Escape Route

Summary: Sasha and Milla are on a mission, and Milla knows the only escape route. Sasha x Milla. Heavy fluff.

I'll give you a little context here. Sasha and Milla have almost finished a mission to investigate some suspicious disappearances at a club where some shady activities take place.

And another thing: I firmly believe that Sasha thinks in German, but seeing as I don't know any German and I'm guessing you guys probably can't read it, I didn't write Sasha's inner monologue in German. xD

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Sasha Nein blinked as he returned to his own body, while Milla stumbled and almost fell over, her inner rhythm disrupted. Sasha stepped forward, barely perturbed by the jolting return from the mental world. He retrieved the psychoportal from where it rested, stuck to the man's forehead. The man was still slightly catatonic.

"It should be safe to go."

"Yes, but what about the guards?"

"What about them?"

"They exist? And will be patrolling?"

"We'll just have to try to avoid them."

They left the office, swiftly and silently. They walked for some time without speaking. There must be a mile of hallways between that office and the rest of the club, Sasha thought.

Too bad we're not licensed teleporters, hm? Milla thought at him, arching a delicate eyebrow a little reproachfully.

We have always been too busy to get licensed, Milla. It is not my fault.

They walked on. He could stand the prickly silence no longer and began to speak, but Milla stopped him. Shh! Do you hear that? Footsteps. She looked pained, as though fighting an internal battle.

Shit.

Sasha, darling, you shouldn't swear.

Now is not the time for a lecture on my vocabulary. How do you propose we get out of this?!

Just follow my lead.

And then she kissed him.

It was extremely disconcerting for Agent Nein, a man who liked to think he had almost complete control over his own body, to have his heartbeat skip, stop, and then suddenly start hammering as though it was running for its life.

Kiss me back! Come on, Sasha!

What?!

Just trust me on this one.

She was twining her arms around his neck, occasionally separating from him to gasp for air. She lifted one leg, to hook it over his hip. She was so... enthusiastic. It was so different from that time under the mistletoe at her Christmas party. That time, she had been hesitant, blushing.

She slowly opened her mouth against his, and he could feel her heart beating frantically next to his own. The instant he registered that, he realised why she was doing this; it was an escape route. He had no idea how it was going to work out, but Milla knew this kind of place better than him. He called forth every ounce of his inner actor (every Psychonaut has to have one. It's very important in situations like this) and kissed her back.

Perfect!

He put one hand on her waist and the other on the back of her head, subtly shifting his entire pose to be less reserved and more... saucy.

The sound of the footsteps grew, until they stopped suddenly, around the point where the hallway turned a corner.

"Oi! What're you two doing here?"

Milla faked a startled separation, and turned her head toward the brash voice. "Do you mind?" she said, appropriately breathless.

Say, what does it look like we're doing?, she instructed him.

"What does it look like we're doing?" he said, conjuring scorn and the quintessential are-you-an-idiot expression.

"I mean, why are you here?" the guard clarified bluntly.

"We were looking for someplace private, but I guess this isn't private enough," Sasha said, without any prompting.

"No, it's not." The guard said, clearly indicating without saying so that it was near the end of his shift, and after working here encountering an amorous couple in the hall was not enough to fluster him anymore. "Now move along."

Brilliant, Milla. You are brilliant.

Oh, I just know how clubs like this work.

They got out of the hallway with a great deal of relief.

How was I?

You're actually a surprisingly good kisser.

Th- that was not what I meant.

Oh, the acting? It was pretty good. But you sounded too matter-of-fact on 'but I guess this isn't private enough.'

He was slightly stung by that. He had thought it was pretty good for improvisation.

Oh, it was okay, but you need to sound snootier next time.

You think that will actually happen again?

You never know.

They walked in silence for a while, listening for more footsteps. Then Sasha spoke.

"And another thing... you said I was a 'surprisingly' good kisser."

"Well... I didn't think..."

"That hurts, Milla."

She turned her head towards him and caught a glimpse of... a smirk? As her expression changed to one of shock, his small smirk widened into a fully-fledged smile.

"You're joking, aren't you?" she grinned. "I haven't heard you joke in years."

"I think I may be in a weird mood today..."

She laughed. Then, she seemed to notice something about his face and her smile grew.

"What?"

"That colour of lipstick really doesn't work on you, darling!" she giggled.

"You want it back?" He said, without thinking.

She gasped and blushed faintly, and he realised what he had just said.

"Er... I meant..."

"Here, just wipe it on my sleeve. It'll blend in."

"I think that says something about the lipstick you wear..."

"What, that it matches my clothes?"

"That, and it's slightly radioactive."

She slapped him playfully. They both knew that his slights on her style of dress weren't serious.

"You do know why I wear sunglasses all the time, Milla."

"Yes, I know." She shut him up by the simple expedient of putting her hand over his mouth, with her trailing sleeve wrapped around it.

