is this the only way?

(I'm sorry if this is an awful starter. x.x)

Death row had been a frightening experience for Faye, even more so when she hadn't actually committed the crime that had earned her the spot. She'd been framed by her own friend for killing a cop. It was no surprise that it hadn't been investigated much, considering the police force just wanted to make somebody pay for the crime. And, considering her friend had volunteered as a witness, she didn't stand a chance.

When it was time for her execution, she'd been terrified. It was meant to be a lethal injection and she had lost consciousness within moments of being injected. And that was supposed to be all, she was supposed to be dead and it was supposed to be over. Instead, though, she ended up waking up in a strange room. It was plain and white and the only things in the room was the bed she had woken up on and a camera in the corner. Immediately, she felt panicked and confused.

Was she even dead? Had she woken up in whichever afterlife she belonged in? Or was she going crazy? She was scared, the same fright and terror from her experiences lately shaking her to her core and all she wanted to do was get out and run, figure out where she was. And, she attempted to leave. Rising from the bed, she went straight to the door and tried to open it but it wouldn't budge, which caused the panic to rise in her.

---

Every time that Jacob and Bonnie both got a call from the organization to come in for a meeting, Jacob always worried that somebody had caught onto their relationship. The main rule within the organization was to not fall in love, for it caused weakness. Sex was acceptable. Relationships, though? That would mean immediate death. And, that was the last thing that he wanted, for either Bonnie or himself, but especially for Bonnie. She didn't deserve death and he didn't want to lose her, even if his death would follow right after.

As he approached the meeting room - a large room built of glass but that had shutters to keep those outside of the room from snooping, - Jacob moved to open the door, not hesitating as he entered. If he hesitated, the higher ups might become suspicious and that was the last thing he wanted, especially if they were still unaware of his relationship with Bonnie. Upon entering, he moved to take a seat without a word.

They were meant to wait for Bonnie to show up now. He had made sure to tell her to wait for him to go there first, to let him assess the situation. This was a usual thing for him, each time they were called in together. It didn't seem like they were in any danger, though, and, before long, he slipped his hand into his pocket to discreetly type a text to her. Everything seems clear. Just be careful when you come in, anyways.

“She’s awake,” Those were the words Lang had been waiting for, the beefy security guard glanced over to where Lang was sitting as they were both watching the camera in the girls room. “Finally,” Lang groaned as he had been waiting for over two hours for this girl to wake up, usually new recruits didn’t take this long to wake up. Standing up he left the security room and walked through the hallways, this was his first time training a new recruit and he was nervous although he kept that hidden. He wasn’t going to show much emotion to this girl, he had been through the training himself and it taught him everything he needed to know about being the best assassin he could be.

Reaching the holding cell, he unlocked and opened the door before stepping in. The door closing and locking again behind him, his dark eyes focused on the girl. She was clearly terrified and so she should be, he remembered waking up in one of the cells and he thought his panic would give him a heart attack. “My name is Lang Cooper, I’m here to get the decision that you will need to make. You will either join us and learn how to be an assassin, or you will die by our hands. Which will it be?” He asked the question that every new recruit was given, he stood there perfectly still as he watched her.

He had already read over her file, she killed a cop and her friend was the witness. Even though Faye didn’t have a criminal record and her friend did, but he knew how the police force worked and they just wanted someone to be punished for killing one of them. She didn’t look like she would hurt a fly, but looks can be deceiving and Lang knew that. However she was slim and shorter than him, not by much though, she certainly didn’t look like she could overpower someone. Although that is why he was there, to train her if that is what she wanted. If she refused, then they would kill her and she would stay dead this time.

---

Bonnie hated this part, she hated that Jacob offered to go into every meeting ahead of her. It would give her a chance to run if their secret relationship was found out, she probably wouldn’t get far though. She’d be in pain over losing the man she had fallen in love with, if they could even kill Jake. They had both been trained by the best in the organization, a man who was naturally cold hearted and the perfect assassin. However he still past down all of his knowledge onto whoever he felt was worthy, so far that has only ever been Bonnie and Jacob.

She waited for the text like every other time they were called in for a meeting, normally assassins aren’t given a partner to work with. Honestly it’s because most assassins don’t get along, but the bosses thought Bonnie and Jacob would make the perfect lethal team and they did. She sighed softly when her phone buzzed, she pulled herself together and walked over to the large meeting room. Entering the room she sat on the armchair that was beside Jake, she didn’t look at him as she played it cool. Like she has done for the past two months, their relationship was still only new and exciting.

Two files were handed to them, Bonnie looked through her files thoroughly while Jake scanned his quickly and shut it. They could be so different in how they worked, but they worked together amazingly and always got the job done. “A lawyer in France is trafficking sex slaves, these men are all important and wealthy. They need to be taught a lesson, while the lawyer needs to die.” An older man briefly explained as the file held more information that they would need, this was usually how the meetings went for new missions. Little was actually spoken, as the files had listed everything that needed to happen for the mission to be complete.

