#bbficexchange2021

Pairing: CIA!Billy Russo x CIA!Reader

Summary: You and Billy are CIA agents who despise each other. And for your next mission, you have to pretend to be a couple.

Word count: 3.3k

Warnings: None for this chapter. 

A/N: I had a brain fart and kinda forgot how cruises work. I forgot that cruises stop off at countries along the way. Let’s ignore reality and pretend that they don’t. Oops. Ty. 

Part One - Part Two - Part Three

You were awoken by something hurtling towards your face. You shot up with a gasp.

It was Billy’s shirt.

“Rise and shine.” Billy spoke - sadistic glee sparkling in his eyes.

He was already mostly dressed, doing up the last buttons of his shirt.

You groaned. That was not enough sleep.

Pushing yourself out of bed, you grabbed your things to change in the toilet and, by the time you’d returned, Billy was fully dressed.

He wore relaxed white trousers, paired with a light blue shirt. You were surprised at how different he was able to look from what you were used to seeing. Similarly, he’d never seen you in anything so light and summery. Not that he seemed to care one bit.

Billy spoke, “So I was thinking, we split up and se-“

“Shouldn’t we stick together?” You interrupted. “You know the whole couples thing?”

“We don’t need to be together 24/7, it’s not like we need to be joined at the hip. Couples don’t act like that. As long as we look like we belong on the cruise, it doesn’t matter if we’re apart.”

Relief washed over you. Maybe this wouldn’t be the worst mission of your life after all.

“Fair point.”

“So we split up and each search half of the ship.”

“I’ll take the bottom deck.”

“Alright, then we can report back afterwards, note if there are any signs of suspicious activity. And we can plant a few bugs here and there.”

He reached down into the bag and pulled out some tiny black boxes for you to take. Then his hand fell upon a few sheets of paper. He held them up for you to view.

“Oh and familiarise yourself with these faces.”

You squinted at the printed faces. There were photos of everyone on the cruise, listing whether or not they’d had previous convictions. You looked back at Billy.

“You are aware that you’re not in charge?” You asked.

“I don’t see you coming up with a plan.”

“You didn’t give me any time to!”

“Then be faster next time.”

You growled and snatched the paper.

“See you later then.” You spoke as you left, unable to spend another second with that man.

You looked around to check that you were alone and then spared one last glance at the paper before folding it up into your pocket.

Ambling down the halls, you scanned everything out of the corner of your eye, a skill you had perfected over many years. You could tell if someone or something was shady from a mile off. But something told you this mission might be a little more difficult.

Everywhere you looked, it seemed like an ordinary cruise, full of couples couples couples. Everyone was together as a couple. You’d agreed when Billy had said that couples didn’t stick together 24/7. But maybe he was wrong. These people looked completely inseparable.  

It was disgusting, to need someone that much. That could never happen to you.

You leaned against the railings to plant a bug behind your back while no one was watching. And then you listened to the conversations around you while pretending to look out to sea.

The view was beautiful. Much prettier and much more comfortable than it was on that damn speed boat. It was quite nice being able to take a break and look out at the clear blue sky and endless sea. But this wasn’t a break. You couldn’t allow yourself to be swayed by the sounds of the crashing waves and the distant gulls. You reminded yourself to keep your ears trained on the conversations around you. But everything seemed normal.

Apart from you. People were beginning to give you suspicious glances. You started to realise that it was because you were on your own.

You tried not to pay them attention and remain casual as you continued with the bottom deck. But people kept giving you funny looks, as if they were sorry for you that your partner wasn’t by your side. It was becoming increasingly difficult to act natural.

But fortunately, you were almost done. A few more corridors and then you were rounding the corner to your suite. With impeccable timing, you saw Billy walking towards you from the opposite direction.

Once you were both back in the room, you asked, “Find anything?”

“No, nothing suspicious.”

“I didn’t find anything either.”

“Expect for the fact that everyone was together. There wasn’t a single person by themselves.” He exclaimed.

“I saw that too!”

