Hey I just wanted to thank everyone for reviewing, it really means a lot to me and I wanted to apologize for not saying anything sooner.
Sailor Libra: yeah I know, but I like him better with silver hair, but thanks for pointing it out. shrugs
Archangel Rhapsody: thanks for catching my slip up! At least it provided extra amusement!
Thanks to Joruri Mouri, Lara1786, BeckyJoe3689, Pamela, rb8, emmastarz, NaruKami, frosty, kris-chan, ladytokyo, Septori, thanks for all the praise and encouragement!
By the way...I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the components within>>
Previously on A Viper's Poison...
Serena quickly surveyed them, not noticing anyone particularly until her bright aquamarine eyes met shocking cold blue ones, so dark, they seemed to go on forever, like a black abyss and she felt a shiver run up her spine...
Chapter Four: Silver Snakes
Serena couldn't pull her gaze from the man across the room from her, his eyes seemed to have a strange hold on her and she couldn't look away no matter how cold and calculating they seemed.
His tight lips curled into a smirk and he finally released her gaze as he turned back to the table. Serena took the time to quickly assess him.
He had dirty blond hair that was gathered in a tight, low pony tail that went a couple inches below the base of his neck. He seemed to be in his low forties, but was in peak physical shape from the looks of his body. His arms were thick with muscle and his shoulders broad, chest tight.
Serena looked away from him and walked towards the mahogany table in the center of the conference room and sat in the seat Diamond had pulled out for her, right next to him.
"Serena, this is Michael Borlio, Michael, Serena." Diamond introduced the two.
"Next to Michael is James Dodger, and next to him is Lily Carpenter. They represent Crystal Empires and are here to talk about your new job if you accept."
Serena fought to cover her shock at the mention of her father's former empire and graciously nodded a hello to the other two people at the table.
"What are the conditions?" she asked evenly, no emotion in her voice.
"We want you to take care of this man." Michael said in a smooth voice as he tossed a file across the table towards her. Serena reached out, picked it up and flipped it open.
She pulled out a 6 x 4 shot of a young man who couldn't be any older then twenty-five.
"He works for the company, but lately he has been getting into things he shouldn't. He's been sticking his nose in places he's not wanted and trying to get access to top security files. He doesn't know that we know. He's been taking our information to our competitors and getting paid for it. This is top secret work we do and we can't have him running his mouth so he just needs to be disposed of." Michael explained.
Serena studied his face, memorizing it for future references.
"What's his name?" she asked.
"Darien Shields."
'Darien, it fits him.' Serena thought to herself as she took in his dark hair and blue eyes. 'What a waste, he's pretty cute.'
"Anything else?" Serena wondered.
"We want this clean, he's pretty popular in the company, and is well known in the community and science world. He's a genius actually, it's a shame to dispose of him, but it's necessary." Michael finished.
Serena raised her eyebrow slightly, she didn't believe Michael's spiel about why Darien need to be taken care of, well, not all of it, but it wasn't in her interest to question it.
"We'll be paying you five million dollars upfront for your services."
Serena's eyes widened in shock at the amount of money they were offering her.
"And five million more when the job is completed."
Serena's eyes were now bugging out of her head.
"Alright, I'll do it." She grinned after composing herself and stuck out her hand towards Michael to seal the deal.
He reached out his hand and grasped hers tightly and Serena again felt shivers travel her body at his touch and she was repulsed and had to force herself to not yank her hand away.
"I suggest that you meet Darien and use your womanly charms..." he gave her a pointed once over "...to gain his trust, become his girlfriend, whatever and then kill him the cleanest way you can."
Serena nodded her agreement and they all stood up.
"Thank you for your services Serena, you can check your bank account tomorrow, you should see a five million dollar transfer in it. After that, we would request that you get started. All the locations and any other information you might need are located in his file. It has a complete description of everything about him, from what he sleeps in to how much salt he puts on his steak."
With that, Michael and his two companions exited the room leaving Serena alone with Diamond.
"Man." Diamond whistled loudly. "That's a really sweet deal, Serena, easy too. Nothing you can't handle."
"Naturally." She grinned. "Five million dollars! Can you believe it?" Serena clapped her hands in glee.
"Yeah, that's the highest paying job any of us has seen for years. Crystal Empires is one of the leading weapon specialist research companies in the states."
"Yeah..." Serena agreed, suddenly not so joyful anymore as she pondered her father's past history.
"Well, I should be going Diamond, I need to get to the office and figure out how I'm going to do this." Serena spoke and smiled warmly at her old friend before exiting the conference room and headed back to her office.
Once inside, Serena tossed the file on her desk and walked over to the leather office chair and sank into its depths with a sigh.
