Cahya sighed as she collapsed into the couch in their sitting room. Hella weird to have a sitting room. She'd never had anything that you'd call a room before but here she was, on a spaceship, working for the Ceelen with an actual real live room just for sitting and talking. Playing games. Eating. Just being in.
Weird as hell, sitting rooms. Sure, Tiyamike had made sure they had nice armament lockers along the back wall by the fridge. And they had a great little workbench for working on explosives next to the front door. But it was still a room just for sitting.
Honestly, right now, the weirdness didn't bother her all that much. Every single muscle in her body ached. Ever since Mohana Baumhauer had crashed the entire galactic comm system, destroyed the human sphere's banking system and gotten them booted off Melin, Cahya and the rest of Tiyamike's merry little band of assassins had been working nonstop.
Working and training and just out and out running to keep from having events overtake them. She'd had no idea there were that many ways that the comms kept civilization working. Banking and shipping and travel and just plain talking to people. The ships traveling solar system to solar system had relied on the comms to determine their direction and arrival points so every single pilot, Cahya included, had to learn how to dead-recon.
Hella dangerous, that. So many things could go wrong when you were relying on sub-light communications and databases that only got updated once you were in radio range. But it was exciting, anyway. Probably be some way to work around it in a year or two or three.
She'd had six assassinations in the last ten days, though, taking out people that Nthanda, leader of the Ceelen, and Ru, king of the Hyun-Ju, had decided were going to give them too much trouble. Couldn't disagree with them. The six she'd taken down had been idiots aiming to take what they could at the expense of everyone around them.
It'd just be nice to get to breathe for a little bit instead of running her damn ass off.
"You gonna take the whole couch?" Lamar asked.
He grinned down at Cahya when she stuck her tongue out at him. Nice enough guy, good to look at with muscles and knives and a tiny little scar cutting through his bottom lip that she always wanted to lick. Hadn't ever told him that. Would be dumb to do so. Lamar wasn't the settle down type, not that Cahya was, either.
Assassins didn't settle down. Too much risk, too much death, too much potential for being betrayed. Though she would have thought about it if she could rope Sheridan and Pesti into it, too.
Where Lamar was big and burly, the very popular image of an assassin much like Cahya who was six ten, lean and mean with a shaved scalp covered in scars, Sheridan was petite, busty as all get-out and so pretty that people looked right past her when searching for assassins. Pesti was older, a good forty-five compared to everyone else's mid-twenties. But he was kind, determined and so very good at blending into the background that people just overlooked him. Someday Cahya'd love to learn that trick but she wasn't sure she could manage it.
"Well?" Lamar asked.
"Not moving," Cahya said. "The boss back yet or she still talking with the upper-ups about who needs to die next?"
"Still talking." Pesti sighed, tapped her feet. "Off the furniture, you. Your books are filthy."
"That's what happens when you tromp through blood and grease," Cahya replied but she swung upright and set to work removing her boots.
Didn't look like she'd left prints on the couch. Good. Tiyamike wouldn't say a thing but Mohana would notice, sigh and set to work removing the print. Hated to make the man work that way when he was only just recovered from being mind-wiped three times over in the course of two days.
"I'm tired," Sheridan complained. "We need some downtime."
"Until the others return from wherever they were when the comms went down," Pesti said reasonably even though he scowled and looked just as tired of the constant killing as Cahya and Sheridan were, "we're all that Tiyamike has. It should slow down soon, no matter what. Things will reach an even keel eventually."
"Hope so," Cahya said.
She tossed her boots towards the door, flopped back onto the couch and then groaned when Lamar sat in her lap. He grinned, stood and then sat again once she moved her legs. And then laughed when she put them in his lap. Not the most comfortable position but Cahya should report in to Tiyamike as soon as possible.
Not a thing to be done over the in-ship comms, no matter how urgent the job had been. You just didn't do that. Someone would record it, tie it to them, cause trouble later on. No, reporting in was face to face and that's all there was to that. Just sucked that she couldn't go shower, eat and get some sleep until she'd seen Tiyamike.
"You look unbearably tired, lovely," Sheridan said. She came and leaned over the back of the couch to run her fingers gently over Cahya's scalp.
"I am," Cahya replied. She sighed and shut her eyes, no matter how stupid that was. Assassins weren't supposed to lower their guard, after all. Even if it was Sheridan and Lamar with Pesti chuckling in the background. "Don't stop. That feels good."
Sheridan laughed. She came to sit on the arm of the sofa so that she could rub Cahya's scalp. Then Lamar started rubbing her feet and Cahya decided that if Tiyamike needed a report she could damn well wait until later. Much, much later.
