AN: Hello and welcome back to another completely insane fanfiction. It's good to see everyone again after that little break. (If you're a first time reader, this is fine, but you might want to read my other fic Lifetime to get the whole story.) After a quick review of the poll, I decided that I would perform all three of the choices all at once, so it was kind of a fluke. I mean it was either tear your feelings to shreds, or make it not so painful. Not so painful. The "rip your feelings to shreds" thing can wait.
Chapter 1, Prologue: Lea
Hunter: n. 1. A person or animal who hunts. 2. A person searching for something.
It's not everyday you're at rock bottom, but when you're there, it seems to stretch on forever. Time lingers longer and every minute lasts an eternity. There's absolutely nothing worse than that feeling.
I've been there, too many times. When the world just decides to crush you, there's nothing you can do to stop it. On top of that, sometimes you realize it's your own fault.
So I feel some sympathy for the man on the public bench.
His head rests in his hands, sandy hair ruffled and in disarray. There's a certain dignified air about him, and I suspect he's fallen quite far to end up like this. Then again, maybe he hasn't fallen at all, only believes he has. You can never really tell.
I approach him, two sandwiches in hand. I doubt I'll be able to stomach one in my current state, but the other is for other purposes.
I like to carry a little charity with me, and since I rarely have money, my offerings generally take the shape of goods. Even if I don't find anyone to give it to, there are plenty of people that stop by and most of them like food. Most.
These small things keep me sane, and keep my karma up. It doesn't hurt to relieve the guilt that sometimes clings to me, despite my rationalizations of my actions.
"Tough day?" I ask, surprised by my voice's rusty feel. I clear my throat, embarrassed.
He raises his head to see me, and my heart jumps 10 beats per minute. He nods, letting his head fall forward again.
I ignore my screaming intuition and sit beside him, "Care for a sandwich?"
The man accepts the proffered meal, but doesn't unwrap it.
I unfold the paper on my sandwich carefully, meticulously. It's a habit I have, and the smallest tear in the material irritates me. I suppose this is a side-effect of my occupation, though I never quite worked out why.
The hot sandwich steams slightly in the night air. Even in the city, it's cold enough to see the vapor. Through the choking aroma of pollutants, gas fumes, and humans, I can smell the food. On a normal day, for a normal person, the perfume would have caused a flood of saliva.
Right at this moment, I observe the sandwich with a kind of detached interest. I take a bite, and it's like I'm tasting the food from very far away, like someone else is doing the eating, and I'm just receiving the echo.
The thought causes my body to reject the food, but I hold onto it and force it down. I need the energy.
Beside me, the man sighs, shifting slightly.
I don't have to look to know he's staring at me out of the corner of his eye. I'm glad for the hood which hides my face, and hopefully he won't recognize the black backpack or my body language. The later might give me away, though I've worked hard to wipe out the influences of my time spent working for them.
I wait patiently for a moment and then…
"I messed up," He says despairingly, "I messed up really bad."
I smile, swallowing another tasteless bite. Give them enough time and an unjudging stranger to talk to, and people will tell their stories. Most of the ones I hear I don't really want to, but this one is of interest to me.
I want to get inside this guy's head.
"What did you do?"
He looks down, "Where I work, I can't really describe it more, we had a worker. Not really legally, but she was there because she wanted to be."
"Worker?!" I cut him off, my voice suitably questioning and disgusted.
"Not like that. She did reconnaissance and retrieval. Only ever got one mission in though. Did a good job." He sighs, "I got attached to the girl."
"Is she dead?" I play dumb, successfully ignoring the "attached to her" comment.
"No, I don't think so. She's missing. One day, a week or so after her arrival, something happens in the lab. All the cameras go out, all the electronic locks short-circuit, and all hell breaks loose."
I take another bite of my sandwich, "And?"
"And three employees in the lab were killed. One eaten alive, and the other two killed by a blade. And a large number of subjects were set free. And artifacts disappeared. And she was in the lab, along with James, who might as well have been my son-"
"Was he the one?"
"Eaten alive," He nods, "but I can cope with that, we're trained to. What I can't cope with is that Lea was in that lab, in the most restricted area, against orders, and when the cameras come back on, she's gone. No trace, not even a scrap of cloth." He clenches his fists, "Just two dead bodies in an empty room."
"Maybe she left," I say on impulse.
"What?" It's the kind of horrified accusatory tone I try to avoid. He raises his head to look at me.
"It's too neat. She must have left on her own. She came because she had pretenses and left when she didn't anymore. She burned the records and killed the men. She set the subjects free and stole the artifacts." I look at him, my face still hidden in shadow, "It seems likely."
