The Irish night was cold as snow slowly fluttered down from the sky. The scenery was silent, yet the quiet murmurs of civilians sounded as they walked down the wet, concrete sidewalks that gleamed in neon shop signs and street lights.
A woman strolled down the streets, clad in a white, leather trench coat. The red tube dress that went above her knees wore under it clung tightly to her petitie figure, her heels clicked against the ground.
A hand gloved in black leather was tucked in her right coat pocket while the other gripping onto a larger, silver briefcase. Her devilish, icy blue eyes were concealed behind a pair of black shades.
It was a fine night for a outing.
Three men had stood upon the highest rooftop as they were hidden in the shadows from sight of the passing civilians . The trio had worn military-styled uniforms that were equiped with high-tech utilities as their faces cloaked in the visors of their helmets.
One of the men wore a dark blue uniform while the other two soldiers behind wore red. He slowly turned his head and watched the woman strutting up the sidewalk, his visor changed colors from a clear screen to a red shade.
He zoomed in with the installed camera in his visor, then onto the briefcase she was carrying. He then turned around to face the other men, making a hand movement as a signal to head out.
The trio had suddenly disappeared into the darkness of the night.
The woman had finally stopped in front of a small bar and begun to walk up the short flight of stairs. She gave a small wave at the bouncer who greeted her with a polite nod and granted her entrance into the small building.
The bar was somewhat empty with men all at least in their early or mid-fifties laying around in the seats. There was pair of large stairs that led to the upper balcony where the drunks dealt with their hangovers while the other patrons smoked cigars and played poker. The surrounding aroma reeked of alcohol and lit cigars.
Anna walked over to the counter where the bartender was mixing the drink for the man she sat next to. He turned his head to face the brunette, fixing the bangs of his short, black hair while sounding a low scoff under his breath.
" You're late. "
The brunette gazed at the watch of her wrist. " Only by a few minutes. "
" That doesn't matter, you're still late. " Shani Lei took the small glass to his lips and drunk a sip before putting it back down on the counter. " Did they follow you here? "
" What? You don't trust me, sweetie? " Anna crossed her legs while admiring the man's features. No matter how young he looked from her perspective, Shani was only in his late thirties, not that the woman would consider him old. Her eyes scanned his arms, his muscles visible as they bulged slightly through the sleeves of his shirt.
" No, I don't. " Shani replied in a serious yet disgusted tone and shot a glare at Anna.
" If you say so. " Anna didn't bother to say anything that. Despite her experience, Shani had always considered her a rookie, for he had been a spy a bit longer before Anna came around. The female assassin always found him as an arrogant, sexist man who always found women to be inferior beings in his eyes.
" Now answer my question. " Shani spoke to her in an irritated tone. " Did anyone follow you here? "
" What do you think? Of course not. " She snapped at the other assassin, nearly losing her composure before calming herself down.
" Don't use that tone with me, rookie. Remember who you're talking to. "
" I'm not a rook -- "
" Your point? " He cut her off halfway. " 'Cause I clearly don't give a shit, and you should know that by now."
Anna ignored him and continued speaking. " I know one thing. You don't know me, so I don't know where you get off calling me a rookie. " It went silent afterwards, and so did Shani. The man took another sip of his drink before he started talking again.
" I know where I get off. " Shani glared at the other assassin again. " You dress like a whore, for one, when you should be looking like a damn professional. " Anna stared at him with an elevator look; the male spy only wore a black suit with a matching tie and he thought that made him special.
'Well, kudos to you, douche-bag.'
" Plus, you're always so fucking calm. Stop being so laid-back for once and maybe I'll respect you some more. " Shani let out a tiny set of laughter, his arrogant attitude showing. " Until then, how about you go home and throw on an apron, okay? "
She didn't even know what she was hearing right now. Anna was starting to wonder how did this man was even hired to do the job, especially with his attitude and demeanor towards women. Then again she and Shani had never gotten along on missions.
Nonetheless, he was like Nina to her, except he wasn't a woman who ridiculed her throughout the years but didn't criticized her because of her gender. Anna was not going to let him get to her, and she made sure of that.
" You know, sweetie. Women can do anything a man can do, if you haven't noticed. " She reached for her purse and half unzipped it, pulling out a thin, skinny object. " Is it that time of the month for you? " She giggled as she waved the tampon in the Shani's face, who swatted the item away.
