I officially just handed in my last assignment for the semester so I'm sitting in my PJs and striped socks right now and writing out the rest of the chapters to come. Expect more chapters to be posted in the coming (warmer) weeks. Haha and as always, thanks to all you guys who read/followed this far! I hope it's as interesting reading a spy thriller as it is writing one. I'm having a blast! Especially with the fight scenes because I have to look up techniques and videos and most guys in class think I'm learning to fight now. And don't be afraid to ask or PM me if you got a concern. All your reviews make me smile and I love how frazzled most of you sound hehe. (:

"One breath in this moment, we'll stay till we're chosen.
And through it all, with our eyes wide open, we'll fight 'till we're broken."

"We rise and fall."

He was ready to kill it.

He was ready to steal it.

Instead, the two stared at each other for the longest time, with one trying to calculate his risks, and the other trying not to black out.

When the initial penetrating fear wore off, Tooth whimpered behind her gag and tried to scramble further against the wall to get away from him as she watched his goggles look her over.

He took in her clothes, long flowing fabrics of blues, greens and gold, and he watched her shiver as the vent blew cold air on her bare arms and midriff.

From her dark Asiatic features, he guessed she was from around here, but her smudged makeup ruined her stunning face. Her hair was dark and wavy except for one strange blonde streak.

And she had these huge, expressive eyes that seemed to drink in everything, eyes with a color he couldn't make out in the shadows of the room but knew they weren't average.

The unfamiliar guest narrowed his eyes behind the goggles and moved slowly toward her, careful not to make any sudden movements.

When he was sure she wouldn't move, he reached up his hands. Tooth flinched, scared of a new weapon appearing and not at all prepared (or relieved) when she watched where his hands were actually going.

A moment later, his gas mask was off.

The cool air rushed around his face and blew his bangs into his eyes, but he didn't move.

He stared at her with a serious gaze as she took in his profile, then raised a gloved finger to his lips and narrowed his eyes. He needed her to be silent.

Tooth felt all the breath rush out of her nose.

Her heart pounded a little more painfully in her chest.

Her face grew really warm.

She took in his maple-colored eyes and perfectly messy brown hair that fell above his eyes through the moonlight in the dirty window. She also noticed his strong jaw and he had a couple of white hairs sprinkled around his scalp.

But he didn't look that much older than she was. He was maybe a year or two older so she guessed the white hair was probably genetic or from the stress that came with the job.

Wait. His job...Yeah, his JOB.

His job killing people. LIKE YOU.

Tooth abruptly stopped staring and jerked forward.

She tried to hit his jaw with her head, to get him away, but his reflexes were quicker.

The unmasked stranger pressed a hand to her chest and pushed her back hard against the wall.

The force of it was so strong that it knocked the breath out of Tooth and her eyes bugged out as she watched his gaze go from serious to cold.

"Don't even think about it," he whispered darkly and she heaved deeply, trying to ignore his large palm resting slightly above her breasts. All thoughts of him being cute flew out the window.

He scared the shit out of Tooth.

The guy then quickly moved his hands behind her head and without a second thought he untied the gag, letting it fall into Tooth's lap. When she felt the cold air dance around her mouth, she parted her lips ready to scream, but he quickly covered her mouth with his hand.

Tooth froze as he leaned back down to whisper to her.

"This is a warning," he breathed over the shell of her ear, his voice deep and husky. "Be quiet and stay hidden."

Tooth said nothing, visibly shivering under his touch, but the stranger took her silence as an understanding. When he moved his hand away, he reached back for his knife on the ground. She gave a shaky exhale and licked her dry lips.

"S-So you're not going t–" but he was immediately in her face again, holding a finger to his mouth.

The blade was held tightly in its grip.

Tooth chewed in the inside of her cheek. Her eyes began to sting with tears but she inhaled sharply and fought them down. As he moved around her and cut the binds on her wrists and ankles, he was relieved that she spoke English at least. It would make communicating with her much easier.

Once they were off, Tooth gratefully went to raise her hands to rub them but he caught them tightly and their jingles echoed loudly around the room.

He eyed her jewelry carefully then, flicking his brown eyes back to her round ones, he began to take them off slowly.

Tooth raised her eyebrows. He only wore one glove on his left while his milky, white skin on his right contrasted brightly against the dark.

