Hey guys! I know it's been such a long time since I last uploaded, but I'm so utterly happy to back. In these tough times I thought I should try and get back to doing what I love - writing.

I couldn't have been able to do this without all your reviews and messages and encouragement through the years. I hope you guys still love this story and this pairing as much as I do.

I really hope you guys do enjoy thsi chapter, as it's my first DC chapter that I've written in a really long time. Please let me know your thoughts. I love hearing from you all. Take care everyone, and don't hesitate to get in touch! Love you all 3

Assailant (Part 3)

Shiho slammed Shuichi's body onto the table and hissed, "Pretend you're asleep. Now."

Shuichi nearly burst out laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation, but the look on her face made him begrudgingly shut his eyes in silence. She looked... terrified.

When she opened the door, Shuichi heard the footsteps of someone who walked with purpose approach him. The anonymous man stood next to him for a few seconds, then turned to Shiho and said, "Is he drugged?"

"Yes," she lied, "I have a few more tests to run. It's easier if he's unconscious."

This man didn't answer, and a long moment of silence drew out between them. Shuichi wondered for a brief moment who this man was and what was going on between the two. He wished he could open his eyes. After a few seconds, Shuichi heard Sherry let out a breath. He suddenly felt a breeze as the man strode past him, crossing the bit of distance between him and Sherry, and then heard the sound of fabric rustling, and Sherry's soft voice, "Gin... I... not now."

Gin? Gin. This was fucking Gin. Right here. And he was kissing her. He was fucking kissing her. A million thoughts seemed to cross through Shuichi's mind at once, but the most prominent seemed to be how uncomfortable and disturbed he was at this. He didn't know why. And he didn't know why he cared when the man he's been after for so long was standing a mere few feet away. He felt a sudden urge to get up and strangle him from behind, but that wouldn't be anything else than absurdly reckless.

"It's been a while, Sherry," he said, his voice husky, as he carried on with whatever he was doing. Shuichi didn't want to know.

"I- I have to get back to work... before he wakes up," she said, her voice was low - she was flustered. Quite possibly turned on.

He didn't know why that thought bothered him as much as it did, but he convinced himself it was because Gin was the lowest scum on this earth.

"Gin," she whispered, "there really isn't much time..."

He didn't respond, and then - to Shuichi's relief - pushed off the woman and began walking towards the door.

"We'll finish this next time," he said, before he shut the door behind him.

Shuichi's eyes snapped open, and his gaze travelled to the woman stood a few feet away. She was stood with her face on the floor, her hair covering her eyes and her right hand on her left arm. It might've looked like she was cowering in fear, but he didn't feel that was the right term to use for a woman like her.

He waited a few moments for her to pipe up and say something, insult him even, but instead, she continued to stand there silently.

"Hey," he said, his tone bold as he swivelled off the table and approached her in a couple of strong strides, "What happened to you?"

She didn't answer, she didn't look up. Shuichi, now stood right in front of her, gripped her chin and lifted her face up to take a better look at her neck. There were marks, vibrant red marks where the other man's lips and teeth had been. Shuichi felt his blood boil; he didn't really know why. She was into Gin, clearly, this wasn't his place.

He felt her hand grip his wrist and yank it off of her, "Don't touch me," she hissed, and the look of pure fury in her eyes made him let go of her instantly, "I'm sick of you men always taking what you want. Don't ever touch me again, not without my permission."

At that Shuichi's heart actually pained with something he couldn't explain. She was right; this was this place, or any man's place. It was hers, purely hers. Shuichi licked his dry lips and apologetically stepped back and slowly approached the table.

They stood there in silence for a few moments before he felt her stand behind him, her cold small hand lightly touching his shoulder, "Let's finish the exam," her tone was ice cold.

Shuichi had wanted to kill Gin before, but now he wanted to fucking slaughter him.

But a strange thought crossed through his mind then - was he really any better than him? Given how he'd been teasing this girl this whole time ball up in her space?

