The two Pietros faced other for no more than a heartbeat, but to Pietro it felt like an eternity. Then he didn't have time to think of anything except his own survival as his doppelganger leapt at him, knife outstretched. Pietro sidestepped the knife, but as he did so the other Pietro changed the knife's direction and embedded it in Pietro's right palm. Pain unlike any he had felt for a long time stabbed through Pietro and he fell to his knees clutching his hand.
The other Pietro grinned as he watched Pietro staring in horror at the knife that had plunged through his palm and lashed out with a kick that took Pietro in the ribs and knocked him backwards onto the dusty ground. As his double advanced on him Pietro realised that if he didn't put up a better fight, he was going to die. With that in mind he gripped the knife's handle, gritted his teeth and wrenched the blade out of his hand. The pain was almost unbearable, but Pietro pushed past that and lunged at his attacker.
Taken off guard, the other Pietro couldn't get fully out of the way of the blade and it caught him on the leg, tearing a gash in his trousers and drawing blood. Pietro got to his feet and faced his opponent, who's smile had been replaced by an feral grimace of rage. Pietro had no idea who his opponent was, or how he looked like an identical copy of him, but he knew that he was going to have to fight as well as he could, or he was going to die. The sheer speed and strength of his double was far greater than his, but he seemed to be teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown, so if Pietro could just keep the mental edge he might be able to win.
Suddenly, his double was on the attack again and Pietro was desperately blocking and ducking his blows. His double reached out and grabbed the fist clenched around the knife's hilt and forced Pietro's fingers to open and the knife to fall to the floor. Devoid of a weapon, Pietro desperately fought back as best he could, landing a lucky shot on his double's jaw that staggered him, and then Pietro sprinted away from the fight, towards a half-built tower on the riverside. His double was just too strong and fast for him to beat in his weakened state, so his only option was to run and try and lose his pursuer amongst the twisting lanes amongst the docks.
Lance was walking down the road back to his apartment in a pensive mood, when his pager went off. He pulled it out of his belt and glanced at it, and felt a surge of dread shoot through his heart. It was from Excalibur and it told him that the agent shadowing Pietro was dead - likely thanks to Pietro himself. It seemed that despite the doctors' analyses Pietro was still controlled by Hydra, either that or he'd just gone insane.
Lance set off back to Excalibur headquarters at a run, praying that the answer to the agent's death was something other than Pietro having killed her. He burst through the doors and Scott directed him to the briefing room. There was met by Xavier, Forge and another of the Excalibur agents. "Thank you for coming so promptly Lance," Xavier said, as Forge nodded to him.
"What's happened?" Lance asked, already certain that he knew the answer but refusing to believe it until he heard it from Xavier himself.
"We detailed on of our agents to shadow Pietro, to monitor his behaviour. Shortly after you left, we received information that our agent had been killed. While it is possible that this incident has nothing to do with Pietro, we cannot take that chance so we are sending you and your team to investigate it." Lance nodded resignedly and sat down as Xavier explained what had happened.
"Our agent, Rhane Sinclair, had followed Pietro to the riverside here," Xavier indicated an area on the banks of the River Thames. "She was due to report in at the same time that she was killed. So we have now lost contact with Pietro, who is potentially under the control of Hydra. We have notified the police, who are out looking for him and as soon as they find him they will report back to us. As soon as we determine his location, you will be informed and you are to proceed directly to his location. Before then, you are to proceed to the place where agent Sinclair was murdered."
"And when we locate Pietro, what are we supposed to do?" Lance enquired.
"You are to subdue him, peacefully if at all possible, and to bring him back here for questioning. If it was the case that agent Sinclair was killed by someone other than Pietro, then we will of course release Pietro after a short questioning session. However, should it be the case that Pietro is indeed under the control of Hydra and you are unable to subdue him and he is a threat to more civilians then you have permission to stop him. Permanently."
"You mean kill him."
"Yes," Xavier said uncomfortably. "Lance, this is Sam Guthrie - he's one of our top marksmen. He'll be accompanying you, in case you can't subdue Pietro." Sam stepped forward and extended his hand, which Lance shook unenthusiastically.
"It won't come to that, sir," Lance assured Xavier, who nodded his head.
"I hope it won't as well Lance, but we need to be prepared for all contingencies. Now, you, Sam and Forge are going to head to the docks to investigate agent Sinclair's death. You will be informed when we have a location for Pietro. Good luck," Xavier clapped a hand on Lance's shoulder and Lance nodded.
"Don't worry sir, we will bring Pietro back alive."
Kitty looked around her apartment. It seemed to have got even messier while she had been away, although she didn't have a clue how that was possible. After Pietro's funeral, she had refused to sort through anything that belonged to him and consequently the apartment was almost identical to how it had been before his death. It looked as though the inhabitants had vanished in the middle of their daily routines - half-eaten food was still out, Pietro's clothing was laid out over one of the chairs and a book Kitty had been reading was open on one of the work surfaces.
Kitty dumped her bags on the floor in the bedroom and set about hunting for a drink. She eventually found a half-drunk bottle of white wine at the back of the fridge and she opened it and poured herself a glass. She finished it quickly and poured herself another, which she spent a little more time savouring. She had to start tidying up, that much was self-evident, but if she did it would bring back so many painful memories. Still, it was probably better to get it over and done with, rather than waiting and then bringing all the pain rushing back to the surface.
Finishing the last of the wine, Kitty put her glass in the sink and moved into her bedroom to start sorting out the mess that was her apartment.
Pietro had climbed almost to the top of the half-built tower, and when he allowed himself to glance downwards he saw that his double was closing with him fast. Pietro had hoped that he would be able to shake his double off his tail in the alleys but his double had proved to be too fast for him, and his only escape seemed to be upwards. Using the last of his strength he pulled himself onto the roof of the tower and for a moment allowed himself to marvel at the glorious view. From the roof he could see practically all of London, and it was an amazing sight. Then he came back to reality and realised he had to get away, now.
He hurried over to the other side of the roof, but all he found there was a very, very long drop. A quick investigation of the other sides showed the same thing - he had managed to trap himself on the top of an incomplete tower with a psychopathic look-a-like who wanted to kill him. Today was turning into a really bad day.
He moved to the edge that he had climbed up, but there was no sign of his double who had been following him up. Pietro wondered momentarily if his double might have lost his grip, but he dismissed that idea as there was no body at the foot of the tower. A metallic clanging behind him made him almost fall off the roof, and when he turned around he saw the other Pietro standing on the opposite side of the roof, smiling across at him.
Author's Note: Thanks again to everyone who reviewed last chapter, you are both too kind!