A/N: Thanks for being so patient guys, hope it was worth the wait. There is only an epilogue to go now, so consider this the final chapter of this story. As always review and rate, and of course enjoy! :)

Chapter 21

The sterile, hospital like corridor was straight from my nightmares. I listened carefully, certain the voice of Dr Ort-Meyer would ring out at any moment. Instead I heard the distant sound of footsteps running, followed by a loud thudding. I sprinted after Perry, my eagerness to find her safe outweighing my sense of self-preservation. I could outrun her easily but finding her in the maze of laboratories, training rooms and cells was going to be tricky.

I skidded to a halt as I came upon two bodies lying on the floor in front of me. Scanning them quickly to ensure none of them were Perry I saw it was two adolescents, one male, one female. Both had hospital like gowns on, I knew just by looking at them that they were clones. Curiosity briefly took the better of me and I scanned their unconscious bodies. They looked to be in their late teens, they weren't that old at all. The girl's hands were folded on her stomach as she lay in front of me and my eye was caught by a small brand burnt onto the top of her wrist. It was the ICA logo again, they definitely weren't hiding their involvement now. Their chests rose and fell rhythmically; they wouldn't be out for long I decided to continue my pursuit of Peregrine.

"At least we know Cicada are honouring their end of the deal." Diana still sounded shaken after Perry's total disregard for the plan. I was walking at a brisk pace now, I had no idea how hard these clones would be to overpower if I encountered any and getting myself injured or killed wouldn't help my handler in any way. I was approaching a very familiar room; it was an injection room. Memories of being strapped down as an army of Doctors inserted needles into me gauging my reactions, flooded my mind. I faltered slightly as I glanced into the room. A large chair was fixed to the floor in the centre of the room, a cold shiver ran up spine at the sight of it. Three Doctors had their backs to me, they were talking urgently to each other in Romanian, stuffing more papers into bags.

My lip curled as I entered the room levelling my pistol on the backs of their heads. These weren't the same men who had tortured me in my youth, but I was certain they had been performing the same experiments on the clones here now. I fired three bullets, their bodies crumpling in quick succession. I didn't believe in revenge but I felt the fierce, smug feeling of retribution flow through me now.

A loud noise in the distance brought me back to the present and reminded me that Perry was still AWOL somewhere in this basement full of potentially dangerous clones. Moving back out into the corridor I continued searching for my handler. It wasn't too hard to keep track of her progress, a trail of unconscious bodies greeted me periodically as I weaved my way through these once familiar rooms. I noted that none of the clones were older than their mid teens. Obviously the project hadn't been going long enough for any of their assets to reach maturity, I became less anxious at this thought. The idea of Perry running into a young adult clone was a lot less unnerving than the idea of her running into someone like me.

I reached a fork in the corridor, I knew one direction would take me to the laboratory and holding cells, the other was the same corridor from my nightmare. I listened carefully for any sounds of Perry; instead I heard the unmistakable sound of an automatic rifle being cocked from behind me. Irritation overcame me at my failure to sense the approaching danger, too focused on my stubborn companion once again. The irritation gave way to confusion however when the person behind me didn't immediately start shooting me in the back.

"Don't move." I narrowed my eyes at the man's voice, it wavered slightly with uncertainty; he obviously knew who I was. I obliged, curious to see what his plan was. His feet shuffled towards me a bit more, then I felt the muzzle of his rifle pressing into my spine. "Give me your gun." Slowly I turned my head to get a better look at him, one eyebrow raised in mild amusement. It was an ICA mercenary, but he looked young and nervous. I was sure I could push my luck with this inexperienced rookie.

"No." I saw his eyes widen at my refusal to obey him. My cold stare bored into the young man's visibly shaken face, he responded by pushing the rifle harder into my back driving me forwards.

"Walk. If you I see your hands move I'll shoot you in the back." I let my stare linger for a few more moments, before I slowly nodded and let him guide me down the corridor leading to where I had last seen my creator bleeding out. I knew in my gut that this man was taking me to someone, I just hoped Peregrine would try and stay out of trouble.

"I'm sorry 47, Peregrine has made it very hard for me to take full control of the security cameras. I didn't see him approaching until it was too late." I kept my face blank, not responding to Diana's apology. No doubt she would be having strong words with my handler once this was over, if she made it out alive. I maintained a steady pace as the mercenary pushed me further down the corridor. We reached the point where the scanner room used to be located; previously I had had to use one of the 48 clones to open the security doors to reach my creator. Now it had been adapted into what looked like a decontamination chamber. The man hurriedly pushed me into the chamber, the doors shutting behind me.

