, and he grunts in frustration.

Lloyd has his chair in hand, and he looks animatedly between the two of you - back and forth, back and forth, as if trying to choose. The pale man, still standing next to Six, laughs. Your disgust evident on your face, Lloyd makes his choice and sits directly in front of you. 

“Did you miss me, honey?” He purrs. You know from his tone that everything this man is about to do has one purpose: to twist a dagger into Six’s soul. 

“Didn’t really get a chance, asshole,” you pour every bit of rage and hatred you can into your voice. This man might break your body, but you’re pretty sure this level of anger will protect your mind. 

“Let me see that six.” He orders, which stops you right in your tracks.

“What?” You ask, perplexed.

“The six! The six I gave you.” His bottom lip pouts, “You didn’t even see what I gave you?” And he points at your thigh. 

Amidst the blood, you finally see the pattern he had carved into your leg. He hadn’t cut as deeply as your other wound, just deep enough to ensure scarring. 

“You said something about wanting a six, right?” He plays dumb. “If that one’s not big enough, here, I’ll do another.” He lifts the knife quickly and you start at the sudden violence. 

Behind him, you hear Six grunt, then an unfamiliar, more pained-sounding grunt. Lloyd doesn’t hesitate before he jumps behind your chair and sticks the knife against your neck. As he does so, you see the body of the pale man drop to the floor, his submachine gun in Six’s freed hands. Your chin tilts up as high as you can to avoid the blade.

“You brought a knife to a gunfight, Lloyd.” 

“Quite the party foul of me, huh?” Lloyd rejoins. “Oh, well. That’s where your bitch comes in handy.” 

Six doesn’t react. Lloyd's using you as a shield, but he is much larger than you. One good shot would knock him back enough that Six was confident he could reach you before Lloyd recovered. Six starts to squeeze the trigger when the knife leaves Lloyd’s hand, aimed directly at his heart.

Six bats away the shining switchblade with the gun, which sends him a little off balance. Lloyd uses his chance to rush Six. Like the football star he had been, he tackles Six to the floor. Six groans in pain as the wind is knocked from him, and a scream tears from you. At the last second, you remember that the other man in the car, the one on your right, was probably somewhere below. Surely he had heard the thumping, right? Why wasn’t he coming?

Six quickly gets the upper hand, kicking out from underneath the other man, smashing the gun into Lloyd’s face twice as he did so. Six is loath to shoot the man outright because he really wants to beat the shit out of him first. Lloyd gets to his feet at the same time Six does.

Frantically, you knock the chair over, and try to wiggle sideways towards the knife Six had hit. It was several feet away, very close to what now looked like a standoff. Six hears what you’re doing, and circles a little more to his right, putting himself between you and Lloyd. He thrusts the butt of the gun at Lloyd’s gut, but Lloyd grabs hold of it. Six immediately ejects the magazine faster than he’d ever made the move before. He releases his hold on the weapon, knowing it won’t make a difference. Lloyd gives him an eyebrow raise before tossing the gun down the ladder.

Your chair scrapes with every inch, but your desperation gets the knife into your right hand right as you hear the gun fall. You saw at the ropes around your body, then once free of that, you cut the flimsy material around your ankles. Unfortunately, you are still handcuffed to the chair’s armrest. Keeping the knife in hand, you lift the old chair and slam it against the floor, once, twice. Thinking better of that, you sit down and jam both heels on the underside of the armrest, hoping to force the slim piece from its spindles. That worked. Unfortunately, you are still handcuffed.

Six waits for Lloyd to swing first, and when he does, Six puts every play he’s ever learned into action. He swings haymaker after uppercut at Lloyd, most of them connecting viciously. Lloyd gets in several licks, but each time Six shakes it off with a growl. Hoping to shorten this dance, you hold up the knife, hoping it’s Six and not Lloyd who sees what you have to offer. They both notice.

As Lloyd starts to run at you, Six leaps forward, grabbing him around the throat by his forearm. He uses the momentum to slam Lloyd down to his knees. Lloyd twists and claws at him, but Six is stronger. To Lloyd’s endless consternation, Six has always been stronger. You gawk on in horror. You’d seen Six kill a man before, but this was different. This was personal, angry, justified. Six is silent as his arms strain, pressing every bit of strength he has into Lloyd’s windpipe. Lloyd is gagging, gurgling. It was terrible. 

“Go!” Six commands through gritted teeth, and though he wasn’t looking at you, you obey. You didn’t want to see this. 

You flee down the ladder, knife still in hand. Subconsciously, you take in your surroundings: a vacant, crumbling mansion. The white hallway was cracked, and moldy. No furniture could be seen. You could still hear Lloyd’s death throes above you, so you stumble along the hallway, desperate to end the nightmare.

Your right leg, so damaged, gives out and you hit the floor. You see stair railings a few feet away, but you can also see the attic entrance from where you fell, and you weren’t going anywhere without Six. So you drag yourself up against the wall and try to slow your labored breathing as you wait.

A few minutes later, a man dressed in black climbs down. Your heart pounds at the sight of the blonde hair. You stand, wobbling, and drop the knife. As he reaches you, he wraps an arm around you. His hand presses your head to his chest. 

