Crimson Dawn (Subconscious_domain) 1x1

[tuti]

 

Character Biography

Name: Gabriel (Gabe) Riordan

Age: 25

Hair: Black and short

Eyes: Hazel (color shift from green to honey depending on the light)

Height: 5'7

Occupation: Surgeon

Background: After being "rescued" from the orphanage at the age of eight, Gabriel lived a normal life. He always had a strong will to help people and that is why he decided to go to med-school in order to become a doctor. Having a fulfilling life and career there's nothing more Gabriel could wish for. Well, maybe if he could remember anything of his life before he turned eight...

 

 

~~~

 

"That was great." Gabriel said a little bit out of breath as he stared at the ceiling of his (small) apartment bedroom. He'd been so busy at the hospital these last couple of weeks that he hadn't had the time to spend with his boyfriend Kyle. Kyle only grinned widely as if saying "I know" and silently pulled the hazel eyed male closer into a tight hug. "So what did you think about my proposal?" He slowly asked after a few minutes of peaceful silence.

 

Gabriel's expression of content soon fell from his face and was replaced with a frown. "Kyle you already know the answer…I can't marry you." He said for the millionth time. A couple of months ago Kyle popped the big question on him. Of course, it made him extremely happy but it wasn't what Gabriel was looking for. They've been together for three years now and the fact that Kyle was willing to spend the rest of his life with him was enough to make him euphoric. Unfortunately, marriage wasn't on Gabe's to-do list.

 

The red-haired male angrily pushed himself out of bed revealing his naked body. "Why not?! Don't you love me?" He asked, obviously furious. Gabriel sighed already fearing the direction of this pointless discussion…

 

"You know I love you, but what you are asking of me will mean exposing my sexuality to the hospital. Do you think they are not judgmental of people like us?" He paused and then added. "Do you think they’ll let me perform surgery again? A subject with high risk of being infected with HIV?" He closed his eyes suddenly exhausted and opened them again. He stared at Kyle expecting the other male to understand his situation. But he was disappointed.

 

"You don’t have to be afraid of coming out Gabe! You are a good doctor they wont judge you because of your sexuality." Gabe only snorted at Kyle's naivety, something he usually would find charming...not this time.

 

"Gabriel, if you love me you'd do this for me right?" Kyle finally asked, only to receive silent gasp from Gabe. "Are you asking me to choose between you and my career? When you know being a doctor is all I dreamed of?" The disbelieve in his voice couldn't be missed. "I guess that answers it then." Kyle said as he pulled a shirt over his head. "Don’t call me, I wont pick up." And with that, he walked out of the bedroom slamming the door shut behind him.

 

Gabriel just sat there silently staring at door. The anger he was feeling was so strong that he couldn't find it in him to cry. How selfish can a person be?

 

Sighing he got out of bed and got ready to head back to the hospital. He had a late shift today, meaning he’ll probably end up spending the night there. Picking up his backpack containing some of the things he needed he headed outside making a mental note to call his mother. It's been four days since they last spoke and knowing Sarah and how worry she tends to get, he decided it was better to call her as soon as possible. A small smile decorated Gabriel’s handsome face as he sat in the bus thinking about his mother. Even though she wasn't his biological mother, she sure did a good job raising him. Sometimes, he'd wonder how his life would be if he'd met his real parents or at least remember something about the time they were alive. Maybe his parents dead was so traumatic that he blocked that out? Possible.

 

He entered the (always hectic) hospital, greeting some of the nurses as he made his way into the changing rooms. As he finished putting on his white coat, a young nurse walked into the changing room. "Dr. Riordan! You are finally here! Mr. Santos is complaining of abdominal pain, we wanted to administer some painkillers but since he just got out of surgery we opted to wait for you to check on him first." The young woman said as both of them made their way towards Mr. Santos room. "That was the right thing to do. " He said nodding at her.

 

And just like that a long day filled with emergency patients, checking on recovering ones, convincing little children that he was there to make then feel better again and not the opposite; started. This was what Gabriel loved to do, this was what he lived for. He felt sorry for Kyle but he wasn't going to trade this any time soon.

