Boom!

Matthew Downs smiled as the explosion sent debris and bits of dead human flying everywhere and everyone left alive went into a panic.

All around him, people screamed for missing 'loved ones', screamed for help, or just screamed mindlessly at the top of their lungs, running around like chickens with their heads cut off. He stood still, a rock in the middle of a river, as the panicked crowd ran and stumbled and flowed past him.

In his eyes, it was beautiful.

Serves you right, he thought. Sure, he was in Chad, but people were people, no matter where you went. He hadn't been the one who had set the bomb, but he felt a bit of admiration for whoever had done it, though they probably had different motives than what his would have been if it had been him…

Suddenly, he noticed something. Not far away, a woman was standing still, too. She, too, was watching the chaos, and he thought she might even have been smiling as well.

He stared at her, the pleasure of watching havoc wrought all but forgotten. She was very pretty, from what he could see: A strong, lean body, curvy in the right places; a proud, confident posture, with an air of power and control; and straight black hair that was just long enough to hide her face from him.

He waited for her to notice him, just as he had her - a person standing still in the middle of a crisis was very noteworthy. Sure enough, as she looked at all the chaos surrounding them, she turned in his direction. Her face was almost more beautiful than the discord he had just been admiring, and her eyes…There was something in her eyes…

Their eyes met, and she froze, likewise spellbound. Slowly, as though in a trance, they walked up to each other, all but oblivious to the mayhem around them. All Matthew could think was, I'm not the only one.

Though what exactly it was that he wasn't the only one of, he wasn't sure…

When they reached each other, Matthew was too nervous to speak. What was he supposed to say to her?

Fortunately, she didn't feel the same.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

"Matthew," he replied, almost breathless. "Yours?"

"Izzy," she replied.

He held out his hand. She shook it. Neither one of them said "Nice to meet you"; there was already something between them, though neither of them was quite sure what…

Suddenly, one of the headless chickens ran through their handshake, oblivious to their presence, screaming his head off. Both Matthew and Izzy watched him go and chuckled…then stopped when they heard each other's laughter.

They looked at each other.

Izzy smiled sexily. "Do you enjoy all this chaos, too?" she asked Matthew.

Matthew blinked; the way she had said it made it feel like she was hitting on him. "Yes," he replied; "do you?"

"This is what I live for," she said with relish, an evil glint in her eyes.

"Are you the one who planted that bomb?" Matthew asked.

"That depends," she bantered flirtatiously; "who's asking?"

Matthew smiled. "Just a fellow admirer of chaos," he replied.

She ginned evilly and bit her lower lip in a very sexy way. "Yes I did," she said proudly.

"You should get out of here before the cops come," Matthew said, trying to flirt back.

"We're in Chad," she said, rolling her eyes. "Are there even cops here at all?"

"Every country has a law enforcement system of some sort," Matthew told her.

She narrowed her eyes. "And how do you know that?" she asked suspiciously.

Suddenly, Matthew noticed that everyone had escaped the area; all that remained was the wreckage…and the imminent arrival of the first responders.

"How about we talk somewhere else?" he suggested, motioning at the empty area.

Izzy glanced around, then smiled at him again. "Okay," she said in a very sexy tone of voice; "let's talk over lunch?"

"Right behind you," Matthew said, smiling back, and they left. As he walked, there was was only one thought in Matthew's mind:

This woman is incredible…!

~X~

"So, Matthew," Izzy said after the waiter had taken their orders, "what's your story?" She widened her eyes momentarily in a creepy way that sent his heart racing.

"Well, I was a Marine," he began.

Izzy raised her eyebrows at him and moved as though to leave.

"I was a Marine," he clarified, holding out a hand to stop her. "Not anymore."

Izzy smiled wickedly again and sat back down. "I was just kidding," she teased.

Matthew smiled back.

"So why the love of carnage?" Izzy asked him.

"You don't beat around the bush, do you?" he bantered, trying to flirt back.

"Baby, I don't beat around anything," she said with a nasty grin.

She didn't scare him. "Well, Izzy," he said, "are you American? You sound American."

Izzy's evil smile widened. "I was," she said, her tone teasing and sexy. "Haven't been to the states in a while. Too many police, not enough work."

He smiled back. "Well, you should still know, the American government tends to be…exploitative." His mood darkened. "They just use us and toss us aside, and no one cares."

"So you feel betrayed," Izzy said. "Betrayed by your country, is that it?"

"Sort of," he replied; "I mean, that's why I'm…angry, I guess you could say. As for loving chaos…" He shrugged. "People just…disgust me, I guess. They're all like sheep, letting themselves be herded around by their leaders, ignoring all the betrayal and injustice around them."

Izzy smiled, her eyes glinting, as he spoke. "Hear, hear," she said huskily.

Matthew swallowed. "So what's your story?" he asked her.

