Serial Connection Part 1

Encrypted message received:

You've had your fun. It is time to end it.

--

On the night of the new moon, the forest darker than usual. Still he weaved between the trees to the place marked on his phone. It was time to end this madness. If Jake was what this crazed madman wanted all along, if it meant ensuring both Hannah and MC's safety, then so be it. After the Man Without a Face had used MC's phone to call Jake, he was out of options. He had to engage the enemy directly himself.

"Could you hold the light still?" Jake asked as he fumbled under the hood of the SUV.

"Ugh, you’re taking so long my arm is getting tired," Raven groaned.

"It'd be easier if I did this in the morning," he reminded her. "Are you really that eager to leave me?"

"I see no reason to stay," she mumbled.

"We have a common enemy, we could work together," he offered.

"You have my number," she shook her head.

"And I thought all you wanted was for us to be together," he teased.

"You’re confusing me with her again," she frowned.

"There, I found the tracking device," he stood up straight and held up the small box. "Now I need to pull apart the sat-nav inside."

"What? More!?" she groaned.

"I can do the last part on my own if you want to go back to the room and wait there," he offered as he closed the hood.

"No, I’m not leaving you alone with the vehicle," she narrowed her eyes.

"Because you know what I'm doing to it now," he laughed as he opened the driver's side door of the vehicle.

Raven eyed up Jake to see if he was joking. "You haven't had time to do anything major."

"Cutting break lines only takes but a moment, but you would already know that wouldn't you?" he questioned as he pulled out the SUV's sat-nav panel.

"I had nothing to do with Dan's accident! I mean sure I was there and I saw the idiot getting drunk, but he managed that accident on his own," she explained. "He didn't need any assistance in crashing his car."

"If you say so. I've got the chip. Now I need to reprogram it upstairs," Jake said as he put the console back into the car.

--

Back in the motel room Jake busily worked on programming the chip to send false, randomized location data to the satellites, while Raven sewed her pants. As soon as she finished she pulled off Jake’s sweatpants and put her pants back on. He snuck a peek from the corner of his eye when she thought he was too distracted to have noticed.

"Are you sure you're going to be ok on your own? You've always had support in the past," he asked.

"By support you mean my pointy friend? Cause that's all I usually have on missions," she put her dagger's holster back on.

"But you were always given intel. You knew what you were headed into, you weren't going in blind," he pointed out.

"It’s cute that you still worry about her, but I'll be fine," she looked over at Jake sitting at his computer.

"Are you still going to make your services available for hire?" he questioned.

"Yes... no... I don't know. I mean who wants to hire an outed assassin? It'll take a long time for this to pass," she sighed.

Jake stood up and walked over to her, "I would."

Raven laughed, "You can't afford me!"

"I couldn’t afford you previously, you mean," he smirked.

She frowned, "I'm not going to sell myself short out of desperation."

"My friends and I are offering to pay you upfront an equivalent share of what we stole," he offered.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Upfront? What about after?"

"Well, that would depend on the payouts. All you need to do is kill the hand that fed you, which I know you plan to do anyway, but you are to ensure that they never pursue us again," he grinned.

"There is only one way to guarantee that," she sighed. "And that’s for me to kill the entire chain, which is still more than your ridiculous band of hackers can afford."

"Do you really think we'll be sitting on our hands while you do all the work? While you attack, we'll be leaving their coffers empty," Jake’s expression turned very dark before Raven's eyes.

"You and your friends?" she looked at him with doubt.

"Yes, but I'll be your point of contact," Jake stepped towards Raven. "You will be taking orders from me."

"What makes you think I would accept this offer?" she laughed.

He stepped even closer to her so that he was mere inches away, "Do you have any other offers to consider?"

"Tch," she frowned. "I'll do it, but only because I'm pissed they burnt me so fast."

Jake lowered his face to hers, grinning, "Glad to hear it."

"What are you looking so smug about?" she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

"Oh I was just thinking in the past 36 hours Hannah was saved, I have MC in my company, I defeated the Man Without a Face," he spoke quietly. "And now I have a cute assassin to deal with our pursuers."

"Firstly only one of those things is-" Raven began, but was interrupted by Jake pressing his lips against hers.

