Story idea: AU, Jesse Swanson is an ex-CIA agent. He starts his own group filled with former thieves, fighters, hackers, etc. His partner is Beca Mitchell, with whom he has a complicated relationship with. She is the former leader of the Bellas. The Bella's split a few years earlier and most now work with Jesse and Beca. They have an end target, but need to cut of his resources first.

They were in the briefing room. A photo was shown on the screen.

"Marcus Emanuel Zimmer. Works in the slavery industry. He's the middle man who delivers them. Very bad man," Benji started explaining. "Almost as bad as Darth Sidous."

"Man, he's worse than Darth Sidous." Fat Amy said, before continuing, "We have a date that some girls will be transported."

"Where's the location?"

"Lower Tokyo area."

"So let's just bust the location and send the evidence to someone who isn't corrupt." Cynthia Rose stated. "Let the feds actually do their jobs."

"That'll be the day," Unicycle laughed.

"But we need to who bought them. We need more than the middle man," Beca countered. "We need to send a Bella undercover."

Donald looked around at the girls. Each one could run this con, but he knew which one would be chosen. And that did not sit well with him.

"Lily," Beca spoke calmly, "you're our resident Asian. You up for it?"

Lily mumbled something inaudible before speaking louder. "Do I have to go on a boat?"

Beca looked at Jesse who took over, "You'll sneak onto the crate, make it look like you're escaping. They'll put you with the other girls and we'll track you."

"And what good will that do if they kill her instead of putting her back in a crate," Donald angrily argued. "Bad plan. I don't like it."

"She'll have a tracker; we're not going to let anything happen to her." Fat Amy angrily argued back.

"I can be in position with my rifle, they try it, and I blow their brains," Beca said. "Simple."

"And what good will that be if they send her on a boat?" Donald snarled at Beca. "Look, send me in as backup," he countered. "I'll make it look like I'm a potential client looking to make a profit. They'll let me tag along, everyone wins."

"No," Lily spoke louder than anyone had ever heard. "I can do this," she said quieting. "But Donald's right. I know a guy; he can sell me to Zimmer. Benji," she said silently ending all arguments, "help me set it up."

Benji nodded and Jesse looked around. "Alright, Amy I want all possible routes. Un, you, Cynthia-Rose and Hat, I want total surveillance. Beca, call our mutual friends. Go," he said, and everyone went to work.

"Donald, help me grab something." It wasn't phrased as a question.

The two walked to another room as they picked weapons that were small enough for Lily to keep hidden on her.

"What was that about?" Jesse asked. "Why did Lily shut you down for backup?"

Donald felt angry. Angry at himself, angry at Lily, angry about Jesse for poking his head in things that didn't concern him.

"I have a cover with these types of people. Lily doesn't want me to break it."

"What type of cover?"

He shrugged. "I'm your hired gun. What do you think my cover was?" He responded sarcastically.

"How does Lily know? I thought you said you never worked with the Bella's before you came on."

"I never did," he said ending that conversation by picking up one of their many guns. Jesse's eyes never left his face. After a few moments Donald growled,

"Ask me what you want to."

Jesse sighed, "Are you and Lily together?"

"No." he replied curtly.

"All I'm saying is it didn't look like that in the briefing."

"Drop it Swanson."

Jesse shook his head. "I've seen how you look at her when no one is watching. You seem comfortable around her. Don't forget, I know how hard it is for you to look relaxed. If you want it, go for it." He encouraged his friend.

Donald wanted the conversation to end. "Yeah, I'll do that as soon as you and Beca work out your issues and live happily ever after."

Jesse just stopped and stared, "You love her?"

Donald just shook his head, "I'd kill anyone who tried to hurt her and I'd step in front of a bullet to protect her. Everything else is between us."

"So there is something." Jesse probed.

Donald just shook his head and walked out of the room.

He knocked on Lily's door.

"Hey," she said quietly. "Come in."

Donald merely nodded his head as he took a step forward into her room. It was her, filled with color and weird items. A shrunken head from Brazil, a Nigerian drum, a warm Russian fur hat; it screamed Lily.

"My contact called." Lily said, "I leave in a few minutes."

He nodded and looked over at her closet. He saw her favorite scarf, a multicolored scarf. He went to grab it, but then paused. Colorful Lily wouldn't be going out, it was Lily the Bella. So instead he saw a black and grey stripped scarf. Silently he picked up her striped scarf and began draping it around her neck. He couldn't look at her face. If he did, well, he couldn't.

Lily didn't move; her eyes were fixed on him. As he finished draping her scarf around her, she put her hand on his chin and forced his eyes up to meet hers.

"Donny," she spoke quietly but firmly. "Everything is going to be fine."

"You didn't tell them everything." It wasn't a question.

"You didn't tell them either." She retorted.

"That night, what I did, why I was there, Jesse would never understand."

"Beca would." Lily stroked one of his shoulders with her thumb soothingly. "We all have our secrets."

He smiled sadly. "Just finish it. Don't take unnecessary risks. And I'll be on standby. Anything goes wrong, anything feels fishy and you abandon the mission and get out. Promise me."

"I promise," her voice grew quieter and he could barely hear her.

"I told you not to get kidnapped again." He looked at her, "And that is what you're about to do."

He was met with her silent stare, but her eyes displayed all of her feelings. She was terrified but also angry. She wanted this slave ring taken down and whoever was buying these girls could go to hell. She'd make sure of that.

