I snickered as another grunt walked into and outta the boss' room. The long black-haired kid, no older than me, stood cautiously to the side of the boss' desk as he folded his arms. His faded black full-length coat with three quarter sleeves swayed just above the ankle of his boots, and his tattered cargo pants held the promise of a desperate man, willing to do just about anything for the money. Black, fingerless gloves, messy hair, bloodied white singlet… Honestly, he was laughable the first time I laid eyes on him - had the build of a brick shithouse but the ferocity of a fucking kitten. Matter of fact, he couldn't have been less intimidating if he actually was one.

"Forget it, boss. I got enough problems t' deal wit'," one of the upstarts said, walking past him with a cocky upturn of his nose. Rhaz, his name was – real hardass. Nothing he could use, I s'pose. Not much use for a mercenary that won't kill, and he wasn't the first merc to reject him. I couldn't blame them, though – the kid showed no signs of being useful. Hadn't killed anyone, no credits to his name…

The boss sighed, slapping a hand to his face and sliding it over his short, dark hair. Even I could tell that his patience was wearing thin and I was only there to collect my latest cheque – some poor bastard, never even saw it coming. Killed him easily, unarmed and practically asking to die.

"Yeah, if I looked like that, I'd have problems too."

The smarmy remark would have cost the newbie his life if he hadn't shocked the hell out of all of us by catching the knife thrown to his face. Rhaz almost shit himself when the tender-foot turned towards him, knife in his hand and a threatening gleam in his eyes. That was the first moment I saw the killer inside of him – and I couldn't wait to see him out in action.

"You shouldn't play with knives, asshole," he said, walking towards Rhaz and flicking the knife into a hold that I vaguely recognised, "you could hurt someone."

He was a thief. That much I could tell just from the way he held his weapon. Couple years back, some pint-sized brat with a tail stole somethin' from the auction house in the 'upper class' area of Treno. I was a guard at the time and the punk walked straight past me, smiling… so naturally, I pursued. When I finally caught up with him, he whizzed 'round, holdin' these fancy daggers with the blades facing down – the exact way a thief holds 'em, just the way this new kid was holdin' this one.

"Ya reckon you intimidate me, kid?" Rhaz boasted, attempting to stop himself from shaking as the newbie approached, knife held firm and ready to strike.

"Hey…"

The clicking hammer of a gun even had my gaze turned to the boss as he held his signature pistol towards the new guy, halting his advance.

"… if you wanna start shit, you can get the fuck out," he began, turning to Rhaz with a raised brow. "I've got enough problems to deal with, 'n' I don't need you to be one of 'em."

Rhaz darted from the boss to the newbie, panicking as he waited to see if the boss would actually take the shot. The newbie turned to the boss, eyeing the piece and throwing the knife towards the door of the room, slamming half of the blade through the thick timber barely a foot from my position. Now, I'm a throwing-weapons kinda guy – even I had to admit, that was pretty damn impressive.

"Then keep your money and your problems," he stated angrily, shouldering past Rhaz who suddenly remembered how to breath, "I'll find some other way."

He bee-lined for the door with that 'killer' look still in his eyes. After I presumed him to be a thief, everything about him started to agree with me – the way he held the blades, the way he walked, his throwing abilities, the lightning reflexes… those were useful traits; I could use him. I smacked a hand across the door, holding it shut as the newbie jumped back defensively. I've heard about edgy, but this guy took the cake.

"You wanna start somethin', Red?"

I lifted my gaze to his, meeting his killer intent with my own. A crooked smile formed across my face – this was actually a little entertaining, almost like a fresh start.

"Maybe I do, so let's start with your name, greenback."

He recovered, seeming to relax just a little as he placed a hand on the stilled knife, wrenching it outta the door with a loud crack as Rhaz jumped. I grunted a laugh – it was priceless to see that prick put back in his place.

"Jayce," he said sternly, flicking the knife into one of the pockets on his pants.

"Amarant," I replied, kicking at the floored bag beside me as a loud clattering was heard. "Ya gotta weapon to go with that name?"

Jayce locked eyes with me, kicking his own bag, also on the floor beside the door, also making a loud clatter.

"Claws, throwing weapons – used 'em all my life."

Hah, priceless. Man after my own heart.

"Right. You're with me from now on. Do I gotta teach ya how to fight?"

Jayce smirked confidently.

"Not if you can keep up."

Hah, cocky bastard. I liked him immediately after that.

I took my hand off the door, cracking my knuckles as I lifted my bag. Walking over to the boss, I unclipped the straps and shoved the bag on the desk in front of him.

"Belt, boots and watch, just like you asked. He won't be stealin' from us again."

The boss quickly placed his gun away and took out a cigar, clipping it in half as he laughed. He lifted the loose flap, wincing as he dropped it quickly.

"Jesus, you coulda cleaned 'em off before you dumped 'em here…" he began, pulling out a box of matches and swiping one of the buggers across his desk.

"I prefer it the way it is. Sentimental value, ya know," I stated, watching as he puffed contentedly behind his chair. Cigars, booze, all the money he could ask for… no wonder the fat lard could barely move.

"Hah, yes I do-"

The boss made to pull the bag over to his side before I slapped a hand down, stopping the motion and closing the flap. He darted his eyes to me as I shook my head.

"Money first, boss – you know how I work."

