Max and Asma: turning point

Max and Phoenix (Assassin!)

A/N: So, this is not in our canon at all, I just had so much fun thinking of Phoenix, that I accidentally realized I included Max with it. So it's just that, a happy accident:D It doesn't impact our thing in any way:) 

SO MANY TYPOS!!!! I'M SORRY I WAS A RUSH!!!! THERE IS NO TIME FOR ME TO CORRECT ALL OF THEM, PLEASE FORGIVE ME! 

Max belongs to my friend :) do not steal

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It happened so fast, likely less than a second. A minute ago they were arguing because of her reckless attitude that almost cost her her life and he let out a very dry comment. She didn't even remember what he said that made her snap and she punched him. The minute she did, her eyes took a different expression and when she thought he would retort with a slap of his own, he grabbed her shoulders, pinned her against the wall, and crashed his lips against hers. He gave her a kiss instead!

The first time he pressed his lips against hers felt like they both were hit by lightning. It sent shivers down their spine and both pulled away from one another. Her eyes were searching for his so she would make sure it wasn't a dream but instead was really happening. Her golden orbs seemed to flash brightly as she lowered her head and grabbed his jaw with her hand to plant another kiss on his lips. He grunted against her lips and wrapped one strong arm around her waist. It wasn't supposed to happen and he wasn't supposed to give her another kiss and yet, Max realized he couldn't resist the urge. Asma pulled away from him as she realized she was enjoying it too much and stared at him with an intense gaze.

He was unreadable, as always. How could he be any different? Max lost so much in his life already and decided he would not start over. He would never be vulnerable again. It worked for him for decades but she entered his life like a hurricane. She busted open the heavy metal walls he built to protect his heart and now that she was there, breathing right next to him, he didn't want to let go of her. Tonight, she almost died because she didn't care about her safety and he realized that he could have lost her too. The thought made his insides churn as he refused to see it happen but he wasn't able to voice it. All he knew was that images of his dead wife crossed his mind as they came back to their hotel room. It shook him up enough to have him yell at her for being stupid and taking risks she could have avoided. It was unlike him to have fits of anger and it shocked the ebony assassin who stared at him with a shocked expression on her face. Why did he care? Why did he want her to live through another day?

The brunette let his calloused fingers brush over the soft skin of the small of her back and run up her spine, eliciting a moan from the woman who shut her eyes tight and bit her bottom lip. Her hands roamed over his large shoulders and she slowly planted a kiss on the crook of his neck. He cared and she couldn't understand. In her life, filled with deaths and tragedies, only one man ever felt love for her and treated her as a person instead of a weapon. That was until she realized that the love of her life betrayed her and used her feelings to set her on a killing spree and wipe out the competition. A tool. She was nothing more than a tool for him and the revelation prompted Asma Jensen to never let anyone reach out to her heart. That was until she met Max and they both investigated the same man: The « love of her life » also known as Phaser.

Tonight was supposed to be the end game. They found Phaser's last known location and she decided to go and slaughter everyone in there, including Phaser and ultimately herself. She prayed that her former lover's wish wasn't fulfilled and that she and he were the only remnants of the League of Shadows, the very organization that turned them into living weapons. She made copies on a USB key for Max to send to the CIA and also the media to shine a light on the League and the corruption within the FBI. It turned out that Phaser anticipated her actions and already escaped. He sent her into a booby trap and she merely escaped from an explosion, thanks to Max but not without having bruises over her chest and her left hand badly burnt. He was injured but that first kiss awoke a passion within him he barely could contain anymore.

« …....... » She wasn't able to speak yet but her eyes were filled with questions that died at the back of her throat. The odd pink hair was still cascading onto her back, filthy and wet from their previous mission. Her cheeks were soiled with dirt and dust due to the explosion and her eyes were irritated but she didn't care. He kissed her! She had her free hand still holding his jaw when she planted another kiss on his lips, her shivers intensified and goosebumps covered her chocolate skin but his warm hand, the one he still pinned her left hand against the wall, tightened its grip on her. « Ouch... » It broke the moment and she quickly pushed him away, with one strong pressure on his shoulder that had him growl a little bit at the sensation. It stung! They were in bad shape. He pulled away, reconsidering what had just happened, and went back to sit on the edge of the bed.

Asma looked at him. That was a non-moment for both of them but at the same time, so much happened that she couldn't process. He looked at her with a dark glare, eyeing her smooth but bruised legs, exposed since she took her pants off. Her black panties merely contained her curves. Her taut and muscular belly was covered only by the shirt she put on as soon as they came back. His eyes stared at her gorgeous face, bruised and dirty from the explosion and then he looked down at himself. He was in very bad shape too and while he only wore his trousers, his bruised torso didn't leave much to guess that he needed to rest as well. He too was stained with ash and dirt from their previous mission as well as light cuts on his arms and a first-degree burn on his back. He didn't even tend to his injuries yet and the pain was slowly kicking back now that their adrenaline was wearing off.

« Shit! SHIT SHIT SHIT !! » Asma groaned as she searched in her bag for a cigarette. She couldn't find any to calm her nerves so she groaned even louder and grabbed the trashier she sent flying across the room. It broke in a muffled sound against the wall and hit the carpet along with her complaints. « I need to smoke! » She laid on her back, next to his figure, and looked at the ceiling.