“Let me see your hands.” 

You hold up your cuffs. He unlocks them with a small key you can only assume he got from one of the bodies upstairs. He nudges you forward, and you start down the hallway, then down the stairs. When you get to the bottom of the wooden steps, you see why the other man never came running. He lay bloody on the floor of the foyer. Six had killed him first. 

“Didn’t know where you were in this big old house, so I made my entrance known. Lloyd would take me wherever you were. Amateur.” 

Stepping around the body and out the front door, you hysterically giggle at the stolen car Six had parked normally. “You literally walked in the front door?” 

“Yeah.” 

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IIIIII

Lloyd had taken you over the Latvian border by several hours, so while you were in the right country, you were still a couple of hours away from Six’s cache. As he drives, you curl up on the back seat, trying to relieve your sore muscles and your stinging leg.

It’s nearly midnight by the time Six pulls to the curb a block from his newest safe house. The streets were bustling with people enjoying their evening, and it wasn’t difficult to blend in. In the darkness, no one could make out your bloody leg, his bloody face. 

Six breaks the padlock off the abandoned-looking building’s side entrance, then steps inside, ensuring it was uninhabited. There’d been no actual threats to your life besides Lloyd Hansen, your company hiring Six as a precaution over rumors, but Six was never going to take a chance again when it came to you.

He ushers you through the door, then tucks you into his side as he opens another door. It’s pitch black, and you cling to his jacket. You hear the door shut behind you, then you hear the sound of his hand sliding along the wall trying to find the light switch.

He succeeds and the room is illuminated in warm, artificial light. It’s another ground-floor apartment, and it’s similar to the previous minus Six’s favorite wingback chair. He takes your hand and guides you into the bathroom where you see the biggest difference yet. The bathroom is clean, spacious, and it has both a bathtub and a shower.

“Capital cities have the best safe houses. More people to maintain them,” he replies to the question in your mind. “Strip.” 

Your head jerks up to look at him. He unzips his track jacket but leaves his pants. You pull the hem of your shirt over your head and drop the bloodstained fabric to the floor. Six crouches in front of you and unbuttons your shorts.

“I’m a professional,” he whispers, trying to lighten your wordless mood as he covers your new knife wound with his hand and pulls your shorts down. 

He takes your hand to balance you as you step out of the bottoms. As he touches you, he looks for a sign of disgust, fear, something that will break his heart but make sense after what you’d been through. 

He grabs a washcloth from the counter and wets it. He crouches in front of you again and begins softly cleaning the blood from your thigh, leaving a wide gap around the actual wound. 

You’re a little unsteady after the lack of nutrition and the stress your body has undergone the past day, but you steel yourself for a moment: you focus on not freaking out, not crying just yet in order to take stock. You watched him kill someone. How do I feel about that?

In your heart, you know that it doesn’t change anything you feel about him. Six killed bad men - always had, always would - and you’d known that when you met him. Your torso shakes, nearly hyperventilating. No, the worst is that you could’ve died, you could’ve watched him die. You collapse onto his shoulders, your arms around his neck.

“I’m sorry.” He says, the timbre of his voice letting you know that he means it for all that has occurred. For what Lloyd did to you physically and probably emotionally. For not telling you the truth, but mostly for putting you in the situation in the first place.

Too emotionally distraught to check the words thoroughly, you try to relieve his guilt: “’s not your fault someone loves you, Six.” 

Still not noticing your own words, you bury your face in his shoulder, and your tears fall freely. The noise he makes under his breath sounds affectionately amazed.

He stands, picking you up, and your legs wrap around him automatically. Your cuts are nearer the outside of your leg, but it still sends a jolt of pain down your limb when you use it to latch onto him. He sets your bottom on the countertop. One hand rubs your back while the other nestles into your hair. 

He knows you’re in shock, and he knows you didn’t mean to tell him you loved him like that. It’s good to hear, and he can’t help the sunrise in his heart, but his primary concern is consoling you. Or distracting you, if possible. Early in his career, he had learned that the best way to move forward was to stop overthinking. Distractions worked well for that.

“Shower or bath?” He asks.

He doesn’t have an ulterior motive, and you’re more than welcome to answer with neither. But in his mind, if it comes to it, he could try to make you forget today for a little while. You sniffle as you pick your head up off his shoulder to see his face.

He’s looking at you like you just saved him, and it’s somehow exactly what you needed.

“Shower.” 

You’d love nothing more than to be warm, bloodstain-free, and staring at Six naked. Without another word, he drops his pants and unclasps your bra. You push your underwear off. You latch around him again, and he carries you into the shower. You drop your legs and stand while he adjusts the temperature. The shower’s wide enough that you don’t feel the water at all as it warms up. 

As the water begins to steam, Six looks over at you and holds his hand out, palm up. A smile touches your lips and he answers with his own as he pulls you to him underneath the showerhead. His hair soaks instantly. He rotates so your hair can rinse free of all the shit it had gone through in the last week.

