ROSE
I couldn't believe Jack really didn't understand why I was mad at him. This man, I swear. I was a sucker for a cute smile and his made a girl go weak in the knees. I couldn’t let him make me forget my reasoning. I was going to at least play hard to get until he attempted to suck up a little bit. After all, I deserved it, right? I was his girlfriend! But first, we had to complete this mission. Oh, I wish I could have a word or two with Professor Carn for ruining the perfect Valentine’s Day!
It was too late now. We were already deep into our location. I looked over my shoulder at my boyfriend who had a serious expression on his face as we continued through the submarine. Jack was so darn charming and attractive, but he had a way of getting under my skin. He was always so carefree and oblivious to the consequences of his actions. Ugh, and that was exactly what I found cute about him. You’re supposed to stay mad, Rose!
"Jack, have you bought anything new lately?" I whispered.
Jack looked at me with wide, puppy eyes. "No, why would I? I mean your birthday is coming up soon…” He placed a finger to his chin and looked up at the ceiling. "Coming up soon. Right?"
"Why do I even bother with you?" I gritted out, pinching the bridge of my nose. "And my birthday is May 25th, you jerk," I snapped, stomping off into the hallway.
He found the whole situation amusing.
"Oh! Well, I have some time then buttercup," he chuckled, following behind me and attempted to grab my hand.
He tried to impress me by reaching up, grabbing some of the pipes and doing pull ups to show off his upper body strength. I rolled my eyes even though seeing his bulging muscles made me want to fan myself—or it could've been how hot this darn submarine was. I couldn’t let him distract me. I turned, tripped over one of the doorways and fell in a heap onto the floor. Jack jumped down and ran over to me. It was a beautifully sweet gesture… that was, until he tripped over the same exact spot and fell on top of me, his head hitting me in the stomach.
I cried out in pain, shoving his large noggin off me and grasping my tummy. "That's it! Once this mission is over, you and I are done."
"Sweetheart, please, I didn't mean to trip and hurt you,” he appealed as he got to his feet. “Please, calm down."
Did he just say what I think he did? Growling, I rolled onto my side, trying to contain my anger. I couldn't believe he fell on me, didn't remember my birthday or get me anything for Valentine’s Day! Some boyfriend I had chosen.
After falling on this submarine floor and having Jack fall on top of me I understood two things... one, this submarine’s floor was really hard, and two, Jack had to weigh about 200 pounds—I couldn't feel my legs at all.
“Get off of me!”
“Sorry about that princess.” he said with a boyish grin.
I struggled to get back on my feet, my legs wobbling like a newborn deer on roller skates. It was a sight to behold, a perfect combination of grace and clumsiness. How on earth was I supposed to complete this mission when I could barely walk? I growled again and yet he still stood there, oblivious. Life can be so unfair sometimes.
Just as I was contemplating adding Jack to the list of people to kill, Jack came up behind me and placed his hand on my back for support. Did he not realize that I didn't want to be touched right now? It was a "please-don't-touch-me-I'm-trying-to-be-dramatic" kind of situation. Classic angry woman choice.
As we silently fought in place, out of the blue, our target appeared before us. The captain, a little old man with a mustache that could rival a walrus, stood there, unaware of the impending doom that awaited him. He had been smuggling illegal gold for years, and today was his day of reckoning. That was, if I could get full feeling back into my legs.
Jack looked at me with a gleam of joy in his eye. “Target spotted, let's move.”
Guess my classic girl move was going to have to wait for another occasion. “Okay, Jack. Let's get this job done so I can find a hot tub.”
Jack blushed a bright red. “Hot tub, eh? Happy Valentine’s day for me.”
I growled and spoke with my hands. “Down puppy, let's go.”
We stealthily crept around the corner, like ninja spies melding into the shadows. We watched the captain enter his room and start the engines of the submarine. The sound was deafening, like a thousand angry cats screeching in unison as the submarine slowly descended into the dark abyss of the ocean floor. Our ears popped like popcorn as we felt the submarine finally settled on its base. Jack's face turned a pale shade of green.