[Subconscious_domain]

Name: James Vaughnier

Age: 27

Hair: Auburn and short, slightly wavy

Eyes: Dark brown

Height: 5'10

Occupation: Assassin

Background: Seeing as his father had been in this line of work during his days, it was only natural that James follow suit. Taking one day at a time, one life at a time, he didn't regret a thing. Of course, he didn't just wake up one morning at a young age and decide that he wanted to kill people for a living but after attempting to grab his fathers attention and earn his approval he found himself in a situation he couldn't get out of. It wasn't long before he felt he had no choice but to continue down this path.

 

 

((I appreciate your patience! I copied your character info format I'm glad I didn't have to go hunting for a picture.))

 

You'd think that with all the years he'd put into this line of work he'd know better than to question what he was being asked to do. It was an unspoken rule; to not doubt your orders and to definitely not voice those same doubts if you had them. It made you out to be incapable of following through with your job and therefore an unneeded liability. Normally it didn't bother him that he was given such limited information. This was due to the fact that he was good at digging when it was needed. If there was something he wanted to know, if the reason behind his soon to be death wasn't obvious, he would simply find out on his own. Normally it took less than a few hours to catch hold of a loose end that wasn't entirely tied up and follow it.

 

Click. Clack.

This time was different though.

Click... click.

He'd been going at it for over four hours now and there was nothing.

 

He looked down at the picture of the man he was supposed to do away with and frowned deeply at the plain sheet of paper. They gave him nothing like they usually did, and that didn't seem strange to him until he realized he couldn't find out anything on his own either. An orphan at a young age. A doctor now. There were a few missing details when it came to his childhood but seeing that he was an orphan that wasn't exactly a red flag. It didn't matter what direction he went in on his search though... this man seemed completely clean. No strange behavior or decisions in his career path. It didn't look like he was involved with anyone suspicions or dangerous...

 

He was completely clean.

 

He stared at the screen of his laptop as he contemplated the possibility of this being a mistake. There was also the possibility that this was simply something much larger than him and that he shouldn't be attempting to pry. They were watching him, he was sure, he did this with every target and they'd yet to say a thing... but he knew they were monitoring his search. Don't ask questions, he knew this, and yet something didn't sit well with him on this one. He let out a deep sigh, ended his search by closing his laptop and calling it a night. He supposed the only other thing he could do was meet his target in person. Even though that was very much a taboo to do.

[tuti]

(I rather not use pictures since I can't never find one that resembles the character in my head )

 

After filling his cup with coffee for the countless time Gabriel sat down with a sigh on the break room couch. He was glad no other doctor was there, he wanted to be alone so he could be angry at himself in complete solitude. No matter how many times Gabe failed a patient it always made him feel as if he wasn't good enough for the job. Staring a the hot liquid between his hands he couldn't help recall what had happened a few hours ago.

 

A young boy, barely 13, was rushed into the emergency room with several hunt-bullet injuries in the chest. "Please doctor! Save my baby!" The patient's mother pleaded before her husband pulled her away to let Gabriel do his job. "We'll do everything we can Mrs." He promised...and they did. Unfortunately, the operation turned out to be trickier than they'd thought.

 

According to the police report, the kid and his cousin where playing inside the warehouse when the two years older cousin found the hunting gun. He didn't know that the gun was loaded so he "playfully" shot at his younger cousin, two bullets hit the little boy's chest and a third one his throat. It made Gabriel wonder what kind of "accident" was that? One shot believable, but three? Now, that stank of foul play.

 

They managed to extract the two tiny bullets from the boy's chest but the one in his throat proved to be a challenge impossible to accomplished. Not only had the victim lost a great amount of blood but the bullet was so tiny that finding it caused a bigger challenge than retrieving it. When Gabriel finally managed to get his hands on that tiny piece of metal it was too late. The kid's heart stopped beating; a young life cut short. They try re-animation many times, but it was clear that Gabriel had lost his patient.

 

Letting another heavy sigh escape his lips he leaned forward to place his still full cup of coffee on the tiny table in front of the sofa he was sitting on. He then closed his honey eyes and leaned his head back on the couch to calm his thoughts. He had to calm them; his shift was far over.

[Subconscious_domain]

He'd never really been a fan of hospitals and it wasn't because of the way death seemed to snake its way through every hall and every room either. He understood that this was the main cause of fear when it came to this place but death was something he was used to, he was a killer himself after all, so standing in a building where death was common did not phase him.

