Warning: Rated M for violence, swearing and graphic M/M relationships in later chapters
Disclaimer: I do not own all of these lovely characters; I just borrow them once in a while.
Zack ran a hand over the jet black gun and brought it close to his face to look over the engravings on the side. He closed one eye and moved to point the gun at the wall, and faked shooting it, a smirk on his lips.
"Think this one will do a good job?" He asked Reno, who was currently lying on his bed like a giant cat. Reno cracked an eye open and looked at the gun with a scowl.
"It wouldn't work well; you have shit aim with that one." He drawled out before closing his eye again. Zack watched the red head's mouth move around a little, and he knew Reno was grinding his teeth.
Sighing, Zack went back to his large collection of guns, running his hands along the desk they were sitting on. "Well, I have to take him out either at his home, or on his way home from work. He lives in a pretty upper class place, but it wouldn't be too hard to get in… and he usually drives home so it would be hard to get him while he's in a car…"
Zack tapped his bottom lip, and went to look outside, blinking a little when he pushed the blinds away and the afternoon sun struck his vision. He watched a few people walk by as well as the occasionally car drive by before he heard Reno talk again.
"You know, you could just let me do it for you…" Zack moved away from the window and turned around to look at Reno. Reno sat up and looked at Zack, completely serious. "I mean I was the one watching this kid, so I should be the one to take him out."
Zack shook his head and went back to his desk. Pulling the chair away from the desk, it made a loud unappealing sound as it scraped against the already scuffed up wooden floors. Sitting down heavily, Zack stretched his legs out and slunk down in the chair, looking a lot like a moody teenager. Taking a bullet in one hand, Zack started to play with it, watching the light from the small electric bulb dance off of it.
Reno watched Zack do all of this, glaring at him while grinding his teeth. Making a few upset sounds, Reno finally scooted off the bed and sat on the end to kick Zack's chair hard. Zack almost dropped the bullet, but caught it in time to throw it at Reno's head.
"What the fuck, are you eleven?" Zack asked his voice raised a little as he looked at Reno, completely baffled as to why his friend was acting like a twat.
Reno stood up and went to lean against the wall, sighing heavily. "Why do you think Sephiroth didn't let me do the job?" He asked, looking at Zack through red bangs.
Zack shrugged and bent down to pick up the bullet that had slowly rolled back over to him. "I think it's because he feels you're to involved with this Strife kid, and you would let your hatred of him get in the way of the killing. We're supposed to shoot and leave, not shoot multiple times in the chest while cackling evilly."
Reno scoffed and pushed away from the wall to go and lean against the desk. Looking down at Zack, Reno took the bullet out of the raven haired male and tossed it from hand to hand. "Do you think it's going to be easy?" He asked, grinding his teeth again.
"No, killing some high up guy is never easy, and stop grinding your teeth its bad for you."
Reno froze and looked at Zack, an eyebrow raised. "What are you my grandma now?"
Zack rolled his eyes and stood up. "Listen, I just think you should fucking calm down and stop acting like you're a little kid! So what if I got the gig, it's not like killing someone is really all that great!" He threw his hands up into the air got up from his chair.
There was silence in the room before Reno spoke again. "You're going soft… that's why Sephiroth put you up to this."
Zack whipped around and looked at Reno, in slight shock. "I have gone 'soft' because I don't find killing someone an enjoyable experience?"
Reno shrugged and went to leave the room. Stopping at the door he turned around to salute Zack. "Just be careful with this mission, okay?" He stuck his tongue out and opened the door, leaving the small apartment.
"You're fucking Bipolar, you know that?!" Zack yelled. All he received was a kick to the door.
--XX--
"Cloud, I really think you need to relax, I can almost feel the tension in your muscles and I am on the phone with you!" The voice of a woman could be heard over the small phone, her tone growing louder and higher pitched as the sentence went on.
"Aerith, I really don't have time to come down to your place." Cloud said, playing nervously with his keys. He kept looking out his window, starring down at the calm, quiet street with extreme apprehension.
"Are you sure? I can schedule you in for a quick massage tomorrow at lunch time so you don't miss any important work." Cloud could hear Aerith fiddling with a pen, and could swear he heard her mutter something about being 'stubborn.'
"Look I really don't have time for that, and I really don't have time to be talking right now." Cloud said quickly, almost jumping off of the window sill when a car drove by. God, he really needed to calm down. No one was coming for him, Reno was just lying. And if anyone was coming, Cloud could handle it no problem.
He sighed heavily and stopped playing with the keys in his hand. He instead stood up from the window sill and pocketed the silver. "Hey, I'll call you back tomorrow…" He said while flipping the phone closed.
