Annie POV

I wake to the sound of a brewing coffee maker, bubbling loudly as it grumbled to make its drink. Still in the haze of the few moments after waking and realizing that I had a splitting headache, I had only one thought. Coffee?

'Uncle Five?!', I shouted out, wishing with all my might that he had rescued me from my captors, from all of it. But as I looked around, I found myself in an unfamiliar place.

A modern looking apartment, clean and unlived in, with an electric fireplace burning to my left. I sat on a plush white couch, wrapped in a chunky knitted blanket, dressed in clothes that I didn't own.

What on earth?

There had been no response to my call. But I realized I had been wrong. If Five had rescued me, he would've taken me home. And this was most certainly not Hargreeves Manor.

Trying to get up from the coach, my arms were yanked on, restrained by something. I looked down at them to see that I was handcuffed to the piece of furniture.

That's assuring.

Luckily, Five hadn't neglected to teach us all how to break loose from handcuffs. Simple. A little mental power, a bit of brute strength, and I was free from my restraints in a matter of moments. Free, though I was, I had to remain cautious. I crossed the room, eyeing my surroundings, and stepped to a large wall of glass window covered by dark black drapes.

I tugged at the corner of one of them, opening up a bright scene before me. This must have been the top floor of the apartment building, as I could see the entire city clearly. Gray sky, raindrops coming down slowly, a hazy scene. I scanned for any identifying landmarks to see what city this might be.

Aha. Gotcha.

To my right, about a half mile in the distance, stood the London Eye. Stationery at the moment, but still undeniably recognizable. London, England. My heart rate picked up a bit. Now that I knew where I was, I needed to know why.

I peeked through the drapes more, opening them wider. Staring down at the city for a moment, my hand was quickly swatted away from the drape by another unidentified hand, and I quickly whipped around to the fighting stance.

'Annie!', the boy in front of me shouted. 'You made me spill your coffee.', he said as he knelt down on the floor and pointed.

I breathed out, relieved now.

'Felix, you scared the life out of me.', I breathed out, scolding.

'Sorry 'bout that.', he mumbled as he cleaned the spill. 'Do you want me to get you some more or?', he questioned, sticking the mug out towards me.

'Screw coffee, Felix.', I said, placing my hand to my forehead and one to my hip. 'I'd kinda like some explanations.'

He raised up from the ground, headed for the coffee maker, and I followed him through the apartment.

'Ask anything you'd like.', he said, sitting the mug down on the granite countertop. He hummed a little bit as he poured me another cup. I didn't peg him as a hummer.

'First of all, handcuffs? Are those from you?'

'Yup, they are.', he said nonchalantly, and handed me the mug.

I furrowed my brows at him and stared down into the hot black liquid. 'Why?'

'You were so drugged up. Didn't want you to hurt yourself.'

'Um..'

'Question two?', he asked, smiling, opening the cabinet to get a mug for himself.

I pointed over to the drapes, still not comfortable. 'Why'd you swat my hand away?'

'They can't see us, Annie, we can't take risks.'

'The commission?', I questioned, taking a sip.

'Obviously.'

'But our trackers...',

He grabbed my forearm, revealing a square white bandage I hadn't noticed yet. He had the same on his arm. 'I took them out while you were knocked out.'

I nodded slowly, processing.

'Question three.', I said, taking another sip. I hopped up, sitting on the opposite counter top, and he leaned back against the one with the coffee maker, wrapped in a soft black hoodie, identical to mine.

'Go for it.'

'Why are we in London? How'd we get here?'

He took a drink, swallowing hard and closing his eyes as the hot liquid went down. He looked like he might've just woken up as well. I looked at the clock on the electronic oven. 2 PM. Must've been napping.

'That's two questions actually...', he grumbled. 'But anyway, I had to get you out of there. Us, I had to get us out of there.', he corrected himself. 'Far away from the commission. They'll undoubtedly be looking for the both of us after what happened.'

I didn't remember that part.

'What happened?', I questioned, confused.

He swallowed another drink, then paused for a moment. 'I'm 99% sure I killed my mom.'

'Actually?'

He nodded slowly, regretfully. 'I hit her and run. Grabbed you and got you out of there.'

I nodded.

'You do remember the... the other stuff right?', he spoke slowly. I lifted my left hand, examining. Yes, so it wasn't a dream.

'We're married.', I said under my breath, coffee mug lifted to my lips.