“Is that how couples are? It’s disgusting.”

“That’s what I thought!”

You felt a slight joy of your shared camaraderie and it made you uncomfortable.

Billy cleared his throat and then gave you a rundown of the top deck, telling you the layout and making a note of all the locked doors, and you did the same.

“So…” You began, “It seems as if we’re going to have to stick together on this one.”

“It seems that way. For our next course of action, what do couples do?”

***

Smiling, you sprawled out across the sun bed, wearing nothing but your bikini and sunglasses. Next to you, Billy sat upright pretending to read a magazine.

Maybe this mission wouldn’t be too bad. You closed your eyes and felt the sun caress your skin. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d been able to get out in the sun.

Keeping your eyes closed, you tuned into the conversations around you. Still, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. You only had 4 days left to uncover the terrorists. Your heart started to race at the idea of never uncovering the culprits.

But if your director was correct, then you were her top agents. You wouldn’t fail. Especially not with agents back at the base helping you, listening to the bugs you and Billy had hidden.

There were several couples dotted around you. Some were sunbathing too - with books or cocktails -, there were others admiring the view, and others simply passing by.

You didn’t sense anything suspicious about the people sat around you and you made a mental note, putting those faces at the bottom of your suspect list. Once they were checked off, you focused most of your attention on the passers-by.

That’s when you realised that everyone around you had made somewhat of a conversation with their partner. So you struck up a conversation in order to blend in. Unlike on the speedboat, Billy would be forced to make conversation with you now. Your lips twitched upwards to know you had the power to annoy him.

“Isn’t this so much nicer than the last cruise we went on, darling? Much better weather too.”

You groaned as you stretched your arms above yourself, basking in the sun.

“It’s not hard to beat the weather when our last cruise was in Alaska, darling.”

Of course Billy would find a way to be annoying back.

“And whose idea was that?”

“Yours I believe. Some romantic fancy to see the Northern Lights.”

“Maybe if you were a bit more romantic, I wouldn’t have to travel to somewhere that was literally zero degrees.”

“Yeah well maybe-“

You tuned out his words as someone new walked by. It was the captain.

Billy’s sentence died when he saw the expression on your face and followed your line of vision.

There was something off about the captain. The slight tension in his shoulders. His straight-forward gaze. He was thinking hard about something. And it made him nervous.

You and Billy shared a knowing look.

“Shall we go for a walk?” You suggested.

“I’m almost done with my magazine anyway.”

You threw a shawl over your shoulders and Billy tucked his magazine under his arm as you followed the captain around the corner.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened. He walked back to the bridge, a glass room at the top of the deck that contained the controls for the ship.

There was no way of hanging around without him noticing so the two of you continued to idly walk around the edge of the ship.

You leaned into the side of Billy to talk quietly, “Let’s radio in and see if there’s any information on the captain.”

“He can’t be the only one working on this operation, surely. There will be others and we need to find them fast.”

“More couple activities?”

“More couple activities.” He sighed.

The captain kept his eyes trained on you as you walked back the way you’d came.

***

“How are you finding the food, sugarplum?” Billy asked.

You looked up from your dinner and repressed your death glare, smiling sweetly instead.  

“Delicious. It’s great to have a change from your cooking for once.”

He straightened his spine. “I’ll have you know I make an excellent lasagne.”

“Then we’ve clearly been eating very different lasagnes.” You spoke as you cut up your food.

“If you hate my cooking so much then why don’t you get off your ass and do the cooking yourself?”

“If I wasn’t so busy being the breadwinner of this relationship, I’d have more energy to cook.”

His nostrils flared. As if he would ever let himself be a housewife.

He swallowed his piece of stake and took a measuring breath.

“Look, honey, we came here to have a relaxing break. Can we just drop it?”

You’d been keeping half your attention on the holiday-goers around you, but his words commanded your full attention. Was Billy Russo really attempting to be civil? Even though this was just a roleplay, you were surprised he was done with this verbal sparring match.

“Okay. What would you like to talk about instead?”

