Finally, an update!

I'm so sorry I haven't been updating lately, I've been working on a few original fics and school has been hectic! I'm really sorry!

I will be trying to update more often, I promise!

Thank you guys for sticking with me!

-Lauren

x.x.x

Yassen and Anya arrived at Alex's house before Alex did. A rather startled Jack opened the door, and smiled as she saw Anya.

'Anya, it's nice to see you again,' she said politely, smiling at Anya and avoiding Yassen's gaze.

Jack didn't like Yassen. Ever since Alex told her who he really was, and what he'd done to Ian Rider, Jack had hated the man. She did not have any problems with Anya, just with her guardian.

'Nice to see you too,' replied Anya, smiling even though she was aware of the extreme awkwardness of the situation. Jack was probably wondering where Alex was, and why Ian Rider's murderer was standing in her house, but she was still smiling. Anya granted Jack the quality of being extremely good at masking her emotions.

'Alex walked home,' explained Yassen. 'He wanted to talk to us, but didn't want a lift.'

Jack muttered something under her breath and turned back to Yassen with a fake smile.

'Of course. Would you like any drinks?'

Yassen and Anya shook their head simultaneously, and all 3 hoped that Alex would get home quickly.

5 minutes later, Alex came in.

'Sorry Jack, I meant to ring you, but-' apologised Alex, but stopped as he realised it was a little late. He knew how much Jack disapproved of Yassen. Jack smiled at him and left for the kitchen.

'Did you need to talk to us about something?' asked Yassen, looking straight at Alex. Alex still hadn't got quite used to the fact that the gaze that used to scare him to death belonged to one of his friends' uncles.

'Yes,' said Alex. 'I think the CIA is up to something.' Alex didn't waste any time getting to the point. Alex sat down on the couch in the living room and indicated for Anya and Yassen to do the same.

'What leads you to believe that?' asked Yassen. Alex was an observant boy, whatever he had seen was probably accurate and a trustworthy source.

'There's a CIA agent planted in our school.'

'Wouldn't that just be to keep an eye on you?' asked Anya.

'No, that's what Miss Treat is there for,' said Alex. 'And if it was just to keep an eye on me, Tamara wouldn't have been so secretive.'

Yassen's thoughts stopped in their tracks.

Tamara.

'Tamara who?' he asked, just to be sure, even though he already knew the answer.

'Tamara Knight.'

x.x.x

Yassen froze as soon as he heard her name.

Tamara Knight.

The one woman that he would never forget – apart from Anya and his own mother.

And there Yassen was thinking he would never see her again.

He didn't know what to think, and when this happens to a world-class assassin, something bad is definitely about to happen.

x.x.x

'Do you know her?' asked Alex, studying the curious expression on Yassen's face. It wasn't one he could decipher easily. Yassen's training had obviously been of some use.

'Briefly,' said Yassen, with a tone of finality.

Alex was curious, but not so curious that he was willing to brave Yassen and whatever emotion Tamara Knight had uncovered in him.

'How did you know her?' asked Anya, obviously more willing to ask than Alex was, or less afraid of Yassen.

Yassen didn't answer for a few seconds, and then looked out the window.

'Anya, it's getting late. Thank you for your hospitality, Alex. We should go,' he said, avoiding Alex's gaze.

'You can stay for dinner,' offered Alex.

'No, we should go; I'm sure Jack would not appreciate us intruding any further,' said Yassen, and Alex admitted he had to agree. He wondered why Yassen became so touchy at the mention of a single CIA agent.

x.x.x

Anya and Yassen didn't talk over dinner; it was an awkward night. Anya wanted to ask more about Yassen and what he knew about Tamara, but she knew it was dangerous to, and she knew that Yassen had no desire whatsoever to talk about it. She also didn't want to intrude on her uncle's private memories, but she was burning with curiosity.

Yassen was the first to break the silence.

'You heard what Alex said; there's a CIA agent planted in the school. She might be looking for me. We weren't exactly careful on that last "adventure",' said Yassen. Anya nodded. 'So don't mention my name – ever. Don't talk about anything suspicious, even with Alex. I have a feeling that Tamara Knight is not the only CIA agent in place, and that's completely apart from all the MI6 agents at that school.' Anya nodded again. 'If they ask any questions, you know nothing. You don't know anything about Alex, either. If anything happens, don't contact me unless it's absolutely necessary. When you're walking home, check for any followers. Ok?'

'Ok,' said Anya, nodding again.

x.x.x

It had been a still night.

For Tamara Knight, it was just another day of work. She had been placed into the organisation to investigate, and so far things were going well. She didn't think that anyone inside the company suspected her – most of them liked her, and didn't ask too many questions. She had been steadily gathering information, and tonight she was planning to break into the archive library. It would give her all the information that she needed, and once she had done that, she could leave.

Fingering the gun under her jacket, she stepped inside. She'd stolen the codes from one of the guards – it had been almost too easy. Silently, she closed the door and was enveloped in darkness. She reached for her torch, but someone else turned on the lights.

