None of the characters belong to me.

Thank you to everyone who is reading this and for those who take time out to review. I appreciate your feedback. I seem to be getting less feedback than my last story. So I'm wondering if this story is liked less. Maybe it's a little too dark? I did rate this a T. Are the characters too OC? Anyway, I'm sorry if everything isn't what you expected. Hope some of you enjoy it at least. I'm writing this instead of what I really should be doing which is work. I'm trying to finish this story up so I can concentrate on real work. But I don't want to offer up subpar stories either. So hope I can finish this well. Please let me know either way if you like this or not.

So it was official; he is the most dangerous man on the planet. Most people his age would have long retired or would have been dead already. The fact that he had lasted this long attested to his skills and prowess, especially after the last mission. During the last mission he had managed to kill off the only other man who was at the game longer than him...the original One. The mercenary world caught wind of that and the title was now officially his. What they didn't realize was that he no longer cared for that moniker. The only reason he had killed him was that he had threatened his family. It was not out of ruthlessness, revenge, or any other such trivial reasons. He was protecting his students and especially the boy.

He shouldn't even call him a boy. He was a man now: tall, strong, and confident… maybe a little too confident. He had adopted a swagger that the mercenary didn't like but it was an act to cover up the guilt and pain he felt every time he completed a kill. He particularly disliked how he acted toward another one of his student… a certain pink haired young lady he had taken under his wing. He was playing a dangerous game with her. Not only was he flirting with her but with anyone in a skirt. The mercenary knew the girl had feelings for the boy and the boy would have to be stupid not to realize this. But he seemed to find it amusing to play with her feelings. Then there was a certain Cajun who constantly got on everyone's nerves especially the girl's, but he had his endearing traits. His third student had mastered using his bandages as weapons but his paranoia often made him insufferable. The Spaniard had taken the growth of their group in stride. The mercenary left him in charge of most missions now so he didn't complain much. In fact, the Spaniard had adopted an almost charming, affable demeanor. But like the boy's swag, it was all an act. Underneath he was a cold blooded killer who used people for his own means.

He felt responsible for all of them. The mercenary hoped they would eventually turn from their paths. He sighed as he ran his hand over his tired eyes. His glance fell on the worn journal on his night stand. He walked over and gently touched it.

He never would have believed it. But he of all people had fallen in love… and to a dead woman no less. After years of reading Maisy's journal trying to figure her out he ended up falling in loving with her… her spirit, her kind heart, her grit. She was like no one he had ever met or ever hope to meet again. He didn't even know people like her existed. The irony was not lost on him. Because of her, he had softened his attitude toward all his students but Hiko was his favorite. The others knew and accepted it because he treated them all fairly.

One. He is now One. It also meant he got to give out ranks. His students expected it. That is what is really bothering him. He had to rank each student in order of their deadliness. He knew that however he chose someone will be hurt.

Six tried to sort the story out in his head before he told her anything. There were parts that she couldn't know because of the pact they had all made. Then there were parts he was afraid of telling her but needed to… and it takes time to sugar coat the story.

When he was somewhat satisfied he began.

Master later took on two more students, a Cajun after a job in Louisiana and a girl from London's East End. We all trained together and became a sort of makeshift family. When we were ready, we worked together on jobs. I can't say too much about those missions but let's just say we were very successful. In fact, we became the most highly sought after and most feared mercenary team. Whatever needed to be done, if the price was right it would get done.

Then came a particularly sensitive job. I can't tell you the details but it involved breaking into a highly secure facility and extracting some canisters for a certain government.

"Remember your parts?" The Spaniard hissed impatiently.

"Yes, love. Yeesh, how many times are we gonna go ove' that?" the girl sniffed.

"Relax, we got this." The bandaged assassin said.

"Huh, you should talk 'bout relaxin'." The Cajun scoffed.

"Okay, all of you knock it off." I said as I checked my watch. "It's almost time."

We scattered and got into our positions.

The laundry truck drove in right on schedule. As the truck stopped at the checkpoint and while the guards were distracted, I belly crawled under the truck and hung onto the undercarriage.

