Assassin Angel
Sorry that this update is so late…guess I should finally start working with this again, seeing as how I've been wanting to for some time. Well, I hope the people who put it on alert will at least come back to read it, I gotta say I love the story I've got planned out for this, but nonetheless, I'll get on with the chapter. Oh, and just in case anyone was wondering on my awareness, I am aware I said black hair in the first chapter, and there is a simple explanation for that, just go ahead and read.
The Roost
There was a sense of weightless grogginess as she came to, and after opening her eyes, she panicked slightly when she could see nothing. But after a few moments of blinking, her vision came back into focus and the young woman lying realized she was in a bed somewhere. Glancing from side to side, she went to lift her hand up to brush her bangs from her forehead, only to wince at a slight tug at her hand. Using her other hand to gently prod at the source of her discomfort, she found that an IV needle was placed in her hand. Now that she was fully conscious, she became aware of the quiet beeping and buzzing and humming of machines located close to the bed, along with a few other wires connected to her skin in some way.
Narrowing her eyes and pursing her lips, she pulled herself into an upright position and set about removing the wires. First off, she pulled the needle out of her hand, not really caring about the slight twitch of pain that the action had caused. Then she was pulling the adhesive pads away from her chest underneath the thin gown she was wearing, fingertips pausing to rub the skin after the pads were removed. She was attempting to pull back the covers and slip her legs out of the bed when the sliding metal and glass doors at the other end of the room quietly pushed open just as the lights quickly flickered on, bathing the room in bright fluorescent light.
"Ah," the girl growled, lifting her hands to her eyes, not having been ready for something so bright so soon.
"Lacus, you get back in that bed now!" the woman from the doorway commanded, clearly surprised but trying to take charge of the situation. Crossing the room quickly, the shorthaired woman reached out to the other, pushing her shoulders back to force her back onto the medical bed.
"I'm fine," the long haired girl grumbled, narrowed blue eyes flashing and glancing off to the side, trying to find an escape. But the other was faster than she, and before Lacus knew it, she was back in the bed and the covers pulled up. Glaring at the other woman, Lacus huffed to herself. "I don't need to be here."
Sighing softly as she attempted to fix what Lacus had done, the other woman turned her head towards the incompliant patient. "You would say that if your arm had been severed off," she sniped.
"I wouldn't make a stupid mistake to get my arm severed in the first place, Miriallia," Lacus quipped back.
"When the agent brought you back, you were out like the dead, you know." the other, Miriallia, began to explain. She seemed satisfied by Lacus' surprised look. "We were worried you'd been poisoned, until we found that dart in your bag and were able to analyze it. Though it's still in testing, we're pretty certain that it's a high grade tranquilizer specifically manufactured for Coordinators," Mir added.
"I could have told you that much, little else can work on me," Lacus replied, her eyes on Mir's green gaze.
"No you couldn't, you were dead to the world," the short haired woman corrected, pushing the IV needle back into Lacus' hand with just a little more force than necessary. "But you'd have been flattered to see how many of the younger agents were willing to test the drug when we were first trying to examine it. Even Haro offered, but Zala wouldn't have it," Mir explained, her attention falling onto one of the monitors around Lacus' bed.
Leaning back against the pillows dejectedly, Lacus grinned slightly. "You seem to have done a lot in so little time, finally picking up the pace?" she asked, only to receive a slightly amused and slightly concerned smile from Miriallia.
"Lacus, you've been out for nearly two whole days, not counting the night you got back." the woman revealed. Lacus was silent, a thoughtful and peeved expression crossing her face. "We ran a lot of tests, and we're still waiting for all of the blood work to get done, and I gave you an exam to make sure nothing else was wrong. I'm glad you woke up today, though. Zala had mentioned it would be beneficial," Mir added with a grin.
Lacus nodded absently, still going through thoughts in her head. She'd been out for so long…all because of a few ounces of whatever was in that dart? She wasn't surprised really that Athrun wasn't waiting by her bedside, and was actually thinking about work rather than her well being, that was normal for them. She wondered if he even still had a heart sometimes, but had kept such thoughts to herself. None of her business if all he ever desired was to make a profit at the end of the day. Feeling an itch on her scalp, she made sure to use the hand without the IV to scratch it while her hair brushed her fingers.
