vibes in general

You click your pen meticulously as you examine the schematics of the building Jackal was currently in. You toggled one of the buttons, triggering the body heat sensor. A soft chuckle emitted from you as you saw Jackal’s figure carefully stalking through the building.

“People on your six,” you told him, setting the pen aside, “there’s a closet to your left, go in there till they pass.”

“Too many?” He guessed, his voice coming through the comms. You nodded, though he couldn’t see it, “bingo. About five people. Looks like three of them are carrying guns, and you don’t want to get into a gunfight.”

Jackal’s figure slipped into the closet, his breathing heavy as he waited for your command.

“So.” You started, resting your face in your hands as you stared blissfully at the screen. You heard Jackal sigh. “What do you wanna talk about?”

Jackal was quiet for a moment, but you saw his hand come to rub his temples through the screen. You rolled your eyes. “I have a job to do. No time for your incessant need to try and woo me.” He remarked.

“It’s not incessant,” you argued, “it’s called testing how well you handle distractions, J.” You tapped the side of your head with your finger, brows raised suggestively.

“Obviously I handle them well, otherwise I’d drop you.” He muttered under his breath. “Is it clear?”

You waited for a moment, humming, “not yet, they’re chatting, hold on for a bit.” You replied affirmatively. “Are you saying I’m too good to kill? Wow, what a compliment from your stoic self.”

“Didn’t say kill.” Jackal refuted. You nodded, letting out a soft laugh. Your eyes followed the men as they began to walk off. “You’re good to go.”

Jackal crept out of the closet and walked on through the building. “Where’s the target?” He asked.

You searched through the building, humming a quiet tune as you did so, “floor above you, room in the far-right corner.” You nodded.

You weren’t exactly sure what brought you to this. Helping the famed Jackal get his hits through. You hadn’t even seen his face—at least not without the ridiculous disguises. Not even in the three years you’ve been accomplices. He didn’t trust you yet, but that wasn’t much of a problem to you. If you were in his shoes, you wouldn’t even trust your own family.

Jackal always carried a phone with him; not one he needed to dispose of regularly like he used to. You had been kind enough to rig the phone he had to not be able to be used to track him or the people he was calling. Meaning, whenever you got a call from your lovely, emotionally constipated hitman, it wouldn’t even trace to you. Truly amazing handiwork, if you said so yourself.

A loud gunshot was heard through the comms. “Target down.” He spoke gruffly. His tone was always a bit more choked whenever he dropped a target, but he wasn’t the type to get all mushy and come to you of all people about it.

“Quick exit down the fire escape. Pull the fire alarm as you go, the craze will let you get away without any attention drawn.” You said, shifting to your next computer screen as you heard a ping. “The money is being wired to your account as we speak, Mary Poppins.”

Jackal grumbled at that, the fire alarm blaring as you heard the echo of his steps. “I’ll get back to you when I’m in the clear.” He stated. “Remember our protocol.”

“Roger.” You cut contact and stared at the picture. It was a composite drawing of the Jackal, or, at least what they thought he looked like. It could not have been more far off, and it made you chuckle. You pressed a button, clicking your keys as you sent it to his phone with an amused (and sarcastic) ‘wow I finally saw your face!!’

There had been numerous Jackal facial compositions over the years, and somehow they were all utterly terrible and looked nothing like Jackal, even if you hadn’t seen his true face, you knew he looked nothing like that. It was laughable, really.

Though, each time they popped up, you worked your magic and had them destroyed or lost to the web as a meme some Redditor (aka you on an alternative account) came up with for a random thing made with AI. No one took AI seriously. You didn’t want to risk him getting caught. Even if the sketches were shit.

The first time you ever got involved with Jackal was when he had apparently heard of your ‘impressive work’, as he’d say in that smooth voice of his. You were just some nobody working at a tech company, and you were only twenty-nine at the time in a small apartment in New York. The fact Jackal had gone international just to meet you was a bit flattering, but he was very intimidating and sort of reminded you of Batman if he was skinny and lean. Maybe more like Robin, actually. He was wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a surgical mask to hide his face, which had felt like overkill to you, if you were being honest. It was summer, for christ’s sake.

Nonetheless, Jackal was… somewhat kind. He wouldn’t threaten you. He did at some point, and you had burst into tears—he gave up and hasn’t done it since. You’d think you’d be used to that type of shit in New York.