Raven quickly pulled out her dagger and held it up against Jake’s throat. He paused, looking intensely into Raven's eyes. Her hand shook, causing the dagger to ever so slightly cut his neck. Still he slowly moved in to kiss her again without taking his eyes off of her. She pulled away.

"I will cut you!" she threatened.

"No you won't," he went in to kiss her again.

"Stop!" she pushed him away. "I mean it!"

Jake pinched the dagger between his fingers, then pulled it out of her grip to place it on the table beside them. "If you meant it, you wouldn't be kissing back."

Raven put her hand to her lips, "That’s not what..."

"No?" he took her hand and gently moved it aside. He moved in again, grazing his lips across hers. "Tell me what it isn't, MC."

She closed her eyes as her heart raced. Her body kept trying to betray her resolve. There was a brief peck at her lips, making her heart skip a beat. Then another. She opened her eyes to look into Jake’s again.

"Fuck it," she mumbled.

Raven grabbed Jake by the collar to pull him down to her lips. He smiled as she kissed him aggressively at first, but soon soothed into mutual loving kisses. Her hands relaxed from his collar and rested against his chest while Jake gently placed his hands on her waist to pull her in closer. She pulled away and hid her face in his neck.

"Don't fraternize with the client," she whispered to herself.

"If that’s the case, then we won't pay you," he teased, earning him a slap to the chest.

"Don't become attached to your mark," she groaned.

"I'm glad you did," he kissed the top of her head gently.

"Jake, my name isn't MC," she reminded him.

"And my name isn't Jake, but what does that matter?" he asked. "I'll take the name that sounds best on your lips."

Serial Connection Part 6.5

Raven laid on the bed while browsing on her phone, impatiently waiting for the laundry downstairs while Jake worked on his computer. While he had convinced his friends to take down everything they had found on Raven, the damage was done and couldn't be undone. She had no agency other than her own. Of course she had a bone to pick with her former employers, but that would take time. She'd need resources and more importantly a plan.

"How did you find about Hannah?" Jake asked suddenly.

"You finally asked the question," Raven mused. "I had far greater connections than you. And you're not the only hacker around."

Jake turned suddenly. "Your boss had a hacker in his employ?"

"Duh," she rolled her eyes. "How else do you think we got all that information on you and Hannah?"

"Phone! Now!" Jake reached over and grabbed the device from Raven's hands.

"Hey! I was just getting to the good part!" she hissed over being interrupted from the story she was reading.

Jake quickly plugged the phone into the computer and got to work scouring it for any malicious programming and hidden connections. Meanwhile Raven pulled out her second phone and went back to find the same story. Jake heard her giggle and turned around again.

"You have two phones!?" he asked exasperated.

"Of course I do! My MC phone and my Man Without a Face phone," she smiled, satisfied with herself.

"I know you have two, but I didn't expect you to have both of them you on! Give me that one too!" Jake grabbed the second phone. "Anymore!?"

"No," Raven folded her arms out of resentment.

"Where do I even begin?" Jake shook his head in disbelief. "I'm keeping one of these as punishment."

"WHAT!?" she sat up angrily. "You have your own!"

"I lost my own when your friends took it off me!" he pointed out. "I presume it is now under three feet of rubble. You owe me a phone!"

"Ugh, fine! You can keep the Man Without a Face phone. I didn’t like it much anyway," she collapsed back down on the bed.

"Could you at least respond to the others and let them know you're ok?" he sighed looking at the ignored messages.

"Why?"

"Because it is the decent thing to do."

"They have Hannah back, what does it matter?"

"They care about MC."

"No they don't. MC was just a piece of the puzzle to finding Hannah. What did you call her? 'The key'?"

Jake couldn't dispute that. He had initially used her to find Hannah after all. Time passed while Jake worked, though it felt like forever in Raven's mind.

Jake eventually broke the silence, "What are you planning on doing?"

"I have a locker with a fresh ID and clean notes," she responded nonchalantly.

"And when the money runs out?" he pushed.

"I'll find a job," she shrugged.

"Hitwoman doesn't look good on a resume," he pointed out.

"I'll work it out," she rolled her eyes.

"I might be convinced to create a new background for you. For the right price," he glanced over with a smirk on his face.

"What price?" she narrowed her eyes, uncertain she was willing to hear his offer.