Using the eclectic, brightly coloured fabric, she removed the sparkly residue of her escape route from Sasha's lips.

Time seemed to slow and then stop entirely. Thought and logic were stolen by an unseen, intangible thief, leaving behind only one longing.

Suddenly, they were kissing again.

They were truly "in their own little world."

It was unlike the mistletoe kiss, or the escape route. There was no acting, no peer pressure. Now he understood why all the camp kids were so obsessed with "making out;" to kiss another psychic and mean it was... It was amazing, it was terrifying, it was the kind of thing which requires a list of adjectives to describe. Dreams, emotions, nightmares, flowing continuously through an open channel between minds. He was experiencing more of Milla's psyche than he had ever seen before, even though he had visited her mind many times. Subconsciously, he knew he was falling in love with her, and fast. Consciously, physical and mental sensations battled for superiority. It would have overwhelmed someone less organised than Sasha Nein. He, however, was able to sort them apart. The scent of her hair, the terror she felt every time she saw a child practicing pyrokinesis. The small, appreciative sounds she was making, the joys of everyday. The taste of her lip gloss, the despair of a failed mission. He could hear her music all around him; but only inside his head. He wondered what she was experiencing. He had always thought he knew himself inside and out, but in this instant, he was unsure what was in his own mind that Milla could be feeling. And, a little idly, he wondered what he tasted like. Ultimately, one of the most fantastical sensations he had ever experienced was cut short by a scrawny cleaning boy. One who had, obviously, not been working at the club for very long, else he would not have been surprised or embarrassed upon discovering them. He made a small noise like "Erp!" and stammered out an apology before running back down the hall as fast as possible.

Their small, enclosed world was utterly shattered. It was not painful, merely rattling. As the real world seeped back into theirs, Sasha noticed everything; the way they were positioned, on the floor in the corner of the hall, with Milla kneeling over him, he was not sure if he had ever been in a position that was so comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. He noticed the way Milla was biting her lip, looking as though she were about to cry. And cry she did.

"Oh God, Sasha, I'm so sorry, I didn't think! I just--"

"It's all right. I didn't think either." He raised a hand to her face and softly brushed away a few tears.

They sat for a few minutes and as her tiny sobs died away, she nuzzled her face into Sasha's chest. Even as tear tracks dried on her face, he couldn't help but think, God, she's beautiful.

"We can't f- fall in love." There, she had said it.

"We don't have to tell anyone." He smiled slightly. "And anyways, it's probably too late."

She smiled too.

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Epilogue

Upon their return to HQ, Agents Nein and Vodello were greeted by an overenthusiastic Agent Aquato, who immediately demanded the details of their mission. When they were given, (with several choice bits neatly cropped out) he looked at Sasha suspiciously.

"That's not the whole story, is it?"

"Of course it--"

Just tell him about the first one.

"--Isn't. I was just testing you."

"So, what's the rest of it?"

Sasha raised a critical eyebrow. "You think I would tell you so easily?"

"I'm going to have to read it out of your mind, aren't I."

"That's possible."

"I don't speak German though!"

"You only demanded to be told, you never specified the language."

"I want to hear the whole story, IN ENGLISH!"

"I don't believe you deserve to hear it."

"What?!"

"First off, Razputin, your grades lately are... how to put it... abysmal."

"You want me to pick up my grades before you'll tell me about your mission?!"

"No, I want you to sign up for tutoring."

"With whom, pray tell?!"

"Well, I rarely do private tutoring, but this time I'll make an exception, seeing as you are a Psychonaut. Also seeing as your grades lately have been endangering that title."

"WHAT?! YOU NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT THAT!"

"Well, now you have added incentive."

"Okay, okay! I'll sign up. Now tell me about the freaking mission."

Sasha concentrated on a few carefully selected bits of the censored portions, letting the younger agent read them out of his mind.

...

Raz whistled. "Whoa! I bet you never thought you'd have to snog Milla to get out of a botched mission!"*

"We did not botch the mission. We encountered an unforeseen difficulty and Agent Vodello was resourceful enough to formulate an escape route influenced by our surroundings."

"...why didn't you just turn invisible?"

the German agent's face was completely blank for several seconds before he gritted his teeth and hissed, "Thank you, Razputin, for making me feel the stupidest I can remember feeling since Agent Austen informed me two hours too late that I had been speaking French to a Spanish ambassador for thirty-five minutes."

"No problem, Sasha. Anytime."

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So. What do you think?

Please review, I'm lonely!

I usually worry about the fluff in my fics being too saccharine, but this time I think it may be a bit too saucy... ^_____^;

*This line is the entire point of the epilogue. I swear. I got this image of Raz saying this line and it wouldn't go away.

...and Sasha's lying about Raz's grades endangering his title of Psychonaut. xD