Her mind drifted back to Michael, there was just something about him that seemed to stop Serena's heart each time she thought about him, and not in a good way either. His eyes, they seemed so familiar, but Serena couldn't place where she had met him before. She didn't recognize anything else, just those frightening blue eyes.
Serena sighed and rubbed her temples as her gaze fell upon Darien Shield's file.
"Might as well get started." Serena murmured. "Don't want my money taken away from me."
She reached out a slender hand and pulled the file closer to her, flipping open the manila top and pulling out a couple sheets of paper.
"Darien Shields, age twenty four, black hair, blue eyes, 6' 1", lean body." Serena listed as she scanned the paper.
"Hmmm, seems like quite a package. This should be fun to play with." Serena grinned wickedly as she stared at his picture.
Shaking her head, she went back to his file.
"Likes cheese, played lacrosse in high school, was at the top of his class in both high school and college. Studied at Oxford. Only had one serious girlfriend, has a sister named Raye, both parents are dead from a car crash..." Serena's eyes softened at the mention of his dead parents and she briefly sympathized with the man she had never met, but knew felt some of her pain.
"Well, I guess I need to figure out how to meet him, then "sink my claws" into him as Diamond would say." Serena said to herself with a laugh.
"Uh, the file says he likes to eat at the Crown Arcade after work." Serena frowned, who eats at an arcade at his age?
"Best friend Andrew Berg owns and runs the Crown Arcade." She continued reading. Ah, that explains it. He probably gets free meals too.
"Crown Arcade eh? Well you better be prepaid Darien Shields because tomorrow, your life is going to change." Serena said warningly to the picture on her desk.
She placed all the papers and the picture back into the file and stuffed it her briefcase. Glancing at her watch she noticed that it was six o clock already.
"Good Lord, where does the time go? I didn't even do anything today!" Serena muttered.
'You had a rumble with Seiya.' Her mind reminded her.
"I did not have a rumble." Serena countered grumbling to herself.
"Uh huh, sure, then what do you call that little thing at the end?' her mind seemed to be smirking at her.
Serena frowned in annoyance.
"Go away will you? Stop making things up!" Serena yelled.
"Who do you want to go away?" a voice cut into her argument.
Serena spun around to find Seiya standing in her doorway.
"Uh, no one, I was just talking to myself." She explained, embarrassed.
"I see," Seiya chuckled at her. "Well, Diamond just told me about your job for Crystal Empires. Congratulations, but I just wanted to warn you to be careful, I don't think they are all that they seem and I wouldn't want you to get hurt."
Seiya had moved across the room during his little speech and had come to rest in front of her and with his last lines, had placed his right hand on the side of her face.
Serena felt her heartbeat quicken at his touch and swallowed hard.
"I'm in danger everyday of my life, Seiya, no need for the extra concern, I can handle myself." Serena snipped, and hastily pulled away from his touch, busying herself with gathering her coat and keys.
"I have to go now, Seiya, I have to feed my cat and do some things before getting some sleep. I have a job to do tomorrow."
Seiya nodded in response and headed towards the door.
"Serena." His soft voice drifted back to her as he stopped in the doorway. "Be careful, honestly, I don't want to lose you."
With that he left leaving a puzzled Serena in his wake.
Serena gathered up her things and slipped out of the office, flicking off the light and shutting the door. She drew out a small silver key and slipped it in the hole and locked the door as she turned it. Pulling it out, Serena straightened and headed down the hallway towards the entrance of the mansion.
"Serena!" she heard Mina's voice calling to her. "Wait up!"
Serena stopped and leaned against the wall as she waited for the blond to catch up with her. Mina joined her a few seconds later, out of breath and disheveled, her blond hair wisped around her face, her cheeks flushed and skin warm.
"What were you doing, Mina?" Serena asked trying to hide her grin.
Mina tried to look innocent. "Oh nothing, I was just doing some work."
"This work wouldn't involve the new guy I saw you flirting with this morning now would it?" Serena leered at Mina until she cracked.
"Fine, fine! Yes, I was just having some fun. Craig was teaching me an interesting way too-"Mina was cut off mid sentence when Serena placed a hand over her mouth.
"Mina, I really don't want to hear the gory details."
"Fine, by the way, I heard about you're new assignment you lucky girl. Not only do you get paid a billion times more then normal, you get to flirt with an incredibly hot guy!" Mina sighed in envy. Serena rolled her eyes at her friend and kept walking.
"Well, you want to come with me tomorrow to meet him? He eats at this place his friend Andrew owns, and I was going to maneuver my way into his life there, I need a dinner date, want to come?" Serena asked her.
Mina's eyes baby blue eyes lit up. "Really? A friend, huh? Hopefully he's as cute as your guy is."
"Mina, he's not my guy, please try to remember that I'm supposed to be relieving him of his living privileges."