'Yeah.', he said, in an unidentifiable tone of emotion.

I stared down at the ring. It was a nice one. Big diamond in the middle, diamonds lining the band. Pricey.

There was silence for just a moment. 'W... I'm going to reverse it, Annie. I promise. You don't have to be stuck with me.', he spoke, sounding almost guilty. 'I know you have him.'

I nodded slowly, not looking up at him. 'I think that's probably the least of our worries right now.', I whispered.

'Right. Guess you're right.'

I looked up, our eyes meeting. Those eyes. Those big brown eyes that looked just like his father's. I saw them in my memories, of the days he'd come into my cell, kissing me against my will, taunting me. Refusing to let me go while he watched me suffer.

'Why'd you do it?', I asked, not breaking the eye contact.

'Do what?'

'Why'd you bring me with you?'

He looked hurt at that question, and crossed the distance between the counter and the island, standing in front of me, placing his hand on my knee. I knew I should have shook it off, but I didn't.

'Annie, I care about you. I couldn't leave you behind.', he spoke, looking deep into my eyes. I took a sip of my coffee, bringing the mug between our faces.

'Yeah, you really screamed that loud and clear every time you watched and did nothing while they tortured me.', I spit, staring him down.

He looked down, even more hurt now. 'And every time you forced me to kiss you, when you knew I didn't want it.'

'All an act.', he whispered.

I scoffed. 'Somebody go and get your Oscar, because you convinced me.' I shook my head at him. 'Bull, Felix, how dumb do you think I am? '

'It was for my mom, Annie.', he said, in a low tone. 'I had to go along with her plans. I had to keep up the act. Just until I could find some way to get you out of there. Some opportunity to oust my mom.'

'Oh, yeah, and I'm sure you were ecstatic when she forced us to get married, huh? You happy about that?', I said, angered. 'Bet you pushed for it.'

'No, no, Annie, I promise.', he said quickly, taking a hand and placing it on my cheek. 'I mean I'm not exactly devastated by it but-'

'Unbelievable, Felix.'

'Annie, hey...', he said, and brushed a finger across my lower lip. I should've stopped him. Every fiber of my brain yelled 'Stop! You love Roman!', but every muscle of my heart sat back and let it happen.

I changed the subject before things escalated.

'So when can you take me home?'

His face completely changed. He looked sad, almost surprised. He was silent for a moment.

'I guess whenever this all blows over. But Annie...'

'What, Felix?', I said, impatiently.

'What about you being the Handler?', he said, softly.

I furrowed my brows. 'They actually meant that?'

'Well, I mean, not exactly.', he said, rubbing a hand up the back of his hair. 'It was a ploy to get you to cooperate, at first, concocted by my mom.'

'Shocker.'

'So what'd she really want? Your mom?', I questioned.

'She just wanted you dead, Annie.'

'And my uncle brought me to the commission knowing that?', I asked, appalled.

'No, Annie. They weren't in on the plan. Neither was your mom. Just me and mine.'

My mom. I hadn't thought of her in a while.

'Where are they?', I asked, realizing how long it'd been since I'd had contact with them.

'Infirmary. Caught the plague on a job in 1399. But don't worry about them.', he answered. 'Forget them, really, they aren't relevant.'

I blew playfully at him.

'Annie, look at me.', he said, grabbing both my hands. I let him.

'I'm going to make sure you're the next Handler of the Temps Commission.', he said, looking deeply again. 'And you know, maybe, if you wanted, I could lead by your side someday. Only if you wanted.'

'I-'

'Annie, please, this is right for you.' he said, rubbing my cheek. 'I know it.'

I was so deeply conflicted. So many whirling emotions. But then, a lightbulb went off in my head.

'You're destined to take down the commission'. I heard it loud and clear in Diego's voice. He'd recited it over and over to us all our lives, telling us our destiny.

An inside job. I knew the Handler had full access to all assassin affairs, and likely a whole lot more I didn't know about. It would make it all so much easier to fulfill. My face lit up.

'What?', Felix questioned, surprised.

I grabbed the sides of his face, kissing him on the lips passionately, until he broke away for air, eyebrows raised in shock, and coughed.

'Yes.', I said, smiling. 'Yes, I'll let you make me the Handler. Yes, you can lead with me. Just tell me what we need to do.'

And he stared back at me appalled, before we went right back to our kiss.