Six takes a clean, soapy washcloth and stoops to finish cleaning your leg. He tries to ignore the shape that those cuts are in, but it’s still torturing him. He’d tried to forget it the moment after the words had left Lloyd’s mouth, but now he was face-to-face with the physical consequences of his feelings for you. He straightens up and lets the water get the rest of the blood. 

You watch as his expression twists, and he won’t meet your eyes. 

“They’re shallow. They’ll heal.”

“Yeah, right into my fucking name.” He begins washing himself as a means to avoid your face.

“It’s not your name." You cup your hand to his cheek. "Hey, ‘Six’ is not your name. Those marks will heal, and even if I’m still able to see the number, it doesn’t bother me.” Your voice rises with each word. You’re trying to tell him that it’ll be an incidental scar, and even if it mattered, it’s the pseudonym of the man who rescued you.

His stormy eyes meet yours finally, skepticism clouding them. “It doesn’t matter to you that you were tortured and permanently scarred," his voice acerbic, "because of me?”

“It does matter, but it wasn’t because of you, Six. It was because that guy was insane. He was unstable. He hated you and I was useful.” You're pleading with him to hear you. Your hand slides up from his cheek into his drenched hair. 

You decide to gamble a joke, “Always wanted a man’s name tattooed on me, anyway.” 

Your eyes shine up at him fervently, hoping the joke corroborates your apathy over the wound. Because that really didn’t matter to you. The physical scars were nothing - they would heal without issue. If anything, you worried about being separated from Six. How would you ever feel safe without him again? 

Your gamble works. He snorts and leans his forehead to yours. Stray water droplets collect in his facial hair. 

“But you’re right, that’s not my name,” he murmurs, then carefully presses his lips to yours. He’s gentle, but pain issues forth from your split skin, anyway. You flinch slightly, and Six murmurs, "Sorry."

Angry at the reminder, you decide you’re not letting Lloyd take any more seconds of your life, so you deepen the kiss. Your lips part to allow him in, and at the first touch of his tongue, a spark of tension flares.

He hums deep in his chest at your enthusiasm, your reassurance. Six’s right hand curves around the back of your upper thigh, underneath your ass, and he half-lifts/half-pushes you into the icy wall of the shower. You hiss in surprise, but his warm body follows with a grunt a split-second later, and you’re no longer thinking of anything but him. 

Your hand drops to stroke his velvet length against your thigh, and Six’s groaning mouth leaves yours to trail along your jaw and drops to the hollow he knows you love. His hands caress your curves, one hand traveling to grasp your breast as the other hand slides between your legs.

You gasp as the friction of his rough palm, then his fingers, send a jolt right to that coil in your stomach. He squeezes your breast gently, and his thumb rolls over your nipple as Six drops to his knees. 

“You don’t have to -” you start, but change your mind instantly as you appreciate Six below you: his hair drips into his profoundly blue eyes; water runs down his well-defined body, and his thighs flex as he shifts closer to you and sits back on his heels. His large hands wrap around your hips. You feel your breath hitch as he angles forward and his breath touches your tender skin a moment before his heated mouth. His tongue flattens against you before flicking at the perfect pace; he alternates between the two patterns. The heat floods through you in a deluge - your eyes slam shut, your head rolls back, and when your stomach constricts, your legs go weak.

He makes a pleased guttural sound that vibrates into your skin, and he plants one firm arm upward along the inside of your hip, his hand on your ribs, to keep you upright. His other hand on your hip welds you firmly to him. Your cries of pleasure echo in the space, and he feels himself growing painfully hard. 

Your body having been stretched to its limits in so many ways means the euphoria you feel now has you coming easily. Six feels the tension in you splinter, feels the shuddering in your legs. The pride it gives him is unmatched as he holds you still. You moan into the steamy air, and he knows could do this forever.

He continues at the same pace, but in a moment of lucidity, you miss him against you. You pull at his shoulder, and he obliges, standing. His right hand grasps the underside of your knee, palm on the outside of your leg, and he fits himself right against you. You can feel him twitch with expectation. An aftershock of your first orgasm ripples through you, and has you clenching around nothing. You shiver, already anticipating how good he will feel. 

“Please, Si-” you beg him, unnecessarily.

He makes a sudden decision, cutting you off, “It’s Court.”

Your eyes fly up to his. But before you have a chance to speak, he steadily shifts up into you. His quiet groan is punctuated by your gasps. His eyes close involuntarily at your tight warmth. Your nails dig into his biceps where you’d braced yourself. The stretch hurts a little this time, but you're too satisfied with the closeness to care. Relishing the unique intimacy of being inside you, he skims one hand down your side before he drags himself unhurriedly out, and thrusts back in. 

He begins to slowly increase his rhythm, and with each incredible entrance, you both let the sounds spill out from your mouths uninhibited. Before long he is driving into you so unrelentingly that all you can do is hang onto him. He never neglects your lips for a second, his deep, messy kiss the only thing keeping you sane. You feel white-hot; it’s nearly painful, but it’s so good.

