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An Assassin's Memories

Tenth Shot: Act of Redemption

The transition from the sweet oblivion of sleep to wakefulness was its normal seamless transition for Takumi. He sat up and set the PB 69P on the table next to him. He stood up and walked to the laptop computer set out on the counter. "Do you really think they'll send us any jobs after yesterday?"

"Yesterday was a good day ma'am," Takumi said. "But there are still many targets to go. Out of two hundred and twelve targets forty-eight are still alive. That number does no include targets of opportunity."

"I see," Ari said as she started the coffee machine. "Just how many targets of opportunity are there?"

"Three hundred and sixty-two."

"NERV has three hundred and sixty-two people in this city under their control?" Ari asked.

"Of course not," Takumi said. "NERV doesn't need to own that many people if they own those in charge. The targets of opportunity include those in charge of NERV, UN agents, informers, and INTERPOL officers."

"Of course," Ari said. "So you ran into Twenty-One last night?"

"Yes ma'am," Takumi said.

"So what's she like?" Ari asked.

"She is rather cheerful, but she is a professional," Takumi said.

"So you could be cheerful?" Ari asked. "You should try smiling Toc. You'd look pretty damn good that way."

"I never smile," Takumi said simply. He closed the computer and frowned. "I have more targets."

"So They give you a list of possible targets and then they tell you which of the targets to go after?" Ari asked.

"Yes ma'am," Takumi said. "If I just killed people then I might kill someone that They still have a use for."

"Okay," Ari said. "Have fun Toc."

"Yes ma'am."

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Rei looked up as the to Takumi's apartment opened and Takumi stepped out. "Good mourning Ayanami."

"Good mourning Takumi," Rei said. She turned and began walking to the stairs. Takumi followed after him. "I do not see many people up at this time," Rei said, feeling some odd urge to speak to the red-haired man.

"I could say the same," Takumi said.

"My presence is required at the Geo Front for testing," Rei said simply.

"You work for NERV?" Takumi asked.

"Yes," Rei said.

"I see," Takumi said. They walked down the rest of the stairs in silence. "I will see you later Ayanami."

"Most likely," Rei said. She turned and started the long walk to NERV. Takumi's behavior struck her as strange. Contrary to the beliefs of most people, Rei wasn't ignorant to those around her. Usually she just didn't care, but Takumi seemed a great deal more nervous then he had previously. His reaction to her working at NERV, however minute, was also interesting.

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Alex looked up as a familiar young man with red hair stepped into the bar. He walked strait to the booth next to Alex and sat down. "Well how have you been doing?" Alex asked cheerfully.

"Who's Shinji Ikari?"

"Pardon?" Alex asked.

"Who is Shinji Ikari?" Takumi asked again.

"He worked for NERV about two years ago," Alex said. "He looked a lot like you Toc. Why do you ask?" For an answer Takumi turned and set a wanted poster on the table in front of Alex. "Shima Ryoji," he read. "That has a nice ring to it."

"Who was I?" Takumi demanded.

"You were the Third Child," Alex said. "You were the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit One. You were the son of Commander Ikari. You lived with Colonel Misato Katsuragi and Asuka Sohryu."

"Misato Katsuragi and Asuka Sohryu?" Takumi asked.

"Yes," Alex said with a smile. "You must remember them. They're those two lovely women that you put in the hospital with a hand grenade."

"What about a girl named Rei Ayanami?" Takumi demanded. Alex was caught by surprise. That was the first time he had heard the young man raise his tone.

"You worked with her," Alex said. "I always thought you two made a cute couple." Alex heard Takumi slump back against the booth. "You don't remember any of this, do you?"

"No," Takumi said. He stood up and took a deep breath. "Thank you for your assistance sir. It is much appreciated as always."

"So what are you going to do?" Alex asked.

"I'm going to forget this conversation ever happened and continue my work." Takumi looked at his watch. "If you'll excuse me, I have someone to see in ten minutes."

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Takumi approached his unknowing target as quietly as he could. He clutched his weapon tightly and raised his arm, bringing the knife to bear. The man was leaning against the railing of the Tokyo-3 Communication Center's broadcast tower. It was too early for the usual flock or tourists to be there. Takumi could see why the man would come up here. It was actually very calm. With that thought Takumi pounced. His left arm curled around the man's face and his right arm ripped the blade across his neck. The man gurgled in surprise. Takumi stepped back and planted one boot directly between the man's shoulder blades. He fell over the railing without another noise. "Takumi?"

"Ma'am?"

"They just sent us a profile for the next big hit."