He ran a hand through spiky locks and blinked a few times, trying to get rid of the fatigue that racked his body. Ever since Reno had visited, and as much as Cloud hated to admit it, the words that had been exchanged worried him. Going into the bathroom, blue orbs flicked up to the mirror. The light in the bathroom flickered slightly, distorting Cloud's appearance. Resting his hands on the porcelain basin, Cloud gazed at himself, scrutinizing the bags under his eyes and how weak he looked. Swearing under his breath he turned away from the mirror and flicked the light off before going into his bedroom, almost falling on some important documents.
He stared at the papers on his bed, looking at the writing under the light that came through the window. Rolling over, he closed his eyes, willing some relief to come.
--XX--
Footsteps were heard down the quiet street, the heel of a mans shoe, and then the sole. A trail of smoke followed, the ash from the cigarette falling to the ground as it was momentarily forgotten.
A sticky note stuck to the inside of a pocket, and a strong hand took the note out, skull cufflinks flashing in the streetlight. The footsteps stopped in front of an expensive apartment complex, and violet orbs flicked up to read the street number.
A small chuckle was released from the male's lips as he noticed no one was at the door, and the lobby was still alight. Walking into the lobby, he strode towards the elevator, keeping his back to the security camera. Gently pushing the button to go up, he waited patiently, swaying back and forth slightly.
The small ding could be heard and the doors slid open while he walked in, and pressed a button, going to the middle section of the complex. Again, he used patients, and scanned the elevator, keeping his back to the camera the entire time. Coming to the correct floor, he quietly walked down the hallway, scanning the door numbers.
Eyes flicked back down to the sticky note, reading over the smudged numbers written in black ink. ….6C…. 4C… 8C…
The male stopped in front of door 9C and smirked.
--XX--
Cloud found sleep overtake him, but his relief wouldn't last long. He didn't get more then two hours of sleep before he woke up and found himself unable to succumb again. He paced around his living room, tugging at his blond locks in a frustrated, almost frantic way. He wanted to fix things, and he sure as hell didn't want to feel weak like this, but coming through with his end of the bargain would threaten his career, and could completely destroy everything he worked so hard to build. A fate worse then death.
Glancing at the clock, the green glowing numbers read 2:55 AM. Sighing heavily, Cloud looked down at his clothes, noticing he was still wearing his clothes from yesterday. His shirt was un-ironed and opened, while his dress pants had the top button undone. He would have laughed at his appearance, seeing himself as some fucked up porno star if he wasn't facing his death at any moment.
But maybe he was just over reacting. Maybe no one would really come. It's not like his death wouldn't be heavily investigated it's not every day that a young, promising business man gets a bullet to the head…
Only he worked in a company that something like that wouldn't be uncommon. They all pulled shit off that would get them in major trouble, and all held their own. So why couldn't Cloud?
"Fuck this…" He growled out stopped his pacing to stand in the middle of the room. "I'll fucking handle this myself… I will just go into work today and I will go about my every day stuff. I'll fucking work this out, and get out of this shit all by myself."
He almost smashed his head into the flat screen on the wall beside him. Now he was talking to himself, which was completely sane.
He was about to go to the washroom and just get ready for the day, and go into work early when he heard something. He froze and whipped his head around to look at his front door. Footsteps… he heard them loud and clear.
Swallowing heavily, the spit felt like millions of centipedes crawling down his throat, and his hands began to sweat.
'Calm down… just calm down. Some guys come home late from the bar and is just taking his time going back to the wife…' Cloud told himself, right as he began to shake slightly. 'It's nothing, just go into the washroom and get ready.'
A car drove by down on the street and Cloud could hear the tires, could hear the hum of the engine even from all the way up in his apartment. He felt like every sense had been heightened. Taking a shaky breath, he shook his head. The footsteps have disappeared. It was all in his fucked up, paranoid imagination.
Cloud took a few steps before the door suddenly swung open, blinding the blond momentarily as all the light from the hallway flooded the room. Blinking, Cloud looked into the hallway.
The clock on the wall flashed 3 AM, as violet orbs met brilliant blue.
Authors Note: Hahahaha, I did it, yo! Finished the chapter that threatened to kill me! So I wrote the first part up about two weeks ago and then everything after the convo with Reno was HELL. But while I was half asleep, and thinking about almost finishing Crisis Core (I am so close guys! Wish me luck on not breaking my PSP when I finish and started to cry!) I had a wave of inspiration and actually remembered it in the morning! In regards to the whole 3 AM thing, I read somewhere... along time ago... like, when I was in grade six, that 3 AM is the devils hour and I thought that would be cool to throw in... yah. Anyways, next update should be at some point in time... I don't wanna set a date because I won't full fill it because I suck. Reviews are love, and I love all those who have reviewed, who are reading, watching, thinking about reading and all that fun stuff! -hugs-