A/U: So I want to say a massive thank you to Althea for reviewing my last chapter, it means a lot and spurs me on. All I'll say is your patience will pay off :)

Chapter 12

Who are you? How did you find me?

Easy. Too easy really. I suggest you delete your account on this disgusting website and go home to pack your bags. Your wife wants you gone by midday.

And what if I don't?

If you don't then I'll release all the messages you've been sending to underage girls on here to your work, to your friends, to your family….you get the idea.

Fine

I leant back in my chair satisfied with the result of my latest crusade online. A young woman was convinced her husband and father of her child was cheating on her with someone online. She had asked me to find out the truth. I had done just that, but the truth was nastier than she thought. The man was cheating alright; with minors on an underground website for perverts like him. He had been messaging girls for months while his wife took care of their newborn daughter in another room.

It was scum like this that made this hobby of mine worthwhile. I shut down my computer and quickly messaged the woman; nothing graphic just that she was right and he was making himself scarce. Ordinary people didn't need to know the depths to which humanity could sink; I for one knew enough of that for everyone else.

I tried to stifle a yawn; I had been up for nearly 24 hours completing our latest contract. It was now a year since I had signed up to be a handler in the agency; my old life didn't feel like it belonged to me anymore. When I thought about it, it was like I was watching a film of someone else's life. My brief phone calls with my parents, who had moved to Italy now, were the only link I had to who I used to be. Even my old name sounded alien when they spoke it.

It could be described as lonely my life now, I didn't have friends outside of work like a normal person. Helen still chatted with me online, unaware I was only a half an hour train ride from her. My days were consumed by my job, if I wasn't assisting Agent Smith in a contract, I was gathering intel or reporting back to headquarters about our latest hit. The underground website I had set up during training was busy as well; word had got around about my services and I usually had one or two requests a day now. I chose the ones I felt needed the most help, it made me feel like I was doing a bit of good in this corrupt world I was now a part of.

My phone interrupted my thoughts; I had a new message from work.

New assignment, target is Gregory Thomas, a powerful US government official with links to an underground hacker group. Client has requested Agent Smith and yourself by name, not confirmed but may be responsible for several multimillion-dollar companies' having their personal information leaked. Client request kill looks like an accident. Pursue with caution, deadline 20th November.

I raised my eyebrows at the scale of this assignment. So far we had been given relatively low security jobs; it was the norm, only a few agents were capable of the high level hits. As much as I trusted Carlton he was not one of those agents.

I did a quick search on Gregory Thomas on my phone; member of the US government in charge of cyber security, of course. Ex CIA agent, lovely, and had just passed a bill to allow the government access to citizens social media accounts. I sat down in my living room slowly; I wasn't sure we were up to this. The 20th was in two weeks time as well, this would be a mammoth contract to prepare.

"I need to sleep first." I spoke to the phone as if my work could hear me. Maybe they could, I didn't really know what their limits were to be honest. Putting the phone down I dragged myself to my bedroom and hid under the duvet before falling into a dreamless sleep.

...

"We're up Smith, this one's a biggy. I'm sending you the information now, I'll be honest this almost seems impossible. Gregory Thomas is a high profile hit and you need to make it look like an accident."

"That isn't really my style Perry." I sighed, I had been stressing about this contract constantly for two days now. After gathering a butt ton of information on our target I was unsure why the agency was letting us do this. Sure the client had requested us, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. Carlton wasn't the best agent and I was inexperienced by any standards; it didn't sit right with me that we had been given a Gamma level contract out of the blue.

"I know, but the agency trust us enough to assign us so they must know something we don't." Carlton was quiet for a moment, I could almost hear him thinking.

"They should have given this to 47, not me. Peregrine, do you think someone is setting us up?"

The thought hadn't really occurred to me until he said it. My body went cold as the scenario began to make sense.

"I'm not sure. I can't see why the agency would do that to us, but I don't know who the client is." My brain was working in over-drive trying to piece together what little evidence I had. The agency never divulged who had performed a hit unless requested by the client who had activated it, so I couldn't think of anyone who wanted to exact revenge. The best plan I could see was to play along; we would complete the contract.

"We're going to move ahead with this Agent Smith. Read what I have sent you and I'll be in contact once I've found a way in."

"Perry, are you sure about this?"

"It'll be fine, we've not failed one so far and I'm not about to start. I'll leave you to prepare."

