Chapter 9

A/N: Wow, the response for the last chapter was amazing, thank you for that! I feel like I'm disappointing y'all because this sucks so much, so I am sorry for this chapter.

When Dan wakes, the sunlight blinds him temporarily and he's confused by the sound of rolling waves that don't belong near his loft and the low thread count of sheets he's wrapped up in that don't feel familiar at all.

It's not until he sits up, swiping a hand across his eyes as they search around the room blearily, that he takes in the details of the room and understands where exactly he is.

Dan's shoulders sag slightly in disappointment. Honestly, the whole thing had been so surreal that he'd been certain that he'd dreamt the whole thing. Leaving his home with a woman who had - what, abducted him? Only to visit some place she claims she lives in located in the Bronx, and then to drive up here to the Hamptons because he's in danger? There's just...There's no logic in that. He's not a dangerous guy. He's not overly famous. He's just a writer.

Plus, Serena had just seemed too unreal. Her lonely eyes were too lovey, the plump of her lips when she smiles and the crinkles by her eyes were too perfect. And she hadn't made any sense, just like the whole scenario hadn't.

Dan scrambles from the bed and rummages through his backpack, comes up empty for a robe. Yet he doesn't feel quite awake enough to change out of the pajamas he'd brought- He doesn't even normally wear pajamas, he just felt the need to protect his modesty in front of her- so he decides to simply man up and waltz out in the rest of the house in his pajamas in bare feet. Serena can't really complain about his presentation; though that doesn't stop him from taking a quick glance in the mirror and running his hands through his puffy bed hair.

He finds Serena downstairs, already dressed in jeans and loose peasant top, humming to herself as she alternates between frying eggs and glancing at something on her laptop.

It makes him pause and rest against the doorway of the kitchen, drinking her in. She's acting...differently. There's a slight bob to her walk as she hums, smiling just slightly as her head also bounces along to the song, soft tendrils of her golden hair slipping from her braid and softly caressing her cheeks.

This is the Serena he wants to know.

Dan clears his throat and Serena jumps violently, letting out the tiniest of shrieks and dropping the pan of eggs she'd held in her hands.

He can't help but burst out laughing at the way Serena quickly scrambles to grab the pan and save the eggs, glowering towards him from where she crouches on the floor. He doesn't dare take a step forward to try and help, knows that it's a lost cause and she'll only manage to hurt him in some way if he even dares.

Once Serena gathers the pan and shoves it back onto the stove, skin flushed a light shade of pink now, he heads into the room.

"I thought this was all a dream and now I'm scaring a trained killer? Yep, definitely a dream."

Serena rolls her eyes at him as she places the recently cooked eggs onto a plate with some bacon and toast. "I wasn't expecting you to be awake. I'm not used to have company here."

"I can tell by the way you were humming away to yourself there." He tells her grinning.

It only earns him a more heated look- the angry kind.

"Anyway," he hurries on before she can hurt him, "I thought you assassin people were supposed to have this sixth sense? Know when someone's following you or creeping up on you?"

Serena has to stifle a laugh at that, her eyes shining with something that just about brims on the edge of amusement and annoyance. "Dan, how much tv do you actually watch?"

"Enough." He replies indignantly and bravely risks stealing a slice of toast from her plate.

It simply earns him a slap to the wrist from her warm spatula and he cries out in a mixture of suprise and mock-pain, pulling puppy dog eyes on her. They usually work on his son, but Serena seems indifferent to them, instead grins widely at him as she takes a bite of the same piece of toast he'd originally tried to steal.

"Not fair." He pouts.

"I told you, Dan, I'm not your maid. Feed yourself." Serena tells him between her next bite of toast and then wanders back off to her laptop, placed at the end of the counter by the stools.

He groans, but moves on to making himself some food.

On a scale of one to ten, Serena is certain that she is 100 if she were to rate how embarassed she is.

It's not because of how he made her shriek and drop the pan. That's what anyone's reaction to being snuck up upon would be. No, it's mainly because of the fact that she let him sneak up on her at all and that he'd caught her humming and dancing around as she cooked. She's supposed to be the professional killer who's here to look after him until he's safe again. Not entertainment.

Serena ducks her head and hides behind the few strands of hair that have escaped from her braid, chewing on her bacon as she watches her laptop, bored. She'd uploaded her recent calls and was tracing down Carmichael's number, but each time she had been sure that she'd got a hit, it'd turn out to be wrong and just a red herring. The guy was good to say the least. He definitely didn't want her to find him.

After a while Serena grows bored of the food, finds that she has no appetite when things aren't working out according to her plan and shoves the plate in Dan's direction. His delightfully sleepy face lights up at the food and he places the burnt toast he'd just made in the bin, accepting the food eagerly.

"Oh, hey, I got you a burner cell. For you to call your son on." She tells him, hopping from the stool and crossing the kitchen to rummage through a pile of things she'd collected on her shopping trip yesterday.

"His name's Milo."

Serena turns to him, cell phone in hand, with an eyebrow raised. "Dan, I know."

But this doesn't seem to help matters at all. Instead his expression grows darker as he studies her and accepts the cell phone she passes to him, almost glowering at her, even though she doesn't feel like she's done anything wrong at all.

"Then call him by his name. Milo. He's not just my son; he's a human being with his own life. Okay?" Dan growls angrily.

