He couldn't breathe.
It felt as though someone had stripped the very oxygen from his lungs as a lone golden eye started into a set of emeralds. He wanted to look away, he had to ,but it was impossible with a firm hand gripping his chin forcing his head up at such an angle it sent a slight ache through his neck.
The spy made a good human.
Rather dashing with his wild snow white hair falling into sharp emerald eyes, a swimmer's build with undertone of muscle and that Gentleman's aura about him.
He was the sort of human one- be they man or woman- wouldn't hesitate to take home. To dig their claws into and refuse to let go.
Yet the Rouge did.
He knew the elder and he knew him well.
Even now trapped under those beautiful eyes, every instinct the younger had screamed 'Danger'.
He took a step back, his mind all but screaming at his to get away, but with every step back the elder took a step forward, refusing to let him go.
"I finally fount you. "
Run.
A smile spread onto the elder's face that most would have fount relaxing but all the rouge could see was that of an amused predator finally closing in for the kill.
He had to run.
"Red."
Left.. Duck. Straight. Sharp right.
The copper blur rushed through the trees, never once stopping to look behind.
He wasn't sure if the man was still chasing him and to be honest, he didn't want to know. He just needed to keep running, to get as far away as possible.
Making a sharp left, Francis pressed his back against an old Oak's tree bark. Taking deep breathes so to refill his lungs as he listened for any sigh of the emerald eyed man perusing him.
...
Nothing. No crunch of leaves, no snapping of twigs or shuffling of the grass and dirt.
Utter silence.
A ragged sigh left the golden eyed incarnate as he slump ever so slightly against the bark.
A part of him was tempted to completely relax and slowly make his way back home but another part of him, the one that only acknowledged itself as Francis Squirrel refused.
Just because he didn't hear anything didn't mean the predator had given up. For all he knew the other was patiently waiting for him to start running again- to tire himself out and become easy pickings.
No. He would not be falling for that. Even if he was making a fool of himself, Francis would continue on as if a hunger lion was stalking him home for a quick lunch.
Better safe then sorry.
The child was fast, that Nigel would give him.
He had almost lost the cooper blur a time or two but many years of personal experience- specifically chasing a younger Russian- had taught him well.
It was almost two in the morning before all his effort paid off and the cooper haired boy slipped out of the forest and onto the sidewalk- moving swiftly through the morning crowds with a purpose to his every step.
"We're being watched."
"Wai- What?"
"Don't look around, you Nimrod. Just... Don't react."
"Don't react? How the hell does one 'Not react' to being watched."
"It'll be worse if they know we know. "
"And how could it get worse? We're being stalked but for all we know could be a serial killer."
"They could act and he usually does once he knows someone's onto him. Until we give him reason the most he can legally do is observe. "
He? Him?
"You know who's watching us. Who?"
"Someone I would rather I never see again."
"And that is?"
Azrael trailed off hoping the elder rouge would get the point and tell him exactly what was going on. Who was following them? Why?
"The man who killed me."
The man who killed Red...
For a moment Azrael could feel his heart stall with fear.
Red's Killer was here?
Was watching him?
Did he know? Did he suspect?
Golden eyes quickly darted about, searching the few people close enough to him to be able to keep a sharp eye on him.
Which one? Which one was it?
Which one was waiting for him to turn his back to kill him too?
"Kit, calm down before you give yourself a panic attack."
Calm down?
How could he calm down with so much fear coursing through him?
Better yet, how the Hell was Red so calm?
Didn't he realize the danger they where in?
"As I said before Kit, he can't legally do anything unless you show reason for him to get involved. If he sees you having a panic attack he'll use it as a excuse to step in and become involved. Once he's involved he won't stop- ever."
Taking a deep breath Azrael forced his panic and blind fear down as foreign emotions of calm and peace that he somehow knew where not of his own making seemed to fill him.
Why the Hell didn't Red do that sooner?
"A 'Thank You' would be nice. "
trThe moment he first laid eyes on Azrael Evans aka Heir Hadrian Azrael Potter all Nigel could think of was Red.
The Lad looked just like the rouge once did at that age- only with both eyes instead of one and that 'artificial nightmare' as the rouge so tenderly dubbed it.
If the Spy hadn't personally insured the Russian had no children he would have believed the small rouge hair, golden eyed boy to be Red's offspring, but that was impossible.
To the day he died, Red had been childless.
Yet there had to be a connection, every instinct he had all but screamed 'Red' every time he saw the child.
He needed to find a way into the child's life, a way to supervise him without anyone suspecting.
It was unfortunately easier said then done.
There where no legal ways for him to become involved in the child's life. The child had closed off every opportunity, including helping him out with a mild panic attack earlier that morning.
He suppose there where other ways...
Immoral ways.
But he'd prefer to leave those to a last ditch effort.
Everyone would be better off if the child looked to him in a positive light.
"Just try not to let it affect your life too much. We'll be out of here in a few days. Once we're gone he's likely to attempt tracking us down. With luck he'll be so busy doing that he'll never notice your Aunt and Francis moving ."
"And if we aren't lucky? If he notices?"
"Francis has always been a clever one. He'll deal with the issue should it arise. "