I ended the call, the confidence in my voice only a façade hiding the growing panic inside me. I didn't know if this was a trap or not, but I was determined we were going to complete the contract.

I had managed to hack into the CIA's intranet; this time for longer than a minute. I was chewing my lip nervously, the blue glare from the computer screen making my eyes squint. Flicking rapidly through the pages of data I scanned for our target's name in the ex-agents list. All my searching so far had gathered only a superficial persona of the man we were hunting; a media image he wanted the world to see but I knew there was more to him.

It was the day of the deadline on the contract, and after fishing around I knew why we had been set a limit. Thomas was due to announce the passing of his bill through congress tomorrow, after which all US citizens' social media and messaging would be legally monitored. I had agreed with Carlton we would perform the hit tonight. It was risky, as he would be staying late in the government buildings around congress in Washington DC. There had been no other opportunity before that; this man kept his security airtight.

The CIA intranet was my last port of call to try and fish out any helpful information before we embarked on this suicide mission. I kept my confident act up when speaking to Carlton; I didn't want him to know I was anything but optimistic about our chances tonight.

Gregory Thomas' profile popped up finally on my screen. I had been searching for about five minutes now and I guessed it wouldn't be long before they became aware of my presence in here. There were the usual stats; height, age, weight. I scrolled down searching for any info on his past.

Agent Thomas showed a heightened interest in cyber terrorism. He quickly rose through the ranks displaying an aptitude for locating hackers and advancing cyber security for the intranet.

I snorted; he'd done a good job with that clearly.

Later in his career he became obsessed with tracking down the hacker group 'Anonymous' but never succeeded. He eventually felt his progress would be helped by becoming a government official and left the agency to pursue a career in politics.

Interesting, so this guy was after Anonymous. Even I knew that was virtually impossible, they were everywhere. Was this the underground hacking group he had connections with? The information wasn't really helpful to our contract, but I still wanted to figure out why we had been selected to take this guy out. My gut said this had something to do with it.

There was nothing else of note on his profile and my time was pretty much up here. I quickly withdrew from the CIA's site and sat back in my chair. The Autumn sunshine was beginning to fade through the window. I glanced at my watch; it was nearly 6 here, seven hours to go. I felt strangely detached from what we were doing as it was happening in America. I had done contracts in Europe mainly, this was the first time it was going to be so long distance.

I decided to go for a walk; I wasn't going to be able to sleep before the job as my nerves were already building in anticipation. I got up and donned my coat before walking out of my apartment complex. The evening was cold, winter was starting to raise is head in London.

Stratford was relatively quiet in comparison to the center of the city; I liked that about it. I was walking round the old Olympic park site, there were a few cafes and restaurants around here now but I liked the open space that they had left here. Devoid of tourists and spectators, it had an eery quiet that I found peaceful. I still missed the green and trees of the countryside where I grew up, but this was an okay substitute.

I was walking at a steady pace, my hands in my pockets to keep them from freezing. I was holding the coin I had found in St Pancreas in one of my pockets. I turned it over as I walked, the feel of it comforting me, taking my mind off tonight.

I was so absorbed in my own thoughts, that I only noticed the man standing in my way when I was nearly on top of him. I came to an abrupt halt, my expression annoyed, about to chastise him even though it was me who hadn't been looking where I was going. I froze instead when I finally registered who was blocking my path.

"You really should pay more attention to your surroundings."

Memories of the events of a year ago came flooding back at the sound of his calm, monotone voice. He was regarding me coolly, his blue eyes piercing into me. He was an intimidating figure, taller than I remembered him being I could see his red tie poking out from under the black coat he was wearing. Regardless I couldn't help a wide grin spreading across my face at the sight of him.

"Long time no see Tobias." I was more confident than when we had last met; we were colleagues now after all. He didn't react to my jubilant greeting; he merely raised one black eyebrow at me.

"I expected you to be more observant by now." My grin faded and I folded my arms, defensive at his assessment of me.

"You caught me at a bad time. What are you doing here anyway?"

He moved towards me, stopping about a foot away. His closeness after all this time startled me slightly; I didn't know quite where to look.

"I'm here on a contract." My heart skipped a beat momentarily, a wild thought crossing my mind. He must have seen my eyes widen in shock, because his mouth twitched as if suppressing a smile. "It's not you by the way."