"Right, right, but he's still some sweet eye candy."
"Mina!"
"Sorry, I can't help it!"
Serena rolled her eyes again and opened the front door when they reached it and they both stepped out into the cool night air.
"Ah, I love Virginia weather, it sucked up in Maine where I grew up, to freaking cold." Mina said. "It's weird though, how in the fall it gets so dark so early. Oh well. I'll see you tomorrow, Serena!" Mina waved cheerfully and walked over to her blue BMW, got in and drove off.
"What a character." Serena laughed to herself as she reached her own car. She dumped her belongings in the back of the Viper and got in. Flicking on her headlights, she drove out of the parking lot back down the crappy dirt road.
Every time she drove home Serena was reminded how glad she was that she was coming up from the south, not driving home from DC because the traffic was horrendous. A person could sit three hours waiting to get home when it should only take about a half an hour. Ridiculous Virginia traffic.
An hour later, Serena pulled into her driveway and hit the button that opened her garage door. She parked the viper on the right side, next to her escalade. Who didn't say being an assassin had its perks? She waltzed into her kitchen and tossed her keys on the emerald marbled island sitting in the middle of the glossy white tiles of her kitchen.
Serena heard a soft meow and her sleek black cat Luna leapt onto the counter top and walked over to Serena, her tail curling around in the air.
Serena put out a welcoming arm that Luna immediately rubbed against before enfolding the cat in her embrace. Serena rubbed her face against the top of Luna's silky fur, enjoying its feel and comfort. Luna started to purr, a gentle rumble reaching Serena's ears, and she gave Luna a quick kiss on the head before setting her on the floor.
"And stay down there. Luna, you know I said don't go up on the counters, that's gross, I don't want to be hacking up fur balls because you got hair in my food, that's your job." Serena scolded her cat playfully, who just wandered around the kitchen in disinterest.
"Uh, I'm starving!" Serena complained out loud as her stomach started to grumble and she remembered to her horror that she didn't even eat lunch. Serena dashed to the phone and called the nearest pizza place, Papa John's, and ordered a large pepperoni pizza and cheesy bread.
Once she was finished, she got out a coke and headed to her family room and flipped on the huge wall screen TV and settled into her couch to watch some educational nighttime dramas.
Luna curled up in her lap and they both sat in comfortable silence, watching the TV until Serena heard the doorbell chiming. Excited for pizza, Serena shot off the couch, knocking Luna to the floor as she dashed to answer the door.
A lanky teenager holding up a bag, which held her wonderful pizza, greeted Serena.
"That's mine!" Serena announced and handed the boy the money and a generous tip. The kid cracked a cute toothy grin at Serena while he gave her the pizza.
Serena happily shut the door as the pizza boy walked back to his car and sniffed in the delicious aroma of her pepperoni pizza. She bounded back to the couch and set the box on the coffee table in front of her, opened it, and took out a huge greasy slice then stuffed it in her mouth in a very un-lady like manner.
Serena spent the rest of her night inhaling pizza, curled up with Luna and watching late night TV until she could barely keep her eyes open.
She shuffled upstairs, her hands grasping the wooden balcony to keep her from tripping and falling down the stairs.
Once she reached the master bedroom, Serena threw open the doors and quickly shed her clothes, donning some gray sweats and a tank top, brushed her teeth and collapsed into her feather bed. Within minutes, she was fast asleep with Luna curled faithfully at her head.
Ten years earlier...
The black tires of the beat up Honda grinded against the gravel road, jolting Serena around in the torn leather seats as the car drove. Serena stared out the window as the passing scenery, trees, sky and houses blurring into a spinning wheel of color as they flew by.
She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't exactly care either. All that mattered was that she was free from the orphanage, free from the people and the pain, the physical pain anyways.
Serena turned away from the window and observed the man silently driving the car. Well, he wasn't exactly a man, but Seiya was older then her anyways. His jaw was set in a determined look, his light gray eyes staring, focus on the road and he didn't notice Serena studying him. His silver hair blew softly from the slit in the window, letting a miniscule amount of air in to ruffle the wispy strands around his face.
Serena was grateful for him, she didn't know him, know anything about him, but somehow, she just knew that she could trust him. Knew that he would take car of her and that everything would be all right.
Seiya shifted his eyes briefly and caught Serena's gaze, giving her a brief encouraging smile. Serena looked away quickly and stared back out the window feeling a little bit shy,
She was ten after all and Seiya was more than cute, even if he was older than her.
She felt old herself. Her life seemed to be dragging on, making her feel like she had lived forever. So much has happened in her life, so much experience that she felt mature then most kids her age, most kids in general. Not many had been through what she had. Not many knew of the horrors that could happen, that existed outside their perfect little bubbles with their perfect little lives and perfect families.