He really didn't know the answer to that, but perhaps to make himself feel better he concluded that his intentions weren't as filthy as Gin's.

When they were done, Shiho had ordered them some lunch which they ate in dead silence. They hadn't spoken a word since the situation with Gin, but despite that, the look that was now permanently painted on this man's face was one Shiho couldn't quite pinpoint. It was a strange mix of fury and... inner turmoil? Like he was troubling himself over something. Sometimes, he would look absolutely enraged for a few seconds, before the emotion would ghost past as though it was never there. Perhaps it was finally clicking in that he was kidnapped.

Suddenly, a loud ringing tune broke the silence and jarred Shiho into alertness. It took her a moment to realise that it wasn't her phone that was ringing. Hurriedly, she took the man's phone out of her bag and stared at the bright screen, the ringing seemed to shock her back to reality.

Jodie.

To her surprise, the man didn't say anything to her, he just watched her from his seated position as she stared at his phone with a raised brow.

Shiho turned around and slid the phone to him across the table, "You can answer," she said, her voice monotonous, "but put it on loudspeaker."

The man stared at the phone for a couple of seconds before deciding he would answer. He picked up the phone and put it on loudspeaker as she'd asked.

"Shu!" A soft feminine voice beamed through the phone, "we've been so worried!"

Shu? Was that his name?

The man answered her carefully, "I'm fine, Jodie," he seemed at a loss of what to say, "I've just been grocery shopping, I'm sorry I missed your calls."

Shiho narrowed her eyes at that excuse - what kind of dumb answer was that?

The relief on the woman's voice was evident, "For a moment there I thought you were angry at me for not replying to your message, but I'm glad that's not the case."

The man cracked a small smile, "I'm fine, Jodie, like I said - grocery shopping. Found a few rotten apples amongst the bunch, remember when we'd make Andre eat those?"

There was a pause, then a sudden, almost forced laugh, "Yeah, we were a bit too cruel to him weren't we. Anyway, I've gotta go now, Shu, maybe we could grab a drink later?"

"Yeah, sounds good," he said, then the line went dead.

When the conversation was over, Shiho instantly leapt forward, grabbed his phone and pocketed it. Then she jumped and sat on the table, a few centimetres away from his seated position and produced a scalpel to his throat before he could so much as move a limb. Shuichi didn't falter, but stared at her with his still unreadable expression.

"I'm not stupid," she snapped, "what was that bullshit about rotten apples?" She pressed the scalpel to his throat.

Shuichi's gaze flicked from her hand to her eyes and he raised an eyebrow almost derisively, "What did it look like? I was trying not to sound suspicious."

"Was it code for something?" She persisted.

Shuichi's expression turned into a playful one, "Code? You think I come up with code in advance just in case I end up in a situation where I'm kidnapped by a crazy scientist?"

Shiho brows creased at his mockery, though it was fair, although the conversation sounded suspicious, she couldn't possibly determine what kind of information he'd have been able to relay with that one, odd line about rotten apples.

"Listen," she whispered, her tone dangerous, "if you ever think of trying anything, I won't hesitate to kill you."

His gaze didn't leave hers when he spoke softly, "I don't doubt that one bit."

A pause.

"Shu?" Shiho said, "Is that your name?"

"Shuichi," he corrected, he wasn't sure why he was telling her, this could prove fatal later on.

"Shuichi," she tested it on her tongue, and he decided it would've been better for him if he hadn't heard her say it in that tone of voice.

"Would you please lower this thing?" He said, and pointed to the offending device near his neck. She complied reluctantly.

They sat there for a moment, her on the table, him on the chair. Her legs were brushing against his thigh and it made her stomach flutter. A fleeting image of exactly what they could do on this table suddenly flashed through her mind, and her cheeks turned a shade of pink and she suddenly broke off their eye contact. God, why what was this man doing to her?

Shuichi watched her as her cheeks coloured and as she turned away from him. A small part of him felt happy seeing her like that; like he'd just won a prize. He didn't know why he felt that way, and it irked him.