"Heads," Pesti called.
Both sets of hands disappeared off Cahya as Lamar shoved her feet back towards the floor and Sheridan hefted her torso upright. A moment later the door to the suite opened and Tiyamike, all six and a half foot two hundred pounds of pure muscle of her, came in with Mohana on her heels. Pissed, glaring and snarling while Mohana's pretty face was locked in a furious sneer.
Great.
There went any chance of Cahya getting some relaxation.
"Good, you're back," Tiyamike said with barely a glance Cahya's way. "I need you to eat, bathe and then head back out with Pesti. You can sleep on the way, sharpest Wave you two can handle. I've got three assholes that need dead on Rearling."
"Yes, ma'am," Cahya sighed. She raised an eyebrow when Tiyamike scowled at her. "You want a report on the last hit before I go get cleaned up?"
Tiyamike's shoulders sagged and she sighed, rubbing her hands over her face. "Yes, sorry, Cahya. Just need you two to make that hit as quick as possible. Those assholes on Rearling are blocking several of the others from getting home and they can't act. Got word through one of the freighters."
And that, well, that was that. One of the, honestly many, reasons that Cahya stuck with Tiyamike through thick and thin was that she never left her people out to die alone. She always backed them up. More than Cahya could say about a bunch of other people she'd worked for.
If that meant scrambling for food, restocking her weapons and ammo while getting clean and then heading back out immediately, well, that's what life was right now. As soon as the others came back it would get better.
She kept on thinking that as she reported.
It was that or hide her head under the cushions while whimpering.
Two days later, one day out, two hours for the hit and one back, Cahya straggled into the suite and collapsed on the couch with Pesti by her side. Another hit, another kill, three kills this time, and damn but she was tired.
Not that there was any relaxation to be had, not with Sushila coming back from her last hit and effectively resigning because she'd fallen in love with a Galactic Investigator of all things. Not that Cahya could blame Sushila for it. The girl was young, barely legal, and she'd been a slave, poor thing. Strong fighter, no doubt about that, but her attitude had never been one that meshed very well with the team.
Especially Pesti who glared at poor Sushila every time they were in the same room.
Would have been fine with it all if Sushila hadn't also demanded that Tiyamike come down to Melin where there were apparently a few hundred slaves with explosive implants who needed to be saved. Given that Tiyamike was the only one who knew how to remove the implants, well. Cahya couldn't argue Sushila's fury and determination, even if she understood why Tiyamike was so reluctant to act.
They were all so damned tired.
"So glad we don't have to pilot this one," Pesti grumbled as they strapped into their transport along with a bunch of Ceelen warriors.
"No joke," Cahya said. "Wake me when we get there, will you? I'm going to nap."
Not that she could, not in this sort of a situation. If it was just the four of them, fine, she'd have dropped off like a stone in a ten-mile deep pond. But with Ceelen warriors around, people murmuring, weapons being checked?
Might as well try to sleep when someone had a knife to her throat. Though she was getting close to tired enough that she could do it. Pesti snorted next to her, his shoulder pressing against Cahya's. He wasn't as big as Cahya, whippy and mean old man that he was, but he was strong. She swayed in her seat.
"Sleep," Pesti ordered quietly. "I'm watching."
"So are we," Sheridan murmured behind Cahya.
"Definitely," Lamar agreed. "You should rest too, Pesti."
"Unlikely with this lot," Pesti said. "Besides, Cahya can't sleep in steep waves. I can."
Cahya didn't even have to open her eyes to know that she was getting glares from Sheridan and Lamar. She sighed and shifted until she could put her head on Pesti's shoulder. Snuggling up always made sleep easier, not that she was going to get much sleep. The trip down to Melin only took half an hour, forty minutes tops.
Still, she deliberately slowed her breathing, relaxed her body and kept her eyes shut. And soon sleep crept up and grabbed her, pulling her under even with the threat of strangers all around. At least she had the team there. That made it better.
"Okay, I'm ready to go back to busy," Cahya complained as she finished sharpening every single knife she had plus a couple that she'd made out of random bits of metal and electrical tape.
"You and me both," Lamar grumbled from the floor where he was doing pushups. "This is ridiculous. I've never been this bored since I started working for Tiyamike."
He was on his fourth set of a thousand pushups, sweat dripping down his back and off his face. It was a nice broad back, all the more defined since they'd gotten their nanites upgraded. Cahya turned and watched him, appreciating the play of his deltoids as he smoothly lifted and fell towards the floor.
"You could do something besides stare," Lamar commented three hundred pushups later.