Tears leak down your face. His left hand cups your cheek, thumb swiping away the salty liquid. He can see you’re about to snap once again by the way your face pinches, then begins to unwind underneath his hand. He drops his hand to work you over further. He never knew life could be so sweet. Reserved, isolated his entire adult life, he knows that he’s never going to be happy if he’s not coming home to this. 

“Don’t say Six,” he begs. It’s never mattered to him before. He was the same person no matter what anyone referred to him as. But he wanted you to know, to have the purest version of himself. The version no one else had.

He looks down into your eyes as he asks, and when the understanding hits you, it’s the final nail in your coffin. A sob echoes in the small room as your walls constrict around him, fluttering. He revels in the image of you falling apart against him.

He kisses you again, then lets his lips hang open over yours as you both breathe heavily from the wicked roll of his hips. He’s blurry through your tears, and you blink a little to better understand what you just saw flashing in his eyes. What you’d seen there two days earlier, too. He loves you, your mind supplies unasked.

Court’s rhythm changes to deep, passionate thrusts as he tries to bury himself in you. His desperate grunts send aftershocks throughout your thighs. He’d never stop if his body would allow it. He gradually slows his movements, still working you through your own high. He finishes with a low, animalistic noise and closes the small gap between your mouths. Neither of you move, panting.

You look up at him through your lashes, your eyes full of tears at the emotion between you two. He kisses you, hard - full of everything he'd wanted to say for months. After several moments, he lets go of your leg, and removes himself from you.

Unwilling to stop touching you, though, he takes you by the hand as he exits the shower. You twist the knob to shut it off as you walk by. 

He wraps an old, gray towel around his waist, and hands one to you. You squish your hair, then wrap it around your chest. He’s quiet, uncomfortable for some reason, so you take his hand again, and back him up against the counter. He barks a reluctant, low laugh at you pretending to be able to keep him pinned. He rests his hands on your waist.

“Why are you sad?” You ask bluntly.

“I’m not the one who was just crying,” he deflects with a quip. 

You raise your eyebrows and frown at him. 

Remembering that he wanted you to know him, he cautiously answers in a halting undertone, “I would like a calm life.” He stops, thinking. “Maybe with you...”

It's almost a question, and he doesn’t say what he means exactly, but you understand. You're his chance at a normal life. A happy life.

“Maybe not a calm life, no, but you could have me.” You phrase it as a potential, though it’s not one. He’s had you wrapped around his finger for months. You'd do anything if your reward was this man.

His face doesn’t change, so you try again, “You already have me; so, it’d be nice if you’d accept it.” 

“Oh, I don’t even get a choice, now?” He smirks faintly, his thumbs rubbing along your hips through the thin towel.

“I don’t think I’ll ever feel happy without you,” you confess your earlier thought. Your hand traces over the tattoo on his chest. “I know I wouldn't feel safe."

He sighs heavily. “I can’t say nothing will ever happen,” he says honestly, “but I can promise I'll be there." He pauses, trying to figure out how to express himself. "If you want me, then-"

“I always want you, Court.”

You cut him off, speaking his name for the first time. When when he smiles, it finally touches his eyes. His grip tightens on your waist. He's contemplative for a moment as his look turns mischievous.

He lowers his voice, “About that book you tried to kill me with: I think I remember a page or two -” he breaks off as he bends faster than you’re capable of reacting to, and throws you expertly over his shoulder, smiling at your laughing shriek.

#sierra six #the gray man #the gray man fanfic #court gentry #courtland gentry #my fics #smut #fluff #ryan gosling #lloyd hansen #chris evans #sierra six x reader #court gentry x reader #the gray man fanfiction #personal #I have a deformed finger and my dad makes that manicure joke all the time fyi #the gray man 2022 #sierra six x you

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Favorite

Precious Weapon Drabble after chapter 8

Pairing : Sierra Six x F!OC (Elle) x Lloyd Hansen.

Summary : Her and Six's favorite things to do after every mission. Quickly, it becomes Lloyd's favorite thing to do too. 

Warnings : Fluff. Teasing. Wholesome Six. Implied smut. Comfort. Tiny angst. 

Word count : 4.5k. 

Author's note : Just about a week after chapter eight. 

***

After every single mission, it's almost the same routine now with all of them.

They all get cleaned up, do a quick debrief, then have something to eat. But, sometimes, Lloyd steals her away and keeps her with him until the morning. When he doesn't, Six has his time with her. 

Though, he doesn't drag her to his room, unless it's already getting late. They usually take their time to relax and spend the rest of their day together, unbothered. Since they never get a break from the missions and the ops. Not even during the weekends.

Six never complains, even when sometimes he gets limited time with her or has to take turns with Lloyd. He's just grateful to be there and truthfully, he's happy that they're finally getting along and being closer than ever. Plus, they all needed this unwritten schedule to still give some space to her.

"Honestly, that movie was horrible." Elle honestly remarks in their home theater, after they've just finished the newest film. It's just her and Six, cuddled up on one huge leather chair together. She's been sitting on his lap comfortably, ignoring the other five seats around them. 

Court lifts his eyebrows in surprise. "Really? I kinda liked it." he softly protests. 

Her face softens and she slowly smiles. "I don't think I've ever heard you say that. You don't normally like anything. It's very hard to get you to like something." she points out. 