"Shuichi," she said again, breaking the silence, "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a sniper," he said in all seriousness, "I snipe people for a living."

Silence.

He was convinced she wasn't going to reply but she actually cracked a smile, "For someone who claims they don't joke, you do crack a lot of jokes."

A small smile touched his face at the genuine look of happiness on her face. "Yeah," he played along.

He wasn't sure what was worse, the fact she didn't even think to believe him or the fact he was, unfortunately, deadly serious about what he'd said.

Jodie sat on her desk, one hand on her cheek and the other playfully spinning a pen in thought.

Rotten... Apple...?

Pellets of hail hit the window in Shiho's apartment, and Shuichi stole a quick glance at the window from his seated position on the couch. He was drinking the tea the woman had made for him when they'd gotten back. He hadn't seen her since then, he deduced that she probably wanted nothing to do with him, and rightly so, he was nothing but an ass to her. He still didn't know what he was to do in this situation - he hoped Jodie had understood his hint about a the Rotten Apple - the nickname the FBI given to Vermouth. He hoped the randomness of the subject would get her thinking and hopefully lead her down the right path to at least know that he was in trouble.

It wasn't too late into the night, but Shuichi was feeling exhausted; he lay his head back on the couch and shut his eyes for a few moments.

He woke with a start when a bolt of thunder sounded through the sky. His eyes snapped open and took a whole 30 seconds for them to focus again, his mind cloudy and his body absolutely aching. When he could see again, he sat upright on the bed, elbows bent, and furtively glanced at the room he was in. He wasn't in that goddamn woman's apartment anymore; he was collapsed on a bed in a dimly lit hotel room with rich mahogany curtains and this delicious sweet smell of-

"You're up."

Sweet smell of her.

Shuichi bolted fully upright in the bed, his head spinning, "How the hell-"

"Listen," she cut him off, and he registered that she looked disturbed, a deep frown painted across her delicate features, "We're in trouble. I messed up."

He watched her as she paced back and forth; she was frantic and panicky, and it made Shuichi - for the first time in a long time - feel oddly uncertain.

"I messed up," she repeated, almost as though expecting him to do something about it, "I took you back to mine and - Gin, earlier, I guess I upset him," she spoke so fast, all at once, like she was trying to spit everything out before the stress consumed her, "I guess I upset him when I didn't want to…you know, with him…" she cleared her throat. "He's annoyed with me, he wants me to administer the sample now. In two hours. He's going to send someone here, to confirm I've done it."

Shuichi waited for a while, thinking she was going to carry on speaking, but she didn't. She collapsed on an armchair in front of the bed, with her face in her hands, looking positively pained.

After a while, he spoke, "And?"

She looked up at him then, looking utterly confused. "And…?" she questioned, "What do you mean 'and'?"

Shuichi got up, walked to that fashionable curtain and leaned on it, feeling the touch of cold glass seeping through to his skin. A huge window was behind him.

"And," he spoke again, "Why are you all upset by this? You're the one that kidnapped me, for that very purpose, to test that sample of yours. What's got you all distressed like that?"

She didn't answer him for a long time and then, with a soft, sincere voice, she whispered "I wasn't going to give you the real sample. The real sample," she paused, "will probably kill you. If not worse…"

He didn't want to ask what this woman thought could possibly be worse than death.

"These trials, the ones they wanted me to do, they weren't going to last long. They just wanted me to try it on a few people, to make sure things were going smoothly. But I can't administer the sample on a human, I just can't. I-" she paused for a moment and let out a shaky breath, "I don't know what it's going to do to you, frankly. So my sister and I came up with a plan. I hurriedly made another medicine, looks identical, that would momentarily slow down your heartbeat. Long enough for them to think you were actually dead. Then I'd get you up again, and I guess- then you'd run. Never to be seen again. That was the plan."