 

Looking around though he had a clue as to what it was and it was definitely connected to the fear that most had. It wasn't so much the fear though as it was the people. It was that he was different and to be quite frank; it was that he didn't care. He didn't care that they were scared or sad... and he didn't care about the atmosphere they created with those feelings. He didn't care about the joy when someone heard good news and he didn't care about the woman sitting in a corner quietly crying to herself.

 

That was what bothered him the most and being the kind of person he was now, he wouldn't ever admit it. Not that he had anyone to admit it to though.

 

It was busy enough that he could slip into places he wasn't so sure he should be. Nonchalantly walking the halls with his hands in his pockets as if he had no place to be and was in no hurry at all. He was glanced at, smiled at but for the most part he was left alone. Seeing other family members in the halls outside of rooms, some with smiles and some with frowns, he knew he was in the right place. Or actually he didn't know that for sure because doctors were generally everywhere all the time. He found himself at a nurses station and leaning on the counter he smiled at the receptionist before speaking.

 

"Would you be so kind as to tell me where I could find Dr. Riordan?" a woman blinked a few times before smiling back, "Is it urgent?" she asked, to which he shook his head and let her know that he could simply wait and that it wasn't a problem if he wasn't available. She told him though that he seemed to be on a break. Or at least he was five minutes ago, she said that the doctors breaks were usually rather sporadic as well as the times they took lunch so he may not even be on it anymore. One of two places though, she said, he enjoyed the silence of the break room the most but it was possible he was in the cafeteria too.

 

It was true that he had a time limit when it came to this job but he wasn't too worried... although he probably should have been. He'd always done things at his own pace and it had never backfired on him in the past. So he thanked the woman and went on his way just as relaxed as before. He wasn't someone who believed in fate, he actually fancied the thought that things were merely a coincidence. He had walked in the right direction at the right time and just so happened to get what he wanted.

 

Standing in the doorway of what seemed like the break room he had been looking for, he locked eyes with a rather confused doctor who just so happened to be the one he was looking for. There was a pause before James simply smiled apologetically, "I'm so sorry, guess I'm a little lost. Was looking for a quiet place to stay for a little bit, you know to get away. Though I'm sure this isn't a place open to the public... would you mind terribly if I joined you for a bit? I promise I won't get into the cupboards or anything."

 

Smiles were easy enough and so was a cheery attitude when needed. He was good at it. He was also good at lacing little white lies into everything he said so to get his way.

[tuti]

Sensing that he no longer was alone in the solitude of the room, Gabe slowly opened his eyes, now looking bright green because the light of the room was directly hitting his hazel eyes. Staring at the unknown man in confusion, he tried to make out who he was. This was a staff only room so no patient or family members were allowed in here. If they wanted coffee they could get it from the cafeteria next to the waiting room and patients were not allowed to drink coffee anyways. So was he a new staff member? If yes, it was very strange that they had not introduced them yet. It was a policy of the hospital to introduce the new members of the big hospital family. But maybe he'd been so busy that he missed the introduction?

 

But soon the stranger cleared his confusing by giving him a reason for him being in the break room. Even though Gabriel enjoyed these rare moments of silence, he didn't mind the stranger’s company. He smiled back at the man, who he couldn't help notice how handsome he was with his auburn hair and lean body; totally his type.

 

"Make yourself comfortable." He said kindly and pointed to the coffee machine in case the man wanted to drink some coffee, before leaning forward to take a sip of his own cup. "Are you a patient’s relative?" He asked feeling like making conversation and frankly curious about the man. Besides, talking to a stranger was way better than just sitting there thinking about his failures.

[Subconscious_domain]

((Holidays made me busy busy Wanted to get a reply to you as quickly as possible. I hope this is alright and I hope you had a wonderful holiday!))

 

He wasn't expecting to stay long, he only wanted to meet him once, whether it be by eavesdropping or meeting him face to face like this. He'd been doing this so long that with a simple conversation he could easily find out the kind of person he was. James didn't need to know details, he just needed to know that the person he was supposed to rid the world of... was the type of person that deserved it.

 

He followed the direction the man was pointing to and noticed the coffee machine in the corner, it must have been fresh too since the smell of coffee was basically all that filled the room. It may or may not have been what had originally brought him to this room. Business or not, he was a man who enjoyed coffee and wouldn't pass up an opportunity to have a cup. So he gave a small thank you and although he knew that, as a visitor, this coffee was not for him... he still sauntered on over and poured himself some.