I blinked at him, "I know." But even I didn't think I sounded sure. He turned his head to look into the distance, as if he was thinking about other things.

"It's not for a few more days, I'm preparing." I nodded, my confidence returning at the familiarity of the situation. I was in on his world this time, he no longer had the upper hand on me; well, maybe he did a little.

"And you just happened to bump into me. What a coincidence." He returned his steady gaze back to me hearing the sarcasm in my voice.

"I wanted to make sure you were…alright." I gave him an incredulous look.

"Yeah ok, if I remember you're not the sort of person to just come and check on someone for no reason."

The half smile appeared this time, my heart squeezed uncomfortably at the small expression. Stupid heart, shut up.

"I wanted to see what you made of your new career choice. Now that you're finding your feet."

I frowned at him, a sudden nagging thought coming to me. "How did you know I was based here?" The smile faded as he regarded me in silence for a moment.

"I have my sources." I rolled my eyes theatrically at the answer dodging response.

"Ah yes, your sources. I forgot. Well whoever your handler is, tell them from me they're good." His expression didn't change, but I thought I saw a glint of humour in his eyes.

"You've been making quite a name for yourself, I've heard you've worked miracles on Agent Smith."

I smiled at the mention of my accident-prone agent. "He still has his moments, but I like him." The stress of the imminent contract suddenly rushed back to me. I looked down at my feet and automatically clutched the coin in my pocket again, anchoring myself. "I can't stay here too long."

Tobias seemed to sense my sudden unease and took a step back, giving me room to breathe. "I know. It'll be ok."

My head snapped up at his comment. "You shouldn't know about my contract. What's the point in all this secrecy if you know everything anyway?" The anger that flared up took me by surprise; Tobias didn't react as usual his face impassive, if anything that made me angrier.

"You came into my life and then just disappeared. Now I'm about to take on something that might get my agent killed, maybe even me, and you appear like a bloody ghost knowing stuff that is meant to be secure intel."

He blinked slowly at my outburst. "I'm sorry."

The simple apology was like a sedative to my rage. It evaporated as if it had never happened; how did he do that, the bastard!

"I was in the city and thought I would see if you were coping okay." He suddenly looked unsure, "I've thought about what I did to you a year ago and just wanted to be sure I did the right thing."

"It's a hard job, but I enjoy it." I stated, giving him a small smile. It was the most vulnerable I had seen him, it scared me more than his usual impassive self.

"Good." He was back to normal, his blue eyes never leaving me. "I think you and Smith will be fine tonight."

I still wasn't 100% happy with him knowing about it, but I accepted the reassurance. He watched me silently for a moment longer then turned and started to walk away. Before he had gone a few steps a thought came to me.

"By the way, thanks for the coin." He stopped and looked over his shoulder at me, his half smile back.

"You're very welcome…Peregrine." There was a smile in his voice as he said my codename, and I couldn't help but grin as he turned and continued to walk away

...

The explosion reverberated in my headset and I had to remove it for a moment to stop my ears from whistling.

"That should be a suitable distraction."

"Well done Perry, I think the whole of Washington heard that one." Carlton was crouched down in an office belonging to some Senator. It was late now in the US and very late, or early depending on how you looked at it, where I was. The only people in the building were our target, along with his beefed up security team and a handful of security guards.

I had whacked the pressure up on one of the building's boilers, causing a controlled explosion downstairs. Oh the joys in the advancement of technology. I swear, when we finally had driverless cars I would be laughing. I could hear footsteps rushing past Carlton's hiding place now, as they went to investigate the threat. It wouldn't have got rid of them all, but it would have reduced the difficulty somewhat.

The corridor outside sounded quiet again; I could hear the bodyguards shouting in the distance. Looking at the CCTV cameras I checked the area outside Carlton's room.

"Coast is clear, target is straight down this corridor. Remember, it has to look like an accident."

"Sure, sure. I've got it." I could tell he was as stressed as I was, so his abruptness didn't offend me. I just wanted him to get out alive. Slowly, Carlton stood up and opened the door to the office. The corridor was eerily quiet now; I found myself holding my breath as if anyone could hear me as he crept along the corridor towards a closed door at the end.

"You got eyes in there?" Carlton whispered. I flicked though the various screens searching for the target's office; I found him with two of his security team stood behind his desk.

