Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

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Black. Everything I see is black. I sigh as I cradle my newborn daughter in my arms, eyes remaining closed. Just thinking about how I almost took my own life months back has hot tears stinging my eyes. My baby would have perished with me, because of my own selfishness. If it wasn't for Taehyung taking my gun when he did, there's no telling what I would have really done. My emotions were insane, and seeing that the love of my life was on my hit list made my situation so much harder.

Once that gun went off, I blacked out. When I came to, I was covered in blood, in a hospital, and sick to my stomach when seeing Yoongi wasn't there by my side.

I thought I had killed him, which would explain the blood, but Taehyung said that he had untied Yoongi to help me. The blood was from me. I passed out from the stress and almost lost our baby. When they got me to the hospital, Yoongi told Taehyung everything he needed to know and arranged for Yoongi to leave town immediately. I was so angry, but so happy. I'm happy that my husband cooperated and didn't need to be killed. I'm angry that he left and didn't even contact me after.

8 months.

Yoongi has been gone for 8 months without a single trace, nor has he even attempted to contact me. I know it's best that he doesn't contact me much so that he can stay in the clear, but dammit, I'm his wife and mother of his child. I've gone through my entire pregnancy and now the birth of our daughter, without him. Lots of sleepless nights wondering if he was okay and if he is still thinking about us. My mind never leaves him, because I miss him. I miss him so much.

I gently caress my daughter's hair, hearing her tiny grunts and finally opening my eyes. Tears fall when I fully take a look at her face for the first time since giving birth to her over three hours ago. Man, she looks so much like him.

I want to give her his name, I want to so bad. The only reason I'm not is because I want my daughter away from this life. I've retired my life as an assassin and I'm able to live off of the benefits I've earned from my work. Namjoon understands and agrees that this isn't the life for a mother. My daughter will never know what I've done and who I've killed. She will never know about the reason I became an assassin. She will never know about how her mother was supposed to kill her father. And as sad as it is to say, she may not ever even know her father.

I just look at my precious girl, so in love with what carried for 9 months. Who knew I was capable of creating such a magnificent creature. Yoongi and I did one hell of a job in the creation process. I can't imagine my life without her now.

"I'm so sorry." I whisper to her, wiping away my tears with one hand as I softly caress her cheek. "I love you so much. I promise to always be here and protect you. You don't gotta worry 'bout a thing, baby girl. Momma's here."

I can't look away from her sleeping form. She's perfect, and she's everything I needed and more. I know Yoongi would be so in love with her if he was here.

It's crazy to think that he was completely wiped clean from South Korea. I can't find any of his records anywhere, except for his birth certificate. Taehyung doesn't even know where he's at.

There's a small knock at the door and I instruct them to come in. Taehyung comes in, holding a basket with so much baby stuff. I smile, nodding at him to come closer to see the baby. He sets the things down, coming over to give me a side hug, then requesting I scoot over. I do so, as comfortably as I can, before pointing to the hand sanitizer for him to put on. Once it has been absorbed into his skin, I pass him the baby. I smile at his gentle he is with her, his boxy smile shining as he coos at her.

"Such a beautiful baby, Liv." He says.

"She really is."

"She." He smiles, finally knowing the gender you hid from everyone. "Have you thought of a name for her yet?"

"I have. Nabi."

"Butterfly?"

I nod, smiling softly. "I had a dream that I was in a butterfly garden before I woke up because of my water breaking, and today is my parent's wedding anniversary. When Yoongi and I went to visit their gravesite, two butterflies appeared. This whole butterfly connection is for a reason, so my baby will carry that as her name. My Nabi."

"So cute." He says with the biggest eyes, looking back at my baby. "It's so nice to meet you, Nabi. Your mom here is one hell of a woman."

I smirk at the compliment, leaning back and closing my eyes. Taehyung has been so supportive and helpful during my pregnancy. I don't think I would have remained sane without him. I can't thank him enough for being such a big part in my life and Nabi's life, even before she was born.

