A/N: Terribly sorry for the delay all! But exams are finally done so I can get on track with this! Wooo! This was a fun one I had been thinking about for a while ever since I got suggestion, but held off for a prompt oriented style of oneshot instead. By the word count, you can tell I got a bit carried away. Anyways!

3rd Day of Rayllum: Drenched Plans

Chapter Summary: In which Rayla is a hitwoman on her first mission, and Callum is just an innocent boi. Hitman AU. Suggested by DelicateDragons on Ao3.

Word Count: 5,142

Drenched Plans

"And there's ya new laminated, custom ID!" Nyx excitedly announced as she pushed the card forward. Rayla eagerly rushed up to the desk and watched as her new custom identification shimmered in the light of the room's fluorescents. "Congrats, Rayla, you are now officially a Hitwoman of the Moonshadow Agency."

Her jaw dropped at the sight.

Rayla

Codename: MoonHeart

Level 2 Hunter

She practically bounced in her place, shaking the card in her hands as she squealed. Nyx cleared her throat, erupting her moment as she whispered, "Uhh, might wanna reel it in." She nodded behind her.

Rayla slowly turned around and found not only every agent in the lobby staring at her, but her bloody mentor of all people at the elevator looking at her in disappointment. She mentally slapped her face as she stronger herself out and calmly and confidently walked over to Runaan. She was barely into her first day and she already messed it up. Runaan didn't even meet her eyes as he waited for her to arrive. "Runaan I—"

"Save it," he dismissed, "follow me." He stepped into the elevator.

And she obeyed.

He pressed the top floor and Rayla felt chills grave down her spine. They were going to see the boss? Had she already messed up that badly? After the doors closed and the elevator music filled the silence, Runaan finally spoke. "I am proud of ya, ya know that right?"

She… was not expecting that. "Aye, Sir."

"Then understand that I'm gonna have to be harder on ya now. Because your license is a controversial topic in this agency now," he nonchalantly informed her.

Rayla's eyes widened. "What?"

"Many feel, even given with your training and exceptional skill, promotin' ya to Level 2 was too soon," he explained, regret laced within his voice, "Especially considerin' how ya've never taken before." She froze at that. "Many are callin' my judgment askew and that is why I ask ya maintain professionalism at all times. Do not give them a reason to doubt ya Rayla."

She nodded as she straightened her back more. "Aye."

The silence returned, and Rayla noticed they were only halfway there. "So… why don't ya demote me then? Ya have the credentials and I don't mind working up to Level 2."

Her mentor sighed. "Doing so would only confirm the worst of the rumours and make my credibility as a teacher a failure. Besides, I wouldn't have promoted ya if I don't think ya couldn't do it." He turned and smiled at her. "Ya have to believe in yourself, prove that ya can do it not only to ya, but also," the doors chimed opened and Runaan turned, "to our boss."

Rayla gulped. "What!" She followed after Runaan as he walked down the long, dimly lit hallway. "Runaan, I can't face the boss like—"

"Rayla!" She winced at the call and sighed. She looked on ahead and sure enough, the Star's personal Watchers: her parents. They stood outside the door, armed in full bulletproof armour, helmets, and night vision goggles. Goggles, of which, her mom instantly removed to wave excitedly and blow a kiss. "Proud of ya sweetheart! Or should I say, MoonHeart!" She winked. "Ya like it? The name was my idea, I pitched it in the system."

"Nevermind that, Tia dear," her father laughed, "Show us Ray! Show us the card!"

She reluctantly dug into her pocket but thankfully, Runaan spoke up. "Tiadrin, Lain, that can wait. Aavaros awaits us." Rayla blew a sigh of relief as her parents straightened up.

"'Course Sir," Lain nodded as Tiadrin tucker her goggles back on.

The two turned around and flicked out their pocket knifes, inserting them into the slots either side of the door before twisting and unlocking it. It cracked open, and the two pushed it the rest of the way, heads low as Runaan led Rayla inside.

Contrastingly his hallway, Aavaros' office was pastel blue. It was bright and cool-warm coloured, it was neat and tidy. But the man himself? He say at his excessively large galaxy coloured chair and smiled as Runaan approached the centre of the room. "Ahh," his velvety voice began, "Agent Twilight, is this your star pupil?"