 

He stood at the counter next to the pot of coffee and slowly stirred in the two spoon fulls of sugar he had just added in. He preferred a bit of sugar but was always alright with black as well. After all, it was the caffeine that he wanted and not particularly the taste.

 

"Friend's wife just had a kid." he said after giving the stranger a nod of his head. He realized that he probably wasn't in the right part of the hospital for delivery though so he quickly added a reason for him not being their with them. "And don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful thing, just that being in a room full of family when I'm just a friend from work... well, I figured I'd give them a bit of space. Seemed I was only getting in the way." He brought the small styrofoam cup to his lips, paused slightly and then flashed the man a small smile before toking a sip of his own. Successfully burning his tongue slightly.

 

Making his way over, he sat down across from the man, "And you?" he asked with a raise of his cup just a little as if to gesture to him, "I've seen you around," he lied, "You're a busy guy. Been a doctor for long?"

[tuti]

(That's all right Hope you had fun )

 

Gabe smiled at the question before answering. "Yeah, for the past five years now." He said leaving out the details of all the hardships he went through during his internship. The older doctors just love making the new ones suffers just to see if they had it in. It was no point becoming a doctor if you couldn't keep up with all the pressure. Luckily Gabriel was able to survive those months of hell. "Since this hospitals is combined with an ER section it tends to be extra hectic." He explained. "If you are not busy with an emergency you are running up and down to check on patients." He paused to take a sip of his coffee. "You never know when a patient is going to turn to the worst so you can be called in any time; most of the doctors practically live here." He finished. Even though it was a tiresome life Gabriel wasn't complaining. He loved the busyness of the hospital and taking care of people.

 

He glanced from his cup up the man in front of him face. "And you? What's your na-?" His sentence was cut short, interrupted by the silent vibration of his phone. He fished it out of his coat pocket and looked at the caller ID. His eyes widened and he unconsciously slapped his forehead. It was his mother. He'd made a mental note to call her but the moment he stepped inside the hospital it slipped out of his mind. Completely forgetting he was not alone in the room he answered.

 

"Gabriel! Why haven't you called me? I've been worried sick." Sarah's worried voice could be heard from the other side of the phone. Gabriel sighed, he knew this was the result of not calling her on time. "Sorry I was just too busy and forgot." He said trying to apologize. "I called your apartment but no one answered and then I called Kyle because your phone was off and he told me you guys broke up." That brought a frown on Gabriel's handsome face. "Dear, when are you going to settle down? It worries me that you have no one home waiting for you." Genuine sadness evident in her voice.

 

"Mother..." He had no time to stop her speech as she went on. "I know you don't take good care of yourself! You probably don't even eat properly. Kyle was such a good guy, I think you should accept his proposal dear." That did it and something snapped inside of Gabriel's head. He loved Sarah to death but it irritated him every time she started messing with his unsuccessful love. "Sarah! Please just stop it. I don't want to talk about it now. Tomorrow is my day off I'll visit you. I'm really busy now." He said his grip on the phone tightening, he said goodbye and ended the call.

 

He closed his eyes before flinching. He was suddenly reminded of his companion. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the man, his face showing pure embarrassment. "Ehm, sorry about that." He said and scratched the back of his head. Even though he knew he wasn't going to see the guy ever again, it was still very embarrassing to have him witness the argument with his mother. He was about to ask the man's name again but his pager went off. He quickly looked at the bright small screen. They needed him in the emergency room.

 

"Sorry gotta go now!" He said rushing to the door leaving his coffee unfinished. "Congratulations to your friend." He said before exiting the break room.

[Subconscious_domain]

He observed quietly as he sipped away at his cooling coffee. The movement of his lips as he drank and the slightest twitch of an eyebrow were the only factors that pointed towards him having listened at all. He was intrigued though, by one thing in-particular and he had been thinking of the best way to get this man to speak more about it when it seemed he had lost his chance. The continuation of their conversation was cut short more times than he wanted and he had to bite back the irritation that rose with each time.

