Neo shimmies closer to the alleyway wall. The fire escape stairway above her doing a poor job of keeping the rain off but she couldn't bring her to find another spot. She looks down at her dented tin can and the few lien in it and sighs softly. The rain the past few days has put a damper on foot traffic and had her scraping money worse then usual. What she had now might be able to net her some fruit and day old bread but for now she was just tired. Her life the past few months had run her haggard and right now laying back and closing her eyes was all she could bring herself to do.
The soft sound of pattering rain was broken however as a person bursts through one of the alley doors and rushes against the wall. A disheveled suited man looked around before more suited men came stepping out, all wielding guns. They clicked their safeties off and the man stopped looking around and looked just at his pursuers. The men split as another man steps out, this one wearing a white suit in contrast to the other's black ones. His hair an orange shade with a fringe covering his eye. Perhaps the most odd thing about him though was how young he looked compared to those around him. That with his posture and the swagger he walked with marked him as the leader.
"R-Roman please! I'm telling you its not me I swear!"
"Really? Cause I'm not too sure, is running away a thing innocent people do nowadays." The man now identified as Roman quirks an eyebrow up.
"Please I swear to god it wasn't-"
His pleas fall on deaf ears however as Roman is currently leaning over a bit and when he stands up straight there's a lit cigarette he's now smoking. He inhales from it once before taking it out of his mouth.
"Fire."
The sound of rain in the grey alleyway is swept sway with the sounds and flashes of gunfire. When the man stops screaming, one of the suited men walks up and puts a finger to his neck. Then he checks through all the suit pockets before ripping open the jacket at the chest, pulling a small device from it.
"You called it sir."
Roman takes another puff from his cigarette, his face reads a smug 'of course I did'. He turns to walk back inside when his eyes come across a bystander sitting to the side, her body closed up as if to make herself as small as possible. He walks up to her and Neo seizes up in fear. But before she's able to make a break for it he's already upon her and drops a few lien in the can.
"This never happened."
Neo continues gaping at the criminal before looking down and seeing the amount of cash this man just casually dropped. Her eyes dart over it and sees that its more than she's scrounges up begging in a month! She goes to rush for it when Roman darts his hand forward and grabs her arm. He pulls her up as Neo futilely tries to pry away from his grasp.
"So tell me. Are you a huntress spy or a police one? I need to know so I can find out where to leave your body."
Neo eyes flash open at his threat, the fear of death put into her. Whatever words Roman was going to say next die in his throat when he takes notice of her eyes. A split where one eye shines pink and the other brown. Roman hmms before continuing.
"Well I can't imagine a policeman putting themselves this close to danger so I guess that leaves huntress?"
Neo stopped trying to escape when she sees she's not getting out of here that easily. Though at the mention of huntresses her glare turns sharper.
"Oh? Not a huntress, academy reject then? …You got anything to say for yourself or are you gonna stay quiet?"
Roman tightens his grip on her wrist as Neo flinches in pain. The only sound she makes however is a weak rasp. Roman looks past her and sees a cardboard sign that she was previous sitting on. Through the water currently soaking it, he can barely see what was written past the atrocious penmanship. Roman loosens his grip and Neo rips back her arm from his grasp.
"Something tells me you're not here by choice. Farm parents ship you out here? Orphanage kick you out? Or maybe you're rich parents disowned you when you wouldn't stay their little doll?"
Neo doesn't even look up. Too scared of the man who's holding her life so casually right now.
"Cause the way I see it you don't have anything else to lose."
Neo now turns up quizzically.
"Show me your semblance. C'mon I know you must have one."
She frowns before closing her eyes and then opening them to meet his gaze. An odd texture appears over her face and when it leaves Roman sees a reflection of himself, or at least one in a funhouse mirror. Neo's façade fails in many ways when viewed up close, from the mouth being too wide, eyes still her shade, etc. She holds it for a few moments before the image blurs and its back to her face.
Roman strokes his chin, thinking on what he's seen before kicking over her tin cup. Neo's face turns to shock then anger but only clenches her fists at his actions. Roman circles around her, ignoring her discomfort.
"So the way I see it… As long as you're alive you're golden. Anyone alive has the chance to get their way out of any problem as long as they have that-" He snaps his fingers. "-spark. The guts do it what it takes to climb back up. Thing is I don't know if I'd call what I'm seeing living. So how bout I make you an offer. You. Work for me."
Neo's mind is scrambling. Eyes drifting from the still fresh corpse lying on the wall, to the armed men waiting for their boss' next order before back to this dangerous stranger.
"I could use someone with your talents. You come with me and you won't have to think twice about lien ever again."
He stops before her. "Course you could always stay out here. I'm sure it won't be too cold in a few months or hell maybe having a little frostbite will help people pity you more."
Neo's face is still cast down. Now clenching only one hand but not making any moves. A few moments pass and Roman turns away, but before he can take another step, Neo has gone and grabbed his hand. Roman smirks at her.
"Good choice."