Serena had always been bright anyways, that made her feel older too, and she knew so much for her age. She started talking when she was one year old, and could speak complete sentences by the time she was one and half, conversing with her parents regularly by two. She learned her alphabet and numbers at three and a half, and skipped kindergarten and first grade, entering second grade when she was just five years old.
None of that mattered anymore, she was done with that life, she might not even get to go to school again as far as she knew and right now, she knew nothing, and that was the thing that scared her the most.
Seiya turned off the gravel road jolting Serena out of her thoughts and pulled into a smooth parking lot in front of the most beautiful house Serena had ever laid eyes on.
The mansion was gorgeous, southern style; the front porch was made of white alabaster with four columns supporting the triangle-framed roof. Large glass windows covered all sides and the rest of the mansion was the same white alabaster. The mansion was surrounded by a glade of various trees and flowers, a small pavilion sitting just out front to the left.
Serena slipped out of the car and followed Seiya up to the mansion and walked through the open door he offered her.
"What is this place?" Serena asked in awe.
Seiya gave a soft chuckle. "It's my home."
"You live here?" Serena gasped, her eyes wide. "How?"
"My great grandparents owned it when they were alive a long time ago and they left it to my grandparents who left it to my mom, and now, its mine." He explained.
"So your parents..."
"Dead."
"Oh. Mine too." She added softly.
"Do you live by yourself?" Serena asked him.
Seiya shook his head, "Nope, there are actually quite a few people who live with me."
"People like you and me? People with no parents?" she wondered.
"Yes, but they usually find me. I don't know what it is, but they just find me." He explained.
"I'm going to take you upstairs, you're going to be sleeping there. You'll be sharing a room with Mina, she's a nice girl and she's about your age." Seiya turned to look at her.
"How old are you exactly?"
"Ten."
"Ten, that's perfect, so is Mina. She's a delight, you'll love her."
Seiya led Serena up the spiraling foyer staircase and led her to a closed white door. Seiya knocked loudly and Serena heard a young voice granting them entrance. Seiya opened the door and motioned for Serena to follow him in.
"Mina?" he said gently.
"Uh, yeah?" Mina's voice could be heard from inside what appeared to Serena to be the bathroom.
"I've brought you a roommate."
"Really!" Serena could hear Mina squeal and she saw a blond head appear from around the doorframe. Mina rushed out of the bathroom and stood in front of Serena.
'She is really pretty.' Was Serena's first thought as she gazed at the peppy blond standing in front of her. Mina's hair was bright yellow, like spun gold and hung low down to her backside, her eyes were bright blue, framed with dark black lashes and were shining with excitement.
"Mina, this is Serena. Serena, Mina." Seiya introduced them.
"Hi Serena!" Mina said enthusiastically, extending her right hand to shake Serena's. Serena placed her right hand in Mina's and Mina pumped it joyfully.
"This is great!" she exclaimed, "I've been bugging Seiya to find me a partner for at least a year now."
"Partner?" Serena looked at Seiya with a puzzled expression on her face.
"She doesn't know who we are yet, Mina." Seiya gave Mina a look.
"Sorry, I didn't know. Never mind Serena, you'll find out later." Mina told the girl as she grabbed her arm. "Come on, let's get you unpacked and settled in."
"I, uh, don't have anything." Serena admitted a little embarrassed and turned redder at Mina's shocked expression. Serena looked at Seiya for help.
"Serena came from a different situation then the rest of us Mina, she's starting all over with everything." He explained and Mina nodded in understanding.
"Doesn't matter, I have lots of stuff you can borrow until we get you your own things." Mina offered.
"Alright ladies, I'm going to leave you for a little bit, but I'll see you soon. Mina, please dress Serena in some comfortable clothes and throw away the ones she's wearing. When you're done, please show Serena to my office so I can explain her situation to her." Mina nodded in compliance and dragged Serena over to her closet as Seiya exited the room.
"Ok, you're lucky cause we're the same height and stuff, heck, we're practically identical." Mina decided as she began tossing various clothing articles at Serena.
"You can choose from any of those. Oh man, this is great! We can share clothes and everything!" Mina exclaimed excitedly.
Serena leafed through the clothing pile that was collecting in her arm and chose a simple pair of blue jeans and a pink tee shirt and proceeded to change into them.
"Hey, Serena, do you want to take a shower?" Mina asked suddenly as she looked over Serena's soiled appearance.
"Yeah, that'd be nice." Serena grinned sheepishly and followed Mina as she led her to the bathroom.
"The showers straight ahead, the Jacuzzi is next to it and the sink is across from it. If you go back a little farther, the toilet is there and a mini heating sauna thing." Mina pointed out the different components of the bathroom before shutting the door, leaving Serena to cleanse herself.