He nodded as he stepped to the side, displaying Rayla way more than she would've liked. She glanced down and felt self-conscious of her outfit all of sudden. It wasn't too different from the standard uniform. She had navy green slacks and vest with a white dress shirt underneath which she rolled up to her elbows. But now she was regretting not wearing a coat, or rolling down her sleeves, or tucking in her collar—why didn't Runaan say anything about his popped collar? Surely Aavaros had a uniform in place strictly so his employees would follow it.

But he smiled. "Impressive. She's younger than you were, is she not?"

Runaan proudly nodded. "Yes Sir."

"Is that why you saw fit to promote her two ranks after her graduation?" the smugness layered with an accusatory tone made Runaan sigh.

"Sir, she scored the highest on every test for the applications and I've been training her—"

"The highest in long range accuracy was 83% Runaan. That's the lowest accuracy we've ever had from a graduating class and if that is all your prized pupil has to offer?" Aavaros' dipped into disappointment as he shook his head and clicked his teeth, "Then I'm afraid I hardly see the issue within MoonHeart, but rather you as a teacher, whose duty is to train the next generation! Their terrible scores are a result of your negligence and favouritism! All you have to show for you 'dedicated' teaching is a Hitwoman who excels in CQC and parkour? Pathetic," he venomously spat.

Runaan's frame winced at every word, his head hanging low.

"Make no mistake, my dear Agent MoonHeart, I mean no disrespect to you," Aavaros gently clarified as he rose from his chair. "I am a firm believer that the fault of a students capabilities is the result of a poor teacher."

Rayla gasped. Was he gonna fire him? "W-Wait, Runnan's great—"

"Was, my dear, he was a great teacher," he corrected. "And I'm afraid if you are all he has to show for his evaluation for a test as of now? Then there is only one thing left to do." He walked in front of his desk, back turned to the two.

Runaan's face was sweating. Rayla didn't know what to think of that. He was her example of determination and casting aside emotions, he taughther everything she knew on how to be stone cold serious. And he was sweating like a rainfall. She wasn't even sure what her face looked like right now but she doubt it had any composure. He stepped aside as a TV screen appeared from his desk, turning on.

"The job is to take out the step-son and heir to the one and only Katolis Enterprises," a boy's face flickered onto the screen, he had messy chestnut brown hair and grassy green eyes of innocence, "you have until the end of the week to kill him." Rayla froze as she watched Aavaros lift his wrist and stare at his watch. "And I do believe your timer has begun, Agent MoonHeart."

Rayla glanced down to her watch, three days.

She had three days?

Aavaros turned and made his way back into his chair as he announced, "Nyx will provide everything we have on his current location at the lobby. Good luck on your first mission, Agent MoonHeart." As he settled in, folding his fingers together, he smirked at Runaan. "Now let us see what your pupil is capable of, Agent Twilight."

Rayla barely even heard the rest of the deal before she rushed out the room and to the elevator. Her first mission, and her job was already on the line. Lucky her…

::::

This sucked.

The target was staying at the resort for exactly three days from Wednesday to Christmas Day, it was all she had. The very vague intel her file revealed was that his father had him here for safety reasons, in essence a safe house but not really on the account of the numerous guests and party events. But the real issue? He was guarded 24/7 and always on the move. She followed him around, posing as a guest as she analyzed his first day's routine. And while he did have a hearty breakfast at the complimentary buffet, he was also shadowed by his two security guards over his shoulders. The rest of his day transferred with him laying by the pool.

She quickly consulted her inventory: a silenced pistol in her tucked behind her back and hidden with her vest, a couple of pocket knives in her slacks, and a few magazines tucked into her vest's hidden pockets. Since she was a newly enlisted agent, her access to the armoury was limited. If she wanted better gear she would have to complete more missions and earn credits for her to spend on tweaking her loadout, but in order to do that she had to finish this one.

Which was impossible without better gear.

Closed loops were fun.

She internally sighed as she pressed herself up against a wall, scanning the surrounding scenery. The pool wasn't too vacant, but there weren't enough people to crowd around and cover her approach—she would be wide open. She surveyed the scenery more, trying to find her path of approach, her fastest route to and from him. The complications of their work as hitmen were not exactly hiding their identity, but maintaining the illusion of having an identity. They were ghosts and had to remain so, but it also meant impersonation and undercover work was part of the job.