"Chinese. Tonight," he grinned.

"Are you still on about that?" she sat up in astonishment. "Well I don't exactly have the clothes so I'm sorry, it's not even an option."

"I can order it in," he tilted his head, expecting the next excuse.

"I don't like Chinese," she lied. "It was MC that liked Chinese."

"All right, then I won't help you fabricate a new cover," he shrugged and turned back to his computer.

Raven frowned, "All for eating Chinese together in a motel room? No other strings?"

"That’s right," Jake smiled. "One day you'll join me in a restaurant, but tonight this will be sufficient."

She laughed, "What makes you think I'll go on a date with you?"

"You will when the time comes," he responded confidently.

--

When dinner had arrived, Raven watched Jake carefully as he laid the food containers on top of newspapers spread across the bed.

"It’s not poisoned," he frowned.

"You eat it first," she eyed him.

"If you insist," he shrugged and pulled out some of the chow mein noodles with his chopsticks.

He emphasized putting it into his mouth, chewing and swallowing. For good measure, he opened his mouth afterwards to prove to Raven that he had really eaten it.

"Not poisoned," he smiled.

"You think you’re cute, don't you, Nymos?" she narrowed her eyes.

"No, I think it is depressing that you live your life worried about helpful gestures," he picked up a spring roll. "But I guess that makes your gestures that much more meaningful."

"What are you talking about?" she asked genuinely perplexed.

"Making sure the prisoner doesn't die. Do you do that for all of your marks?" he questioned. "Or just the ones you have feelings for?"

"I don't have feelings for you!" she argued.

"Maybe your cover was so convincing because you are actually MC and Raven is your cover?" he smirked. "What do you think, MC?"

"Ugh! Don't call me that! My name isn't MC!" she snapped.

Jake took his time chewing the spring roll and swallowing before the dark grin appeared on his face. "And my name isn't Jake, but I've grown attached to hearing you call me that. Particularly when you mean it, MC." Raven looked at him in silence. "You didn’t actually think I would be so careless as to give you or Hannah my real name, did you?"

"You’re lying," she insisted. "I've seen your birth record, which confirms your connection to Hannah and Lilly."

"Tell me, did you see the physical copy or the digital one?" He mused. "You better start eating. Otherwise your dinner is going to get cold."

"Can I ask you leave the gun in the car?" Jake suggested. "Carrying an assault rifle through a motel does lead to a lot of questions."

Raven rolled her eyes, "Fine, but you may later regret that request."

"If they come for us here, just run," he frowned. "Don't fight with innocent civilians around."

"Maybe innocent civilians should stay out of my way," she hopped out of the SUV. "Because I. Don't. Run."

Jake sighed and slid carefully out of the passenger side. He winced as he felt one of the stitches tear. He looked to see if Raven had noticed, but she was too busy eyeing the surroundings. Instead, he took a deep breath and led the way to his room.

Jake’s motel room was dark with the shades drawn, untouched by the cleaners as a result of the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door, but there was still a note at the entrance from management insisting Jake let them clean the room soon. He'd let them in eventually.

"God it stinks in here," Raven hissed. "Do you hackers ever shower? Or throw away your rubbish?"

"Sorry, I've been too preoccupied," he rebutted with sarcasm. "Actually, I do want to shower and clean my wounds." Jake walked over to one of the bags on the bed and pulled out his first-aid kit. He glanced up at Raven and tossed the kit to her, "You probably want to use that."

"What are you talking about?" she looked at him confused.

Jake gestured to her leg, not the one that was already strapped, but the other leg, "Well I presume you don't want to keep that in your leg much longer."

Raven looked down at the piece of metal sticking out of her thigh, "Son of a... I need to use your shower. You do have a clean towel?"

"Um, yes, there should be a clean one on the shelf," Jake nodded.

Raven took the first aid kit into the bathroom and readied the contents for stitching on the counter next to the sink. Then she pulled out her dagger, giving it a thorough clean before placing it beside the shower. She turned the shower on and left it to warm up as she continued preparations. Taking a deep breath, she gingerly took off the strap on the old wound and removed her pants, careful to avoid the metal. Once fully undressed, she stepped into the shower and soaped up her hands to carefully clean around the wounds. Her muscle started to relax around the metal, but it wasn't enough. With a big sigh she grabbed the hand towel and twisted it up to shove into her own mouth before picking up her dagger to pry the metal out.