Serena opened the glass door to the shower and turned the silver knob to warm and a stream of water jetted from the silver head. She quickly shed her clothes and entered the shower, her body shivering in delight as the warm water hit her.
Serena reveled in the feeling of warm water pouring over her, knocking off the surface dirt. Serena looked around and found a bottle of strawberry scented shampoo and squirted some in her hair and lathered it around.
It felt so good to become clean and Serena enjoyed every minute of it, she could have stayed in the shower all night, but she was curious about what Seiya had to tell her so she finished washing her hair, scrubbed her body down with soap and rinsed off. Turning off the shower, Serena opened the steamed shower door to be hit with the chilly outside bathroom air. Serena looked around and found a set of fluffy cream towels that she wrapped around her hair and body. She stepped out onto the floor mat and discovered that Mina had put some slippers against the wall and a robe hanging on the door.
After drying off, she wrapped herself in the robe and stepped into the soft slippers and exited the bathroom, taking her clothes with her. Serena got dressed again in the jeans and pink tee shirt and called out to Mina, who was reading a Magazine on her bed.
"You ready to go, Serena?"
"Yeah." Serena answered, pulling her damp hair into a bun.
"Ok, great, follow me."
Mina led Serena down the hallway, back down the stairwell and in and out of different doors until she stopped in front of what seemed to be an office.
"This is it." She said pointing to the door. "Just go it, Seiya will be waiting."
Serena nodded and opened the door and walked inside. Seiya looked up from his desk and motioned for her to sit in one of the recliners in front of him. Serena crossed the room and sank into the leather chair.
"I bet you are a little more than curious about this place and what's going on." Seiya started and Serena nodded.
"Well, let me start by telling you a little about myself and how I came to be here. I already told you how I received the house, but what I didn't say is that both my parents died three years ago and that's how I received it. I come from rich family, old southern money and when my parents died in the car accident when I was fifteen, I received all their money and assets. The only thing, I couldn't really access them until I was eighteen, which I am now." Seiya paused and took a sip from a water bottle next to his arm.
"When I was sixteen I ran into a man while I was traveling around the world who kind of took me under his wing. I can't tell you his name, no one knows it but myself, but he's the one who actually established this organization."
Seiya rolled back one of his sleeves and revealed a tattoo on his right bicep. Two snakes were entwined around a pole. The snakes were silver that faded into deep emerald and the pole was gold and was holding up a fiery torch with two blades criss-crossed in the background.
"Do you know what this is?" he asked Serena. Serena shook her head. "I wouldn't expect that you would, you're too young to know these things, even from what you've experienced. This is the mark of the Silver Snakes. It's a high class assassination group that runs and operates through this house that is also known as the "Den of Snakes" or just the Den."
Seiya grinned as Serena's aqua orbs grew larger and larger each time he explained more.
"You kill people?" she asked incredulously.
"Well, I personally don't, there are different types of jobs needed to keep this operation going and I basically just run everything. The man who took me in started it and handed it over to me when I was seventeen and when I turned eighteen and received the house, I moved the base of operations here. Now you'll be given a choice. We'll be training you in many things, but first you are going back to school to get a decent education. You may not be qualified for assassination duty, maybe some kind of specialist job, we don't know, but I have a good feeling about you. Your days will be long and you will get extremely exhausted while you train, but it will be worth it in the end. You will be able to handle many different and advanced weapons and different fighting styles. We'll teach you how to keep your cool and stay calm in tight situations. You'll be stealthy, and able to handle any situation. Mina, will be your partner during training and in your missions if you become an assassin. Do you understand?" Seiya's cool gray eyes stared into Serena's aqua ones, trying to read the emotions running across her small face.
"I know it's a whole lot to take in and deal with, you are only ten, but we get kids of all ages and from what you've been through, I know you can handle it. You don't have to decide now; think about it and-" Seiya was cut of by Serena's dainty voice.
"I'll do it." She said firmly.
"You will?" he asked surprised, he had not expected to hear an answer for a while.
"Yes, I have no where else to go, no family, no friends and if this will help get me through life, then I'll do it. Plus, I'll will be well trained and some day I hope to look for the people who murdered my family." Serena said with a cold tone, revenge glinting in her darkened eyes. Seiya was shocked at how fast her disposition changed and it creeped him out a little bit.
"Alright, Serena, you'll start school next Monday. In the mean time, I'll make sure someone takes you shopping for new things. Your training will begin Monday as well. That's all." Seiya dismissed her and Serena walked outside to find Mina waiting for her.
"So, how was it? Are you going to do it?" she asked then let out a shriek when Serena bobbed her light blond head and pulled her into a hug.
"This is going to be fun!"
"Since when are brutal workouts, school and killing people fun?" Serena asked sarcastically.