" See! This is what I mean! You women and your damn attitudes make me sick! "
The loudness and bass in Shani's voice had caught the attentions of the patrons, who murmured and gasped as they whispered comments to each other.
" Excuse me? " Anna stood from her seat and faced Shani, the grin that was on her face seconds ago vanished. He got up from his seat as well, and the two gave nasty, hateful glares at each other as the murmuring of the patrons grew louder than earlier.
" Women, including arrogant sluts like you, make. me. sick. " Shani repeated in disgust.
That did it. Anna was on the verge on shouting her own insults at the peak of her lungs, her fists clenched and readied to be pounded onto Shani's face. Any word that was towards her direction and was a relative to the word, 'slut', was bound to set her off.
'I came here for a meeting, not a bar fight...'
" In fact, you should be standing somewhere on a corner then to be in my presence. "
It came to her now. This gender-discriminating pig that stood in front of her didn't resemble her sister, but her father. A man who had never disrespected her for being a woman, but also found her an inferior being. The memories of all the neglect and pain was like the fuel that ignited the flames of hatred inside her, and the reminiscing wasn't doing any help of putting her in a better mood.
The sound of broken glass broke Anna out of her trace of thought, and she and Shani looked up at the shattered skylight only to see a round object drop to the floor. She stared at it for a few seconds before her eyes became wide with her teeth gritted. ' Crap! '
The flash grenade exploded, blinding Shani, along with everyone else in the room except for Anna who wore a pair of shades. However creating a flash of blinding light wasn't its only effect; a thick screen of smoke soon shrouded the bar, and the sound of helicopter wings came from above.
" Dammit! I knew they'd follow here! " Shani shouted while in a state of temporary blindness. Anna couldn't make out his voice through the screams and cries of the patrons, along with the sound of chopper wings growing louder. " You're nothing but a careless rook -- " His voice stopped at the sound of a thump.
Anna withdrew her pistol from her coat pocket, and seconds after focusing it at the field of smoke she felt something struck her in her cheek with fierce momentum from her right, knocking her to the ground on her side. She scrambled off the ground on all fours and crawled for her gun before getting to her feet. The smoke screen had cleared and the series of loud noise died down.
" They got away... " Anna sighed in disappointment while she put the firearm back in her coat pocket. She turned around to find Shani lying on his back, groaning and holding his head as if suffering from a massive migraine. " Oh my god, sweetie, are you okay? " She rushed to him and extended a hand, only to have it swatted away like a fly.
" I'm fine! " The Asian male snapped at her and got up to his feet. " Just get the hell away from me! "
Anna took a few steps back away from Shani, her lips parted in shock. " Fine! " She snapped back as she stomped her heel like a child throwing a tantrum. She turned around, only to find something was missing. " The briefcase! " A teasing laughter came from behind her.
" I knew it. " Shani shook his head. " I knew you would fuck this up, one way or another. You're pathetic. "
The minute he made eye contact with Anna, mocking, brown eyes met with icy-blue pools of hatred. His taunting grin wasn't making her feel any better.
Yet she did nothing. All she did was glare at the other assassin for a few good seconds but storming out the door, head sunk and facing the ground beneath her. A beeping sound rang and she placed a hand over her ear.
" Report. "
" An ambush. They got away. " Anna responded in defeat.
" I see. We'll inform you when we get any leads of Papillon. That briefcase contains information that has taking us months to retrieve, valuable information that is useful in taking them down. "
" I see. " The brunette rose her head up and faced the empty streets ahead of her. " How much damage could they do? "
Her eyepiece emitted a loud stream of static that made her wince. " Williams, Papillon is a French mafia that are known for taking out at least three rival gang leaders in the past month. Not only did that briefcase contain information, it also contained thousands of dollars. With that much money, there is a lot of damage they can do. "
" Well, isn't that dandy? " She spoke in a low voice with a sarcastic tone. " What about Shani-boy? " Afterward what had happened at the bar, even speaking his name was like nails on a chalkboard to her ears.
" We'll take care of him. I overheard he said to you. I am truly sorry you had to deal with that. "
" It's no problem, hon. I've dealt with men like him before. "
" I see. Well, until then, get some rest. " His voice had cut off at the sound of a beep.
Anna had let a tired yawn as she dragged her body down the sidewalk. " Goodnight to you, too. " She halted in her steps as she watched the snow fall from the sky. " I guess it's back to square one. "