I Look Forward To It

Claire decided not to bother with questions she didn't have answers to and got to work on her task. She pulled out two slices of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and the remainder of the marshmallow fluff.

A moment later she presented her creation to Six. "This is called a fluffernutter. It's a sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow fluff and it's a Boston staple. Try it!"

He accepted the offered sandwich without hesitation and took a big bite. He nodded his approval and ended up polishing it off quickly. "That was pretty good; thank you. I think I like marshmallow fluff."

What exactly had they been feeding him all those years? Claire was curious and since he hadn't seemed to be averse to her asking questions before decided to go for it. "You don't have much experience with sugar, do you?"

Six shook his head. "Processed sugars are not a part of the dietary plan back at headquarters. My first experience with it was at a McDonald's when I got an Oreo McFlurry a few years ago."

A few years ago. And he was supposedly twenty-two. That meant he went most of his life without any sort of treat! Living without dessert wasn't living at all!

"No offense but that's really sad, Six," Claire said with a despairing shake of her head. "There are so many beautiful foods I need to introduce you to."

"I look forward to it."

She squinted at him. His expression was somehow softer and more relaxed than she had seen it yet though he wasn't quite smiling. He really was looking forward to it. Perhaps his reason to protect her was stronger than she had thought.

If curiosity about her lifestyle also meant wanting a normal life of his own then her position as someone worth protecting would increase the more she introduced him to, wouldn't it? Not a terrible way to keep herself alive since they had to spend time together anyway.

Eventually Hector finished installing everything and showed Claire how to work it all. Six watched intently as well, saying that he wanted to have the self-monitoring app installed on his phone too.

Once it was all done she really wanted to move back home but her self-appointed bodyguard said it was too risky without bulletproof glass. So they headed back to the Air BnB after grabbing a few more food items in addition to the fruit tray.

Daisy was rather indignant about being left alone for so long but was easily placated with some treats Claire grabbed back at the house. She put the food in the kitchen and flopped down on the couch exhausted.

All she wanted was to live her life normally. This was about as normal as things could get. This was the sixth hitman who came after her and Six said he wasn't even from the same place as him.

Who could possibly want to kill her this much? Did it really have anything to do with her father's family?

As soon as she was old enough to wonder why she didn't have a dad and asked about it, she had accepted her mother's words about her origin without question. But there were a few things that didn't add up if she thought too much about it.

Her mom didn't have any close family or friends either. It had always been the two of them against the world. Claire had occasional playdates with kids from school and so on but her mom didn't have any real 'mom friends' to speak of.

Friendly but distant. Kind of like how Claire was with the people she knew now.

She always figured it was because her mom wasn't good at making friends either but what if there was more to it? What if she had been hiding from something or someone?

She wouldn't have considered such a crazy theory at all if not for what Six speculated about her dad the day before. Someone was willing to go to great lengths to kill her so at this point she would accept almost anything as truth. Her life had already become something straight out of an action movie.

She figured she should look into this but didn't even know where to start. Her mom's old stuff might yield some information but they wouldn't be able to look into that in depth until they were back in her house.

Four more days. Then the bulletproof glass people would do their thing and her house would finally be safe. Well, as safe as it could get while there were still people after her.

Improved security measures aside, she did have a human weapon with her. A human weapon that was currently playing Angry Birds on the couch next to her with that little divot between his brows that he had when concentrating hard.

Claire had to admit she was relaxing around him a little. He could be unbearably intense at times and was the stiffest person she had ever met but he really wasn't so bad. As long as you ignored the fact that he killed people for a living anyway.

===

The next four days went by slowly in a haze of answering Six's questions about life 'on the outside,' playing phone games, stopping two more hitmen he didn't recognize, and watching anime. But eventually the bulletproof glass was installed and Claire was finally able to relax a little.

She felt rather like a reptile trapped in a tank but at least it was a familiar one. And now that security was tighter, Six finally felt comfortable enough to sleep in a different room.

Waking up to a rather intense stare every morning hadn't been the most pleasant thing in the world. When he wasn't up in her space for the first time since they officially met she was relieved.

It was her day off too. Normally she would try to go out for at least a little while but for the time being she was stuck inside.

There had to be something she could do to keep both herself and Six entertained that didn't involve what they had been doing up to this point. It was time for a serious change of pace before she lost her mind.