"Right, I meant us being together." Mina sobered up again.
"Are you scared, Serena?" she asked the other blond. "Cause I am, I'm scared to kill someone."
"Me too."
"Watch out Serena!" Mina's voice yelled through the thick desert air. Serena turned her head briefly and caught a flash of metal in the corner of her eye. She quickly crouched low to the floor and heard a whoosh as the knife flew by her head and embedded itself in a cactus.
"Thanks Mina." Serena called back, grateful that the blond had been watching her back.
Serena looked ahead and saw two men charging at her through the desert sand. She reached into her brown boots and pulled two daggers from her calves and rushed at them, daggers raised in the air. Both men carried a long katana and struck from both sides. Serena raised both her hands and blocked each sword with a dagger. She drew her hands closer to her body till they crossed, giving her enough of a push to launch both men off her blades. They staggered back and Serena darted towards them, socking one in the jaw with the handle of her blade then proceeded to drop kick him in the legs and sweep him off his feet.
She flipped backwards to avoid the katana that sliced towards her head then rolled towards the man and sprung up, daggers in hand, and thrust both of them into his chest. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed, the daggers piercing through his heart, stopping him cold. Serena walked back to the other man, who was raising him self off his feet. She kicked him in the stomach and then went behind him and grabbed his head by his thick brown hair. Bringing up a dagger, she swiftly cut his throat and watched his lifeblood pour out.
Serena glanced over her shoulder at her blond companion who was charging two more men with a chain whip raised in her hands that had large spike ball on it. Serena smirked at Mina's favorite weapon, the Morning Star. Suddenly she noticed quick movements behind Mina and within a blink of an eye, she threw a dagger and embedded it in the man's throat. Mina glanced in mid fight at the dead man and nodded her head at Serena in thanks.
Serena waited patiently for Mina to finish her men, not bothering to help because the blond was quite capable of finishing them on her own, but instead, scanned the desert for any more signs of an attack.
Serena heard a triumphant shout of glee from Mina and turned around to see Mina lop of the last guy's head with the ball of her Morning Star. Mina let the ball drop to the ground and wound the chain around her arm, and flicked back her blond ponytail, grinning at Serena in victory. Serena smiled back and walked over to her partner.
"Well, now that they are taken care of, let's find this base we're supposed to be infiltrating." Serena commented. Mina nodded and whisked out a small pair of binoculars and looked around the endless mass of white sand for some sort of life.
"There has to be something here, those men didn't just appear out of no where." Mina muttered.
"Ah ha! There's an oasis about five clicks north and two clicks west. Move out!" Mina commanded dramatically with a wave of her hand, motioning Serena to fall in line with her. Serena just rolled her eyes at her friend's antics and followed her.
When they arrived at the oasis, they saw a small brick building surrounded by a few scattered palm trees, resting on the edge of a small pool of clear water.
"This should be easy enough, got the grenade?" Serena observed as she looked at Mina who nodded in response.
"Alright, this is the plan, you walk west side and I'll take the east, calculate how many men you can see inside the base and when we meet outback, we devise how we're going to go in. If you meet anyone on your round, take him from behind silently." Serena explained.
Moments later, both girls were stealthily walking around the building, the sand softening the noise of their steps, their hands grazing the brick wall. Mina stopped when she spotted a man with a sawed of shotgun walking in front of her. She quickly went back around the corner and peeked over until he turned and walked the other way. Mina slipped silently behind him and pulled out a knife and slit his throat, dropping him silently to the ground. She proceeded to drag him over to one of the larger palm trees and stripped him of his uniform and weapon. She quickly threw his clothes on top of her khaki form fitting jump suit. Mina finished walking around the door and peered over the corner to see Serena waiting for her in a similar outfit.
"Well, you know what they say, great minds think alike." Mina commented slyly when Serena saw that Mina had the same idea.
"Ok, I have an idea, let's slip in and since we are wearing these, hopefully no one will notice that we're women from far away. Tail me until we get to the main operations room, we'll throw the gas grenade and duck in, taking out anyone we can with these shotguns until we run out of ammo, then use your pistol. Got it?" Serena briefed Mina who nodded in understanding.
"Remember, we need the rebel leader alive for questioning and we have to get the missile key codes." Mina reminded Serena.
"Let's go." Was the reply.
Serena in the lead, the two slipped quietly into the base and walked silently down the hallway, looking for any upcoming shadows. Serena paused when a black shadow grew in front of her around the corner. Peering over the side, she waited until the man was close enough and then slapped a hand over his mouth and punched him hard in the temple, knocking him out cold.
"Smooth, Serena." Mina praised in appreciation of her friends work.
"It was nothing, you would have done the same thing." Serena grinned.