Jake listened uncomfortably by the door to the muffled screams. He wasn't sure whether he should check or leave her to it. After a while the screaming did cease, which unnerved him more. When he heard the water turned off he sighed with relief. However, a few minutes later there was another loud and yet muffled scream. Worried, he opened the door to check and saw Raven in just a towel with her foot propped up on the counter next to the sink. She had just doused the wound with antiseptic, but now was glaring at Jake.

She pulled the towel out of her mouth, "What the hell are you doing in here!?"

"I was worried," he blushed, then he noticed the blood flowing from the wound and quickly grabbed a gauze from the kit to apply it.

Raven grabbed her belt and strappped it above the wound to slow the blood flow while Jake washed his hands quickly. Before she could pick up the needle, Jake grabbed it and started stitching her leg for her.

"What are you doing?" she looked at him puzzled.

"Helping you," he replied simply. "It is harder for you to do it."

"Why!?" she exclaimed.

"Because it hurts to hear you scream," he continued.

"I'll try to scream less next time," she snapped.

"That’s not what I meant," he sighed.

"You do remember I am not MC," she frowned.

"Yes of course," he smiled. "I also know it is easier to sell a lie when it is based on truth. So tell me, how much truth was in your lie?"

Raven looked away, refusing to acknowledge his question. Jake finished his work then carefully undid the belt on Raven's leg to ensure that his work was satisfactory. His touches on her thigh were gentle, but it unsettled her for different reasons. She pushed his hands away and finishing off the bandaging. Jake watched as she carefully lowered her leg.

Raven shot him a look, "MC or not, I do expect some privacy while I dress."

"You’re not going to wear the same pants again? They're covered in blood," he frowned.

"I don't have anything else to wear," she rolled her eyes.

"Hang on," Jake stepped out of the room briefly and returned with a spare shirt and sweatpants. "Here."

"They’re going to be way too big for me," she shook her head.

"Just wear them while we clean your clothes. The motel has laundry facilities downstairs," he insisted.

Raven groaned, took the clothes from Jake and shoved him out of the bathroom to get changed. When she opened the door and stepped out in his clothes, he couldn’t help but blush.

"You can use the shower now," she gestured, stepping side.

Jake nodded and walked past her, carrying spare clothes for himself. Raven couldn't help but notice fresh blood on the side of his hoodie. As Jake was about to close the door, she pushed her away in and lifted his hoodie and shirt.

"Who the hell did these stitches!? You were meant to see Doc!" she exclaimed.

"Would Doc be the grumpy drunk in the lab coat?" he questioned.

"Oh, yeah, don't let Doc treat you if he's drunk," she laughed and looked up at Jake. "Shower and clean them. I'll redo the stitches when you’re out."

Raven rested on the bed, playing with her phone while she waited for Jake. She had received a couple of encrypted messages from 'friends' warning her that she had been burnt by the organization and now had a bounty on her head. She knew she couldn't trust anyone anymore, not that she trusted many in the first place. She had made preparations for such a scenario, she just needed to get to them first.

Raven jumped at the sound of the bathroom door opening and put her phone down to help Jake with his stitches. Jake stood nervously in the bathroom shirtless in just a pair of sweatpants. He could feel her eyes on his slender torso, examining the cuts and bruises that littered it. Blushing was unavoidable.

Raven washed her hands again, then starting with the worst of the stitches she cut and pulled out the old ones. She wiped the area with antiseptic, much to Jake’s discomfort, and restitched the wound with a fresh needle.

"Quit moving!" Raven complained as Jake kept whinging. "You’re making it harder!"

"Sorry, I am not accustomed to such pain," he cringed.

One by one Raven went through and fixed up the five sets of stitches without hesitation. When she finished, she inspected the rest of his torso. Her light touches on his skin felt like fire.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" she smirked.

"Y-yes," he looked away.

Her smirk turned into a grin as she ran her finger gently from his collar bone down to the top of pants, "Good."

"Assholes," Raven sneered looking at the damage to the tires of her bike.

"Of all the things they tried to do to you, that upsets you the most?" Jake questioned.

"That’s just petty!" she hissed. "Why are you still here?"

