AN: Bit of an Assassin!verse prequel. M for language. Suggestions for a title welcome.
"She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah."
- Hallelujah (am enjoying the Jeff Buckley version of this song)
Agent M walked around the young man, pitying both herself and him. Not him necessarily, but rather, the decisions he had made. She was disappointed in herself because she had broken the most important rule in their profession – never get attached.
"I did have you fooled, didn't?" He coughed, then spat blood and an incisor onto the dirty floor.
Her alleged 'partner' was none other than Phantom Ace, a double agent who had actually been working for the Nemesis syndicate. Recruited heavily, she had been new to the Lunar organization when she'd been assigned to the man she knew as Adonis. They had shared information, then a bed. It hadn't occurred to her that he'd even have time to have allegiance to another outfit. And yet, when she looked back over their partnership, she saw the gaps – the texts at strange hours, the calls on the balcony, the reluctance to go after the enemy.
Still, she had pride and wasn't about to let him feel superior, not even in the last few moments of his life.
"Not in the slightest," she replied, but the words felt bitter on her tongue.
"You can tell yourself that, but you and I both know the truth."
"What of it? You're going to die. Our...my superiors will see this as a positive and put me forward for advancement. I should be thanking you."
"Maybe they will, but let me tell you one thing..." He paused and narrowed his eyes, continuing, "I know your future."
"Do you?" She affected a bored tone in response.
"You're doomed to a life of fighting."
"What do you mean?"
"I know the girl I fucked. She wants love. She wants children and a husband and a house. Lie to yourself all you want."
"And I can't have any of those things?"
"Look around you."
Blue eyes wide, she takes in their surroundings - the spartan, uncomfortable furniture. Living without hot showers and a working kitchen. The months of not speaking to friends and family. Raising her Smith and Wesson, she takes a deep breath, levels the weapon at him and takes aim. Without a word, she fires off a shot directly at his heart. Although she's ended his life, in death he will not be made to suffer.
As his body falls to the ground, she wipes a stray tear from her eye as she realizes the horrible truth he's spoken. Whispering, she says, "Damn you."