(NOTE): Hello dear readers,

Sorry for the long wait, life happened.

Chapter 38.

3: Mission Impossible

Rengar played the footage the conversance store caught. They all silently watched it without interrupting. There were two men, one distracted the young female and the other drugged her. When she fell on the ground they faked-carried her to the hospital. That is what Vayne and Rengar concluded when they questioned the owner of the store.

"Play it one more time" Vayne is standing closest to the huge screen "Pause is here" Rengar pauses. "Can you zoom in on his neck?" Rengar does what the woman asked him to do and he even cleared the image.
"That son of a bitch" he then curses and then opens his federal account to search for the guy he just recognized.
"Do you recognize him?" Caitlyn asks.
"He also recognized his tattoo" Vayne spoke "It is very rare one, and usually people don't know what it means."
"Vayne is right. This guy's name is Kha'Zix. From the forbidden Isle" is this the reason Jarvan hired him? It was more than personal what Kha'Zix did to him. It was that moment of finding this little bug and squish it under his boot. This psychopath needed to be stopped, fast.
"Why would someone from the forbidden Isle kidnap a mare surgeon?" Graves asks.
"I think you just answered you own question" Caitlyn informs "She is not a mare surgeon. There must be something she did to get their attention."
"I have looked into her research. It is a secret I need help to uncover" Vayne turns to look at Caitlyn. Rengar did give up the moment he saw them kiss. The moment he saw them so lethally staring at each other as if daring one another to start something.

I wonder who will win?

"What is our next move?" Her question wasn't asked because she lacked the ability to think. Her question was a challenge. She was testing the sheriff of Piltover. She was pushing Caitlyn further into losing her cool, but Rengar doubts this woman will ever lose anything.

"Isn't this why you were hired? To track down and find?" This is really entertaining to watch. Vayne looks really pissed and Graves doesn't give a shit about what's going on. His only concern is finding the girl and collect his money.

Rengar believes that he just met a combination of darkness and justice in the same room. One that loves to play by the rules and the other have had enough with rules. Caitlyn is a naturel leader and Vayne is exploring that. Caitlyn has her lines and Vayne wants to cross them, to find her weaknesses and exploit them.

"I have people that can help us."

Vayne takes out her phone and Caitlyn crosses her arms. They share a look. Rangar wants to understand what it means, the silent conversation is encrypted. She turns around and then her attention is now on him.

"Who is the other guy with him?" she asks him about the guy accompanying Kha'Zix.
"Don't know, never saw him before."
When the door to Vayne's bedroom closes, Caitlyn turned immediately and walked to where Vayne is gone.
"Can you identify him? I will be right back" she opened the door and went inside.

#

Vayne had always believed that there is nothing in this world that can get on her nerves. It turned out that there is a first time for everything. There is this woman that came out of nowhere and now tracks her every movement.

She just wanted to call Lucian and Senna to actually help. Vayne puts down her phone and waits for the woman -that just barged into her room uninvited- to say something.

"You are not taking this seriously. So why join?" she keeps her feelings in check. Her break down six months ago when she had confronted her demons had washed away all the pain. The killer was found and the killer was punished for their crime. She killed the assassin, remorseless, feelings detached from her mission. Vayne found no piece, just the thrill of the hunt.

And what did she gain from it? nothing. Absolutely nothing. Maybe the nightmares have finally decided to give her a rest. Or just got bored of torturing her every night.

"I don't do jokes, sheriff" and she dares to question my decisions. Didn't she come to ask for my help?
"I don't believe you" she walks to her and Vayne retreats. Not ready, unarmed and she doesn't know what this woman is capable of. She kept her distance and stood next to her desk. Her gun is near. "Why do you go for your gun? Am threatening you?" the sheriff still has her arms crossed and Vayne had never thought she would think about fearing anyone this way. "I am not the best when it comes to hand-to-hand-combat, you would have the advantage" that is when she stops directly in front of her.
"I don't think you were supposed to tell me your weakness."
"Why not? would you rather find out about it in combat? When I am exposed to danger?"
"No, but…we don't know each other and I pointed my gun at you. How do you know you can trust me?"
"Should I not trust you?" Vayne looks to the side and pulls her hand away from where her gun is.
"I'll let you be the judge of that" Caitlyn curves one side of her lips upwards in a small side-grin.
"Good, I thought we got off on the wrong foot."

