Inspired by Eagle Strike (Part 2)

(Paris, France)
“I love Paris.” Red said to Hunter, as they waited outside the airport on a bench for their ride. “You see, when I was a CIA agent, I traveled the world, kicking bad guy butt. Now I travel the world, as the bad guy. Or bad girl, I should say.”
“C'est la vie, Red.” Hunter quipped.
Red laughed. “Hunter, tu parles français?”
He nodded. “Oui. It was my second language.”
“I never would have guessed.” Red said, with a touch of humor. “I mean, you’re not that type of guy.”
“Which is?”
“The romantic type.”
“I’m from London, sweet; I’m just as romantic as any French chap. As for you Americans…” he trailed off, smirking.
“I would argue with you right now, but I believe our ride is here.” Red said, motioning to the black car waiting in front of the airport.
“Perfect time to change the subject, isn’t it?” he said, as they walked over to the car.
“Touché.” she said, with a wink.
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(Agent Lee Moore’s hotel room, Tokyo)
Lee went over the information he just got from the lab.Daiki Tanaka died of a peanut allergy? Well, that explains what was in his water…Now, for the motives… That was simple. Daiki Tanaka was an undercover CIA agent, doing business with yakuza. His cover was blown, poor guy. For a moment Lee thought about Akane, and how the same thing had happened to them. Except I don’t exactly know if she’s dead… His cell phone rang, interrupting his thoughts.
“Yes?” Lee asked, not bothering with the formalities.
“Agent, there’s been another murder.”
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(A café in France)
“Red…” Hunter said, showing her the newspaper he was reading, turned to the page about the murder that they had made yesterday. “That woman that you knocked out remembered your face, and your voice.”
“Well of course she did. I’m unforgettable.” Red replied. Hunter gave her a look, and she burst out laughing. “Oh God, Hunter, if looks could kill…”
“This is serious, Red. You can’t be joking around about everything, especially in this business.”
“I know that. But you can’t take everything so seriously either. Look, what were we wearing when we broke into the house?”
“Ski masks. But what about your voice?”
“That’s not a lot to ID a person from. You worry too much.”
“Maybe, but I still think we should have killed her too.”
Red lost her playful tone. “It’s not right to kill innocent people that have nothing to do with our assignment.”
“And who are we to decide what’s wrong or right? We get paid to do a job, and that’s what we focus on.”
“I’ve told you this before, one thing I won’t do is kill innocent people – when it’s not necessary. Was it necessary in this case, Hunter?”
“Well, we’re going to need to wait and see on that one.”
Picking back up on her playful tone again, Red flashed Hunter a quick smile. “And if you’re right, you don’t have to bail me out of jail.”
“I’d do it anyway.”
“Aw, that’s sweet. You’d really do that for me?”
“Of course, because I know how much you rather live with Annabeth.”
They laughed.
------
(Paris, France)
Damn…what’s with all these CIA undercover killings? Lee wondered as he examined the scene of the murder of Léon Rousseau.Well, it’s not a serial killer, that’s for sure…There had been no forced entry, two shots to the head, with a 9 mm. That’s what interested Lee the most, apart from what Léon Rousseau’s girlfriend, Noémi had said. She remembered that there were two people, one male, and one female. The male one had turned the gun on Noémi, but the female one stopped him from shooting, and knocked her unconscious. Lee brushed his brown hair back, sighing. Nothing was missing from the apartment, so it wasn’t a robbery…and not a serial killer either, because there was no particular style to the two crimes. He had the motive – Léon Rousseau also worked undercover as yakuza. Then it hit Lee – Assassins!That would explain the connection between the two murders…and the cockiness of the whole thing. But Lee felt that there had to be another reason, other than cockiness, that had stopped Noémi from getting shot as well,but I won’t dwell on that just yet…I’ve got two assassins to catch.
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(Two days later, Amsterdam)
Red and Hunter were preparing for another kill. Hunter looked at the supplies.Lock pick, ski masks, gloves…gun.
“We can’t use that.” Red said, tying her long black hair back. “We used a gun back in France, remember?”
“So what do you want to use?”
“I really don’t care. I’m not the one getting killed. Why don’t we ask the target when we get there?” she said, and handed Hunter a switchblade.
“You really think we can kill him with a flick knife?” Hunter said, looking at the knife in his hand.
“Well if the switchblade doesn’t work,” she said, stressing the American word for the type of knife in Hunter’s hand, “we’ll hit him over the head with something. A vase or one of those glass figurines that everyone has in their house. And we’ll take the gun, just in case. Happy?”
“Very.”
“Now I feel good inside. Come, let’s go.”
------
(Arjan Haswell’s apartment, Amsterdam)
Red and Hunter were standing outside their next target’s apartment, Hunter acting as a lookout as Red picked the lock with expert ease.
“And…we’re in.” Red said, opening the door with a flourish. The two entered the apartment, closing the door behind them. The place was deserted, just as the Kumicho said it would be.
“It’s going to be a messy kill.” Hunter said.