I turned to face my aggressor; he eyed me nervously as I stared him down. A fine, cold mist filled the small room, I held my breath instinctively, just in case it was toxic. It only took a moment, then the doors on the other side slide open letting me continue. The young man indicated for me to walk on with his rifle, but he wasn't behind me anymore and I didn't intend to move. I saw his grip tighten on the weapon and I instantly mimicked him with my pistol, I was confident in a face to face gunfight I was going to win. I knew he had herded me this way for a reason and I was unwilling to walk into whatever it was with a gun held to my back.

"Move forward." He commanded, his voice rising a pitch with his fear. I raised my pistol and in one fluid movement shot him twice through the glass. The doors I had entered through shattered and fell to the floor in a glittering waterfall. The young mercenary lay on the floor, covered in the remnants of the doors struggling to breath as the two bullet holes I had put in his chest slowly bled onto the ground. His eyes were wide and white as I stepped towards him, the glass crunching under my feet. I levelled the pistol at his head watching the familiar look of terrified realisation come across his face. His head snapped back as the bullet hit him; I glared down at his corpse as I made to move back towards the laboratory. My gut told me Perry had gone that way.

Before I could take a step however a light, jovial voice echoed down the corridor behind me. "Mr 47, I would prefer if you didn't kill all of my men before I've had a chance to talk to you." I swivelled on the spot to face back through the decontamination chamber. The voice was familiar, I became uneasy wondering why he was here. My hesitation provoked him to speak again. "Please, come. We do not have all day."

"I have a feeling whoever is calling you isn't going to stay patient for long. I'll keep an eye on Peregrine 47." Diana's voice sounded in my ear, clearly she hadn't recognised the voice. With one last glance towards where I thought Perry was, I turned again and made my way through the chamber and onwards to the large circular room, which used to be my creator's office.

As I rounded the corner I was faced with a slight man of average height, his neat black hair slicked back, a friendly smile plastered across his face. Mr Nu had changed little from the last time I had met him, in fact he looked exactly the same as if he hadn't aged at all. "It's him." I heard Diana exclaim as I walked slowly towards the smiling man.

"Hello again Mr 47, and hello to the lovely Diana as I am sure she is listening." He waited expectantly for me to respond, I merely stared impassively at him not wanting to reveal too much to this sudden apparition from my past. I didn't know a great deal about the man in front of me, only that he was a high ranking operative in the agency concerned with managing it, and very good at weeding out traitors. Ironic I should find him here.

I scanned the rest of the room in my peripheral; it was a large circular office with a desk positioned behind Mr Nu. The benefit of the design meant there were no corners for anyone to hide in, we appeared to be alone but I didn't trust it too much. Mr Nu had obviously tired of waiting for me to reply, so he continued in his cheerily calm voice. "I must congratulate you on your impressive display upstairs. Breaking from your normal MO to be sure, but impressive none the less." He moved round to place the desk between us, taking a seat in the chair, he looked at home here in my creator's old office.

"Am I to assume you are behind this project?" I queried in a low voice. Mr Nu leant forward, placing his hands together on the empty desk in front of him.

"I know this conversation is likely going to end up with me dead, but I would like to put forward my case first. See if I can persuade you and the head of the agency's rebellious faction to reconsider." My eye narrowed at the abnormally calm man who had just admitted knowledge of his own demise.

"Let's hear him out. Maybe he knows of the Director's whereabouts." Diana spoke quietly in my ear; I was growing weary of all this diplomacy but resolved to be patient a little longer. I nodded solemnly at Mr Nu and he took it as his cue to continue.

"As you are standing in this rather charming relic of your past 47, I can assume you are at least partially aware of what we are endeavouring to do here?" I was surprised at his cheery tone, he hadn't changed at all still displaying a disturbing lack of concern at the situation.

"Creating class 1 clones." I answered in a dangerously low voice. Mr Nu typically didn't look perturbed by my cold reaction. He merely smiled wider and nodded enthusiastically, like I had correctly guessed a particularly tricky riddle.

"Yes, yes that. But so much more 47, so much more. We are making history here. The world of assassination, indeed the world in general, will never be the same again. " He sighed, reaching into a draw in the desk and taking out a file. Flipping it open he reveal the paper I had seen the Doctor's trying to stash into bags earlier. "Amazing isn't it. All this money, time and effort, and all our research is neatly printed out here." He looked up at me again, a sly look on his face. "Written out of course, no online files, only hard copies. Wouldn't want people like your rookie handler or your new allies getting their mitts on it now would we." I raised an eyebrow slowly at him; obviously our deal with Cicada hadn't gone unnoticed.