Shuichi crossed his legs and leaned further back on the window. He gently pulled back the curtain and looked outside on the dark street, only lit by warm streetlight and one car's headlights that were-

Jodie. That was Jodie's car. She was here. It had worked, she'd tailed him. He didn't know why he was surprised, she was one hell of a good FBI agent after all. But he just didn't think that she'd had enough time during that phone call to figure out his location. She must've figured it out, and rushed to the place, only to follow them to Shiho's apartment and then here without getting caught.

"How did we get here?" Shuichi asked suddenly, turning his head back to face the girl on the chair.

Shiho seemed too upset to really care about the weird choice of question given she'd just told him he was about to die. "I drugged you, shoved you in the car and drove here after Gin asked me to get here."

"Okay," he said simply, then, "another question."

She nodded in response.

"If that was your plan - why can't you just follow through with it?"

"Because," she said, her voice shaky once again, "In two hours, Gin is sending someone from my.. company.. to watch us. Not just that," she continued, and then looked at Shuichi straight in the eyes, her eyes equally blank and serious, "and that man is going to bring me his own sample. The original medicine. And watch me feed it to you."

1 hour and 35 minutes later and they both heard the door click open. A masked man with a large hat stepped through. He pinned his eyes on Shuichi, who was handcuffed with his hands behind his back, sitting deadly still on the armchair, blindfolded, an unreadable expression on his face.

The man turned his attention to Shiho, and threw a small box at her, which she caught in her hands.

"Straight from the safe", he grunted, "so we know they're pure."

She nodded, then glanced over at Shuichi, "Okay, but.. he has a last wish."

The man stared, his dark eyes narrowed at her, "Watch it. If you pull anything weird, Gin won't like it," he warned her.

"I know, I-" she whispered, "he just wants a kiss, that's all. He's too drugged to fight back, but he knows he's going to die."

The man stared from her to Shuichi, back and forth a few times, as though he couldn't quite believe what he'd just heard. Shiho stared back, her heart hammering against her chest. Please, please fall for this. Please-

A low chuckle escaped the man's throat, turning into a derisive cackle which made Shiho's knees grow weak in fear. That's it, he was going to just shoot them right then and there.

You stupid idiot, this was the dumbest idea you've ever-

"A kiss?" he blurted like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard, cutting her train of thought. Shiho waited for him to finish his bout of laughter, then the man gave one last snort and said, "Sounds like a strange thing to ask for as a death wish, but…" his eyes roamed over Shiho's body, "I don't blame him. Who wouldn't want a taste of those sweet lips?"

Shuichi's hands clenched into fists behind his back. Bastard. Whoever this man was, he was going to be the first to die when he got his hands on these disgusting people. Perhaps after Gin.

Inwardly cringing and hoping the look of disgust wasn't apparent on her face, Shiho turned to face Shuichi, she knelt down so she was eye level with him. He was still blindfolded, so he couldn't see her face, but she knew he could feel her approach. She gripped his chin, and in one quick movement, she kissed him. Her lips touched his, slow and gentle and god she tasted so sweet. Her tongue prodded his lips, urging him to open up, and Shuichi found himself involuntarily spreading his legs, his fists straining against the handcuffs behind his back, wanting nothing more than to just grab her hips and slide her on top of him. He almost felt ashamed at how desperately he seemed to part his lips for her. In an instant, her tongue slid into his mouth, depositing a pill inside. He swallowed it without hesitation, just as they'd agreed earlier. That's it, this was why they'd staged this kiss. So she could slip him something as part of their plan to escape. So why were her lips still on his? He inched forward, strained against the handcuffs again - he didn't care that this man was watching. Let him.

Fuck. They both thought at once; how can this feel so good?

Shuichi couldn't really hold himself back, he bucked forward, kissing her with so much hunger she let out a breathy moan.

Fuck, I swear if it weren't for these handcuffs, I'd have taken you right there on that-

"Enough!"

They broke apart in an instant, both slightly dazed.

Shiho breathed out, still a bit shaky from that kiss. "Sorry," she cleared her throat, regaining her composure, "just thought I'd give him something to enjoy."

