The car pulled up to the mysterious and abandoned home of Solomon Lane. It was obvious that he wouldn't be inside. The team of CIA and IMF agents only had lived here for a week and they seemed to know every passageway, every nook and cranny, every room; everywhere.

Ethan was awake, keeping his gaze on the nature surrounding the house. He thought about everything that the White Widow, Alanna Mitsopolis, had told him about the next part of the mission.

"I'm going to give you one core if you extract Solomon Lane from an armoured convoy somewhere in the streets of Paris; he'll be somewhere around here. And, by the way, don't call me White Widow. My name's Alanna Mitsopolis."

What would she do with the other cores? Would she make him do more missions for the other cores? It was confusing at this point.

Ethan looked at Benji, then got out of the car. Benji got out of the car too. They walked away and headed in the direction of the abandoned home, searching for Luther.

Courtney opened her exhausted eyes after the men left, thinking about a plan for this mission. She felt like she had one but the others probably wouldn't approve of it. She brought a pencil and a piece of paper with her in case something had happened and she had to write things down. This is what she was thinking and writing (she writes the things in bold text. Her thoughts will be in italic text. Her actions will be in normal text.)

Wait, no, that's too easy.

She scored out what she wrote and started to write a new plan.

-She paused and thought about the next part of her idea.

-

But what happens next?

She couldn't think. Her thoughts were wiped out.

Ugh... this is frustrating. Maybe this won't work. Maybe they have a plan already.

She was starting to get infuriated. August, who was originally staring at his feet, looked at the woman beside him.

"Courts." He held her hand, rubbing it gently, and made her look at him. "What are you doing that's making you frustrated?"

"I'm trying to plan the next part of this mission." She held the piece of paper up so he could see it. "I'm not sure if it's good though."

"Can I read it?" He asked, staring at the piece of paper.

"What if you don't like it?" She sighed. "It's not even that good."

"Trust me." He smiled slightly and snatched the piece of paper from her hand, not ripping it. "It'll be great."

"It won't meet your expectations, August." She sighed again. "I know it won't."

"Give me a few minutes to read it." He began to study the plan on the paper.

After a few minutes, Courtney looked at him.

"So... what do you think?" She asked him.

"It's good." August handed her back the piece of paper. "I just have one complaint."

"What would that be?" She sighed.

"Ethan is NOT teaming up with us." He stared at her again, pulling her onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her waist. "Think about all the other times he's been in our team and hurt you for no reason."

"He won't hurt me." She placed her hands on his shoulders.

"We said that the last time, the time before that, and so on, and we were wrong because he did hurt you." He frowned. "I don't trust him around you anymore."

"August, I'll be fine."

"You won't be fine."

"If you don't agree with me, I won't kiss you again."

"But..."

"No buts, Mr Walker. No kisses."

He pouted. "We'll see about that, Miss Jenkins."

Courtney blinked. It was another slow blink, just like the one she had before August kissed her for the first time. She imagined his soft lips pressed against hers; she imagined how relaxed it made her; she imagined every good emotion she felt; she imagined how warm she felt inside when he pulled her close; she imagined everything that had happened. One thing she really wanted was for him to kiss her, even if she said that she didn't want him to. All she wanted was a kiss so she could feel relaxed, calm, safe.

She felt the soft, warm lips she desired on hers. It was like he could read her mind. She kissed back. She had to. He was strong, stronger than her, so she couldn't break free. Even if they weren't dating and this happened, she wouldn't pull away. She had one question in her mind. What would my father think? As she kissed the love of her life, thoughts began to run through her head.

Flashback 8

There's one thing I never seemed to get. Why did my father target me? Why did he target my brother? Why did he love hurting us? Why did he kill my mother? I've got many questions but I can never answer them. My mind is blank when I think about them. I've got many stories to tell. This one is about dating.

I was 13 and I walking home from school with Oliver. We were both badly bruised on most parts of our bodies. My friends, my teachers, even the headmaster, were shocked and curious as to why we had bruises and scars. We had to lie about it. We couldn't tell anyone about our father.

As Oliver and I were walking, a question came into my head. Why would I think that when I have worse things to think about? You see, I had a crush on someone. His name was Henry. Henry Gallimore. His friends said he had a crush on me but they were probably messing with my head.

Henry and I were in Mathematics. Yes, the teacher put him and I together. It was like that for most classes. Our desk was near the back.

"Hey. It's Courtney, right?" He said, nudging me.

"Yeah." I replied. "And you're Henry."

"What's the answer to question 13?" He asked.

"Umm..." I scanned my work. "The answer is 256." I paused. "I guess I'll have to explain that for you."

He nodded. "Please?"

"Alright. It's 4 to the power of 4. That means we multiply 4 by itself four times." I smiled at him. "You're probably wondering how I got 256. All I did was multiply 4 by 4 to get 16, 16 by four to get 64 and 64 by 4 to get 256. In Math, it would look like this: 4 x 4 x 4 x 4. It's called indices. Does that help you?"

"Yeah. Thanks." He smiled and wrote the answer down. "Can we talk at lunch?"

