Chapter 13

The ICA headquarters stared down at me accusingly. I had absolutely no idea why I had been called here, and I was beginning to have a slight panic attack over it. I had only had about three hours uncomfortable sleep on my desk, before waking with a start at 7am and quickly booking a flight to Denmark. It was now two in the afternoon and I was swaying slightly from weariness.

I made my way into large open atrium; the months I had spent here training felt like yesterday. I knew where I needed to go, but the walk to Diana's office felt the longest it ever had. Why was I here? She didn't usually need to see me in person. My stomach was doing flip-flops as I reached her door. Before I could knock I heard her voice clearly through the wood.

"Come in Peregrine."

I entered her office, my body tensed ready for anything. She was sat behind her desk, hands clasped neatly in front of her as usual. She gave me a small smile as I crept into her office.

"Have a seat." I lowered myself gingerly into the seat opposite her. "Thank you for coming at such short notice Peregrine. It was important I talked to you face to face."

I grimaced as I nervously asked, "Have I done something wrong?"

Relief washed over me as her smile widen, "No, of course not. On the contrary, you are exceeding our expectations Peregrine." For the first time in 24 hours I relaxed, my fear at why I had been summoned quickly being replaced with curiosity.

"Oh ok, so why am I here?" Diana took a moment to collect her thoughts; I felt the beginnings of a rehearsed speech coming.

"You and Agent Smith's performance last night was outstanding," I raised my eyebrows at this remark, had she been watching us? "We didn't tell you this, but myself and Director Mahone were watching the whole thing." This woman certainly had a knack for answering questions I hadn't asked out loud.

"We didn't want to distract you in anyway Peregrine, that's why you were not informed."

"So, you gave us that assignment to test us?" I was hoping I would get the answer I wanted here, the alternative was a lot more sinister.

Diana frowned, "Yes and no." Oh, ok. Not the answer I was hoping for. "We let you both complete the contract, but you were indeed requested by name." My brow furrowed in concentration; there was still something missing from the puzzle with this, but at least it explained why the agency let two Alpha rank operatives take on a Gamma level contract.

Diana watched me take that information in for a moment before continuing. "There's something I need to tell you Peregrine." Her tone was serious and I looked at her with trepidation. "I am officially retiring from the handler program." My eyes widen at the news; but she was one of the best handlers the agency had. "It's been a long time coming, and I don't do it lightly but I am not as young as I used to be and I have other…responsibilities now." She looked away at the last remark, not elaborating any further.

"But who will replace you?" She turned her head back to fix me with her brown eyes.

"I'm not leaving the agency all together. They will need me to manage the training program and over see operations here. But I will no longer be an active handler." She smiled in knowing way. "My agent is an unusual case as I am sure you have heard."

I nodded; the rumours that surrounded Agent 47 were sometimes hard to believe, but nothing was impossible to me now.

"He doesn't age like us, and I doubt he will retire anytime soon. However, I am certainly not like him and I am in need of a break from this life now." There was a sadness in her voice as she spoke; this job was her life, it had to be hard to give it up. I had only just started and I couldn't imagine going back to a normal life now.

She sighed as she reached into a draw on her desk and took out a manila folder. A sense of de-ja-vu struck me as she placed it between us on the desk.

"You've only been here a year Peregrine and you're already excelling as a handler. Last night proved to us that your ready for what I am about to ask of you." My stomach churned worryingly, as the gravity of her words started to sink in.

"Agent 47 is the best we have in the agency, and whoever replaces me as his handler will have a lot of eyes on them. He isn't like anyone else here, and he only takes on the most impossible contracts we receive." She paused here, a sentimental look crossing her face. "But working with him has been one hell of a ride."

She slid the folder towards me, and I could feel my mouth going dry. She leant across the desk all of a sudden and clasped one of my hands.

"Peregrine, I know you will be fine. More than fine. I have seen what you've done with Agent Smith and you've accomplished something no one thought possible. You've become infamous for your computer skills as well, turning the target's base into a weapon against them. Ingenious." She squeezed my hand and withdrew back to her original position.

"Everyone on the board agrees with my choice of replacement," She beamed at me suddenly, "Not least because 47 himself has okayed the decision." My stomach plummeted as a realisation started to form in my head.

I looked down at the folder in front of me and touched it gingerly. Diana's voice started to sound a little distant.

"Peregrine I'd like to officially offer you the change of your assigned agent, from Agent Smith to Agent 47. As well as this we will be promoting you to Gamma rank with immediate effect."

The folder was all I could see now, and I just about summon enough strength in my voice to croak out "I accept."

Without waiting for my mentor's acknowledgement I opened the folder in front of me, and felt the room shift slightly as Tobias' blue eyes stared back up at me.

...

