Young and Deadly

Chapter Nine

Dean just stared at me as we rode down in the elevator. He was going to follow me back to Elizabeth's where he would be staying with me. I still wasn't sure how I felt about the change. Georgette taking Jason out and replacing him with Dean? How was this going to work and him not be suspected of some sort of problems by following me around at school? What about the countless questions from the girls?

"Blake?" Dean's voice broke through my thoughts.

"Huh?" I asked, shaking my head and blinking to clear my thoughts.

"I asked if you drove here." He said slowly as if I was incapable of understanding him. I was definitely going to take this out on him when I make him partner with me. He was definitely not the type to fight well. I'll just have to remember not to go for his face today.

"Yes I drove here. Why?"

"I was going to see if you needed a ride. So I suppose that you'll be leading the way to the house and I'll follow," he shrugs.

"Yeah," I mumble and look out the window as we continue to descend in the elevator. I was glad I was not afraid of heights or I would be freaking out at the moment.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," he nods.

I don't respond to him so we ride the rest of the way down in complete silence. I wonder what exactly they were planning on doing with Jason. I really hope it's not all because of me! In all honesty, it wasn't completely my fault, he was the one making it increasingly difficult between all of us. The large elevator lurched to a halt and we had been the only ones on there so we departed together.

"Where did you park?" He asks, fishing for something in his pocket. By the sounds of it, he was finishing for his car keys.

"Over at the science centers lot." I make a motion behind me as I turn to walk that way.

"Me too, I'll walk you there myself," he jogs to my side.

"Oh, okay."

He was getting on my nerves. Was he going to be this overly... I don't know what to call it. I was definitely going to knock him down a peg or two. You don't want to get on my bad side... ever. After all, I was a highly trained and deadly assassin... even if I was only seventeen -almost eighteen- years old. I liked the fact I would always be able to protect myself, but I also didn't like the death I had caused in all my years of doing this.

"Are you okay?" He asks. Goodness this guy was annoying. Did he not know that if I wanted to be talked to I would do the talking? I obviously don't talk about my feelings.

"Perfectly fine," I nearly growled trying to get my message across. I don't want to talk with him or any single person I know!

"What's eating at you? I know that you're not fine," he pressed.

"Listen here Dean and listen close. If I wanted to talk, I would, but I don't. If you keep on pushing me, you're going to be sorry, I promise you that," I growl. Maybe that will get my point across.

"But-" I cut him short.

"I am deadly serious about you being sorry," I round on him.

"Okay. They warned me not to get on your bad side and now I can see why."

"You would do good to remember that then. I'm deadly if you hit me just right. I don't care if you're friend or foe, you will go down." That hopefully got my point across.

"Okay lady, no need to get violent!" He puts his hands up in an 'I surrender' type motion.

"If that's the only way to get my god damn point across, I will," I snarl. It took all of my willpower not to knock him out right now.

"Alright, I'll leave you alone!"

"Good."

The rest of the walk was silent. That was exactly how I preferred it to be and the only thing that messed it up was Dean. Every few steps, he would turn his head and look at me like I was some foreign species he was trying to figure out. This guy was quick at getting on my bad side wasn't he? It's like he was begging for a good beating from me. Well, if that's what he seemed keen at getting, then he shall get it... at the house though.

Suddenly, I felt like a pair of eyes were burning a hole in the back of my head, but I knew it wasn't Dean because he was directly beside me. Slowly and nonchalantly, I glance over my shoulder. A guy sporting a trench coat quickly looks away and stuffs his hands into his deep pockets. Well this surely didn't seem good. Turning my head to Dean this time, I slowly inched my way closer to him so I could alert him to our little follower.

"Psst, Dean. Be quiet and don't look at me got it?" He slowly nods probably afraid I'll knock him down or something. "There is a suspicious man following behind us. Don't turn around, but we need to lose him... and quick." My tone is hushed so only he can hear me.

"Alright. What do you suppose that we do?" His tone is hushed like mine.