Rayla's gaze turned to the lady's washroom. If she could incapacitate and take another guest's outfit, she could approach like any other guest and if her attempt failed, she had an identity to fall back on. She frowned at the thought, watching as her target sat up from his lounge chair and said something to his guards, who nodded in response. Panic filled within her: she needed to kill him as quickly as possible. Worrying and overthinking was a problem she would worry about after—she could handle the guards. She was skilled enough to take them out before they even drew their guns, screw the crowd reaction, she would just walk by him and slit his throat at the last minute.

She took a deep breath and left her hiding spot as she walked over. Calm, reserved, like Runaan taught her. Hiding her intent with casualness, with a blanket of humanity, appearing regular. She stuffed her hands into her pockets, feeling her switchblades in each palm, calculating the possible outcomes. If her first strike missed, she needed to be prepared for the follow up, and if that missed she would need to focus on the guards. If it at all got dicey, she still had her silenced glock tucked behind her.

Rayla smiled as she slowly began approaching. She could do this. Eyes on her target, she observed him as he started taking off his shirt and pants? Rayla's face flushed as her target's slim body revealed itself in his aqua colour board shorts. Focus, she calmed herself, focus focus focus focus focus, her suddenly new mantra repeated through her head as she neared him. Just a few more steps and—

"Cannonball!" he shouted, hopping from his spot and straight into the pool, creating a massive splash that sent water everywhere. Rayla yelped as she stumbled out of the splash zone, nearly tripping over herself in the process. She turned and watched the guards as they were drenched but remained stoic and unmoved. "Sorry about that!" she heard her target shout.

She turned back and he was staring at her. She already failed on every possible level. Rayla contemplated the chances of her being able to whip out her gun and shoot him in the head before either the guards caught on or he swam away. She grimaced at the thought, knowing a better tactic would be to pursue him in the pool, appearing as though she were going for a swim and concealing her knife in the process. There were several ideas, actually, that were helpful here because he was in the water and his movements were slowed. But…

He wasn't in just any water.

He was in the deep end.

"Uhhh, you okay?" she blinked out of her thoughts and noticed his grassy green eyes stared at her with concern.

She nodded as she wordlessy walked off, retreating to her own room at the resort to collect herself. It was too soon to kill him anyway. That was what she told herself.

::::

Her second attempt seemed the most promising.

At least, on paper.

It was day two and her target had holed mostly in his suite for the remainder of yesterday, with his guards constantly watching his door. At first, Rayla registered sneaking into his room as a no go after that. While she could take out the guards and rush into his room, the mess might cause an uproar, and she wasn't certain that he didn't have another bodyguard inside. She lacked that critical thinking yesterday. If she did manage to pull off her attempt, it would've been absurd if she got away. But most notably, Aavaros was evaluating the outcomes too. There was no way killing him in three days was the done deal: she had to impress him.

But like berated her for, her only skills were CQC and parkour, she was hardly decent with firearms, especially at long ranges. But she realized two things when she was walking around the resort grounds. First off, the guards never entered the room. If she managed to get in, she could kill him without them realizing. And second, scaling it would be easy. The back of the resort led off to a cliff face that hung above the ocean. The ledges from balconies to each floor were fairly simple to reach. Her skills in free running guaranteed she could ascend into his balcony, sneak in, then kill him.

It was genius.

She waited for nightfall then made her move. She hopped from balcony to balcony, mindfully watching out for rooms that had lights on and carefully gripping onto ledges instead of pipes in fear of them giving out. After hefting herself up to what she mentally counted as the seventh floor, Rayla glanced up to the top. He was at the twentieth, the last one. She barely even broke a sweat this point, and she was riveting with confidence. She could do this.

"I'm gonna show ya," she quietly muttered to herself, "I'm gonna show ya. I," she hopped to the eighth balcony, "am," pulled herself up, "a Hitwoman!" she exclaimed as she pulled her legs up. They banged on the ledge of the balcony, not making much noise, but definitely stinging her left kneecap. She winced as she rubbed it, ignoring the small pain.

That was what did it.