I shifted nervously in the hard plastic seat I was sat in, waiting to meet with my new agent in a busy airport terminal. I had flown back to London, once Diana had given me a chance to recover from the shock of her revelation, and made me sign the official documents assigning me to 47 as his handler. She hadn't told me much else, stating that she would leave the rest of the details to him. I was now sat in the Heathrow arrivals lounge at the request of my agent; he had sent me a short message merely saying:

Meet in terminal 5 arrivals

I had spent time with him in person before, but that had always been as Tobias. I had had no idea who he really was for the entire time I had known him, somehow revealing he was the world's deadliest assassin seemed to change the way I felt about meeting him again. I fiddled with the coin he had given me in my jacket pocket; it had become a talisman lately, a way to channel the nervous energy this job gave me.

It wasn't just the sudden change in my agent that was freaking me out; although I was more than a little sad I wouldn't see Carlton again, I had become quite fond of him. It was also the promotion; being a Gamma rank meant I was going to be taking on the toughest contracts the agency had. No more crooked policemen or retired gangster, now it was government officials and mafia bosses all the way. I had only being doing this job a year, and only been out of training for six months of that. I was convinced Diana would call and say she'd made a mistake any minute now.

As I was slowly descending into a state of utter panic, I became aware of a tall man walking quietly behind me and sitting down in the seat next to me that faced the other way. 47 looked straight ahead and didn't say anything to me. I knew better than to look directly at him, but I still focused my gaze slightly sideways at him. The silence hung between us, I wasn't sure if I should speak first but my initial uncertainty at knowing his real identity began to wear off.

"So, your real name is actually a number." I saw his blue eyes flick to the side as they focused on me. "I should have know you would still be an enigma even when I found out more about you."

His mouth twitched and he redirected his vision to stare off in front of him. "It's the only name I have, I can't help it if you don't like it."

I looked down at my lap trying to stifle a laugh, "I didn't say I didn't like it, just that it was typical of you." We were talking barely louder than a murmur, but his low voice was still clear even with the loud babbling of travellers around us.

"Did Diana tell you much about me?"

"Not really, she said she'd leave the details for you to explain. But I did read your file on the way over." His eyes were back on me; even when they weren't directly looking at me, I could still feel their burning gaze on the side of my head.

"Was it a good read?" There was a note of humour in his voice; I was glad this was all funny to him, it was downright ludicrous to me at the moment.

"It was okay. It wasn't exactly Booker Prize winning, but the part about you being a clone was quite interesting." This time I saw his mouth turn up in a half smile, even his eyes seem to crinkle a little with humor.

"Yes, I suppose that would be interesting." I risked turning my head towards him an inch.

"It didn't say a lot else though." He raised one eyebrow slowly.

"What do you want to know?" This was it, my one and only chance to get to know him more. I had a feeling this was what this meeting was about, after today it would be highly unlikely I would get this close to him again. A million questions I had wanted an answer to in the last year, were suddenly swirling round my brain. After thinking it over for a minute I thought I'd start simple. 47 had been waiting patiently the whole time, his face a blank mask.

"Why did you become a assassin?" This time he turned his head towards me so I could just about see both eyes.

"I was made to be a killer, and when I escaped it was the most logical way to fulfill my purpose without ending up in jail." It saddened me that he thought he only had one purpose in life that someone else had decided for him, but after what I had heard in the agency he was right, he looked like he'd been made for it. He was silent again, waiting for my next question. I didn't know how many I was going to get, so decided to make them count.

"Diana said you don't age, is that right?" He blinked slowly, probably thinking how to word his answer.

"I don't know. It appears I age slower than other people, but I am sure one day I will die of old age. If I get the luxury to in this job." He turned to look me full in the face, and for the first time I noticed I had also turned to face him. "I am almost certain I will leave this world in a violent fashion Peregrine. Therefore, I have never noticed something as trivial as age."

My blood ran cold at his frank words; it was as if for the first time I saw a killer in those ice blue eyes.

"Anything else?" This was my final question, better make it a good one. I sifted through the thousands of times I had imagined talking with him, trying to find the one thing I wanted to know most. Eventually, it just popped out without me thinking.

"Why me?" The question seemed to take 47 by surprise too, as he blinked at me, his expression unsure.

"You were smart, observant and calm under pressure. I knew Diana was planning to step down as my handler and she agreed I should be the one to decide her replacement. I liked you." This time I looked surprised. He turned away from me, breaking the moment.

"I look forward to working with you Peregrine." He was back to business, but I was grateful for the small glimpse I'd had.

"Agent Smith used to call me Perry, he said it was easier." 47 gave me a sideways look.

"Perry?" I shrugged, hearing the judgment in his voice.

"I kind of like it." 47 looked away again, his mouth twitching once more.

"Ok…Perry. Until our first contract together then." He stood up; I had forgotten how graceful he was for a killer. With a small glance down at me he quietly moved away, disappearing in the crowd. I gripped my coin tightly and let a large grin spread across my face.