"Two bodyguards. That's a bit more manageable." I heard Carlton breath out; I had never heard him this nervous. He had made nail biting progress through the highly secure government building with no one spotting him. I was immensely proud of him so far, and we were almost at the finish line.

"There's a chandelier in that office. If we can get the two guards out that might be a viable option."

Carlton said nothing; he slipped into another empty office to the right and looked around. The whole building was an 18th century antique; the walls were covered in wood paneling and the furniture was heavy, expensive looking stuff. So a chandelier was not out of place at all; this empty office had a large mahogany desk and bookcases like all the others. Carlton was looking for something on their shelves, eventually he picked up a heavy plaster bust and picked his target. I watched fascinated with what he was doing. He threw the bust against the wall that adjoined the target's office; it shattered with an almighty crash on the wood panel.

Carlton ducked behind the large desk and waited patiently. I smiled as I saw the two bodyguards with Gregory exit his office, guns drawn. Well done, I thought, my pride swelling as both bodyguards entered the dark office. Carlton stayed motionless as they stepped further into the room, looking for the source of the noise.

"Anybody in here?"

"Come out now."

They were facing away from Carlton now, inspecting the remnants of the bust scattered about the floor. Silently he walked up behind the nearest one, and slammed a paperweight he had found on the desk down onto the guard's skull. The man dropped, instantly unconscious. Before the other one could register what had happened to his partner, Carlton had wrapped one of his arms around his neck and efficiently subdued him. It was over in seconds; Carlton was a far cry from the agent I had met six months earlier.

He drew his silenced pistol and left the two bodyguards prone on the floor. He paused as he faced Gregory's office door again; I took my cue flawlessly.

"The chandelier is suspended above his desk, he is directly below it."

I gripped Tobias' coin tightly; I had been holding it throughout the whole mission for luck. Carlton walked forward purposefully and opened the office door while aiming his pistol at the chandelier's fitting in one fluid motion. Gregory looked up at Carlton's entrance, his face freezing in fear when he didn't recognize him.

"W-who the hell are you?"

It was the last thing he said, as Carlton fired his pistol at the chain holding the chandelier above his head. There was a muted ping as it broke before the mass of metal and glass crashed down on top of Gregory Thomas. I winced as I heard the sound of bones snapping under the impact.

"Target down, now find an exit Agent Smith."

We were most definitely not in the clear yet; I could already see the bodyguards that had gone down to the basement returning at high speed. They must have been alerted by the sound of the falling light fitting.

"Guards incoming, the corridor is going to be a no go."

Carlton strode round the destruction he had caused towards the window looking out over Lower Senate Park. With a shove he opened the antique window and leaned out.

"Risky, are you sure?" I was holding my breath as Carlton answered me by climbing out onto the ledge outside. The POV camera looked down at the dizzying drop, my head span and I gripped the desk in front of me. I wasn't sure about this at all; Carlton had never shown much athletic ability and I didn't know if he should try it now.

"How many guards Peregrine?"

I glanced at the cameras, "Ten."

"Then I don't think I have a choice." I knew he was right, but I half shut my eyes as he edged himself along the precarious out crop. Come on, come on. I repeated the mantra in my head as he turned slowly and gripped onto a cast iron drainpipe and slowly started to lower himself down four floors. The coin's edges bit into my palm as I tensed my hand around it.

I thought he would never reach the ground, but finally he stopped moving down and looked back up to see several of the bodyguards peering out the now open window. The darkness hid Carlton below them and after a moment to collect his thoughts he walked off into the night.

The screen went black and I fell back in my chair. The coin had left an imprint on my hand and I stared at it unable to believe we had completed that contract. My phone gave a shrill ring and I jumped half a mile in the air. I glanced at my watch; it was four in the morning who was ringing me? Gingerly I picked it up, the number was withheld.

"Hello?" I answered, my voice shaking from adrenaline.

"Peregrine, it's Diana." I let my breath out in relief and rested my head in my hand.

"Hello, is everything alright?"

"Yes, well done on completing the Gregory Thomas contract."

"Errr, thanks. But I literally just did it, how did you-"

"I'll explain everything. I need you to get the first flight to Copenhagen, I need to see you." My heart picked up pace. What was going on? Was I in trouble?

"O-ok Diana, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Excellent. I'll see you soon."

The call ended and I slowly put my head on my desk and closed my eyes.