When the truck was cleared it drove in with me stowed away in the bottom.

As it rounded the corner of a building I let go and dropped to the ground. After the truck left, I quickly rolled over to hide in the shadows of the building. I looked to see the mummy assassin using his bandages to take out the outer security cameras. Meanwhile, I hoped that the Spaniard was taking care of the guards on the perimeter. I listened for the signal. When I heard the cooing of a dove, I rushed across the open and made it to the next building. A rope dropped next to me. I grabbed it and was immediately pulled up to a window. The girl smiled cheekily at me. "You could s'and to lose a few, ma'e."

"More of me to love." I smirked at her. We quickly made our way to the door of the room. I saw the grate of the air shaft where she had entered lying on the floor. I put my ear to the door. I heard footsteps coming down the hall. I motioned for her to get down. We waited as the footsteps grew louder then fade as it passed the room. We carefully opened the door and check to see if the coast was clear. Then we made our way to the labs. When we reached the labs we split up. There were two items we needed to get. One was a virus, the other a deadly man-made chemical. She went to find the virus, I the chemical. According to the information the Master received, the chemical was in lab four.

I made my way to the lab, careful to avoid the security cameras. Once there I pulled out the katana my Master gave me and sliced open the door. Immediately, the alarm went off but it didn't matter because I got what I came for. I secured the canister and ran to the agreed meeting point. The purpose of me setting off the alarms was so that it would provide a distraction so that my friend could easily get into the lab with the virus.

As expected I was met with security. They fired their weapons and I pulled out my katana to deflect their bullets back at them. They fell back as I advanced. They were so busy with me that they didn't notice that the Cajun had snuck up behind them. He grabbed two and smashed their heads together. Then he picked up one and threw him against the rest. They fell like bowling pins. I scowled at him.

"What kept you?"

"Sooorrrry, maybe next time I not show up at all." He grinned.

I brushed past him into the room. The girl was already there with her canister.

"Let's go." I said going to the window. I looked out to see if our bandaged partner had the vehicle ready. Sure enough, below us was the tank he was suppose to hijack. The hatch opened up and I saw a black hoodie pop out. He looked up.

"What are you waiting for?" He asked.

I jumped the distance from the third floor to the tank and landed smoothly on the gun turret. The girl followed suit. The Cajun looked down.

"Taking the stairs!" He declared.

"No, you nit! You're was'ing time! We're not wai'ing for you. " the girl yelled.

The Cajun shrugged and disappeared from the window.

"That bloomin' idiot," the girl muttered under her breath, "Serves him right if he ge's his fat hide handed to him."

We got into the tank and drove out towards the gate, mowing down any obstacles in the way. They were powerless to stop us. As we headed away from the facility and into the woods, we started to think that we were home free.

About a mile into the woods, an explosion created a crater in front of us and the tank fell in.

This was not part of the plan. I opened the hatch of the tank with my katana ready. I came face to face with the man who had set off the explosion. It was One. No, not my One, but the original… the original most deadly man on the planet. He was leisurely leaning on the hood of his jeep, arms crossed.

"I'll be taking those canisters, if you please. "The man said in a faint French accent.

"Over our dead bodies!" shouted the girl who had pushed her way up. I really wished she hadn't used that expression.

"I'll be happy to oblige you." One sniffed as he pulled up the missile launcher that was by his side. He fired at us. We quickly scrambled out of the tank as the missile made a direct hit. The tank was ripped to shreds.

"What kinda crazy missile is that?" yelled my bandaged partner.

"The kind you don't want to hit you." I replied gritting my teeth. "Here!" I tossed my canister to him. "Get this out of here. I'll hold him off."

"Always wanting the action for yourself." He complained catching the canister. But he left anyway. I looked at the girl.

"You need to leave too." I said to her.

"You're not going it alone." She insisted pulling out her signature pink guitar.

"That canister needs to get to our client! Everything else is secondary." I snapped at her.

I could tell she was hurt by my words but she quickly hid it.

"You better get out alive or I'll kill you." She glared at me as she left.

I smirked before I brought out my katana to face One.