 

It all came out with a long sigh after the room was empty. It was alright though, it was probably better he hadn't gotten the chance. He had a lie that made him being here a normal thing but he preferred to leave a target with as little information as possible. A name was a small fragment of information but it was still information and it was just as unneeded. Besides, he wasn't sure he could come up with a believable name when there was already a name of someone else ringing in his head.

 

Sarah Riordan. He had even recalled the muttering of the word 'mother' before the call had been answered. He contemplated the name was one he had come across last night as he dug, but at the same time, he thought that if that were the truth then he wouldn't feel so uneasy. What was bugging him about this so much he wondered? Why did he feel so inclined to know as much as he could about this target before following through?

 

His gut was telling him something for once. This didn't happen very often. There was never a need to, everything was usually laid out before him in an easy to understand way. There was something wrong about this though. It wasn't the lack of information either like you would think. It was the target himself.

 

There wasn't a bad bone in that body. He'd met his share of twisted doctors in his days, those who killed and those who stole money from the hospital. He could spot one of them a mile away. Which was why he was so confident with this one... but of course, he was a realistic man. He knew that you couldn't judge a book by it's cover and that was why he decided to do just a little bit more digging before taking this mans life.

 

Sarah. Sarah. It was a common enough name but he wasn't sure why he hadn't seen the first and last name as a whole instead of separate. It would have made this so much easier and he cursed himself for not being thorough enough. Oh well, all he had to do was meet up with her. No point hiding what it was he was after and who it was that he worked for. The truth had been covered up but he'd been able to see what had been hidden.

 

His targets mother had been a part of Terra, the same group he was a part of now. He didn't know what part of it, or what had caused her to leave but seeing that her son was now a target of that same organization... he figured it wasn't exactly on good terms. The phone call the two family members had shared too, although he had heard only one side of it he could tell that it was between two people who were still very close. No matter the age, lifestyle or distance. They were still family.

 

So many questions and so little time. Once again, he wondered why he was so interested in the reasoning behind this. He supposed he could just chalk it up to curiosity and maybe it was for the best to just keep it that simple. Because in reality, the reason didn't actually matter. What did matter was that he was now parked in front of this woman's house and moments away from confronting her.

 

This was against everything. Were they watching? He wouldn't be surprised if they were. He wouldn't be surprised if he was stopped right now with a bullet in his head. They were tracking him most likely and that left him with little time. Even if he were to turn himself around and do his job without question he would still be a liability. Someone who goes against orders were considered a liability and more than likely, he would be discarded in the end.

 

Why had he done this?

 

He closed the door to his car and made his way up the pathway to a place he knew he shouldn't be. Reaching the door he went to knock, glancing behind him he watched the neighborhood around him of any movement. Of any cars waiting idly by. But he saw nothing and so he patiently awaited for an answer to his knock.

[tuti]

(I am sorry for the crappy post, I really couldn't find the right words but I wanted to give you a reply so...>.>)

 

Sarah Riordan was not a woman happy of certain things about her past. Nevertheless, now in her late forties, she made sure to live her life with no regrets and to do good to does around her; in hopes that maybe one day she might be forgiven for her past sins. After leaving the army she joined the secret organization Terra as part of their intelligence department. She was in charge of collecting data of all kind of corporations and their heads. She knew that what she was doing was wrong yet at time it didn't matter to her. Fortunately, everything changed when she was ordered to investigate some civilians. Seven families to be more exact.

 

She wasn't sure why all of a sudden she was ordered to investigate civilians but she did it anyways and once she found out the truth behind her new task, she couldn't help feel horrified and disgusted, mostly of herself.

 

She was then given the order to adopt Gabriel after they were satisfied with the results of some experiments. The plan was to have close so that they could keep an eye on him. Sarah did as told but immediately cut all her ties with Terra. It was still a wonder to her why they didn't say or do anything against her...she always feared the day Terra would show up again and order her to hand over Gabriel...but to her surprise that day never came.

 

A knock on her door pulled her back to reality from the very interesting book she was reading in her living room. She glanced at the clock on her wall, before taking her reading glasses off, and noticed that it was quite late for visitors. The thought that it might be Gabriel crossed her mind but then again, that was impossible since he had a full shift today. Moreover, he already said he'll visit tomorrow for sure.

 

Sarah placed the book aside and moved to the door. Someone else might be more scared of having someone knock at their door so late at night but not Sarah. Years spend in the army and then with Terra made her a tough woman with nothing to fear or be scared of. Well there was something that always haunted her mind...

