Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me and I make no money with it.

Summary: Time keeps passing, training picks up, wounds are healing, and a certain assassin keeps haunting his thoughts.

Warnings: The third part of this has some explicit smut stuff in it. Well, it's not really all that explicit for my standards, but, you know. Just warning you guys of the boy-smut ahead, for those who may not be so comfortable with this pairing. (Though then I wonder, why are you reading this?)

Edited: 23.12.10

34. Stars

Date: Feb. 9th (Sunday) - 10.34 am (Timeline: http :/ shiruy. livejournal. com/ 3602. html)

"Oof!"

He hit the ground with a dull thud, stars exploding behind his eyes, and rolled once before coming to a stop on his stomach, his cheek pressed against the hard floor. His right knee and upper back were throbbing in time with his heartbeat.

Fucking. Hell. Ouch.

There were several seconds of silence before slow, heavy steps started to creep closer and he could feel the vibrations against his cheekbone, warning him of his opponent's proximity. He kept his eyes closed and forced his breathing to start slowing down.

The other stopped directly behind him and there was a rustle of clothes as the person crouched down. "Alex?"

He didn't react. Any second now...

"Hey, you with me?"

A questioning hand slipped onto his shoulder and he threw himself back and around, landing his elbow smack dab in the other's midriff. There was an aborted gasp and Alex finished twisting around and into a crouch, using his momentum to pounce on the larger man and bring him to the ground. Another split-second and he had slipped one hand around his opponets throat, the other over his nose, knees pinning the other's arms to his side. If he wanted to, he could strangle him.

Ben blinked up at him, wide-eyed and wheezing. "You... cheated."

The teen grinned and leaned back, balancing his weight on his heels instead of his training partner's chest. "You never called an out."

The soldier stared up at him in disbelief. "I thought... I'd knocked you out."

"Better luck next time," Alex chuckled and rolled off the other, getting to his feet and stretching his arms above his head. He might have won, but he was going to be sore all over tomorrow. When he turned around Ben was slowly getting to his feet, rubbing at his chest. The blond frowned. "You okay?"

"Yeah." The man pushed himself upright and took a few deep breaths. "Just a bit winded. That was a pretty good hit."

"Hmm. Thanks." The teen leaned against one of the empty bookcases standing against the walls, absently running his fingertips over the smooth wood. These had once housed countless books and files, not a single one of which he had ever been allowed to read. He wondered what they had done with all of Ian's stuff, if there had been something personal in his office as well or if it had been all work-related.

Ben shook out his shoulders, then took a ready stance. "Come on, we have time for one more round."

Date: Feb. 5th (Wednesday) - 13.10 pm (Timeline: http :/ shiruy. livejournal. com/ 3602. html)

"Hey."

Alex looked up as Tom fell into the chair across from him, lunch tray clattering onto the table. He stopped picking at his own meal and tried to smile, but the effort was half-hearted at best. "Hey."

Tom stared at him for a moment before obviously deciding that discretion was the better part of valour. "So did you choose your electives for next term yet?"

"Uh, no," the blond frowned. Electives? When had that list been handed out? Well, maybe it was in that giant stack of papers he had received this morning after his delightful little chat with the headmaster.

"I'm gonna keep up soccer, of course, but I was thinking about maybe taking astronomy, too," the other teen went on. "Miller's teaching that, and from what I've heard she's pretty cool."

"It also doesn't hurt that she's hot, of course," Alex remarked with a slight grin.

"Yeah, it also doesn't hurt that she's hot," Tom snickered, waggling his eyebrows.

The blond chuckled. "Sorry to break it to you, but I thinks she's married and has a kid."

"Pfff, who cares? Doesn't mean I can't look, now does it?"

The spy leaned forward and put his chin in his hand, picking up his fork to absentmindedly poke at his food. "Isn't that a little weird? She's got to be thirty at least..."

Tom rolled his eyes. "Oh, whatever. I mean, it'd be weird if anything ever happened, but she's a teacher. There's no chance in hell, therefore I can enjoy the view however much I want."

Alex speared a single noodle, held it up consideringly, then put the fork down and pushed the plate away. He hadn't been very hungry lately. "Hmm."

The other teen glanced up from where he had started in on his own lunch, frowing slightly. "Is this about your French life-saver?"

The blond blinked uncomprehendingly, for a few seconds having no idea what his friend was talking about, but then he got it and groaned, tempted to bury his face in his arms. "I told you, she's not French."

"So where's she from then?"

The spy bit his lip, hesitating for a second. This conversation was going in a direction he really wasn't all that keen on. "Russia."

"Ohh, a hot Russian lady!" Tom grinned. "What does she look like?"

"Not important," Alex said firmly, shaking his head. "So you're gonna take astronomy?"

"Oh no, you're not getting away this time," the other teen chuckled. "She must have made quite the impression if you're still thinking about her."

"You're the one who brought her up," the blond pointed out.

"Psh, whatever," Tom waved him off. "So how old is she? Twenty? Twenty-five?"

Alex groaned again. "Can't you just drop it?"

"Twenty-eight? Thirty?" The other teen grinned brightly.

The blond answered with a dirty look.

"Come on, Alex," Tom chuckled. "Just tell me how old she is and I'll leave you alone for a while."

The spy considered the offer for a few moments, then sighed resignedly. "I don't know exactly, okay? H-she... must be in her mid-thirties or so. She knew my father."

The other's eyebrows went up at this. "She knew your dad? Wow. How come?"

