Disclaimer: No I do not own Gunslinger Girl. Lance and his other aliases yes but the rest of them no.

You're messing with us Lance Kane. Is this some sort of game? We get a hit; you kill him for us. Are you taunting us for our inability to catch you? It all started with Franklin Taylor now 7 unaccounted assassinations are on my watch, all of them dead before any of the girls could get to them. You're toying with us Lance Kane. You think that just because you can take advantage of us you can do just that. Well things will change and the tables will turn.

"Lorenzo you called me?"

"Yes Jean, I need you to help me decide on something."

"Is this about Lance Kane?"

"Why yes, I need you to help me plan the ambush on him. Tomorrow we will drop fake bait for him to bite and when we finally catch him we can show him that when he plays with fire, he'll get burned."

Chapter 21 Torrenti

Torrents

"How do you expect to lure Lance Kane in the first place?" Jean asks.

"That's easy, we set another assignment, he'll be there and when he does get there we'll be there ready to give him the welcome party that he deserves."

"You already have everything planned out why do you need me?"

"I need you to plan the entire ambush with the rest of the handlers, it is one thing to lure him there it's another to make sure he does not get away."

"I'll make sure then. Don't worry Lorenzo we'll get him… whether in handcuffs or in a body bag."

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If you think Triela was confused when Lance Kane made his escape then you should see her now. She's just lying there on her bed starring at the sky. She won't budge she just starred, I was starting to get worried, she looked ok when she got back from her assignment but when it was found out that Lance was behind all the killings going on she just went blank.

"Triela, Henrietta's here to see you." I told her

"O hi, Henrietta how was you're assignment yesterday."

"I did not do anything; everyone was dead when Joze and I got there." Henrietta said in a frustrated tone.

"Sigh that's the same thing Rico said yesterday, I don't know what Lance is trying to prove here but I am worried about him. He could get hurt, he's good at what he does but now he does not have an agency to turn too what will he do if he gets shot or something?" Triela said in a dull tone.

"You still like him Triela? I thought you were over him already." Henrietta asked as she approached her.

"Well Triela is questioning what has happened. She is wondering what would have happened if Lance was still Raphael." I told Henrietta.

"What? I don't understand. What do you mean by that Claes?" Henrietta asked.

"Triela wonders what if Lance was not caught. What if he is still Raphael and was still living among us." I explained.

Henrietta left us. When she was gone I turned to look at Triela. She looked at me and asked:

"Do you think a hospital will find it suspicious if a teenager will walk into the emergency room with bullet wounds?" she asked with concern.

"Lance knows his way around. He'll probably nurse his own problems. The better question still is. Why do you care?"

Actually I did not need to ask that question. It was obvious that Triela was still confused and I was too. I did not know what to do with these feelings. It's not like I could let them out like Triela. They're there and there is no way to let them out at all unless Triela was there to listen. I bid Triela good-bye and left the room to take a walk. I entered the music hall and sat by the piano stool. I wanted to play the piano but in the same time I did not know what to play. So I sat there and looked around. Aside from other assorted instruments, I saw what appeared to be a black guitar case. It was Lance's; I approached it and opened it up. I expected to find something unexpected like a rifle or a bomb or something of that tone but all I saw was a guitar. I pulled it out and strummed some cords, unfortunately I never really learned to play the guitar so I just looked at the instrument and examined its bag. I shook it a bit and found Lance's MP3 player, there was nothing in it though so I just decided to head for my garden. As I approached my plot of land all I saw was the plants that I have been growing there for the past few months. I got closer and when I took my first step on the plot I felt a crunch. I checked where my leg landed and to my surprise I found a pack of rose seeds. I lifted it up and found a letter attached to it:

Dear Claes,

I got you rose seeds since if I got you the flower it might send a wrong message to Triela. I guess you have to grow your own roses. Besides I hope you'll enjoy that more than just getting flowers.

Came by to say thanks for everything that we've done together,

Lance Kane

PS: look behind you.

I looked behind me and to my surprise there was Lance sitting on the wall! He saw me and he smiled, but as I made to approach him he turned around and hopped of the wall and was gone. I was shaken; I thought I was safe in these borders. Suddenly a hand caught my shoulder. I was prepared to throw who ever it was but Triela was able to speak before anything happened.

"You saw him too?"

I was about to say something but there was scream from a distance. It was Henrietta running towards us with Rico with her.

"Lance was here!" she shouted as she held out a beautiful hair band in her hand. Rico got a hair clip from Lance as well.

"He was here! We saw these things on our desk they were tagged 'to Henrietta and Rico –Lance'. What do we do with them Claes?"

I looked at both gifts and saw nothing wrong with them at all. However, the handlers looked alarmed. They were shocked that Lance was able to get in the compound and slip out just as quickly. Henrietta and Rico got to keep their accessories but both of them did not want them since they did come from Lance. They gave them to Triela and I.

"Did you get anything Triela?" I asked her as I looked at the Henrietta's hair band and tried it on.

"He was here in the room but he did not stay long. He was gone as soon as I had a glance. He left me a rose."

I saw the flower sitting in its vase as I looked to examine it. It was a nice rose but it made me wonder why Lance came here in the first place if not to just see Triela.

"Did Santa Lance get you anything when he came by Claes?" she said as I continued looking at her rose.

"Let's just say that we'll be getting more roses in this room in a couple of weeks." I replied, at that everything fell into silence.

"I still love him how about you Claes?" Triela asked all of a sudden.

"…He never did love me back." I said feeling that void in me once more.

I never did let him know that I liked him so it is no surprise the he did not return my feelings. Triela you continue to wonder if life would be a lot different if he was still here. I continue to wonder what would have happened if I jumped into his arms when he said 'How many times will I tell you that I can't because… I…love you Claes.' His voice continues to echo in my head and I continue to wonder what if I was a lot braver.

"The stars are beautiful tonight I wonder if Lance is also looking at them." Triela said.

"I heard there will be some falling stars tomorrow, not as much as when we saw them before but there will be some." I replied

"One can wish on a falling star right? I wonder if Lance is wishing?"

"He's probably not." Said a voice at the door.

Triela and I both jumped at the sudden presence of a male voice. We both looked at the door and were surprised that it was Hillshire on the door and not the other person that we expected to see:

"He's probably busy preparing for his hit tomorrow. We have a hit tomorrow and it's set to actually draw Lance in. When we have confirmed his presence you girls will go there and get him."

Hillshire looked determined to finish this. So did Jean who stood by him. I realized that I was also included in their conversation when Jean added:

"And you're coming with us Claes. We need all the guns we can get."

"Exactly we need to throw everything we have at him. We can't let him get away. It all ends tomorrow."