"We're almost to the science center. Maybe we should go in and mix ourselves up with the crowd and make our escape when we've lost him." I whisper.

"Sounds like a plan. Hold up, do they have metal detectors or anything like that?" I could tell he was raising his eyebrows at the thought.

"Not if you go in through the entrance by the gift shop," I smile.

"You can't go in that way... can you?" His tone is skeptical.

"It says not to, but it still opens if you pull on the handle." I allow myself a little laugh and realize that that could have helped make trench coat guy think I wasn't on to him.

"We need to act like we aren't aware of his presence. That means acting happy, laughing, and no frequent looking over our shoulders unless it seems like a natural thing inside the museum. Got it Dean?" I ask.

"Yeah, loud and clear Blake," he lets out a warm chuckle.

"Okay good. Now let's walk around the building a bit and I'll lead us into the door." My voice may still be hushed, but my tone was still one of someone you didn't want to argue with.

"How do you know so much about this place anyway?" He asks me.

"A lot of my meeting places are in this general area and I need to know ways around these places well in case of something like this," I whisper. We were now approaching the back entrance and I could hear trench coat guy behind us still.

"Good thinking," he says. I open the door and we squeeze in without being noticed.

"Okay, now to get lost in the crowd," I whisper to him. Without warning, he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him. When I was about to move out of his grasp he speaks.

"Don't. We need to look like we're having fun and together. That will throw him for a loop and it will also prevent people from thinking I'm some kind of creepy pervert following behind you. In case you haven't noticed, we don't look even remotely related and I'm older." His statement is very sensible so I, of course, went along with it. "Plus, who wouldn't want someone as beautiful as you wrapped in their arms."

At his words I gasp and my cheeks heat. I wasn't sure if it was from anger, embarrassment, or from his compliment. Maybe it was all three. I would have smacked him if we weren't in such a public place. No one has ever made me blush like that! It made me seem weak and weakness wasn't something I was particularly fond of showing... even to my sister.

"Thanks... I think."

"It's a compliment Blake. I mean it to. You're beautiful and I can't believe no one has you on their arm. I'm one lucky guy," he winks at me.

"I don't do the whole boyfriend thing. I'm incapable of love. I've never known it and my job has hardened me to any emotional connection with anyone," I deadpan.

"Oh and you haven't met someone who has changed that for you?" He asks, squeezing my waist a bit.

"No, but I know that Jason wishes that he will be the one.... He confessed to being in love with me and since then has basically avoided me. I don't know why, but I'm fine with what happened and he's just... not."

"Maybe it's because you rejected him?" Dean suggests.

"Maybe. I don't know how this stuff works. I'm heartless apparently," I shrug it off.

"I'm sure that's not true." His arm around my waist squeezes me just a bit again. It's a weird feeling that I'm not used to and it made me slightly uncomfortable.

"And I'm sure it is," I argue.

"You'll find someone some day," he says. "Oh hey look, do you want to test your strength?"

I laugh. "Sure why not?"

He drags me over to the tester thing. All you had to do was squeeze it and it would tell you how powerful of a squeeze you had. I step towards it and Dean follows, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind. I'm sure you can guess how uncomfortable that made me feel, but I had to act unfazed and comfortable.

"I have an idea, let's see who's stronger." I can hear the smile in his voice.

"Oh you're on pretty boy," I laugh.

"Just pretty? I'm not smoking hot?" He teases.

"Oh god, someone has an ego don't they?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He rests his chin on my right shoulder. This is just so... weird.

"Sure you don't." I roll my eyes.

"Let me see what you got," he urges me.

"Alright." Smiling, I reach for the thing I had to take in my hand and squeeze. It reached a perfect strength reading of 100. What would a normal teenage girl do? I think I know so I jump up and squeal. "You're turn." I laugh.

"How the...? I think I changed my mind." He shakes his head.

"Oh no you don't. You said that you would see who was stronger. Are you afraid that I will have beaten you in strength?" I flutter my eyelashes like the girls at school do to get their way.