"I could," Cahya agreed. "I've run out of things to do besides sex."
"We all have," Pesti agreed as he came out of his room, shirt off, soft white ship pants slung low around his hips. They were thin enough that Cahya could see the outline of his penis and damn, it looked good. The man looked like temptation incarnate, hair wet and dripping, stomach lean and eyes mean.
"What?" Sheridan asked from the doorway to the hallway. She looked good too, soft and round except there were some gorgeous muscles under that layer of tempting cushioning. Her hair was up in a perky ponytail and she blinked at Cahya as she stared. "What? What'd I miss? I brought pastries. Who wants some?"
"I want a job," Lamar complained as he hopped straight from pushups into a crouch, smoothly rising to his feet. Held out a hand for one of the pastries, which, of course given Sheridan, were covered with a thick layer of maple frosting.
"Don't we all?" Sheridan groaned as she passed the pastries out to Pesti and then Cahya. "What about you? What do you want?"
"I want to push Lamar into the shower," Cahya said slowly, considering it as she nibbled on her pastry. Too much frosting but it did taste good. "Then soap him up head to toe. Wash it all off while you suck on his cock. Then lube his ass so that Pesti can fuck him into me."
They stared at Cahya until she blushed and took a big bite of the pastry. She really shouldn't let herself get this bored. There was no knowing what would come out of her mouth. After a second, Sheridan turned to stare at Lamar who licked his lips, his far too opaque black ship pants tenting out in front. Pesti's pants had gotten tight too, more the wonder.
"That only works if we use Pesti's shower," Sheridan said in the 'planning a difficult op' voice that always meant success, if usually with injuries.
"Uh."
"True," Lamar agreed. He licked his lips again, nodded slowly. "But Cahya's bed is the biggest. I'm willing to shower really fast and then have all of us head straight to bed. Pesti's already clean, after all. We can do the shower thing later."
"Oh, that sounds perfect!" Sheridan exclaimed. She tossed her pastry, uneaten, on the table.
"Uh. What?" Cahya asked because they… actually wanted to?
Pesti snorted, coming over to take Cahya's wrist. He hauled until she stood, then took her pastry away and set it on the table with Sheridan's. Then pulled her down for a kiss that started out scorching hot but faded into the sort of tenderness that made Cahya's knees go wobbly.
"We've been working towards this for years," Pesti murmured, his eyes bright and amused at Cahya's surprise.
"Of course we have," Sheridan said. "Come on! Let's get in there before Tiyamike comes back with another mission for us. The others are back. They can take it. We've earned a vacation in bed."
"This… isn't just boredom," Cahya said to Lamar who grinned and stepped close so that he could kiss her breathless. She blinked rapidly at him once he let her tingling lips go. "Okay, right. Fine. This is more than horniness, too."
Sheridan ran over, grabbed Cahya's shoulders and pulled her down for a kiss that was much better once Cahya picked her up and let Sheridan wrap her legs around Cahya's back. The door to the hallway hissed, letting someone in, but with Sheridan to kiss, Lamar pushing her and Pesti laughing there were more important things to worry about.
"Go on," Tiyamike laughed behind them. "Get a bed, you four. I'll need you in a day or two for a surveillance mission that might go lethal. Sort out who's going and who's staying."
Cahya pulled back, frowned at Tiyamike who smiled at them so approvingly that Cahya's heart skipped a beat. Then looked Sheridan who made a face, Lamar who scowled and Pesti who glowered ferociously at Tiyamike.
"It's all four or none for a long-term mission," Cahya said. "Sorry. We're sick of being broken up all the time."
Tiyamike raised her eyebrows for a moment only to break into belly laughs when Pesti gasped and pushed Sheridan's head out of the way so that he could kiss Cahya again. Between him kissing her, Lamar rubbing up against her back and Sheridan biting her neck it was a miracle that Cahya even heard Tiyamike's reply.
"Fine, fine." Tiyamike snickered and then walked towards the kitchen. "Just get a room, you four. And let me know if you want combined quarters. We can work something out if so."
Figuring that out seemed like a very good idea. For later. Cahya grinned into Pesti's kiss and then strode for her bedroom. It might not work out. Relationships between assassins were always dangerous. Death lurked everywhere.
But it was worth a try.
It was a scary thought to try for a real relationship but Cahya was ready for this change amidst all the other changes that had come to her life. Nothing she'd ever done gave her the tools for it but she didn't much care right now. She wanted to try for this.
Yeah, it was definitely worth a try to have Lamar, Sheridan and Pesti at her side all the time.
The End