Since then, you and Jackal have been long distance friends… kind of? You lived in Paris now, since it’d be easier for Jackal to get to you without flying a whole ten hours (which was freakishly far, you wondered where he was in his downtime). Leaving New York was for your own benefit too, of course. You had no family there, and your friends were under the impression you got an amazing job opportunity. Unbeknownst to them, that job opportunity was helping an underground sniping legend. Who you happened to have fallen for a few months into said job. His accent is really what did it, honestly.

After a few more weeks from the last job, Jackal had another one, and you were his confidant yet again. Probably your favorite part of it all, if you were honest. Getting to playfully flirt with him was the highlight of your day, even if it ticked him off a little bit.

This job was in Paris, so, to your delight, Jackal would be on site near you to prepare. You had insisted he stay with you, but, of course, he was as untrusting as a cat and outright refused.

And yet, in the late night, he used the very same overkill disguise when you two first met, and showed to your doorstep.

“Jack, what a surprise.” You said with a snort, opening your door wider for him to enter.

“Police were outside the hotels and Airbnb’s nearby.” He replied gruffly. You chuckled, “they’re on high alert because you’ve been taking more hits lately.” You shrug. “Don’t you think it’s annoying that they couldn’t give less of a fuck if it was a random person than if it was a big name? It’s so pathetic.” You mutter, mostly to yourself as you head towards your kitchen. “Oh, no. A corrupt fascist got popped in the head.” You added sarcastically.

“PR.” Was all he said, dropping his bag on your table, hesitantly removing his cap, a subtle glance at you, skeptic. You cracked a glimpse in his direction. “Oh, you’re a redhead. No wonder you’re so freckly!” You laughed.

Jackal scoffed. “I’m not a redhead.” He denied. You rolled your eyes in amusement, “so you’re just an average white man?” You joked.

“What’re the schematics for the opera house?” He changed the subject and tussled his hair, likely having been in his cap for a while. You got the memo—you were playful but not an idiot, you knew when he wanted to talk business—and nodded and went to your computer setup, muttering to yourself as you pulled it up on your screen. “So, this opera singer really pissed your guy off, huh?” You asked Jackal, going to the main auditorium part of the building.

“I don’t really care.” Jackal leaned over the desk, his hand resting in the back of your chair. As you went through the schematics, he perked up, “hey.”

“Hey~!” You grinned cheekily. He shot you a look of impatience. “No, hey, as in look.” He pointed at the screen. “Will you indulge me just this once?” You asked quietly, but followed Jackal’s finger to the top of the auditorium where a large ring that was mostly inhabited by the richest of the rich was set. But just above that, was the perfect vantage point for Jackal to take the shot.

You hummed, “nice eye.” You praised, looking at him with a grin. “Sure you can take it?”

He huffed at that. “‘Course I can.” He retorted, “show me what it looks like on the inside.”

“So full of demands.” You tut, shaking your head, “one day, you know, I will worm my way into your circle.”

He chuckled dryly, “somehow, I highly doubt that.”

“Why’s that?” You rose a brow, spinning your chair to face him fully. He set his hand on the arm of your chair, looking closely at you. “Because I know you were an MI6 agent.”

You blinked, staring at him. “I wiped that from every document you could get your hands on…?”

“You’re not the only one good with computers.”

You scoffed as you shook your head. “You’re such a dick, you know that?” You zoomed into the building, a glower in the direction of Jackal.

“You should consider yourself lucky enough to even know me as you do.” Jackal stated and spun your chair back to face the screen, wordlessly telling you to get back to work. “Oh, believe me, I do. And you should consider yourself lucky to even have me on your side. You’ve never even been in the vicinity of another agent. And you’ve got me to thank.”

He paused for a moment before sighing. “Thank you.” He spoke with an oddity, one you didn’t really pick up on until you spoke.

“You’re welcome.” The smile you fostered dropped, stopping in your tracks as it hit you. He noticed and looked at you, his brows furrowed. A solemn look made its way onto your face as you turned to meet his gaze. “Why can’t I ever tell when you’re being sincere, Jackal?”

“Because I don’t want you to know.” He replied stiffly. You opened your mouth to speak, rubbing your nape as you turned back over to continue your work. “I won’t turn on you, you know. I’m better than that. You don’t need a stupid mask to shield yourself from me.”

“Anyone who knows me is in deliberate danger. Your… assets… are special. You getting hurt would be a waste. And we both know I don’t trust you.”

“But I trust you. I don’t know why, exactly, but I do.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“Why? Because you think you can dictate what I can and can’t feel? I don’t know your name, where you live, why you do what you do… but I trust you, because if you wanted to kill me, you would have done so already.” You didn’t turn to talk to him, you just did what you needed to.