"Who is it ma'am?"

"Doctor Ritsuko Akagi," Ari said. "They want her killed at her desk." Takumi felt strange sense of foreboding as he pressed the call button for the elevator.

"Where does she work?"

"In the Geo Front," Ari said. "You're going to need to talk to Alex."

"Yeah," Takumi said. "I don't have a good feeling about this ma'am."

"Neither do I," Ari said. "I'll be in the NERV parking garage to pick you up."

"Copy that," Takumi said. He glanced at his blade and frowned as he noticed the crimson discoloration. He bunched up his shirt and used it to wipe off the blood before he slid it into his boot. "I'll have to go see Alex again."

"Again?" Ari asked.

"If you insist ma'am," Takumi said, neatly sidestepping the obvious question.

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Takumi shoved the metal grate in front of him and winched as it fell to the ground with a clatter. "What the hell was that?" Takumi whipped around with his suppressed SIG-Sauer out and fired once. The poor young man went down with a 9mm hole in the middle of his forehead.

"Oh boy."

"What's wrong?" Ari asked.

"Nothing," Takumi said as he holstered the SIG-Sauer and slung the body over his shoulder. He stepped into one of the stalls and set it down on one of the toilets. He locked the stall door and climbed over it.

"You don't go 'oh boy' over nothing," Ari said. Takumi found the janitor's closet and put his boot through the door's lock. He found a 'closed for maintenance' sign and closed the door. He walked out of the bathroom and hung the sign on the door.

"It was nothing." For some reason he decided that Ari wouldn't find his latest kill amusing. He glanced at his uniform and quickly brushed off his knees. 'Damn it.' He looked around the deserted hallway and sighed in relief. At least one thing was going right on this mission.

"How do the halls look?"

"Clear," Takumi said as he started down one of the hallways. "It looks like the information of this part of the Geo Front being generally unused was correct."

"Keep on your toes Toc," Ari said. "You're in the lair of the enemy." Takumi didn't answer. "Why am I even bothering to tell you this?" Ari wondered. "You've been doing this for longer then I have."

"It always helps to have someone remind you," Takumi said.

"Are you trying to support me?" Ari asked. "That's sweet Toc."

"You are my superior. . ."Takumi began.

"Not another word," Ari said quickly. "Just let me bask in my self delusion Toc."

"Yes ma'am," Takumi said.

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Yuji leaned back in the padded chair and sighed in relief. "Excuse me. Uh. . .sir?"

"Not now," Yuji said. "I'm hiding."

"Pardon?" the security guard asked.

"The old bastard has had me running around investigating homicides for the past forty-eight hours," Yuji said. "Now I'm just taking a little nap."

"Oh," the security guard said. Yuji opened an eye and glanced at the bank of television monitors in front of him. A flash of color caught his attention. He leaned closer to one of the screens and stared at the young red-haired man.

"Takumi."

"What?" the security guard asked.

"Nothing," Yuji said as he stood up and patted the Glock under his right arm. "I'll be back."

"Yes sir."

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

"Officer Arianna?"

"Speaking," Ari said. "Can I ask whose calling?"

"Clearance red, alpha, one-three-four," the man said. Ari straightened in her seat unconsciously. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the parking garage of the Geo Front," Ari said. "I'm waiting for Assassin Thirty-Three to finish his assignment."

"Prepare to leave," the man said.

"What?" Arianna asked.

"If Thirty-Three doesn't appear in one hour or informs you of trouble you are to leave," the man said. "Do not inform him of this decision."

"Why?"

"Do not question orders," the man said flatly. "You are to leave Assassin Thirty-Three if he does not appear in one hour or informs you of trouble. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." The line went dead and Ari stared at her cell phone. "What the hell is going on?"

(::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Takumi took the tenth left corner and stepped onto the massive escalators leading down. "Hey Toc?"

"Ma'am?"

"Pick up the pace a little," Ari said. "Please."

"Yes ma'am," Takumi said as he started walking down the escalator. He glanced to the left and watched as his target went past him heading upwards. 'Son of a bitch.' He looked around and sighed in relief as he noticed that no one else was on the escalators. He grabbed the handrail and jumped up onto it. For a moment he was perfectly balanced on the handrail and then he jumped again. He managed to clear the distance and landed on the other escalator's metal steps hard. He felt something in his ankle twist and he nearly fell to the metal steps. 'Shit.'

