Disclaimer: As always, I do not own Fire Emblem.

Enjoy!

Trust

*Ring*

They... might be out on a mission.

*Ring*

Or having one of their outside gathering at that noisy bar they always go to.

*Ring*

But someone's always working.

*Ring*

And Gerik is always at home.

*Ring*

Always.

"Sorry. The person you are trying to reach is u-"

"Damn!" Was the word Marisa chose to huff out as she slammed the phone down on its receiver. She rested an arm on top of the payphone to act as a pillow for her head.

Letting out a sigh, she leaned forward to rest her forehead on her arm. She stared down at her feet as she recollect her thoughts.

It had escaped her mind for while that there were people in pursuit of her and Rennac. She didn't know who or why, but there was always a possibility that Gerik and others was in danger as well.

L'Arachel was still loud and pompous as before (according to Rennac), even so that she would sometimes mindlessly announce traces of her royalty life aloud in public. Dolza wouldn't do much to quiet the woman down when she accidentally made these outbursts as he would address her as 'your highness' at the start of every sentence.

By accident of course. Or so, sometimes Marisa wondered if the two were just wanting to get caught. But after getting a dose of their eccentric personality, she wouldn't care if the two were found out. Just as long as they left her out of it.

At least Rennac and Joshua were doing a much better job at concealing their real identity. There was an incident though, when Rennac talked to a young attractive lady and almost slipped out his real name.

"Eh, who's looking for us anyways? Joshua and L'Arachel are yesterday's news and we're nobodies."

A nobody.

That was right: her existence was anything of importance. If she were to die right now, no one would care. And as it so turned out, she did 'die'. Everything about Marisa is gone and now Evelyn Lucia exists.

Apart from the identity change, she let that thought put her to ease. That, and the fact that she hadn't found anyone with a suspicious nature that had be following their little band of hooligans.

Until last night.

It was more of a close call than anything, but it was enough to make Marisa's pulse beat drastically.

Just after they had reunited with L'Arachel and Dolza, the group were preparing to sail back inland when a man approached her and asked her a question.

"Have you seen these two?"

He showed her picture of two familiar figures she thought she wouldn't have to see for a while.

Her and Rennac. Or more rather, their old self.

It was a lucky thing for her that she chose to wear the oversized sunglasses just moments before the encounter, she would have to thank the sun for that.

The man and his partner seemed to not have recognize her and went about their way after giving a rather stiffed 'no' as her answer.

Although she didn't recognize the faces of the previous men that had stalked her and Rennac, she knew these two men were different. She tried to remember if they had anything significant that could possibly reveal their identity but couldn't find anything.

The first two men were dressed casually as they were normal civilians, same with the two on the island.

Although, the first two knew that she and Rennac had let Joshua and L'Arachel walk away alive. It was possible the other men were looking for the same reason.

That's right. They knew... How?

Her head immediately snapped up. She wasted no time to slip out of the phone booth and jog down the street to the hotel L'Arachel and Joshua stayed at.

Upon setting land of Grado, they had agreed to split up and stay in separate lodgings to reduce suspicion. Dolza stayed with L'Arachel, Rennac with Joshua, and her, by herself, as she preferred. They each stayed within a 30km radius of Grado's capital centre: the Empire building.

Though the county's metropolitan state and friendly atmosphere hadn't changed upon hearing about Grado's secret operation, it was brought to the gang's attention how security had risen.

There were more authoritative figures that strolled the streets, police stations situation every few blocks and proof of ID and citizenship were frequently asked.

Luckily for them, 'Identity Change' had an office or 2 in every country of Magvel so the group were able to obtain all necessary information.

She arrived at the hotel room, short of breath, and did the secret knock.

One knock. Two light ones. Knock...Knock...Knock. And a light kick.

She was greeted by Rennac, who only opened the door as far as the door chained allowed him. Half of his face was exposed as he blinked at her.

"Sorry, it's supposed to be tap, tap tap, tap. Tap. Tap. TAP. THEN rap," he began to close the door when Marisa stuck her foot in the doorway.