Jackal let out a breath, one of disbelief, “like I said, killing you would be a waste. Your assets are useful.”

You clenched your hand around your mouth, jaw clenched. The same song and dance that happened annually at this point, but this time you didn’t reply. You breathed out through your nose. Screw it, this moron needed a reality check, you didn’t care if it rarely ever got through to him. You hoped it would eventually. “Existing is going to get pretty fucking tiring if you pretend to be different people every second of every day. You may be a damn good sniper, but even you have limits, Jackal. Don’t test them, don’t be an ass, and, for fuck’s sake, stop being an idiot!”

He blinked, staring at you. He hesitated, he looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t know what to say. The words died on his tongue, all he did was just stare and give a slow nod. “Fine.” He muttered. “I’ll let my guard down… slightly.”

“Good.” You huffed.

And with that, he grabbed her hand leading her back to the house. As she pulled on his hand reminding him that this was a terrible idea and she was in no mood to be reprimanded and ridiculed by her mother in front of her mother's boyfriend and Alex. but to her dismay simply flashed another beautiful smile at her and continued to tug her closer to back of the house.

‘’ And now we climb’’

Alex said turning back and grinning mischievously.

‘’Climb? Alex we are facing a wall, unless you're secretly spider-man and are going to walk up a wall don't think we’re  going to get onto the roof’’

He let out an amused chuckle which made the worried expression (name) was wearing fade into an expression that probably screamed ' I'm so in love with you and I cannot think when you're near me.’

‘’ (name) come on just trust me and step where I step’’

And with that, he began to scale the vines that grew on the wall, rooted into the cracks of the concrete. (name) watched him in awe as he almost effortlessly climbed up with what seemed like a backpack that clinked with each movement he made.

‘’ alex? What's in your backpack?’’

Alex maneuvered onto another thick vine and held on with one hand as he leaned into the evening breeze looking down at (name) who was at least a few feet lower than him now.

‘’ Maybe you’ll find out if you start climbing silly unless you can’t of course’’

And that remark made (name) flare up in excitement, she could scale that wall! Better yet she’ll prove to Alex that she can by overtaking him. All she had to do was not look down, right?

‘’ alright you little shit, I'm coming’’

Alex turned to look at her again and laughed.

‘’ little? I'm at least a foot taller than you short stack’’

‘’ you are not a foot taller than me you twat I’m 5’5 you’re 6 foot’’

‘’ yeah 6 foot and a half, get it right tiny’’

(name) giggled as she began her ascent in pursuit of Alexander. Climbing and swinging from branch to vine as she approached Alex who was already standing on the ledge of the roof. Soon she was just one more vine away from grabbing the ledge too to hoist herself up onto the roof, as her hand curled around the last vine it started to pull back and snap. A large warm hand caught her forearm right before the vine snapped, pulling her onto the roof.

‘’ all this for a surprise Alex? Remind me to never listen to you again’’

‘’complaint all you want but you'll stop as soon as u see what's in my bag’’

As he unzips the backpack, (name)’s heart hammers in anticipation, he reaches in to pull out…a bottle of liquor? It's too dark to tell what the label says but the orangey light passing through the bottle tells (name) that it is whiskey.

‘’ you brought me up onto my roof to surprise me with a bottle of liquor before you leave forever to go join the army?’’

‘’ aww come on (name), I thought we could at least have a drink together before I'm gone. And I'm not gone forever you know, I'll write you as often as they'll let me’’

(name) recognizes this as Alex's attempt to cheer her up, but it doesn't stop the tears from rising in her eyes. His smile dropped as he put down the bottle onto the roof he raised his hand to her shoulders and pulled her into a bear hug.

‘’ hey don't cry, I'll be back okay? I promise. You’ll wait for me right?’’

*sniffles* ‘’ Of course I'll wait for you, idiot. I'm sorry I don't know why I'm crying, I'm mad you're leaving me in this shitty town with my mum and her boyfriends and I don't know anyone in this shitty town and I don't want you to leave-’’

He lets out a small laugh.

‘’Didn't know you hated this place that much’’

Lifting her head from his sweater-clad chest she huffed out a reply.

‘’ you make this place better, I'm done talking about feelings now let's get drunk ’’

Alex let out a rather loud laugh causing (name) to shush him while still wiping the tears running down her cheeks.

They sat down on the roof, their backs resting against the chimney, and they both took turns taking swigs from the bottle of liquor. With a newfound courage (name) dipped her hand into her coat pocket that now laid across her lap, pulling out the ribbon. Now braided into a small friendship band with a clasp snapped off from one of her bracelets to secure the two sides together and a bead with the letter A embellishing the center.