“Which island are you most looking forward to going to?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe The Bahamas.”

“What do want to do when we get there?”

“Hmmm, first I need to relax. I’m thinking cocktails on the beach. And then I want to explore, see what sights there are, see what the locals are like.”

You knew this wasn’t real and you would be on a boat back to America as soon as this was all over. But it was nice to pretend.

Billy spoke, “Did you know there were swimming pigs?”

“What?”

“I saw on the brochure. You can swim with pigs in The Bahamas, apparently.”

You stifled a laugh. You could imagine Billy, in his swimming trunks, swimming in a blue lagoon surrounded by cute little piggies.

“How about you? What do you want to do when we get there?”

“Well I would pick Jamaica. There’s a lot more to explore. And I fucking love jerk chicken.”

You couldn’t stifle your laugh that time. “We’re here for a romantic getaway and you’re thinking about jerk chicken?”

“Alright fine, I’ll take you to a fancy restaurant, and we’ll get fancy jerk chicken.”

“I’m good with regular jerk.”

“Alright then, we’ll go to The Bahamas and swim with the pigs, then we’ll go to Jamaica for some regular jerk chicken. Then when we’re back in New York, I’ll take you somewhere fancy. How does that sound?”

For a moment, it hurt to know there would be no pigs or jerk chicken for you.  

“Sounds good.”

You finished your mouthful and pushed away your plate.

You sat back in your chair as Billy finished his meal.

Idly fiddling with the cutlery, you thought back to earlier. Your colleagues had reported that they couldn’t find anything on the captain. No criminal record. Just a normal guy who goes to work and plays golf when he’s home.

You made one last scan of the restaurant. There still didn’t seem to be anyone suspicious. You were running out of time.

***

With no leads other than the captain, you decided to follow him the next day.

Making casual conversation, the two of you strolled to the top deck. It would be difficult to watch the captain with him being in a glass room, but you were going to attempt it. If you could just get one piece of information, that might be enough.

You stopped when you were in sight of the bridge and leaned against the railing as you continued your conversation. Billy kept his eyes trained on you, so it was your job to watch the captain. Only very occasionally did your eyes drift upwards to spy on him. And it seemed the captain had the same idea. Every now and then, you could feel his eyes on you, cold and prickly.

You leaned in towards Billy, pretending to adjust his collar.

You whispered, “He’s onto us.”

Billy’s expression turned grim. This would be much harder if the captain knew that you knew.

You said under your breath, “We’re awful spies.”

Billy’s eyes flitted away from you for a moment. People started to flock to the top deck.

Billy replied, “Maybe it’s not too late.”

“What do you mean?”

“Is everyone here for the dance class?” A woman from behind you asked loudly.

She strode into the middle of the crowd that had gathered around you. She wore a flowy black dress and walked with a commanding presence.

Everyone voiced a resounding ‘Yes’, including Billy. Your head snapped to look at him. He refused to acknowledge your look of disgust and instead, he merged with the crowd.

This was not happening.

He looked back at you and gestured for you to come over.

You sighed as you followed him into the crowd.

“Welcome class, it’s lovely to see so many of you here today. If we’re all ready, then please spread out with your partners.”

Everyone shuffled to fill out the space. You couldn’t think of anything more traumatic than dancing with him. But at least it would be great cover for spying on the captain.

“We’ll begin by learning how to properly hold your partner. A good posture is vital to being able to carry out the dance. So, men, if you can hold out your right hand for the lady to take.”

The instructor lifted her hand in demonstration with her male counterpart, so their hands were touching palm to palm.

You would have to touch him… You would have to touch Billy Russo. You quietly inhaled, trying not to show your hesitance. Billy held his hand out for you to take. His face was a neutral mask.

You placed your hand in his, skin surprisingly soft and warm.

“And then gentlemen, you can place your other hand on the lady’s back, right here near the shoulder.”

He placed his hand on your back, splaying out his fingers, and you were glad you hadn’t decided to wear anything backless today. Despite the position bringing you together, you both managed to keep as far of a distance as possible.