“I’ve been thinking to use a different knife, one from the kitchen or something. It’d do the job faster, and time is something we need to escape, especially if this man is not alone…”
“The gun would be best.”
“I know…but that makes us easier to catch.”
Hunter opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by the sound of a key turning in a lock. Red and Hunter ran, and hid – he was in the coat closet, and Red wasn’t too far away. She’s probably hiding on the ceiling or something like that, that crazy ex CIA agent…He smiled at the thought, and strained his ears to listen. Target opens the closet, I fire… He heard the doorknob turn, and adrenaline coursed through his body. The door opened, and Hunter fired three shots to the chest, killing the man instantly. Looking for Red, he found her, fighting with a blond haired man, about twice her size, trying to knock him unconscious. Hunter aimed to shoot him.
“Don’t you dare!” Red said to him, breathing hard. Confused, the man turned around, which allowed Red to give him a kick in the head, which knocked him out. They could hear the sirens already. They both cursed, and ran. When they were a good distance away, they pulled off the ski masks, and the gloves.
“What was that about?” Hunter said, annoyed.
“You could have shot me, damn it!” Red said, restraining the urge to give Hunter a good kick in a place she knew would hurt. “Did you ever think of that?”
Hunter said nothing – he hadn’t considered that possibility and he felt bad about it.
“I didn’t think so.” She softened a bit, and ran a hand through Hunter’s hair. “At least you listened to me and didn’t shoot. So I’m not really mad at you.”
He smiled at her. “Well, that makes my heart feel good.”
Red laughed a bit, but then stopped as she remembered something. “Hunter, do you have the gun?”
He checked his pocket, and cursed as he felt it was empty.
Red groaned. “It probably fell out of your pocket when we were running.”
“At least we leave this country tomorrow.”
Red shook her head. “Do you still have that number that you got from that lady in Tokyo?”
Hunter nodded. “Why?”
“I want to talk with someone that can talk to the Kumicho. We need to leave tonight.”
--------
“The boss is just working us to the bone, huh kid?” Lee said, showing her a manila file folder as he sat down across from her.
“Another case? Didn’t we just finish one two days ago?”
Lee laughed. “After this case, I’m going to demand we get a break.”
“I like the sound of that,” Akane said as she opened the folder. “Let’s get started.”
The sound of a gunshot and broken glass interrupted the two. There were screams of people as everyone dropped to the ground.
“Hello again,” the masked shooter said, in Japanese. “Since Raidon couldn’t be here to kill both of you himself, I’m here do it for him.”
Lee and Akane shared one glance, and ran. She could hear the gunshots behind her, and knew that she had company. Looking behind her, she saw that there were at least several men behind her. “I’ll be surprised if I get out of this alive.” she thought as she ran into a dark alley. Her legs were on fire, and she slowed down to catch her breath, thinking that she was safe- for a little bit.
But she was wrong.
“There she is!” she heard a voice say.
Akane cursed. She was trapped. Looking around, she saw the fire escape. She jumped up, grabbed the ladder, and climbed up to the roof, her attackers in close pursuit. It had started to drizzle, and Akane was soaked. Standing at the edge of the roof, she jumped, and barely made it to the next rooftop. She relaxed a bit, thinking that the men would think twice about attempting the same stunt.
But she was wrong. With a move that could have come straight out of any action movie, two masked men jumped and made it safely to the other side. Akane could hear the gasp from the crowd of bystanders below.
“Damn!” Akane said, as she backed closer to the edge. She wasn’t about to try the same stunt twice-besides, the rain made everything slippery.
“Give up yet?” one of the men asked her, his voice cold.
“Damn, I have to have something on me…” Akane thought, feeling inside her pockets. She was hoping for a gun, Mace, a smoke bomb. She found a book of matches and took the little can of Mace off her key ring, and set fire to it.
“What the –
The can exploded, giving Akane enough time to run down the stairs of the building. But she didn’t think that there would be someone waiting for her down there as well. Before she could do anything, someone grabbed her, putting his hand over her mouth. She tried to fight back, but she had no energy left. She slipped slowly into unconsciousness.
Red woke with a start. That dream seemed so real, it’s not even funny. Taking deep breaths, she relaxed herself. She was on the plane, heading to Australia, and Hunter and she were enjoying the chance to catch up on some needed sleep. Red closed her eyes again, but found that she couldn’t go back to sleep. She sighed and checked her watch, which was set to Australia’s current time. Two more hours until I get to work…
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(Crime lab, Amsterdam)
Now we’re getting somewhere. Lee sipped at his coffee, pleased with the results he got from the Crime lab.So these are Daniel Friend’s fingerprints, huh? He typed in the name, and saw what the database brought up. There aren’t much records of him after age thirteen…hasn’t traveled, or anything…that’s strange for a sixteen year old who supposedly has family in other places…wouldn’t they be able to adopt him? But then again, he’s just like his father… Lee reviewed the past murders in his mind – they were all killings of male, high ranking CIA agents, who were posing as yakuza.