 

She opened the door enough to have a good look at the young man standing at the other side of the door. Who was he? She'd never seen him before; was he a friend of Gabriel? "Yes?" She said as her skilled eyes studied the stranger before her.

[Subconscious_domain]

((Hi hi, so I just moved into my new place and got internet I won't promise quick replies but I'm hoping that I'll feel more inclined to since I'm no longer living in a hostile and stressful environment. Maybe I can actually focus on my hobbies again.))

 

He could see in the way she held herself, how she held a defensive stance as if ready to defend herself if the situation would ever call for it. It wasn't obvious, and maybe no one else could see it, but he could see the hesitation in how she opened the door. How her eyes swept the area before settling on the man at her door step. Looking him up and down, he could see the uncertainty. He was no paper boy, he was here for a reason he could tell she was scared of finding out about.

 

"Good evening ma'am." he said, he had his forearm resting on the door frame just above their heads so that he was leaning slightly over her. He gave her a smile though, doing his best to seem not at all a threat. However, he didn't want to lie either, he didn't know if he would end up being a threat somewhere down the line or not. "I apologize for intruding on your evening like this." his voice dropped with the fake smile he had on.

 

"Do you mind though if we have a little talk, I want to talk to you about your son and I don't have a whole lot of time. You're expecting him right, I recall hearing him say he would visit you? I'd like to talk before he arrives. He didn't really seem... too particularly interesting. Maybe hes unaware of who you are? Who you were? Either way, it might be better for the best of this if you answer a few questions of mine before he arrives."

 

And with that he waited no longer for an invitation inside. He gently brushed her aside as he took the few steps it took to get him inside. "I can't... guarantee my visiting you here won't call for more visitors. I apologize in advance for causing you trouble if it comes down to that." he wasn't a bad guy, maybe a little distant but he knew what was right and what was wrong.

 

The way he saw it though, it didn't matter what direction he went in with this. He would hurt this woman either way, whether it be with the death of her son or... well, the death of her son. All he was doing was feeding his curiosity. Either way you looked at it, a life would be taken or in harms way. A life was wanted here, he was just trying to figure out why. Its not like he wanted to stop it, and he wouldn't be able to even if he tried.

[tuti]

Even though it was a windless early summer night, Sarah felt cold wash over her as the man stepped inside her house. This was it. The day she had being dreading for so long has finally come, yet there was something about this young man that told her that he wasn't a complete threat. The fact that he came to her to ask questions instead of just getting the job done was a small sign of hope Sarah was willing to hold onto. She could try to change the man's mind or just make enough time for her to reach for her gun hidden in her room. A gun she hadn't used in many years; seventeen years to be exact.

 

She did her best to push to the back of her mind the worry for her son, this man had obviously already made contact with Gabe...but didn't kill him?

 

She inhaled deeply through her nose and slowly closed the door before turning around to face the young man. He was young; probably in his early twenties. How was someone like him working for Terra? She wondered but decided that right now there were far more important things to be deal with. "Please do come in." She said with obvious sarcasm, her fear masked with boldness, and moved to the living room. She stood in a position where she could easily run towards her room and grab her gun. She was old but her muscles were still strong.

 

"You speak of me as if you know me." She said, her voice even - she couldn't show the man how much she feared how capable he was for Gabe's sake. "Yet here you are obviously seeking answers to your questions. I knew they would send someone to finish their dirty job one day. Tell me...what did they tell you? Oh right I forgot, they don't give you any information, do they?" She said. Her heart was beating so loud she could barely hear herself talk.

 

"I know because I was once doing their dirty job as well, but that was until I finally opened my eyes to truth. Tell me something, whatever your name is, what is your opinion on kidnapping children, kill their parents and then run experiments on them as if they were lab rats?" She didn't wait for him to answer as she went on. "Terra, the organization you are so loyal to, kidnapped Gabriel when he was only three years old, experimented on him making his blood a weapon, you might say a human weapon." She paused and then continued. "Nice don't you think? No need to waste money buying arms, teaching people like us how to kill or fight, just a simple human with blood so lethal that could kill you in an instant. If mixed with the right chemicals of course."

