Chapter 2: Just What the Doctor Ordered

I sent an acceptance message to Buddy as I made my way down to the medical wing of the Lethe. Not hard to imagine a person or two being shocked at the sight of a fully stocked medical facility for a 'gentlemen's club'. Especially at some of the more exotic options available.

"Quite the interesting meeting you had, little quicksilver."

As the smooth, familiar voice hit my ear, my eyes started scanning my surroundings. Plush carpet, classy wallpaper with a few half-tables butted up against the walls, and the long, dark grey hair of the only person in that hallway other than me.

"Wolf."

Piercing green eyes set in a lean face were locked onto me from the side of the hallway, leaning against the wall. My… co-worker smirked at my address, knocking back a couple pills before she set her sights back on me.

"No need to be so short with me, quicksilver. I'm merely making an observation. No offense meant."

"None taken. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to see the Chemist for somethin-"

"What really keeps you here in our little club, Mercury?"

Shit. My hands settled into my pockets as I watched Wolf lean there in that military fatigue she usually wore, her sleek tail lazily swinging behind her. I always dreaded this question.

I shrugged. "Kills the time, Wolf."

"It can at that." She nodded. "But that's not all it can kill, especially to those lacking anything driving them. Some do it for thrill, others to feed themselves. The reasons are varied, but most of the survivors have one that pushes them. What's yours?"

Smile and deflect, Black. "Always such a personal interest from you, Wolf. Have my charms captivated you?"

A chuckle escaped her lips as her gaze stayed locked to mine. "As handsome as you can sometimes make yourself appear, it's your potential that interests me, little quicksilver. You're earning a decent reputation, and some rivalries, all while being quite… listless in how you approach this life. It's a curiosity."

"Thought it was cats who were struck by that bug. Better check those pills of yours, might be expired." I started making my way down the hallway again, not looking back.

But her voice drifted forward for one more parting shot.

"As well as you're doing for the moment, I can't wait to see when you find a driving force. I'm sure it'll be entertaining."

A shiver ran down my spine as I clenched my fist, turning the corner and moving toward the Chemist's office. Damn crazy faunus.

I opened the door to the Chemist's front office, the plush carpet giving way to sterile tile, the wallpaper falling away to solid white walls. The receptionist, a weedy young man, looked up from his reading at my entering.

"Ah. Welcome welcome, for all your pharmaceutical needs. Hmm, Mister Black." His eyebrow raised as he finally noticed exactly who had stepped in. "Didn't expect to see you again so soon. If you need I can buzz you straight in. She just finished up with a patient and is free for the moment."

"That'd be wonderful." I nodded. At that, he pressed a buzzer on his desk. When another came from the device he waved me to the door next to his desk. I nodded again as I walked over and opened it, going through.

It was a decent sized examining room. Another door on the opposite side. Cot against one wall, counter with a sink against the other. She was at the sink washing her hands with her back to me. Still kind of amazes me how blasé people are with their personal safety when surrounded by paid killers, even in a 'safe' zone. An older woman, she looked quite the professional in her doctor's coat… which didn't stop it being a tad frightening when she turned after finishing washing and gave a stern glare as she caught sight of me.

"Ahh, Mister Black. Why am I not surprised." She drawled out with a sigh.

I shrugged a little. "Because the Chemist is always in high demand?"

"As I said before, I'll require at least a Knight-ranked chip before prescribing something more powerful for your legs."

My head cocked to the side, a frown setting in place, as a hand settled in my pocket near my chip pouch. The same thought ran through my head as last time I was here. As poetic as it'd be to use his chip to fix the damage, a King-rank was overkill. Besides… "This is for a job."

Her eyebrow raised at that. "Oh? Well then, Mister Black, what are the details?"

"I need something that can cause allergic reactions. Air-based, if you can."

"An aerosolized allergen. Hmm. Does the target have any specific allergy?"

"Uhhh… none that I know of. Bit of a health nut, actually."

She let out a long sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "One day I will work with someone who will make this easy for me and while I'll love it, I fear I won't know what to do with myself. One moment, Mister Black. Just stay here." With that, the doc opened that door on the other side of the room and walked through. I caught a glimpse of rows of bottles and vials before it closed.

She was gone for a few minutes before she came back with a small metal flask and a thin tube with a plunger on the end. She placed the items on the counter before turning to me.