A lab technician knocked on the door. “Agent Moore?” he said in English, with a heavy Dutch accent.
“Yes?” Lee said, turning around.
“We’ve matched the second fingerprints to Akane Martinez.”
Lee almost spit out the coffee he was drinking. “Agent Akane Martinez?”
“That’s the one.”
Lee thanked the technician, and turned back to his work, his mind buzzing with the new information. Akane is alive?
------
(Sydney, Australia)
“Thank God this is our last kill.” Hunter said, as Red and he reviewed the information of their next target in the hotel lobby.
“Amen to that.” Red agreed. “Besides, you and I both know that we’re in hot water…And Annabeth always said I was the careless one.”
“Don’t remind me. I’ve been slapping myself mentally the whole way here.”
“I might have to slap you physically if we get caught.” Red said, half joking. When they find my fingerprints on the gun… I’m going to be in it deep…if they catch me at least…
“At least you got your wish.”
Red snapped out of her thoughts. “What?”
“We can’t go back to London, not after this.”
Red brightened at the thought, but sobered after realizing that meant a lot more problems for the both of them. “So this is what they mean by ‘Be careful what you wish for.’”
Hunter nodded, taking in the weight of the fact that they had a lot to worry about now. “But let’s not focus on that at the moment.”
“Okay…Aaron Nguyen. What should we do? Nothing drawn out, though.”
“Well, we both know a gun is not an option…” Hunter said, but trailed off as her caught the sparkle of an idea in Red’s eyes. “What are you thinking?”
Red smirked. “Did you know that I could make a great pickpocket?”
Hunter frowned, confused. “What?”
“Quick, tell me a place that there would be a lot of tourists and cops in Sydney.”
“The Opera House.” Hunter said, trying to piece together what Red was getting at.
“So what are you waiting for Hunter? Let’s go.”
---------
(London, England)
Agent Kim Taylor knocked hard on the door of Annabeth’s third floor flat. Annabeth, a blonde lady in her late thirties, opened the door. Sparky, as usual, was at her heels, waiting to greet the guest.
Agent Taylor flashed her badge. “CIA, would you mind answering some questions?” There was an edge in her voice that told Annabeth that no wasn’t a choice.
“Of course.” Annabeth said pleasantly, letting the young brunette inside. They settled on the sofa of the tastefully decorated living room.
“What can you tell me about David Shane and Kayla Tyler? Do they not live with you?”
“Yes. I adopted them about two years ago, I believe.” Annabeth said, studying the look on the agent’s face.She is not falling for this at all…
“Where you aware of the fact that “David” has family that would adopt him? And “Kayla” already has a legal guardian? How did you get custody of both of the minors?”
Because I’m an ex-assassin, that’s why. Oh, how am I going to get out of this one? “I wasn’t aware of that fact. As far as I know, they’re both runaways.” She paused. “Has anything happened to them?”
Agent Taylor had seen many looks of feigned innocence, but she had to admit- she had never seen one more convincing than the one on Annabeth’s face. “Where are the medical records for both of them? Haven’t you taken them for a yearly check-up or anything?” When Annabeth didn’t respond, she pressed harder. “And are you aware that their real names are Akane Martinez and Daniel Friend?”
“I…I never knew that…I told you, I thought they were runaways.”
Agent Taylor gave her a look. “Don’t bullshit me, Miss. You and I both know damn well that the two teens that have been living with you are more than just your average runaways. Now, let’s make it easier for the both of us. Tell me about Daniel and Akane.”
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(Sydney Opera House)
As Hunter had said, there were a good amount of tourists and police at the Opera House.
“Now, sweetheart, watch and learn.” Red said, surveying the area, and picking the nicest – and dumbest looking cop to make her move on. She made her way through the crowd, and sweetly tapped on the policeman’s shoulder.
“Excuse me?” she said, her voice dripping with honey.
The policeman smiled down at her. “Can I help you, ma’am?”
You will, and you won’t even realize it, mate. “Yes. I…uh…I got separated from my…boyfriend, and now I’m really lost.”
He chuckled. “Well, maybe I can help you find him. What does he look like?”
“Oh, he’s a handsome chap, with black - kind of messy hair, gray eyes…wearing a red shirt.”
The policeman scanned the crowd, and while he was distracted, Red made her move.
“Is that him, sweetheart?” the policeman asked, pointing to Hunter.
“Oh yes! Hey!” she said, waving to Hunter for him to come over.
“You take care of your girlfriend here,” the policeman said, giving Hunter a friendly pat on the back. “She’s a pretty girl, and we wouldn’t want her lost now, would we?”
Hunter was on the verge of hysterics, but he held it in. “No, sir, we wouldn’t. Thanks.”
As the two walked away, Hunter gave her a look.
Red stopped. “What?”
“Two things – what did you do? And since when are you my girlfriend?”
Red raised her eyebrows theatrically, a smirk on her face. “Are you telling me that all that time we spent together meant nothing to you? I’m hurt.”
Hunter rolled his eyes, accustomed to her teasing.
