* Note: This is more or less my re-imagining of the Hitman: Absolution Universe, I hope you'll enjoy it.

** Also, ( ' ) will be used for thoughts of characters, and ( " ) will be used for speech.

Hitman: Alternation

Chapter 1: Successor

"Target is on the 11th floor. Tonight it's the targets birthday and security is tighter than ever. The front door is clearly not an option, so you'll have to improvise on this one. Also, I was told to tell you this: the target never lets anyone else onto his balconies."

"Not a problem Diana."

"Good luck."

As the earpiece falls to silence, she moves her way towards the apartment complex; her figure shrouded within her hooded cloak. The street had a scarce supply of artificial light sources and tonight was a rainy night, further hiding her presence from scathing eyes. She was meticulous in scanning the building for an access point.

'As Diana mentioned, the front door is locked down tight. The fire escape might be an option but I can easily be seen. It looks like I'll have to go into the sewers and head into the basement for this one. There was mention of an service tunnel that leads into the basement. I just hope that information's correct.'

As she decided on her route of choice, she hastened towards the side of the building, occasionally scanning for any guards on the outside perimeter and, of course, her entry point. The rain was becoming heavier now and she stopped to just feel it for a little. It'd been a while since she'd felt or even seen rain. It felt good on her skin and she was lost in her fantasy within reality. A nearby window suddenly shut closed and she snapped back to reality.

'Crap, I really hope no one saw me.'

She quickly headed for the sewer entrance that was mentioned to her and as luck would have it, there it was. She loosened the cover off, slid it out carefully to keep the noise levels down, and descended into the depths. She turned on her flashlight and immediately saw the service tunnel mentioned in the intel. She headed for it, treading lightly to avoid disturbing the rats that crawl through these sewers. As she cautiously took each step, her foot suddenly landed into a deep puddle of sewage water. She quickly yanked her foot out of the puddle and began violently shaking it to get the water off. After getting most of the sewage off, she pressed on, stepping over the puddle and eventually reaching the door.

'I guess there's still shit like this in the real world.'

She sneaked a quick glance through the keyhole, and after determining that there were no threats present, she proceeded to picking the lock. This was something that had become quite familiar to her, as she'd done it countless times. She didn't even need to look at this one, as her muscle memory served her well enough for such a simple lock. She then carefully opened the door and stepped inside, gun raised and fully alert. She inched her way towards the stairs, all the while scanning her environment. It was a simple storage basement, mostly full of cleaning products and dirty laundry.

'No reason for the guards to come down here'

She slowly creaked her way up the stairs, being careful not to make too much noise. She approached the door the main floor and began scanning the through keyhole. From what she can tell, this door should be located at the back of the main lobby. She knew better than just open the door based on that fact alone. She waited, patiently, watching for any patrolling guards that may go along this route. As time passed she took note of how many guards passed, how long each pass took, and when her moment to go would be. She noticed there was only 1 guard taking this path, and that he would come at 40-45 second intervals, depending on his pace of walking. She picked an opportune moment to leave the basement and quickly moved to the corner of the hallway, peeking into the main lobby. She noticed 3 guards immediately from where she was, and realized the elevator would be out of the question for this one. She also noted in her mind that her time interval was approaching and so was the guard. She sneaked back to the basement and quietly pulled the door to almost closing. She waited once again for the guard to pass and left again, this time taking the opposite, right hand side corner of the hallway. From here she spotted only a lone guard and a set of stairs. Without hesitating her plan was already in her head. She headed back to the basement once more, this time looking for an item; any item that could make a loud enough noise. She fumbled through the inventory of items, finding mostly containers of detergent, cleaning liquids, and clothes. However her eye caught a slight glint and she soon found herself grasping onto a heavy metal wrench.

'Well, this will have to do'

She once again made her way back to the door, never losing track of her own timer and waiting for the guard to pass once again. She made her way out and headed towards the right hand side of the hall with the stairs once again. She crept her way as close to the stairs and lobby as possible, and began observing, looking for the ideal spot to throw the item in hand. She noted a fine piece of porcelain on a table and figured that would provide the most distraction. She had practiced this many times before, and her precision was dead on as she threw the wrench. She knew her window of opportunity was small, so she had to act fast. Luckily, the guard near the stairs was a good 8 feet out from the base of the stairs, so she could easily get past him. As the wrench hit the vase, causing it to shatter, she began her precision movements towards the staircase. All the guards turned their attention to the shattered fragments of the vase, and no one paid any attention to the assailant heading up the stairs.

'It looks like the stairs go up to the 11th floor. I don't see many guards on this upper floor. I'm guessing he's keeping them focused on the 1st and 11th floors.'

She hastily climbed the stairs until she eventually reached the 11th floor. To her dismay she saw that this floor was crawling with even more guards than the 1st.Again, she scanned the hallway from before heading into it from the staircase, and she noted 2 guards patrolling this route at 15-20 second intervals. She would have to act much faster this time if she wanted to get where she needed to be. She knows that the target will be in room 1123. After nothing the room numbers around her, she quickly realized the room would in the hall on the opposite side of the building. She had to devise a plan to get through this maze of guards. She quickly realized something that she had noticed while scanning the outside of the building.

'The balconies.'

The balconies were exclusive to this floor, likely something the target had custom built for himself. She soon realized however, that she needed access to one of the rooms. Scanning around once again, she noticed an open room down the hall. Perhaps a guard was using it or perhaps it was undergoing cleaning. Either way, this was her only chance and after the guard patrolling the hall passed, she sprang into action. With lightning fast reflexes, she immediately headed down the hall with absolute silence and precision in her footsteps. She reached the door and immediately stepped in and took cover behind the war before the next guard could turn the corner down the hall and see her. She soon began scanning the room and saw no sign that anyone was here.

'Perhaps just a broken door or something. Regardless, I'm lucky to have found this.'

She made her way onto the balcony and once again felt the rain. Every time this would happen, she would always seem to freeze for a minute, taking in the rain as if it could enter her very being. Snapping back to reality once again, she realized she could have been seen by a patrolling guard, had the door not been slightly closed. Resenting her foolish, childish mistake, she pressed on and started climbing from balcony to balcony. She made sure that before transferring between balconies, she would always check if the balcony door was open to prying eyes. As she reached her destination, she could hear party music, laughter and all kinds of chatter. There's no way she could enter into there and simply kill him. She noticed some bottles nearby, and that's when she realized she didn't have to enter in. She moved to the adjacent balcony and began throwing them onto the balcony of the target room.

"Hey, did you hear that? I think it came from outside, let me go check."

"No! Don't you dare go out onto my balcony. I'll go investigate the noise myself."

She pulled her gun, a silenced 1911, custom built from the frame down to the very weight of the gun. She lined up her shot and waited patiently for her target to leave the room. She waited and waited, her concentration never wavering. The doors finally opened, and the target began to step out. He might have seen his assassin, had he turned around to close to the door, but his own egotistical manner made him close the door from behind himself, and at that very moment, she placed a bullet cleanly through his temple, exiting out the other side of his head. He collapsed immediately, but no one could hear this as the rain had gotten heavier and the music had gotten louder and the guests were yammering more and more about what the noise outside was. She headed back through the path of the balconies and this time decided that she would take the fire exit down, knowing now the guards are only on the 1st and 11th floors. As she leaves the vicinity of the apartment, she brings her earpiece back to life.

"The job's done Diana."

"The money has already been wired to your account. Great job, Victoria."