"What's on the counter is a fast acting poison capable of inducing fatal apoplectic shock in anyone." She said with a long glance at it. "The trade off is that it must soak into a mucous membrane of the target, Mister Black. I've included one of the longer aerosolizing units. The last person to use this utilized a standard inhaler, but forgot to entirely wipe themselves down after completing the job. Heheh."

I stared as a small smirk came to the Chemist's face. Right. "Doc?" Her eyes snapped to mine at my voice, smirk still there.

"Ah yes. Payment. Two Pawn chips should be sufficient."

My mouth twitched towards a frown as I dug into my chip pouch and drew out two chips, those black pawns standing out emblazoned on the solid white poker chip. I may have been getting more back from the job, but it still hurt to part with them. "Why the increase?"

"Lack of research." The Chemist's hand plucked the chips out of mine before depositing them into her coat. "While it's always refreshing having someone decide their battle with a thought out plan and not charging in, attacking, and hoping their aura will absorb everything, you do still have to rely on a poison that can possibly take you out, Mister Black. A little more research next time will keep things smooth, and also increase the likelihood you'll come out unharmed." Her eyes flicked down at that before she went over to the counter and collected the items.

My hand briefly curled into a fist before I took a deep breath as she handed over the stuff. She was right, after all. Only reason I started considering these options was necessity. Still…

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, doc. Just in case, I'll make sure I wash - head to toe - before I touch myself." The smirk I plastered on stretched across my face. The eye-roll I got in response was well worth the effort.

"Droll. Though if you don't take that precaution, I suppose someone will find you stiff enough eventually. Rigor mortis is amusing in that sense."

"And on that note I'm gonna get outta here. Thanks again, doc."

"I always have the supply if you have the payment, Mister Black. Good day."

I stepped out of her examining room and made my way out toward the club, giving a nod to the receptionist as I passed. And as the sterile medical decor changed back to the plush overindulgence of the Lethe, I thought about my target.

And realized I only had a name. Well, that and kind of a house location. But no features, nor the business' name. Nothing. I'd intentionally walked away with just the beginnings of a plan. The Chemist was right. I did need to start thinking these things out more.

Still, I had things to go on. Alexander Stone. Part of a big charity business. Lives on the eastern cliff of Mistral. Shouldn't be difficult.

A little time searching through newspapers left me leaning on the railings across from some secluded houses on the east side. They were set into the cliffside, built into what appeared to be a partial cave. But these ones were for the more… 'adventurous' homeowner. Because while there were some walkways and ladders to the doors, there also seemed to be paths on the cliff face if you were stupid enough to want the exercise.

Makes me wonder how they got the furniture inside.

But my target lived in one of those houses, which means I needed to figure out which one, and devise a strategy. Which meant the stakeout. Looking through papers had eaten into the day, which made it late afternoon when I'd headed out. A quick stop at my place for a change back into less conspicuous clothes - a mix up of dark colored pants, hoodie, along with a face scarf and gloves I kept hidden for now - and here I was.

I at least knew what Stone looked like now. The papers were kind enough to have a few shots of him when they had a story covering his business. People do like happy tales, and a company that spends its profit helping survivors would fill that quota.

There was still a decent crowd milling about, a few joining me in watching the sky as they leaned on the railing. Some were even jogging about, determined to get exercise in the most unsafe manner possible… wait. That Holly woman mentioned something about a running schedule.

My eyes glanced over the various runners passing me by, and there he was, chatting with someone as they both kept a decent pace. Tall, lean, with an honest look about him. Probably was just a nice guy. But it's not my job to wonder at the morality of my targets.

My gaze stayed on him as he broke away from his companion, making his way on one of the walkways to the outermost house and going inside. Good. I know the house. And there's seclusion. Now the tricky part comes in waiting till he's most likely asleep then getting in undetected and he's coming out and joining his friend again.

… Sonuvabitch!

Alright, this is okay. I know which house is his now. I'll just go in and wait for him. It's perfect. I looked back at the house and scanned it over before my head drooped toward the railing.

I couldn't just walk up and go in, that'd cause too many issues. So the only viable option I had was to climb down the cliff side and see if I could find a back door. I could just feel the pain in my legs starting up. Maybe I should look into that masseuse some of the others talk about. But no point in stalling.

I straightened up, stretching out as I glanced around. My target was long gone so I made my way up the nice, safe, non-threatening stairways to the top of the cliff. A lot more houses up here, though a glance around showed a thin crowd. Everyone was probably either inside or mulling around doing errands. Fewer witnesses at least.