“And ladies, place your hand on his upper arm like so.”

The instructor placed her hand on top of the arm that was holding her back, so that their arms lay flat elbow to elbow.

You did as you were told, placing your hand on his arm, and gripping as the instructor had. You had to admit it felt satisfying to feel the muscle that was there.

“Men don’t let your arm sag, you’re the strong support.”

She walked around, inspecting everyone’s posture. She stopped at you and Billy.

“Don’t be afraid to be close together. This isn’t a high school dance; you’re allowed to touch each other.”

You and Billy nodded then begrudgingly, he pulled you in closer so you were pressed against him.

“Perfect. Now we can move onto the basic steps. The man leads, and the woman follows. Men, begin by stepping your left foot forward and women, step your right foot back.”

There was an awkward sound of out of sync shoes landing on the floor as everyone took their first steps. It felt clunky and cumbersome, and you didn’t know how you would endure much more of this.  

The instructor went through the rest of the basic steps. “And if you follow the moves correctly, you should begin travelling around the room in a counter-clockwise direction. But before I let you have a go, I’d like to add in one more step, the spin.”

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse…

She demonstrated the spin and you tried not to feel overwhelmed at how easy she made it look despite the complex foot work. There was no way you would get that.

“Shall we try it all together?”

No, no, no.

The class nodded.

The instructor’s partner brought over a speaker and a song started to play.

“Are we ready? Okay, 1, 2, 3.”

You began uncertainly, unsure of whether you could even remember the steps. But Billy’s movements were strong and confident, and you found yourself easily able to follow his signals.

It didn’t take you long at all to feel the flow, letting your body take over as you glided across the floor. It was all thanks to Billy. He didn’t falter once, and you started to wonder if he’d had dance practice before.

You weren’t sure why, but your heart started to race. Maybe it was because this was going perfectly and you didn’t want to mess it up. You focused all your attention on Billy, ignoring the stumbling going on around you. But time and time again, you followed the moves with flawless precision, and you started to realise… you were actually enjoying this, the graceful rise and fall of your feet, his strong arms around you, your perfect synchronisation.  

And then it was time for the spin. You didn’t even think about it, you just allowed it to come from within you. Billy raised his arm, and you came away from him to twirl, your hair fanning out around you. With the momentum of the dance, and Billy’s expert timing, for just a moment, you felt like you were floating.

He caught you again and you were back in his arms to continue the rest of the steps. But before you knew it, the song was coming to a close.

As the music finished, he swept you off your feet and dipped you. That had not been planned.

You stared up at him, breathless. A small smile tweaked at his lips.

You were brought back to reality when those around you started applauding. You shot upright, looking around yourself. They’d all stopped dancing to watch you and Billy.

“Good job, everyone. Especially you two.” The dance instructor winked at you and you found yourself blushing.

“I very much hope you all keep up the dancing. That’s all from me but you can find more details about my classes on the brochure. It was lovely to meet you.”

And with that, she meandered off, along with half the crowd.

You slowly returned to your senses, realising how close you were to Billy and took a step back.

You were supposed to have been watching the captain. You’d completely forgotten. This had been a mission. This wasn’t real. None of it was.

“I didn’t notice anything suspicious.” Billy informed you.

You didn’t know why but you felt hurt that he’d remembered to pay attention when you hadn’t. This was a job, you reminded yourself. Your feelings weren’t real, they were only pretend.

Billy continued, “He stopped giving us evil glares. I think we managed to convince him.”

“I guess that’s something. But we’re running out of time. I say we surveil the ship again and check if the bugs have picked anything up.”

Billy nodded and slipped his hand into yours as he pulled you away. He was getting better and better at this boyfriend act.

You reminded yourself again, this was just a job.

Tag List:@beautifuldegenerate@rafaelakelley@shawty-writes-a-little@paintlavillered@the-stars-who-listen-and-dream@shannynouhoh​ @sehyojae​

Pairing: CIA!Billy Russo x CIA!reader

Summary: You and Billy are CIA agents who despise each other. And for your next mission, you have to pretend to be a couple. 

