Russian Mafia HQ, two weeks later.

"Sir, there was a girl..."

"Silence, you idiot! I know all this already! How could you have been so careless?! My god... I'm astonished. If you hadn't served me so well in the past... I want this fixed yesterday. Go!"

"Yes sir." The terrified man, who's name was Petrovitch, called his subordinate in. "I want an assassin, here, in this room, now."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid that's not possible..." He quailed under Petrovitch's glare.

"Not possible! You dare come in here and say that what I ask is not possible!"

"Well, Levski, Zograf and Volkov are on assignment, and won't be available for at least three months, and Popoff is on leave with her family. She can't be called in."

"Go. Leave me." He knew what this meant. He would have to bring in an outsider for this job. With his own money, of course. There could be no question about that. He crossed his lavish suite, his expensive Italian shoes sinking into the heavy, wine coloured carpet. He turned on his computer, and went to a web site advertising shoe and furniture polish, a company called "Bigiros fine polish". Then, he did something that only seven other people on earth (who weren't part of the site) knew about. When he clicked the second 'I' in Bigiros, which was identical to all the other letters, he found himself in a completely different site, that wasn't exactly selling polish. He scrolled down the list of assassins, and muttered "Yes. Her. She will do."

Russian Mafia HQ, 14 hours later

Bastet-Mau, which roughly translates as "Devouring Lady-Cat," was nervous. She knew that there was no real reason for it, she knew how desperate the Mafia was for her services, that they wouldn't dare harm her for fear of retribution, yet she could not shake the anxiety she felt. Fortunately, no one would know from looking at her, except maybe Apoc... This was only her second assignment without him, her mentor, and she was still unused to not sensing him near her, hearing him. She shook herself, and brought herself back to reality. There was no use getting worked up for nothing.

Still, despite the coolness of the waiting room, devoid of anything but the rigid metal chair she occupied, she was sweating through her skin-tight black shirt and kevlar vest. However, her relaxation training kicked in, and by the time a Mafia underling entered, she was composed, a model of assassindom. She silently took the information sheet and advance money he handed her, spun on her heel, and regally walked down the hall, her boot heels clicking on the bare cement floor. Only once she was back in her car, on her way back along the empty road from the Headquarters could Bastet-Mau allow herself to relax completely. She pulled out the information sheet and read:

Target: Jesse Rheinhertz

Age: 18

Sex: F

Hair colour: Red-gold (short)

Eye colour: Blue-green

Height: 5'7"

Last known location: Crystal Woods Irish Boarding Academy.

Wow, Bastet-Mau thought, that could have been me, if things had been different, if... No. She wouldn't think about that. What was done was done, and there was no use thinking of the past. It was strange, though... This Jesse girl matched Mau's own description exactly... It was almost like a sign, to her mind. But she shook that thought off, too. Apoc hated it when she thought like that. He would be pleased though, and she definitely was...