‘’ alex? I wanted to give this to you, when you get back you have to give it back to me okay?’’

‘’ what's this for?’’

Continuing to drunkenly chuckle as he inspected the bracelet, his fingers grazed over the center bead with care.

‘’It's so you don't forget me, it's a ribbon you bought me that one time. Something to remind you of home’’

Alex turned his head away quickly from the gift, his eyes blown wide and his smile dropped.

‘’ has a little alcohol gotten to your brain? I will never forget you, ever. I promise I will come back and I will return this I get back, to you’’

‘’ yeah you better you twat that one’s my favorite’’

“Your favorite huh? I thought I was your favorite”

He teased as his usual mischievous grin returned to his cheeks. They both laughed as they continued to point at the city that lay below them from their lofty vantage point and continued their incessantly drunk rambling. Once they grew tired of the city they pointed to the stars making new formations from their imaginations. Alex turned to look at (name) as she gazed into the sky while holding the half-empty bottle.

‘’(name), I was thinking maybe we can seal that promise’’

(name) turned to him with an expression of confusion

‘’ what? You wanna make a pinky promise?’’

She slurred drunkenly as she giggled at the silly thought.

‘’ mm, not exactly. Maybe we can seal the deal with a kiss?’’

(name) began to laugh, but stopped immediately as she realized that he was indeed serious. This is what she’d always wanted, her first kiss to be spent with Alex, even though it was probably just a drunken thought he had. When she looked at him she realized that he didn't look very drunk or unserious.

‘’(name)? We don't have to do it if you don't-’’

‘’I want to.  I want to kiss you I mean. To seal the deal’’

Alex huffed out another little laugh that made her heart thump against her ribs.

‘’Right then.’’

He moved a little closer to (name), their thighs no longer only grazing but were now fully touching. His hand rose to her face and brushed away a strand of hair that framed her, tucking it behind her ear before sliding his hand through the hair onto her neck and pulling upwards with a thumb resting on her cheek. (name) leaned into his warm palm nuzzling her cheek into it and looking away from his burning gaze. The blush that had been slowly creeping up her body was now fully displayed across her face in the dusty moonlight. Alex leaned closer as his lips grazed hers and finally gently, as if handling glass, he kissed her.

(name) closed her eyes and it felt like fireworks had gone off, his lips tasted like mint and whiskey, and she savored the taste as he led her further into the kiss. She didn't want it to end, this was truly what she wanted. As he pulled back, he looked into her eyes which were now basically heart-shaped.

‘’ woah there, you're looking a little dazed’’

(name) couldn't formulate an answer, with the alcohol not doing her any favors. She simply stared at him while her fingers slid over her now spit-covered lips. She had just kissed Alex, she had just kissed Alex-

‘’ That was my first kiss’’

‘’I know, I was trying to be gentle, I didn't want to scare you while you were drunk’’

There was a deeper kiss than this? She turned pink at the thought and looked away from him as she muttered.

‘’ well the deals are sealed now, so you have to come back. Promise me.’’

Alex laughed at the little pout now on her still glossy lips.

‘’I just did!’’

‘’ do it again Alex, for my extravagantly drunk mind to remember in the morning when you’ll be long gone’’