The boss rolled his eyes, grunting loudly before releasing the bag and digging into his drawers. Half an eternity later, he pulled out a pretty fat envelope, almost bursting out the sides. 'Fantastic,' I thought, 'a bonus. Finally, someone appreciates my hard work…'

"Here, then. Your payment and an advance – if you're taking the kid on, there's a job you can start right now."

'… go figure.'

I grunted, reaching into my bag for the blood-stained items the boss had asked for.

"There's your crap. What's the job?" I asked, flicking the contents towards him and returning my bag over my shoulder as Rhaz stormed out of the room with a grunt and loud slamming of the door. The boss raised his brows and shook his head as I crossed my arms, trying my best to hide a laugh.

"Got a couple of royal jewels we can steal. Transport happens between eleven and one tonight, interception is anytime between. That Brahne bitch is getting a bit too greedy, if y'ask me, all these jewels and armour and stuff…" The boss turned to Jayce. "The kid can handle that one."

I shot a look back at Jayce, watching him calmly take my leaning position beside the door.

"And whaddaya want me to do?" I asked, returning to the boss.

"Two things, actually-"

"That's a pay-rise."

The boss glared at me. Psh, fat bastard. He shoulda known by then that I wasn't gonna do anything for free.

"Tch, fine," the boss said in a huff, puffing out a smoke ring before continuing. "First things first, make sure he doesn't fuck up."

A notable harrumph sounded in the background.

"Second, you're gonna take out someone called Theodore Faivers."

I raised my eyes at the name.

"Sounds rich. What'd he do?"

"That's not important. What is important is that you're gonna kill him. Twenty thousand gil for you and five g's for the kid, assuming he can pull it off."

"Any upfront?"

"Ten for you. You can split it if you're feeling nice, Red."

I took my bag and turned to Jayce, slipping the bloated envelope into my pocket and cracking my neck.

"When's Teddy's bed time?"

The boss turned around in his chair as he stood up, making his way towards his liquor cabinet.

"Before sunrise."

"Looks like he'll be goin' to bed early tonight."

Cracking open an expensive bottle of booze and grabbing two glasses from the cabinet, the boss chuckled hoarsely as he proceeded to fill the tumblers.

"That's what I like to hear."

Turning slowly towards me, the boss extended one of the whiskey glasses in my direction.

"Soothe the nerves, kid?" he asked, walking forwards as the entirety of the grotesque bastard wobbled. Christ, he was ugly… but I wasn't about to turn down eighteen year old whiskey. I took the glass from his hand, downed the bittersweet liquid before I could taste it and thumped the glass down on his desk.

"Cheers. Have the cheques ready tomorrow," I said, locking eyes with Jayce and nodding towards the door. "We'll be around to pick 'em up at noon."

The boss raised his glass to me, taking a sip of his drink as I turned and headed for the door. Jayce remained silent until we found ourselves emerging from the mouldy ladders in the slums of Treno. A couple of kids dashed past us loudly, screamin' about something before a straying one of 'em collided with my side, tumbling back onto the pier. He looked up to me with teary eyes, probably expecting some kind of apology. Pfft, little punk didn't deserve one, I thought, but that clearly wasn't what was on the mind of my soon-to-be partner.

"You alright, kid?"

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have to pick my fucking jaw off the ground when Jayce turned to the kid and offered him a hand, lifting him up as the kid shook. Jayce wasn't small – he was a stocky fellow, just a bit bulkier than me, if only a little shorter. Watching this huge bastard pick up this tiny kid was almost funny, and I would have laughed if I wasn't so fuckin' embarrassed.

I stepped past Jayce, whacking the kids hand outta his and pointing towards him as he practically pissed his pants.

"You watch where you're going from now on, punk," I spat, glaring at him as he recoiled and bolted in the opposite direction. "You better hope I don't see your face again!"

"Hey!" yelled Jayce, turning to face me. "What the fuck was all that about?"

I slapped a hand to my face - I couldn't honestly have picked his badly…

"Look, Jayce," I began, lifting my eyes to his as he met my gaze with anger, "you're not a fucking nanny, you're a mercenary now, so it's time to start acting like it. You're gonna become a killer, because if you don't, then you die. Your first job is gonna be pinching whatever jewels are being transported around Alexandria tonight. If you've got emotions, that means you're prone to do something stupid, like fuck up. My advice? Kill 'em. Kill all your emotions. That's what I've done, and it's gotten me this far-"

"And alone."

I roused my most virulent glare at that moment. He'd barely been here an hour and he was already tryin' to tell me how to live my life? He had so much to learn… ignorant fool.

"Yeah, it's gotten me alone, and I like that. So, if you want to survive in this business, kill your emotions. Become an asshole. Otherwise, the people you're sent to kill, steal from or kidnap are gonna eat you up and spit you out. Now…"

I straightened up and turned, motioning to a two story house just up the next ladder and past a nearby item shop.

"… I need a drink, and I don't like working with people I don't know. So c'mon. First few rounds are on me."

Jayce scoffed as he followed me.

"First few rounds? Should we really be drinking before a job? That's… bad, isn't it?"

I closed my eyes irately and pinched two fingers to the bridge of my nose.

… It was gonna be a long night.


Going to be just a small series, maybe five or six chapters. Leave a review and let me know what you think!

Good writing to all :)

LS.