I don't own any of these characters, well apart from Jacob, Mel and Mother. Just seeing if I can muster up another adventure for the gang, with a lil fluff thrown in for good measure.

18months later

Mika jogged across the cool sand barefoot. Her breath came in short bursts, exhaling with every third heel strike. It was getting well into the morning as she slowed up towards the back porch of the beach house she'd been sharing with Raizo on and off for the best part of a year.

She had tried going back to her job at EUROPOL but it just didn't sit right with her after everything she and Raizo had been through. She had quickly become restless, and after 6months of trying to go back to her old life, she resigned with no earthly idea what she would do next. Raizo asked if she'd like to move in with him at the beach house. She'd said yes after some hesitation. It was ten years since the last time she'd cohabited with a partner and she worried that things were perhaps moving a little fast at the time. But nearly 18 months later Mika still had no regrets. This was her new home. For now.

Mika caught her breath on the back porch for a moment.

She spied Mother sauntering down the side of the house and into the small garden area. Mother was the local cat that visited the house as if it was her own. Raizo said he'd found her sitting on the back steps when he bought the place and she'd visit when she pleased each day. She had a collar that said 'Mother' so she clearly belonged to someone but Raizo didn't know who. There wasn't another property for at least 20mins in each direction. Mika rolled her eyes at the cat's delicate walk that seemed to say 'watch me' and 'fuck you' at the same time. That cat had taken an instant liking to Raizo but for some reason, Mika received a cooler reception.

Mika started to stretch out on the porch when she noticed the sliding porch door was open a crack. She'd closed it fully behind her when she left, to keep Mother out of the house and Raizo was off on a freelance mission. He thought it best not to tell her where but promised it would be short and simple. He was due back in a week.

Mika scanned the interior quickly. Everything seemed normal and the property was silent save for the ticking of a carriage clock on the breakfast bar. Mika dusted the sand from her feet, then still on her knees she pressed a wooden slat on the porch steps edge causing the panel to pop open and reveal a handgun, a pre-loaded 9mm Kimber. She slid the porch door open and crawled into the house crouched down.

There was no one behind the couch or by the door across the room in front of her. The kitchen was to her left with the breakfast bar in front of it.

She could feel her pulse trying to speed back up. Anyone could be hidden on the other side of the breakfast bar. She took two steadying breaths, gun up by her chest in one hand while she crouch-crawled over to the breakfast bar. She counted to three then inched around it to find the space on the other side bare.

Mika let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. She stood upright and relaxed slightly. Gun raised in both hands she made her way to the entrance to the corridor that leads to the bedrooms. She had her back to the wall as she closed her eyes to listen. She heard nothing. She turned the corner slowly, gun peaking out first.

One minute the gun was there, the next it was gone.

She noticed that before her eyes could register the hooded figure that had just disarmed her.

"Shit!" She dropped to a crouch in an instant and single tuck rolled away from whoever it was, but they were on her before she stopped rolling. A strong hand gripped her wrist spilling her on to her back.

Mika countered by swinging her legs up and around her assailant's neck drawing him down to the ground hard. She sprang to sit upright as the hooded figure went down and swung with her right fist but it was caught before it could make contact and Mika was rewarded with a forearm to her side causing her to double over in shock and pain.

Anger flared up in her. She rolled backwards and sprang on to all fours. She launched herself at the attacker but was caught around her waist mid-air and spun then flung on to the couch, her legs were pinned, but it didn't stop her sending an elbow across the assailant's jaw. Her attacker gripped her wrist before she could swing again but was stunned just long enough for Mika to wrestler her other hand free and rip his black mask off.

Raizo's soft brown eyes gazed down at her, his brow furrowed in something between frustration and contemplation. He had both Mika's arms pinned either side of her head. His lip was bleeding. He could hear Mika's heart pounding in her chest. He lowered his head to lay his ear to her heart while he inhaled her scent. Mika cradled his head while smoothing her hands over his jet-black hair.

"I thought you weren't due back for another week." She said softly.

"Finished early." He muttered, eyes closed. "Wanted to come home."

Mika could feel the rise and fall of his rhythmic breathing against her body. The weight of him on top of her was comforting and familiar. She continued to stroke his hair until she heard his breathing change again. He'd drifted off. She smiled down at him. He was home and he was whole but she could smell the faint scent of blood. He'd gotten hurt. Obviously not serious enough for him to be concerned about, but what Raizo considered serious and what Mika considered serious were two different things.

Raizo began to stir after 15mins of light slumber. He tipped his head upwards giving her sleepy eyes and that soft half-smile.