« Are you fucking kidding me? » -He snorted-

« Do I look like I'm kidding? » She groaned back at him. « Don't give me that shitty look! I need to smoke! »

« Too bad you're short on cigs then! » He mocked her before running his fingers through his thick black hair. « Seriously what the fuck happened there? »

« The hell I know! Phaser plans ahead! He's smart! He's a fucking genius! He knew I'd find him, maybe he even let me find him. He led me there, let me take the data, and intended to kill me. He knew the USB key would survive enough for police to find it. Shit! We've been played! » She hid her face with her left palm and bit back a sob. He could feel how disappointed she was but he didn't know if it was because she didn't die or because the mission failed or both. 

« …......... we're going to get him.» He assured her but she hid her face with her other hand and shook her head. « Asma... I'm serious. »

« Idon'tfuckingcare! » She mumbled in her thick accent. He chuckled because he knew that when she was talking that fast, she didn't mean her words and he patted her knee with his large hand.

« Yes, you do. » Max furrowed his brows as he really didn't want to let go of that moment they had just shared. He was wondering why it made him feel uncomfortable all of a sudden and tried to fight the urge to address it. « Asma....Are we going to avoid the elephant in the room? »

«......... Why not? » She asked in a faint voice as her eyes kept staring at the ceiling.

« I don't know. »

He was blunt, he didn't know what that kiss meant. There was the obvious sexual attraction he had towards her and that unresolved sexual tension between the two of them that went on for months but tonight, he didn't kiss her because of the rush of adrenaline. If he did, then Max would have been more demanding and she would have felt it in his moves. No. He kissed her because he actually cared about her and thought he could have lost her right here and then. He cared! As the realization hit him like a truck, Asma rolled onto her side and stared at the white wall before her. That kiss really shocked her for she noticed something she thought was gone forever. Her will to live. Max came into her life by accident and shook her so much that he obliterated the walls she so carefully built around her heart. He was in her mind every day, his safety, his survival, and his smirks. She always smiled when a scent reminded her of him, always chuckled at the thought of his angry face when she would play him. Her heart skipped several beats when his lips crashed into hers and since then, his taste had been at the tip of her tongue and she couldn't get rid of the thought of their kiss.

« …....We don't have to name it, you know? » He began, noticing she became stiff like a wooden.

« You don't understand Max. It's a waste... A waste of time! » She clenched her fists and groaned painfully. «Look at us! Look at ME !!! »

« What's wrong with you? » He replied with a dry tone. « Don't begin with the shit excuse you give others! » She was furious! As he pushed her into a corner and forced the young assassin to actually face her own emotions, Asma panicked and quickly stood up and walked to the bathroom where she locked herself up. Max knocked on the door. « STOP BEING CHILDISH !! » He yelled, knocking over and over but she didn't open the door, instead she covered her ears because of the noise and kept yelling « NO ! » to him.

« OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR! » He yelled, louder and exasperated at the same time. She hit the door with her head and wrapped her arms around her legs.

« You don't get it... Do you? » Max had stopped hitting against the door and instead leaned his forehead against the door.

« What is there for me to understand? You don't want this, you simply have to say it. »

« I know... The problem isn't that I don't want to... I liked our kiss... I wanted...more. » She admitted with a muffled voice. His heart skipped a beat and he cleared his throat.

« What's the problem then? » His voice was lighter than it used to be. She could tell he was trying his best to understand her and was willing to open his heart to her but at that very moment, Asma was terrified of his reaction, once he would know the truth about her. He knew bits and pieces about the Shadow League and her part as an assassin but that was about it.

She made him sit on the bed and in one final attempt at keeping him away from her, Asma told him her story. She went on and on about the massacre of her family and later of the village she grew up in. She told him about the years of conditioning and abuse she received from the Shadow League. She told him about the murders starting when he only was 5 years old, the cruelty of their training, and the later years when they had her kill people regardless of their gender and age. The blood of the innocents she had on her hands, Phaser, the love of her life who played her like a fool, and how she wiped out the League unbeknownst to her that she was doing Phaser's job.

He listened to her story, carefully making mental notes to everything she said to him and the more he listened to her, the more he realized that she was a victim. She's always been one and thought that the only way to keep control of her life and make her very own decisions about herself would be to die, he was determined to not let her achieve that goal. She shared elements of his own story: the thirst for revenge, the betrayal, the haunting feeling that never left him. His life was bleak and gloomy and yet she entered it and for the first time, he thought he found a rightful partner. He found in her something he thought was missing for him forever and she was planning to take it away from him.

But it was too young, it was too soon and although he might have had feelings for the pink-haired lady, Max didn't know if he wanted to act on them. His vengeance was the only important thing for him but because of her, he caught himself thinking of the future. He wanted to build again instead of destroying but he only wanted to do it with her. Asma's story didn't drive him away but actually got him more determined to show to both himself and her that they could beat the odds and actually make themselves the life they deserved and craved. Asma wasn't that hopeful.

« Now you know... »

« I do. » He replied, searching into his bag for a pair of cigs he would share with her. Asma left the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Her face had a melancholic expression on it and she avoided looking at him but he threw a cig at her, prompting her to catch it before she noticed what it was and then to walk towards him so he could light it up.

« Thanks... » She said as he lit her cigarette up. He looked at her and quietly grabbed her so she would sit on his lap. She let him go and looked at the ceiling once again. « I'm not sure I can build anything with these hands. They're soaked in the blood of the innocent... killing is what I do for a living... It's all I have ever done. » She sighed deeply. « How can I build something with you? »

« Well...... it could start with a kiss. » He jokingly said as he gently took her chin, made her look at him, and gently brushed his lips against hers. Both knew they wouldn't be able to go too far that night due to their injuries but that kiss along with the others was enough for tonight. It was full of promises of better tomorrows.. full of Hope. Full of Life!