#

According to the female hunter, Lucian and Senna are the ones capable of finding Kha'Zix and his friend. They were trying to identify him, but he was better at avoiding the cameras.

No-one says a word, they are silently waiting for the people Vayne had contacted. She never heard of the duo before. They have changed locations to meet with the duo's wishes. Also, it was a good idea to stay on the move. They have decided to move to Demacia.

The hotel they are currently in, is close by the Demacian airport. As they enter the booked room, they find Lucian and Senna already occupying the only two brown leathered seats. Rengar throws his weight on the king seized bed, along with his boots. She sits on a chair behind an office desk. Graves stays near the door and Vayne went to greet the two –possibly- new audition to the group.

Lucian and Senna. Lucian is tall, maybe even taller than Jayce. The first to greet them, is Vayne. To be honest, Caitlyn would have mistaken Lucian for a Zaunite if it wasn't for Vayne who told her that he is a Demacian. As for Senna, well, she too has nothing to do with Demacians.

For all she knows, Demacians were known for one common thing, their height. Senna is short and her heritage is a mystery. Is she really Demacian?

The whole group is still a mystery to her. Caitlyn wanted to meet them to understand what they fight for. It all started with Jarvan when he contacted her a month ago. He offered her a seat in the FBI, which she was shocked to hear. It is very rare for an outsider to be in a high position within the Demacian ranks. They are the kind of people that trust their own and like to keep it to themselves.

Caitlyn is just a sheriff that wanted to protect her city, but now that she sees the bigger picture, she wanted to have that access to rid the world off these criminals.
"You are Caitlyn?" Senna had left her seat and approached Caitlyn.
"Caitlyn Perkins, nice to meet you" she extends her hand for a shake. The woman smiles then extends hers to get acquainted.
"Senna Parks. I just want to know how you manged to persuade that idiot to join you" she looks at Vayne. Calling the Night Hunter an idiot might be the most accurate thing to hear about her. Caitlyn wanted to use more complex words, but they didn't fit her and the simplicity of the word 'idiot' hadn't crossed her mind.
"I didn't do anything. She magically agreed to help" Caitlyn says and Senna chuckles.
"Shauna and friends are a very lasting enemies" she even calls her by her first name, which Vayne made clear to them to just call her by her last name.

Vayne was still talking to Lucian and Caitlyn never took her eyes off of her. It wasn't fascinating, it wasn't attractiveness, it wasn't her uncool edginess or her horrible manners. Her terrible personality and poor communications were out of the questions, but Caitlyn still sees a professional, almost a perfectionist. Her devotion and what's it all really made off.
"Senna," Lucian, the husband, approaches them and Caitlyn just kept her eyes on Vayne, who in return was actually looking back at her. "Pardon me, you must be the leader" he then switches his attention to Caitlyn, who broke eye contact with Vayne and found his hand waiting for hers to shake it.
"Nice to meet you" she says standing up, removes her hand from his and walked to the middle of the room. She didn't know how to get their attention, but when she looked around, she found that her presence in the middle of the room was actually enough to get their attention.

She felt like she was standing in the briefing room of Piltover's police station. Part for the no uniforms around her. More professionals and briefing to them is critical.
"Our lead, is the man known as Kha'Zix" she starts her build-up "The Tattoo on his neck is still unknown as well as for his partner" Caitlyn halts before she finishes when Senna gestured that she wanted to say something.
"The tattoo is the crest of the Shadow Isle. It is unrecognizable by commoners, but if he has the tattoo it means that he works for… him" she looks at Lucian whose face has turned into the most uncomfortable expression yet seen from him.
"That he works for Thresh."
"Who is that?" Rengar beats her to the question.
"The warden of the Box. The Box used to be a prison in the Shadow Isle for military escapees. If the government enforcing Valoran wants to dispose of a source, but too valuable to kill, they will throw them in The Box" Lucian explains.
"If Kha'Zix was sent to pick-up the victim, then our victim is a threat to someone" Caitlyn had to agree with Senna. Their objective was clear, find Soraka Sol and rescue her. The gleam of concern in Lucian's eyes told her that their destination is the Shadow Isle. The focus in Rengar's eyes at the shape of her cleaving knife, gave Caitlyn his agreement. Graves had told her already that he will follow her.

