Kill Me/Kiss Me- An Alex Rider Fanfic

Swallowtail

Hera and Alex froze in their embrace; the arches of their lips brushed past each other and they waited to see who would make the next move. The heat that had grown between them began to diffuse away as Alex opened his eyes and looked to Hera's face. A small smile flickered on his lips as he saw she was still in pain; her brow furrowed and her lips trembled. He shook his head.

"What are we doing, Hera?" He asked softly and she snapped her bright blue eyes open.

"What we should've done three years ago?" She suggested and looked away.

"Alex?!" They heard an urgent whisper at the door and looked to the wood as though figuring out who that was.

"Tom?" Alex muttered and went to open the door. As soon as his hand was on the metal handle of the door, Hera put hers there too and squeezed his hand so hard it hurt. Alex gasped and removed his hand from the door when she let go; he cradled his hand in the other, looking at her as though she'd lost her mind. "What the fuck was that?" He snarled as quietly as he could and Hera jabbed him on the shoulder with two fingers and he grabbed his shoulder as pain seared through him. He'd forgotten she would do this; simply cause him pain to stop him doing something. When they were sixteen, Alex had found their sadistic affection cute, now it was just incredibly painful, especially after she'd trained for three more years.

"What are you thinking?" Hera snapped back; "open the door and he'll find the two of us in this cosy little bathroom." Alex thought about it before he put his hand back to the door.

"He's my friend- don't hurt me!" He added quickly as she went to hit him again. Hera cleared her throat, reached down for her cardigan and put it back on, before she put her fingers to her lips and smiled sweetly at him.

"Sweetheart," she said with false kindness, "open the door and I'll kick your ass." Alex adopted a similar tone.

"Darling, you know you couldn't take me." He twisted the door handle and Hera put her hand there to stop him.

"No!" She said firmly and pulled his hand to twist the handle back.

"Yes!" Alex retorted and twisted the handle again. He saw some conflict happen in Hera's eyes before she let go of his hand.

"Fine," she finally gave her consent, "but let me handle this." Alex thought about it before nodding and opening the door, Tom practically fell into the bathroom with them. In an instant, no one was sure how fast; Hera had hoisted herself onto the bathroom counter, next to the sink and wrapped her legs around Tom's waist and her arms around his neck. "Hello, Tom," she whispered to his ear and Alex watched with a mixture of horror and amusement; he was horrified because she was treating his friend like an enemy and amused because he'd forgotten how violently efficient she could be. As Alex stood opposite Tom, he suddenly realised Hera was cutting off his air supply.

"Hera, no!" Alex pulled her arms away from Tom's neck and she unwrapped her legs from him.

"What's the problem?" Hera asked as Tom massaged his neck and looked to her with a shocked expression.

"You're an agent?" Tom choked and Hera looked like she was going to hit him.

"No," Alex said slowly and took a protective step between the two. He cocked his head back to Hera who was breathing deeply, slumped against the bathroom mirror. "Hera, that's not exactly how I thought you'd "handle" things." Alex said to her and nodded to Tom. "He knows everything about me; he can be trusted." Hera still did not look convinced but slowly her look of concern turned to one of realisation.

"He knows everything about you?" She asked and Alex nodded. "He clearly didn't know about me." She said plainly and Alex stumbled over his words. "Three years," Hera spoke over him, "three years, we worked together and you never mentioned me once?" Alex thought about it.