"Are you okay?" Takumi looked up and saw his target kneeling above him. "Jesus. Do you have a death wish or something?" Takumi straightened up and pulled the SIG-Sauer from under his shirt. "Oh my God." A gunshot rang out and Shinji stared at the blood on the blond woman's lab coat. He looked down and stared at the blood on his chest. Then he stared at the flattened slug on the stair in front of him. His eyes followed the trajectory.

"So that's why they didn't just shoot me in the head." Takumi whipped around and emptied the clip in his SIG-Sauer down the escalator. He dropped the empty pistol and reached under his jacket for the 9mm sub-machinegun in his waist band. He whipped it around and fired. Behind him the blond screamed in fear. That gave him an idea. He wrapped his arm around the blonde's neck and dragged the woman into the line of fire. "We're having trouble ma'am."

"What's wrong?" Ari asked.

"I'm being shot at," Takumi said as he loosened another burst. "I'm moving for extraction."

"Roger that." There was a strangely hollow quality to Ari's voice. It made Takumi worry. A bullet slapped into his arm suddenly and he lost his grip on the blond woman. He watched as she tumbled down the escalator. Takumi shrugged, turned, and sprinted away. It was definitely likely that she wouldn't survive and even if she did he would live to try and kill her again.

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Takumi kicked the door in front of him open and stumbled inside. His back hit the wall and he slumped to the ground. "Fuck." He clenched his arm and cursed as the sub-machinegun tumbled form his fingers. He reached for the pain pen in his uniform pocket and tried to bring it to his neck, but his hand was trembling too much.

"Takumi?" Takumi's head whipped up and he stared at the young woman kneeling next to him.

"Ayanami," he said in surprise. It was ridiculous to be surprised of course. She has told him that she worked at NERV. He looked around the room he was in and frowned. It looked like some kind of locker room.

"You are injured," Rei said as she picked up the pain pen. Takumi looked at her apparel and frowned. She was wearing some kind of strange jump suit. "This is an injection system."

"There's a scar on the left side of my neck," Takumi explained. "Press the red end against it and push the button on the other end." Rei nodded and leaned forward. There was a prick of pain and Takumi sighed as the pain melted away.

"You are Shinji Ikari." Takumi stared at the girl's red eyes. She had yet to pull back and her face was very close to his. She stared at his eyes.

"I don't know."

"You are," Rei said. "I can see it now."

"What the hell is going on?" Takumi's fingers wrapped around the grip of his weapon and he found himself aiming it at a red-haired young woman. She was wearing a school uniform and her right leg was heavily bandaged. Takumi pushed Rei back gently and climbed to his feet. He pocketed the pain pen and ejected the magazine in his sub-machinegun. He tugged a longer forty-round one out of his pocket and pressed it into the weapon's receiver. "Who the hell are you?"

"You don't need to know that," Takumi said simply.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" the red haired woman demanded, starting to stalk towards Takumi. He raised his weapon and the woman froze. He kneeled and picked up his dropped combination cover and dusted it off. He set it on his head and adjusted the brim down.

"Ladies," he said simply. He turned and walked out of the room with his weapon ready. Normally he would have killed them. For some reason that thought hadn't even crossed his mind until now. He paused and looked back at the locker room door, his finger tapping the trigger guard.

"There he is!" Takumi whipped around and opened fire. His right hand slid into his shirt and wrapped around the grip of his 9mm full-auto. He tugged it from its holster and began to back away while firing.

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Ari's hand rested on the van's keys. She stared at them and then down at the radio headset. She knew what happened to people who went against orders. That had been something that the instructors had focused on in basic training. If you went against orders then you died. It was that simply. Suddenly a bloodied NERV officer staggered into the parking garage. "Toc!" He looked up. "Get in here!"

"Yes ma'am," he staggered to the van and climbed into the back. Ari turned the keys in the ignition and stomped on the van's accelerator pedal. The van rocketed out of the parking garage.

"How badly are you injured?" Ari asked. She didn't receive an answer. She glanced in the rear view mirror and gasped. Takumi was leaning back against the van's locked back doors. His head was nodded down, chin resting on chest. There was blood dripping out form under his combination cover's brim.

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Liana jumped in surprise as the doors banged open. She looked up and found herself staring down the barrel of a shotgun. "Can I help you?" She recognized the woman. It was Thirty-Three's handler.

"Takumi is really badly injured," the woman said. Liana thought her name was Ari. "You're going to help him."

"Alright," Liana said. "You can put the shotgun down now."

"SEELE is trying to kill Toc," Ari said.

"I know," Liana said with a sigh. "Where is he?"

