"Shut the fuck up," Vaas whispered as Adriana screamed despite the hand covering her face.

Adriana squirmed as Vaas used his body weight to hold her down. Adriana tried to bite him, though she wasn't very successful in trying to get a grip and whether she actually caused him any pain, she had no idea. Vaas shifted his weight so that he was now properly on top of her, completely restricting her movement. He leant down, his lips brushing her ear.

"There is a family of bears just ahead of us. If they hear us we're fucking dead. We only have our pistols plus your sniper rifle and my AK-47. None are very useful against giant fucking bears."

Adriana stopped squirming as she realised what was happening. Vaas was helping her and had only tried to keep her quiet as she woke up at an extraordinarily inconvenient time.

Vaas peeked over the technical only to immediately duck down again. He didn't say anything, but slowly and carefully reached for his weapon. Adriana wanted to tell him to get off, if they had to fight bears then she sure as hell wanted to be ready, but almost as if to remind her, her head throbbed in pain. Somehow Adriana doubted she'd be very mobile. Since she couldn't move or see, Adriana closed her eyes and strained her ears for the slightest hint of what was going on. The first thing she heard was not the grunts of the bears, but Vaas' slow breathing as he waited for the bears to move on. Layered over that were the shrieks of insects and the occasional call of an exotic bird in the distance. The lack of silence didn't tell Adriana much, except that the bears weren't currently acting aggressively. The pounding in Adriana's head only seemed to be increasing and Adriana tried desperately to find some way to distract herself from the pain. Vaas was still lying on top of her - too concerned about the noise it would make to get off - and she could feel the rhythmic beat of his heart. She focused on his pulse, which was surprisingly slow, he wasn't afraid.

They waited in the back of the technical for what seemed to be an eternity for the bears to move on. Adriana was becoming even more uncomfortable as the growing night brought a wave of insects and their bites. She could also feel her pistol digging uncomfortably into her side. And Vaas was heavy, maybe about 75 kilograms, and she was pretty sure her legs were going numb.

Eventually Adriana heard the snapping of branches and a few gruff grunts as the bears moved on. Vaas waited a few more seconds once they disappeared before gently getting off of her. Adriana sighed a breath of relief as she could finally take in a full breath of air. She then attempted to sit up only to feel a wave of dizziness wash over her. She was in bad shape.

"How fucked is your head?" Vaas actually sounded concerned.

"I don't suppose there are painkillers in that first aid kit?"

He rummaged through it before finding a white box labelled 'Ibuprofen'. Vaas handed it to her and after scanning the instructions Adriana took two. It probably wasn't strong enough for a concussion, but would at least take the edge off.

The sun was close to setting and while they were only about a forty-minute drive away from the compound, it would take at least three hours to trek back. And that was only if they were uninjured. Adriana was in no shape to walk anywhere let alone trek through a dangerous jungle at night.

Adriana handed the painkillers back to Vaas who also took two pills and swallowed them.

"Are you okay?" Adriana asked.

Vaas went to shrug, but thought better of it, "I'm pretty sure I broke a fucking rib."

And he had laid on top of her for what had seemed like an hour? Vaas would have been in more pain than her.

"Oh my god, are you sure you're okay?"

"I didn't really feel it until then. Fucking bears," he murmured.

"So I vote not walking back to the compound in the dark of night."

"Don't have to there's a radio in the front of the technical."

He disappeared as he walked around to the front of the car only for Adriana to hear a flurry of swearing. Using the side of the car as support Adriana managed to walk around to the other side of the car to see what the issue was.

"Problem?" She asked.

"It's fucking broken. Stupid fucking piece of fucking equipment."

He tossed the radio onto the seat before sitting in the drivers attempting to restart the technical. Adriana half-sat half-fell into the passenger seat, picking up the radio and examining it. Vaas slammed the horn as the car stubbornly refused to start.

"Do you want the bears to come back?" Adriana asked.

"They only attack when cornered or provoked. They won't investigate the noise."

He chuckled; probably remembering a time where he cornered and attacked a bear that was minding it's own business. Maybe that's how he got the scar.

"Well, mujer, looks like it's you and me tonight," he winked at her.

Adriana face turned deep red, "You're not seriously suggesting that we-"

Vaas laughed at Adriana's fluster, "Yeah we're gonna stay up all night and we're gonna have a – what's it called? – D and M? Where you tell me all your secrets and who you have a crush on."

"No, no we're not, I-"

He cut her off, "Who is it? No wait, let me guess, is it that pussy, Haru?"

"No, Vaas."

"What about that motherfucker, Saul?"

"Seriously? I stabbed him!"

"Hey, no judgment, some people like that kinky shit."

"I'm not going to get any sleep tonight am I?"

"You're not supposed sleep with an undiagnosed concussion, if you fall asleep you may never wake the fuck up."