Rayla was so proficient in parkour she could actually scale buildings in her sleep. It was all thanks to her early mindset from a young age: don't look down. She still did from time to time, only when necessary of course, but had no problem for when she looked. It was only ground. If she fell, then she fell and it was splat. No big deal. But when she turned around to ready herself for another leap, positioning herself on the balcony ledge, she looked down and noticed—it was definitelynot ground, but water. She froze at the sight of the aggressive tides abusing the bottom of the cliff's rocks, and realized she was on a ledge. She hurriedly hopped down and sighed.

"I'm not being irrational," she assured herself, "The higher I get, the more likely that water's gonna be something' I fall in." She peaked over the edge and gulped at the freezing ocean.

She climbed back down after a minute, this time much slower than her scaling. She wasn't particularly fond of having to look down as she did so too. Sure, on paper the idea was sound and made sense. And yes, she was good at free running. But the thought of landing in the water terrified her more than the impact of the ground.

Rayla smacked her head several times that night before heading back to the drawing board. She washed had an entire day… and she only had one shot left.

::::

Her target was apparently attending a party near the resort, and his attendance was a seeing off party of sorts mixed with a Christmas celebration. She hadn't gotten all the details, just enough from the pamphlet invites and rumours of resort staff—who apparently have the juiciest gossip. She was too busy rethinking her last attempt. All she knew was that she had to go to follow him to the party. She had the same outfit as day one, outfitted with the same arsenal. She had to take every precaution going forward because she had no idea what to expect. Apparently the event was a somewhat reserved affair, and those who signed up for attendance were only allowed in. Though she had managed to make it into time she still had no clue what the setting would be like for this party. But she couldn't afford excuses not anymore.

And of course, the party was on a damn yacht…

Rayla wasn't even sure why a yacht was the preferred venue for a party at a resort. She couldn't linger on that thought any longer as she took a deep breath and sighed. Hopefully the boat wasn't going ashore or anything. She looked around and noticed several rope stanchions blocking off hallways and doorways, leading the partygoers to the deck, which most likely meant that they were limiting the size of the party. That threw out any plans of slipping around utilizing the small corridors and halls to her advantage. It was just one thing after another.

Five minutes had passed since she arrived and she had yet to run into her target. The music was booming loud enough that a well placed silenced gunshot would be drowned out, the tightness and grouping of everyone dancing and standing by the food tables would allow a drive-by-stab with ease, and even the food itself: vacant with barely any staff, she could set up some sort of trap with it—maybe not poison, since she had none— but an incident that resulted in food everywhere and caused a distraction. Point was, she had plans in motion but her target wasn't here.

She checked her wristwatch, now seven minutes, and worry crept in her. Maybe… maybe he left the resort early? She decided to make her way casually over to the exit in hopes of seeing him arrive, but also because she might have needed to make a quick exit on the account of him being a no show. She really hoped that wasn't the case—

A loud horn sounded off, startling Rayla and nearly causing her to draw her gun. She took a deep breath as she held her heart, it was beating fast. She was far too nervous. Then the realization clicked…

The yacht was leaving.

She was about to be stranded in the middle of the ocean. Screwing patience, she rushed through the crowd and down the deck, making her way over to the exit as fast as possible. She managed to make it in the hallway leading to the boarding ramp and sure enough, she ran right into her target, literally. Colliding head first, she fell atop him, breaking her fall with his body.

"Ouuuch," she heard him wince as she blinked her eyes open, "Was that payback for the pool?"

She froze. His eyes weren't grassy green. They actually looked emerald green.

She shook herself physically and mentally.

Why did she think that?

"Umm, you okay?" he asked.

She frowned. "I crashed into ya and ya're asking me if I'm okay?" She chuckled at that.

He laughed. "I'm fine too if you were wondering." He smiled and… he was, like, looking into her eyes. Rayla didn't know what to do. Should she stab him? She felt like she could get it over with. Who cared if the boat was filled with partygoers and about to strand her in the water? "Umm, can you—"

"Ma'am," a voice spoke up and Rayla glanced up to find his two security guards rushing at her. She instantly shot up, hands in the air and instincts creaming to react. "Step back!" he shouted at her, cleary motioning his hand into his jacket, ready to draw if need be.

The other helped up her target, checking him over as he brushed off his hands. "Stop, Corvus, stop, I'm good! It's fine, Soren, relax, we just bumped into each other, no big deal," he assured assured as he stepped in front of his other guard.