He frowns, smoothly brushing her hair away from her face. "That's not true. I like you. A lot. More than that, actually." he truthfully confesses, admiring her facial features closely. 

Her smile widens as her cheeks blushes. It was very rare for him to say anything remotely romantic or affectionate. He's sweet, but also simple and direct. He hates to feed her bullshit, cheesy words so he never does. And confessions aren't usually his thing. When he likes something, he never actually says it out loud.

She still continues to smile and he stares at her with a certain affection and intensity. Her nose scrunches. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asks with a giggle. 

Six's lips tug into an easy smile as he shrugs. "You just… your smile. It's cute." he quietly admits, touching her cheek.

Elle giggles again, revealing her dimples as she grins. "Yeah, well, I'm happy." she softly replies.

He gives her a proud look, nodding his head. "Good. That's good." 

Her face lights up, suddenly coming up with an idea. "Hey, let's go for a night swim upstairs." she suggests. And like always, he immediately agrees with her. There's nothing in the world that he wouldn't give her just to see her smile again. 

***

Six is an extremely slow swimmer when it comes to swimming with her. He just wants to enjoy the water and relax. 

But as for her, she likes to do a fast lap around their pool, over and over again. She needs to get tired before bed so she can sleep well tonight. Drain her energy in a useful exercise. This is probably the only workout she'd ever willingly do. 

Court stands in the water, searching for her. She's on the other side of the pool, doing another swimming style. "How do you still have so much energy even after that mission?" he plainly asks her from afar. 

She lets out a hearty laugh which echoes through the huge indoor space as she moves to a floating position. "You know I have unlimited stamina, right? I mean how do you think I could put up with Lloyd every day and every night? It requires extra energy." she casually says. 

He frowns, suddenly remembering his absence. "Speaking of, where is he? I haven’t seen him all night." Six asks her, attempting to walk in the water to approach her. 

She shrugs casually, swimming closer to him. "I think he was getting groceries in a different supermarket. I know one that's a little bit further from here." she simply answers, still enjoying the cold water against her skin.

He simply nods as they're both almost close to each other. "He seems different, don't you think? Like something's bothering him. He's been a little distant this week." Six softly points out.

She tries to ignore his observation, knowing deep down what's actually been bothering him. It's been a week since they've both known the truth about her incident in the hospital, behind each other's back. She has been waiting for him to tell her instead, but he hasn't. She's still going to give him a chance, at least until a few more weeks. If he won't, then she's going to do that big secret mission that Denny will assign her to. 

"I don't know. He seemed normal to me." She calmly lies to him and hopes he won't notice at all.

Court finally reaches her, immediately holding her waist underwater as their lips are inches apart. "Okay. It's just a little weird that he has to drive all the way to a different shop just to get groceries. I feel like he's distancing himself because of us."

"I like spending time with you more, anyway." she bluntly admits. 

He frowns, knitting his eyebrows in confusion. "What happened with you two?" he carefully asks.

She quickly shakes her head, not wanting to raise any suspicion. "Nothing. It's just that he's always so needy and clingy. Which is good, for some moments but most of the time, I just want to chill and enjoy our time together. You know, like you and me. We don't have to do a lot of things when we're together and we'll never be bored or unhappy or unsatisfied." Elle honestly tells him the truth. Most of the truth, that is.

Six slowly cups her cheeks and her brown, wide eyes stare up at him. "Our relationships are always going to be different, Elle. You knew that from the start and you liked the balance." he reminds her, gently. 

She gulps, nodding her head. "I know. I just meant that I could just relax when I'm with you. And I like that."

"Well, we still have the whole night. We could do whatever you want." he sweetly offers with a small smile creeping up on his lips.

Her smile stretches wider as her hands wrap around his neck. "Well, what about doing nothing?"

Court breaks into a soft laugh. "Yeah, doing nothing sounds great." he approves.

"Good." she says, tipping her face up to press a quick kiss on his lips as he smiles against her lips. He does that all the time. It's his favorite thing to do because he knows what it does to her. 

He leans forward, deepening the kiss passionately and she opens his mouth for her. His hands pull her in closer while her legs casually wrap around his waist underwater. "What happened to doing nothing?" she asks in between kisses, almost being out of breath.

His hands hold the back of her head as he kisses her possessively, trying to devour every inch of her lips slowly. He's practically almost stealing her breath away from her lungs and she's loving it. "Yeah, fuck that." Six suddenly curses, a small smirk growing on his lips and she could feel it. He usually never curses, except for some heated moments with her when he can't control himself. 

She giggles, pulling away slightly and he quickly catches her lips with his. He nibbles on her bottom lips, not wanting to actually hurt or bleed her. Her hands are already under the water, trying to take his swim trunks off.  "Not here." he whispers into her mouth as she groans softly.

"Why not? We got the place to ourselves. Literally." she argues, making a point since this is an indoor pool for them only. 

Court shakes his head. "Lloyd could walk in." he protests. 

She smirks against his lips, her other hand cups his jaw. "So? Even better. He could watch." Elle teases.