'Hands up,' said a cold voice. Tamara looked around her and saw over a dozen men with guns pointing at her. She had no choice but to surrender. Slowly she raised her palms and tasted bitter defeat.

One of the men grabbed her and took her gun, and the man who was in charge just laughed.

'Yassen,' he said. 'Dispose of her. I don't want to see her in the morning.'

Yassen had taken one look at the girl and wondered how old she was. She couldn't have been more than 20 – what was she doing here? But he couldn't argue with his boss.

'Yes,' he said emotionlessly. His boss handed him a zip tie, and he took it. His footsteps and the girl's uneven breathing were the only sounds in the library.

Expertly Yassen grabbed the girl's hands and tied them together, and pushed her to one of the back rooms, out of the sight of his boss. For once, he was torn.

He could see the fear in her eyes – he could see that she was terrified. She thought she was going to die. She could see the deadness in his eyes, and she didn't think she would survive.

She didn't know that she was in the room with the best assassin in the world, or that he had a heart.

She was too young, he thought. Too young to be in spy work. Too young to be caught up in intelligence agencies. Too young, like he had been.

'Please,' she whispered. She didn't think it would help, but anything was worth a try at this point.

'What's your name?' he asked.

He knew that slowly and steadily, he was losing control. Never ask someone you're about to kill their name. It personalises them – it makes them human. Yassen had no trouble killing people – he'd killed more than he could count. But… there was something about this girl. Something different.

'Tamara Knight,' she said, quivering.

Why was she so young? And why didn't he just kill her? It was a simple matter – he just had to take out his gun, load it, and pull the trigger. His boss would dispose of the body, and the girl called Tamara Knight would just be another figure in his long list of murders.

But as he reached for the gun, he realised he was shaking. Shaking?! Yassen Gregorovich did not shake.

'How old are you?' asked Yassen.

That was his second mistake. Maybe he could have killed her if he only knew her name – everybody had a name, whether Yassen knew it or not. But asking her age? That would make it near impossible to kill her. What on earth was he doing? The questions were just slipping out of his mouth – it was as if his brain was trying to make an excuse not to kill her.

But why?

'19,' she replied, looking like she was about to cry.

Yassen paused.

19?! She had only just reached adulthood! She had probably been forced to become a spy. How could he kill her now? She hadn't done anything wrong – and she was only 19! Yassen wanted to kick himself – now that he knew she was 19, he could never kill her.

And then, to top it all off, the girl started to cry.

She looked like she could have been in high school, and didn't look like a spy at all.

Yassen knew he couldn't kill her now.

Where a normal person would have patted her on the shoulder if it was a normal situation, all of Yassen's normal human instincts had been curbed by many years of assassination training. So he just stood, petrified, not knowing what to do. He tried reaching for the gun, but he couldn't bring it out.

Cursing himself, he grabbed her around the waist and hoisted the girl over his shoulder.

'Shh,' he whispered to her, with the slightest trace of emotion.

The crying stopped, and she tried to keep quiet. She knew calling for help would be no good now; she just had to hope and put all her trust in the man that was carrying her.

He opened the door and stepped out onto the beach, making no noise as he stepped across the sand. They went on for a minute in silence, when he put her down on the ground, when they were at the rowing shed. He grabbed a kayak with an oar with his free hand and seemingly effortlessly dragged it down onto the beach, still carrying the girl on his shoulder.

He had no idea why he was doing this. He had no idea why he wanted to save this girl. He really didn't – his mind was just going mad, and he couldn't stop it.

'Get in,' he whispered softly, and surprisingly, instead of running, she obeyed. Maybe she saw the little bit of compassion in his eyes, or maybe she was just stupid.

He pushed the kayak off the beach, and hopped in himself. He started to paddle, and they continued silently into the sea, splashes of water the only sound around.

The mainland was a few kilometres away, but Yassen could easily make it. He would tell his boss that he drowned the girl – it was an effective way of getting rid of a body quickly – the sharks would usually get them before the police did. He shuddered as he thought of the sharks getting this small, shivering, 19 year old girl, and then wondered why the thought was so horrendous to him.

When they were away from the island, Yassen contemplated saying something to the girl, just to put her out of her fear.

'I'm going to take you to the mainland, and drop you off. Just run. Don't come near this company again.'

The girl nodded.

'Thank you,' she whispered. She wanted to ask why, but decided not to push her luck.

'Disappear, for your sake as well as mine,' said Yassen. Tamara nodded. 'Why?' was the question on her lips, but she didn't say anything.

Silence enveloped them, and soon the mainland was visible. It only took them a few minutes to reach the shore, and it was deserted.

Yassen stopped a few metres short of the shore, and took out his knife, and cut the zip tie.

'Thank you,' said Tamara again.

Yassen didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything.

'Go,' he said, eventually. Tamara hesitated for a moment, and knowing that it was extremely dangerous, leant forward and kissed him on the cheek before stepping out of the boat and disappearing into the darkness.

Yassen was so stunned that he didn't move for a few minutes, but eventually tried to keep his mind off it, sighed and rowed back to the island in solitude.

x.x.x