"Hi," Mika smiled down at him. "nice nap?"

"Mmhmm," Raizo repositioned himself so he was eye level with her, "always." He leaned down to kiss Mika but there was something sluggish about him. She'd seen this before. When he began to deepen the kiss, Mika stilled his roaming hands.

"Ok mister, you're exhausted. You probably used up the rest of your strength to ambush me, which we will be talking about later but first, bath and bed."

"I'm fine Mika," Raizo muttered nuzzling her neck. "I just slept, you were there." He smiled against her skin.

"I don't think so, buddy. You didn't sleep, you passed out." Mika wriggled out from under him to Raizo's gentle protest. "I'll make you a deal. You take a shower, let me get a look at those wounds and I'll tuck you into bed." She winked at him while standing up from the couch and reaching out her hand so she could hoist Raizo to his feet also. He looked like he hadn't slept for a few days. It wasn't the first time he'd come home from a freelance job like that.

Mika had learned quickly that she couldn't change what Raizo did, nor would she want to for the most part, but she could be there when he got home to help get him back to healthy in time for the next job he took.

Mika ended up showering first. She should have known that Raizo was going to insist on unpacking his weapons before going to take his own shower. Mika took the opportunity to clean up first and get the first aid kit ready in the bedroom. She sat on the edge of the bed in grey jersey shorts and a white t-shirt. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun atop her head.

Raizo pushed the bedroom door open 10mins later, his hair still wet from the shower, a black towel wrapped loosely around his waist. They'd taken to using black towels when blood might be an issue. White towels just seemed a little counter-intuitive.

Even after 18months of being together, the vision of Raizo undressed still took Mika's breath away. Sometimes open wounds can be a wonderful distraction.

"Get over here mister." She patted a stool in front of the wardrobe door. The first aid kit was sat open on the bed. Raizo did as instructed he knew better than to resist.

"Show me?"

Raizo lifted his right arm to show a gash to the backside of his bicep. Mika exhaled.

"And?"

Raizo lifted the edge of the towel up off his left leg to show a puncture wound to his inner thigh. "Jesus Raizo!" Mika exclaimed.

"It's ok." Raizo tried to reassure Mika while she rummaged through the first aid box with frustration.

"It's ok? An inch to the right and you would have bled out in minutes." Mika started stitching the wound after disinfecting it.

She sighed. "I feel like I can't even get mad at you. This has always been your life."

"Mika?"

Instead of responding she finished sewing the leg wound closed and patched it up with gauze and a bandage. She got to her feet and started sewing the arm wound. It wasn't as deep as the leg wound but it was longer.

Raizo didn't like the weight of the silence in the air but he let it hang a while longer. He left Mika to finish patching up his arm but after she'd put the first aid kit away he gently took her hand and raised the inside of her wrist to press gently against his lips.

"You're upset with me."

Mika sighed, small and short. She wasn't angry with him. Not really.

It was fear. Fear that she'd let someone get as close as she'd let Raizo, fear she was holding on too tight and fear that every time he left on one of his secret missions, she might never see him again. But she couldn't let fear keep controlling her life. She'd come too far to slip back into that habit especially when she knew that she would eventually have to tell Raizo the secret she'd been keeping for the past 8 weeks.

Mika smoothed Raizo's hair back with her free hand and lay a kiss on his forehead. He looked up at her quizzically.

"You should get some rest. I'll fix us something to eat when you wake up." Mika lay a kiss on Raizo's shoulder and left him alone and slightly confused in their bedroom.

Out in the living area, Mika busied herself with taking dishes from the sink drainer and placing them back into their respective cupboards.

She was reaching up to place two breakfast bowls on a top-shelf when she felt cool strong hands on either side of her waist. She eased down into Raizo's arms.

"You're supposed to be asleep."

Raizo kissed her shoulder, "You were supposed to tuck me in."

Mika turned in his arms to find Raizo in sweatpants and shirtless. She tucked some of his hair behind his left ear a habit she'd picked up.

"Why don't we…" The doorbell rang before she could finish.

Raizo looked visibly irritated.

"Expecting anyone?" he asked while moving towards the CCTV monitor screen displayed on a flat-screen pad on the kitchen counter.

He raised an eyebrow at Mika when he recognized the man standing on the doorstep.

"Ah shit," Mika exclaimed quietly to herself but not low enough that Raizo didn't hear. She watched Raizo walk over to the door and open it with a suspicious smile on his face.

"Making house calls now Jacob?"