“Anyway,” Red continued, winking, “you’ll make it up to me by congratulating me on this.” She showed him the gun she had cleverly taken from the policeman and concealed in her jacket.
“Red, you’re a genius.”
She grinned. “I know. I’m just kicking myself for not thinking of it before.”
“Well, we can’t change that.” Hunter said, still marveling how Red had snatched the gun, right in front of the policeman’s face. I didn’t even see her do it myself…and I was watching her the whole time. “Anyway, back to Aaron Nguyen.”
“It’s going to be quick and clean, that’s for sure.”
“Definitely.”
------
(Aaron Nguyen’s apartment)
“Wow Hunter, look at this view!” Red said, looking out of the impressive floor- to-ceiling window at the Sydney Harbor.
“It’s nice.” Hunter said, taking a glance.
Red turned around, hearing the note of annoyance in his voice. She opened her mouth to say something sarcastic, but she changed her mind as she realized that she may not be able to say anything to Hunter at all again. On the way here, Red thought about the fact that Hunter and her may not be able to work together again, because it wasn’t safe for either of them, now that they had the CIA on their trail. I’m going to miss Hunter like crazy…I’ve gotten so used to him – quirks and all.
Hunter, expecting Red to say something, was surprised when all he heard was silence. He walked over to her, and put an arm around her shoulder, and looked out the window.
“Well.” Red said a bit startled at Hunter’s unusual display of affection. “This is a first.”
Hunter laughed. “Well, you got me worried when you didn’t say something in retort.”
Red grinned teasingly. “You worry about me? Aw, that’s romantic.”
“Of course I do. Do you think all that time we spend together means nothing?” he said, giving her a teasing smile back. Hunter had an idea of what his friend was thinking.She’s probably has realized that we may not be able to see each other again…I’m going to miss her too…
She laughed. “I love you Hunter, did you know that?”
Hunter put on a look of feigned surprise. “Red...I...I had no idea.”
She gently pushed him, smiling. “Do you love me, Hunter? Do you think about me before you go to sleep at night?”
“Isn’t this the wrong time to be talking about this stuff?” Hunter said, checking the clock on the wall. It was 9:34 pm. The target was off from work today, so Red and Hunter had to be on the alert because they had no idea of when the target was doing what.I know Red’s probably bored…as I am…
Red’s eyes widened dramatically. “You do, don’t you?”
Hunter sighed, mock exasperated. “Of course I do Red. I’m your secret admirer.”
“Secret admirer, huh?”
“You’ve got it.”
“Well then, secret admirer, tell me what you love about me.”
Hunter pretended to be in deep thought about it. “Everything.” he finally replied.
Red gave Hunter a hug. When she pulled back though, she caught a look in Hunter’s eyes that told her that he had something serious on his mind. “What is it?”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“That look – you have something on your mind.” Red paused. “And I know it’s more than me.”
That made Hunter laugh, just like Red had intended. “Nothing serious.” he said.
Red cocked an eyebrow. “Alright, you don’t have to tell me now…but I’ll find out anyway…Remember, I worked for the CIA.”
Hunter laughed.
--------------
(Sydney, Australia)

Lee, thanks to Agent Taylor’s great work, was in Sydney, looking for Aaron Nguyen, the only undercover agent working for yakuza in that area. He found him in a bar, just relaxing, not aware of the danger that was waiting for him back home.
“Aaron!” Lee called.
“Moore! Long time no see, mate!”
“Tell me about it.” Lee said, sitting on the stool next to him.
“Let me buy you a drink and you can tell me what brings you to Sydney.”
Lee shook his head. “Nah, I can’t be drinking on your life.”
Aaron frowned. “What do you mean?”

--------
(Aaron Nguyen’s apartment)

Red’s ears perked up as she heard the sound of a key turning in a lock.
“That’s our cue, babe.” she said to Hunter, tossing him the gun. He caught it, and concealed himself in the kitchen, crouched down under the table, which was the first place he saw. As usual, Red wasn’t too far away.
As the door opened, Red’s heart quickened as the adrenaline raced through her body. As she heard the sound of two people, she was already calculating how much room she would need to do her roundhouse kick. But as she heard the two silently opening closets, her heart sank. They’re expecting us…
“Are you sure about this Lee?” the first man whispered, in an Australian accent.
Red wondered if she was hearing right.Lee?
Although Red couldn’t see it, Lee nodded. He was listening for the slightest movement, knowing that the assassins knew that they were looking for them.
Hunter had also realized that something wasn’t quite right. But he knew that he had to complete the mission – they could suffer grave consequences if they didn’t. He studied the two men intently, looking for a window of opportunity when he could strike. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and a hand over his mouth – which was quick thinking on Red’s part, because Hunter was about to scream in surprise. He turned around, giving her a look which said: You almost gave me a heart attack!
As usual, she had a smirk on her face. She moved closer to him, so close that her lips grazed his ear as she whispered, “I want out of here – now.”
