1: A New Mission

"Max?" He says. "Max, are you in here?"

Taking a deep breath, I steady my aim and point the pistol directly at his defenseless back. Breathe in. Breathe out. As natural as it could be.

"Boom," I say, loud enough for him to hear. "You'd be dead by now, if I wanted to kill you."

"You could get rid of anyone," he says teasingly as he turns around. "I know you could. Don't aim that thing at me, Max! I just came to congratulate you on the spectacular way you took out the target in training the other day."

"Thanks," I answer with a slight shrug. Compliments make me uneasy, but for some reason Dylan likes peppering me with a never-ending stream of them. Maybe he feels obliged to compliment me because we're supposed to be partners, as if that means we're supposed to be friends or something. To be honest, I'm not really interested in being friends despite the mutual trust we've formed over the years. I'm an assassin. This business is dangerous. We don't do mushy things like friendship.

"I overheard one of the doctors say we have a new assignment," he says, sounding excited. "It's going to be the toughest yet. What do you think?"

"We'll finish it anyway. We've never failed before," I return curtly.

"Right. I have faith in you, Max. I know we can do it." Not for the first time, the thought that he should be a greeting-card-writer flashes through my mind. He's got a gift for coming up with sappy things, and then he says them and he seems so earnest. If I tried to say things like that, I'd find myself hard-pressed to keep a straight face.

Of course, then she has to come in. My little house - or 'habitat,' as they call it - contains the absolute necessities for existence without complete boredom. It's more like a collection of rooms, really - a bedroom, a bathroom, a training room, a weapons room, a modest living room - and once a day I'm taken out to monitor my fitness and skill levels. If I'm lucky, a couple of times a month I get released into the real world for an assassination mission with Dylan. It's not like I enjoy hunting down people with Mr. I'm-So-Perfect, but it sure beats being stuck in here for the rest of my life.

Dr. Brigid strides through the place to where we sit on the white couch and sits primly across from us. Her manicured nails tap against her clipboard.

"Look, it's Dr. Amazing," I mutter under my breath. "What could she possibly have to say? More training exercises?"

She raises an eyebrow. "Not quite, Max. Dylan is correct - you are to be released into the real world tomorrow to assassinate a certain target. I will give you the necessary information shortly, but you'll have to wait while the packets are printing."

"Who is this target?" Dylan asks earnestly.

"There are two targets," Dr. Brigid replies, her voice becoming grave. "In order to kill one, you must first eliminate the other."

"Sounds easy enough," I say, folding my arms.

"One of them is an avian mutant," she continues, with a pointed glance at me as if to say, this won't be that easy.

Yeah, right. I do my best to look unimpressed, but Dylan looks concerned. "Really? Who?"

A research assistant hurries up, packets in hand, and hands them to Dr. Brigid, who in turn gives them to us.

"Turn to page 41," she instructs, "and here is your first target."

I've already found him. The sketch shows a boy about my age with dark, somber eyes and a lean, wiry build. His hands are in his pockets, and ravenlike wings sprout from his back. His expression is wary, as if he's expecting an attack at any moment.

"He's a formidable enemy," Dr. Brigid says. "He must be eliminated at all costs."

Dylan nods, eyes narrowed as he studies the paper. "Do we know why?"

"It is not your business to know," Dr. Brigid says, her voice chilling. "I expect you to have these packets memorized by tomorrow. Understand?"

I look down at the dark-eyed boy again, scanning for his name. Finally, I find it, a name that describes him in a single, sharp syllable:

Fang.

a/n: So I'm aware that this plot has been done several times - Max is sent to assassinate Fang and eventually falls for him - which is why I'm planning something completely different. I can't say exactly what or I'll spoil it, but let's just say that their love won't be at first sight. Expect a good number of plot twists and a cat-and-mouse-esque game, except it's not clear who's the cat and who's the mouse.