Jacob was taken aback enough that his hand for a mere second nearly shot to the gun his carried in the small of his back. "Jesus brother, you scared the shit out of me."

Raizo stepped aside and let Jacob inside. He was carrying a large briefcase.

"I startled you? This is my house no?"

"Well yes, of course, but you're not due back until next week. What the fuck? Don't tell me they surrendered that easily?"

Raizo went over to the refrigerator and took out three small bottles of water. "Not easy no."

"Yeah," Mika interjected. "He's gotta hole the size of a silver damn dollar in his thigh. What the hell did you send him in to?!" Turned out Mika still had some residual frustration.

Jacob took the water offered by Raizo and sat down on the couch. "Shit they resisted?"

Raizo nodded. "Then sorry Mika but you're lucky he came back at all."

"Not helping," Raizo muttered under his breath as he took a swig from the water bottle.

"Wait a minute. What are you doing here?" He glanced over at Mika, "Got something to tell me?"

Mika looked sheepish. She took Raizo's hand and guided him to perch on the edge of one of the stools by the breakfast bar. She was rubbing the palm of one her hands while she searched for the words. Jacob remained still and silent. "You know that I've been drifting around the past few months with nothing to do. Wait that's not correct. I've felt empty like I need something more fulfilling to do with my life and I think I've found it but I don't think you'll be super happy about it so I've been doing a little research on my own."

Raizo was growing impatient. "Mika?"

"I wanna help people."

Raizo looked unclear, "help people?"

"Yes. I want to help people that maybe can't go to the authorities or who aren't strong enough or rich enough to fight their bullies. I want to help people, save people."

Raizo was silent a moment while Mika stood waiting for a reaction. To her surprise, Raizo looked past Mika and straight at Jacob. "And you've come to arm her?"

Jacob shrugged. "Hey, you know the deal. I'm impartial. You pay, I provide."

Raizo rubbed his brow as he got up off the stool.

Jacob had seen this before and remained silent. Raizo walked over to the porch sliding doors and picked up a staff that was propped up against the wall. He continued through the door closing it behind him and headed out to the beach and began performing drills in the midday sun.

"Well, that went better than expected," Jacob said while resting his case on his lap and clicking the combination locks open.

"How is that," Mika gestured at Raizo flipping and twisting through the sands, "anywhere near a good reaction?"

"Trust me, Mika, I've known Raizo a lot longer than you. You are the first woman he has ever brought home, brought to me, brought anywhere. This is all new for him and now you say that you want to put your life in danger, routinely.

It's a lot for the man to process.

When he can't think, he trains, it's like a meditation."

"I'm not asking him for anything less than he gets from me. I worry every damn time he goes on a mission."

"Of course. But Raizo is literally a trained killing machine. Not so long ago he was more killer than man. You, on the other hand, were a researcher for Europol and you are asking him to be comfortable with taking on very bad people, on your own.

Think about how that sounds for a moment."

This time Mika was the one rubbing her brow. She exhaled and sat down on the coffee table opposite Jacob. "I know, you're right." She glanced back over at Raizo on the beach. "But I need to do this. I feel it in my bones." She turned back to face Jacob. "Show me."

Jacob tilted his head in a gesture that asked if Mika was sure and she nodded back. He rested his hands on the case ready to lift the lid but stopped a moment. "This is none of my business and you don't have to answer me but, what if he refused to support you in this?"

Mika shook her head. "Honestly? I don't know.

How do you and Mel deal with it?"

Jacob picked up the bottle of water that Raizo gave to him.

"Got anything stronger? Where I come from, water is for agriculture and cattle." He smiled and gave Mika a wink.

Palming a glass of vodka Jacob set his silver case down on the couch beside him. He gazed back into nothingness for a moment as if remembering a time long ago. He took a sip from his glass and swallowed slowly before looking back at Mika.

"Mel and I are different from you and Raizo. When we met we were both trained in the art of taking life and we had no troublesome feelings doing it. We understand each other in a way that doesn't need endless clarification like some people that come together do." He tipped his head slightly at Mika, "No offence of course."

"None taken." Mika replied. "But you're telling me that when Mel is out on a mission you don't worry about her?"

"I think about her, yes."

"And how does that not make you crazy?"

Jacob smiled again and shrugged. "I trust her. I respect her talent and I respect her wisdom. If she one day makes a decision that means the end of her life, then I'll believe that there was no other way and I will avenge her accordingly as she would do for me."

Mika tucked her legs up on the coffee table, crossing them like a child and rested her hands in her lap. "That's not really an answer."