"You're a brave one, mon ami." He looked at me. "You face with a sword, eh? I can do no less then?"

He tossed the missile launcher and pulled out a saber. "Your katana faces my saber? It will be interesting, no?" He launched himself at me and our swords clashed. As we fought I knew I was in trouble. Even though he was much older than my Master, he was agile, quick, and skilled with his weapon. I looked like a novice compared to him. He swiftly put me on the defensive. I knew he was trying to back me into the corner and I couldn't stop him. It was all I could do to keep him from actually slicing me. A couple of times his saber came dangerously close to an artery. Suddenly, my back hit a tree. With one skilled swing my katana was knocked out of my hand.

"Too bad. I though I had found a worthy opponent." One pulled his sword back. Then his sword was knocked out of his hand by a large rock. He turned his glare in the direction the projectile had come from.

I had never been so glad to see the Cajun.

"Hey, couyon, you leave my podna alone. I gonna make misere on you." He snarled.

I wasn't sure what he said but I was glad he had One's attention.

"Ah, my lost French brother." One said mockingly, "Vous êtes un homme mort*"

"Come and get me." The Cajun taunted.

One moved so fast that the Cajun didn't even have time to react. He was punched in the gut, face and chest. Then One moved back to his original position. He looked disdainfully at the Cajun who was on one knee trying to get up off the ground.

The Cajun glared at him, "Hold still, sos I can murder you."

One laughed mirthlessly as he retrieved his saber. "Oh, my brother, you are an imbécile."

The Cajun growled and ran towards the mercenary. The Cajun was fast for a guy built like a tank on steroids but One was faster. He sidestepped out of the way so the Cajun ran into a tree. Then with one roundhouse kick knocked him into me. I rolled the Cajun over. He got up and rubbed his head.

"OO ye yi, that man can do some hurtin'," He looked at me. "You a thinkin' maybe we both try to take him on?"

I nodded still sore from where he landed on me. We both came at him. I swung my katana at him but he blocked me and kicked me away. Right behind me the Cajun swung his fist at One's face but One blocked him by grabbing his fist with one hand. Then taking his wrist with the other, flipped him over.

"Bigger they are, the harder they fall." He said almost gleefully.

He was enjoying this. I felt rage bubbling up in me as I slashed him with my katana. Not to brag but I thought I was pretty fast with the katana but he made me look like I was moving in slow motion. He blocked each hit effortlessly. I could have sworn he almost yawned one of those times. Then with the last block he elbowed me in the face. I staggered back trying to recover from the blow. He had cracked one of the lenses on my shade making it harder to see. When I looked up he was almost on top of me with his saber about to strike. I thought it was over when he saber was blocked by a cane. The Spaniard glared at him and using his cane pushed him back.

"What do you think you are doing to my team?" He hissed at the Frenchman.

One laughed. "So they are yours? Well, they not so good, no?"

"Good enough to beat you." Came a female voice. She jumped down from the branches of the trees with her guitar on her shoulder.

"You messed with the wrong group." The bandaged mercenary stepped out from behind the trees.

One looked amused. "All of you to try to fight, moi? I am flattered." Then he stepped into his battle stance.

I looked over at the Spaniard. "Where's the canisters?"

"Taken care of. Do not worry, chico." He held his cane up and shot at One who dodged the bullets smoothly. He then brought out his own pistol from his belt and fired at us. We scattered. The girl swung her guitar and knocked the gun from his hand but in doing so got too close so that One was able to side kick her across her head. She fell unconscious.

"No!" I yelled as I attacked him with my katana. I swung my katana at his midsection and he blocked it like before but this time with my free hand I punched him in his smug face. I caught him by surprise but not for long as he dropped and did a low sweep knocking me off my feet. He swung his saber and I blocked him and kicked him off. I was hoping to keep him busy as my bandaged partner snuck behind him. Abruptly, One leapt up just as white bandages shot just below him. He did a back flip slicing the bandages neatly as he landed and then with the hilt of his saber slammed it into his bandaged face. He fell to the ground unconscious. One advanced and was about to gut him when he was tackled by the Cajun but One rolled onto his back and used his legs to bounce him off. He used the momentum to backwards roll into a standing position. The Cajun hit a tree and fell unmoving. One grabbed his other revolver and took a shot at me. This time I was not so lucky as I felt hot lead rip through my leg. I dropped down in pain but held onto my katana ready to block any more bullets. I quickly scanned the area. Only the Spaniard was left standing everyone else was down for the count. I forced through the pain and stood up.

