One month later.
Fitz walked over to Olivia who sat on the couch in the lounge, reading, the way she always did during their free time.
"Olivia, can you to follow me," he said as soon as he stopped in front of her.
She looked up.
"Um...alright."
She bookmarked her book and left it on the couch then stood up. Fitz stepped off and she followed him in the direction of the aircraft hanger. She wondered what was going on but she didn't ask.
He walked over to a sleek, black, jet, resembling an f-35. He open the hatch where the wheel protruded and pulled down a small ladder.
"Climb in," he said as he turned to her.
She raised her eyebrow.
"Uhm I can't fly."
"I know that, I'm flying, now climb up."
Olivia was hesitant but she climbed up. It was a small cockpit with one seat for a pilot and a small seat behind the pilot seat for a co-pilot. She sat in the co-pilot seat, there was a small backpack on the seat, it was a parachute so she slipped it on. Fitz got in shortly after her and sat in the pilot's seat.
He turned, "are you strapped in?"
She pulled the seatbelt down and latched it across her torso.
"Yes, can you tell me what's going on?"
He didn't answer, he turned around and closed the glass hood in the plane and then strapped himself in. She watched as he prepared the plane for takeoff, he pressed a few buttons in the dashboard and retracted the ladder they had climbed in on. The jet hovered up in the air, to the mechanic dome opening in the ceiling of the huge building and within moments they were outside, in the cold Antarctic weather. It was bright out, so bright she had to cover her eyes. She hadn't left the base since she first arrived over a month earlier, she gave her eyes time to adjust to the brightness. She found it odd that the plane didn't need a runway to build up momentum before taking off, it was almost as if the jet was a hybrid between a helicopter and a plane. The jet was suspended in the air once the dome closed underneath it, it didn't move.
"Why aren't we moving?" She asked.
"Just give it a second," he responded.
Moments later, the plane went supersonic and thrust forward at a speed she didn't think was possible.
"Woah," she said aloud but mostly to herself.
Fitz climbed the plane into the upper stratosphere. Olivia looked up at the sky, through the clear windshield of the plane, she could feel Fitz smiling in front of her. She leaned over, closer to the side window and look at the Antarctic ice shelf Below them, it seem like the ice would go on forever but before she knew it, they were flying over blue water.
The flight was quiet, Fitz was silent and she didn't speak because she was so absorbed with observing everything around her. They'd been flying in comfortable silence for just over an hour before she noticed jet was losing speed.
"What are you doing?"
"We're landing," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
When she looked out the window they were flying close to the water, just feet above the ocean until they flew over land for a just about a minute or two then landed in a sea of green grass.
Olivia leaned over and looked through the window, the landscape was beautiful; there were green hills close by, she could also see a waterfall and spring in the distance.
"Where are we?"
"Off the coast of Iceland, near Reykjavik."
"What?"
Fitz unlocked his seatbelt and opened the hood of the jet.
"Come on," he said, ignoring her.
She sighed and unlocked her seat, took her parachute off then stood up. Fitz hopped out of the cockpit and landed on the ground with a thud.
Olivia looked out at him, "nope, I'm not jumping out. Where's the ladder?"
"It's a six foot drop, it's not far."
"Uh, uh," she said shaking her head.
"I won't let you fall."
She huffed and folded her arms. Fitz smirked slightly and folded his arms, mocking her.
"Fine," she said as she unfolded her arms and climbed carefully out of the cockpit.
Fitz was right, it wasn't a far drop, she realized that when she landed.
"Why are we in Iceland? Is this some sort of mission or something?"
Fitz didn't respond, he turned and walked in the direction of the waterfall and hill not too far in the distance. He walked very briskly, she struggled to keep up.
"What's going on?" She asked, slightly out of breath.
He walked until they reached the waterfall, Olivia was about to say something but then she caught a glimpse of the scenery and couldn't look away. The waterfall and spring was absolutely beautiful and jaw dropping. The water was clear and blue resembling glacier water. Now that she was close to the spring, she noticed steam rising from the water. On the south side of the spring, was a small stream that the water flowed down into the ocean.
"Wow," she marveled, "this is amazing. Is this a hot spring?"