So his guards made it too.

He turned and sheepishly shrugged, "Sorry about them. My uh, father is particular about protection and—"

"A-Aye, don't worry 'bout it," she dismissed, smiling at him. Genuinely, much to her surprise. She was prepared to fake it but found it slipping so casually.

He stuck out his hand, "I'm Callum."

She watched his open palm. She could yank him forward and use him as a human shield, drawing her gun and popping "Soren" and "Corvus" before they could get a clear shot. She shook her head. "I know—I-I mean I'm Rayla!" she accepted the hand and shook it.

His hand was very warm, soft.

Why did she say her real name?

Was she shaking his hand for too long?

Their shake eventually departed as he flashed his grin once more. "So, um, what brings you to the Nexus Resort?" he asked.

It was a simple question but it made her nearly forget her cover story. "U-Uh, Holiday. I'm just stayin' for a week. It's about to end tomorrow actually."

His brows raised in interest. "Really? Same here! You flying in from Scotland or—"

"Err, no," yes, that was her cover story, "I-I mean, I am from Scotland, but I live in America." What. Was. She. Saying.

He chuckled, "Well, good to know."

"Callum," Corvus spoke up, "the party's already began, I think it'd best if you make an appearance?"

He rolled his eyes. "C'mon Cor, don't be a stick in the mud. Just because my step-dad wanted me to go doesn't mean anything," he replied, "Tell the party people I'll show up later!"

Corvus sighed. "Sir—"

Callum shot Soren a look that she read as, Throw me a bone, and the guard side. "How about I go? Cor, stay here." The dirty blond walked off, looking regretful but she didn't sense him giving her any stares.

"Cor, can you just…" he motioned the man to step back, "loose follow? I-I wanna show her around."

Corvus frowned at that.

"Show me around?" Rayla prompted. He was purposefully isolating himself with her. This was her chance to kis—kill him. To kill him and find a way off the death boat surfing death water and go home.

"Yeah, this is our family yacht and this whole party is sort of my step-dad's tradition for Christmas but he couldn't make it again," he frowned, "not a big shocker but he also ended up in a work emergency—"

"Callum," Corvus spoke up, "we're not to disclose company info—"

"Relax, I wasn't going to say anything," he muttered. A mischievous grin appeared as he said, "But, if I were to say something, you can't exactly stop me can you?" Corvus stared at him in shock. "Maybe if I dunno. You—"

He sighed as turned and walked down the hall. "Don't stray far," he grumbled.

"I just wanna show her the entertainment room!" Callum shouted as he grabbed her hand and pulled her along, slipping past the stanchion ropes.

Rayla giggled—the heck—as she held on. His grip secured her to follow, but it still felt warm and soft. "Ya often dodge your bodyguards like that?"

He turned and smiled at her as their pace slowed. "Only when it's for stuff I care about."

Her brain broke at that…

This was flirting.

Her target was flirting with her.

She was beginning to feel light headed.

As he opened the door, he announced, "Behold! Our entertainment roo—aahh!" she shoved him inside and closed the door behind her. As he tumbled to the centre of the floor, she whipped out her glock and cocked it, aiming it right at his head. He rose up, muttering, "Is this a thing with you or," and his eyes meet the barrel, "oh."

She gulped. "Shuttup."

He held up his hands, letting his leg drop and his body on his knees. "Okay… um, Rayla—if that's your real name—you don't have to do this."

She nodded. "I do, I-I have to," she told herself, "I will." Her finger on the trigger and barrel down his face, his emerald green eyes of innocence and hurt pout. This was her best chance. No one would know until it was too late! But instead? She was hesitating and hesitating and hesitating. Her hand was shaking now..

"You… you've never done this… have you," it wasn't a question, but it came out like pity.

She steeled herself for one shake of her gun, threatening him as she shouted, "Like ya have?" He flinched, and it worked, but she still felt sick.

He chuckled. He was chuckling at a girl holding a gun to his head. "No of course not! I just… I think this means you really don't have to do this. You're like, my age."

"A year older."

Why was she still sharing!

"Exactly."

"No," she shook her head, "I… I…" taking a deep breath, it all clicked. She dropped her gun as she turned and headed toward the window, shoving it open and hurling out her lunch into the sea. Her legs felt numb, her mouth felt disgusting, and her stomach was begging to be killed—her entire body hated this.

