QLFC Reserve League

S1, R2

Beater 2:

"Told my new roommate not to let you in

But you so damn good with a bobby pin

Now you gon' play me like a violin

Hittin' these notes, oh,"

- Walls Could Talk, Halsey

TW: Discussion of Organized Crime; Sexual Content References; Swearing; Death Threat

James has had a shitty day.

Which, to be fair, most days were shitty with his life.

Evans, to whom he was engaged for the sake of keeping a good cover, was annoying as usual and her actions were starting to grate on his nerves. More than once he'd caught himself fantasizing about snapping her neck, quick and clean, but he couldn't.

The best way to keep yourself hidden is to change most of the known aspects of yourselves and James did just so. The contacts he wore everyday changed his eyes to blue, his hair looked naturally dirty blonde, and he'd gotten piercings.

The piercings are perhaps the only part of his look that he looks; especially since Sirius is rather talented and the whole process hadn't been as terrible as James had been anticipating.

His roommate is aware that James is an ex–hitman, coming from a family of contract killers and assassins himself, though he did not get into the business. Instead, he married a kind man named Remus, who James is 100% sure is not a Librarian like he says he is.

He takes his contacts out as he walks, the action easy with all the times he's disguised himself. They go back into the container and he puts them in his pocket again.

James rolls his shoulders as he comes up to his door, only for alarm bells to ring in his head at the lock. It was obviously picked and he pressed his hand against the door carefully, sliding his hand under his shirt. The door makes no noise as he pushes it open, his gun sliding into his hand.

He cocks it and creeps through his apartment, listening for any noises. There are none, but he keeps his gun ready. Then—

A clink. Almost unnoticeable but James heard it anyway. There is a sound, almost like metal sliding against fabric. The trespasser has a knife most likely.

Slowly, he gets to the edge of the wall, steadies himself, and then turns. His gun is up and pointed at the couch in a moment, only for a knife to whiz past his head. Familiar mercury eyes widen a fraction and James hisses in shock.

"Regulus?"

His ex–partner/boyfriend waves casually, spread out on his couch as if he owns it. "James," he greets happily, stretching his neck to look past James. He makes an aggrieved noise. "Would you be a darling and grab my blade for me?"

James blinks at his gall before shaking his head. He spins around and winces at the sight of a knife in the wall, sunk to the hilt. "Does Sirius know you're here?" he asks as he tugs the knife from the wall. He tosses it back and Regulus catches it.

"Yup. He left like 10 minutes ago to get groceries. We're having French food tonight," Regulus answers lazily.

"That's nice," James grunts. "Why are you here?"

Regulus hums, standing up, and James' breath catches in his throat when he stretches. His back arches, arms brought up over his head, and his black clothing is skin tight. James knows every inch of the skin underneath it too.

There is a smirk that says that Regulus knows exactly what he's doing and James glares at him, trying to fight the desire stirring inside of him. "Well," Regulus drawls, rolling his head. "I was in the area for a job and I thought to myself, 'my brother lives in the area. Maybe he'll save me a bill and let me stay with him.' And guess what? He did! But what I didn't know is that my boyfriend lives here too."

James grit his teeth, breathing in through his nose. "Ex–boyfriend," he corrects, reminding himself that he is engaged, no matter how half–hearted the attempts are. "And you're here for something else? What is it? Does the boss want me back?"

A sigh. "He does," Regulus admits, looking a bit rankled. "The ranks were skewered after you left because you were a valuable asset, James; one of the best. And then you just… upped and left. There is a high profile target and your skills would be invaluable."

"No," James refutes. "I left for a reason, I'm not going back."

Regulus raises a brow. "Name your price and Boss will meet it."

"I don't want the money!"

"Then what?" Regulus asks. "Don't tell me you don't miss it—the rush, the blood, the excitement- me. Don't tell me you don't miss chasing after the targets, the fights when they weren't spineless mice—"

"YES I MISS IT!" James roars, blurting out the truth because fuck, he missed it. He'd been raised to do what he did and he did it well, with passion and refined skill, but he left because being so close to Regulus left him vulnerable.

It made James dangerous to be around when it was just the two of them, if any enemies caught wind and it left Regulus in danger as well. Not that he wasn't talented or experienced, but it wasn't a chance James was willing to take after Bangkok. When James got personally involved, it got messy, and when it got messy, it meant that they could find him. Which was bad.

James shook his head to clear it off the emotional clutter and breathed out carefully, clenching his hands into fists so tight that his nails pierced his skin. "I miss it so much but I left for a reason," he bites out, voice tense and angry. "It doesn't matter why; but I did and I'm not going to change it."