"Hmm..." I thought for a second. "Sure."

At lunch, Henry and I met up. When I looked at him, he was blushing. Maybe his friends were correct. Maybe they weren't messing with my head.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" I asked him, a little curious.

"I'll get straight to the point. Someone likes you." He smiled slightly. "And you know who they are."

"Is it you?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"It is!"

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"Fine, it's me. That brings me on to my next question. Will you go out with me?"

"I... I can't."

"Why?"

"My father wouldn't approve."

"What about your mother?"

"She— she wouldn't approve either."

"What happened to your arm?" He suddenly asked.

"We can talk about this tomorrow!"

After school, I walked home with my brother.

"Court, you alright?" Oliver looked at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I lied.

"You're not fine. What's up?"

"Some guy that I had a crush on asked me out."

"What did you say?"

"That Dad wouldn't approve."

"It is true. Dad wouldn't approve of us dating anyone."

"What would Dad say if I was in a relationship?"

"What would he say? He wouldn't say anything. He'd hurt you."

"What if he knew the person?"

"Courtney, he would still hurt you."

I stayed quiet.

"He would hate you for the rest of your life."

"Yeah, I suppose he would."

*****

To be honest, I don't know what my father would think if he found out that I was dating August. I've never been in contact with him because of all the things he's done to me. In my family, I've really only contacted Oliver. But he doesn't know that I'm working with the CIA and not MI6. He doesn't know that drunk men tried to touch me in many intimate areas. He doesn't know that I've shared many kisses with August. He doesn't know that I'm in love with August. He doesn't know that Ethan Hunt has hurt me many times. He doesn't know what I've had to go through for two whole years.

I don't even know if I'll ever see him again. I don't even know if he's alive. He hasn't contacted me in months. I hope he's alright.

August pulled away and stared at her.

"Are you alright?" He asked, realising that she was hiding something from him.

"I'm fine." Courtney lied, looking into his eyes.

"You're not fine." He cupped her cheeks with his hands. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I'm fine." She cuddled into him.

"Don't lie to me, Cutie." He played with her hair. "Are you thinking about your family?"

She nodded.

"Is it about a specific member?"

"Mhm."

"Is it about your father?"

"No."

"Your mother?"

"No."

"I give up. Tell me who it is."

"My brother."

"Why are you thinking about him?"

"He hasn't contacted me in months. He doesn't even know that I'm dating you."

"What do you think has happened to him?"

"August, how am I supposed to know what has happened to him?"

"He could have easily been abducted by aliens."

She laughed. He always found a way to make her laugh, even when she didn't want to.

"Courts, you're going to have to get off my lap." August looked out of the window. "Ethan, Benji and Luther are coming."

Courtney got off his lap. "What about the plan?"

"Babe, he'll have some stupid plan." He held her hand. "If he does, we'll suggest the one that you made."

"He wouldn't like the one I made, Auggie." She sighed. "He doesn't even like me."

"I'll help you with it." He looked at her. "We can say that we made it while they were away, just to cover up the kissing."

Two out of three men got inside the vehicle; Benji in the driving seat and Luther in the passenger seat.

"Where's Ethan?" Courtney asked.

"He's driving behind us." Benji smiled.

Courtney looked out the back window. "I don't see a car behind us."

"That's because he's using a motorbike."

"Oh, right." She sighed. "What about August and I? What do we do?"

"We drive around Paris." Luther looked at her. "That's what we do."

"So it's just a break from the work?" August smiled slightly.

"Technically, yes." Benji smiled. "Just for a while. Ethan was assigned to find Solomon, not us."

"What's the point of us going if we're not doing anything?" Courtney stared at Benji. "Can't we just stay here? My feet hurt from being in these heels all day."

"She has a point." August agreed with her statement. "There's no point in all of us going with Ethan if he was the one assigned to do this."

"If you want to stay here, you can." Luther replied. "But you're missing out on the fun."

"Can I change into something else?" Courtney asked. "I'm a little uncomfortable in this outfit."

"Sure." Benji smiled. "August, you can go with her if you want."

"Before I go for a few minutes, does Luther know about the thing you found out yesterday?" August asked, a little curious.

"What thing? *Pause* Oh, the thing." Benji sighed. "He does know."

"Is he alright with it?"

"Yeah. Luther doesn't mind who people date."

"Are you going to tell Sloane or Hunley about it?"

"No, of course not."

"Right, thanks."

Courtney was already making her way to the abandoned house. August quickly got out of the vehicle and walked as fast as he could to get to Courtney.

"You're a fast walker, aren't you?" He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She looked at him and smiled. "I must be."

He slowly walked with her to the bedroom.

"Why can't we just stay here?"

"I don't know, Auggie." She sighed. "There's probably more things we can do here than out there."

She looked through her outfits and decided on wearing a long sleeved white blouse, dark blue ripped jeans, a black jacket and white sneakers. She also tied her hair up into a high pony tail. She was originally thinking of wearing some more makeup, more of the lipstick, but she decided to wipe it off with a makeup wipe.