One smiled scornfully, "Eh, mon ami, trying to be the hero?"

I didn't answer. I was trying to ignore the pain that was coursing through my leg as I limped toward him. I had to give the Spaniard an opening. As I favored my good leg, I raced toward him trying to force him into a defensive position. I tried to remember everything my Master had taught me. If I was going to die, I wanted to go down fighting. From the corner of my eye I saw the Spaniard get into position. But it seemed that One was one step ahead of us when he suddenly pulled out an odd looking gun and shot out a net that wrapped itself around the Spaniard. It caught him by surprise as he struggled to get loose. He then knocked the katana out of my hand the second time that day and kicked me in my chest. I fell on my back the wind knocked out of me and my vision starting to blur. I knew the loss of blood was taking its toll. I was going to die but I felt nothing. I closed my eyes as he stepped up to me with his saber held high.

"You put up a good fight. Your death will be quick." I heard him say. Then darkness came over me.

When I came to, I opened my eyes but was blinded by a bright light.

"Am I dead?" I asked stupidly.

"If you are, I told you I was goin' to kill you." A girl's voice answered me.

I blinked to clear my vision. I looked above me and saw blurred figure with pink hair. I immediately knew who it was.

"What happened?" I asked trying to sit up. I felt a hand on my shoulder gently but firmly pushed me down.

"It was stupid of you to try to take on One by yourself especially wounded. You lost a lot of blood. The bullet hit an artery. You should have died." I heard my Master. I turned towards the voice.

"I'm sorry. I failed." I said humbly.

"No, you didn't." He answered. "I got both canisters secured before I came looking for all of you. Good thing too or there might not have been anything left of you."

"Then we completed the mission." I asked closing my eyes. The light was hurting them.

"The mission is completed." My Master answered.

"Yeah, and he killed One!" I heard the mummy say.

My eyes flew open. "What?" One had single handedly beat all five of us. Master must have had a spectacular fight and I missed it because I was unconscious.

Master dismissed it with a wave of his hand but I noticed that it was bandaged. I also notice for the first time the blood that was on his shirt.

"That's not important. What is important is that you are all safe."

"And the mission is successful." Added the Spaniard.

My Master looked at him tiredly. "Let's go home."

Later that week we found out that our Master was the new One. We all began to address him as such, much to his annoyance. So I finally stopped and continued to call him Master. He seemed happier with that but the others continued to call him by his new title. We all knew what that meant. We would be getting ranks too. All of us began speculating what number we'd be.

"I bet you're goin' be two." The girl said to me.

"It could be any of us." I tried to be magnanimous, but honestly, I did think he would name me Two. I had lasted longest in the fight with the original One. Over the years, I had become the better fighter. I could and have bested all of my companions in training. I'm sure if push came to shove I could best them in a real fight as well.

Then finally came that day. One walked into our training room. We all looked at him expectantly. He pointed at each one of us…

"Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six" He then turned abruptly and left. I was shocked. He pointed at me last. I was Six. I quickly followed him out.

"Master, I think I misunderstood you." I said catching up to him.

"No, Six." He addressed me by my new rank.

I walked in front of him to stop him. " B..b..but I can't be Six." I stammered.

"Yes, you are Six." He put a hand on my shoulder. Then without another word he walked away. It was stupid of me but for a second I thought I was going to cry but instead I smashed my fist into the wall. I looked at my bloodied hand and walked to my room.

That night at dinner the others were talking about changing their names to reflect their ranks..

"Two is no name for me. I will go by Dos." Dos announced.

"Well, if you gonna be fancy, fancy, I wanna be Trey." Trey grinned.

Not to be out done, the bandaged assassin said, "I am going to be Ivy."