"You couldn't at least have washed the dye out?" Lacus mumbled to herself, pulling a handful of her long thick hair in front of her. It was still that dusky ebony color, rather than her natural shade of soft rose. The only reason she'd died her hair was because her target had preferred black haired women, and she'd had to get him to notice her out of the crowd to finish her job. But having had to pretend she was some sort of "escort" had really pressed her limits, yet Athrun knowing that it would had given her the task of killing him. It'd been the worst two weeks of her life, especially having to remember to dye her hair and eyebrows to make sure her hair didn't give her away.
Though pink hair wasn't necessarily very common, among Coordinators it was a possible trait that she had gotten, and some girls dyed their hair when they pleased. But nonetheless, the mission had called for black hair, so black it became. And now she wanted to get rid of it already.
"Sorry," Miriallia answered with a smile and a shrug. The woman was a close friend to Lacus, possibly the closest she had to a best friend given that Mir knew everything about her for starters. She was more or less in charge of the medical sect of their organization, despite being so young and a Natural at that. She'd fixed Lacus up countless times, and she was grateful to have someone like Mir as her friend. If you kill people for a living, you tend to find solace in the simplest yet most important of things, and Miriallia always seemed to know of some way to get Lacus' mind out of her darker place and bring a smile to her lips.
"I promise you can get to your shower in a few hours, but for now you just need to rest and let us get our work done. Do you want me to give you a sedative to help?" the woman asked, but Lacus shook her head stubbornly which only made Mir smile. "All right then, I'll go to check up on the current results. I'll send Haro to you with some lunch if you'd like," Miriallia mentioned as she walked to the other side of the room to pull back the heavy drapes from the windows. Some light streamed in, and the view outside the windows showed off the other tall buildings of the city. What better place to run an illegal organization than right smack dab in the middle of a grand city such as Heliopolis?
Lacus frowned at the mention of lunch, only because that it was a reminder of how long she'd slept. At the mention of Haro, though, she seemed to brighten some. Haro was another girl, not much younger than Lacus who was also part of their organization, though she did busy work and menial tasks most of the time if she couldn't drape herself over Lacus' shoulder since neither she nor Athrun wanted the younger girl to actually take part in their practice. Mir waved as she began to walk out of the room, her shoes making a soft clicking on the smooth tile floor. "I won't forget to tell her that you want jello," the woman teased from the doorway. Lacus grimaced.
Once Miriallia had left, Lacus had taken to staring out the window, then up at the ceiling when that proved to only bore her more. Haro came to see her not long after, and the two spent some relatively quiet time in one another's company which was rather surprising on Haro's part. Haro was a strange girl, with medium length, bright pink hair. She used to have regularly dyed it so many different colors that no one remembered what the original shade had been, though after befriending Lacus, she'd settled on bright pink. She often wore her hair up, but it usually always framed her cherub face and the color actually went well with her dark ruby eyes. Though rather talkative and straight forward, the girl had a strange respect and devotion towards Lacus, and the older had come to see her akin to a younger sister.
When Miriallia returned, she'd gone to usher Haro out, which was a rather difficult task with the young girl squirming and snapping that she shouldn't have to leave. Sure enough, an argument evolved between them as usual; something about Miriallia feeling that Haro didn't respect her authority while the younger girl shrieked about being treated as a child. It wasn't till Lacus snapped at the both of them, rubbing the bridge of her nose in annoyance that Haro shut up quickly and nearly skipped out of the medical room. Miriallia sighed at her departure, grumbling to herself about kids these days, despite barely being much older than Haro herself.
"So, can I leave or do I have some other strange drug in my system you need to test me for?" Lacus asked, boredom evident in her voice.
"Hm…that depends, what have you been taking while I was gone?" Miriallia teased with a sly grin, chuckling at Lacus' unamused glare. "Really, you're free to go, though try not to strain yourself if you feel any weakness or discomfort. We're not sure how long it'll take for the tranquilizer to fully leave your system."
"Mm, great news, now let me out of here already." Lacus asked, eying the short haired woman with a leer that was very impatient.
"Fine, but Zala wants to see you in his office at four later." Miriallia informed her, looking over a paper on her clipboard.
"Always does," the long haired assassin mumbled to herself as she gladly pulled the IV from her hand, along with the pads monitoring her heartbeat and other such things that Miriallia had so painstakingly reapplied hours ago. The doctor looked as though she wished to protest, but Lacus was already cheerfully strolling out of the medical room, uncaring about the thin hospital gown that didn't quite close fully in the back. Miriallia sighed to herself, rubbing her temple with one hand while tapping her clipboard with the other.