“You know we can’t do that.” Hunter replied just as softly, his hand tightening on the gun in his hand as he heard the footsteps making their way closer. “Yakuza will kill us – and if they don’t, we’ll be assassinated anyway. Why, is something the matter?”
“I don’t care, Hunter. I want out. ” was all of an answer that she could give at the moment, because one of the agents was in the kitchen. The two of them held their breath as they watched Aaron’s shoes walk around the table, checking if anything was out of place.
“Anything?” Lee asked, standing in the doorway.
Aaron shook his head, no. “I think you’re losing your touch Moore.”
Lee raised an eyebrow, and pulled out his gun. He had noticed the unnatural shadows under the table. “I don’t think so.” he said, and with a flourish, pulled off the tablecloth.
Hunter fired, missing Lee, but hitting Aaron who was standing behind him in the shoulder. Aaron drew his gun and fired back, but his shots were off target, due to the drinking he was doing previously.
“Lee! Long time no see, buddy!” Red said teasingly, standing behind him. He whirled around, and pointed the gun at her.
“Indeed, Akane.” he replied, coldly. He saw the momentary hurt in her eyes – and he understood why. I never expected that I would ever be pointing a gun at her either...
Red backed up out of the kitchen, her hands up. Then, without warning, she lunged at him, knocking him to the ground. They wrestled for control of the weapon, but Lee got the best of her.
“You’re not going to shoot me with that, are you Moore? Because I’m not armed, and that doesn’t make it fair, does it?” Red said, in her still mischievous – yet breathless tone. She didn’t know what to do. The assassin in her told her to kill him – or at least knock him out. But the agent in her wouldn’t allow her to hurt her partner - her friend. Or my used to be one, at least.
Lee didn’t answer her. He wasn’t sure of the answer himself. Damn, what am I thinking? I can’t shoot an unarmed teen girl…That’s how he thought of her – an unarmed teen girl. Thinking of her as his partner, someone that he’d risk his life for in a second, and how he thought she was dead…what she put him through…and what she had become…was just too much. Red interrupted his thoughts with a choking noise.
“Could you at least get off of me?” she gasped. “You’re crushing my ribs.”
“You’re going to be under arrest if I do.”, he replied, but eased up on the force that he held her under.
Red rolled her gaze. “Fine.”
Lee held her hands behind her back, forcing her to stand. Red caught her breath, allowing Lee to reach for his cuffs, but as he was about to put them on her, she kicked him in the groin. Lee doubled over in pain.
“Sorry Moore.” she said, wincing. “I meant your stomach.”
Meanwhile, Hunter had finally killed Aaron. He had two major wounds – one in his left shoulder, and one in his right leg. That man has pretty good aim for someone’s that’s just been in a bar. Without hesitating, he pulled out the bullet that was lodged in his shoulder, and then pulled the one out of his leg, not waiting for the pain to follow. It did though – so bad that Hunter was motionless in agony for a few moments. Then, painfully, he picked himself up, and went to see if Red was all right. He found her, pressed against the window that she and he had just been admiring the view, by Lee. She looked in very bad shape; one of her legs was twisted as an unnatural angle.I’ve never seen Red like that…it’s like she’s given up or something. Although, he noted, Red had done her damage too.
“Give up, Akane?”
She laughed, and Hunter could hear the pain in her voice. “Not yet.”
Hunter knew he had to do something – Red was in over her head on this one. He aimed the gun at man’s back, knowing Red would be pissed off with him later. But I rather have her alive and angry at me…then dead. With this thought in mind, he fired twice, but Lee had moved, and it hit Red in her right shoulder. She cursed, knowing exactly who had done that.
Lee turned around, and Hunter fired again, this time, the bullets making their mark. It hit him in the leg. Lee was about to shoot back, but Red pushed him to the ground, knocking the gun out of his hand. Quickly, she picked it up. There was a faint unmistakable sound of sirens.
“Get the hell out of here, Hunter!” Red commanded, dodging Lee’s attempt to take his gun back.
“I’m not leaving without you.” he replied. She tossed Lee’s gun to him, and he caught it.
“Hell yes you are.” she said. “And you’re not going to argue about it either.”
Hunter, hearing the finality in her voice, made a break for it.
------------
(Sydney Medical Hospital)
Red opened her eyes with a start. How the hell did I end up here? Then she realized where she was – in the hospital, handcuffed to the bed. She groaned inwardly. After Hunter had left, the police came, and although she had tried to put up a good fight, she was outnumbered and exhausted. Eventually, they had managed to cuff her, and she had passed out. I hope Hunter got away, at least…
There were at least three doctors around her, checking her vital signs. One started asking her questions.
“Do you know your name?” he gently asked.
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she made a confused face.
“How do you know she speaks English?” one of the other doctors whispered.
“The agent said she did.” he replied, and proceeded to ask Red another question. Pointing to his hospital green scrubs, he asked her, “Do you know what color this is?”
An ugly one…Red thought, smiling to herself. She made another confused face, this time shaking her head no.
Lee walked in, and Red noted that the scratches on his face were healed, which made her wonder how long she was unconscious.
