Disclaimer: I do not own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.

The moment the partner shot at the mark Guerrero knew where he was hiding and opened fire. It was returned, from basically the same spot as before. Guerrero aimed and pulled the trigger again –

Nothing.

No reply.

This could mean one of three things: Either he had hit the partner and he was lying dead or injured on the ground OR the partner had turned tail and run OR he was pretending to be dead, injured or gone and waiting somewhere in the darkness to get back at Guerrero.

Whatever it was, Guerrero had to go and check. Chance and Winston were out there taking care of the mark and Leonard, it was his job to watch their backs.

"Taking a look at the backyard", he told the others via earpiece.

None of them replied.

Not necessarily a bad sign, but all in all Guerrero was on edge this evening. Not the nervous kind of "on edge", he was never nervous, nervousness was useless, it clouded your mind and caused potentially lethal mistakes – it was more the tense kind of "on edge".

Truth was, he didn't like this. At all. And if not for Chance, he wouldn't be in it. Had he believed in such things, he'd said this screamed bad karma. Winston had forced Chance into this job, for reasons that totally beat him…

Thinking of Winston telling Chance he'd leave, shouldn't they put a stop to Leonard's activities, made his stomach churn with anger. When had he last been so angry with Winston?

Swift as a cat Guerrero made his way towards the spot where the partner had been hiding and just as alert he observed his surroundings. But in the back of his mind, a memory almost gone from his conscience mind lifted its head.

Ah, the Niagara Falls job… Very shortly after they had started working together a job had brought them to Canada.

It almost broke them apart, threatened to nip the whole security business thing in the bud before it really started.

Chance had the attacker cornered, was ready to dispose of him, right into the goddamn Falls, in an act that was really more or less self-defense, when Winston interfered with a goddamn "Nobody deserves to die" – reminder. Chance caved in and let the man live. They tied him up – yeah, granted, he, Guerrero tied him up – but a short time later the thug managed to escape and in the process actually disposed of Chance, not wasting a single thought on something as ridiculous as gratefulness.

Thank God it was Chance they were talking about. After fifteen very long minutes they found him dangling from some tree root, high above the swirling, foaming water.

Good for Winston, since Guerrero had decided, shouldn't they find Chance, he'd personally make a barrel big enough to accommodate the walrus and push him down the Falls.

He had now reached the spot where the partner must have been hiding. No one in sight.

Pity.

But of course, why should this have been easy?

From Guerrero's point of view Winston had kind of lost it ever since he had woken up after that accident. Ilsa had suggested admitting him to an expensive private clinic and have him checked up thoroughly and Guerrero actually agreed with that.

That's how far things had come. He was agreeing with Ilsa.

A soft rustle in the bush a few feet from him, barely more than a brush of the wind, was enough to focus all of Guerrero's senses completely on the moment. He dropped to the ground, rolled over and fired at the bush.

This time the partner really turned tail, but Guerrero went after him. There was no way he'd let him go. When they had planned all this, Winston of course had ruled that they'd hand both, his buddy and his partner, over to the cops, but Guerrero had come to a decision of his own.

He'd kill the partner, no matter what. For people like them death penalty was practically mandatory. Sitting in a cell like a caged animal, waiting to be put down?

Call it an act of mercy, Guerrero-style.

Guerrero brought the partner down a few feet behind the bush. He pushed him face forwards into the ground, yanking his right arm backwards to breaking point while at the same time retrieving a combat knife from a sheath at his ankle.

Maybe the partner recognized the sound the blade made when Guerrero pulled it past the leather, or maybe he was sensing what Guerrero was planning, anyway, he did something very desperate and unlike popular belief, desperate acts sometimes work: He bucked upwards, rolled over, his arm broke, but he was free from Guerrero's iron grip again.

Guerrero, however, managed to turn while being thrown off the partner's back and with one fluid motion cut his Achilles heel. No more running, definitely not.

His opponent cried out in what must have been unbearable pain – the shattered shoulder, the severed heel. The only thing that kept him from passing out was the adrenaline pumping through his system.

Adrenaline that caused him to, with all his might, make one last attempt to defend himself while Guerrero was going for the final move, a single well-placed cut along his throat. He'd bleed to death in under a minute.

Guerrero darted forward, the partner threw up his arms, tried to grab Guerrero's wrist…

It's highly unlikely that any of the two struggling men heard the click of a gun's safety catch being released, but they both sensed that they were not alone anymore.

Leonard had arrived.

… … …

Winston watched Leonard leave and only after he was out of sight realized he was walking in the same direction Guerrero had been heading.

Without a single thought of hesitancy, Winston dashed after him.

… … …

The scene Winston found in the backyard was tumultuous, but not unclear: Guerrero was ready to kill the partner, Leonard was ready to kill Guerrero to protect his partner…

… Winston shot Leonard.

The second Guerrero heard the gun go off and realized the bullet wasn't meant for him, he slit the partner's throat. Wiping blood off his face, he slowly staggered to his feet, only then understanding that not Chance but Winston had saved his life.

"Not bad, dude", he said, wiping blood off his glasses.