Chapter 4
4.
A headache has been bumping around in the Asset’s head during this entire mission, and it’s driving him mad. He hasn’t mentioned it, mostly because this is an important mission. The Little Spider’s first solo mission. He is here to observe, not to help or intervene. He shouldn’t, but he hopes she does well. He is fond of her, but none of their handlers know, because that would end in the termination of one of them.
They are careful. They are too important to each other to lose - which is stupid, because they know the rules, they knows what happens when you feel. It’s just. Little Spider’s careful touch is the first human contact he’s had in so long that wasn’t painful. And she gave the Asset a name. His heart swells when he thinks of her.
And now she is inside the building he is hidden outside of. She is on her first important solo mission. His heart clenches every now and then as the minutes tick by. He would have been in and out in under a minute - it’s a standard assassination - but she is young. She is still learning. This will take her longer than he is used to. But, still. Five minutes tops, and it’s been three and a half.
She will succeed, he knows, because he trained her himself.
Just as he is about to go in and search for her, she steps out of the building, not a hair out of place. If he could smile, he would be. She walks over to where she knows he is, shadows in an alcove, and leans against the wall like he’s not there.
> Mission report.
His Russian is perfect. He doesn’t remember how or where he learned it. Little Spider stares straight ahead, watching the streets, and then replies without letting her lips move.
> Mark terminated, single bullet to the head. No evidence left, I was not seen.
He feels pride well in him, but he must remain stoic. They are being watched.
> Are you certain?
He has to ask. She looks down the street, angling her head so she can narrow her eyes at him. She inclines her head once, and then sets of at a brisk pace. He stays hidden in the shadows, following her back to the extraction point. Little Spider is aware of him, well trained in able to watch for shadows that shouldn’t be there.
But she still doesn’t notice as he slows down, distracted. Something has caught his eye - a blond head. The man is walking the opposite way down the footpath. Something in the Asset is being tugged in the same direction, and he finds himself slipping away to tail him. He’s not sure why, but something about the man is familiar. Important, like the Little Spider is.
The man is displaced, almost, like he doesn’t belong in this time. He walks like he knows this place, though, but the Asset has seen him before. The hazy, displaced memories of this man are drenched in blood. The Asset shakes off the sensation of confusion, and settles on following the man.
He takes a shortcut down an alley, and that’s where it happens.
One moment the Asset is tailing the man with a pounding head and curiosity flooding him, and then the man is twitching on the ground, mouth wide open in a silent scream. The Asset darts forwards without thinking, and kneels on the ground beside the man, who is choking and spluttering, blood staining his lips like cranberry juice.
The Asset feels sick when he sees the recognition swimming in the blue of his eyes.
The man tries to say something - fuck his blood is all over the Asset, this has happened before - but a second shot rings out, and he goes still. The Asset watches his eyes cloud over. A strike team reveals themselves, eyes dark and clothes darker.
He fights when they try take him away from the body - which had been so warm, so soft and so familiar - lashing out and killing one of the men instantly. The moment the team see he’s volatile, the call for backup is made, and they go about trying to subdue him. He’s not thinking straight - not seeing straight - and he can’t quite pinpoint where the men are coming from, but there are more.
He gets taken down with a specialized tranquilizer.
~
He wakes up in the chair, to an even worse headache.
“This can’t keep happening,” is said from somewhere in the room.
His muscles are still waking up, but he tugs at the restraints holding him. He’s mad - he’s furious - but he just wants this over with. Just take everything away. Make it stop. Make the pain stop. He spares a thought for the Little Spider - Natalia - and hopes she doesn’t think he’s dead. He knows it would hurt her.
They realise he’s awake quickly, and the chair is switched on.
He welcomes the ice.
*