Courtney was a girl that hated things that made her stand out. She liked blending in. She liked being hidden from the world. She liked to be the sheep that followed its herd, not the one that left its herd behind. She hated makeup. She hated that it gave people pimples. She hated wearing tight clothes. She hated how her body stood out when she wore them. But she couldn't stop wearing these things that she hated.

She had to do what someone told her. If she didn't, she wouldn't have a job. Well, that's what she thought. She thought that she was being forced to do things. A slave, she thought, has to do what they're told to do. Don't all slaves do that? She felt she was a slave for her father; Erica Sloane; for Ethan Hunt; for August; for anyone she ever met.

August stared at the woman in front of him. He knew she hated standing out. He knew she hated makeup, tight clothes, her body, herself. He knew she loved blending in. It was one of the things she was good at. It just wasn't a good thing to do.

He knew she thought she was a slave. But she wasn't. She was an agent. A good agent. He hated working alone. He wouldn't be able to complete missions if he was by himself. He had to have a partner, an agent, working with him. He was lucky that Courtney was placed in his area. He was lucky that Courtney was his partner in crime.

"Courts, are you ready to go yet?" August asked. "We've been in here for twenty minutes."

"Wait..." Courtney tightened her pony tail in case it became loose. "I'm ready."

August grabbed her hand and walked out of the room. "You know you don't need to impress me, right?"

"I'm not trying to." Courtney replied. "You don't need to impress me."

"I don't." He smiled slightly. She raised her eyebrows at him. "Maybe I try to impress you."

"You know that time in the jet where we had to HALO jump to get into a night club and you didn't have an oxygen tank when there were oxygen tanks?"

"Mhm."

"Did you want to impress me by not wearing one?"

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"You know you can tell me, right?"

"Courts, maybe I was trying to impress you."

"Why?"

"I... umm... can't explain that to you at the moment."

"Babe, I'm not going to be mad at you."

Babe? When did she ever call him babe? That was something new. She always did something new. Maybe it was a girl thing. Maybe girls did something new every so often. He didn't know. He was a man. He wasn't a woman. He would never know. This brought him a flashback.

Flashback 9

Most of my relationships lasted for weeks; sometimes they lasted for months if I was lucky. Most of those relationships were one night stands or, as some people like to call them, hookups. Most of the girls I dated didn't know that I was a spy. I just told them that I was some American dude looking for love. Most of them believed what I had told them. They actually believed that I was an American dude looking for love.

Before I began a relationship with Courtney, I dated a woman called Ellie. Ellie Watson. Same age as me, blonde hair, fair complexion, tall, kind of adorable, needy. She always wanted to take pictures and made sure that I was in every single one of them.

Ellie and I would hang out a lot, and I mean a lot. Sometimes we went to beaches; she always tried to make me go near the water but I made excuses of being afraid of it. Sometimes we went to bars; she usually tried to get me drunk but it never worked. She always got drunk.

Courtney was annoyed that I was dating her. She always told me that spy work was more important. That was true. Spy work was more important. This is why I'm telling you this story.

30th October 2018. I remember this night clearly. This was the night I would break Ellie's heart. Courtney was going to help me. We had it all planned out.

When Ellie went to the bathroom, I would text Courtney to send me messages like "love you" and "can't wait to see you tonight" to make Ellie jealous. She always got jealous when I was talking with other girls.

*****

I heard a knock on the door.

"Courts, remember what I said earlier?" I stared at the spy.

She nodded and quickly walked to her room.

I opened the front door when the assassin disappeared out of view from where I was standing. A blonde woman with many layers of makeup on her face stood in the doorway.

"I've missed you." Ellie smiled and walked inside of the apartment. "Is that girl here?"

"You mean Courtney, right?" I gazed at her.

"What do you think?" She smirked. "Of course I mean her. Isn't she the one that's trying to win your heart?"

"She wouldn't do that." I frowned.

"Okay, okay." She sighed. "Is she here?"

"No." I lied. "She's at a meeting."

"Good."

She walked to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine.

"Babe, would you like a glass?" She asked.

"I'm not telling you this again: I don't drink." I sighed.

She consumed some of the liquid and looked at me.

"What?" I asked, a little confused.

She walked over to me and pressed her lips against mine. I didn't want to make her mad so I kissed back.

Ellie pulled away after a while.

"I'll be back in a second." She stumbled to the bathroom.

That's when I pulled my phone out of my pocket and texted Courtney.

*****

(August = text on the right side of the screen / Courtney = text on the left side of the screen)

Courts, she's in the bathroom

Ok, when should I send the romance stuff?

Just start sending them now

Do I have to?

Do you want me to date Ellie or not?

August, do you really think that I care about her?

Courtney, just send me the stuff

Fine

I love you

*****

Ellie came back a while later to find me texting Courtney.

"Babe." She frowned. "Who is this girl you're talking to?"

"Ellie, if you haven't noticed, I'm texting my girlfriend." I smirked. "I'm texting the girl you hate because she's my girlfriend."

"Don't talk to me ever again!" She yelled and stormed out of the house.