"Glad to see you care."

"What? No, Hoyt would fucking kill me."

What, no banter? Maybe he cared more than he let on.

"Oh I get it, you don't swing that way. You like your slave girl."

Adriana had never really thought about which way she 'swung', it had never been important. Truthfully, she found both men and women attractive, but felt no stronger pull towards either gender.

"She's not a slave. She's here voluntarily, I pay her."

Vaas laughed, "Yeah right, trust her too much and she'll stab you in the fucking back. Besides, that wasn't a 'no'."

Adriana sighed, "It wasn't a 'yes'."

At that suggestion Vaas' face lit up, "So it's me then."

Adriana laughed at his teasing, "In your wildest dreams."

"It doesn't have to remain a dream."

"With broken ribs and a concussion? Yeah it does, now and forever."

"What if I paid you to suck my dick? Would you do it then?"

Adriana screwed her face up in disgust, "I have more than enough money. I'm not that desperate."

"Nah, I bet you'd like sucking my gigantic penis."

"I think I'd be more likely to get herpes."

"What? I haven't got some fucking disease. Who the fuck would I fuck on this fucking island?"

"Oh, I figured the natives or maybe some the prisoners," Adriana replied quietly, the conversation taking a more serious tone.

"What the fuck's wrong with you, sex is no fun unless both parties are enjoying themselves. And people think I'm fucking crazy. Speaking of which, did I ever tell you the definition of insanity?"

As someone who took pleasure in torturing people to death Vaas' attitude surprised Adriana. While he was by no stretch of the imagination a good person, he was marginally proving to be a better person than expected. Which was actually quite nice, considering everything. She didn't have to watch him as carefully tonight as she expected.

They spoke quietly throughout the night, Vaas carefully making sure that Adriana didn't fall asleep. It's kind of sweet, really, Adriana thought, he becomes nicer at night.

It was close to dawn when Adriana felt her eyes grow heavy and she couldn't force her lids to stay open, ignoring Vaas' protests she closed them, only for a moment, meaning to open them soon. However, she only had them closed for a few seconds when she felt Vaas' mouth on hers, forceful, aggressive. Hungry.

Adriana's eyes flew open as she jerked away in surprise, she opened her mouth to protest, but Vaas cut her off.

"You weren't responding to my voice and we don't have water that I could throw on you so I-"

Adriana held up her hand, "Just shut up for a second."

She leaned in and kissed him, Vaas grunted in surprise but didn't pull away. His lips were smooth and he was gentler this time, his hand reached up to caress her face sending a tingle through Adriana's body as the breath hitched in her throat. The moment seemed to stretch for an eternity, and as the sounds of the jungle melted away, the only thing she could hear was her racing heartbeat. God, she wanted him. Hell, even the pounding in her head had disappeared.

The moment was shattered as Vaas to pulled away.

His face still touching hers, he murmured against her lips, "It's getting light. Walking will take hours in our fucked up state, we should start while it's not as hot."

Adriana had never hated the sun more than she did in that moment. Vaas was right, however, and Adriana made no protest.

After grabbing the first aid kit and the weapons, Adriana and Vaas set off up the dirt path they'd been using as a road. They didn't have any water with them, but one nice thing about the jungle was that it was easy to find. Whether it was drinkable was another question entirely, but they decided to deal with it as they needed. If they kept the pace up they'd maybe get back to the compound in four hours. Although according to Vaas they'd make it back faster if those idiots were smart enough to send search parties.

They didn't talk much as they trekked for over two hours; Adriana's head still hurt like a bitch and throbbed at every loud noise, while Vaas struggled to breath properly with broken ribs. Adriana tried to focus on walking, steadily placing one foot in front of the other, but her mind continually wandered back to the kiss. She tried to ignore it, as it was an issue she'd deal with later, when they'd arrived back at the compound and she'd slept for approximately 24 hours. But the taste of his mouth still lingered, and she still felt the ghost of his hand on her cheek. If Adriana was being honest with herself, she wanted him. She wanted him all over her, wanted him on top of her, under her, in her. But Adriana wasn't being honest with herself; she kept telling herself it was sleep deprivation. She had never wanted him before that, had never longed to touch him, to kiss and feel his body move against hers. It was a good kiss, but that's all it was and all it would be. It would never happen again, she couldn't let it. If Hoyt found out they were together…

Adriana didn't want to imagine it, though it probably involved a lot of shouting, at least a black eye for her and potential death for Vaas. Adriana had no idea why but ever since she was a child Hoyt had had an issue with her having relationships, romantic or otherwise. He had split her lip when she'd made the mistake of mentioning making a friend at boarding school and fired anyone in his army he thought were becoming too close to her. It was why Adriana paid Carmen with her own money and had yet to mention her existence to Hoyt. Now that she thought about it, Vaas was the first person she'd ever really had a chance to get to know. She didn't really know if she counted Hoyt as someone she knew really well, he was so unpredictable. He got angry with her, sometimes enough to hurt her, but then she'd also deserved it when it happened, she'd cried when watching a torture session or lost shooting accuracy when the targets were replaced with cardboard cut-outs of real people. Besides, sometimes he treated her like a princess, allowing her to attend a first aid course or paying special attention to her rather than ignoring her.