Word count: 2.5k

Warnings: None for this chapter. There will be eventual smut 

A/N: This is for the Ben Barnes Secret Santa Exchange for @beautifuldegenerate​! I really hope you enjoy it!!! I absolutely loved your prompts and I hope you don’t mind that I turned it into a series

The prompt: reader being saved from a dangerous situation OR reader and Billy are enemies who have to work together (I went with both ✨✨)

Part One - Part Two -Part Three

Your morning plans had been diverted when you received a text from the director. She wanted to speak with you.  

Coffee still in hand, you turned on your heel to head to her office.

Ordinarily, someone called to their director’s office would be filled with dread. But you were a top agent, you followed her orders without fail, and you always handed the paperwork in on time. You were good at your job, and you enjoyed it. So you knocked eagerly on her door.

“Come in.” She called.

You pushed it open and your smile drooped. There was someone else there. Billy Russo.

When he strained his neck to look at you, a similar expression reflected on his face.

Billy Russo. Womanizer. Arrogant prick. The last person you’d ever want to see.

“Take a seat.” Your boss offered.  

You pulled the chair out a little more aggressively than you’d meant to and sat down.

She explained, “I’ve brought the two of you here because you’re both my top agents.”

You gave each other a side-eye glance, doubting the others’ abilities.

“And, after reviewing your skill sets, I noticed you possessed the perfect characteristics to form a team. Therefore-”

“Woah, woah, woah.” Billy interrupted before you had the chance to. “A team? You want us to work together as a team?”

“I have to admit I don’t think that’s the best of ideas.” You agreed.

Your boss’ lips were slightly parted as she looked between the two of you in confusion. She hadn’t expected a refusal, especially not from you.

She spoke with a harsher tone, “I’ve received intelligence that the senator’s life is in danger.”

The look of disgust disappeared from your faces and turned to a much more serious expression.

She continued, “Which is why it’s vital I have my best agents working on the case. Are you going to protect your country or am I going to have to find replacements?”

The two of you were silent.

“Good.” Your boss remarked as she placed two case files onto the desk.

You took your own file and started to leaf through the information as she explained the mission.

“As you know, the senator and his wife have taken a vacation on a couple’s cruise. We have intel that there may be one or several terrorists on board with intent to end his life. He brought two bodyguards with him, but we want you to go undercover and locate these terrorists before we have a gunfight on our hands. Now, we’ve prepared a boat for you, and if you leave at-“

Billy interrupted her, “I’m all about saving the senator’s life but this…” he tapped his finger on one of the paragraphs, and the look of disgust returned to his face, “Is unnecessary.”

You quickly flicked through your papers to get to the same page he was on, thinking that surely it couldn’t be that bad. It was.

Your boss argued, “You’re going undercover on a couple’s cruise. You need to be a couple.”

You chimed in, “I hate to say this but Billy’s right. Can’t we just pretend to be wait staff or something?”

“No. Posing as a couple will give you the greatest mobility. I don’t want to hear one more argument from either of you. I don’t see a single reason why you can’t follow this plan so I suggest you get over your egos.”

You looked over at Billy. You’d have to spend 4 whole days with that man, stuck with him in the middle of the ocean, posing as his girlfriend. The thought brought bile to your stomach. But you didn’t want to let your boss down.

“Fine. I’ll take the case.”

You could feel the fury radiating from Billy as he refused to look at you.

“Fine. I’m in too.”

***

It took you a while to adjust to the low light and even then, everything just looked like various shades of black. Stealth missions never got any easier.

The night sky was the darkest, like spilled ink, it even consumed the stars. The only thing able to escape the darkness was the crescent moon, which looked so large and close, especially when it was reflected in the dark waters.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult to navigate the docks, all you had to do was walk forwards. Although, you were cautious not to trip over the rope or buckets that had been left out. You were so busy watching your feet that you almost walked straight into Billy.