"Whatever. Let me in," she demanded.

Rennac only cocked an eyebrow then eyed her foot at the doorway indicating that she had to remove her foot for him to let her in.

She let out a small sigh and removed her foot. She watched with a glare as Rennac closed the door, unchain the door then open it.

Their hotel room was a standard two bed and one bathroom all in one room, so she was able to see L'Arachel, Joshua and Dolza huddled over by the table, discussing plans for their raid, something she was part of before she decided to make the phone call.

Marisa debated to share the newly information with others or solely with Rennac as the information only pertained them.

Rennac looked at her as if he knew she had something to share.

"I think I know who's chasing us," Marisa began after closing the door behind her.

There was a slight change to his face that read his curiosity had peaked. "Yeah?"

"It's Emperor Vigarde's men. Grado."

Rennac took some time to think to himself, the back of his palm gently stroking his chin. "That's... How do you know?" Rennac asked.

"Vigardge is the one that wanted Joshua and L'Arachel dead. He was the one that hired us, that's why the pay was so high. And no one came after us until after Joshua faked his death. He probably found out we didn't assassinate them, that's why he sent his men after us," Marisa explained.

She felt accomplished to have figured everything out, though her accomplishment was hindered by the fact that she should have pieced everything sooner, but who would argue with her given what she had been through?

She wasn't the type to brag, maybe a nice compliment once in while, so she waited for a simple congratulation, but it never came. Instead, Rennac broke her theory apart with a simple question:

"What about those guys that broke into Joshua's house?"

Marisa's eyes shot to ground, much like her sure-fired theory.

Good question, what about them?

To much to Marisa's displeasure, Joshua had arrange the two assassins off the continent, escorted with someone from this defence department.

They swore to secrecy of Joshua's well being, in exchange, they would escape the cruel life that is the 'Underground Project'.

"If Vigarde did hire us, why did he send his own men?" Rennac continued.

Marisa eyed him carefully, "did you have run-ins with other assassins?"

"Well, no..."

Was it perhaps Vigarde grew impatient waiting for Joshua's death that he sent his own men? But Gerik and specified that deadline for the assignment and she 'met' it just in time.

There was also the matter of how Grado found out they faked Joshua's and L'Arachel's death. There was a possibility that they were followed the entire time of their assignment.

Just when she thought she had figured everything out more questions arises.

"You know who would know though? Gerik," Rennac commented. "Any word?"

Marisa shook her head. "I called 20 times today. No one picked up."

"Uh oh. Should we be worried?"

A bit overdue if he was just starting to worry now. She only shifted her attention to the three huddled by the table then started towards them, Rennac trailing behind her.

"... I'll plant the device in the security room then you'll have full access to the building's camera. There'll be a notification on your laptop when I do that, but until then, these little babies will have to be your eyes." Joshua held up a tiny round device between his thumb and index finger. It was barely as big as an horse fly.

One of the perks of being an assassin was the networking. Through Rennac's contacts, the group was able to obtain the needed equipment for their mission.

Cameras, hacking bugs, microphone, computers and weapons, all for the price of nothing so Rennac claimed. How he handled his business was nobody's affair but his. As long as it got them what they needed.

Dolza proved to be not entirely useless as he personally knew 2 of Grado's general: the Obsidian Duessel and Fluorspar Selena, both who resigned from their post 2 years ago. Although their resignation was unclear, what was clear was that they knew how the empire of Grado worked from the inside.

Dolza was able to contact them and the they've agreed to meet with them, though hesitant at first.

Considering how much they were able to obtain, Marisa thought they would actually be able to pull this off. There is though, the planning of how they were to do that.

"Emperor Vigarde's office and bedroom are all in the north corridor. During the night he will most likely be there," L'Arachel pointed out on the map that laid on the table. "If you follow along these halls, you will be able to get there with no trouble."

"For security and control room... to my best knowledge, I would believe they are located in the east of this building."

"To your best? C'mon, we need your precise," Joshua said.