"Taehyung."

"Hm?" He hums, softly rocking the baby that's still asleep.

"I'm moving back to the States."

"Oh?" He looks at me. "Why?"

I shrug. "I want to give Nabi a better life than what I had. I want her to be away from where I have killed many people. I want her to be away from where..."

"Away from what?" Taehyung pushes.

"Away from where her father left us."

Taehyung sighs. "Is that the main reason you're leaving?"

I shrug again. "It definitely plays a big role."

"Then I'll move with you."

"What?" I ask, wide eyed.

"Someone has to help you with raising your baby. Why not have me there to help?"

"Taehyung, you really don't have to." I shake my head. "I'll be fine. I promise, we'll be okay. I'm not leaving until she's about 2, so I have a little time to learn the ropes of parenting just a little."

He nods, kissing my temple softly. "You know I'll come running the moment you ask. So don't ever hesitate."

"I know. Thank you for everything, Tae. I really appreciate it. You have no idea."

We sit in a comfortable silence for a bit, and I watch as Nabi stirs awake in Taehyung's arms. I smile as he practically melts when she opens her eyes to look at him. My mind, however, is elsewhere. My mind is on Yoongi.

Yoongi should have been there for my pregnancy, there for doctors appointments, there to find out the gender. He should have been here for the birth, here to cut the umbilical cord, here to hold her for the first time. I had to do all of that alone. I just wish he would have waited for me.

"Liv?" I hear my name called. Both Taehyung and I look up to see a man standing in the doorway. It's Namjoon, smiling brightly with another basket in his hands. He sighs, glaring at Taehyung. "You really stole my gift idea?"

Taehyung just shrugs. "There's no such thing as too much stuff for a baby."

"This is very true." I cosign. "Thank you so much. You can set it next to the other one. And use sanitizer if you want to hold her."

"Her, huh?" Namjoon smiles wider, using sanitizer and sitting in the chair near the bed. "Well, she's beautiful, Liv."

"Thank you." I smile.

Namjoon studies me a bit, then reaches for the baby. Taehyung whines when I lightly smack his arm to tell him to give up the child. It's cute seeing how much he loves my baby already. Namjoon takes her into his arms with ease, saying hi to her and rocking the fully awake baby.

"Man, I've always wanted to be a dad." He chuckles.

I smile at that, but it doesn't reach my eyes. Not because of what Namjoon said, but the word 'dad' is foreign to my baby. Both men look at me and can see that I'm not in the right state of mind. I should be overjoyed with the arrival of my child, but I can't fully enjoy it without my missing last piece.

"Liv," Namjoon breaks me from my thoughts with a sigh. "There's something I need to tell you."

Taehyun and I both give our attention to Namjoon as he prepares to speak.

"I'm keeping the baby in my arms, in case you feel the urge to kill me." He says jokingly, but very seriously.

I frown at that, nervous for what he has to say to me. "Okay? What is it?"

"I know where your husband is."

My heart stops. Like, it literally stops. I've been wondering where my husband was for 8 months, and my boss knew the entire time? I'm speechless, heartbroken, pissed, and tired all at the same time.

"What?"

"Yoongi. I've known where he's been the whole time."

"You're so lucky I'm exhausted from giving birth, or I'd slit your throat."

"I deserve it." He nods. "I didn't want you doing anything stupid to endanger you or the baby while pregnant. So I decided to wait. When Taehyung texted me that your water had broken, I decided to reach out to your husband."

"And?" I press the man for more information.

"Well..."

The door opens and it's the nurse coming to check on me and the baby. She checks her heartbeat and temperature, everything in normal range. I ask her for a water and she nods. She quickly brings it back to me, speaking before making her final exit.

"There's a man at the desk, as well. He says he's your husband?"

I don't say anything, body moving faster than my mind as I simply nod. Namjoon passes me my daughter and without thought, I grab her. Him and Taehyung acknowledge me one last time before they quickly leave. I'm left alone with my baby for a couple minutes before he walks in.