Caitlyn turned her head to the left and found, that Vayne, was looking at her. When their gazes met, she walked to her and stopped to be in front of the taller woman. She was holding Caitlyn's eyes. And Caitlyn found them to be blue with dankness in their highlight. So dangerous at first sight. Like a puzzle tempting her to solve it mystery. A secret wanting to be exposed. A map that leads to a treasure.

What made Caitlyn crack a grin to the side was the amount of loyalty this woman is capable of. She was pushing herself inside a fortress, a well armoured heart and a weakness left in the open, the key is waiting for Caitlyn to use.
"What?" She says and Caitlyn nods to the room they were inside of just an hour ago. Vayne walks first, opens the door and gestures for Caitlyn to enter first.
"What do you think?" Caitlyn asks. And the dark-haired woman leans against the edge of her small desk. She stands there next to Caitlyn and the sheriff of Piltover found herself exploring the depths of her features.
"About what?" Vayne takes out her gun from its holster and places it on the desk. She unbuttons the buttons of her sleeves and rolls them up. She does the same to the upper one of her black silk shirt. Caitlyn sees a silver necklace. She wants to know what it is holding.

Strange, how her curiosity took the better of her when she met tis woman.

"Our composition. I see flows in it, don't you?" Caitlyn stands up to be in front of her. She pops the little bubble of personal space, ignoring the lifted eyebrow as she did so. Vayne had her arms crossed and eyes locked on each other like they have known one another for ages. The conflict in their ways was so great, it made Caitlyn want to discuss everything with this woman.
"We don't have a front-liner to distract, I don't think we even need one" Vayne says it so low, Caitlyn's eyes lowered for the split of a second to her lips and back up. She wanted to take a step back, wanted to get out of the maze of Vayne's personality.
"Have you been there before" Caitlyn did take a step beck, almost wanting to reach up for the necklace to see what it is really holding.
"No, don't want to be there" she shrugs.
"I thought you didn't fear death."
"Everyone fears death. Specially monster with hunger for…" Caitlyn remarks the little shake of Vayne's hand as she held her arm for control.
"For what?" Caitlyn presses, but carefully.
"Never mind" she walks away to the door and disappears behind it, leaving Caitlyn thinking about all that just happened between them. She wants to know more about her. She wanted to see the real Vayne. The human inside of her was hidden, the Night Hunter was taking over each and every one of her senses.

#

It was probably worth the try, Graves thought. The possibility of him finding the woman alive, getting the fuck out of this place and enjoy a short simple life with the money he will receive, maybe even expand his field of expertise inside of the government. He wouldn't just be the outlaw everyone sees him for, but also a reliable source.

They exit the plane that brought them to the shadow Isle. It is an-out-of-the-radar-airfield. They have not found out the reason to her abduction. They enter a ghost town. They drive in two different cars. The one driving is Rengar, humming a melody of war. In the back seat is Caitlyn. That leaves Vayne, Lucian and Senna in the car in front of them. The cracked paved way bouncing the four-wheeler will almost turn his stomach. He didn't understand the type of attachment between the leader and the vigilante. It turned out that Vayne is indeed is an 'important demacian citizen.'
Was it vengeance that led her to this path? Or simply the thrill of it all?

The four-wheelers in the front stopped and Rengar did the same. They all exit as Vayne looks at the gadget in her hand. She is searching for the transporter. Frank is his name and he knows a way inside of the Box.
"We should spread to cover more ground" Senna suggest and Graves silently agrees.
"I was informed that he came here two days ago. That means he knows something about the new inmates" Vayne says. Where did she even get this information?
"Who informed you?" Rengar asks kicking a small rock out if the way. Graves looks around and sees that Caitlyn was not with them. She was still in the backseat of the car.

Rengar and Vayne keep on talking, but he had dismissed the conversation and went to the vehicle.
"What are you doing?" He calmly asked her resting his arms on the frame of the window. She looks up from the encrypted laptop Vayne gave her and grins.
"I was looking for more information about Soraka Sol" her expression told him that she didn't find a single thing about her.