“How is she?” he asked the doctors.
“Physically, she fine. Mentally - she’s probably suffering from traumatic amnesia. We’re going to be monitoring her condition for a few days, just to make sure.”
Lee nodded. “You think I could be alone with her for a bit? Maybe if I ask her some things, it’ll jog her memory.”
“Sure.”, the doctor said. Then turning to his two colleagues, “Are you done?” They nodded, and the three of them left.
“Akane,” Lee started. “Drop the act.” She gave him a confused look, and Lee felt a little sorry for being so harsh. Maybe she really doesn’t remember… He ran a hand through her hair.
Red jerked away. Lee took it that she did it in disgust, because she didn’t remember who he was, but it was really it was in surprise. Surprise that Lee could still touch her so tenderly, even after all she’d done to him. But she still knew she couldn’t let on that she remembered anything – not until she was sure that she wasn’t going to be rescued by anyone. It was going to be hard – the hurt in Lee’s eyes was killing her, but she had to keep silent.
There was a silence, as Lee thought about what he was going to say to her, and as Red struggled with herself to not say anything.
“You know, I’m glad you’re okay.” he finally said. “You’ve been unconscious for almost a week.”
Almost a week! Red thought. It doesn’t feel that way...
“And you’re lucky too – your leg wasn’t broken, and they didn’t have to dig any bullets out of your shoulder either...”
Yeah - if they did, I was going to kill Hunter…
“I’m sorry about what I did to you…with the leg and bruises and such… but we have to do what we have to do, you know?”
Red could see that he instantly resented saying that to her, but she understood. Yeah, Moore, I know.
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(Seychelles Islands)
Hunter was happy that Red was back with him, but at the same time, he was seriously worried about her. Ever since she’d arrived in the Seychelles, she hasn’t said a word…minus the four letter one she screamed when she had burned herself making Ramen noodles…That was Hunter’s only proof that she hadn’t gone mute or anything.
The two of them were staying in the house of an assassin nicknamed Blade, who was on a mission. It was a beautiful place, on the bluff of a cliff, with an amazing view of the ocean. Blade had left them both a note saying – Make yourselves at home kids, just don’t make a mess. And feed my cat Yen, will you?
Hunter was instantly reminded of Annabeth’s cat, Sparky, and smiled. However, Yen turned out to be a fiendish beast, constantly biting and clawing him when he ever came close to him. It came to a point that Hunter had to close the kitchen door when he was putting the food in the cat’s bowl, in fear of being bit. He complained of this to Red when she came, but she just gave him a look, and picked up the cat, scratching him behind his ears, to prove her point. Yen purred in content. Hunter rolled his eyes, and the feeding became Red’s responsibility.
He went downstairs, to find Red sitting on the windowsill, gazing at the ocean below, lost in thought. Yen was curled up in a ball, taking a nap in her lap. He sat next to her, shooing the cat away, and put his arms around her, pulling her closer to him.
“I wonder why that cat only likes you…” he said, gently running a hand through her hair, still damp from the shower she took.
Red turned around, and gave him a look, as if to say, uh…what’s gotten into you, Hunter? But she didn’t pull away from his embrace. Instead Red returned her gaze to the ocean. I’m not meant to be doing this…killing people for a living…but what can I do? I’m stuck with it now – no way I can go back to the CIA after all I’ve done…and even if I could, it wouldn’t be the same…Her thoughts turned to her old partner. Lee…I owe him a hell of an explanation…it’s a wonder how I played dumb during that whole time in the hospital. She looked up at Hunter, who looked back down at her, a smile on his face, but concern in his eyes. Definitely not a killer’s eyes…you could never tell that he has killed so many people...he would have killed a lot more too, if he had his way. But like Hunter always says – it’s not our place to judge what’s wrong or right, we have a job to do… That’s what makes him and me so different. Hunter sees people that are involved with our target as things that get in the way of what he has to do, but he doesn’t realize that they didn’t decide to be there at the time of the assassination. They didn’t ask to be involved, so they don’t deserve to die…but then again, Hunter and I have also come from different experiences…he’s used to doing exactly what he’s told...and to get the job done, no matter what. A thought crossed her mind. I wonder – if I told him to kill me, would he?
“Hunter?” she asked softly.
“Yes?” he said surprised to hear her talking.
“Shoot me.”
He gave her a concerned look. “Are you serious?”
She nodded.
Pulling out the gun of his pocket, he held it to her forehead, finger curled around the trigger. His hands became instantly sweaty, although the gun felt cool against her forehead. Wait a minute – what am I doing? I can’t shoot her, not even if she asked me to…I mean, I couldn’t live with myself after it…
After a moment of struggling with his emotions, he put the gun down.
“Red, you know I can’t do it.”
“You scared me for a moment there, Hunter.” she replied, her customary smirk back on her face. “Does this mean that you actually care for me?”
“Don’t make me regret it.” Hunter muttered, rolling his eyes, but secretly he was happy that Red was acting like her normal self.
