3.8

Landon Hetherington started crying like he was back to that scared 10-year-old self. Velika O'Sullivan held him tight, kissed him gently on his forehead, and whispered into his ear softly, that he was going to be fine, she would make sure that he would be fine.

"Your Uncle Aaron would be very proud of who you have become, Landon." Said Velika O'Sullivan firmly, "He would be very proud, trust me."

It was clear that the man she admired had a rough past, that was what made him more conserved than he said he was and thought that Velika O'Sullivan would not understand him. However, Velika O'Sullivan understood, perhaps more than anyone else, she wondered why the people she was involved with all had difficult pasts, maybe that was the type of people she was drawn to. Strong-minded, independent and knew where they were heading.

But before she sunk into the grief that this man had suffered so much that he didn't deserve, she had one thing on her mind that needed to be cleared off.

��Landon, your Uncle Aaron, what's his last name?" She asked, tried her best to sound not so concerned, even she knew drunk Landon Hetherington would not be able to tell.

"Carling. Aaron Carling. Why?"

"Just out of curiosity," Said Velika O'Sullivan with a faint smile. The moment Landon Hetherington said the name 'Uncle Aaron', she had the feeling that this was the same Aaron that she knew, "I'm acquaintance with several psychiatrists so I thought I might know him but turned out I don't."

"It's whatever you say, Velika." Said Landon Hetherington with a shrug, didn't question much about her not so natural gestures.

###

When Landon Hetherington woke up in the morning, Velika O'Sullivan handed him a cup of tea. He took it, didn't say a word. A night sleep on the couch hurt his neck and he was in no mood of starting a conversation. Velika O'Sullivan quietly sat beside him, she didn't say a word either.

It was after a while of awkward silence, Landon Hetherington couldn't hold back his words any longer, and he finally said:

"I don't know if I should apologize for telling you my story last night, but, well, I know you wouldn't understand, so just forget about it."

Velika O'Sullivan sighed, she turned towards him, said in a soft but firm voice: "What makes you think that I wouldn't understand?'

"Well," Said Landon Hetherington with a bitter smirk, "You are very young and what I had been through is hard for someone like you to understand."

Velika O'Sullivan wanted to say something back right away, but she didn't, instead, she took a deep breath, stood up, and stepped away from the man that she admired, with the consideration of how much she should tell him in mind, she said slowly: "My mother had schizophrenia, she tried to smother me when my father came into the room. He accidentally pushed her out of the window and she died. Then my father hung himself not long after since he couldn't take people's blame for killing his wife. My aunt took me to this country, but my uncle-in-law never liked me. When I was 16, my aunt died in a car accident, then my uncle-in-law blamed me for being a jinx. He sexually abused me and threatened to kill me if I ever told a soul. I got married to a man that I thought I loved when I was 18, I quit school to support his goal of becoming a doctor. He left me when I was 20, without a word. That was when I realized that he was nothing but manipulative. It was a dysfunctional mutual dependency. I moved to LA because I couldn't stay in San Francisco anymore, with all that memory. Now, look, I'm back near that city again."

Then, Landon Hetherington stood up, held her tight in his arms while whispering into her ears:

"I am so sorry. I was such a horrible person to you. I am so sorry."

"It's fine," She said softly, but didn't hug him back, "Now you see, age is only a number."

###

Then, Velika O'Sullivan no longer had her heartache anymore, she found herself into a relationship with the man of his dreams. Perhaps not the most perfect man but was good enough for her to give out her heart to. Sierra couldn't believe what had happened when she heard the news, all she could say to Velika O'Sullivan was that, well, maybe being so dedicated to something could eventually have a positive outcome.

Regardless of things were going well with Landon Hetherington, Velika O'Sullivan still didn't tell him what she did for a living. She wasn't sure if it worth the risk of someone who she cared about so much leaving her by telling him the truth. How would he react if he realized that she was an assassin? Plus, she didn't even know how long she would stay in the city. She knew deep in her heart that she shouldn't lie to Landon Hetherington, but meanwhile, she didn't want him to be involved with anything she did as a career. This was for his safety, either Astoria Leontes or Romeo Leontes wouldn't let him pass by that easily and the last thing Velika O'Sullivan wanted, was the man that she loved so dearly to get hurt because of her.

However, no paper could ever hide the burning fire.

It was early February when Valentine's day rolled around. Landon Hetherington was eagerly making plans with Velika O'Sullivan while she got a notice from Natural to run an operation. Just like all the other times, she told her lover that she had no choice but to go to work and asked him not to wait for her since she didn't know how long it would take, but hopefully not too late. And just like all the other times, he said okay.