I walked along the cliff top trying my damndest to limber up and release any building tension. Shoulder rolls, clenching and unclenching my fists, deep breaths. Soon enough I came up to the edge overlooking my target's house. Others further along it were even setting up a climbing rope. That might've been a smart idea even if it meant more obvious equipment. Minimalist approach isn't bad though.

Pulling out a pair of gloves and putting them on, I surveyed the rocks of the cliff face on the path toward the house. Looked like the path led towards a big landing pad area behind the house. A breeze blew past my face, the slight chill to it sending a shiver down my spine.

"Nervous, pal?"

I tensed up a bit as I turned to see a guy looking at me with a grin. Smile, Black, smile. "A bit. But more annoyed, really. Friend a mine messages me, saying I should come over, but when I get there his door was locked. Then he says through it I need to come the 'fun' way or he won't let me in." A sigh slipped out from my lips. My complaint drew a chuckle from the guy.

"Didn't even give you any equipment, eh? I think me and my friends have got some spare stuff we can lend y-"

"Thanks but I'm good." No need to add an accomplice into this. "Besides, I'll be having a good talk with him about stunts like this. I trust my legs to get me down there. Thanks for the concern."

They won't last much more than that right now, but I trust them that far. Aura can only do so much. Though by the looks I was getting from my new friend, he wasn't totally buying it.

"All right. If you're sure. I'd better not see you on the news tomorrow. I'd feel awful about it."

I couldn't help the smirk at that. "Don't worry. You won't be seeing this face on the news any time soon."

He slowly nodded, but walked back over to his friends setting up their own equipment. Now I needed to stop dallying.

I crouched down, grabbed onto the edge, and eased myself over, foot looking for a foothold.
Once I'd found it I tested the weight, slowly putting more of my body onto it before starting the process again with another foothold. Now came the fun part. Footholds and handholds.

I took my time going down. Alternating foot, hand, foot, hand. An arduous task, made more so by my lack of experience. A quarter of the way down, I could feel the burn start in my legs, the sweat starting on my brow.

Halfway there, the trembling started. Small, but noticeable. Making it harder to hold steady in footholds - or even find them.

Three-quarters - almost there - and the sweat was running into my eyes, forcing me to hold up and wipe it away. I was glad for my gloves. Just imaging sweaty hands trying to hold onto rocks wasn't a pleasant thought. I'd've probably ended up actually going off into the drink below.

I forced myself down the rest of the way, ending up on the platform behind my target's house. All my limbs were tired, with my legs suffering the most. But I could see that glorious back door, away from all the prying eyes.

Though now that I think about it I needed to climb back up if I wanted to keep suspicion down, didn't I? Damnit. Right, worry about that later. Focus on getting in now.

I tried the door and found it locked. Of course, but better to get that out of the way. Should ask Buddy about a lockpick set. Hmm. There was a window though. Bit high off the ground but nothing too far. A small hop saw me grabbing onto the window sill and peering in. His workout area greeted me. Weights, other equipment, and mats were all around. I got in as good a position as I could and tried opening the window. Slowly it slid open enough I could squeeze inside. I dropped down to the floor, trying not to make too much noise.

I glanced around the room as I stood up, allowing myself to relax just a bit now that I'd tackled one hurdle. Easy to tell the guy at least thought about being healthy with this kinda room in his house. Whether he used it was another thing entirely. Buuut, if he did, and was also as picky about his food as Holly seemed to think...

I moved through the rooms - keeping an ear out for any footsteps that weren't mine - until I came to the kitchen. There I moved directly to the fridge and opened it up and saw my prize: sweet, sweet yoghurt. Raspberry flavored. I grabbed a container, closed the fridge, then started looking through the drawers for a spoon.

After I found that, I opened my prize and dug in as I started casing the house, still keeping an ear out and trying to avoid any obvious windows.

The first floor had that workout room, the kitchen, and his living room. The second floor though. It held his master bedroom, a spare bedroom, an office, and a bathroom.

After hitting the head, I headed back to that spare bedroom. There was a dinky cot, a desk with a chair, and a small dresser. And as tempting as it'd be waiting in that master bedroom, with its walk-in closet, I wasn't taking that chance. If I just sit in this chair eating my yoghurt, I can at least bullshit my way outta here... maybe.

So I parked my keester in that chair, enjoying my prize as I let my legs rest. How long could he be out running anyway?