A close proximity to Regulus meant that James would be enticed and he is trying so hard to avoid that.

He receives a raised brow. Regulus' eyes rove over him and they seem to be searching for something. "I left the boss for a reason, Reg– ulus," James forces him to finish his name rather than reverting back to his nickname.

Regulus smirks at him.

James ignores the way it makes his body reacts.

You are stronger than this, he reminds himself.

His past experiences with Regulus told himself that was a lie.

"I'm not going back, I'm not joining the ranks again," James says firmly. "I don't care what the boss is offering—I refuse. I room with Sirius now and I have a much more stable job, that doesn't involve me traveling to every known country in the world."

And a fiance, but she wasn't exactly important. Maybe for James' cover but not to him personally.

It was a daily struggle to not slit her throat while she chattered about some inane, mundane thing that James couldn't care less about.

Regulus sighs. "If you say so," he says, examining his manicured nails. "But we both know you liked the traveling. Remember when you said that you wanted to make love to me in every way, in every country we went too. Nobody has yet to compare to our coupling under the stars in Australia," Regulus murmurs lightly, slowly stalking up to him. "Trust me; I've looked."

Those words alone set a fire under James' sternum. He forces himself to stamp down the rage, the jealousy, the possessiveness—he will not give into Regulus words.

There is just a bit of disappointment in Regulus' eyes as James keeps himself calm. His hips roll as he comes closer and James forces his eyes up, mind glitching when attacked by Regulus' visage and his words, both alluring and seductive. "Do not try to feed me these lies, James," he hisses, lips barely moving, and James stops breathing when a hand cups the back of his neck.

"Do not do that," James snarls, irrationally angry, but then again maybe it's not irrational when Regulus thinks he can just… toy his way back to James. "I'm not one of your targets. Do not treat me like one."

Regulus tilts his head to the side and raises a brow as James shakes his head, his warm hand sliding off his neck. "If you say so," he says flippantly and James wants to throttle him and kiss him in equal measures.

He pulls his phone out and examines something, humming underneath his breath. "I will be apprehending my target in two days time. I need a pretend body–guard. Sirius is already going as my business partner, so we need somebody for protection," he says, grimacing as though the word is distasteful.

"No," he says with a shake of his head.

Regulus hums. "No? What about a paramour? Or you can come as… what do they call it… arm candy? Eye candy? A very attractive distraction," he offers and James continues to just shake his head.

"I'm engaged," he deadpans, trying to prolong the fact that he is slowly going insane under Regulus mechanics. "I'm engaged, I'm going to get married this summer, and I do not pride myself in being an adulterer."

Regulus raises a brow. "You're only an adulterer, if you're married," he says, though his eyes drag down to James' left hand. Mercury eyes gain a gleam that tells James of Regulus' rage and his heart flutters in his chest, despite everything.

There is a moment of silence, as Regulus' eyes never leave his ring, and then they drag back up to look at his face. Mercury eyes look almost feral with rage. It's far more attractive than James remembered it being. "And it seems you won't even get to the wedding," Regulus intones coolly, voice dangerously soft. "It seems that I have two targets while I am here."

The words inspire no negative reactions from him, though the desire that bursts through James could be considered a horrific thing. Regulus is terribly attractive when plotting people's demise and it always leads to mind–blowing sex after too.

He bites the inside of his lip and shakes his head. "I'm not doing this," he tells him. "You can kill her but I won't get back with you. I'll find somebody else."

Regulus looks back up at him and his eyes rove over James' face. "If you can't even wear your real face with anybody except Sirius and I," Regulus murmurs, "then who deserves you? Who is worth all the time and effort into cultivating a fake personality and then you marry them? They're going to expect things from you James and we both know I know all of you. If you can't fight in front of them, bloody and tired but unwilling to give up, then they don't deserve you on a lazy day, when you're sleepy and looking angelic in the morning light."

A hand cups his face and James leans down, putty in Regulus hand. His words echo in his head and his breath catches and he reaches up wordlessly, wrapping his fingers around Regulus' wrist. His thumb rubs over Regulus' pulse point and he can feel the jump of a heartbeat underneath his fingers.

"I used the lock picks from Dubai to get into here," Regulus whispers, referencing to James' first courting gift when they confessed their mutual attraction to each other. His eyes search for something on James' face and then they soften. "And I'll use them again to get back into your heart, James Potter."

James silently acquiesces that it won't take much.

But then again Regulus never actually left, did he?