“The jet will be leaving in three hours,” The same man spoke before he waved his hand towards the door, telling Bonnie it was time for her and Jake to leave. Standing she walked out with her file in hand, she could feel Jake behind her and once they were far enough away from the meeting room she turned to look at the handsome blonde. “I’ve always wanted to visit France,” She gave him a small smile as they walked through the hallways of the building.

"What?" Faye asked quietly, though she took several steps away from the man, eyes wide. Despite that she knew that there was nothing in the room she could use, she glanced around the room in hopes of finding some way to keep this man away because she didn't want to die. He sounded crazy. Did he expect her to join and be an assassin? Did he actually expect her to believe that kind of thing was real? And, even if it was, she wasn't a killer; she didn't want to be an assassin. She didn't want anything to do with any of this. All she wanted to do was get out of there and run, find somewhere to hide and pretend that she hadn't heard any of this. She had to be dreaming. Wasn't she supposed to be dead? How could anybody expect her to become an assassin? It sounded ridiculous!

There was nothing to use against this man, of course. And, even if there was, she doubted that she would actually be able to use it against the man. She just wasn't a violent person and she doubted that, even if she was, she could hurt him. If he was an assassin - God, thinking such a thing made her think she was losing her mind, - then he was definitely stronger than her and he was probably skilled enough to fight her off and kill her without a problem. Still, even if she couldn't fight him, maybe the door was still unlocked? It had to be if he had come in here, right? She hoped so, anyways. He wouldn't just walk into a room without being able to get out, would he? This was insane.

Still, even with how crazy it sounded to her, she rushed to the door anyways and tried to open it. It was locked, though, and she quickly pounded her fists against it. "Let me out!" she cried, her panic rising as she realized that she was probably going to die. This panic was much worse than how she had felt when she had been going to her own execution, though. The lethal injection was meant to be painless and quick, but this - the idea of somebody actively killing her made her certain that it would be prolonged and painful and the very thought brought tears to her eyes. "I don't want to die - please, just let me go," she cried out, "I don't belong here!"

---

There was a huge amount of relief that Jacob felt when it was clear that this was really just another mission. He, of course, never let it show, especially in front of the higher ups. Hell, he rarely even let Bonnie see his relief each time. But he knew it was probably something they both felt each time. They were close and he knew that it wasn't always necessary to express his relief because he was sure that Bonnie could probably just tell. As long as nobody else noticed, then everything would be okay and they could continue on with their private, secret relationship. That was mostly what was going through his mind as he flipped through the file that he was given, just a quick scan, and closed it as he listened to the man giving them the basic rundown of the mission.

The basic rundown of the mission was as simple as it usually was. There wasn't any necessary information in the man's words that gave Jacob any interest. He'd skim through the file later, figure out their targets and the targets' schedules. Most rich and powerful people kept a strict schedule to how their daily activities went, as they weren't aware of just how dangerous that was. But, it made it easier for the assassins like himself and Bonnie in the long run. And, if the mission was simple and easy to get through, then they could have a short break - not a long one or one that could be enjoyed for as long as either of them would prefer - and they could just spend time alone and enjoy the fact that another mission was over with.

Moving to stand up, he followed Bonnie out quietly and it was only when they were far enough away that she spoke. Her words brought a small amused expression to his features and he quirked a brow. "Looks like now is your chance, in that case," he told her, though he kept his voice low to avoid others interrupting them. "If we finish it early, we could always spend a few more days there after reporting in, say our flight got delayed." He shrugged slightly, figuring that it couldn't hurt. They wouldn't be required to come straight back, anyways, and they'd just need to be debriefed on the mission, which they could easily do over the phone. Then, they'd be free until they were called for their next mission.

Lang had been expecting the girl to try and escape, he had done the exact same time when he first woke up in the strange unfamiliar room. But he wasn’t stupid, he wasn’t going to leave the door unlocked so she could escape from the room. Even if she did, she wouldn’t get very far and she would only get punished for attempting to escape. He stood there but turned his head to look at her, “Screaming and crying isn’t going to help you. Only we can help you now, Faye. You murdered a human being, in front of a friend who went straight to the police. You have blood on your hands,” He spoke calmly as he watched her, he knew exactly how she was feeling.

Fear was gripping her tightly and wasn’t letting her go, she needed to fight or flee and her fleeing attempt hadn’t worked for her. Of course if she did try to fight him, she would sorely fail but there have been new recruits who had tried to fight their way out. They usually ended up laying on the white tile floor, bleeding and dead. “Try to calm down, your body isn’t reacting well to all the fear and stress.” It was easier said than done which he knew first hand, but if she could start to calm herself down then it would be easier for him to talk to her and explain things. If she didn’t calm down on her own then he would need to help her, he would overpower her which would be easy and inject her with drugs which would knock her unconscious for a short period of time.