"True, and I would have done it better too." Mina agreed with a wicked grin. Serena just rolled her eyes and they continued their search.
"Hey you two!" a gruff voiced yelled from behind them. Both girls froze slightly until Serena muttered for them to keep walking under her breath.
"Hey, stop you two!" he yelled again, but they kept walking. "I said stop!"
They heard thundering footsteps running down the hallway behind them.
"Keep your cool." Serena whispered.
Mina felt a hand grasp her shoulder roughly. She instinctively kicked her leg up behind her, catching him in his groin. The man cried out in pain and sank to his knees. Serena whirled around and hit him with the butt of her shotgun and he dropped to the floor like deadweight.
"Uh, that was close." Mina grumbled.
"Here's the door." Serena motioned for Mina to stand of the other side of the frame.
"Ready?"
"Yeah."
Serena kicked open the door as Mina pulled out the pin and tossed in the gas grenade. Immediately, white gas poured from it, clouding the room and stinging the eyes of every occupant in the room. Mina and Serena slipped on gas masks and rolled into the room, each to her respective side. Serena quickly assessed the scene and saw three guys directly in front of her, five more in the back of the room, two by a desk and eight on Mina's side.
Serena whipped out the shotgun and fired at the first guy, hitting him in the head causing it to explode from the force of the shot. All the men in the room had whipped out assault rifles and pistols and were firing blindly at Serena and Mina when she took down two guys on her side.
Serena dodge the shots and rolled behind a table, kicking it over to provide her with some cover. Taking careful aim, she shot a second man, re-cocked the gun and killed the third. Setting the shotgun beside her, Serena pulled out two pistols and unloaded one round into a man across the room. The other gun she shot two men cleanly in the head with, dropping them to the ground.
She and Mina definitely had an advantage since they could see properly, but the random sprits of bullets coming at her were not to be taken lightly. With two men left on Mina's side and two on hers, she watched for a moment at the third pair of men who were ducking behind the desk, one of them seemed to be trying to lock some papers in a safe. Serena aimed her pistol and shot the man in both hands, she didn't know whether he was the rebel leader or not and couldn't risk it.
She figured one of the two were in charge since they were behind the desk and both had red bands on their uniforms while the other rebels in the room did not. Serena watch as Mina sniped the last two men on her side with her pistol and waved two fingers at Mina to move ahead. Serena took out her last two men and proceeded to crawl towards the desk.
"Don't move." Mina's chilly voice commanded, echoing across the silent room as she pointed a pistol at each man. They stood silently with their hands in the air and watch as Serena joined Mina.
"Which one of you is in charge here?" Serena questioned, but both men stayed silent.
"Do you both want your balls blown off?" Mina threatened and both men's faces seemed to grow pale at the idea.
"The one who was trying to lock the papers away pointed at his pal. "This is him." He declared. The man he was with scowled in response.
"Wonderful, we won't be needing you then." Mina grinned evilly and shot him in between the eyes.
"Now, you are coming with us, but first we want the missile codes." Mina demanded, placing her face directly in front of his. He spat at her instead. Mina lifted up a hand and smacked him hard across the face, scratching his cheek and causing it to bleed slightly.
"I won't ask you again, where are the codes?" Mina growled.
"No need Mina, they're right here." Serena held up the packet of papers the dead one was trying to hide in the safe.
"Alright, let's go." Mina grasped the man by the arm and dragged him to his feet. Serena pulled out handcuffs and snapped them on his wrists as she pulled them behind his back.
"Mission accomplished eh?" Mina grinned at Serena.
"Mission accomplished."
"Excellent job girls." Seiya's voiced boomed in the room from a loud speaker as the base and desert scene faded out and disappeared leaving Mina and Serena standing in the middle of a blank metal room. All the sand, blood and spit that had covered their skin moments earlier were gone in an instant. The only evidence that remain that the girls had done something was the layer of sweat that cased both of them.
"Well done ladies." Diamond commented them as they walked out of the Gauntlet and into the locker room. Diamond had been training them for six years now, both girls now sixteen.
"Thanks D" Mina smiled warmly at their old friend.
"Go shower girls, you deserved it, you should be ready to go on your first mission now." He spoke with a smile and watched them walk out, chattering all the way about the cool moves they tried while in the simulation.
"What a pair, aren't they?" Seiya commented, coming up behind Diamond.
"You said it, those two are unstoppable." He agreed.
"I'm going to send them on a recon mission with Lita, that should give them some experience without being to hard for them to handle." Seiya informed him.
"I think they could handle anything you threw at them."
"Possibly, but those are just simulations, not even our brilliant Amy can totally predict every possible action in those simulations. We need to be careful and start them off gently, let them ease into it, get used to it. You forget they have yet to kill a real person." Seiya reminded Diamond.