He turns around and eyes the town they stopped in. It is the nearest to the Box. It seems not a bad place to live in, it's just mysteriously devoid of the warmth that made it worthy of that term. It is a collection of buildings. Banners hang with slogans to be read only by the dust-laden wind. The market is all set up like it awaits the stall holders any moment, except for the missing products that would normally fill them. The only sounds are the once belong to the black birds that cries as if they can bring back the people who left, if only it calls loud enough. Against the wall of the old court house is a bicycle, the chain dangling on the sidewalk. Ahead is the clock tower, forever stuck at half past noon. If Graves stands still enough perhaps time is indeed frozen, perhaps is just his bones that don't realize it.

"We are moving to the northwest of the town" Rengar gets behind the driver seat "We are surrounding the building a block away. Group B is on the move, we should hurry" Graves hears the man speak as he jumps inside of the vehicle.

#

His senses are heightened. Rengar never failed to smell the despair from his prey. This is this sound their steps make. The clumsiness of the footfalls crunching over the stones further down the floor. The building looks deprived from people for the last five, maybe six years. It's dirty and filled with dust. He looks back and finds his own footprints trailing to his current position.

Vayne choose to take the floor higher. She will miss this one for sure. Rengar clutches the hilt of his machete knife. His leathered hand loves the friction of the hilt against his palm. He slips in.

Listens very carefully. He pushes his body to beyond all endurance and runs. adrenaline pumping, the thrill of stalking the prey.

The transporter has sharp ears and notices death nearing him with horrifying speed. It's daylight, bright, like a day for the beach but he's coming. Frank sees the devil himself is in pursuit. Only it's worse, the chaser is flesh and blood and means to send him straight to hell, just the same. He is coming and Frank can't stop him, he can't stop this monstrosity with a knife in his hand and he means to twist it in Frank's guts when he gets close. He is being hunted down and it is all Thresh's fault. He told that asshole that he couldn't go out in daylight. Frank runs in a scattered way, run and hide, rinse repeat. Now his heart beats like it means to explode and his mind is a scattered mess. Are there others with him?
He takes out his hand crossbow. He tips the arrowhead with a paralyzing poison. At least he will slow the mother-fucker down.
Then before he knows it, he is out in the open, running down the street. Two four-wheelers in sight. There are people around it. Heavily armed. His eyes shoot wide when he sees a female sniper, pointing her rifle at his head. He ducks beneath a concrete road barrier. The shot shattered the upper edge of the small wall. He threw a smoke grenade and waited two seconds. The smoke now clouding the area and he takes off. Footsteps behind him, but they were fading as he ran away from them.
He stops near a tree. He had to get away from the road or his chasers will easily spot him.
He should have listened to Kha'Zix and never took Thresh's dirty deal. He made it seem like a gift when it was truly enslavement, now he plans to abandon the deal and Frank felt the sting of betrayal he always shows to the people that trust him.
A silhouette, black long hair swaying with the air. A woman in all black clothes walks towards him. Her gloved hand has a gun in its hold. She was blocking the narrow track made of loose gray pebbles that crunched under her combat boots when she walked, nearing him. She came to a proximity, then stopped.
He usually never takes this road, but did a great job at keeping it well taking care off. She makes a step and the rock sink under her boot. Frank smirks as he sees her falling for his trap. But rushes to fire the arrow when he saw that she was about to shoot him. Fuck, it only scratched her. The poison should work any second now.

Before he even moved a muscle.

A gunshot.

The bullet penetrated the ground between his feet. It must be of a sniper rifle and the shooter used real low velocity. That woman with the sniper is already here? Where is she hiding? He knows these guns can fire bullets further than the eye can see, is she actually here?

A knife placed on the skin of his neck. Frank felt the life choking out with a relentless grasp, hopelessness gnawing at his insides, despair a shackle around his ankle. Everything was closing in on him.

"Thanks for the work-out, asshole" the man that was chasing him speaks. He chuckles deeply. "Move it" they walk way. The opposite side from where the woman in black still laying on the ground.

(NOTE):

Thank you for reading and until the next chapter.