15 years ago Berkshire England (name) walks through the town with local ease. Weaving through crowds of local markets and old couples. Strolling through the weekly market, stopping to buy the things on her mother's grocery list. bread eggs carrots potatoes And at the end of the list, a small note scribbled '''Don't forget to haggle the prices dear'' (name) sighed as she was once again reminded of how much of an annoyance her mother could be, having freshly been thrown out of the house in yet another fit of rage about (name)'s no desire to ' pull her weight' now that her brother had run off to the army. ' good grief' (name) continued to walk down the market lane, greeting all the old folks and her mother's friends which left her feeling even more drained from her social battery running out. Blah blah blah college blah blah her brother, do these ladies not have anything better to do than interrogate her about her future or her sibling while she attempts to not drop the heavy bags of her mother's goods As she weaved through the last of the market, with the residential districts now in sight, she waved goodbye to the nice vegetable vendor, finally escaping the prison of a marketplace. Continuing to walk down the empty city streets taking turns in a mindless pattern. She arrived at her front door, put down the heavy bags, and attempted to pull off her keys from her pant loop before stopping and waiting as her mother's heavy footsteps came closer and closer to the door as it opened inwards with enough force for her loosely tied hair to blow in the gust created. ''WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??'' (name) sighed for what seemed the nth time in the past hour and replied cooly ''getting the groceries as you asked me to mum'' lifting the bags off the floor and walking past her huffing mother ''well, you should have at least let me know before stepping out, and in that paper-thin shirt no less! Where is your coat, young lady?'' Continuing to walk further into the house to hoist the food onto the kitchen counter. Turning round to pass her mother again to the foyer to slip off her boots. '' well, Mum it's not cold outside and I still need to mend the hole in my coat'' '' I suppose I have nothing to say to that then'' Despite having nothing to say her mother continued to complain until (name) shut the door to her room and dropped face-first onto her bed groaning into her duvet. She attempted to shut her eyes for a few moments and allow the voices in her mind to settle to not gain a blood vessel-bursting migraine later into the evening. The moments in the darkness seemed to have worked as her head began to slow its incessant throbbing, her peace, and quiet were interrupted by a a stone wrapped in paper flying through the open window. Her spirits almost immediately rose as she picked apart the piece of twine and read the note from her best friend and the boy she'd had a crush on since she moved here with her mother. (name), Tell your mum you're stepping out for a bit at 8 and walk through the back to the tree in the yard, I'll be there. I've got a surprise :) love, A Her heart fluttered. A surprise? Maybe he's finally telling her he likes her too before leaving for the army- tomorrow... he's leaving tomorrow, for god knows how long. She panicked as she tried to think about what she could do to make this night special, the last night they'd ever talk to each other face to face. 30 minutes later Why is it that the second she dresses up, she suddenly seems to have a closet full of nothing to wear? Cursing and muttering as she fumbled to find something casual but not too dressy to wear. Finally, after another dive into the pile of clothes now skewed on her carpet She found an off-shoulder sweater, perfect. Not too dressy but casual enough to go with leggings. Now she just had to figure out what to give Alexander so he wouldn't forget her when he left.

Walking to her vanity, which was cluttered with hair ties and other such accessories, sticking out from under a mug that had been there for a week was a hair ribbon he bought her a year ago from a kind street vendor at a carnival. She remembered how much fun she had running around the place with Alex and the blush that spread across her face when vendors offered things to Alex to buy for her, telling him he should buy things for the lovely lady he was accompanying. Alex, not having much money to spare, settled for buying a blue hair ribbon after the kind lady running the stall insisted that he buy (name) a gift. Blue wasn't even her favorite color back then, it was green, but as she received it from Alex she started to notice how beautiful the color was. It was the same color as his eyes. Right, so the plan was to tell her mother she was going out for a walk and leave through the backdoor and into the yard and wait by the tree for Alex. Simple. '' mum I'm heading out for a walk I'll be back in about half an hour'' ''Right, take your coat'' Step one is complete. Now walking slowly across the house in her boots and coat she exited through the back door shutting it gently to not alarm her mother. Step 2 accomplished. She walked across the dry, dead, and patchy lumps of grass that were in the yard towards the tree. Great, plan completed, now to wait for her crush best friend. She sat down at the base of the tree, one hand in her coat as she fiddled with the ribbon in her pocket. Her heartbeat thumped in excitement as she anticipated his arrival. ''Who are you waiting for?'' Whispered a smug, recognizable from right behind her. She gasped as she whipped her head around smacking Alex in the face with her hair. ''ow what the f-'' '' ALEX! Oh my god you scared me'' She exclaimed as her hand reached for his face to check if he was actually hurt or simply being a massive baby. '' Jesus, maybe check who's actually behind you before whipping them in the face with your hair'' He muttered in frustration as (name)'s hand removed the fingers that he was holding over his nose. She scoffed and muttered in response. '' maybe you should think before sneaking up on me'' '' fair point’’ (name) removed her hands from his face she couldn't stop the grin that bloomed on her face accompanied by a soft blush that was caused due to the proximity to the boy she was in love with. ''so, what's the surprise?'' Alex grinned in a Cheshire manner displaying his premature smile lines and his eyes squinting slightly. 'he's going to be the death of me' (name) thought as her face grew warmer. She quickly turned away from him and got off the grassy knoll. '' well for the surprise we have to get on your roof'' ''excuse me?'' For (name) hanging around her house was a big no, especially with Alex. Her mother didn't mind her talking to Alex but god forbid she bring him home. Men? in her mother's house? No way. ''no. no way Alex, my mother is at home and her newest boyfriend is too. You know she doesn't want you in the house’’ ‘’ who said we’re going into your house?’’

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