“This is us.” He came to a stop at one of the boats.  

He tossed your luggage into the boat and then gracefully hopped in. Uncrossing your arms, you sighed as you followed him onto the boat. It rocked with your motion, and you gripped onto the sides for support.

“Know how to work a speed boat?” Billy asked, gesturing to the motor that was on your side.

You stared at the plastic box.

“Of course.”

You’d never worked a speed boat before, but how hard could it be.

There seemed to be a few things attached to the motor, but in the dark, you couldn’t tell what on earth each part was for. You reached for something tubular and pulled… It didn’t move.

Billy spoke, “You don’t know how to work a speed boat do you?”

Your hand unclasped from… whatever you were holding.

“No.” You replied quietly, just about audible over the sound of the waves.

Billy sighed. “Move.”

He stood up and started walking to your end of the boat, stepping over the luggage. You went to stand up but couldn’t find your balance so you opted for awkwardly shuffling out of his way, pressing yourself against the side of the boat so he could pass.

It took him a moment of investigating before he plunged his hand somewhere and pulled.

The engine spluttered to life and the boat started to shoot off over the waves. You pressed yourself tightly into the corner of the boat and clamped your mouth shut to keep from making a squeal from the sudden jolt.

It didn’t take you too long to get used to the speed. Billy was good at keeping hold of the engine, steering the boat across the waves with precision. You wondered if he’d done something like this before in the military.

For a moment, you admired the scenery, watching as the twinkling cityscape disappeared into the horizon. Then it was nothing but the sea. You enjoyed peering over the edge of the boat, watching the way the waves would chop up the moon’s reflection. Everything was quiet, save for the white-noise-thrum of the engine. This would be peaceful, you thought, if only you weren’t here with Billy, or if the senator’s life wasn’t in danger.

Right, the senator. You reached over to unzip the luggage and reached around until you found the map and navigation tools.

It had already been several days since the boat had set off from American shorelines. Fortunately, it didn’t travel too quickly.

Before leaving, the senator’s bodyguards had radioed in the current coordinates of the ship. You took out a headtorch and scrutinised the map.

“You’re going to need to veer right.” You informed.

Refusing to acknowledge your contribution, he silently steered the boat.

After a long while, the monotony of the endless ocean started to grate on you. North, East, South, West, it all looked the same without consulting your compass. Even the sea and the sky started to blend together.

You tried to make an effort at distracting from the boredom that you were sure even Billy must be feeling by now, “So, you been on a cruise before?”

His dark eyes shot you a glare and then quickly re-focused on the sea.

This was going to be a long journey.

More time passed and you found yourself falling asleep. Fortunately, the boat would jolt every so often, snapping open your half-lidded eyes. You wished that bastard would spare you a conversation.

The walkie on your thigh buzzed to life. You were quick to snatch it up.

A man’s voice emitted from the walkie, “This is Alpha, do you copy?”

“Copy that, Alpha, this is Eagle.” You replied.

“The updated coordinates are 14.540° N, 74.967° W.”

“Copy that.” You replied and removed your hand from the walkie.

Frowning at the map, you tried to follow along the lines.

“Veer more right.” You instructed.

For several hours it went on like that. You were sure you must have fallen asleep at some point because the moon was in a much different position to where you remembered it being. If Billy had noticed, he hadn’t said anything. His eyes were still fixed on the endless horizon, refusing to acknowledge you.

You scrambled to look at the map, but you were luckily still on course. It wouldn’t be long now until you neared the ship.

You were right, a few more minutes passed and you saw a large black shape on the horizon. You gestured to Billy to turn the motor off.

It spluttered into silence and all that was left was the crashing of the tides. You didn’t want to arouse any suspicion from the passengers.

“Your turn.” Billy gestured to the oars in the middle of the boat.

You sighed, stuffing everything back into the bag and then picking up the oars. You plopped yourself down into the centre of the boat and shoved the oars into the water then pulled. It required all your strength to move them, and yet the boat hardly shifted.