The man frowned and nodded at her to just get it over with, a deep scowl engraved on his already grim features.

Shiho hesitated - mostly for show - but the man, clearly not wanting to delay this any longer, strode forwards and grabbed Shuichi's chin, forced his mouth open and shoved the pill down his throat.

Shuichi started coughing almost instantly, letting out an anguished scream that had Shiho hoping that please, God, I hope this plan works.

Gin's phoned piped up with a text message and he quickly opened it expectantly.

All done. See attached picture. Took the pill from the safe box like you said, shoved it down his throat myself. No pulse for a whole 15 minutes. She'll dispose of the body.

Gin stared at the picture for a bit longer than necessary, then deciding that this was satisfactory enough, responded with a simple text of approval.

Shiho stared at Shuichi's sleeping body on the bed. What an absolute fucking nightmare this was. She couldn't believe they actually managed to get through this.

She thought back to just over an hour earlier when she was almost ready to break down into tears.

"Hey," the man had said, "listen. I can get you out of this. You just have to trust me."

She literally burst out laughing at that, as though he was insane. "Oh and how will you do that Mister?" she mocked, "You have no idea who you're dealing with."

"No," he said sternly, "and neither do you."

A pause.

"To put it simply, the less you know the better for you, but I've got a friend down there who can help us," he nodded to the street, and Shiho followed his gaze, though she couldn't really see much from her position. "I'm assuming your boyfriend, Gin, asked you to come straight here so you wouldn't be able to mess with the sample or pick up anything from your lab. My friend can go and pick up that other sample you mentioned, and you'll feed me that. When the man comes, I'll hold the poison in my mouth and spit it out after he thinks I'm dead."

Shiho paused for a long moment, then, "We can't bet on that. He can just shove it down your throat. Then you'll definitely die. We need another plan."

"How good of a scientist are you?"

She raised a surprised brow, almost shocked that he was able to mock her in this situation, "Excuse me?" she snapped haughtily.

"You must have an antidote, or something, no?"

"I-" she sighed, "not an antidote. But…"

"But what? Is there anything that could reverse its effects? Every poison must have an antidote," he pressed like it was obvious.

"Every known and studied poison has an antidote, yes," she snapped back, sounding a bit offended, "but I don't have one for this. But there's.. an inhibitor. I used to use it to delay the effects of the poison on some of my lab rats, perhaps we can feed you the inhibitor, which will delay the poison from being absorbed long enough for you to ingest it and then for me to pump it back out of your stomach. It'll slow down your heart rate too."

Sounded absolutely repulsive, but they had no other option.

"Right. That's what we'll do then, my friend outside will get you what you need. She'll meet you in the ladies toilet downstairs."

Shiho sighed loudly, stil feeling uneasy, "I don't know… when I came here, I took your drugged body in through a side entrance. I don't know if my people are watching the main entrance."

"Your boyfriend might be watching the entrance and exit to the hotel, but I doubt he cares enough to watch what's going on in the ladies bathroom. He'll definitely be watching the side entrance more. This is the best way."

Another long pause passed between them.

"It's our best bet," she summed up, then, "okay. Call your girlfriend and hand me your phone, I'll tell her what I need."

Neither of them decided to correct the other on the whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing. Though it left a certain tension between them they couldn't quite explain.

Shuichi woke up when Shiho was sitting across from him on that damned armchair where she'd kissed him earlier.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he realised their plan had worked, and he was very much alive. He noticed a mug of tea next to his bed, and he grabbed it eagerly this time, glad to have something to drink when his throat felt so dry.

"He bought it," Shiho said, her voice monotonous, not looking up at him, "he texted me all is good. He trusts me again now, so I guess with the next few people I'll be able to go through with my initial plan..."

Shuichi felt a pang of pain for her, she sounded utterly defeated. Exhausted. He wondered if she was mostly talking to clear her thoughts, more for her benefit than for his.

"I guess you're not going to tell me who you are? You and your girlfriend?" She carried on, still refusing to face him.

