Now I find myself in question
(They point the finger at me again)
Guilty by association
(You point the finger at me again)
I wanna run away, never say goodbye
I wanna know the truth instead of wondering why
I wanna know the answers, no more lies
I wanna shut the door and open up my mind
Light gray walls surrounded her on all sides as she walked through the clean almost warehouse looking building, her solid army boots solidly connecting with the tiled floor underneath her. This was the main hallway that she had walked through hundreds upon thousands of times in her life, and would continue to do so for many more years to come. She knew that once you walked this space, you had the options of three doors at the end, each taking one wall, before the design got more complex. One would lead to the missions control room, where agents would go to receive their assignments for the day and return in their reports. The one opposite of that led to the training grounds and weaponry, if it was any way involved with fighting then you would find it behind that door. Then finally there was the door in the center, and this lead to the chambers and gathering rooms where they would stay in their own rooms. You probably had close to sixty people living permanently in this building, and even still it was barely enough room as people worked and utilized every empty space of it.
Shade walked up to the middle door, scanning an ID card in front of the small device before pushing it open and walking through, now being met with a variety of sound. People were walking to or from their rooms and talking either to each other or into their cellphones. In softer spots you could hear music playing as you passed a room, but everything held one common factor. Everything was darker, the moods, atmosphere, even the music playing wasn't the most encouraging. She frowned as she continued to walk, and it was because another gang had decided that it was time for some revenge.
"Hey Shadow." She turned to see Axel there, lightly jogging up to drop into a walk next to her. Yeah, he was one of the four that she considered close, almost like family. Him along with Carter had been the ones to put up with her when she was younger, the redhead more like the one pulling amusing pranks on her whenever he could. Even though they always did have different opinions that didn't stop them from always having each others backs.
"Axel." She greeted with a small nod. "How's clean up?"
"Not bad, thankfully there wasn't to much firefight but still enough to leave a mark." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, something she had learned over the years that he was unsettled about something. "So, what do you want to do?"
She was silent for a moment, and he knew she was thinking over her answer, which was rare. Shadow was normally the one to always have the right answer ready, so when she thought it over you could tell it was big. "I'm not going to rush in if that's what you mean. You know me better than that." She gave the taller man a small smile, and he returned it. "I'd never put my team in that kind of unnecessary danger. But I need more information, after this meeting I'm going to get to work on an infiltration, I don't want us being caught unprepared again."
He chuckled and put an arm over her shoulder. "That's the Shadow I've grown to love." She laughed quietly as they walked to the gathering rooms, reaching the one that only the Boss and expected members gathered. "Talk to you later." She nodded before looking back at the door and giving it a solid knock three times. After a moment she heard her entry was allowed and walked in, someone else closing the door behind her.
This room was large, and along the walls you could see four men each standing next to each other and ready, their guns holstered at their sides or resting comfortably in their hands. In the center of the room a large and circular mahogany table sat, able to seat at least twelve people. Only one person was currently seated at this table, and this was the man that ran the entire thing. The room was dimly lit, so she could barely make out his rough features, or the scar that she knew ran down from his left ear down to his chin, but she could see his large build seated in the chair, and the hands that currently rested on the table that had fired more than enough ammo to send hundreds to their deaths.
"Mr. Ogatami." She greeted, her posture straight and feet planted a foot away from each other while her arms her behind her back, almost looking like a soldier.
"Hello Shade." His voice was deep, no doubt where Carter got his, and rough around the edges but still held superiority. "Would you like to take a seat?"
"Thank you sir but no." she opted for standing besides the chair across from him at the other end of the table. Only a few were given the option to take a seat or not, normally if you weren't one of them you were ordered to sit down.
"I'm sure you have been notified of the more recent attack." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. "How do you wish to continue?"
"I was told that the opposing group has vital information on a few characters that should never have been brought into this fight. I wish to take my team and infiltrate their defenses to see what information I can gather that will help ensure we will be ready if they were to attack again."
"And who are these characters that you speak of?" He inquired.
"Kairi and Namine Hayashi, Riku Saitama, Sora and Roxas Niigata." She replied. "The first two are my adopted siblings and the three men after them are their close friends."
"I see." She knew that he had already known this, but it was something that never surprised her, you always had to check who was still with you or who was hiding information from you, to see if someone had changed over the years. "Are they currently safe?"
"All five are currently at my household. Weapon Master Leon has agreed to let them stay at his home in Radiant Gardens for the time being due to more space until this whole matter is settled."