Right in front of me is the man I had devoted myself to for the rest of my life. The man I laid with to create this child. The man I had fallen in love with. The man I've been searching for, for 8 fucking months: Min Yoongi.

"Hi." He says simply and my heart begins to race. I haven't heard that voice in months.

"Hi." Is all I can say back before Nabi begins to stir and whine a bit.

"May I come in?"

I nod, watching as he closes the door and slowly makes his way toward me. He looks the same, yet so different. He's been working out, his arms and chest visibly bigger. He has a bit more weight around his face, but it's healthy weight. His hair is jet black, styled up to show off his undercut on the side. This almost isn't the man I married.

He takes the seat that Namjoon sat in, spotting the hand sanitizer and using some. I gently rock the baby in an attempt to calm her down, but it doesn't work as she still cries. I use my index finger to caress the sides of her mouth and she puckers, my sign that she's hungry. So I position her as I let my gown slip off my shoulder and have her latch onto my nipple. She does so immediately and I sigh in relief. When I tried getting her to latch a couple hours ago, she was giving me a hard time.

Yoongi watches intently, not yet getting the chance to really look at her face as all his attention was on me. We sit in silence for a bit longer before I finally speak.

"Where have you been?"

"Away." Is all he says.

I chuckle humorlessly before shaking my head, looking down to make sure my baby isn't eating too fast. "Not a good answer, and you know that."

"I've missed you."

"Cut the shit, Yoongi. Where the hell have you been for 8 months?" I ask, more irritated.

He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. "Out of the country. I moved to the States for a bit to stay low."

"And you didn't think to let me know you were okay just once?" My eyes betray me as tears fall. "Yoongi, I have been without you for 8 months. I went through my entire pregnancy without you here. And now that she's born, you wanna show up?"

"We have a daughter?" His voice is soft as he looks at her.

He's making it so hard to be mad at him. I have every right to be mad, but he isn't allowing me to be.

I look down when I realize Nabi is no longer sucking, so I detach her and pat her back to burp her. Yoongi and I don't speak as he just looks at our baby. She finally burps, and I turn her to face Yoongi for the first time. She's wide awake as he gets to take in her features. His eyes gloss over as he looks to me for permission to hold her.

"She's your daughter, too. Get her." I respond softly, not in the mood to be selfish.

He grabs her gently, holding her close to him as he rocks her gently. "Hi, baby girl. I'm your daddy."

I can't help the small smile that graces my lips when hearing him say that. I stay silent as I continue listening to him.

"I wasn't around when you were being fully developed in your warm cocoon, and I'm so sorry to you and mommy for that. I had to leave for reasons to complicated to explain, but I'm back. I'm back and I promise to never leave you again. I'd be a fool to leave you and your mother for a second time." My tears don't subside as he now directs his words toward me. "I'm sorry about everything, Olivia. I promise I'll make it up to you. I have 8 long months to account for. And when you leave this hospital, I'll tell you everything."

"Not leaving anything out?" I ask, wiping away my tears.

"Kill me if I do." He says jokingly, but also seriously.

"I retired." I say, but cross my arms. "But if you dare lie to me again, I'll come out of retirement and be sure that, this time, your assassination goes according to plan."

THE END

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HELLO!!! You've reached the end of ASSASSINATION!!! I thank you so much for reading this story! It means alot that some of you took the time to read this. I hope you enjoyed the story & some of the suspense. This is a short story that I randomly thought of a couple years back, and was finally able to finish it with my busy schedule.

I was thinking of maybe doing an epilogue to continue their chat or a bonus chapter that goes back to the day she captured Yoongi? I haven't decided. If not, then this is it! I can breathe easier knowing that I've completed my third story 😁

Thank you again to those of you who read my work!!!! I love you so much 💕💕💕💕

This has been 'ASSASSINATION' ❤

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~S.xx