"What's wrong with you?” I asked, concerned.
"I think I may be getting sea sick," He replied, covering his mouth with his hand.
Oh! We didn’t have time for this!
“Snap out of it! This is our chance. He’s alone in that room and completely unattended. Let's complete our mission and get out of here,” I whispered and nodded, trying to hide my own queasy stomach.
"You're right,” Jack whispered back. “We can't let a little sea sickness get in the way of completing our mission. Let's go."
We cautiously made our way toward the captain's room looking around every corner for any person that might catch us. The dimly lit corridor casted eerie shadows on the walls while the sound of the submarine's engines reverberated through the metal structure, adding to the tension in the air.
As we quickly approached the door, I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. This was it, the moment we had been preparing for. I took a deep breath and reached for the doorknob, my hand trembling slightly. With a quiet click, the door swung open, revealing the captain sitting at a desk, surrounded by stacks of documents and a computer screen displaying encrypted messages.
"Hey! You two can't be in here, get out at this moment," He yelled.
He didn’t have time to say anything else as I hit him in the chest with a poison blow dart while Jack shot him in the eye with his. He had never been a good shot so I knew he was probably aiming for his chest and just missed. The captain began to grasp at his chest a few times before falling over.
"I told you this mission wouldn't be hard, sweetheart.” Jack grabbed my hand sweetly and I admit that I was swooning. “Let's set the bombs and the timer and get out of here."
"Well, that escalated quickly!" I exclaimed, trying to catch my breath. My first kill with a blowdart was so perfect. Jack’s… was terrible.
Jack grinned mischievously, his eyes twinkling with excitement. "Who knew taking down a notorious captain would be as easy as a poison blow dart and a purposely slightly off-target shot? We make a great team, sweetheart."
I rolled my eyes as we quickly got to work finishing up the mission—which meant leaving no evidence. We opened our backpack and removed the bombs. The ones provided by the AU were so compact they could easily fit in a bag, but so powerful they could bring down a building. Handing a few to Jack, we began placing the bombs strategically around the submarine.
As I carefully set the timer, Jack kept watch, making sure no one interrupted such a crucial moment. The tension in the air was palpable, but we couldn't help but feel a sense of exhilaration.
With the timer set, we made our way back through the submarine, trying our best to maintain a nonchalant demeanor.
"Wait a minute. Um, Rose?" Jack's face contorted into a mix of confusion and worry. "How on earth are we going to get out of this submarine?"
I hadn't even considered our escape plan. Here we were, stuck on the ocean floor, heading to who knows where, with a dead captain, ticking explosives, and no way back up. This was turning into a real-life episode of "Dumb and Dumber Assassin Goes Underwater."
"Turn off the timer until we can figure this out!" I shrieked, my breathing becoming increasingly erratic. Panic was setting in, and I was starting to resemble a hyperventilating poodle on a hot summer day. "And how did you let this happen?" I snapped at Jack, pointing an accusatory finger in his direction.
"Me? Who shot the first blow dart, huh? I'm waiting," Jack retorted, his eyebrows raised in mock innocence.
"Just stop the bomb timer!" I exclaimed, trying to regain some semblance of control. But of course, life wasn't done playing its cruel jokes on us. Jack's face turned a shade of green that would make the Grinch proud. "Oh no, I didn't bring the codes to disable the bombs. I didn't think we would need them!" I wailed, my panic reaching new heights.
In that moment, we were the epitome of bumbling idiots. Two clueless wannabee assassins who had trapped themselves on a submarine with a ticking time bomb, and we had no way to defuse it.
As the seconds ticked away, we frantically searched for a solution, our panic escalating with each passing moment.
"This would be our last Valentine's day ever and I didnt even get a teddy bear," I sobbed. I couldn't believe it, we would be legends after all, killed by our own bombs—that wasn’t the kind of assassin I was trying to be.