"And the targets families?"
"Patrol is already with them."
He nodded and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his large chest. "And how are your sisters taking to this?"
Shade kept her face impassive. "They are shaken up but still standing. When I get back there are going to be a few things that we have to go over." She paused and he nodded for her to continue. "They never knew about my work field sir, so in order for them to understand why someone is targeting them I'm going to have to explain it to them, everything."
He nodded. "Good to know. We will be having one agent with you and your charges at all times and when you are unavailable two will be their guard. Come up with a plan and bring it by tomorrow, we'll want to move as quickly as possible."
"Yes sir." She said.
"You are dismissed." She nodded once before turning around and leaving the room, leaving the room to fall into silence.
XXXXXX
Carter stood in front of Shadow's house, momentarily wondering how this was going to go. Sure, her sisters seemed great, but he'd also heard...stories, and they could put up a fight when they deemed it would get them something. Taking a deep breath and deciding surely he could hold his own against these two, he opened up her front door and stepped through.
Yoru padded up to him and gave a small nudge in acknowledgment before turning and sitting by him, staring down the hall. Carter looked the same way and could hear the voices coming from Shadow's room. It was mostly the twins talking, but he could hear the three newcomers speaking every once in a while. Letting out a sigh he patted the dog on the head before walking to the door, hearing the voices stop at his coming.
He waited a second before knocking on the door. "You guys in there?"
It only took a fraction of a second before the door was ripped open and he was literally tackled to the ground, and by two very pissed off teenage girls. "Where's Shadow." Kairi demanded, both holding on arm down while slightly sitting on him. He had a hard time waving off the surprise at the fact that the two petite little forms had just pinned him down.
"Would you please get off?" He offered.
"Not until you tell us where Shadow is." Namine said.
"You're Carter, right?" He looked back to the doorway to Shadow's room and saw the boy called Riku leaning there. After receiving a nod he continued. "I suggest you just give in, they're pretty hard to challenge in this state."
"You're kidding me." He muttered.
"Alright, now start talking." Kairi said.
Sorry Shadow. "Right now your sister is back at base tending to issues work related."
"Where is this place?"
"The World that Never Was." They looked at him with confused looks before Sora jumped in. "Hey! Isn't that that really depressing kinda place?"
"That's the place." He confirmed. "Can I get up now?" Kairi and Namine climbed off of him but stood over him, so he took this as a sign to just stay on the floor. "What now?"
"What does our sister do for work?" It was here Carter hesitated in answering, instead opting for the chance to stand up and lean against the door across from Shade's room. "I'm not sure I should tell you that."
"Tell us!" Namine said. "Why is she keeping it a secret?"
"Because Shade's one of the best mercenaries to every walk the earth." They all turned and the twins immediately recognized Leon as he walked in. His boots thudded slightly on the floor while he took off his fur-lined jacket and tossed it over the couch. "That's why she hasn't told you."
"Hey Leon." Carter said. "If Shade gets pissed it's your fault." He just shrugged. "She planned on telling them anyway."
"Hold up, you're saying she's a mercenary?" Roxas said. "Is that even like, a real profession anymore?"
Carter chuckled. "As real as it gets."
Namine and Kairi were looking at each other, both with a look that conveyed their feelings. "But, Shadow can't be a mercenary. It's just not..."
"You might as well accept it now." Leon said. "Want proof?" Both nodded immediately, and Carter stepped aside before Leon took out a ring of keys and flipped through them until he came to a small skeleton key for her house and inserted it. They watched as instead of the locks turning a small panel next to the door slid up, revealing a keypad. A four digit code was typed in before they then heard the locks slide free and Leon pushed the door open.
"Holy cow..." Sora said in awe. The room was huge, and not only that, it was filled with every type of weapon imaginable. Guns, daggers, short swords, crossbows, hand grenades, if it was lethal it was in the room. The walls were lined with the weapons hanging on them and a closet was in the far right corner of the room. In the center of the room was a table with two large books in the center, with extra space surrounding them.
Kairi and Namine slowly walked in, taking in the sight as they looked at the killing items around them. The blond lightly ran her hand over the table and noticed the gouge marks surrounding the books. Knife marks. She thought. "What are in the books." She looked over to see her sister staring at them, wanting to know its contents but almost like she was afraid to touch them.
"Those are the jobs she's taken this year. She's always kept a book for each year she's been doing it." Carter replied.
"Hm, I was wondering where this knife went." Leon said, picking up one of the blades that were displayed next to each other in slots on the wall. The darker man chuckled as the three teenagers now walking into the room.
