"Come in," Agent 47 said when he heard a knock on his bedroom door. He adjusted the drawstring on the pajama pants he wore.
Nika opened the door, "Good morning," she chirped in her accent.
He turned to see her dressed in black fitted sweat pants and a powder blue spandex tank top that showed her tone yet feminine arms, "Morning," he answered.
"Did you sleep well?"
"I did."
"Good, um, Elaine is making breakfast and I told her how you like your omelette. Only egg whites with green and red bell peppers, mushrooms and cheddar cheese, right?"
He blinked not expecting her to be accurate, "Yes, how did you know?"
With an amused expression she told him, "That's what you ordered in Moscow. You're not the only one with a good memory."
"Right," he remembered and felt a little embarrassed that he forgot, "thank you."
"It's nothing. After, I am going to the gym. Would you like to come?"
"Why? You have a gym here?"
"I know but there is a rock climbing wall that I like. So, are you coming?"
He had planned on doing his workout regimen in her gym but wanted to spend time with her, "Yes, I'll be down in a minute."
"All right, I'll see you in a bit," she closed the door.
When they arrived at the gym, he opened the door for her and she kindly thanked him. He immediately noticed most of the men staring at her as they went over to the treadmill; he protectively put his hand on the small of her back.
She held back a smile when he placed his hand on her back and glared at the men in the gym, "So, I'm going to run on the treadmill and you?"
He saw the man on the treadmill next to her undress her with his eyes, "Yes, I always start off with cardio," he unzipped his Nike jacket.
Her eyes grew large when he removed his jacket to reveal the black tank top he wore. His muscular chest and arms amazed her but also reminded her of how long it had been since she was last intimate with a man.
"Nika, are you all right?" He asked noticing her gawking at him.
"Uh..yes," she felt embarrassed for staring at him like some hormone driven teenage girl. She turned on the treadmill to distract herself.
Bringing his fore and middle fingers to his neck, Agent 47 checked his pulse while he ran. His eyes wandered to his left where Nika was. Sweat dripped down her beautiful face then onto her heaving chest and toned stomach. In quiet awe, he watched her run. He felt his heart rate increase and knew it wasn't because of his running.
She finished her usual forty minutes of running and stepped off the treadmill. A minute later he did the same, he took out two water bottles and towels from her gym bag and handed one of each to her.
"Thanks," she said trying to catch her breath before wiping her head with a towel.
He nodded then drank from the bottle.
They stood close to one another panting and catching the scent of sweat on their bodies. When their eyes met they saw an undeniable yearning that had been building ever since Istanbul. In the facility where Agent 47 was raised, he was told that women were a tempting distraction; he never understood what that meant until that moment.
"When did you quit smoking?" He asked to ease the tension.
"How did you know?" She asked him as she started to walk towards the rock climbing wall.
"There are no ashtrays in your home and you wouldn't be able to run if you were still smoking," he kept pace with her.
She liked how he picked up the littlest details about her, "Almost four months. I saw a hypnotist and now I don't even want to smoke even when I'm near smokers." she happily told him.
"That's really good, Nika," he touched her back.
"Well it also feels good too. It's like I'm lighter now," she picked up the harnesses and handed him one.
After they finished putting on the climbing gear, she turned to him wearing a sly grin, "Race?"
"Are you sure?" He looked at her and saw a hint of arrogance on her face.
"Yes, why?"
"The place I was raised, they made us climb a wall like this. And I was the best climber."
"Well, that was then," she grabbed a pair modular holds, "you never raced me before and I am pretty good."
"I'd like to see that," he copied her gesture and held onto the wall.
"OK, Barry turn on the buzzer!" She yelled to the gym staffer, "Whoever hits the buzzer first wins. Best two out of three."
"Let's do it," he said with in an almost challenging tone of voice.
Barry looked down at the both them, "Start climbing when I blow my whistle," he brought the whistle to his lips and blew it.
Agent 47 swiftly climbed the wall using the path he had mapped out in his head but to his shock, Nika was not far behind him. By one second, he beat her to the buzzer. They returned to the floor.
"That was impressive," she told him, "good job."
"Thank you, you did well at keeping up with me."
"Thanks, but next time I will beat you," she said with dignity.
He grinned, "We'll see."
"Are you two going again?" Barry asked.
"Yes, two more times!"
"All right!" He blew his whistle.
This time Nika kept pace with him and hit the buzzer seconds before he could even reach for it.
He couldn't believe that she beat him.
"I told you so." she happily bobbed her head when he joined her on the floor.
Annoyed and a little angry, he kept his eyes on the wall, "We're tied but not for long."
"That is what you think," she confidently claimed.
When Barry blew his whistle again they leapt onto the wall and were neck and neck. Agent 47 proudly reached for the buzzer. Then Nika's delicate hand appeared underneath his and slammed the buzzer.
"I win!" Nika cheered as they repelled down the wall. When their feet were on the floor she started to dance and sing, "I beat you, I beat you. I'm the better climber. I win, I win and you lose, YOU LOSE!" She pointed at him.
He set his jaw and folded his arms, "Best out of five."
She blinked, not expecting to receive the glare he was giving her, "What? No, I have to go to the Feeding America food bank and volunteer today. I won, get over it."
"Come on, you really think you're the better climber. Let's go again," he almost yelled.
Stunned and irate, she put her hands on her hips, "No!" Her tone was adamant, "I have more important things to do today like feeding the hungry instead of staying here and helping you fix your bruised male ego! Now let's go home!" she stormed off.
At that moment, a part of him wanted to revert to his old ways and put her in the trunk of the car. He knew he couldn't and followed her out the door.
After closing the car door, Nika put the soundproof partition up so Carl could not hear them as he drove.
In a soft voice she broke the silence and asked him, "I'm going to be at the food bank for most of the day. Do you want to come? They need people to help unload the trucks; mostly it's the men who do that."
Keeping his eyes on the window, "Yeah," his tone curt.
An exasperated sigh left her lips, "Oh come on, please don't do this."
"Do what?" His voice was deep.
"Shut down on me. What is the big deal? I only beat you climbing a stupid wall."
He finally looked at her with furious eyes, "You're the one that challenged me then obnoxiously gloated! Did you really have to dance and sing like that? It was embarrassing!" He heard his voice grow in volume but didn't care; he hated losing to her and wanted to win the argument.
"Ok, maybe I went overboard with celebrating-.."
"Maybe?" He glared at her.
She knew he was right, "I did, ok! I shouldn't have..I'm a bad winner but you're a sore loser. It's not like I climbed the wall killed four assassins then climbed right back down before you did! No one wins all the time, no one is perfect!"
"Well I was raised to be!" He yelled out and realized how irrational he sounded but wouldn't admit it.
His words cut through her; she began to understand why he acted so rigid, controlling and cold in the beginning of their relationship. She spoke in an understanding tone.
"Nothing with a pulse is perfect," she told him. "You know that, you've seen it." She saw him a release a sigh and some of his anger from his body.
His eyes locked with hers, he struggled trying to decide what to say to her. He knew she had a valid point but he wasn't used to being proven wrong.
With sympathetic eyes, she stared at him wanting to hear him speak his mind.
The pity he saw in her face was familiar to him; he had looked at her the same way after she told him how she was forced into prostitution. It also confirmed what he had always believed; he was just as damaged as she was.
"Ms. Petrova, we're home," Carl said over the intercom.
"Thank you Carl," she answered still looking at him.
When the car stopped, Agent 47 exited without saying a word.
Feeling defeated, Nika followed him into her home.