If she wasn't so trained at her pokerface, Serena's sure that her cool facade would've slipped in that moment. The only time he had looked so angry was when she'd told him that he had to leave Milo- though it was in order to help Dan protect him.

"Okay." She agrees quietly, heading back over to her laptop.

There's an awkward silence between them, filled only by the tapping of her keyboard as she furiously tries to at least locate who the hell owns the damn phone that called her. All she's got is the name Carmichael and the fact that he used to work with her Dad.

Serena has to stop as the thought crosses her mind, eyes closing as she rests her head in her hands and tries to calm her heartbeat.. It'd been 12 years now.

Her hands shake as she presses them against her forehead, rubbing gently at her temple as the memories threaten to spill free; remembering all too well the green grass of his funeral and the sky that had stretched on for miles upon miles as she'd laid on the ground with a bullet in her heart, her red blood mixing with the grass as she'd felt her life leave her body.

"Hey- Are you okay?"

Serena finds herself sucked from the twisted memories by Dan's voice, startles when she looks up and he's right there, hands resting on her shoulders as he studies her.

She shoves him away aggressively without thinking, slipping from the stool and starting to pace it off. "I'm fine, Dan. I'm fine."

Dan hesitates around her for a moment, but her pacing mixed with the storm she feels brewing in her expression warns him away, so he gives in and leaves her to her mind and the swirl of memories that torture her every night.

Sometime later, Dan finds himself getting dressed, burner cell clutched in hand as he paces around his room like a caged animal. He doesn't know what to do. Should he call Milo? Does he really need to?

He doesn't think he should, because despite Serena reassuring him that as long as he keeps the conversation brief nobody should be able to track down the phone, there's still the risk of putting Milo in danger for no reason whatsoever. Milo is safe, for now. Serena said so and Serena would know, right? Serena seemed to know that someone was after him, though he had no idea why and that they were solely out for his blood; not his sons. His son didn't need to be mixed up in this.

But then this is what he needs. He needs to call Milo and hear his voice, make sure that he's really okay and just strengthen his lie of an alibi for not being at home. He just- Milo is the one thing he has in his life beside his father, and his father, though he loves him, turned into an unreliable character after his divorce. Milo is innocent and loves him with all of his heart and doesn't plan on ever becoming anything other than a permanent figure in his life. His crutch. Without Milo, he has nothing. His fame, his wealth, even his books, could never weigh up to how much he needs Milo. His little boy.

"Dan?"

He glances up to find Serena watching him carefully.

"Yeah?"

"You gonna call him?"

"I might do." He answers uneasily. He's not all too comfortable with Serena talking about Milo to be honest. Serena doesn't seem as though she'd hurt him- after all, she's saving his life- but she's done nothing to prove that her loyality strays far enough to protect his family.

"Well, let me know when you're going to, okay?"

He feels anger rise inside his chest at that. "Why, Serena? You have to monitor my every move?" He snaps.

Serena sighs, leaning against the doorframe, almost patronizing when she speaks. "No, Dan. But I need to make sure you don't give away too much information or stay on the phone too long."

"Why? Why does it matter how much I tell my son? As far as I'm aware, he is none of your business." Dan growls, rising to his feet. "How am I supposed to even trust you with my son's life? What stops one of them from going out there and taking him?"

"Dan, these guys- they don't want to make a big deal. They like small, quiet murders. That is why they get away with it. That's why I get away with it." She reasons with him patiently. "They won't harm Milo because then Milo will be reported missing and then the police will get involved and that mixed with the countless bodies of the murders they've ordered doesn't bode well for them."

"You seem to know a lot about people who I've never even seen, Serena. How do I know that you're not even making the whole thing up? From what I've seen the only danger here is you!"

They stand in an almost stunned silence for a moment, Dan's chest heaving wildly from his outburst, anger blazing through his veins as he glares at her and waits for her to answer. But Serena can simply feel nothing but shame flooding through her, threatening to make her blush.

"How- How-" Serena flounders for a moment, but then her jaw sets and the fire returns to her eyes. "You know what? If you don't like it, you can go back to your place and you get both, you and your son, killed. Doesn't affect me. I'm not being paid to do this."

But Dan just steps closer to her, crowding her against the wall. She can feel her heart hammering in her chest and she's certain the wild beat of her pulse shows in the column of her throat. She gulps at his close proximity, the anger in his eyes and the rebling of his hands as he reaches out and presses a hand against her cheek, spreading warmth throughout her like a wildfire.

"Then why are you doing this, Serena?"

She gulps, slack-jawed as she stares at him, at a loss for words.

Because she really doesn't know why.

"I don't know." She admits quietly.

Dan sighs, leaning forward to press his forehead against hers and she doesn't quite know what to do, leaning against the wall with his hand on her cheek and his forehead resting against hers. It's not unwelcome. Her body's reaction to him clearly enjoys this. But her mind is racing, practically yelling at her to run while she has the chance, because something about this guy is different, but this guy is going to be heading back to his regular life soon and has no time for someone like her. She wouldn't expect him to. She's not even sure she'd want him to.

"Serena." He sighs, breath washing over her lips and she can taste it on the tip of her tongue.

She's giddy with it all but raises her palms to his chest, shoving him away lightly. He doesn't resist, but keeps his vulnerable brown eyes on hers.

"Call Milo, Dan."

And so he does.