Disclaimer: I do not own "Human Target". So there.

A/N: This is kind of a companion piece to my other HT fic, but it can stand alone. Enjoy!

Guerrero's POV

I couldn't take the risk.

I knew that anyone could be after Chance – FBI, CIA, DOD, Homeland, a gang member, anyone he'd ticked off. For a guy who was trying to do the right thing, he sure could make people mad.

But still…….I couldn't risk that He was back.

Not for the first time did I lament Chance's inability to take care of personal demons. He could handle anyone who hit a nerve during a mission, sure. But when it came to people from his own past, he just ran. Like – as much as I hated saying it – a coward.

Someone had to pick up the slack.

That's the only reason I took the job. (The money was an added bonus.)

I had to know who the Thin Man was working for. I had to protect Chance. If his boss did come back, there was no telling what would happen.

Chance could run.

He could stay and get himself killed.

I felt harsh believing that, but it was true. He was a fighter, and he was a threat, but I knew he wouldn't be able to do what was necessary.

Fortunately, I didn't intend to let it get that far. I'd get the name from the Thin Man, and then take out the threat. Then I'd rejoin Chance and Winston for whatever mission they were onto, and no one would be the wiser.

As I listened to Winston talk about Catherine, I felt two emotions churn inside me.

Rage: How dare this Thin Man come back after all these years and bring up such horrible memories for Chance?

Sorrow: What had Chance gone through?

Three, if you counted the guilt. I was betraying one of my closest – and speaking honestly, my only – friend. Betraying them, my brain added as I left the apartment. Yeah, so I'd be betraying Winston, too, inadvertently proving the worst things he'd ever said about me and blah blah blah. I didn't need to protect Winston from his past demons; they were dead and buried.

Besides, it wasn't like I planned on telling them, "hey, dudes, while you were gone, I broke into the apartment and took one of your files to a supposed fed, just to see who he was working for, that's cool right?" I wasn't an idiot. These things had to be done secretly.

I had to protect them.

I don't know why I was surprised that the Thin Man refused to tell me who'd hired him. Maybe some of Chance's goodness was rubbing off on me.

Then again, maybe not, I thought grimly as I pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into the Thin Man's back. The file went flying, but I ignored it, feeling icy rage threaten to consume me.

I couldn't get rid of an unknown. The threat was still there, and no one could tell me how close or how far away it was.

"He doesn't just get to walk away after what he did," The Thin Man declared as I walked over to where he was laying in front of his car. He glared at me.

"You think you can protect him? You can't," he sneered.

He was an idiot if he believed that. With the right connections, I could do anything. I would do anything, if it meant protecting Chance.

"We'll see," I told him before lifting the gun and squeezing the trigger.

Maybe he'd been an agent or a cop. Maybe he'd just been some random gang member, or a disgruntled thug. Or maybe he'd worked for Chance's boss. There was no way to tell.

But still….

I couldn't take the risk.

There! Please review!