"Excuse me!" L'Arachel exclaimed, taking offence. "The last I was in the castle was 5 years ago, and I was only there solely for lunch! Also," she picked up the map, crumpling it a bit, "this is just a map from the tour guide. Do you believe they would put such information on a tourist map?"

Oh, not again.

Admittedly, there had been tension amongst them.

The more their operation came together, the more stress and tension grew. Though it couldn't be argued as the future of their beloved continent was at stake and no mistakes were to be made.

As everyone had their share of disputes and arguments, it can be agreed on that the most bickering happened between Joshua and L'Arachel.

Marisa wondered why; it could have been because the two were once the ones who told everyone what to do and how to do it.

"My princess, er, Stephanie," Dolza, or rather, Bob, tried to intervene.

"It's better than nothing! We're on the down low, remember? And what happened to that so called 'unforgettable memory' you possess? The thing that we should 'rely on'?" Joshua retorted.

L'Ararachel gasped loudly in dramatic tone while she placed a hand covering her gaping mouth. "Are you questioning my abilities?"

"I am doing just that."

L'Arachel huffed her cheeks out as glared at the uncaring man before her.

After a moment of quiet tension, it was thought L'Arachel would have lunged at Joshua. Instead, she yelled out the name of her bodyguard.

"Dolza!"

"Bob," Rennac thought to correct.

Unsure what to do, merely let out one of his hearty laughs.

"Guys..." Rennac slipped in, slithering in between the princess and king as he sat himself down on the table. "We're not getting anywhere," he sighed.

"I don't see you doing anything, besides watching tv and ordering from room service," Joshua remarked.

"Hey! I went on the tour, didn't I? I got the map, didn't I? I also scoped the place out," Rennac combated defensively.

"Then perhaps you know where the control room is?"

"Er, no..." Rennac answered quietly.

It was almost like an instant that L'Arachel and Joshua began to lash out at each other, screaming at each other while Rennac threw in personal remarks and Dolza guffawing as loudly as he could in the background to ease the tension in the room.

Marisa let out sigh.

Rarely did it end up like this. And when it did, it wasn't quite as bad as what was unfolding before her.

Walking away wouldn't help as much as she would like to, and had done before, it simply wouldn't solve anything.

They had planned to commence their operation in a week. A mistake would be costly, and in order to carry out the mission smoothly they would all have to work as a team and earn each others' trust.

So how should she do that?

She gazed around the room and her eyes landed on something particular: an USP pistol with a suppressor attached. Handy, should their enemies appear in the hotel room, but she chose to use it in an experiment. She picked up the gun, checked if there were any bullets in the barrel, then aimed the handgun towards the group, no one in particular.

Rennac was the first to noticed. Horror on his face, he immediately fled off the table and hit the ground. Follow suit, Joshua did the same. Dolza's usual cheerful face fell to a sullen bewildered expression as he stood in front of L'Arachel in defense.

"Holy shit!" Rennac exclaimed as he peaked his head from behind the bed. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I knew there was something eerie about you; my intuition is never wrong!" L'Arachel pointed an a finger in accusation at her from behind Dolza.

"M-Marisa?" Joshua sounded as he too poked his head out.

Well, I've definitely got their attention.

"Relax," she assured as she drew the gun towards the ground. "Did you think I was actually going to shoot?"

"Well, when you aim a freakin' gun at us like that... YES," Rennac retorted as he stood up.

"I wasn't," Marisa said as she withdrew the bullets form its barrel and place it onto the second bed next to her.

"If you don't trust me when I aim a gun at you, how are we going to work together?" She asked.

The group remained silent.

"Maybe... Because... You aimed a freakin' gun at us?" Rennac outburst.

"Wait," Joshua stood up,"I understand where you're going with this," he crept over to Marisa.

"You're trying to teach us a lesson, aren't you?" He asked playfully.

Marisa shrugged, "in one way or two."

"I see. Well, she does have a point," Joshua pointed out as he turned to Rennac, L'Arachel and Dolza.

"Rennac, you and Marisa have been friends for a long time, yes? You would have trusted her to aim a gun at your direction but not shoot you."