She heard Callum laugh as he approached her, holding back her hair as she continued to retch out the entertainment room window for about six minutes.

The two found themselves seated at the couch. Her gun tucked away, him on the other end, and she had a trash bin at her feet. They sat there for at least five minutes, before she bit the bullet. "What kinda person holds back the hair of someone vomitin' after they just tried to kill 'em?"

He snorted. "I dunno. What kinda assassin drops her gun as she's about to kill someone just to vomit?"

She laughed. "Not an assassin. I'm a hitwoman."

"It's an occupation where you kill people, same thing," he dismissed.

"Smartass," she shot back.

"If I really was, I would've bolted and called my guards."

"So why didn't ya?"

"Why didn't you kill me?"

She stared at him, frustration building as she sighed. "What kinda—do ya have a death wish?"

"No, but it doesn't look like you have a kill wish."

"Ohh I wish ya just shut—" she groaned, another wave of barfing was inbound. She began her waves (heh) of vomit, she heard Callum shuffle over and hold back her hair once again.

"You could literally shut me up yourself with that gun of yours." She tensed at that. Her bending over and him holding her hair, he could see it. She was exposed and open and going back on everything Runaan taught her. "Or maybe a knife, I'm assuming you have some, when you crashed into me your chest felt hard—" his face flushed, "not like that or anything, but I-I mean—"

She rolled her eyes then released her last ounce of vomit into the bin. She took a deep breath, resting her head against the couch as she closed her eyes. Screw her teaching, screw the mission, she just needed a minute. She failed on every possible level but also was suffering under the worst types of Hell with all this damn water. It was as if Poseidon decided to tip the Fates and demand only water be her hindrance this trip. She was pathetic.

"L-Listen, I don't know if this'll make you stab or shoot me—by the way, if you kill me, please be bullet, quick and painless—but yeah, I… I don't wanna pretend to know your life," he softly spoke, "and I'm assuming you know a bit of mine from like, a contract file or whatever—"

She knew nothing. She didn't even understand why the job was to kill this sweet cinnamon roll and not his step-father. She didn't get it.

"—but, I can tell you're not up for this. Whatever any of this is, you don't seem like a killer to me Rayla."

"I'm carrying four magazines of 9mm rounds and six switchblade knives."

"Okay you're a badass, but I don't think you're a killer."

She sighed. "Ru… my mentor, he always told me the first was the hardest," she dug into her pocket and pulled out her knife, flicking the blade exposed as she stared hard at the steel. "But… he was talking about after. He never said anythin' about before…"

Callum's phone buzzed. He pulled it out and sighed. "I…I'm sorry. They're looking for me, I gotta go." She wasn't even going to bother asking why he wasn't selling her out. She was exhausted. "Just stay here and… you'll be unbothered the whole party. O-Or if you want to leave, there's a small lifeboat near the back, you can follow the signs to the boiler room and when it leads you to the room you can just look around down below and you'll find it." He walked up and over to the door, but paused as he opened it. "And if you do make up your mind about killing me?" he smirked at her, "at least bump into me again so I get to see your face one last time." He flashed a wink and closed the door behind him.

Rayla's face felt hot once again, but this time she knew it wasn't because of sea sickness.

So yeah, she failed her first big mission

Her plans literally washed away at every turn. Maybe it was some big sign. Or maybe it wasn't. She returned to headquarters with a demotion and smug Aavaros, addressing that he had seen this coming and hadn't really expected her to do anything. Regardless, she picked up on that eerie feeling with whatever confusion she had, she had to sort it out soon.

News headline: CEO of Katolis Enterprise Murdered

A/N: So as far world building goes, Hitman games plus John Wick? Okay? Okay. Once again sorry about the delay everyone! Next one will be at very late today as well!

Review Responses:

mdauben: Happy to hear you enjoyed! And alas, our blind fools shall be our main focus for the rest of our College AU days...

dinochickrox: Hey! They're just two pals, being pals!

jon4576: Ehh, some point between the dinner with Callum's parents to now.

heneedssomemilk: Glad you liked it so much! RabbitRobber

RabbitRobber: Aww! Thank you so much! It honestly means a lot to see that. Glad you're loving it!

Until next time,

- Bleh