-------------
(Lee Moore’s apartment)
Lee opened the door of his apartment, tired from a long day.
“Hey, Moore.”
“Hey Akane.” he said, without thinking, but a few seconds later did a double take. “What are you doing here?”
Red flipped through the file folder that he had left on his coffee table, in no hurry to answer his question. “You’ve changed the place a lot since I’ve been gone…”
“You can’t read that – it’s confidential.”
“Confidential? Not if it concerns me, it isn’t.” She paused at a page with an expression of bittersweet amusement, and then after a moment, put the folder back on the table. “I’m surprised that they would give you that assignment, knowing that you’re emotionally attached and all.”
“It’s not for me; I’m just reviewing it to see that all the facts are correct.”
“Oh…well whoever gets it, I wish them luck.”
There was an awkward silence.
“Well aren’t you going to ask for one?”
Her voice snapped Lee out of his thoughts. “One what?”
“An explanation.” she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Well, you kind of dodged my question for one before.”
“I don’t mean an explanation for why I’m here, I mean why I’m this assassin thing in general.”
Lee went into the kitchen. “Do you want anything?”
Red shook her head no. Lee walked back into the living room with a cup of coffee and sat next to her.
“Are you going to answer me?” she said, after Lee took a sip.
“I’m not too sure I want to know.” he replied.
Red brushed away a rouge tear that had formed unexpectedly. Who knew that this would be a lot harder that I thought? “That’s not an answer Lee, and you know it.”
He shrugged a bit. “Maybe, but it’s the truth.” He didn’t look at her when he said it. He couldn’t bring himself to.
Red resisted the urge to strangle him – and the same strong urge to break down and cry. She took a deep breath. “You know, I remember that day like it was yesterday Lee…every single detail of it. It haunts me all the time – makes it really hard to sleep at night. When I found out that they didn’t get you…that you actually were alive… ” She trailed off. “Do you remember how it happened Lee? We were sitting in that coffee shop, about to go over that briefing for that new case…and we never realized that would be the last time we would ever do that. Do you remember? Or have you just buried it so deep inside of you that it’s become vague?” The tone of her voice had unintentionally become sarcastic, almost all-out mocking.
“You have no idea how hard it was to see you missing, Akane. All of this has been hard for me.” he replied, keeping his voice even.
She laughed bitterly. “This was hard for you? Imagine being in my shoes Moore. Being chased all over Washington D.C., being kidnapped, being threatened – and they almost made good on that threat too, escaping, with no place to go, being tricked and manipulated into becoming an assassin, and now I’m stuck, and you have the balls to tell me how fucking hard this is for you?”
Lee took the girl, sobbing and shaking with rage into his arms, and held her. “I’m sorry…” he said softly, as she cried into his shirt. “I know I’m being unfair to you.” Tears fell from his eyes as he tried to soothe Red. As much as it hurt him before to find out that she was actually alive and was an assassin, it just ripped at his heart to see that he was the source of so much pain for Akane. “I know that you have been through hell and back, sweetheart. It’s just that…I wanted you to know that it wasn’t all that easy for me either. That day, after I shook the yakuza off my tail, I tore up the streets looking for you. I managed to find your keys, but nothing else. I instantly put all the CIA agents on alert in yakuza infested areas, and actually took the next flight out of D.C. to Tokyo. After a few weeks, when there was no sign of you anywhere…well the CIA assumed that you were killed, therefore lowering the priority of your case, and listing you as “missing in action”. I kept an eye out for you, though. Many people did. When there was a match for your fingerprints on that gun…I didn’t know what to think…I was…just so disappointed to find out that you had become a killer – and of undercover agents like yourself, no less.”
Red looked up at him, her eyes bleary and red. “Are you still disappointed?”
Lee shook his head no, and it was the truth. He knew that even though she had killed the CIA agents, and possibly many other targets, she didn’t harm anyone else she didn’t have to. She managed to keep her morals…in a particularly difficult situation…and she came here to talk to me…which is something I would never be able to do.
“You’re not?” she said, her voice disbelieving.
“Why should I be, Akane? You’ve managed to keep your morals mostly intact, which is a great feat considering the position you’ve been put in.” He paused. “And it’s not my place to judge you.”
Red thought about it for a moment. “The thing is…I’ve wanted to come back to the CIA…but after I made my first kill, there went my chance. But now since you mentioned how it wasn’t you’re place to judge me…that got me thinking…” There was a trace of her usual mischievous glint in her eyes.
“They’ll give you a couple of life sentences, if they don’t manage to give you the death sentence.” Lee replied.
“They can’t kill me.”
Lee smiled a bit. “It’s the CIA. They can do anything.”
Red laughed, but it was a sad one. “Yeah, I kinda figured that out on my own.”
Trying to lighten the conversation, Lee ruffled her hair, something he knew that Red hated. “Do you still hate that?” he asked her, teasing.
“With a passion.” she replied.
Lee laughed. She’s managed to keep her sense of humor too…
When he had calmed down, Red asked, “So, Moore, where do we stand?”