After returning to her room on one of the higher floors of the building, Lacus had immediately gone to her bathroom where a nice familiar shower was awaiting her. She'd already taken the steps to prepare for her return, and a bottle of hair dye removal shampoo was eagerly awaiting her use. Afterwards, she pulled her hair back into a loose braid and dressed in a tank top and comfortable shorts. Grabbing one of the many water bottles from her apartment's refrigerator, she was on her way to the training room, eager to get back into some semblance of her routine.
When she wasn't on a mission, she usually would go to the training room located on one of the very top floors of the building every other day. To all the occupants within, the tall skyscraper was known as the Roost. It was rather appropriate, given that the newly famous assassin Nightingale made her nest there, or rather, it was made for her. The building held regular offices for the cover up business that went on in the lower floors, but there was also a training gym, two kitchens on two different floors, and quite a few apartments for the other workers. What exactly their jobs were, well, they were much like Nightingale though not as popular and not as closely monitored by the media.
Ever since Athrun had found a way to exploit her talents even further, Lacus had somehow become a celebrity of an assassin, if the term could even be used as such. Police had much of their efforts focused on capturing her, and the public had mixed views on her, supporting her for murdering a cruel or corrupt figure, or flaming her for 'unjustly' killing an important figure in society. Much of the politics fell on whether her target had been a Natural or a Coordinator. Often, she was hired by the well connected to take out a political figure or merely someone who held a good deal of money that supposedly belonged in another's pocket. Lacus didn't mind much, but the lifestyle was trying, and she knew she didn't want to do it forever. It seemed Athrun's occasional and rare, always broken promises of a target being the last were beginning to crack her patience.
When the elevator doors opened, Lacus stepped out into the training gym which was filled with its usual sounds. Some of her coworkers, if they could be called that, were sparring or just working out, and others sat or stood conversing with each other with a glistening of sweat on their skin – evidence of a hard workout. She herself stepped over towards the sparring mats and gestured to one woman who was resting. She nodded back, took a drink from her water bottle, and stepped over, slipping in a mouth guard.
They waited, assessing each other as they slowly circled the mat, lifting their fists close to their face in case the other should try and surprise her opponent. Lacus struck first, never liking to wait, and the woman slipped away, countering with a swing of her arm which Lacus deflected and tried to use the woman's weight against her as she pushed her away. She held her ground and instead kicked out at Lacus, narrowly missing her hip as the long haired girl slipped away just in time.
Their sparring went on for nearly seven minutes, neither looking very tired, but sweat had begun collecting on the back of their necks and above their eyes. Lacus winced when the woman's fist caught her in the stomach when they had somehow gotten locked together, but she quickly retaliated by using her knee to push the other away and then kick out towards the woman's elbow. A look of mild pain crossed her face and the woman went as though to rub where she'd been hit. But Lacus jumped her and pulled her into a tight, restraining hold that with just the right movement could break the woman's neck.
Breathing heavily and feeling blood pumping quickly through her veins, Lacus released her, and patted her shoulder. The woman grinned back and took out her mouth guard before going to retrieve her water bottle. Lacus did the same, and looked over to see that a small audience had begun watching them. It wasn't unusual for others to watch their comrades spar, it was actually a good learning technique. Two had eager faces, and Lacus nodded to one, this time a man. She'd actually worked with him before on an assignment, and seeing that he wasn't completely ripped knew that she'd have a good chance given her speed.
The girl was no idiot, and despite the condition of her body being in peak physical shape, she knew that with her wiry muscles, she couldn't take on any and every man she wanted with nothing but fists. An unfair fact, but fact nonetheless. She wouldn't allow herself to make a bad judgment just because she felt lucky or thought that she could make up for her size with speed.
After spending some time in the gym, Lacus finally felt that the workout had been worthwhile, and her muscles sighed in joy at being pushed to their limits once more. She'd taken on a few more challenges with somewhat short breaks in between, and had won quite a few of the matches. Of course, as time went on she became more tired, but it would obviously be impossible to win every fight. Retiring back to her room, accompanied by the woman she'd sparred with earlier who had an apartment on the same floor, Lacus mentioned she'd like to take another shower and go sleep for a bit.
"That does sound nice," the woman commented. Lacus had finally remembered her name not too long after their match, and recalled that Shiho was quite versatile when it came to her work. Mostly covert, if Lacus' memory served her right. "I'd rather take a bath though, with mineral salts," the brunette added cheerfully.