We all looked at him. "Like the Roman Numerals, people!" He snapped.

Five looked up. "I'll stick wi'h what One gave me."

They looked at me. I said nothing.

"Come on, you gonna be sticking with Six?" Trey asked with a grin. I wanted to smack him but refrained.

"I'll stick with Six." I said. In my head I added, because I'm not going to stay six for long. I was going to show my Master and everyone just who the most dangerous man on the planet really is.

The mercenary was staring a hole in the journal. He had been putting this off for awhile and he could no longer wait. He knew the boy expected to be named two but he knew he couldn't do that to him. Once given that rank he would be doomed to the assassins' life and he wanted more for him. Besides he wasn't the most dangerous person. He had a heart and a soul. He cared for others whether he realized it or not. His first instincts were not to kill but to disable or disarm. That's why the mercenary had been steering away from missions that require them to straight out kill. He was sure the Spaniard noticed but as long as he was in charge and paid he didn't care. None of them really cared about the sanctity of life except for the boy.

"What am I going to do?" He asked the journal. He opened it up and looked at the page. He knew what he had to do and it was not going to be pretty.

He found them in the training room. Ever since he was named One they were expecting their ranks. He pointed and rattled off their numbers. Then he walked out too tired to face their questions. But the boy…Six, came after him. He knew he would.

"Master, I think I misunderstood you." He looked expectantly at the mercenary.

"No, Six." He answered with his rank so that there would be no confusion.

"B..b..but I can't be Six." It hurt him to see the boy look so confused and betrayed. But he was doing it for his own good.

"Yes, you are Six." Then he walked away unable to face whatever else the boy may have to say. It was too hard for him to explain and he doubt the boy would agree with him anyway. As he walked away his acute hearing heard the sound of plaster being smashed. He inwardly cringed but kept walking.

When he got back to his room he looked at the journal.

"I did the best I could." He whispered tiredly.

Six had paused in his story. Rebecca was not looking at him but rather the floor.

There was awkward silence until Rebecca broke it.

"Were you and Five… dating?" She asked unexpectedly.

Six looked up startled again. He wasn't expecting that question.

He licked his lips and pushed his sunglasses further up his nose before answering.

"We had a complicated relationship."

"She liked you?"

"I guess."

"And you her?"

Six got up and ran his hand through his hair. "I… she was someone I worked with."

"Like me?" Rebecca said softly.

Six started to panic on the inside. He was trying to avoid the whole topic and thought he did a somewhat admirable job keeping it vague but Rebecca had seen through it.

"Were you…close?"

"It's hard not to be close when you do what we did."

"That's not what I was asking." Rebecca's voice had an edge to it.

Six looked away. Rebecca had her answer.

"Why did you break up with her?"

Six didn't answer.

"Maybe I should go now." Rebecca said quietly starting to get up.

Startled, Six took a step forward but stopped. He was fighting something.

"She broke up with me." He reluctantly admitted.

"Why?" Rebecca asked as she sat back down.

Six swallowed hard. "I cheated on her."

Rebecca nodded not looking surprised. "I thought so."

Six on the other hand was. "You knew?"

"Well, I had a feeling. You weren't exactly Mr. Subtle after you lost your memory." Rebecca chuckled lightly.

Six turned around to hide the blush he felt that was creeping up his face.

There was more awkward silence.

"So what happened next?" Rebecca prompted.

Six made sure the blush had subsided before he turned around to face her. He was almost done and then Rebecca will make her decision. He realized he had been constantly fighting the urge to get closer to her. He was naturally drawn to her. He wanted to be close enough to feel the warmth of her body or to brush his hand against hers. All that felt natural, normal. If she rejected him, he wasn't sure if he could keep the promise of just being acquaintances. He couldn't think about it right now. He had to finish what he had started and hope for the best.

*You are a dead man.

This went longer than I had hoped. I actually had to cut out the fight scene between the original One and new One. It made the story clunky. But if you are curious I was thinking along the lines of the final fight scene of Samurai Champloo between Jin and Kagetoki Kariya. You can YouTube it. It was awesome in my head but too hard to write down.