“Good question…” he said, thinking about it. Where do we stand? It’s my job to help catch and convict her, and people like her, and it’s her job to kill…but yet I still have her sitting in my living room, and I’m not about to cuff her…and she doesn’t have a gun to my head…so where does that put us? “I really don’t know how to answer that.”
“Well...” Red said, walking to the door, “I guess we’re going to do what we have to do, you know?” Taking advantage of Lee’s stunned state; she let herself out, a smirk on her face.
What? Lee thought. There is no way she would know…Then he realized that he had been tricked, but instead of being annoyed with himself, he found himself smiling.
That would be the last thing she would ever say to Lee.

Epilogue
The life of an assassin is very short, and it’s a fact that all of them know very well. Red very well expected to die on another mission, and she never dwelled on the fact in depth, mainly because she saw death all the time. Even when she was in the CIA, they had trained her not to think when it came to having to shoot the attacker/suspect/criminal etc. because then you would hesitate with the thought of what if I accidentally take this person’s life? Her partner had also told her that these people didn’t deserve sympathy, after Red was shaken up because she had shot and killed a drug lord in Colombia. This was a concept that Red didn’t fully agree with, because when she was growing up in one of the many ghettos of the city, it was the thugs, the drug dealers and even the pimps that were her protection. She knew the stories of their lives, and she also knew that there was more than meets the eye when it came to these people. Not everything was black and white – or even shades of gray. There was a whole spectrum of colors that made up a person, and there was no coincidence when she was named Akane – brilliant red in Japanese. She was exactly like her namesake color, bold, bright and full of life. She was also risky, impulsive and a bit of a show off, but this was not entirely her fault. People tend to live up to the names that they were given.
When Red had left Lee’s apartment, with her trademark smirk still on her face, she had no idea that it would be the last time she would ever see him – if anyone again. She knew that she had risked a lot to be there, and that she was going to be under fire if anyone, besides Hunter, found out about her stop in Washington D.C. . But she never imagined that it would end up like this.
Red was supposed to be in San Francisco, and she was planning to get there – she had already bought another airplane ticket using a credit card that she “borrowed” from a tourist. After she made the transaction, she had used it at an ATM to take a hundred dollars (she liked having cold hard cash in her pocket, a preference instilled in her by growing up on the streets), but instead of disposing of the card, she slipped it in her back pocket. The CSI’s would later find out that the card belonged to Ms. Michelle Cambridge, and she would be reimbursed exactly three hundred and seventy two dollars.
Standing outside of the airport, Red had hailed a taxi, not knowing that there was an assassin that had spotted her, and was already dialing his superiors with the information. Because of Red’s previous job as a CIA agent, and her last kill that involved Lee Moore, they were keeping an eye on her, just in case she decided to bail and give any information to the CIA.
They had listened, and inferred Red’s intention. They didn’t think twice about it – since they knew that Red’s identity had been discovered, she was more of a liability to them, and therefore they didn’t exactly mind getting rid of her. So they assigned someone to do the job. Who they chose wasn’t a cruel chance of fate – they chose this person because of their prior knowledge of the target. Unlike the CIA, assassins didn’t care about anyone being emotionally attached. They were trained not to have any emotions – just to kill and forget.
Red didn’t have the intention of ending her visit to Lee’s apartment like that – but she had to go, otherwise she would miss her flight. So she said something that would leave him in some state of stunned, and used that to make her exit. She always had good timing when it came to conversation – maybe in some alternate universe she would have became a comedian or something along those lines. At least they had ended on a good note.
She hadn’t sensed that someone was waiting around the corner. If she wasn’t in a rush to get to the airport, she would have picked up on the feeling in the air. It was a feeling of despair, the feeling of death. She walked to the end of the hall, and before she could comprehend what her eyes were seeing, it was too late. A few minutes later, when the police had arrived, she was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Hunter had stopped to catch his breath, tears in his eyes at the realization of what he had just done. He stared at the gun in his shaking hand. Oh my God, I can’t believe…When he had gotten the call, Hunter couldn’t believe that Red would seriously go to the CIA and do something like that. But he was trained not to question orders, so he did as he was told. He promised himself that he would make it as painless as he could, so he took a gun. And then he forced himself to forget who the target really was. It was arguably the most difficult kill he had ever made in his life, emotionally.
“Are you okay?” a voice asked.
Hunter looked up at Celeste; the assassin that had drove him there, and shrugged.
“You had to do it, Hunter. Remember, the target could have put your life in danger. Don’t think about it.”
Hunter had tried to follow the advice, but it was easier said than done. He missed her teasing, her infectious laughter, and the way she always put a smile on his face. He missed her more than anything, and it killed him that he was the one that took her life.
It literally killed him. One day, Celeste noticed that Hunter hadn’t come out of his room. It was 6:00 pm, so she went to go check on him and ask him if he wanted something to eat.
“Hunter?” she said, shaking him. He was unresponsive, and cold to the touch. Celeste went to get the phone, but something caught her eye. It was an empty bottle of Tylenol.

The End