Mr Nu's face became suddenly grave, "Oh I know Cicada would give anything for this research. They went to all the trouble of getting our best assets to do their dirty work for them, they will stop at nothing until they have this in their hands." My expression must have betrayed my confusion at his comment because he let out a loud, ringing laugh that echoed around the circular office. "They've led you on a merry dance. I have to applaud them, whomever they are, they not only managed to outwit yourself and Diana, but also the genius hacker that is your new handler. Bravo Cicada if you can hear me, bravo." Mr Nu clapped theatrically into the empty room. I clenched my fists instinctively.

"I'm getting tired of talking. I'm here to do a job." I growled at him, brining my pistol up to point at his head. Mr Nu ceased clapping and held his hands up in surrender, a devious grin stretching his face.

"But I haven't even got to the best part 47." His gaze flicked from my face to just over my shoulder and I immediately felt another presence enter the room behind me. I turned my body to see the new arrival, my blood turned to ice. The familiar green eyes set in a pinched face swam into vision, the reality was clear but I couldn't process the impossibility of seeing the figure in front of me again. The agent I had shot cleanly in the head at the hospital in Serbia smiled nastily back at me.

"You really should be more aware of your surroundings 47. This is the second time I've managed to catch you unawares." He was holding his own silenced pistol, aiming it at my head once more.

"I killed you." My voice was menacing but there was the slightest waver to it.

"Impossible." I heard Diana breath in my ear, her terror at seeing this ghost more evident than mine.

"Indeed, and yet here I stand. Maybe you should give Mr Nu here a little bit more of your time before attempting to kill him. It might…enlighten you." I was certain I could fight my way out of this situation, after all there was only one other real threat in this room. However, I couldn't deny my curiosity hadn't taken over. A man I had clearly shot in the head was standing alive and well, with barely a mark to show for it. What were they doing here?

I turned my head to face Mr Nu once more; he was watching mine and the ghost agent's exchange with an expression of mild amusement. "You have my attention." I spat at him; I didn't lower my gun.

"Agent Mortem is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we have achieved here." Agent Mortem, fitting name for someone able to cheat death I thought sourly. "We have created the next generation of super assassins, along with the technology to control them almost completely. It is simply…perfect." My muscles flexed involuntarily at his statement.

"That's what my creator called me. He learnt perfection is not always a good thing." Mr Nu nodded sagely.

"Quite right 47. He was correct, you were perfect, but not without your flaws. You have free will after all, and clearly you like to exercise that right." He stared pointedly at the gun aimed squarely at him. "Also, you are not impervious to harm, a bullet can still mortally wound you. Our aim with this project was to truly transcend those limitations and create gods among men." I flicked a glance at the agent behind me, he was staring at me humourlessly, he looked too old to have been created here. Mr Nu obviously saw where my train of thought was headed. "No Mr 47, Agent Mortem is not a clone. He is merely…genetically enhanced. Like your dear friend Victoria." My head snapped back round to Mr Nu, a deadly look in my eyes. He grinned at my lethal expression, but simply shrugged. "We wanted to test our research and Agent Mortem offered himself as a willing volunteer." I levelled my gaze at the agent again, disbelief written on my face. What kind of person would volunteer themselves for the experiments Victoria and myself had been forced to endure?

The agent regarded me with his calculating green eyes, there was the tiniest trace of a scar just above his right eye from where I had shot him only a week ago. Mr Nu persisted with his confident monologue on the project's achievements. "With Mortem we focused on his intelligence and ability to heal. As you can see he was a great success, he is able to recover from most fatal wounds and able to think faster than most men. Once we had established our genetic manipulations would work, we focused on cloning and creating our own subjects. And as I am sure our dear friend Dr Constantin told you, there we succeeded too."

"47, I can see more mercenaries approaching the Asylum. They'll reach your location in approximately twenty minutes." I was grateful for Diana's eyes above the ground right now. Frustration began to build in me, Mr Nu was keeping us occupied and separated on purpose. A sudden strong and insistent need to be with Perry flared at the back of my mind, and I quickly began analysing my options. The relatively unintimidating Mr Nu wouldn't be an issue, the armed and genetically enhanced agent behind me however…he was my real threat.

Mr Nu was unaware of the intel I was being fed, he was still trying to keep my interest by spilling the secrets of the project. Obviously under the impression that I would soon be overpowered, his plan was risky and about to fail. "The microchip was a fortunate bi-product of us attempting to control our creations somehow. Amazing how such a tiny piece of technology has such massive potential, no wonder the most infamous hacker group is itching to get their hands on it." I was only half listening to him now, the approaching danger of more heavily armed mercenaries while Peregrine was likely unaware and unprepared was distracting me immensely.