Speaking of the actual devil, the elevator opens from the far side of the room and they don't even stop what they're doing. She knows that it's Lloyd. She had recognized his heartbeat and his footsteps when approaching someone. As much as she'd hate to admit, she knows him inside and out, all too well. And they're almost alike. 

Six breaks the kiss first before turning his head to him. "Hey, how was the grocery trip?" he asks him, slightly flustered from the situation. He's never been caught in the act before with him because they're always doing it in the bedroom only. Yet, he doesn't feel embarrassed at all. He's feeling something else. 

She turns around and smiles up at him. "Hey! Join us in the water." she invites him.

He doesn't answer either of them, instead he frowns while he walks closer to them with heavy footsteps. "No. Elle, get out. I need to talk to you." he demands sternly as she rolls her eyes. He's back to his asshole mood again.

Lloyd sits by the pool bench while she lifts herself up the water, effortlessly and stands up easily. He gets up, gently grabbing her by the arm as he drags her to the corner, right beside the shower room. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he asks her, annoyed.

She shrugs his hand off and crosses her arms against her wet swimsuit. "We were just having a little night swim." she calmly replies.

He scowls, squinting his eyes at her. "What? It's almost ten fucking pm, Elle. We have another mission tomorrow morning. You can't just decide to have a little fun at night whenever you feel like it, especially dragging Six into this." Lloyd lectures her and she sighs tiredly.

She looks at him with disbelief. "Well, I'm sorry that Six and I aren't the type to just stay in our room and fuck all night. We actually do real activities, something that you couldn't possibly understand." she harshly retorts. 

He frowns deeper, trying to figure out what she's implying here. "What does that have to do with this? You need to learn how to separate the mission with our relationships. And you're acting like I'm the one who always wants to fuck. If you never wanted to, you could've always pushed me away. You're way stronger than me, Elle." he points out, his last words are softer. Because if she did, he'd accept it anyway and gave her some space. 

She shakes her head. "Well, I didn't want to. I do… want you still, Lloyd. But I just want us to sit back and relax sometimes. I know that's hard for you so I never asked. I never wanted to push you to do something you hated." she finally confesses to him, hesitantly. 

His eyes look into hers with a certain regret. "I don't hate that. You're very wrong, actually. Well, not entirely, but… I'm still new to all these things. I never even moved in with anyone or even let them sleep on my bed. I am getting used to it though. With you." Lloyd softly admits, even though he hates every second of expressing a single feeling. 

She deserves the truth. Just not all of the truth. He still wants to protect her and her feelings. And sometimes, he feels like she isn't ready for it yet. It does have to do with the fact that she's still new to this whole world of murder and corruption. Maybe, deep down, he's scared that once she's exposed to all that, she'd be different or distant. The agency changes everyone who sinks deep enough into it. It happened with Six and him. After about a year working, they were so distinct and barely could even recognize themselves. 

Her face softens and slightly raises her eyebrows as she steps closer to him. "Fine, but you still shouldn't have stormed in here and interrupted a very heated moment." she softly whispers at his face. 

Lloyd frowns, cocking his head to the side. "No, there's no way that Six would do it in a pool." he argues as a smirk slowly grows on his lips. He knows the man too well but is also aware of the effect she has on him. They both would do anything for her, even though they don't like what they'd be doing. Just to keep her smile linger for a little while and to hear her bubbly, full of life laughter.  

She huffs, rolling her eyes playfully. "Well, I was about to convince him to and then you walked in. So, now I'm officially frustrated thanks to you because we'd be going to bed right after this." she complains to him. 

His smirk turns into an eager smile. "You know I could always help you with that." he offers seriously, his eyes wandering down at her perfect figure in that favorite black swimsuit of hers.  

She scrunches her nose, shaking her head. "No, it's fine. We do have that mission tomorrow morning."

He lifts his eyebrows, scoffing gently. "Oh, I get it. You're turning the tables on me." Lloyd figures it out, smirking to himself, thinking that he's got the upper hand now. 

Elle lets out a soft laugh while she leans against his body, wetting his dry clothes purposefully. He stares down at her as his hands rest on her hips. "Hey, Six, let's go to bed. I'm getting sleepy!" she casually shouts and he immediately listens to her, getting out of the pool.

Lloyd rolls his eyes. "You're not getting away with this, you know that, right? After that mission tomorrow, we'll have the whole evening." he teases her. 

Her lips form into a smirk. "Well, then, I guess it's a good thing that I have unlimited stamina, yeah?" she says and he nods. 

"It's only one of my million favorite things from you." he quickly replies before jutting his chin to gesture at the man behind her. Six is still wet and shirtless, trying to dry himself with a white towel as he stands close to her.

He glances at him, attempting not to look down at his perfectly toned, wet body. "How was the night swim? Good?" Lloyd asks him, in a teasing tone. 

Six nods his head, rubbing the towel on his neck. "Are you guys okay now? I heard you arguing just a second ago." he calmly points out. 

She turns around to him and smiles innocently. "Yeah, you know how we are. Either we're fighting too hard or fucking too hard." Elle boldly states in a casual tone. 

