Integral
words: 492
Taking out the leader of an organization like this was an integral part of the process. If they failed to detain him, then they had nothing but a wait period before everything started happening all over again. Lucky for them, the leader was known to be staying on the top floor of the building. The bad part was that the only access to that floor, and about four below it, was via the stairs.
The man was paranoid, and with good reason.
Shinichi raced up the stairs, the sound of his foot steps, and the pounding of his own heart, drowned out by the noise over the radio. Static and tinny voices called back and forth to one another on the status of the operation. Shots fired here, man down there, another one captured here. It all flew passed him, sliding into his ears and settling in his brain in a distant sort of way. He strained to hear the names of parties he was interested in, but found nothing.
Reaching the top floor he jogged down the slight hallway only to find the door into the man's massive floor wide suite already open slightly. Pressing his back against the wall beside the door he inhaled deeply, steadying his breathing. His pulse hammered with a mixture of adrenaline and anticipation.
One way or another, this ended tonight.
Stepping around he nudged the door open, it swung inward without complaint revealing a gloomy room. Stepping further into the space, his eyes having adjusted thanks to the shadowed quality of the stairwell and the hallway he'd just been in, Shinichi scanned the room slowly. No one seemed to be there, until he caught sight of something wet and sticky that reflected the light filtering through the large floor to ceiling windows that made up one wall.
Stepping slowly over, gun held ready to be brought up at any moment, Shinichi rounded a low counter and paused for a moment. Laying face down on the floor was a man who looked quite a bit younger than he had expected. Shinichi couldn't help but wonder if he'd done the same thing as Vermouth.
Stepping around the pool of blood he crouched down, reaching to check for a pulse despite the fact that he was clearly dead, and appeared to have been so for a good hour.
He could easily guess who had done it. He supposed she'd gotten her revenge one way or another.
Standing up he headed for the exit. "The leader's already dead. I'm on my way back–" One step out the door, Shinichi lunged backwards seconds before the gun shot managed to spill his brains. Wide eyed, he watched Gin move to fill the doorway, shadows cloaking his face.
"You," the man hissed, the one eye visible in the city glow that filtered through the windows widening. "Like a little cockroach aren't you? We'll make sure you're dead this time."