He shakes his head, "No. She was smart. She knew there was no way out of that facility. Sure, the subjects got out, but they're different. There's no way she would have even tried that stunt."
"Okay," I pause, "Then there was factor you're overlooking. From what you say, she was smart, mischievous, dark, but loyal, correct?"
"Sounds about right."
"Then the Loyalty Factor is what you're looking for. Who was she loyal to?"
He blinks, "The Org- oh, no. She wasn't, was she? She always was looking the other way, not quite believing what I said…" He sits up, and I smile. This is how I remember him; brilliantly clever. Now breaking him will be all the more fun.
"But then who…" He thinks, "She had someone she was loyal to. It was always in her eyes, that admiring fire."
Not many people can ignite that, I know this. He knows it too. I wait for the penny to drop.
"But before she came to us there was no one." I can hear the collision, "Oh god," He drops his head into his hands again, "It can't be. It can't possibly be."
The betrayal in his voice makes me flinch, but I recover as a savage rush of glee runs through me.
"Do you know what you just implied?" His eyes are wide and dangerous.
I blink, the actor on stage, "Not really. I have no idea."
"God, I can't believe it. It makes too much sense. She can't be, she just can't."
I look upwards, like I'm thinking deeply. This is too perfect. I'm going to break his psyche, then break his will. And then, in the future, I will kill him. I want to play with him a little more though.
"So you're here looking for her?"
He nods, "I asked around, and apparently she's been seen in this area." He shakes his head, "Not two days ago, I was positive she was in D.C. now she's suddenly here."
I smile, not a bad job. A few days off, but fairly accurate.
"But," I say slowly, "why would she do all that, the lab and the men, why?"
"I don't know," He sighs, "There really was no reason to do it."
I frown. Still a little dense, I see. It's a little disappointing. Then again, he doesn't understand. How could he?
"There's obviously something you don't know or don't understand. Maybe you should try to find it." I get up off the bench, re-wrapping my half-eaten sandwich.
I stare at my exposed wrist for a moment. the skin is almost pure white, and appears to glow slightly in the half-dark. I scowl; on top of everything else…
"What's your name?"
I turn to look at him. I must have changed more than I thought is he hasn't recognized figured it out yet.
"But you already know the answer to that. Try to think, Almes, it's not that hard. When you figure it out, maybe we can play again."
I spin and walk away, turning into an alley. I vanish into the air, and after a brief flash of gray solitude, I'm standing on the top of a nearby apartment building.
The second penny lands right on top of the first one, and I can hear the impact from the top of the building.
The Inspector, as his colleagues call him, leaps to his feet, eyes wide.
"Lea!" He shouts, rounding the corner.
Of course, I'm five stories above him, looking down.
It's been almost a year since a human said that name, though I guess master is a human technically.
I find I prefer Jack's soothing tone, Ben's childish cry, or even Jeff's deranged laughter to this human's voice.
It's an unexpected discovery, but maybe it's because of recent events.
With a sigh, I reach into my pocket. I find the small glass vial and pull it out. Popping the cap, I down the salty-sweet contents and watch the healthy living glow return to my skin.
I need to be more careful. The teleportation really takes a toll on me, and what with the job earlier today, I had been close to the edge.
"There's fresh blood on your hands," Says a small voice behind.
I look back, "Hello, Lacy."
The little girl blinks up at me with her pure-black eyes, "Where's your master?"
I shrug, "Saudi Arabia. He'll be back in an hour or so."
Lacy nods, holding out her childish arms.
I pick her up and sit on the edge of the roof, Her icy-cold arms feel good against my ever-feverish skin.
We both stare eastward, where somewhere far away, across the world, I can sense a red-stained room.
I rest my chin on Lacy's head, glad for her freezing temperature.
They're, we're, not all monsters. Lacy helps people, really helps them, and they thank her for it afterwards.
I tilt my head back, looking up at the moon. It's blurred by artificial light and pollutants. How do the people here live without the stars? I can't fathom it, and I miss their light.
It's peaceful here, but I know that somewhere out there it's not. Because of me, there's a bloody puddle in a house, and doubtless the police will find the body soon. Then the usual investigation. Not that I'm worried, even if they catch me, they can't hold me. They can't possibly. There's only two organizations on this earth that could hold me now, and neither of them are in this city.
AN: Hooray! First chapter of the new fic, Hunter, please tell me what you think! I'm having trouble getting my feet underneath me, so there won't be an update this weekend. Chapter 2 will be up by Jan. 12, and then back to the normal pattern. I completed the last one in just over 6 months (From ch. 2, because the first one was up for about 2 years) so we'll see how this one goes.