"What are y–" But he gave her a hard look, like it was dumbest question to ask at the moment.

Which it was.

When all the bangles were placed on the floor, he looked at her expectedly.

Tooth understood and shakily reached up to unhook her large gold earrings and pulled down a gold arm band she had encircling her left bicep. She failed to notice how he pulled out the long, orange feather that was still stuck in her hair.

He stared at it for a second then eyed her weirdly.

This girl really liked a lot of colors.

When she was done unhooking a large gold choker around her neck, she moved into a kneel, but when he gestured at something on her blouse with his finger, Tooth looked down to her neck again.

A thin gold chain was still hiding under her sari. Pulling it out, she stared at it deeply.

It was a long, gold necklace with four, tiny, rainbow feathers on the end.

As she squeezed the chain, Tooth glanced up at him with a hard look.

"I can't part with this," she mouthed softly.

She watched him stare at it for a moment before he stood up so Tooth fished it down into her shirt again, close to her heart as always, then she tried getting up too.

Tooth stumbled as she tried to stretch her knees from being on the ground for so long. Thinking it was her long skirt that was still tangled around her legs, he flashed out his knife again and held her steady. Tooth watched as he cut the fabric until a whole piece was gone. Now the skirt was above her knees and gave her the ability to lift her legs easy.

When he stood to his full height, he held out his ungloved hand for her to take.

Tooth grabbed it nervously and let him help her stand. The touch was electric and his fingertips were like ice but when he went to move away, Tooth pulled back. He turned to eye her suspiciously but was met with the scared gaze of the dark-haired beauty.

"Who are you?" she mouthed through shaky lips.

He blinked before he glared back at the door ahead of them.

"Just call me Jack," he answered in his tenor voice so deep that the shortness of his name sent a chill down into Tooth's stomach. When she didn't move, he pulled his hand out of hers quickly.

"Come on," he muttered and he grabbed her upper arm and pulled her along with him.

...

Outside the door, other than the two guards he had killed that were holding her hostage, the entire corridor was empty. No one had come to check on her yet.

Jack rubbed his eye then quickly ushered her into the hall. He gestured for her to keep close as he moved ahead of her, his fingers twitching at his side.

Tooth tried to follow the way he placed and moved his feet. It was a bit hard considering he had much longer legs than her and he seemed more...lithe and more graceful on the balls of his feet. But she gave it her best, pretending she was in a game of laser tag and Jack was her partner.

It helped her feel like she was at her friend's twelve-year-old birthday party all over again. You know, minus the smell of wood and burning metal.

Or...was that blood?

She began to chew the inside of her cheek again. Pitch's men took her purse and she still felt anxious without her gum.

Tooth nearly bumped into Jack when he got to the end of the hallway and craned his neck to look around it. Jack wasn't exactly six feet, but she still felt incredibly small next him, seeing as she barely came up to his chin. 'Damn my shortness!' she cursed in her head.

When it looked like the coast was clear, Jack beckoned her with his finger and she tiptoed on her flats after him, wringing her naked wrists together. The corridor was freezing from the blowing AC but Jack looked unfazed as he pushed up his sleeves.

She still couldn't trust this guy, no matter how much he'd just done for her and...

...how...cutehewas–but the point WAS...for all she knew he was just stealing her from one criminal to deliver to another! But he was showing concern for her well-being at the moment and if that was what it took to get her out of this place, then that was enough.

She could figure out how to ditch him later and get help.

When they stepped over the dead bodies, Tooth pretended they weren't there and kept walking.

Yeah, she definitely couldn't trust him.

On the way around the corpses, Jack reached down and grabbed two silencer guns from both the men's holsters. After he checked how many rounds each had, he shoved one into his belt behind him and held the other tightly. He ran a hand through his hair stressfully.

Normally Jack hated guns. They made too much sound and caused a lot of collateral damage when he tried not to leave a trace. He was much better equipped at incapacitating someone with his hands when they couldn't spot him. He was good at being invisible to others.

But now that he had to protect this girl, and with the warehouse was on red alert, it would shorten the time he needed to get her away.

He still wondered what Pitch wanted with a tooth and a girl. But whether they were for different plans or the same, Jack knew he had to get her out.