 

"They either don't want to use him anymore and that's when you come in; Or...there are others who found out about him and would love to have him in their possession. Tell me something, soldier, how do you feel about being someone else's cleaning-lady?" She asked and hoped with all her strength that the truth about Gabriel had changed his opinion just like it did to her years ago.

 

She never took her eyes off the man's face as she very slowly moved closer to her room. If Gabriel's tale failed to change the man's heart she'll make it to her room and use her gun. It didn't matter though, either way they'll send someone else to do the unfinished job...and Gabe will no longer be safe...

[Subconscious_domain]

He was surprised, to say the least, and it wasn't just because of the truth that the woman had let spill from her lips. It was the fact that she had let it spill without any sign of hesitation. As if desperate for someone to hear the tale that she'd kept to herself all these years. He thought it would take longer and he'd have to push her to speak but no matter how bizarre, it didn't seem she was lying.

 

He'd shown up unannounced, barely said a word, and yet she spoke without a moments pause. It couldn't have been a lie since she had only a second to respond to him. She had no time to think up such an extraordinary story like that. Even though it seemed she spoke the truth, given the way she stood and spoke, James still couldn't wrap his head around it.

 

Really? This was really what he had come here to find out? He couldn't help but smile. It formed slowly as a chuckle made its way through his chest. He brought his hand up to his face where he rubbed right between his eyes. He noticed her movements. As very subtle as they were. So he took one step forward. Keeping the distance between them the same amount. She took one step, he took one as well.

 

"You honestly think that by telling me some bizarre story such as this one, I'd just nod my head, apologize and be on my way?" She had done nothing wrong, his irritation was not directed towards her. He knew though, what she was trying to do. He raised his head once more, eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her, "So he's a human weapon huh? He seemed a little too sweet for such a role if you ask me." he said with a smirk.

 

"I'm going to finish my job." he said finally, his voice low and level, "You know as well as I do that I can't just walk away. Someone has to die." it was true that he had sought out the truth and that that meant something. It meant that he was changing just a bit. Desiring the truth and the reasoning behind his orders. It frightened him, just a bit, and annoyed him as well, that he was starting to care.

 

"But it's not you. Not tonight. So I'm going to leave quietly... and you're going to let me." He knew he should have asked more, but he also knew that if this was all true... there really wasn't a damned thing he could do about it. Human weapon? Well, that was enough in his book. He had a job to finish.

[tuti]

"Has the target been located?"

"Affirmative."

"Are you sure he is the one?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, bring him in alive and uninjured."

"But what if Terra's hit-man gets in the way?"

"Eliminate him."

"Understood."

 

---

 

"Please wait listen to me-" Sarah's attempt to persuade the hit man was cut short by the sound of the phone ringing. She stood still looking at the man's eyes. What she saw in them was permission to answer the phone. She slowly moved towards the phone, never turning her back towards the man.

 

"Hello?" Her heart fell to the pits of her stomach at the sound of her son's voice. "Hey mom, I'm really sorry but I'll be working at the hospital longer than expected." He sounded genuinely sorry. "We are shorts on doctors and the hospital is busier than ever, I'll make it up to you some other time okay?" He knew that the time he'll be off the hospital would be too late to pay his mom a visit.

 

"Gabriel, don't go home after work, no matter how late come here!" She couldn't believe the panic in her voice as she tightened her grip on the phone. "Sorry, but I might stay here till tomorrow morning. I have to go now, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye!" And he was gone with his phone turned off, something he did when working. Sarah wanted to protect him, give him a normal life...was that too much to ask?

 

---

 

Gabriel closed the door of his apartment behind him with a tired sigh. He pulled his cellphone, which was still turned off, from his pocket and placed it on top of the kitchen counter along with his keys. He thought of turning it on but it was five minutes to two in the morning and all he wanted to do was to crash on his bed and sleep. Gabe pulled his shirt over his head as he made his way to the bathroom, nothing like a quick shower to relax his sore muscles before going to bed.

 

---

 

"The target is in position." Lucas said to the man on the other side of the phone, his boss. "I'll go in." The Russian ex-marine said before stepping out of his car. The tall dark haired man then secured his 9mm beretta behind his back hidden by his dark green shirt and quietly made his way towards Gabriel's apartment building. He was beyond capable of doing the job, for someone with his expertise kidnapping a person was like a walk along in the park. Way too easy.