I felt Agent Mortem shift behind me, he was becoming aware of my agitated state. I calmed my breathing, careful not to alert the men to my knowledge of their closing trap. The room was bare except for the desk in the centre, my pistol was going to be my best bet of getting out of here but with a highly trained agent able of healing behind me my confidence wasn't as high as normal.

"They're only fifteen minutes away now 47. If you're going to move, I'd do it now." Diana's urgent voice in my ear was all the incentive I needed to launch into action. Pushing my muscles to their limit I whipped round as fast as I could and fired four bullets into the unsuspecting agent behind me. I hit him squarely in both knees forcing him to the floor and twice in the abdomen. Without hesitating I kicked his hand knocking his pistol out of it, and sending it skittering across the floor.

He was still very much alive and already attempting to get up, but I could sense Mr Nu moving behind the desk, reaching into one of the draws. I had limited ammo left and two targets, one I wasn't sure how to kill if I was being honest and the other I needed to keep alive to find the whereabouts of the Director. I knew if I killed them without this information there was a high chance the project would continue somewhere else. I didn't have long to think through my options, I counted two rounds left in my pistol.

Agent Mortem locked eyes with me as he raised himself onto his elbows; blood was spreading out from under him I knew the shots I had landed in his stomach would have been bad news for most normal men but as I had just learnt this was no normal man. My lip curled as I fired a shot right between his eyes, I watched as his head snapped back for a second time and he became still on the floor in front of me. I wanted to keep looking at the agent's lifeless body to make sure it stayed that way this time, but the sound of a clip being inserted into a gun tore my eyes away from Mortem and focus back on Mr Nu.

He was still smiling his carefree smile, as if I hadn't just shot his bodyguard in the head. "I guess you got wise to my little plan 47. Or did you just get bored of my monologue, I did try to keep it interesting." He was walking nonchalantly around the desk towards me; I raised my pistol with its last bullet to point at him once more.

"I'm tired of talking. Where is the Director?" Mr Nu smile faltered but came back within seconds as an amused grin.

"Do you intend to kill him 47? That's tantamount to treason." His voice was light and jovial still, but there was a menacing edge to it now.

"My intention is to stop this project. The agency is neutral, it doesn't deal in creating super soldiers." Mr Nu snorted, a short, humourless sound.

"So this is a coup. Bravo Diana, you and your lackeys here are really playing into Cicada's plans nicely." I frowned at him. He noticed my expression and threw his arms in the air, the pistol waving around above his head. "Come now 47, I expected more from you! The ICA is a powerful, respected organisation that should be harder to dismantle than it has been. I wanted to keep us on top, it's a changing world, there's a new super power now and it's controlled by a bunch of nobodies with a keyboard in a darkened room." I stared at him, realisation clicking into place.

"You're the Director of the ICA." It was statement rather than a question, but Mr Nu nodded anyway.

"Well done 47. Maybe you aren't as slow as I thought."

"Impossible. He can't be." Diana was talking to herself as much to me. Part of me suspected he could be lying as a decoy, but my gut told me he wasn't. Something about the way he held himself and his confidence betray the man of power beneath his flippant exterior. "You have ten minutes now. They are nearly here." Her reminder of our perilous situation dispelled any shock I had from Mr Nu revelation. He was sneering at me now.

"So what do we do now 47? You intend to kill me and effectively end the agency, which you have worked so diligently for. And I do not intend to die, so we appear to be in a stale mate." My lip curled in response to his arrogant remark.

"Hardly." I retorted curtly and shot him in the head. His eyes remained wide with shock as he slowly tilted and crashed to the floor.

"It's done. Well done 47, I am starting the overheating process now. You should have ten minutes to get out." Diana's voice was shaking ever so slightly, but we had been through worse together. She would recover quickly, the agency wasn't dead yet.

"Where is Peregrine?" I discarded my now empty clip and strode over to Agent Mortem's pistol. Taking the ammo from his gun I inserted into mine and turned to face the office door. "Diana!" I was losing patience, not only were there a large amount of heavily armed ICA mercenaries en-route but my former handler was pressing what was effectively the self-destruct button on this place.

"I think she is in the laboratory, she's blocked her POV camera and all security cameras in that area so I cant be more specific." Dammit Perry, I thought. Letting out a low growl I sprint back down the corridor, past the decontamination chamber and towards the laboratory situated at the far end of the warren of rooms. "47, the mercenaries are there. They are heading towards her location." I quickened my pace; we needed to get out of here now.