"I think you already know who we are," Shuichi deadpanned, not betraying much emotion on his face.

Shiho chuckled, "I can't believe the one man I grabbed just happened to be..." she sighed loudly, not finishing the sentence, and finally straightened up, her pretty brown eyes now pinned to him with a certain intensity that left him feeling strange on the inside.

"Thank you," she said, her voice low, "thank you. You did this to save your life, but you inadvertently saved mine. And my sister's..." she trailed off, and he saw something flash across her eyes. This woman has been through a lot, and he suddenly felt like he should cross over to hug her. Keep her safe. She'd probably slap him, though, for taking advantage of her display of vulnerability.

She spoke again, shaking him out of his thoughts, "When you were passed out earlier, and I was trying to induce you to vomit out the poison, I.. I struggled. It just wasn't working. I thought you were going to die..." She sounded dejected and again she trailed off, her eyes refusing to meet his.

"Did that upset you?" He said after a while when she didn't carry on.

"Surprisingly, yeah," she said truthfully. "I even prepared a text to your girlfriend," she raised up his phone, he couldn't quite see what she'd written, "I thought if you were going to die I was going to send her something sweet, because I know she wouldn't be able to cope... if you just..." Shiho stopped talking then, because the man looked so surprised it actually made her feel stupid.

"Sorry," she said suddenly, noting the look on his face, "that sounds stupid. I'm such a horrible person, what was I even thinking? And now I can't stop rambling either. Sorry," she stood up quickly, deciding that she didn't want to be here anymore, and started packing up her things.

"Wear that hat and scarf I left for you on your way out to disguise yourself. Gin doesn't remember many faces, lucky you, but do it just in case. Tell your girlfriend I said thanks. I'm going to leave now," she started to say in a hurry, "I hope - for both of our sakes - that we never see each other again and that-"

In a swift movement, he was behind her. He grabbed her arm and swivelled her around to face him. Shiho let out a breath when he pulled her flush up against his hard body. She was too stunned, and frankly too tired, to retaliate.

"Shh," he said, leaning down to embrace her. He was literally hugging her. She didn't even know why she was allowing this.

Perhaps because he saved your life, idiot? Her inner voice chimed. He's a good guy, nothing like you.

God, he smelled so good. And she felt so warm and safe and protected against his body. She wanted nothing more than to just sink into him, and have him whisk her away somewhere private. Instead, Shiho stepped back, refusing to give in to this fantasy, "You need to leave," she breathed out, glad her voice didn't betray her feelings, "I'm dangerous, for you. You shouldn't be here with me, or ever see me again."

A low chuckle escaped his lips, "Oh princess," he teased, and Shiho felt her heart flutter at that, "trust me," he pulled her in against him again, this time gripping her waist hard so she wouldn't get out of his embrace, "You're not the one who's dangerous here."

He didn't intend for that to be taken as an insult, but she grabbed him by his shoulders and pushed him once again against the wall. He'd seen it coming, because whenever she got that angry look in her eyes, she always resorted to pushing him away from her.

With her hands still gripped on his shoulders, she hissed at him, "You saved my life, and I truly appreciate that," she sounded pained and frustrated all at once, "but you have no idea who you're dealing with. You might be with the FBI, but trust me when I say you're putting your life and everyone you love in danger by mingling with the likes of me. So stop acting like you're the dangerous one, because trust me, you're not. Gin could kill you in an instant. Especially if he sees you near me. I never want to see you around me again."

Shuichi waited for her to finish, then gripped her chin, and pulled her up to face him properly, "Alright," he said sternly, not wanting to argue with her, "Believe what you like, you dangerous little girl. But the next time we cross paths," he corrected himself when he watched her gaze narrow, "if we ever cross paths in the future, and I see your precious boyfriend once again, trust me when I say he'll be the first one I snipe with my rifle."

Her expression surprisingly eased, and she pulled back out of his grip then chuckled mockingly, eyebrow raised like he'd said the need funniest thing, "You men are all the same," she bit back, "Doing whatever the hell you want. Acting all high and mighty."