Then he could figure out what to do with her himself.

When they turned the hall and entered another empty one, Tooth thought it was as good a time as any to let her curiosities slip.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" she whispered under her breath, glad he spoke English. Jack didn't say anything, thinking his silence was a loud enough message for her to shut up.

"How are you going to protect me if it's just you against like, a thousand?"

He gritted his teeth and flexed his ungloved fingers as they walked under a vent. It blew loud air into their faces.

"J-Jack," she tried out the name on her tongue. "Are you an assas–"

"Okay you need to be QUIET!" he whispered harshly as he turned to face her. "Did you forget what I said back there? So stop asking me questions, otherwise we are both f–"

Suddenly a long spray of bullets erupted over their heads.

Tooth yelled and covered her ears and Jack grabbed her and pushed her behind him.

"Keep moving!" he cried over the shots and Tooth sprinted down the hall in her blue-green flats.

Jack clicked the safety off his gun and spun quickly behind him. He narrowed his brown eyes and shot two, cold shots into the guard across the hall. When the hitman fell, Jack turned back around–

– only to hear Tooth's shoes screech to a halt as another shadow moved in front of her from a side hall.

She opened her mouth to yell out but Jack suddenly appeared at her side and flung her against the wall.

As she pressed herself to it, she watched Jack duck under the hitman's swipe with his weapon and spin into a flawless hook kick with his back leg. His heel came into contact with the guard's jaw so fast, Tooth gasped when the man cried out suddenly and stumbled away.

Jack recovered quickly and threw two silent hook punches to the goon's jaw and torso and followed with a reverse elbow strike to his throat, shattering his wind pipe. And when the guard tried to wheeze for air, Jack pressed his gun to his chest.

He pulled the trigger.

Tooth's eyes clamped her hands over her mouth to muffle her loud whimper. She heard the muffled pop from the silencer before Pitch's hitman slumped onto Jack's back. As he dropped the man silently onto the floor, Tooth inhaled heavily.

Jack's icy gaze flew up to hers before he reached over and took her wrist. He didn't give a crap when she tried to move away from his touch; he was just grateful his fighting skills were back.

He had been practicing with gang brawls and in underground fight tournaments weeks before he found Pitch's hideout. And sure, he probably knocked out more guys into a coma than he needed to but it was all worth it.

Pitch's hired help were no match for him as he yanked her down the hall.

...

As they moved quick and silent, Jack tried to map out his earlier trail in his head. He remembered that it was about here that he had passed through a small meeting room. When he saw it, he turned the knob and tried to barrel through but the two were met with a small group of Pitch's underlings coming through the other end.

Jack reeled back and immediately pushed Tooth down with his gun still up.

"Back! BACK!" he yelled and they both fell to the cold floor. As the bullets started flying, Tooth shut her eyes and crawled to hide under a table. Jack followed swiftly and when they reached it, he flipped it sideways and made a barricade to deflect the shots. As they clanked and pierced the metal wood, Jack unhooked the other gun from his belt.

Tooth clenched her teeth while Jack reached up to turn on the complink he stole from Pitch's guard. He listened to their report.

"Target has the tooth. Repeat: Target has the tooth. Second floor disturbance–" Jack whipped his head at her with a look bridging on shock and pissed.

This chick...She had the tooth?!

When she saw him stare at her, Tooth's eyes widened. He looked like he wanted to tear her head off.

"W–" But Jack turned away from her before she could finish.

"You gotta be freaking kidding me," he muttered loudly then not wasting any more time, he clicked the safety off the second gun and crouched up over the table.

He'd deal with her after.

Jack held both guns tightly and shot the bullets with controlled accuracy. He got three of the guards in their arms and two straight through their gas masks. He would've shot for longer but when a bullet almost grazed his ear, he knelt back down behind the table, taking a hard breath to control his nerves. Tooth watched as he glared at the wall.

This guy, Jack...he was frightening.

Incredibly cute as he was, he had a lot of cold fury running behind his smooth features. She could sense it, feel it...she was almost nonexistent to him as he focused on the men across the room. When he rubbed his eye, he flexed his pale fingers on the gun's trigger, his teeth clenched as he thought of better strategies in his head.

That's when she noticed...

He had amazing teeth!