"He's in the van," the woman said. "Please hurry." Liana nodded and pushed past the woman. She walked out of the warehouse and found the van. She opened the side door and winched when she saw Thirty-Three.

"Help me!" she called as she climbed into the van and tried to lift the young man. Unfortunately he was much heavier then he looked. Ari climbed in as well and they managed to lift Takumi between them. "We need to get him to the container."

"Right," Ari said as they climbed out of the van. They managed to make it to the container and Liana kicked the door open. They stepped inside and hurriedly laid the young man on the operating chair.

"Do you know what happened?" Liana asked.

"No," Ari said. "I just came here. I didn't stop to look." Liana nodded and pulled off Thirty-Three's combination cover. "Oh my God."

"Looks like he got clipped by a shotgun blast," Liana said as she inspected the pockmarked flesh on the left side of Thirty-Three's face. "I doubt he'll have any use in his eye."

"Shouldn't. . .shouldn't we do something about his guns?" Ari asked. Liana glanced at the weapons clutched in Thirty-Three's hands. She ejected their magazines and jacked the action. "Is that all you can do?"

"You can try to take them if you wish," Liana said. "You won't be able too." Ari nodded, accepting her opinion. "Do you know if he's recently used a pain pen?"

"No," Ari said. Liana tilted his head and looked at the mark on his neck.

"Does he still burn through those damn things?" Liana asked.

"You mean that's not normal?" Ari asked.

"Not at the rate he uses them," Liana said. "SEELE doesn't care though."

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Gendo watched the security tape as the sniper at the bottom of the escalator fired. The assassin was hit in the shoulder. "Well?"

"Well what sir?" Yuji demanded. "I lost seven men today and I'm not in the mood for your shit." Gendo's lips curled into a scowl.

"You forget who you are talking to," he spat.

"You forget who you're talking to," Yuji snapped. "I'm a highly talented free agent. I work as your advisor, not your underling." Gendo tried to control the rage that was boiling up in him.

"How did he escape?" he asked finally.

"Most of the forces capable of stopping him were deeper inside the Geo Front," Yuji said. "Once he got to the top of the escalators all he had to deal with her security guards and my under-armed agents."

"Your agents should have done better," Gendo said.

"They were outgunned and caught unaware," Yuji said flatly. "If anyone could have done better I would like to meet them."

"How badly was the Third Child injured?" Gendo asked.

"Very badly," Yuji said. "He would require almost immediate medical attention to survive."

"Check all the hospitals," Gendo ordered. Yuji's eyes narrowed slightly. "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah," Yuji said. "You act like all the other cut-rate megalomaniacs I've had to work for. You give orders even when you have no clue what's happening."

"I don't like your tone."

"You shouldn't," Yuji said. "Do you really think an assassin would just show up at a hospital? The only state-run place he would show up in is the morgue."

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

"Is he okay?" Ari asked as Liana sat down next to her.

"He'll live," Liana said as she peeled off her bloody surgical gloves. She dropped them to the ground and pulled a cigarette carton out of her pocket.

"What's the damage?" Ari asked.

"His left eye was badly damaged," Liana said. "I ended up having to hardwire his wetware to his occipital lobe."

"What do you mean?" Ari asked.

"This is your first time as a handler, right?" Liana asked. Ari nodded. "Well that explains it."

"Explains what?" Ari asked.

"Assassins are not completely. . .natural," Liana began. "They have many mechanical additions."

"Like what?" Ari asked.

"Like the communication system under the flesh of his neck and in his ear," Liana explained. "That's what allows you and him to communicate. In addition to that there are small cameras implanted directly into his eyeballs."

"What?" Ari shrieked.

"It's mainly for reviewing purposes," Liana explained.

"How long will it last?" Ari asked.

"It'll outlast him," Liana explained. "I also got rid of all the buckshot in his face and got rid of the scars, but the surgery will leave other scars."

"Can you take care of that later?"

"No problem," Liana said. Ari nodded her thanks.

"I'm grateful," she began.

"But you want to know why I'm doing this," Liana said.

"Well. . . yeah," Ari said.

"You know that Thirty-Three is religious, right?"

"Uh-huh." Ari had no clue where this was going.

"Call this an act of redemption," Liana said. "I put him here and now I'm helping him get out." Ari nodded and stood up.

"I need to go check something," Ari said. "Will you be okay if I leave you here?"

"I'll be fine," Liana said. "Thirty-Three will be waking up soon. Even injured they can fight like the devil."

"I'll be back really soon," Ari said as she stood up and reached into her pockets for the keys to the van.

-End

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

-Author's notes. Well here's the next chapter.