The needle broke through skin; the poison was injected into the blood stream. Malfatto dropped his beloved syringe and backed up slowly as Il Lupo stood in shock. The target tried to run away but Il Lupo reacted fast enough to jab his blade into the target's back; the target let out a weak cry before collapsing to the ground dead. Il Lupo looked back up at Malfatto, a hand gripping the shoulder where he had been injected on accident. A few seconds before Il Lupo had been holding their target. The target was squirming too much, Malfatto had gone to inject him, the target had hit his hand, the needle had gone into Il Lupo...
"There isn't an antidote I presume." Il Lupo remained calm as he meet Malfatto's masked eyes.
Malfatto shook his head. "Three hours," he said trying to control his composure "you have three hours until the poison kills you. It will be slow but mostly painless until the end. I'm...I...shall I just kill you now?"
Il Lupo shook his head before forcing the coy smile that normally dominated his face.
"No three hours is more than enough time to do what I need to do."
"I will accompany you. I feel...responsible."
"Fine by me, I guess you can view this as an 'experiment' huh?"
Malfatto bit his lip; he was grateful for the mask that hid his emotions from the world, from the man he would have never thought would become a friend that he had sentenced to death.
Il Lupo fought the urge to run far away; run from the poison slowly pumping through his system, slowly killing him. He fought to keep the smile on his face, fought the conflicting emotions. Finally he broke the silence.
"Well I have three hours; best not waste it back here with this lump." Il Lupo kicked the dead man lying next to his feet as he walked out of the ally. Malfatto trailed behind him as they walked the crowded streets.
Malfatto followed the man, the man he had killed. His mind brought him back to the day that the wolf had stumbled into his house bleeding and bruised. From that moment the two had become friends. Il Lupo didn't mind some of the experiments Malfatto preformed on him and Malfatto didn't particularly mind the amount of food that Il Lupo ate in one sitting. The two worked well together and soon took targets together. The fact Il Lupo attracted courtesans was another plus for Malfatto, though they finally came to the agreement that Il Lupo could, in fact, have sex with some of them before they were killed. Malfatto smiled under his mask as he remember just the last few months the two had been friends.
Il Lupo's stopped at the small bar that Fiora and Baltasar ran as a secret base for them to pick up missions. Il Lupo entered alone, Malfatto didn't want to intrude on the moment and was lost in his own thoughts anyway, and reported that the target had been eliminated and that he had been given a special assignment that he must report to immediately that will cause him to be gone for a while. He hugged Fiora goodbye and shook Baltasar's hand, something that they both found unusual but they figured that the mission could be dangerous. As Il Lupo went to leave he had to stop himself from collapsing into Fiora's arms and telling them the truth. The two people who had been like parents to him; granted they did use him as an experiment but they got him off the streets, taught him a new way of life, how to survive, gave him a name. Still, he left the bar and his make-shift family to re-join Malfatto.
The two continued to wander the streets in silence. Malfatto watched from below as Il Lupo climbed his favorite building for the last time, as he executed a leap into a haystack, and then as he sent an extremely rude letter to Cesare via pigeon. Il Lupo also decided to settle all of his debts, jokingly saying that he didn't want to die owing anyone anything, and spent the last of his money on the best wine he could find.
With wine in hand, and one hour remaining, Il Lupo and Malfatto made their way to a patch of land that overlooked the city and the water. As they drank the wine Il Lupo pushed his hood back and looked out over the city.
"If you think about it, the city will be pleased: one less killer lurking in the shadows, one less knife in the back." Il Lupo laughed and then said sarcastically, "I guess a few people might miss me right?"
"I will"
Il Lupo was taken-a-back for a second. Malfatto hadn't really spoken all day, much like life. Il Lupo was the one who normally talked and Malfatto would just sit and listen.
"Well I...I will miss you too...I mean if I can still...miss..people..I.." Il Lupo's throat was burning and he felt sick to the stomach. He knew this wasn't the effects of the poison but of his own emotions. He quickly tried to distract himself and turned to Malfatto.
"Do me one last thing, take that silly mask off. We have been friends for months yet I have never seen your face."
Il Lupo didn't wait for Malfatto to answer and pulled his mask off. He smiled and leaned over...
The sun was setting. Il Lupo was in his final few minutes and Malfatto held him as the pain began. Il Lupo refused to let Malfatto inject him with something to stop the pain.
"Pain is a way to show you are alive" Il Lupo had grunted at the suggestion.
Slowly the pain went away. Il Lupo closed his eyes. Malfatto felt as the man's body went limp and cold in his arms. "Requiescat in pace" Malfatto whispered under his breath.