Lloyd is immediately offended, frowning at her words. "Hey, no, we actually agreed to spend more time together instead of fucking too much." A pause. "Actually, do you personally think that we fuck too much?" He asks for his opinion.

Court looks at him, genuinely confused. He shrugs, "Not really. It's not like you guys fuck all day. I think what you're doing now is normal. Not too much and not too little either." he gives his honest opinion.

He clicks his tongue, agreeing with him. "But, you know, if we didn't have all these missions everyday, we would've fucked all day." Lloyd calmly comments. 

Elle immediately grimaces, slapping his arm. "Lloyd! You're fucking disgusting!" she exclaims.

He smirks down at her and chuckles. "Yeah, but you fucking like it." he teases and she just stays silent. They both know he's right. 

Six quietly smiles, shaking his head. "We need to go to bed. Preferably separately. Or else you guys won't be able to keep your hands off of each other for a second." he makes a point. 

Lloyd nods. "Fine. But I'm carrying her." he quickly declares and the men both exchange knowing looks. 

She immediately turns around to him and shakes her head. "No, absolutely not, Lloyd—'' Her voice gets cut off by him grabbing her hips and lifting her entire body over his shoulder. 

She giggles uncontrollably while Lloyd continues to carry her towards the exit. Six follows them from behind, laughing softly at the sight of them. They look happy. Actually happy. 

Lloyd almost smiles, absolutely enjoying this moment and holding her delicately at the same time. 

She's the only source of both of their happiness and vice versa. 

***

Once everyone's all back in the penthouse, they part their ways to each of their bedrooms.

Except for Six and Elle, who decided to have a little night bubble bath in his bathroom. Technically, he offered first. Plainly and innocently. 

After soaking themselves in the warm water while laying down across from each other, she sighs relaxedly. Biting her bottom lips, she tilts her head to the side and smirks at him.

"Guess you broke your own rule, huh? Keeping our hands to ourselves?" Elle teases him, her feet slowly reaching up onto his thigh under the water.

His lips curve into a small smile, shrugging as he stares into her eyes intensely. He rests his hands on each side of the tub. "Never said it was a rule, Elle. Lloyd could join us anytime if he wants. But he did look like he wanted to go to bed right away." Six casually tells her, squinting his eyes as if to remember. 

She breaks into a soft laugh. "Could've told me if you just wanted me all for yourself tonight." she teases him again. 

Court smiles, looking down at her entire bare body in front of him. "I already do." he softly admits.

Elle blushes, attempting to keep their eye contact while she bites her lips again. "You do." she agrees.

He continues to look deeply into her eyes as if he doesn't know what kind of effect he has on her right now. "Are you and Lloyd okay, though?" Six asks her, concernedly.

She nods. "Yes. We are. Maybe we should stop taking turns. You both hate it and I could sense it." she confesses honestly, scrunching her nose and frowning a little. 

Court shakes his head. "We didn't want to crowd up your space, Elle. But if that's what you want—" 

She immediately cuts him off, leaning forward and crawling up onto his lap. "It is. I do want that. You don't have to worry about crossing any boundaries. We're literally past all of that anyway." Elle makes a true point, casually. She's referring to the fact that they're all three who have crossed every boundary possible and nothing weird's ever changed between them.

He softly smiles at her, staring down into her eyes. His hand gently grabbed her waist to pull her closer. "You're right. Always are." Six murmurs contentedly. She tips her head up and connects her lips against his, easily. It's a soft, comforting kiss. Like how they always are. 

From afar, she could hear the door open and the sound of Lloyd's familiar heartbeat. "Six! I got an idea—" he casually walks into the bedroom and cuts himself off as he spots the opened bathroom beside him. With Six and Elle both naked and covered in bubbles inside his bathtub, all over each other. 

They both break the kiss almost immediately. "Lloyd, fucking learn how to knock!" Elle shouts at him, not even bothering to look at him yet. Six just quietly smiles, shaking his head at his inability to knock first. 

He frowns, then proceeds to step forward and stops to lean against the frame of the bathroom door. Lloyd crosses his arms and smirks at them. "It's nothing I haven't seen before. Quite literally." he teases both of them. Court knew he didn't mean to walk in on them but somehow, he's sensing an agenda. There's always an agenda with him. 

She rolls her eyes, staring up at his eyes in anger and frustration. He stopped smirking. He realized how quickly her expressions changed when she looked back at him. But when she was facing Six, she had those heart eyes and she smiled with her entire face for him. She was always so softer when it came to him. Sometimes, Lloyd feels like if she was ever forced to choose, she'd choose Six in a heartbeat. He's aware that he is objectively the better man, but deep down he wishes that she'd still pick him anyway.

His smirk turns into a seemingly kind smile for her. "Oh, come on, Elle. I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know that you'd be in Six's bathtub, naked and about to do—whatever you were about to do. And for the record, none of us ever knock." Lloyd states, making an actual point since again, there are no boundaries between them. 

She sighs exasperatedly, nodding. "Okay, fine. What are you even here for?" Elle eventually asks him. 