Her wicked smile widened. "A bit more colorful than yours," she said nastily. "I worked as an assassin for a while, but I didn't like having to rely on others to give me an extra reason to kill people, so I quit and just started flat-out murdering people, robbing banks to make a living…and, of course, setting off the occasional bomb in public places, just for fun," she added nastily.

She was being completely honest with him, but for some reason, he still wasn't scared of her, or even put off. "Why do you enjoy killing so much?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "People disgust me, too," she replied. "I have my own reasons for that, though."

"And you're not going to tell me?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow.

She laughed nastily. "We just met," she said mockingly; "I don't want to tell you too much about me!"

They both laughed as the waiter came back with their orders.

They talked while they ate, telling each other about all the different things they had seen or done. They had both been all over the world, so they had a lot to share; their conversation took them well into the night. Matthew quickly started wishing he had more chaos stories; all of the stories Izzy told ended with her killing at least one person. She told the stories with relish, as though she lived for the thrill of murder and chaos, and some of the things she had done were horrific beyond anything he could have schemed himself.

He was in complete awe of her.

"So," he finally said as they finished, "where are you staying?"

She chuckled nastily. "Why?" she teased. "You wanna come with me?"

He smiled, no longer uncomfortable with her outrageous flirting. "Maybe not just yet," he teased back. Then he put on a serious face and added, "I would like to see you again, though. Soon."

"Well, you do sort of owe me," she said mockingly.

He blinked. "I do?" he asked.

"I wasn't able to enjoy even half the chaos I caused today, thanks to you," she told him, smiling and clearly not mad. "Maybe you could make it up to me?"

"And how do you propose I do that?" he asked, trying to match her flirty smile.

"Well, I only set off bombs on occasion, but maybe I can make an exception in this case," she said. "How about we blow something else up tomorrow? Together?"

"You're an impressive bomber," he said; "I'd probably just get in your way."

She smiled nastily. "Don't toy with me, baby," she taunted; "you know you want in."

He smiled back. "I would love to," he told her; "when and where?"

"Meet me at the train station tomorrow at noon," she told him. "People are still going to be in a panic over the bombing today…They'll probably be crowding all the public transportation centers, desperate to get away…" She trailed off dreamily - clearly dreaming about the chaos she could cause in such a scenario.

Matthew chuckled. "You're ruthless," he commented.

She laughed evilly. "And proud of it, baby!" she replied.

Matthew smiled. "I'll see you there," he told her.

She gave him her evil, sexy smile. "See you tomorrow," she said in a very sexy tone of voice. "Have a good night."

"You too," he said, and he walked away. Again, as he walked, he could only think one thing:

This woman is incredible…!

~X~

Matthew tossed and turned that night, unable to sleep. All he could think about was Izzy.

Izzy…She was amazing. Her stories of murder and chaos had shamed his war stories, and her ruthlessness was inspirational. She was the most incredible person he had ever met. He knew, deep down, that there was something very wrong with liking a woman who reveled in the pain and deaths of others, but…there was something about her…something in her eyes…

He puzzled over it for hours as the night crept slowly by. What was it he had seen in her eyes? Why was he so drawn to her?

Finally, it dawned on him: He had seen himself. His own self, his own mindset, had been perfectly reflected in her eyes.

They were alike.

He smiled as he finally drifted off to sleep, just as the sky outside started to brighten with pre-dawn light. The last thought on his mind was her name:

Izzy…

o~X~o

Izzy worked on the bomb all night. She didn't trust anyone else to know bombs as well as she did - she had studied them intensively.

Of course, she didn't trust anyone in any way…

So why did I spend all day with…him? she wondered.

She had noticed him admiring her work early on and had wondered at it. But when he had looked at her…when their eyes had met…she had felt something.

She had felt like she wasn't alone.

She had always been alone - no one had ever cared for her, not even during her childhood. Especially not during my childhood, she thought. But she had never felt lonely - she had always felt like she was better off alone. The way she saw it, everyone was evil; it was safer for her to keep to herself.

But then she had met…him.

She hadn't lied to him - nothing she had told him had been in any way untrue. She had kept expecting him to be horrified, but the way he had looked at her…it was almost as though he admired her. No one had ever looked at her like that before. Sure, plenty of guys had been drawn to her admittedly overdone sex appeal, but that was just something she did for control.

Men tend to think with their dicks.

But this one…Matthew…he was different. It had almost seemed like her flirting had made him more uncomfortable than her thirst for chaos had…

She gave herself a little shake. Why should she waste her time on him? No one was trustworthy. She should just kill him and be done with it.

But she didn't want to kill him…

What is wrong with me? she wondered. I want to kill everyone! Everyone deserves to die! There are no exceptions!

And yet…

As she put the finishing touches on the bomb, she made up her mind.

I'll test him, to see if he can be of any use to me, she decided. If he can, then I…guess I'll let him tag along - for a little while, at least. If he can't…

Then he dies.