I did not want to open my eyes the next morning; because I knew that when I did, I would again have to deal with CJ. However, I found I could not stand being so inactive as to just lay there and pretend to sleep. I had to do…something.

Sitting up and opening my eyes, I saw CJ lying in bed; my first thought was that she was still asleep; but then I saw she was throwing something up in the air and catching it.

"What on earth are you doing?" I asked her baffled.

"Oh, I didn't know you were awake,"

"I wasn't, until now," I my voice sounded irritated, as though she had done something to annoy me already even thought she really had not; I guess that was just the way my voice sounded, always irritated.

"Not a morning person are you?" She asked in a mild voice; my anger and constant irritation did not seem to faze her.

"What are you throwing?"

"Gun bullet,"

"Why? And where did you get it?"

"I put it in my pocket last night, by the way, if you ever are thinking, 'I should sleep with a bullet in my pocket,' reconsider, it hurts. Anyway, I just wanted something to do, I am up to 321 throws with out dropping this damn thing." She tossed the bullet in the air again and caught it.

I leaned against the wall which acted as the backboard of the bed and resigned myself to boredom and brooding, when CJ spoke again, "You know, if you are game, we could see how many times we could throw this thing back and forth with out dropping it,"

"And why would I want to participate in such a pointless game?" I don't know why I always had a hard time admitting I wanted to do what I wanted to do, but it seemed I could not admit that I was board out of my mind and any distraction would be welcome.

"Just a suggestion," CJ said in her usual undisturbed tone, then she went back to her little game.

Damn. It seemed that if I wanted to do something other than brood, I would have to ask her to let me play. I turned and threw my legs over the side of the bed; I was now facing CJ. "Alright," I said grudgingly, "Throw,"

CJ sat up and turned to face me, "I knew you would come around," she smiled,

"Should I keep count of do you want to?"

"I will," CJ threw me the bullet and I easily caught it; one.

"So, you were an assassin in, where did you say?" CJ asked, catching the bullet and throwing it again.

"Why do you care?"

"You are going to be my partner; I should know what you can and cannot do, easier to make plans if we know each other's strengths." She threw the bullet.

"Persia," catch toss

"Impressive, who did you work for?" catch toss

"The shah," I saw her eyes widen, catch toss

"That is the ruler of the country, yes?" catch toss

"Yes," catch toss

"That sounds like a decent job, how did you end up in Paris?" catch toss

"It was anything but a decent job," I said grimly, "it started out seemingly honorable, but the more I worked the more I got the feeling I was not serving the government and therefore the greater good of the population, but rather the frivolous whim of an addled mind." Catch toss.

"I see, so you had to eliminate some people who did not deserve it?" Catch toss.

I nodded. It was strange, this was the first person I had met who seemed to really understand what I had been through in Persia without me even having to fully explain. Catch toss.

"Your father was an assassin?" I asked CJ; she had had a point about knowing background, I wanted to be successful and knowing each others strengths and weaknesses would be helpful. Catch toss.

"Yes, first a pirate then an assassin, in England," Catch toss.

"So how did you come to Paris?" Catch toss.

"My father died when I was twelve, and I was supposed to have an aunt in Paris who was going to take care of me, all my father's money was taken by some enemies of his, but when I got to Paris, there was no aunt; she had died, and there was no one else so it was either become a whore or a thief and a killer." Catch toss.

"I see, what about your mother?" Catch toss.

"She died when I was born," Catch, toss, "What about yours?"

I fumbled slightly, "She did not like me very much," sloppy catch, toss.

"Because of your face?" catch, toss

"Yes, she…saw me as the biggest disappointment and greatest mistake in her life," catch, toss.

"Lot's of mothers are like that, there was this woman who used to live under me, she had about four kids, one night she just drowned two of them; the youngest two, because they would not stop crying," Catch, toss.

"Abysmal woman," I said, and something about the sad tale struck me; I was not alone in the suffering caused by my mother, other mother it seemed where able to detest their children, even if they did not possess my own special incentive for dislike. However, knowing that I had not been the only child abused by my parent in no way elated me. It only showed more clearly how twisted souls can become. This thought created a lump in my throat but I forced myself to speak, "How did you find out about it?" Catch, toss.

"The oldest one told me, she watched it happen, she said she tried to stop her mother, but then she had run away because her mother threatened she was next." Catch, toss.

"So what did you do?" catch, toss,

"What else could I do? The mother met the same fate as her murdered children," Catch, toss, I looked at CJ's face; there was pain in her eyes; it was a pain I knew, but few others ever noticed. It was not a common pain, not the sting of physical hurt of the heartbreak of lost love; it was the eternal, steady pain of seeing society from the bottom up; every perverse detail revealed, each wrongful act and every nature of deceit, and the pain of knowing it was near impossible to change. That was the pain that came from seeing what she had seen as an assassin, what I had seen. I knew that pain.

"You know, it was strange," CJ began, "when little Bernadette told me what her mother was doing, I was so angry and I really thought that killing her mother would bring some sort of justice, some sort of balance to the situation, but…"

"It doesn't, does it?" I cut in, understanding, "In the end, you have just killed someone else and no matter how deserving the victim, you just feel…you began trying to do something right, but the more you try to fix it the more you see there is no answer, you have still just killed another person and you still …" catch, toss.

"See their face at night?" Catch…toss.

I nodded; Catch…toss.