"Yeah, the spring is on top of a natural hotspot, the water from the waterfall is cold so it makes the temperature just perfect."
She was having a hard time figuring out why he brought her all the way to Iceland to view a hot spring, the obvious answer was that it was a date, at least, that's what it seemed like a face value but with him, she just couldn't be sure.
"Are you going to tell me why you brought me here?"
He still refused to answer, instead he pulled off his boots then his long sleeved shirt then his pants, leaving on his black boxer briefs.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going swimming, are you gonna join me?"
Fitz always wore long sleeve black shirts and pants, she'd never even seen his elbow up until that point but now that he was pretty much naked in front of her she had to admit she was impressed. The first thing that stood out to her was the full tattoo sleeve on his right arm from his shoulder to his wrist, intricately designed with a range of viking symbols and markings, barely showing skin. She'd always know he had a great body, she could tell that with his clothes on. Her eyes travelled lower, down his torso to find his bulge and before she got the chance to truly admire it she heard Fitz clear his throat.
She looked up.
"You done looking," he said with a smirk.
She was slightly embarrassed and cleared her throat uncomfortably.
Fitz stepped into the water and didn't stop until it reached his waist.
"Are you coming?" He said as he turned and faced her.
"You know, you haven't answered any of my questions?"
"Get in and I'll answer."
"Am I supposed to wear my knickers?"
"Your what?"
Sometimes he loved her accent and at other times, he had no idea what she was talking about.
"My underwear?"
"Yes."
She hesitated .
"There it is," he said, noting her behavior, "for the past month you've been acting as if I'm going to maul you at any moment, you don't talk back, you don't argue, you haven't called me a dick or asshole in god knows how long and you fidget whenever I'm near you, I understand that when you first came we sort of got off in the wrong foot but even then, you never acted like this, like you were afraid of me."
"I'm not afraid of you."
"You haven't breathed since I started speaking."
Olivia realized that she wasn't breathing and took a breath. She really didn't know what to say to him, for the past month she'd been keeping her distance from him, doing what she'd gone there to do, but still keeping her distance, ever since she watched the first mission and saw what he was capable of, since then she'd seen a few more and it only got worse but somehow when it was just them in the jet for over an hour, that didn't seem to matter, she felt comfortable, she might even say she felt safe.
"You brought me here to ask me this?"
Fitz smiled.
"I brought you here hoping you'd relax and talk to me, we vetted you, I know you're not a threat so you have no reason to be afraid of me, I'm not saying you are afraid of me because I don't know that, but you've been acting as if you are afraid of me."
"It's not on purpose, it just…you kill people, I've watched you do it, you are so vicious, any rational person would be afraid of you."
"Really? Because Jake, Scott, Mellie, Huck, Akio and the others have killed too and you don't seem to be afraid of them, and Abby, she's killed and you two seem to be the best of friends."
"They don't kill the way that you do."
"How do I do it? What makes me so much worse than them, I don't kill gently enough for you."
"I understand that you're a soldier, it's your job but you're a just so barbaric, that man in Laos, you cut his throat before he could even answer the question you asked him."
"I asked him a question twice and he didn't answer, was I supposed to wait there forever?"
They spoke in even tones, neither raised their voice.
"If you're waiting for me to apologize for killing these people then you're wasting your time, I'm doing my job and my job is to kill the people that the U.S. Government and NATO and Interpol tell me to kill, I'm not killing saints, I'm killing criminals who'd kill me first if I gave them half a chance. I wasn't hired because I was capable of empathy, I was hired because I have borderline sociopathic tendencies only I'm smart enough to only kill who I'm ordered to and when I'm not ordered to, I don't get caught."
"How do you sleep at nights?"
"Better than you'd think, I can tell you that."
"You're such a fucking liar," she replied with an eye roll.
He smiled.
"Let me guess, you can see the good in me?"
"Not really, I know that there are truly horrible people in the world, apparently you're one of them. You're different from Scott and Jake and Akio because you seem to have so much more blood lust than they do. I don't think killing bothers them, they do it because it's their job but you do it because you're angry, that makes it personal for you, it makes you more dangerous and it also makes you more vulnerable."