The cruise ship still remained far off in the distance. There was no way you could do this.

“Can you not help me?”

“I did the steering.”

Asshole.

He stretched his legs out on his side of the boat and got comfortable.

Gritting your teeth, you used your anger to drive you as you pushed the oars forward and then back again. Your stomach twisted to think you’d have to pretend to be this brute’s girlfriend. You kept the image in your head, adding fuel to your anger, which gave you the strength to close the distance between you and the ship.

Your clothes were drenched with sweat by the time you’d pulled up to the side of the ship.

You buzzed your walkie.  

“We’ve arrived.” You spoke, trying not to sound as out of breath as you were.

You then began clambering up the side of the ship where a ladder had been thrown down for you. You left the luggage for Billy to take. You’d done your fair share.

A man reached out his hand to help you up onto the ship. Alpha.

“I’m so glad you could make it.” He spoke.

You nodded and you heard Billy join you at your side.

Alpha continued, “If you’ll follow me.”

The two of you walked behind Alpha, careful to tread lightly as to not disturb anyone.

He pushed open a door and you followed him down a series of corridors. One of the corridors you passed through seemed a bit more spacious than the others. This must be the VIP area, you thought. It was clear which room belonged to the senator as there was another guard already stood outside of it. That must be Bravo.

He tilted his head in acknowledgement and you did the same.

Alpha didn’t stop, he continued forwards down a few more corridors until you’d left the VIP area. You looked all around you, trying to take in the details and map the place out in your head. There would certainly be a lot of ground to cover.

Eventually, Alpha led you both to your room, swiftly unlocking it and then handing you the key. The room was beautiful, well decorated with a white and baby blue colour scheme. There was a large window that would provide a gorgeous view of the sea in the morning, a large wooden table and… a double bed.

“I’ll leave you to it.” Alpha spoke and then disappeared.

Billy dropped the luggage to the floor and then you were both silent as you stared at the bed.

He addressed the situation. “We’re both adults. We know how to share a bed.”

“If you snore, you can take the bath.”

Billy raised an eyebrow. “And if you hog the covers, you can sleep in the bath.”

“Fine.” You replied – venom lacing your tone.

He replied with a twin tone, “Fine.”

You started riffling through the bag for your night things.

“Well, we’d best get some sleep.”

“Agreed.” Billy replied – rolling his shoulders out.

Once you’d gotten everything you needed, Billy replaced you, looking for his own things in the bag.

You stood up and noticed some leaflets on the table and started to leaf through one of the brochures. Your nose wrinkled. There was a couple’s themed activity every day. Yoga tomorrow, dance classes the next day, massages, and then a gala on the final day. Brilliant.

You threw the pamphlet down and then went to the bathroom to get changed.

When you returned, you noticed Billy had already taken the opportunity to do the same. He looked so incredibly different to how you’d ever seen him before. He wore a loose white shirt and black shorts. You couldn’t help but gawk.

“What are you looking at?”

“Sorry, it’s just, you look so… normal?”

He shook his head, finding your behaviour ridiculous, and then looked towards the bed.

He suggested, “Shall we?”

He lifted the covers and slid over as far as he could possibly go. You climbed in next to him and turned out the light, throwing the room into complete darkness.

He turned his back to you, facing the wall, and you did the same so that you were both back-to-back. It took you a long moment to get comfortable enough for your muscles to relax. Not once in your professional career had you imagined that you would end up sharing a bed with Billy Russo. You’d seen many terrible things during your service, but you were sure that this is what you would be having nightmares about.

Although, you had to admit you were still quite chilly from the boat journey and the heat radiating from behind you was working wonders to warm you up.

For a while longer, you remained awake, dreading to think what might happen over the next few days. You would do anything for your job, but you had no idea how you’d make it through this one. Eventually, you allowed your thoughts to move away from your worries. Instead, you focused on the gentle sway of the ship and the muted sound of the waves as they crashed against your window. And after a while, you drifted off to sleep.