Except that he didn't act the same way as all the other times, he waited for her, outside her door, just to see when exactly the time was when she got home.

It was 4 in the morning, where it was almost dawn, Velika O'Sullivan was walking back to her duplex with her pistol in her trench coat. The operation took a little longer than she expected, the target changed his plan at the very last moment, so she had to hunt him down. He was also potentially combat training, and it took Velika O'Sullivan longer to put him under control, with several wounds as a souvenir. She was tired, exhausted and when she saw Landon Hetherington on her porch, her heart sunk.

"What are you doing here?" She asked quietly, as he stood up, she tried to grab his hand.

"What kind of job are you doing, Velika?" He said in a scolding voice, didn't let her grab his hand, "What kind of job requires you to stay up until 4 in the morning and not picking up phone calls?"

"Come inside first, then we can talk." Velika O'Sullivan stepped in front of him and opened the door, he didn't follow her in, so she turned to him, "Come in Landon if you want to know the truth you waited until 4 in the morning for."

He came inside with her reluctantly without saying a word, he went straight to the couch and sat down while she put her jacket on the hanger. It was warm in the San Francisco Bay area over the so-called winter season, but she had to have a jacket to cover up her wounds. Then she walked up to him, didn't sit down, instead, she stood right in front of him with her arms crossed.

"Did you get into a fight?" Asked her lover, trying to sound like he didn't give much concern.

"Kind of," She shrugged, "I'm used to it."

"What?"

"I never wanted to tell you this," Said Velika O'Sullivan slowly, carefully choosing her words, "But right now I guess it's for both of our sake, I will tell you who I am. You may judge me, dislike me, or hate me after this, but it is what it is."

She told him her story, without holding anything back. Now he knew everything, knew about her real job, the story behind her hand tattoos, and her scandalous history.

Landon Hetherington was silent for a while after she finished her story. She nervously looked at him and didn't know how he would react to all of this overwhelming information. No matter how he reacted, she had to be mentally prepared for the worst, to which, was that he might leave her for good. Velika O'Sullivan should've never gotten too attached to someone, it was her fault to start with and if Landon Hetherington felt deceived by her and made up his mind to leave her behind, she wouldn't have any complaints beside slightly blaming herself.

After all, Landon Hetherington was a very opinionated man.

"Well," Landon Hetherington finally opened up, "I'm very glad you opened up to me. I understand that you didn't want to tell me all of these, it's something hard for an ordinary person like me to take, but, oh well."

"Thank you." Said Velika O'Sullivan broodingly, slightly losing her nerves, "I guess now it's all up to you, I don't have power in this situation anymore. I mean, if you decided to stay away from my life, I have nothing to complain about, instead, it is probably the best decision that you can make regarding me. I should've never dragged you along the way."

"It's funny how you are saying this," Landon Hetherington smirked, "Velika, you were the one that for your life wouldn't let me slip by, and now you are saying it is ok for you to let me go?"

Velika O'Sullivan didn't know how to answer. He was right, she was the one that tried all she could to get him back into her life, she moved here on purpose in the aspect of a coincidence to be around him, and now, it was her again, said that she would have no complains to let him go.

"I guess, I wanted control over the situation when you were away. All I knew was that I want you to come back to my life, so I did everything I possibly could to get you back, without thinking much about the consequences," She said slowly with a sigh, sat down beside him, "Having control over something, or someone is the most satisfying yet dangerous feeling one could get. Now is the time I realize that I no longer have power in this anymore."

"Have you ever loved him?" Landon Hetherington didn't acknowledge what she just said, instead he asked the question that she had asked herself countless times.

"Lust." She answered, looking straight into the dark living room, "It was lust, desire, and temptation."

"You see, Velika," He put his arm around her and pulled her closer, she turned her head to look directly into his beautiful eyes, "Lust and desire lead to temptation, to which like a firework, astonishing but short-lived. But love, love is a hidden gem, needs to be found, once found, stunning forever."

She looked at him with confusion, then he kissed her. That was the moment she knew, her life was intertwined with this man, just like what her intuition told her the very first time she met him when she walked out of the door and he was standing there, with a nervous smile on his delicate thin lips.

Then she remembered, years ago, on a sunny afternoon, when she was on the Golden Gate Bridge with Dean O'Sullivan, he said with a light heart:

Life brings positive surprises in the most negative situation.

There wasn't much story to tell afterward, later they got married, had a son named Laken, and when Laken was around one-year-old, Velika O'Sullivan flew back to Los Angeles after Daniel Heinrich and started her journey of looking for an end for this so-called war.