"Are we?" Shuichi snapped back, his voice laced with anger, realising that she was comparing him to Gin. The thought hurt him more than he'd expected. He knew he himself was dangerous, but he liked to think he wasn't absolute scum. Not like Gin.

"You are," she said dismissively, and inched back, her arms crossed.

Shuichi licked his lips and leaned back up against the wall, his voice all challenge when he said, "If I was anything like I'd Gin, I'd have had you pinned to that bed the moment I woke up."

Shiho's face instantly flushed and she found herself at a loss for words. A part of her wanted to slap him while another part almost wanted him to do just as he'd said.

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, "Then why don't you?" She stared back, her eyes intense as she cocked her head to the bed then glanced back at him, "Pin me to that bed?"

Shuichi let out a strained sigh. Fuck. This girl was driving him insane. She really shouldn't mess with him like that.

"Don't mess around like that, or you'll regret it," he said, his voice all rough.

Shiho eyed him back, then she glanced down at his body, slowly, and he had to just stand there and watch her while she eyed him up like that. It took every bit of his will power not to just grab her and kiss her again. When their eyes met again, he knew they were both thinking of that moment on the armchair. That hot, desperate kiss that was cut way too short.

Shiho stepped back, because this man was damn well clouding her mind, "You need to go. Your girlfriend's waiting."

Deciding that it was for the best to leave this here, he grabbed his things, put on his disguise and headed for the door. When he passed Shiho again he whispered, "Take care, Sherry."

She didn't really ask how he knew her code name, but he was part of the FBI so she didn't put it past him to have figured it out.

"And," he added as he was turning the door handle, "she's not my girlfriend." He turned around to look at her expression, but she didn't betray any emotion. Instead, she stood there with her arms crossed and watched him head out the door.

Right before he left, he heard a small whisper behind him that he almost missed,

"Goodbye.. Shuichi."

He was almost out the door when he stopped, his hand on the knob.

She waited patiently behind him.

"No," he said gently, "I'm not leaving."

Shiho stared at him, and after a while, she sighed, "Look, I already told your girl-Jodie, that it's too dangerous for me to help you all out. I can't give you any more intel-"

Suddenly, she felt her body pressed up against the door, his lips mere inches from hers. Shiho let out a shaky breath when she felt her back press roughly against the door. "Not that," he said, his voice husky, "I want this, and if you don't, push me off of you. I'm not like Gin, and I won't take you without your permission." Shiho's heart skipped a beat, that was quite possibly the sexiest thing she'd ever heard. She knew how wrong this was; she had no idea why she was so attracted to this man. But this was probably the last time they were ever going to see each other, and she honestly wanted nothing more than for him to just make her feel human again. Shuichi waited for her to say something, she didn't. He waited a while longer, just incase she was too startled to speak.

Instead, she glanced up at him, and the look in her eyes told him everything he needed to know. She grabbed him by the collar, and breathed out, her voice melodic and so utterly sexy, "So?" she teased, "Is this where you pin me to the bed?"

In response, he kissed her gently at first, his tongue teasing her bottom lip. Shiho's heart was beating a mile a minute, and she felt her knees go weak when he gripped her with his strong, rough hands and pushed his body flush up against hers. She breathed an involuntary moan into his lips that made him aggressively tighten his grip on her body, like he couldn't control himself any longer. "I'm not doing anything without your permission," he said again, "tell me how far you want me to go."

Shiho's heart beat so fast, a warm sensation spreading through her entire body. Without answering him, she thread her fingers through his hair, standing on her tiptoes to reach him as she licked his lip. He grunted and coaxed her body up, getting her to gently jump as he lifted her legs around his muscled body. He pressed her harder against the door, and she felt heat pool between them.

God he was so strong. And so hard. And he wanted her so bad right now. He kissed her like a hungry animal that couldn't get enough of her, and she'd honestly never felt anything like this before in her life. She never wanted him to stop.