"Yes I am. I obviously don't work out enough to beat that," he scoffs. "Just to make you happy though, I'll test my strength."

"Let's see what you're packing," I nudge him forward.

"Don't laugh okay? You have to promise me." His look is pleading.

"Fine! I won't laugh... unless you're under the score of ninety," I wink.

"Well then I better hope I can do better than that."

"Alright give it your all."

He moves his hand slowly to the tester. Glancing at me, he wraps his hand around it and squeezes. I watch as the number climbs and hits... 98. Impressive, he didn't look like he had it in him.

"That was pretty good Dean." This one small compliment boosted his ego.

"Obviously not as good as yours," he chuckles. "But I'm still pretty awesome."

"Sure, whatever gets you through the day." Ego at work again for sure.

"Hey-" I stop him.

"Wait, trench coat guy at two o'clock."

"Okay, let's keep walking." His hand went back around my waist as he dragged me further into the center. We came upon the exhibits with all of the live insects. "Let's walk through the butterfly room. I don't think he'll see us in there. We might just lose him that way. I don't see him following us, but that doesn't mean anything."

"I agree with you." So he dragged me to the door and the woman gave us the low down; don't touch the butterflies, if the attach to you don't mess with them, and don't mess with the habitats that they tend to rest on. So in other words, we weren't to touch anything within the exhibit. She let us and another large amount of people inside the large room.

It was warm and seemed a bit misty inside, but I suppose it was what the butterflies needed to survive. I looked back and noticed trench coat guy walk into the room just as we had been closed in the room housing the butterflies. Shoving us toward the back bend, I hid us and hoped he wouldn't see where we had gone. After about five minutes of standing in one place and gazing at the same butterflies repeatedly, I glanced around. He seemed to have disappeared from my sight so I'm sure he was gone from the room.

"Do you think it's clear to go?" He asks me.

"Yeah I'm sure it's clear." I go to move, but Dean stops me. "What?"

"There's a butterfly on your head."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If I blow on it do you think it will move?" He asks.

"No clue. It's worth a shot right?"

"Hold still." He breathed in and blew out. I could feel my hair blow around from his warm breath. "It's not wanting to move." He blew again, but apparently it didn't move still.

"Maybe we should have one of the women help with this," I suggest.

"Yeah that might be a wise idea."

He pulls me over to one of the workers who giggles. She removes the butterfly with a special glove and laughs again. Immediately I knew what she was doing; I had seen the girls at school do the same. She was flirting. I had to withhold my laugh. She looked ridiculous the way she flirted with him. He looks at my face that I'm sure was showing ill concealed humor. He reaches out and wraps his arm around me like he's been doing all day. That shut her up right quick and earned me a glare. Me being me, I didn't care about her glare.

"Thanks for getting the butterfly out of my fiancee's hair," he puts emphasis on the word fiancee.

"Fiancee huh? What did you do, knock her up?" She snarls. Wow, this woman was a lunatic.

"No, I found the girl I want to spend the rest of my life with." His tone was so convincing that even I would have fallen for it.

"Well how nice." With that bitter remark she turned away and made her way through the crowd, checking with the other observers.

"Wow that was hilarious," I laugh as soon as we exit the butterfly exhibit.

"That woman was getting on my nerves my dear fiancee," he winks.

"She was embarrassing herself by how she was flirting. She obviously doesn't have boundaries."

"So, do you think we're clear to head to the parking lot?"

"Yeah."

We head out the way that we had come and head in a bit of a separate direction. He had parked on the utmost top lot and I had parked on the lowest lot. I told him what car that I had and told him that I would be out soon and he could follow me to Elizabeth's. He agrees to wait for me and we go our separate ways.

Going in to the damp recesses of the parking lot, I heard some foot steps. I turn thinking that Dean had forgotten something and had jogged to catch up to me. As I turn I caught sight of who it really was. He slammed me in to the nearby wall. He was a ragged looking man and wore a violent expression.

It was trench coat guy and he seemed intent on harming me.