"I told you her age," the blond reminded his friend.

Tom rolled his eyes. "You guessed her age. Which is pretty woah by the way, 'cause mid-thirties means she's like twenty years older than you. But fine, I'll leave it for now. But don't think I'll forget about this!"

To be honest, Alex hoped that his friend would do exactly that.

"So. Electives...?"

Date: Feb. 7th (Friday) - 19.16 pm (Timeline: http :/ shiruy. livejournal. com/ 3602. html)

Rating: M

The water beat down on his head and he closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall. The cool tiles felt good on his shoulders, soothing the stinging the warm water caused on his burn scars. The doctors had told him the area was likely to become almost completely numb and if he didn't exercise carefully he could lose some of his flexibility, and while he knew the latter was true and he could feel almost nothing when he touched the bullet scar on his chest, his shoulders seemed determined to make themselves the exception.

Maybe it was because the skin was still healing, but right now even the slightest touch tingled, a shirt brushing over his back was a constant distraction, and someone placing a hand on his shoulder too firmly downright hurt. He hoped this effect would wear off soon because living with part of his body in a perpetual state of hypersensitivity was definitely not his idea of fun; not to mention that it placed him in some awkard situations. He didn't even want to imagine how this could be used against him if anyone found out. If it stayed as bad as it was now...

He raised his right hand and carefully trailed his fingertips over the edge of the mostly healed burn to test it, biting his lip against the sparks tingling down his back, causing heat to pool in his stomach. He shivered, his arms erupting into goosebumps, and slowly smoothed his palm over his shoulder, moaning at the heady rush of sensation.

Damnit. He sighed and looked down, noting with resignation that he was already half-hard. This was getting ridiculous.

He'd noticed that the scar was very sensitive while he was still in hospital, but he hadn't thought much of it at the time. Only when he came home on the day before his birthday and used that scar treatment lotion stuff the doctor prescribed had he become aware that the hypersensitivity wasn't necessarily a bad thing... only he wasn't sure that it was all that good either. Needless to say, he'd declined Jack's offers to help him with the lotion.

Now here he was, debating whether to indulge or not, and he wasn't all that sorry to admit that his hormones were winning the argument. Jack had said that dinner would be ready in half an hour, but that was still plenty of time, right?

He grinned a little, amused at himself. Teenagers really were as bad as everyone said, weren't they? Just look at Tom, drooling after a teacher even though she was so much older. And he himself, always thinking about...

Suddenly angry, he dug his fingers into his shoulder, gritting his teeth against the pain as white dots appeared in his vision. He held his grip for a few seconds, then had to let go, sagging against the wall. Why couldn't he go even a single day without his thoughts straying to that man? The constant dreams every other night were bad enough, so why couldn't he get his mind on other things during the day at least?

Weren't crushes supposed to fade with time instead of getting stronger?

He lightly stroked over his stinging scar, over the already fading grooves left by his nails. Over a month since they had parted ways and still the Russian's voice, his touches, the way there was a spark of something in his stoic gaze kept ghosting through Alex's mind and dreams. He let his head fall back against the tiles, closing his eyes against the water, and smoothed his hand over his shoulder blade like before. He wondered what it'd feel like if Yassen did this, the large hands covering more space than he could himself with only his right, the man's callouses scratching just a little on his sensitive skin...

He shuddered and bit down on his lip, letting his free hand trail down his chest. If Yassen were here in the shower with him...

The larger man would push him up against the wall just like he was now, slipping his knee in between the teen's, pressing close. Alex spread his legs as if the assassin was there, moaning as he fisted his own arousal, wishing someone else was doing it for him. Yassen would place his hand on his shoulder, on the juncture of his neck, like that one time... the thumb stroking up, making the blond tip his head to the side, the long fingers splayed out over his nape, teasing along the edge of the scar.

"Oh god..." the spy murmured thickly, his own hand trailing over his shoulder, sending almost painful sparks of pleasure down his spine. Fuck, he wanted Yassen here; he wanted to know what the man felt like, sounded like. Did he taste the way he smelled? How would he touch him?

His breathing sped up even as he was forcing himself to stroke himself slowly, be patient. Maybe that was the way the assassin would do it, slow and firm, always in control... He gasped and sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, worried it between his teeth. Would Yassen be rough or careful? He thought of the marks on his neck, the assassin's fingerprints overlaying Frank's hickey for days after that night he accidentally startled the Russian. It wouldn't be so bad to wear those marks again, only this time caused by the man's mouth instead of his hand, sucking at his neck, biting, stinging just enough to send a jolt straight down to the teen's groin.

He lightly scratched his nails over the side of his throat and groaned at the sensation, the knot of tension in his stomach growing tighter and tighter. So close...

What would it feel like to get down on his knees and suck the assassin's cock, let it fill his mouth? He only had a vague idea about how exactly that worked and what one had to do, getting all his information from a couple of pictures he'd seen online and the jokes in the locker room. But the thought of getting to do that to the Russian, taste him and breathe in his scent...

He sucked in a sharp breath before letting out a strangled moan as his orgasm uncoiled with sudden force, sending waves of pleasure racing along his nerves. His fingers dug into his skin and he trembled, his knees buckling under him as for a few seconds he felt absolutely perfect.

Then the light spots in his vision started to clear up and he found himself sitting in the pooling water on the floor of the shower, having slid down the wall. He sighed shakily and rubbed at his flushed face, the world feeling just a little bit unsteady around him.

God, this had to stop.