"Yeah, but those men in the simulation are basically real." Diamond argued.
"Maybe, but they are still fake and the girls know that. Killing an actual live breathing human will be a whole new experience for them." Seiya disagreed.
"I guess your right."
"Of course I am, that's why I'm in charge here." Seiya smirked jokingly. Diamond grinned in response and cuffed him in the shoulder.
"I'm glad you found her Seiya, I really am."
"Me too." He replied with a thoughtful look. "Me too."
"Lita watch out!" Serena called frantically to her tall brown haired friend as the girl burst through the doorway. Serena's warning came too late as a man appeared in front of Lita and aimed his pistol at her.
"No!" Serena yelled and whipped out her own gun and shot the man in the chest. Causing his arm to drop. Serena watched horrified as smoke blasted from the gun and a bullet propelled out and went through Lita's stomach. A look of shock appeared on her friend's face as blood began to soak through her shirt.
"LITA!" Serena screamed in agony.
Lita looked up at Serena's scream and locked her green eyes to Serena's. Serena could read the pain in her friend's eyes and saw the brightness begin to dim.
"Run Serena, finish the mission, leave me here, I'm already dead." Lita cried to her weakly. Serena shook her head.
"No, Lita, no."
"Go Serena!" Lita yelled as two men appeared behind her and knocked her out with the butt of one of the guns.
Serena stiffened in horror as her friend's limp body collapsed to the floor, but she followed Lita's wish and ran as she heard one final shot ring out behind her.
Serena ran as fast as her legs would go, pumping them with all her might as crystal tears pooled in her aqua eyes and spilled over the brim, trailing down her flushed cheeks.
Serena ran until she reached the helicopter waiting a mile away and grasped blindly at the hand offered to help pull her in, tears blurring her vision.
"She's gone." She whispered to herself, wrapping her arms around her body and rocking back in forth. "She's gone."
Back at the Den, Mina greeted her friend expecting to see her happy over their newly completed mission, but took one look at her tearstained face and her own face darkened.
"Serena." Mina whispered. "Where's Lita?" Mina found the answer in Serena's eyes.
"No, NO!" Mina wailed breaking into tears as she gathered Serena up in her arms, both trying to draw comfort from each other over the death of their friend.
"Ladies, I need to speak with you." Seiya appeared behind them looking grave. Serena and Mina wiped their faces and followed him into his office.
"Take a seat." And they did so.
"Congratulations, you both have proved yourself worthy assassins and are being placed into the elite group Venom. This our highest and most skilled assassin force operating in the world. You will each receive a code name and other secretive identities. You take only the highest, most dangerous cases and the rewards are plentiful. There is no mistaking that amount of talent you both have. Welcome to Venom, Viper and Cobra." Seiya explained looking first at Serena and then at Mina.
"Congratulations?" Serena spat. "Congratulations?" her voiced raised in volume and she sprang from her seat and slammed her fists on Seiya's desk.
"You bring us here to tell us we've been promoted and expect us to be all cheery when our friend just died?" Serena screeched.
"I expect you to act like professional, Viper, these things happen. Get over it." Seiya said heartlessly. Serena's eyes grew colder when Seiya emphasized her new name.
"You make me sick." She growled at him in disgust and stalked out of the room. Mina just sat in silence staring at her hands in deep thought.
"Mina." Seiya called softly to her jolting her out of her thoughts. Mina looked up into Seiya's eyes, which were now warm and sympathetic.
"Why were you so harsh to Serena, so cold?"
"Because she needs it, I can just feel that in the future, she is going to need to be distanced to survive." He responded sadly.
"Go clean up Mina and get some rest, you did a good job tonight on your part, it was a shame that Lita died and that Serena had to witness it, but we need to move on." Mina nodded silently and left Seiya alone.
"She was only eighteen years old. Eighteen." He whispered to himself. "Thank God it wasn't you Serena, eighteen is too young to die."
Present Time
"Lita!" Serena cried into the darkness of her room, as she sat up abruptly in her bed. Frantically she looked around until she realized that she was in her bed at home.
"Lita." Serena whispered softly in remembrance of her dear friend who had passed away two years ago. They had become best friends after their first recon mission when they were sixteen along with Mina.
"I failed you Lita, I wasn't strong enough for you, but never again. I swear, never again shall a loved one of mine die." Serena said vengefully to the night, her only response was Luna's steady breathing beside her.
Serena looked over to her right and looked out the window to see the morning sun peaking over the mountains, indicating a new day.
"Its time."
That's it for chapter four, by far the longest chapter I've written. I hope you understood everything, I wanted to take some time to explain more of Serena's past so you would know what the organization was that she worked for and how it came about that she worked there and so on. I hoped you liked it! Please review!
.:Angelgrl185:.