"Adriana stop."

Vaas' voice interrupted her thoughts.

"What's up?"

"Listen."

Adriana closed her eyes and focused on the sounds, if she listened beyond the pounding in her head she could hear a faint car engine. Someone was coming.

She opened her eyes saw Vaas hobbling towards a few bushes, they hadn't found any Rakyat encampments yesterday, but hadn't completed the route and they were fucked if they were caught.

Adriana followed Vaas, just jumping out of sight as a technical rounded the corner. However, the occupants of the car were clearly pirates. Adriana and Vaas immediately stood up, shouting out to them. The pirates stopped the car and seeing the bandage around Adriana's head and Vaas clutching his chest, instantly jumped out of the car and ran towards them.

"Boss, what the fuck happened, you were gone all night? Did you find Rakyat?" the pirate spat at the mention of the natives.

"No, we fucking crashed. Ahmed and Jarot are dead."

Adriana had completely forgotten about the other two pirates and she felt a pang of guilt, even Vaas knew all their names and treated them with respect.

"She's concussed," Vaas pointed at Adriana, "And I've broken a few ribs. Get us the fuck out of here."

They all hopped back into the technical, the back of it a little crowded. At least the pirate driving wasn't as reckless as Vaas.

They arrived back at the compound in less than fifteen minutes, saving what would have probably ended up taking over an hour walking. Both were immediately taken on a boat to Hoyt's island where there was a real doctor. Adriana was grateful Hoyt was currently away on business in Barbados, she had been terrified at the thought of his reaction.

Adriana was definitely concussed, but didn't need stitches while Vaas had fractured two ribs. Both were given stronger painkillers and told to rest easy, which included not doing anything too physical. Vaas immediately protested and in response the doctor slapped him hard on the back, though he was careful to avoid hitting too close to the two fractured ribs. Vaas immediately shut up and snatched the painkillers from the doctor's hand. Adriana nearly let out a giggle; didn't the doctor know he had just made Vaas' shit list?

Back at the compound Adriana collapsed onto her bed, fully feeling the effects of her injuries and exhaustion hit her. She could have lain on her bed dozing for hours, but in the cool darkness of her room remembered how filthy she was. With every inch of willpower she possessed she dragged herself off of her bed and towards her shower, she just reached the door as Vaas entered her room. She could tell by the look of him he hadn't showered either and was just as tired and yet it didn't seem to be affecting him. In three short strides he closed the gap between them and kissed her again. Much like the first time it was aggressive and hungry.

He wanted her bad.

Slowly he directed her towards the bed, but Adriana paused.

"Why are you stopping?" He murmured, leaning in to kiss her again.

Adriana complied and in between kisses replied, "The doctor said no physical activity, remember? I think that includes sex."

"Fuck what that prick says, I want you."

Adriana wanted him too, remembering her thoughts during their trek made her burn with desire, but she also didn't want to hurt Vaas or herself further.

"Here's what's going to happen. I am going to have a shower, I am going to go to bed and sleep. And when I'm awake, we'll see. I have no wish to explain why you are in my room with a punctured lung."

Vaas sighed, giving her one last kiss, this time inserting his tongue, the warmth of his mouth sending a current running through Adriana's body. God, she hated rejecting him.

Slowly, Adriana pulled away, "I really do have to have a shower," she murmured.

Vaas smirked like he knew Adriana didn't want him to leave.

He left and Adriana got into the shower, the hot water washing away what felt like weeks worth of stress. With a clean body that bed was almost too tempting and Adriana crumpled into its sheets.

A/N: Hey look, a faster update! Thank god for exams and procrastinating, am I right? So I just want to say that this is my first time ever writing a kissing scene and I'm actually also asexual so this was super hard for me to write. As such I'd appreciate feedback on it, what I did well and how I could improve (please be nice though). As always thank you for the faves/follows/(and my favourite) reviews. Seriously though, reviews especially keep me motivated to keep writing this fic so please keep them up even if it's literally just 'good job' (but double points for you if you write something deeper :P )

Also the guest who wrote that review on chapter 1 on the 14th of July: I have no idea what your review means so I would appreciate it if you (or anyone else who understands it) would explain it to me.

Lastly, just a reminder that I'm open to suggestions and prompts for a chapter as filler or even as a standalone fic (for Adriana and Vaas, obviously). You can either suggest it in a review or message me :D

Thank you once again!