“If you don’t calm down, I’ll be forced to do make you.” He warned her even if he didn’t want to use the drugs, he had a needle safely in the pocket of his pants. “Sit down on the bed and I can explain all of this to you, I really don’t want to hurt you.” He told her honestly as his voice softened, he hated this part. He had watched this happen a few times so he was prepared for his first ever student, which was Faye so he knew that he needed to stay calm himself. He didn’t want to worsen her fear but physically forcing her, but if she didn’t listen to him then it would come to that.

---

Bonnie could see the relief in Jacob’s eyes, the emotion that had also flooded her body once the meeting ended and they were still alive. There were times when she thought if she ended the relationship, things would be better because they wouldn’t go through so much fear and stress of being found out. But then she knew it would hurt too much to break up with Jacob, she didn’t want to stop their secret relationship which is why she never brought up the subject of ending things between them. “We’ll be finishing this mission as soon as we possibly can, because there isn’t a chance of me going to France and not going shopping.” She kept her voice soft but a smile was sent to Jacob as they walked together through the many hallways, if time got tight in France she wouldn’t even report in until she had done her shopping.

It was an outlet for her, being an assassin could take a toll on people. Bonnie found shopping, pampering herself and Jacob to be her outlets that she needed to have after every mission. It’s why sex was allowed among the assassins, the bosses thought that would give them a way to relax after missions. It was never something Bonnie was interested in, the only assassin she wanted to be with was the man walking beside her and she planned on keeping it that way for a very long time to come. “I heard there’s a new recruit being brought in today, poor Lang was given the task of teaching.” It was one thing Bonnie hadn’t done yet, teaching a new recruit on how to be an assassin and she didn’t want to be asked.

She must preferred being out in the field, taking down every horrible person that she could. She had patience but she remembered how bad she had been when she first joined the company, she wasn’t sure if she could deal with that every single day until the new person either got better or had to be killed off because they were so horrible at learning. But Lang was a different kind of assassin, he was usually given the longer missions because he had all the patience in the world and it didn’t bother him if he had to sit in a car for hours on end watching a house. Turning back to Jacob she gave him another smile, “We need to get packed and get to the plane.” Every assassin had a bag packed at all times, but Bonnie always liked to add in a few times before every mission. So she’d be more prepared and comfortable, besides it was a long flight to France.

What was this guy even talking about? How did he think they could help her? She'd been framed and this guy seemed to believe the story that Faye's friend had told. It drove her crazy. How could people think that she was capable of something like that? Would anybody believe her if they actually knew her? "I didn't murder anybody," she breathed out, though her panic was making it hard to breathe, much less to talk. Even when she could see that the door was locked and wasn't going to open, she didn't want to give up on it. It was her only real option.

Her hand slammed against the door and her eyes watered as she screamed, "Somebody, help me! Let me out!" She could barely register the man telling her to try to calm down, but it felt impossible at this point. She just wanted out, away from this. If this man was there to kill her, couldn't he just hurry up and get it over with? It wasn't fair. She slid down to her knees, her hand still on the door and she tried to focus on steadying her breathing, but it was hard when she could feel herself growing near to sobbing.

And hearing him say that he'd have to make her calm down or hurt her if she didn't calm down on her own only forced another way of panic and sobs to burst through her. "I just want out," she managed, though her voice was quiet and desperate, "Please, just let me out."

---

Amusement flashed across Jacob's eyes, because he wasn't even surprised that Bonnie's mind was on shopping in France. He knew how much she loved shopping and he knew why she loved it so much. "As long as you don't expect me to follow you to every shop you plan to visit," he said casually. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with her, but he knew that she would likely binge shop and that meant that she'd likely shop for hours on end, probably even hours into the night, and he didn't really think he would enjoy being a part of that. He could only take so much shopping.

He followed her as they walked, mostly focused on avoiding bumping into anybody who passed by them and avoiding attracting attention to them. He was careful when it came to keeping their relationship a secret. There was too much at risk if they were found out and he certainly didn't want to risk losing Bonnie. The thought itself put pain in his chest and he forced it away by focusing on what she had said. "Ah, right. I heard about that," he said with a small nod. He wasn't particularly close to Lang, but they had worked together on occasion.

"I'm sure he'll manage," he assured, figuring that Bonnie might be a little worried about it. They all knew how recruits tended to react, after all. Turning his attention ahead, he was relieved when they finally got outside. "It shouldn't take us too long to pack. Then again, who knows what all you plan to bring along?" he teased lightly.