skdjka

A cutthroat assassin is given a simple job that should have gone smoothly. A hit on a nobody that no one would miss. Sure, it was weird they were supposedly being guarded by an FBI agent, but hey, no big deal. It was all figured out, perfectly planned.
Until he lines up the sights on his sniper rifle and sees the woman he fell in love with a year ago.
Her name was Goeff. Odd, yes, but so was she. Different, impossibly different, from any woman--any/one/. They met at a resort. He played a part to remain incognito--a part that became more than a part as she captured his attention and drew him so deep in he, emotionally estranged and terrified of being vulnerable, didn't ever want to get out.
And then she was dead. Shot in the street by a mugger, her body mysteriously vanishing from the terminal ward minutes after her heart stopped. The mystery of her life, and death, has haunted him for the past year. He's forced himself to move on, if booze and hookers can be considered moving on. But he can't leave her behind, no matter what he does.
And now she's here. In his scope. Wearing an FBI uniform.
He saw her get shot three times in the chest. He was there when her heart stopped and the blood drained from her face and her fingertips turned purple with death. He laid his head on her shattered chest and listened to the silence of her stilled heart.
He can't think. He can't breathe.
And then there's a gun barrel pressed to the back of his neck.

Morowhick, aka Geoff Lamphrey when she's Up Top, is an ilf. A race of Engine Tree known for its role-reversed genders--women wear the pants, bring home the bacon, men clean house and look after bawling babies. In a nutshell. Whick is part of a security agency known for its out-of-the-box tactics--like taking high-risk wards Up Top, whisking them off Engine Tree to any nearby world if the situation calls for it.
Whick is a bit uneasy about coming back to Earth only a year after her death. Dying was not an enjoyable experience, by a long shot, though it was necessary at the time. Unlike races on Earth, there are multiple Engine Tree peoples capable of dying and, if the regenerative centers of the brain are stimulated in time--from a few hours to a few days--capable of recovering and regaining life. The soul can only hold on for so long, of course, but it is possible. Whick's enemies on Earth were well-fooled by the extreme measure, though she's still a bit nervous--and then there's still the LMA--Last Minute Addition, her company's clever little terms for people like Ashley.
Whick never meant to get sidetracked by him. She never meant to get involved. He was a pretty, sulky boy and she wanted to kill time. But once they'd started talking, something had clicked.
Whick hated that her death had happened. Not only was it painful, but it separated her from Ash with a permanence that would be almost impossible to undo. After all, humans don't handle rising-from-the-dead issues very well.

So I figure she and her partner, the person wit their gun on the back of Ash's neck, are protecting some person from Engine Tree that Ash is supposed to kill--or try to kill. Human assassins are cheaper than Engine Tree natives, and generally ET natives can't be killed by Earth means, so they're generally hired with the purpose of just sending a message, and they also tend to be killed themselves.
Whick's partner drags him in, and he demands explanations, which she is unwilling to give at the moment. They have to stay in the safe house for another few days until it's safe to move the ward. During this time, Whick attempts to explain, very, very gradually to Ash, what's going on.
That's it fer tonight, because I am sleepy. Crappy writing is crappy, but oh well.