"Dude, this is insane." Sora said, looking around.
"She uses all of these?" Roxas asked.
"Shade likes a variety of weapons." Leon said. "She's become one of my top visitors in the weaponry." He glanced over and saw Kairi and Namine were looking inside the first of the two books. In pen a date was put before it was followed by a dash, name, then apparently the objective of the mission. A small section was dedicated to notes about the job she had taken on.
January 15th - Jason Sanderstone: Wife's missing necklace.
January 18th - Katrina Elenore: Son's tracking information
January 20th - Robert Telrone: Stolen Car
Kairi and Namine flipped through a couple of months before one date caught there eye.
June 27th - Mike and Christy Lethan: Missing Daughter
Notes: Target's name - Samantha Lethan. Four years old and went missing at the local park. After a week of following leads target was found in an abandoned home next town over being held captive by a group of three men. No sign of sexual assault, physical beatings and starvation was evident. Have scheduled mental and medical treatment followups day after returning her home. Kidnappers were executed.
The two had been reading it out loud, and silence filled the room while they took in the information. Namine looked up and saw Carter and Leon looked more, colder, than before. "Executed?" She squeaked.
"You're sister, she doesn't take any job that comes her way, she has boundaries. That specific job, it was hard on her. She believes in keeping matters to yourselves, you don't drag innocent bystanders into it, and that's exactly what had happened to that little girl. She was beyond ticked off, and made sure those guys were six feet under when she was through with them."
"How many times." Kairi whispered. "How many times has she killed?"
"I don't know, lost count after the first year." All of them spun around to see Shadow there, looking at the book the two were currently standing before. "After a while the numbers just start to blur into each other, so you don't bother keeping track."
She nodded to Leon and Carter so the guys took Riku, Sora, and Roxas and they left the room, the door closing behind them. A tense atmosphere took place as the twins stared at Shade, who was leaning against the door with her arms crossed over her chest, not looking at them. "How long have you been doing this Shade?" Kairi asked, and noticed how she didn't use her sister's nickname.
"I got my first job when I was fourteen and a half. These guys needed a distraction done so they could sneak into the home to get some information on the projects taking place in a lab. I played a babysitter while the parents were out, they had four kids, and kept them occupied while their rooms were raided, sources said the professor kept the hard drive in one of his kids toys. After that things just started picking up speed from there. When one job found out I could fight, that's when I started taking on the harder missions, but the pay was good, and I was able to do it with no problems."
"When did you first kill someone?" Namine asked quietly.
Shade sighed. "I was fifteen. It was a simple guarding job, a hotel owner and his wife were taking the night off and they wanted someone young but experienced to watch their two kids and family dog. They asked me if I would take them to the drive ins to see Cats and Dogs 2." She smiled faintly at the memory. "My reputation was already building back then. A couple of drunks that had been fired by their dad came stumbling over, they had knives. I told the kids to get in the car, the dog, a German shepherd, stayed with me, he was a fighter. They told me to step aside so they could relay a message to the kids. Of course I told them go to hell." Kairi couldn't help it, she smiled some. It sounded exactly like something her sister would do. "They attacked me, long story short I ended up slitting ones throat, the rest of them ran away after that." She lifted her shirt some and they saw a scar a few inches long running horizontally just along the rim of her jeans. "They left me with one of my own. I never forgot that night, after that it just became something I accepted."
Namine and Kairi were now faced with a choice. Accept their sister who had been hiding her real life behind their backs, or turn on her and cut her out of their lives permanently. They both knew Shade would accept the latter and leave them alone after that, it was just the way she was, never pushing someone to do something they weren't comfortable with. Both loved their sister dearly, but what else in her hidden life had she kept from them?
Kairi sighed and looked around the room. "So I guess you're pretty good at your job, huh? I mean, everyone is saying you're the best out there." Shadow raised an eyebrow at this, and her sister giggled. "That doesn't surprise me, you always gave it all you got. Just like you have all these years with us." Kairi glanced at Namine, who nodded with a small smile and looked back at our sister. "So, I guess we can let this slide, it's not like we were affected by it in any way."
"Until now." Shade said with a smirk.
It was Namine's turn to giggle. "Until now." She agreed. "So are you going to tell us what's going on?" She asked.
"And if you hold back we're going to tackle you." Kairi said firmly.
"Got it, let's get your friends, I don't want to say it twice." She turned to open the door before she felt two bodies slam into her back, confining her in a tight hug.