"It’s not like I can run," he shrugged. "Your friends did cut me... five times?"

"Your friends tried to blow me up," she countered.

He frowned, "So did yours."

"Touché," she smiled. "Well we better start walking."

"There’s an SUV right there," he pointed to the open garage.

"Do you have the keys? Cause I'm not digging through rubble to get them," she argued.

"They don't teach car theft in assassin school?" he mocked.

"Generally you just kill the owner and take the keys," she shook her head. "Are you really going to follow me around and annoy me until I kill you?"

"You already killed me. I've come back to haunt you for the rest of your days," he joked.

She didn't buy it and grabbed him by the collar to kiss him aggressively on the lips. "You’re the most alive tasting ghost I've ever kissed," she narrowed her eyes.

He looked at her wide-eyed, "You kiss ghosts?"

"Would you rather I stab you with my dagger and see if you bleed?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Point taken," he conceded.

Raven began to walk away when Jake reached for her. He stole his own kiss from her lips. She pulled away and slapped him across the face.

"You do not kiss me!" she hissed and turned away.

He smiled, "Yes, of course." He watched her walk off a bit. "Do you trust me?"

"No," she looked back at him. "Why?"

"Because I could hot wire that SUV if you let me," he offered.

Raven contemplated her options, before giving in, "Fine, but I'm driving."

"To where?" he looked at her confused.

"I don't know!" she exclaimed.

"We could go back to my motel. My equipment is back there. I can help you," he offered.

"You want to help me?" she looked at him baffled.

"I thought I already explained that to you this morning. Or was that a delusion?" he thought out loud. "Do you have any more jelly beans? Its hard to think when you haven't eaten and you've been cut up."

Raven smirked and pulled out her small bag of jelly beans from her pocket. "That’s why I carry them with me. Low blood sugar can lead to mistakes."

She left Jake with the treats and walked up to the driver's side of the SUV. To her surprise, it was actually unlocked, but then, who would think to steal a car from a crime boss? She opened the door for Jake, who approached.

"This is the part where you need to trust me. Your dagger please?" Jake put the bag of jelly beans in his pocket, then held his hand out.

Raven eyed him up, "You realize I can still kill you faster unarmed."

He nodded, "Of course."

Raven handed her dagger over reluctantly, but still readied the rifle on him just in case. Jake climbed into the driver's seat and reached down to pry open the panel below the ignition. He pulled out the wires, cut them with the dagger and touched the ends of the wires together to start the engine.

"It'll still have GPS enabled. I won't be able to remove the tracking without my equipment so I suggest we hurry," he advised, handing back the dagger.

Raven took the dagger and gestured with her head to encourage Jake back out of the driver's seat. He got out slowly and went to the passenger's side. They both climbed in, Raven positioning the rifle on her lap with one hand on the trigger and the gun aimed at Jake.

"Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?" Jake asked. "Pointing a gun at me while trying to navigate around sounds dangerous. Particularly for me."

"I can manage it just fine," she frowned as she reversed the SUV out of the garage and drove down the driveway clumsily.

"I thought you could kill me faster unarmed? Is the gun really necessary?" Jake questioned.

"Ugh, fine!" Raven stopped to pull out the clip and toss the rifle behind her. The clip went into the driver's door pocket before driving off again. "Do anything funny and you'll lose a hand to my pointy friend."

"You really don't trust me," he sighed.

"You did send me to get exploded," she reminded him.

"I didn't know what trap was laid! I just knew they'd be gone. I didn't lie to you though. That was the location," he explained.

"You want me to give you bonus points?" she laughed, glancing over to him. "The first thing you said to me when I returned was 'Oh you live!'"

"Hmm, I forgot about that," he smiled. "You did seem rather angry so I assumed something of that nature had happened. My friends and I don't take well to pursuers."

It was the first time Raven noticed how faded he was looking. Since being captured, he only had the jelly beans she fed him, but he had lost a lot of blood. His hoodie was littered with tears and stains. She couldn't very well take him inside a diner looking like that, so drive through burgers was going to have to do.

"I'm not going to complain," Jake raised an eyebrow as Raven turned into the next drive through. "But do we really have time to stop?"

"It's for you, you idiot. Eat while I drive," she ordered.

Serial Connection Part 2