Disclaimer: I do not own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.
A job had brought them to the north, where an old cop buddy of Winston's had set up camp. Winston and Leonard had spent their rookie years together on the streets of San Francisco, with the more level-headed, calmer Leonard saving the impulsive, impatient young Winston's ass more than once. It had surprised Winston quite a bit when he had heard Leonard and a partner were offering services in the security sector now, too.
"I'd have never thought you'd leave the force", he told him over a glass of beer.
"Me neither", Leonard replied. "But one day, out of the blue, you meet somebody, you discover you're not that different after all, you start talking a bit and before you know it your life is never the same again."
Winston thought of his first encounter with Chance and could only agree. His life had been ticking a long. Not exactly nicely, with his divorce from Michele, the problems with Broward and all, but there had been a certain rhythm to it, a certain predictability. Then he had met Chance and all predictability had gone out of the window.
"There was a time when I thought umbrellas were harmless…", Leonard mused.
"The metal parts are great for lock picking", Winston nodded.
"Breaking into cars…"
"Redirecting telephone calls…"
"Escaping cold storage rooms…"
"Hot-wiring a bomb…"
"Convincing people that one is an up-and-coming designer and they're modern jewelry", Leonard finished their little list.
"Your partner must be quite a character", Winston smiled knowledgeably. This sounded like Leonard had found his own personal Chance. He was glad for him. Everybody should have a Chance in his life.
They chinked glasses.
After they said their good-byes, Leonard decided he wasn't in the mood for the emptiness of his apartment and went over to the non-descript office building where his company was accommodated. It also served as his business partner's living quarter.
Said partner was awake when Leonard came in, apparently doing research on the internet. "New job came in", he told Leonard and showed him the photo of a red haired, green eyed woman in her late twenties.
When Winston came back to the hotel, Chance and Guerrero were still awake. And they were not alone.
A red haired, green eyed, rather frightened looking woman in her late twenties was sitting with them.
"I think someone hired a professional assassin to kill me", she said.