"We'll always be there for you Shadow." Kairi said. Namine nodded into her sister's back as well, and heard the faint chuckling coming from her.
"And I'll always appreciate it." she replied.
XXXXXX
OK, so that was one set down, another to go. Shade had to admit, her sisters surprised her with their decision. Yeah, they weren't happy with some of the jobs she had taken on, but that was inevitable. So now that she had taken care of what her job was, she had to take on part two, meaning why the five teenagers were having one of the top mob bosses coming for their blood. Not the most cheerful subject but it wasn't like she could lay out the rules and expect them to listen without questioning.
So that's why she now found the said five teenagers all sitting or leaning against her couch. Riku was sitting with his back against the end of the furniture while the other four were squeezed onto it, looking at her expectantly. Leon had left shortly after they came out and Carter was in the kitchen grabbing a soda from her fridge. As he walked back into the living room he tossed her one which she nodded her thanks for, before going back to wondering how she was going to explain.
"So you know the basics. I'm a mercenary, have been for the past seven years, and one of the best. I've done almost every job there is," She paused and looked up at them. "Including killing someone." They didn't flinch, just nodded slowly in acceptance, so she went on. "A couple months ago one of the the worlds top mob bosses came to me with a job. He wanted a few people taken out of the picture on his competitors side. Long story short, I said no and instead of killing them, actually played body guard for them, killing the hit man that was sent to take care of them instead of me. The dude wasn't happy about it, he took the blow hard." Shadow sighed her fingers played slightly with her dog tags. "So the normal came in, threats, other hit men, yada yada. I dodged and ignored each one, and for the past month its been quiet.
Of course until now. Apparently he's getting smart. Every mercenary or killer knows that if you really want to get to someone, take out those the target is closest to. So for me, it's you guys. They found this out, that's why they tried to take you out when I was picking you up." She explained.
"But we haven't been in the picture that long, why come for us too?" Roxas asked.
"Because one," Carter answered for her, "She hasn't shown hostility towards you, trust me, that's a sign, and two, you're three are best friends with her sisters, they want to make sure they get everyone in close relation to you so the meaning is clear."
"Basically it's a clear and bloody message." She summarized.
"That's pretty brutal." Riku said, frowning slightly.
Shadow nodded slightly. "But its how the game works. So that's why you are staying with me and the others for the time being until this is settled. Leon has agreed to let us stay at his place, it's a lot larger and has more room, but still the same defense level, so its the perfect safe house. Even when I'm around there will be one more agent to watch you, and when I'm not there's going to be two. Most likely, it will either be Leon, Carter, Cloud, Axel, or Yuffie. You do what they say, when they say it. That clear?" Nods all around. Good. "Are we going to lock you up in a house for the entire stay? No. But we are going to play it safe, so if you're going somewhere even just for a few minutes let one of us know."
Carter leaned over to whisper in her ear. "You gonna take them to base?"
She thought for a moment before nodding. "Tomorrow I have to turn in the infiltration plan to your dad, we want to get it done as soon as possible to find out what they're up to. They'll stay there for the duration of the mission."
"You're going on a mission?" Namine asked with worry.
Shade nodded. "I want to find out exactly how much they know and if they're planning another attack so that way next time we're ready." Glancing at the clock she saw it was pushing eight that night. Darkness had already settled in the area and she thought that no one really had eaten anything actually fulfilling. "We'll talk about it later. I'm going to make us some food. For tonight you guys are going to have to camp out here in the living room until we get you into Leon's place tomorrow."
"Sounds good." Sora said, stretching out his arms. "So what's for dinner." Namine giggled and Kairi whacked her friend on the shoulder. "Sora! That's rude."
"Actually, that's a good question." Carter said, chuckling as it was Shadow's turn to punch him on his arm. "Yeah yeah, I'm just thinking something simple. Tacos sound good to you guys?"
"Oh yeah!" Roxas said, after all it was one of his top favorite foods.
Shade smirked and started for the kitchen. That's when Riku's eyes caught sight of the XBox 360. "Hey, any good games for the game console?"
"Blur. Halo: Reach, Dragon Age Origins, Bioshock 2, just open up the book next to it, it has all my games."
Riku opened up the black CD holder and his eyes widened when he saw the selection. Riku and Sora looked over his shoulder and grinned, looking at the twins. "OK, she's awesome."
The silver haired teenager started to pull out Resident Evil 5. Maybe this wasn't going to be as boring as it led itself to believe.