Everything was dark when she opened her eyes. It was freezing, but not cold enough to be outside. The more she blinked, the stronger her vision became. Before long she made out that she was alone in what looked like a cellar. She could faintly tell from the irregular greyish black bricks that she was in a fairly old room. Her eyes began to roll; minute rays of light shone through the foot of a doorway. All too abruptly a shadow masked the light from the room and murmurs jolted through from the other side of the door.

"Ouch," she winced, and attempted to place a palm on her pounding forehead, only to realise she was tied down. Not again, she thought as the bitter pangs of regret began to kick in. This was the second time this year that she had ended up tied down, but luckily this time it wasn't to a rail cross way in Kent. Maria knew that she wouldn't see a fortunate end, this was Scotland after all; they'd have to play a little dirtier than necessary.

Unexpectedly, Maria recognised the shoulder length, ebony hair on one of the two men.

"Jack," she barely breathed, a sudden smile almost grew on her lips before he pulled what looked like a revolver from behind his back. He swiftly turned it towards her, locking his gaze on her face. In those moments leading up to a turning point in her life, he seemed more alien like to her than he had ever been. Maria grew in anxiety, tears brimming up on the verge of gushing over.

She recalled her father's consoling words back when she was a mere eleven years old:

Stay strong Maria, you're more than they could ever be.

Now, at twenty five years and on the brink of death, she couldn't help but feel that those words were as relevant now.

"Any last words?" he taunted, screwing on a silencer to the nozzle of his gun with a wide smirk shaped across his features.

How cliché, Maria thought.

"No last words," she replied coldly, as she bit into her tongue.

"I didn't mean you!" And with that he swung the gun over his shoulder and all too quietly; man down.

First Chapter

"You have a strange way with words don't you Jack?"

Maria was reclining on a bruised looking seat; it just didn't have the comfortable factor. She spent a good half hour fidgeting violently until feeling content enough to speak. Maria gazed over at him. He hadn't breathed a word since he had shot that bloke. However, Jack wasn't one to speak - words only came out of his mouth when necessary. To all that knew him it seemed as though it pained him to communicate at times, as if he choked on his words. Maria was his only true associate at work; they just enjoyed each other's company. Sometimes silence was just blissful.

As she waited for his response her eyelids gradually drooped over her eyes until she fell into a deep slumber.

Jack looked out on the narrow Scottish highway, orange and pink hues tinted the scenery to his right as the sun ventured away from sight. As the night grew Jack thought it would be safe to just park up in a barn until dawn. Yawning he got out of the Ford he had stolen and opened the passenger side. Jack effortlessly took Maria up in his arms and put her in the back seat. As he leaned back to get out he witnessed a smile on her purple lips, she murmured something, rolled over and began to snore. Jack covered her with a white fur coat that he had found in the boot and sighed,

"Goodnight Trouble."

Maria awoke in the back seat of the Ford, panicking she sat up. She caught Jack's gaze in the windscreen mirror and exhaled. Her head hurt a lot more than before and they were still travelling. Where on earth are we? She wanted to ask.

"We're almost at the Head Q, are you ready to get an ear full?" Jack smiled, although Maria didn't perceive it.

At this she rocketed out of her seat and yelled,

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

However, Jack didn't flinch he was accustomed to her hysterical outbursts and found them undeniably amusing.

Maria found his inconsiderate, complacent behaviour anything but funny. First of all he had been working with the Koknicks, blowing her cover in its entirety - the cover that she had been working on for over a year, and now this. These sorts of slip ups cost people their jobs. The job she had put her entire life into. Maria couldn't do this.

"Stop the car." She said quickly. He didn't respond and turned up the radio. Maria didn't know what aggravated her more the fact that he was ignoring her or that it was One Direction playing. Leaning over towards him she put her cold lips against his ear and hissed,

"Pull over now."

Strangely enough he done as he was told and hit the brakes so hard that she flew forward slamming her head onto the glove compartment while making a slow transition to hit her head once again on the floor. Jack grabbed her calf and pulled her up. As she awkwardly shifted to the back seat and out of the car Jack had got an eyeful, making her violently cringe.

As she walked away in the opposite direction in which the car was directed Jack gazed at her distant figure through the side mirror. She had a ladder up her tights, morning breath and body odour, Crazy Bitch, Jack smiled and drove away.

Maria couldn't help but turn around as she heard the car speed away. I should have just faced her, she thought, I'm such a coward.