Bidding goodnight to one another, they parted ways and Lacus returned to her apartment thoroughly pleased. Showering to get rid of the sweat and to soothe her muscles, she made her way to her bed and burrowed underneath the covers, making sure that her alarm was set early enough so that she could meet with Athrun. It gave her about five hours to sleep, and she was rather looking forward to it.
Athrun's office had never really struck Lacus as anything special, but merely as a cold, unfeeling place with plush carpets and comfortable furniture that was rarely ever used. Athrun Zala sat behind his finely crafted mahogany desk with three laptop monitors before him, two less than usual. Lacus noted that it was probably due to a lull in work, or his workday hadn't quite gotten started yet.
"When do you actually sleep, Athrun?" Lacus asked upon entering, making her way to the cushioned leather chair sat before his desk. The man's bright green eyes fell upon her with one of those looks that seemed amused, but not quite in a pleasant way.
"When no one is watching, Lacus," he replied back, his lips pulling into a slight grin. The girl was a bit surprised, since he usually wasn't in so good a mood, but she noticed that they were in fact alone in his office, and none of his assistants was perched in a corner, ready to fly in to do his bidding when called.
"I see, big brother is still using his old tricks," she quipped back, settling into the chair comfortably, pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them so that she could rest her chin on her knees. An odd sitting habit, but one she'd not been able to shake over the years.
"Hm," Athrun hummed, glancing back at one of his monitors, raven blue hair falling over an eye. Lacus glanced around his desk, at how sparse it was. Nothing that would show personality, except for the tall glass vase of red lilies that provided the only source of color in the room. In Athrun's own living quarters, she'd only been there a few times, he had a similar desk, though not as grand, and it was filled with odd trinkets and old photos from the past that he'd "Put on a shelf," as he so put it. Fragments of robotic parts and old tools littered the desktop, from what she remembered, and the metal structure of a bird had been half completed last she remembered.
There was one photo that she'd liked especially, though. It was from some time ago, when she was much younger and far more innocent, and when she suspected Athrun still had a heart. Lenore Zala, Athrun, and Lacus had posed at the beach for the photo, and it was like a link into the past. Truthfully, she had the same photo framed in her apartment, but seeing that Athrun still had it, well, it had comforted her some.
After waiting for what she believed to be long enough, Lacus cleared her throat, drawing the older man's attention. "So, I'm here and ready to listen to whatever it was you wanted to tell me. Feel like getting to it already?" she asked, somewhat annoyed though there was a grin on her lips. It was fun to poke at Athrun when she knew it wouldn't be considered breaking their rules. As Nightingale, she was just Athrun's favorite assassin who wouldn't disrespect him, especially before his other workers. When no one was around, she could speak with him as comfortably as she liked, as though they were like brother and sister once more.
"Obviously, I have another assignment for you." Athrun answered, looking up from his work and brushing his bangs away from his eyes. When Lacus gave him a look that clearly showed her annoyance, he smiled. "Oh, but it shouldn't be nearly as strenuous as you think," he added, turning one of the laptops around to face her. Lacus eyes the screen warily, familiar with target information, but confused by the news video paused on the screen.
"What am I supposed to do? Kill a newscaster?" she asked curiously, eying him.
"Actually, you'll be going back to school," Athrun replied, his smile widening. Lacus was clearly unamused.
"A teacher then?" she muttered, though judging from Athrun's look, she knew she'd guessed wrong again.
"You'll be protecting someone this time," he began to explain, pointing at a figure in the video clip. Lacus eyed it more closely, and her eyes widened. "Ulen Hibiki of PLANTS Research Institute has requested, with a generous donation, that the Nightingale be the one to protect his son Kira Hibiki, current third year student at Heliopolis Preparatory Academy, from any and all possible dangers or threats."
Lacus was still rather surprised, but hearing the name of the rather famous private high school, she leered distastefully towards Athrun.
"Oh, don't worry, the uniforms are cute."
I think I like where I'm taking this…with the long break, not only has my style gotten better, but the original idea has fermented and become precious to me like a fine wine. I have a feeling that if For You and I finishes before this, Assassin Angel will comfort the hole that will be left in my heart. Readers, I've got some good stuff planned, so I hope you stick with me and always review when you can. Hope to see a lot of you in the review box soon!
Sam