"Buddy, you do not know her like I-"

"And L'Arachel," Joshua quickly cut off before Rennac could finish. "Even though you and Dolza have been with us for a short time, we all have a common goal and in order to reach that we have to work together. You would trust Marisa, or in fact, any of us if we pointed a gun at you, right?"

"Er, I suppose... What has to be done, must be done," L'Arachel responded hesitantly.

"And I," Joshua spun to face Marisa. "Now what reasons would I have to possibly trust you with a weapon in my direction?" He asked with a playful smirk Marisa knew all too well.

Of course, the irony in his question was "none" as she had tried numerous times to end his life. It's quite confusing and difficult to go from 'assassin' to, in best term, 'acquaintance' with someone who you were supposed to kill.

This irony, Marisa knew, and she could tell from his grinned lips he knew.

So how could she have responded?

She didn't.

Instead, Joshua walked by to the table. "All right guys, we have to start working together and to do that, we're gonna have to start trusting each other."

"Yeah, yeah," Rennac dismissed blandly.

"I should apologize for any inconvenience I've cause," L'Arachel started.

Marisa let her voice draw out as she let a small sigh of relief escape her lips. She peered down at the bullets laying next to the firearm.

At least I got through to them.

"I'm heading back," Marisa called out as she gathered her things.

"Wait!" Joshua said from behind the curtained balcony. She turned to face the man as he leaned an arm onto the door frame.

He took a puff from his cigarette and blew it out to the night sky. "Nice job today," he complimented.

Marisa shrugged. "For what?" She didn't do anything significant that would reward her a congratulatory.

Joshua took one more puff before putting the cigarette out. "You made a very important point to us. Although it was one hell of a way to do it," he muttered the last sentence as he closed the balcony door behind him.

"Oh. Anytime," she responded as she headed towards the door.

"Hey, but really," Joshua called out.

She turned to face him once again. With Joshua, she never quite knew when a conversation ended.

"Thanks." He gave a quick smile. "It really opened our eyes, or at least mine."

"It's common sense. How's a team supposed to function if they don't trust one another?" Marisa stated.

Joshua nodded his head. "Is that how you and er, your company work?"

The mention of her friends made her drop her eyes to the ground.

"Still no word, huh?" Joshua asked after seeing her sullen-like look.

She opened her mouth to begin to speak but debated whether or not she should. She didn't think sharing her theory of Grado being after her and Rennac would be beneficial with Joshua.

Deciding not to, she closed her lips, but the look on Joshua's face said otherwise. "What is it?" He asked.

"I... It's nothing."

"C'mon. What happened to that trust?" He smirked.

He had her there. She sighed. "I was discussing with Rennac earlier," she nudged her head to his direction where he laid sprawled across the bed, happily sleeping away, making soft noises every once in a while.

"I think I know who those men are... But it's just a guess."

"A guess is better than nothing."

"Yeah... I believe it's Grado."

Joshua made no movement in reaction, instead continued to stare at her. "Makes... sense," he began slowly. "They were the ones who hired you, right? If somehow they found out that you didn't do the job they hired you to do, of course they would go after you."

Marisa nodded her head. "I also think they have my boss and the other," she said quietly as she tightened her hold on her bad strap.

Joshua began to walk up to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"We're going to get them back," he assured.

"I hope so," she sighed as she looked to the ground.

"Hey, we are." Joshua assured once again.

At that moment, she wasn't sure if it was the dead night atmosphere that surrounded them, the soft breathing of their sleeping companion in the bed over, but she believed him.

More than likely it was the strong, controlled confidence in his voice that gave her hope, the soft touch of assurance and placement on her shoulder that activated tingles throughout her body.

She couldn't quite place it, but what she did know was that she felt safe in the presence of this man she trusted.

A/N:

Okay, confession time.

This chapter was supposed to be longer but because I was on some sort of a deadline, I was in a rush. I'm also not that pleased with how it turned out... I think I'll come back and edit this again.

Be advised that next chapter will be longer... probably much longer.

Meep.

Hope you've enjoyed this!