He smiles sincerely and nods. "Right, so I was thinking about our last conversation earlier at the pool. We need to spend more time together that's less about, you know, fucking. How about we all read a good book together before bed? Tonight. Right now." Lloyd announces in a hurried tone. He knows that their bedtime is soon and he's very strict with it, especially when there's always a mission the next morning. 

Six smiles amusingly at him, cocking his head to the side. "Not bad. We can try it." he softly agrees. 

She slightly frowns, but eventually gets out of the bathtub casually and stands up in front of Lloyd, bare naked with a smirk on her lips. "Great. I have the perfect book for us." she declares. 

He has to force himself to only look at her eyes while grabbing a clean towel from behind him, on the rack. He tosses it at her and she quickly catches it. She doesn't wrap her body around it. Instead, she wipes the bubbles off and rubs her entire body with the towel, right in front of him. 

He clears his throat, looking away from her. "You could always do this in your own room." 

"Yeah, but you said you wanted to read right now. I'm speeding up the process here for you, Lloyd." she plainly says, bending down to rub her lower parts. "Also you did say that it isn't anything you haven't seen before so." 

He rolls his eyes. "You know exactly what you're doing." Lloyd retorts, looking down at her for a second. His calloused hand rubs his stache while exhaling a breath. He really hates it when she's teasing him and he can't do anything about it. He's too hard on himself sometimes and them, but he needs to be focused and disciplined on the mission tomorrow.

Court laughs softly at both of them. "I'll grab that book she's talking about." he declares as the other man throws a towel at him and he catches it immediately. 

Lloyd nods to both of them, turning around to walk away and exit the bathroom. He just realized something. Six knew exactly what book she was talking about even though she hadn't said anything. He knows her too well. More than anyone. 

*** 

Elle had picked the most twisted book she ever bought for Lloyd.

Well, technically, Six already took a decent book but she insisted that she didn't want that one and proceeded to take another one by herself. She could be very picky sometimes. The men are well aware of that. 

Once they were both dressed in their pajamas, they laid down and relaxed cozily in her bedroom. With Lloyd too, of course. She's sitting up against the headboard, right in the middle of them. Six and her are reading their book they hadn't finished yet while the other man is forced to read her chosen book. 

She looks over at him and the book he's reading for a moment. Frowning, she reaches over to his book and flips the pages until it's from the beginning again. 

"You need to start at page 1. You can't just skip a few pages." Elle bitterly tells him.

He exhales, throwing his head back as he catches her eyes. "Why are we even reading separate books?" 

She huffs, rolling her eyes. "Then, just say it. This isn't working with us. You don't like reading as much as we do. You can't force a hobby, Hansen." 

"I want this to work." he says seriously before frowning at her. "Why don't you? Why are you insisting on not making this work, Elle?" Lloyd presses her for answers, suddenly skeptical of her weird behavior. She's not usually this pessimistic. She's normally very ambitious and optimistic about almost everything in their life. 

She simply shrugs and Six looks up to both of them, arguing again. "I don't know, honestly. I feel like we shouldn't try too hard and just let things flow. We're already good together and there's nothing to repair. I just want you to stop forcing me and Six's favorite things to do on you. We all have our own special things together. We don't need mundane activities to keep our relationship stronger. It already is, on its own." Elle states in a soft, tired tone.

Lloyd slowly puts his book down and smiles up at her. "Why do you always have to be so fucking right all the time?" he finally admits, lifting his head up as his hand wraps around her torso.

Her face relaxes and giggles. "We really need to go to bed, you know. All this arguing has made us almost forget about the mission tomorrow morning." she reminds them both.

Six lets out a gentle chuckle, staring at both of them, admiring silently. "I'll go turn off the lights." he quietly offers, sliding off her bed.

But before he even steps his feet on the floor, the lights immediately switch off and her bedside lamps are automatically turned on. She did that with her mind, almost subconsciously. It has become her habit now. 

She looks down at Lloyd sleepily and he quickly pulls her into a kiss. He bits on her lips, savoring every inch of it as she smiles against his lips. "Sleep. Now." she mumbles to his mouth, still not wanting to let go either. 

Finally, Court gently grabs her arm from behind while he places a soft kiss on her temple. Lloyd and her break their kiss, both laughing softly at each other. She pulls her blanket to spread wider before landing her head on the pillow. 

"Good night." Elle whispers to them, already closing her eyes and shutting off to sleep.

"Sleep well, sweetheart." Lloyd replies, snuggling closer to her breast as he shuts his eyes. 

Six smiles again at the both of them, relieved and satisfied that they're both great again, as they've always been. He wishes that it would stay like this forever. He never wants this to end.

#sierra six #sierra six x reader #the gray man #court gentry #court gentry x reader #court gentry x y/n #sierra six smut #sierra six x y/n #sierra six x you #sierra six x female reader #lloyd hansen smut #lloyd hansen x you #lloyd hansen x y/n #lloyd hansen x reader #lloyd hansen #lloyd hansen x ofc #lloyd hansen x f!reader #lloyd hansen x fic #lloyd hansen x innocent!reader #the gray man fanfiction #chris evans fanfiction #ryan gosling