The corridor suddenly split into three, I came to a halt and tried to remember where the laboratory had been located last time I had been here. I desperately pushed down the inconvenient rising sense of panic threatening to overcome me; it was clouding my thoughts. "Any ideas Diana?" I asked in frustration as the sound of quickly approaching footsteps reached me.

"Down the right hand corridor, all security cameras are jammed that way. I guess she doesn't want me to see whatever she's doing."

I continued in the direction Diana had suggested, I had a pretty good idea what Perry was doing. She was a lot of things, impulsive, stubborn, and foolhardy but she wasn't stupid. She must have cottoned on to Diana's plan to destroy the clones and was going against orders once more in an effort to complete her own moral crusade. The sound of the approaching mercenaries grew fainter as I dashed down endless, winding passage. I got an unwelcome flash back to my nightmare, and half expected to round the next corner and come face to face with the ghost of my creator.

Finally I came to a set of large metal doors. This was the end of the line and hopefully where my wayward handler was. I tried to open them but found them locked shut by an electrical keypad. A loud, abrasive alarm suddenly started wailing all around me.

"The heating system has reached critical condition. You don't have long 47." Gritting my teeth in frustration I struck the door, hoping to get Perry's attention.

"Peregrine, open the door. It's me. We have to go!" The alarm was drowning out my words, but I was sure she had heard me. Still, there was no response from the other side and my frustration quickly turned into anger. "Perry!" I placed my shoulder against the door and pushed it with all my strength. The door gave an inch but didn't open. "Diana can you access the lock?" I could hear the distant footsteps of the mercenaries over the alarm now, and Perry's silence was starting to disturb me.

"No. She's locked me out. There's nothing I can do 47, you need to leave now!" I whirled around in a state of fury as the mercenaries finally rounded the corner and I opened fire without hesitation. I had never let my emotions take over when killing, always keeping a professional calm about me, but now I let my mounting frustration and anger out on these men. They didn't stand a chance. They kept coming, and once out of bullets I strode forward and engaged them in hand to hand combat. The sound of breaking bones and surprised screams echoed through the corridor.

It took me roughly three minutes to dispose of all twenty mercenaries. I stood still, breathing heavily as the alarm became the only noise once more. After a few moments of silence Diana spoke again. "47, the building is about to explode."

"I'm not leaving her." My voice was barely a whisper, but I poured all of my fury and desperation into it forcing Diana to grow quiet. I banged on the door violently once more, pressing my face up to the gap between the doors. "Perry, I know you're in there. We have to go." There was no sound of movement from the other side. "Morgan, god fucking dammit, come on!"

"47…the building…please." Diana's voice was quiet as she begged me to leave. I could hear an ominous groaning from the air ducts above, I didn't have long. With one last look at the doors I turned and sprinted back towards the lift, the only exit from this hell. As I ran I could hear the explosion starting from somewhere deep in the bowels of the Asylum. The lift opened immediately as I ran to it, at least Diana still had control of that. It juddered and shook alarmingly as it slowly rose to the surface.

I pushed my legs to go as fast as they could, scaling the gate outside in seconds. The Asylum exploded just as I reached the woods outside, the darkness beneath the trees lit up briefly, my ears ringing from the proximity of the blast. I kept running until I was clear of the woods, back onto the track leading to the Asylum. Only then did I let myself turn to face the destruction.

There was very little left of the Victorian style building, flames roared violently towards the sky, a large mushroom cloud of smoke billowing up into the morning air. I should have felt relief at the sight of my nightmarish childhood going up in flames, the world finally rid of this place of torture and unnatural science. Instead I felt an unfamiliar stinging around my eyes, and a numbness in my chest. Curious, I lifted a hand to my face and looked down at my finger when they came away wet. I must have got smoke in my eyes, but even as I thought that I knew deep down I was too far away for it to have any affect on me.

"I'm sorry 47." Diana's voice was sombre and quiet. I just stared at the ruin of the Asylum, the numbness spreading through my body.

"Maybe she got out." There was no confidence in my voice, I had spent my life devising ways to eliminate people and watching them die, I knew when a situation was guaranteed to kill someone; and I was looking at it.

"I'll notify the board of the Director's unfortunate resignation, along with the dismantling of the cloning project. I'll be in touch if we need anything, in the mean time take some time off. Well done 47." My earpiece crackled as it went dead, and I stayed staring at the smouldering wreck that had become my companion's grave.