His lips trailed down to kiss her neck, biting and gently sucking. She could feel just how much he wanted her when she arched her neck back and a soft moan escaped her lips.

"Fuck," he hissed against her neck, and he sounded almost pained. Maybe he was, from wanting her so bad, "if I could hear that over and over again…"

Shiho lowered her face and they stared at each other so deeply, both out of breath. Shiho glanced at his lips, then slowly leaned in to close the gap between them right when her phone rang -

She wiggled out of Shuichi's grasp almost instantly, and rushed to her phone.

Gin.

Fuck.

She picked up the call, and Shuichi stood there, watched as her expression changed to one he couldn't quite comprehend.

"I've got to go," she said after she shut her phone, a strange facade washing over her. Like she was no longer that girl he just had whimpering beneath him, but she was back to her Black Organisation self now. Ruthless. Stoic. Sherry.

"He wants me with him," she added after a while, when Shuichi didn't say anything.

"I bet he does," he added, and then inwardly flinched when he realised how jealous and possessive he sounded.

A long pause passed between them, where they seemed to snap back into reality. How this was so utterly wrong and dangerous.

"I've got to go," Shuichi confessed after a while, and this time he meant it, he wasn't coming back. "Do me a favour, Sherry," he started to say, but she cut him off.

"Don't call me that, it's.. Shiho.." she whispered, like he cared. He probably didn't.

"Alright," he said and closed the gap between them again to whisper in her ear, "do me a favour, and don't be reckless.. Shiho. Take care of yourself. And for your boyfriend's sake, I hope he never sees me again."

"He's not my boyfriend," she countered, her hot breath on his ear.

A smirk ghosted across his lips, "Is that your way of telling me you don't care if he winds up dead?"

She decided not to answer.

"Because trust me," he enunciated slowly, "I'd be more than happy to oblige."

And with that, Shiho felt a loss of warmth as Shuichi stepped back, turned his back to her as he headed right out the door.

Shiho stared after him for a long time, her breathing still ragged, her heart still racing, her brain all fuzzy, knowing very well she was going to be spending countless nights thinking about this man. And quite possibly thinking about the promise of what he was going to do to her on this bed if they hadn't been cut short.

"You can do it Genta," Mitsuhiko shouted, "you just need to PIN the tail on the DONKEY."

The Detective Boys were all in the Professor's house, playing a game, when Haibara stepped into the room to join them.

"You're doing it wrong, guys, you need to spin him around first, not just blindfold him," she announced.

"Oh yeah," murmured Ayumi, "But Okiya-san didn't mention that part."

Haibara instantly glanced to her side, having only just realised that Okiya-san was indeed here. Why was he always around?

"Sorry," he smiled sheepishly, "it's been a while since I've played. I must've forgotten that part."

"I have to pin what where?" shouted Genta, blindfolded and utterly confused.

"Pin the tail on the-" everyone in the room started to speak at once. Then,

"-bed."

"-donkey."

Haibara and Subaru glanced at each other. "What did you just say?" she questioned him, a suspicious brow raised.

"Donkey," he insisted.

"You said bed," she corrected, frowning at him.

"Just a mistake then," he surmised, not betraying any other emotion. "Perhaps I was thinking of something else."

"Why would you be thinking about pinning a tail to a bed?" piped Ayumi, confused at the strange exchange.

"Not a tail," Haibara began to answer on his behalf, her eyes narrowed at him like she knew something he didn't, "this weird old man is probably thinking about pinning a girl-" then she instantly shut herself up. Firstly, because this was definitely too inappropriate for the kids, and secondly, because this sparked a distant memory in her brain that she didn't want to think about now.

A blush crept on her face.

Ayumi stared between them before deciding she didn't care any longer and looked away.

Haibara and Subaru glanced at each other once more, strange looks passing on both of their faces. Then they looked away, letting the chatter of the Detective Boys dull down the unexplained, heated intensity that had just passed between them.

And there we go! The last chapter in this story. Thank you so much for reading. Please let me know what you think; I absolutely love hearing from you all.