Jacob put his glass down beside Mika and shrugged gently.

"ah, but It is the best I have for you dorogaya."

Mika sighed in surrender. "Ok Jacob, show me the hardware."

When Jacob left Mika started to prepare what would serve as a late lunch and early dinner. Raizo was still outside. He'd gone running for about an hour and was now back to executing acrobatic martial arts drills on the beach. Mika hated to think what all that exertion could be doing to his stitches.

She'd finished cooking two fillets of pan-seared salmon with sautéed new potatoes and a herb salad and thought about calling Raizo in to eat like her Mother used to do for her as a child. Mika made up a plate for Raizo and carried it over to the patio door. She got as far as putting her free hand on the handle but she didn't slide it open.

Something was stopping her, something latent, below the surface of consciousness, fused her in place as she watched Raizo flipping, spinning and striking by the water's edge. It was a beautiful frenzy illuminated by the dying sun. His hair was wet, his torso misted with saltwater and his jogging bottoms saturated but still, he moved with an effortless motion that made him seem like the laws of physics worked differently for him.

Mika stood there for what seemed like hours. In actuality, it had only been 6mins before Raizo caught sight of her standing at the glass door, a plate in one hand, the other on the door handle but motionless. He was panting, his chest heaving, his hair plastered to his face with icy cold seawater.

His bunched muscle flexed with every inhale. He was staring directly at Mika, her eyes wide and fixed as he staked his battle staff hard into the sand. He started to walk towards the house with a steady, measured pace, his arms loose by his sides like weights, his hands curled into fists he didn't remember making. He made his way up the porch stairs with sand dusted bare feet silent on the wooden deck. His brow was firm and set.

Mika watched Raizo step up to the glass door and as he lay his palm on the handle she took an automatic and involuntary step back.

Her eyes never left Raizo's while he slid the door open slowly and stepped inside, closing it behind him without looking. He glanced down at the plate in Mika's hand then back up at her. He stepped towards her and she once again took a step back.

She continued to retreat from his advance until she felt the edge of the kitchen's breakfast bar at the small of her back. She opened her mouth to protest but was silenced as Raizo's lips crushed hers in an instant. One minute he was in front of her and the next he had a hand gripping the back of her neck while the other took the plate from her and let clatter down heavily on the countertop.

"Later." Was the only word he uttered and even that was a stifled groan more than speech.

Mika was no longer frozen. As soon as she felt his hands on her flesh she knew she was lost.

She kissed Raizo back with equal fury as he tugged her shorts down off her hips. The edge of the breakfast bar dug into Mika's back painfully, but she didn't care. All that mattered was in front of her, rabid, hard and wet. Mika backed away from Raizo's mouth long enough to pull her vest off over her head leaving Raizo to lay searing kisses along her collar, down her cleavage and across her stomach. His hands gripped her firmly around the waist and hoisted Mika up onto the countertop in one swift motion and she instinctively hooked a leg around Raizo to bring him flush between her own. She could taste the salt from the ocean on his skin as she nipped at his collar, his neck, his jaw. She could feel his motions growing more urgent as he made short work of unclasping her bra with one hand and discarding the garment over his shoulder. As Raizo palmed a breast in one hand and his lips closed over the stiff peak of the other, Mika breathed his name and he could wait no longer. He tugged her underwear down her legs and in seconds was tugging his own sodden jogging pants down just enough to free himself. He pulled Mika close and allowed her to line the tip of him up with her entrance. Raizo had a firm hand on the back of Mika's neck pulling her forehead against his while his other hand gripped her hip as he drove himself into her causing Mika to gasp.

Her body felt like home as he ploughed his fears and frustration, even his exhaustion into Mika. She could feel that this was more than just sex. When Raizo raised his head up from her shoulder to look her in the eyes there was something beneath the surface working itself free.

She wrapped her legs around his waist to pull him deeper into her and as her climax began to stir in the pit of her stomach she leaned back on her elbows. Raizo could feel her getting closer, his hands now holding her firmly in place and with one final glance down at the sight of his body moving in and out of Mika's, Raizo spilled himself into her.

All at once the sound of their laboured breathing seemed obscenely loud. Raizo took in the sight of Mika laying before him, eyes closed and breasts heaving while he still gently moved inside her. She spasmed with mini aftershocks of pleasure, her eyelids heavy and fluttering. Raizo leaned down over Mika and nuzzled the flesh between her breasts and whispered, "We're not done."

He gently interlocked his fingers with hers slowly pulling her up flush to his chest and without separating he lifted her off the counter and carried her to his bed.