A lone figure walked down the darkened hallway. When he reached the door, he placed his hand on the wall to reveal a hand scanner. After the scanner finished, there was an audible click and the door opened for him. As he continued down the hallway, he would stop occasionally to disable the traps along the way. After entering through one last door, he stepped into a large room with a table in the center.

"I see you've returned," said the man at the head of the table. "Was your mission a success?"

"Would you expect anything else?" the assassin replied smugly.

"Watch your tone, Akumu," the man replied. "Remember who you work for."

"Watch who you decide to piss off, Charles," Akumu replied. "I may work for you but don't forget that I'm the best assassin in the world. If I wanted to I could kill all of you in your sleep and find a new employer."

"It seems being known as the best assassin in the world has gone to your head," Charles replied.

After hearing a thud next to his ear, Charles turned and saw a throwing knife embedded in the back of his chair so close to his head that it cut a few strands of hair from his head. The others around the table couldn't believe their eyes. Some were still looking at the knife in the back of the chair while others were now staring at Akumu with a slight look of fear.

"I guess I forgot that it means that as the best assassin in the world it means that your skills are far above that of all the others," Charles said, swallowing audibly. "Since your mission was successful, the money will be placed in your account. We'll contact you next time we need you."

"I noticed you didn't say I was dismissed," Akumu replied with a smirk on his face as he turned to leave. "Oh, before I forget, you might need this. I can never remember which knives are poisoned and which ones aren't."

Akumu placed a small vial on the table. "If your stomach starts to feel likes it burning take this. Otherwise things won't end well for you."

With that Akumu turned and left.

"It doesn't look like the knife cut you though," said one of the men around the table.

But as he said it Charles raised his hand to his ear and found there was blood on his fingers.

"There you are," said a voice.

Zayrine looked up to see her friend, Alicia, approaching.

"Where else would I be?" she asked when Alicia reached her.

"Well you always seem to disappear when that friend of yours is in town," Alicia answered. "And even if he isn't here, you're still hard to find sometimes."

"Didn't think anyone really had to look for me," Zayrine said as she shrugged and went back to reading her book.

"So what do you two do when he's here?" Alicia asked after a moment, a slight grin on her face.

"Not what you're thinking," Zayrine responded with a slight edge to her voice.

"What makes you think I was thinking about anything along those lines?" Alicia asked innocently. "OK, OK, but how I could I not think that kind of thing might be going on when you vanish when he's here and neither of you can be found?" she admitted after Zayrine glared at her.

"I'll give you that. But nothing like that is going on between us. He knows I'm interested in the martial arts, so he usually just shows me a few moves that he's learned in his travels."

"You mentioned that before. What does he do for a living?"

Zayrine hesitated at the question. She knew what Akumu did for a living. She also knew that she couldn't just tell Alicia.

"He doesn't talk about work much. The only thing I really know is that his job requires him to travel a lot."

"Why doesn't he talk about what he does? Is it because he hates his job?"

"I never asked him."

"Oh well, he'll talk when he wants to I'm sure. So when's the next time you'll see him?" Alicia asked with a smile on her face.

"I don't know, but he calls before he does come to visit. And I told things aren't like that between us," Zayrine answered.

"Yeah, I know. Is there any chance of meeting this mystery friend of yours?"

"That all depends on him."

"What does he have against us?"

"Nothing, it's just that he's careful the people who know him."

"If you say so. Anyway, I should probably head home before it gets late," Alicia said after glancing at her watch. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Alright," Zayrine replied. "Be careful on your way home," she added after a moment.

Alicia smiled and waved in reply as she left. When she was gone Zayrine stood and stretched before grabbing her book and heading inside. As she was shutting her door, she froze and stared out into the growing darkness. After a moment, she shut and locked the door. Her mind was still on the figure she saw outside as she headed for her bedroom. As she was heading for her bedroom, she stopped and looked out the window, searching for the figure she saw. When she didn't see anything, she thought her mind might have been playing tricks on her and headed to bed. When she reached her bedroom door, she ran her hand along the frame before nodding to herself. With another glance at her front door, she closed her bedroom door and got ready for bed.