When it became obvious that she wasn't planning on talking, Donald asked another question.

"Which gun are you taking?"

She pointed to the bed where he saw a familiar piece. Memories flooded back to 8 years earlier.

Flashback

Donald has never been a good person - far from it, if the number of people he's murdered is any indication - but men who take are in the business of abducting, raping and killing young, defenseless children and teenage girls, are, in his opinion, not only bad people, but deserving of death.

So when a man comes to his gang, with money offered, weary shoulders, tears in his eyes, and tells them about his daughter being abducted, well, how could they refuse?

The job is simple enough. Get in, kill them all and get out.

Everything goes according to plan. It's almost too easy, with how inexperienced those five men are. The first one dies while guarding the door to their headquarters and three of them die inside, battling for their lives.

There's one left. He tries to run when he realizes he's doomed, but Donald followed him to a small, dark room, and Donald stops just for a moment to look around. Girls, about ten of them, locked in cages. Some of them don't look older than eight years old.

This is a new level of messed up, even for him. His stomach churns unpleasantly but while he looks, the man makes a beeline for the single window in the room, just about to leap through it, and as he raises his gun, a hand reaches out from one of the cages and grabs his leg violently, sending the slaver flying to the ground with a loud noise.

Donald moved with accuracy, a gunshot in the back of the disgusting pig.

Now they're all dead.

He went around the room, opening the cages, freeing the girls. The older ones flee immediately, taking the younger girls with them. When he gets to the last cage, he sees the girl who's stopped the man, kneeling on the ground, her eyes never leaving her rapist.

What a petty little thing.

Her long black hair falls on her shoulders like a halo, hiding her face from him. Looks to be a bit older than most of the girls. At least 16. She's staring at the dead man.

The cage door opens with a rattling sound as it slams against the wall. "Go girl, stop looking at him."

She looks up at him; her eyes are so bright that could spear any man. She mumbled something that he couldn't understand.

"What girl?" He scoffed at her.

She sighs and repeats a little louder, "His blood is red. I thought it would be black."

He sucks in a deep breath. Her face, it's angelic, her voice, the most beautiful sound he's ever heard, her words, music to his ears. She holds his unrelenting gaze, not looking away once, and he's unable to. He stares, she stares. For moments, this goes on, until...

"Don!" He curses the guy interrupting their staring contest but turns around to face one of his friends. "We gotta go"

He nodded and looked down at the mysterious girl in front of him.

"Get out," he said quietly. "And don't get kidnapped again."

She stood, the nameless girl and moved towards him. She kissed his cheek and took his gun from his hand.

"Thank you, I'll keep this." Without another word, she ran out of the building, his gun secure in her hands.

Donald shook his head that was his favorite gun. Oh well, the girl with the angelic voice would need it more than him. He was not in a position to follow her, to learn her name; she was a girl and he a man. A man who took contracts to kill. No, best let the girl live.

8 years later

He had met Jesse when Jesse was an undercover agent for someone. He honestly didn't care. They worked together fine. A few months later, Jesse contacted him about a "Retrieval Specialist/ Private Detective/Assassination of Bad Guys/something crew. He was looking for a new job, so fine, whatever.

"Donald," Jesse had said. "This is Beca, she's a grifter and a planner.

Donald knew who she was. She was the leader of the Bella's, a high end thievery and spy network. So what made her join with Jesse? That was a mystery all of its own.

"She and some of her Bella's joined up. We need you to protect them and to run some cons."

Donald found himself nodding. That would not be that difficult.

"Here's one of the Bella's now. Donald, this is Lily, one of the best thieves you'll ever meet."

Donald turned and was shocked. There was that girl, the girl with the magical quiet voice. The girl he saved. But she wasn't a girl any more. She was grown up. As he was trying to figure out his thoughts, she quietly said,

"Nice to meet you."

He searched her face for any sign of recognition. He saw none. "Likewise," he responded. Jesse took him around and introduced him to the rest of the crew.

He sought Lily out that night. She was leaving for the evening and he quietly walked up to her.

"Do they know?" He all but whispered.

"No," she whispered back. "They don't know anything."

And that was how it remained. The night he freed her remained a secret that only the two of them knew.

End Flashback

He walked over to her bed and picked up the gun.

"You kept it." He said his eyes locked on the gun. He couldn't look at her. She was going back into a cell, and this time he couldn't save her.

"Of course I did. It reminded me of the man who saved me." Her voice was beautiful, filled with melodies and kindness. She wasn't the guarded thief, her voice went back to the innocent voice that he had first met her.

"Lily," he started as he looked at her.

"I have to go. I'll be careful. And if worse comes to worse," she began as she walked closer to him.

"I'll be there. If you get sent out on a boat, I'll be on it."

He moved to hand her back the gun but she shook her head. Donald looked at her confused, but she took her hand and pushed his hand with the gun to his chest.

"You killed for me with this gun once, you can do it again."

"Always." His lips curve slightly upward, but he's not quite smiling. His expression is intense, but soft.

Oh, screw it.

His mouth smashes against hers as an answer, pulling her closer and closer until there's no more space between them and they can both barely breathe, but neither of them care. He loses himself in her over and over again, and he has no regrets.

They spend a few more moments together, but all good things come to an end. Duty calls and she has to go.

As Lily walks away to sold into slavery and Donald watches, they both feel the pull, the pull towards one another, begging, screaming at them, that this isn't right, they shouldn't be apart, separated.

They both ignore it, for now.