Fitz chuckled, shaking off her assessment, "thanks dr. Phil."
"You aren't taking me seriously, are you?"
"I mean, I hear you, I understand what you're saying, you feel like it's personal for me, that's your opinion but I think that until you experience a scenario where you're out there and it's you against them, until you see what they are capable off, you won't understand why we do what we do. If this is where you plan on staying, one day, you'll have to take someone's life, not because you want to, but because you have to, and after that happens, I'd love for you to give me this speech about finding other ways to deal with the situation after you've made that choice."
Olivia took a deep breath and let his words soak in. When she didn't immediately respond, Fitz turned around and walked deeper into the pond. She debated whether or not she should join him, she wondered what it would mean for him if she did. Curiosity got the better of her and she decided to see what would happen if she did. She pulled off her sneakers and socks, then her leggings and sweater. All she had left was a black sports bra and black high cut lace cheekies. She walked across the shore of green grass then stepped into the clear water and walked until she was directly beside him.
"I don't have to kill anyone," she said in response to what he'd said earlier, "I can shoot to injure."
He smiled and turned to her.
"Mm, and when you've injured someone but they still get up and kill one of your team members, what do you do?"
"That won't happen."
"That has happened…to me."
She didn't know what to respond so she kept quiet, she had to admit he made a good point. He gazed directly into her eyes and then over her body and smirked. She blushed and turned her face away.
"So easily made to blush," he teased.
She slapped his arm playfully and when he didn't smile she immediately stepped back.
"Sorry," she said quickly.
He chuckled and shook his head.
"What can I do to convince you that I'm not a threat to you?"
"What?"
"Yeah, what can I do to convince you that I won't hurt you."
He sighed and then took a step forward and stroked her cheek softly before he leaned in slowly and kissed her softly on the lips. There was no tongue, just a soft kiss and he let his lips linger before pulling away. Tame as the kiss was, it was electrifying, for them both. She expected him to be a brute, the way she'd seen him fight led her to believe he was that barbaric in all aspects of his life but the way he kissed was a pleasant surprise; she wanted more.
Fitz didn't want to break the kiss but he was sure if he'd kissed her any longer he would have lost all reason and devoured her. He'd been good up to that point and he was proud of himself.
He stepped back and watched a smile creep across her face.
"Better?" He asked.
"A little," she responded with a smile.
Satisfied with her response, he leaned back on the water and floated across the pond, Olivia didn't know what to do so she walked over to the side of the spring, where the rocks gathered by the waterfall. She climbed up on the rocks as far as she could go and then dived off into the water. The water splashed all over an unsuspecting Fitz, he stopped floating and stood up, wiping water from his eyes.
Olivia smiled and splashed him again.
"Do you really wanna go there?" He asked with a smile.
"One could say I already went there."
He swam over to her as she tried to swim away but caught her and lifted her into the air with both hands and then he dropped her into the water but not before taking a peek at her perfect ass.
She screamed and laughed as she fell into the water, brief as it was, she liked the feeling of his hands around her body, they felt strong and sure.
They spent almost an hour in the spring before they decided it was time to get back. They both climbed out of the pond and began getting dressed. As Fitz was pulling his pants on, Olivia's eyes wandered to his bulge once again, she couldn't help herself.
"I see you looking," he said with a smile.
"I was looking at your leg, you've got great legs," she quipped.
Fitz laughed, "I'm sorry I'm just not used to you being this skittish, you were pretty hardcore when you first came, I admired your strength while simultaneously being annoyed by it."
"I'm still strong, do strong women annoy you?"
"No, but you did."
She gasped playfully, "ouch."
"Not so much anymore."
She smiled and finished dressing herself. One the flight back to Antarctica, they bantered the entire way, and that was when she realized how hilarious he was. She was glad she got to see a different side of him, the funny, playful side.
When they landed in the base, it seemed that everyone had noticed their absence and had been waiting on their return, most of all, Mellie. As Fitz hopped out of the aircraft and helped her out, she could feel Mellie's death stare from the other side of the base but she ignored it and headed straight to her quarters to unwind after an exciting day. She was more excited about what was to come.