Tooth made a small fist into her now-short skirt and squeezed her eyes shut again.

'Really?! You're thinking about that while all this is going on?!' Tooth inwardly cried. 'That's it! No more sneak offs to the Dentist school!'

That is, if she ever made it out alive and could go back to school.

When she opened them again, Jack was giving her a steely gaze. His lips were covering his teeth again and against her better judgement, Tooth was inwardly disappointed.

"When I call it, you move and I'll follow you," he barked and squeezed the gun's handle in his leather glove. "Got it?"

Tooth bit her bottom lip but nodded firmly. She decided that if she was gonna die, it might as well be in a dash for survival than waiting to get hit behind a table.

As if to agree, the table began to give way to a few bullets. "Crap!" Tooth yelled and began to move to Jack's side. He was already back over the table shooting at the remaining men. After he shot another in the chest, he turned to look at her quickly.

"Now!" and Tooth crouched up into a sprint with Jack on her heels. He was shooting behind him at the last man as they went back through the door.

"Argh!" the man cried as Jack slammed the door shut and the two bolted down the empty hallway.

Far away, they heard the voices echo in pursuit.

"Find them! The target still has the tooth! FIND HIM AND THIA!"

Tooth didn't really register what they were saying. The word target was still pounding in her head.

So was he a criminal just like them? Did he work for Pitch on some other level the other hitmen didn't know? What if this guy was a terrorist too?!

Tooth panicked as her flats pounded the concrete and her heart painfully raced in her chest.

This is was wrong, all wrong! This guy was most likely just as bad as Pitch and was she was willingly letting him lead her away to...somewhere she didn't even know!

Tooth looked around glaringly.

She needed to find another hall. She needed to lose him! She needed to get aw–

–but Jack grabbed her around the waist and swung with her into an open broom closet.

Then he slammed the door shut, locking them in. When the darkness engulfed them both, that's when Jack advanced on her.

...

"Where is it?" Jack whispered urgently as he frantically shifted over her and began patting the sides of her dress for any pockets. "Where is it?"

Tooth immediately tried slapping his hands away as a pink blush blossomed over her cheeks.

"What are you doing? Stop it!" she squeaked uncomfortably as he kept trying to move around her trembling arms to feel her around her skirt and blouse. He kept mumbling to himself.

"They said you have it. Where is it?!"

"Let go of me!"

"We need to g–" And Tooth forcefully put a hand to his chest to push him back.

"Jack!"

Her touch and her voice got through to him but he reacted by grabbing her upper arms. His voice was cold and demanding as he gripped her in frustration.

"Where is it!?"

"Where is what?!" Tooth hissed getting tired of the same question.

"The tooth! Do you have the tooth?!" he barked finally. His face was predatory.

"What the hell are y–"

"They said you have it," he explained and shook her in his grip to get her to understand. "So where is it? Just hand it over and I–"

"You idiot, I'm not carrying a tooth. My name is Tooth!" she shouted, clearly insulted, and Jack had to immediately clamp his hand over her mouth. A cold look passed over his face as his scowl deepened and his brown eyes narrowed to slits.

"Is that some kind of sick joke!?" he seethed.

"Why on earth would I kid at a time like this?!" she growled as she visibly shivered with rage. If she had feathers they'd be ruffled right about now. Tooth felt him drop a hand from one of her arms and lift a finger to point in her face. He had left icy trails all across her skin but she refused to look away from his unforgiving stare.

"Stop it," he accused her in a brisk, low tone. "They called you Thia so don't you try to l–"

"And if you did your research, you'd know my real name and that that's just my public name," she interrupted hotly. "Thia is short for Toothiana, as in Princess Toothiana...I'm the heir to the throne of Punjam Hy Loo."

When he didn't immediately reply back, Tooth glared up at him through her magenta eyes and knocked his finger away from her face.

He stared dumbly at her with his jaw slack. Jack immediately lifted his other hand away from where it was resting and took a step back.

"You're a...princess?"

She huffed and looked away from him, feeling a bit shy caught under his intense gaze but Jack missed it completely because his face drained of more color than was already possible for his pale complexion.

His head was pounding.

Chapter's soundtrack: "Rise & Fall" (feat. Krewella) – Adventure Club I think this might be Tooth and Jack's song for the story.