A.N — Sorry it's been so long since my last update, folks. I am definitely still into this story, but it might take me a little while to update, especially with school coming around the corner. Also, there is another cameo in here, mostly of the animated cartoon kind, for those of you who know. But without further ado, here you go:
Another night, another alley, another job. Liz was really getting tired of this routine, and she knew Patti was, too. Truthfully, she was worried about Patti, who kept thrashing about in bed at night, and only seemed at peace when held in Liz's hand in Weapon form. Because of this, Liz had done all the muggings so far, her sister feeling safer that way, and since that was the case, Liz wasn't going to argue.
Even though it was only May, the night was rather humid, and Liz had to wipe beads of sweat from her forehead with her free hand. Their first day with Franky, he had sent some people to buy the girls clothes; they'd refused at first, but eventually Liz couldn't stand wearing the same thing four days in a row, and so had changed into a red tank-top and denim shorts, while Patti swapped her cowgirl outfit out for gold shorts and a short-sleeved, turquoise V-neck shirt.
Dead ahead, sis, Patti told Liz, causing the de facto meister's eyes to look forward until she saw a young guy walking towards them. She crouched down in the shadows, holding her breath as he came closer. There was something about him that seemed familiar. Was it his hair? It glowed red in the light of a nearby streetlamp, as did the shirt he wore; he also had bright yellow shorts on. What's with this kid? Liz wondered. Is he trying to stand out? She let the thought go, however, when the boy stopped just short of the alley. He looked rather relaxed: shoulders slouched, hands in his pocket. He was a fool, then, for not taking in his surroundings; there were even worse things than the Thompsons in this area at night, things even the men Franky had watching their every job, feared.
"I know you're there," the guy called suddenly, causing Liz to tense. He removed his hands from his pockets. "Liz and Patti Thompson, yeah? In case you don't remember me, you robbed me at gunpoint a couple nights ago."
So that's why he seemed so familiar; he was the only redhead they'd mugged. After a moment of deliberation, Liz stepped of the shadows cautiously, making sure Patti was visible in the streetlamp's paltry glow.
"We've robbed a lotta punks," she said with a scowl. The guy smiled at her lazily, green eyes amused. Why wasn't he afraid? He'd been close to soiling his pants the other night, of that she was sure, so what could have caused such a turn-around? She'd been a bit surprised the first time around, to tell the truth, because even she had been able to sense he had a strong soul, though she was fairly certain it was a meister soul, and there'd been no Weapon partner in sight.
"Yeah, so I've noticed," the guy said. Then he hit himself on the forehead, lightly, with his hand. Gave a small chuckle. "Ah, sorry, where are my manners? Roy Harper, meister, and a member of Shibusen CIA."
Liz's eyes widened in surprise, and, grip on Patti tightening, jumped back a little, sizing the guy — Roy — up cautiously. Though she'd never met any of the CIA members — their identities were one of the few things Kid refused to share with his Weapons — Liz knew they were all expertly trained in espionage, combat, assassination, and other things necessary to their field. Mostly they had been used to gather intel on witches and their plans through the years, and still were, as well as particularly strong evil human souls.
Liz's eyes searched the streets behind Roy, trying to see if she could find his partner; CIA Weapons could work alone if they chose, many having honed their skills to do battle without a meister, but meisters always had a Weapon, no exceptions. When sight alone didn't reveal what she sought, Liz tried using Soul Perception, but only picked up Franky's thugs and the residents of the apartments they were under.
"C'mon, you think you would be able to find my partner?" Roy asked in a mocking tone, hands on his hips. Liz scowled at him and pointed Patti at his chest. They still had a facade to put on.
"What does Shibusen CIA want with us?" she asked suspiciously. It made sense if news of the Brooklyn Devils' return had reached Shibusen (reached Kid, she thought guiltily), but had they really sent agents after them? They could have been investigating Franky, but he and his crooks were just human, and not quite at the level of an evil human soul, though she figured they must be close.
Sis, you don't think he's here to...you know...do you? Patti asked, sounding worried and even a little hurt. Liz was confused for a moment, then it sunk in what Patti meant: CIA was very skilled in assassination, and weren't agents supposed to keep their identities and jobs a secret? Unless whomever they were speaking to wasn't going to get a chance to use it against them...
No! Liz shook off the thought, answering herself as well as Patti. No, of course not, Patti. Kid would never let that happen. C'mon, you givin' up on him already?
Of course not, Patti answered forcefully, sounding relieved, though. I'm not at all! I just wanted to make sure you knew that, too. Duh.
Duh. Of course I do.
Roy cleared his throat, bringing the sisters' attention back on him. "Well, in truth, you weren't part of the original mission," he informed them; Liz sighed in relief. "The real target is Francesco Scafidi, but I was instructed to gather information on you two, considering you're hanging with him now." The agent narrowed his eyes at them, and actually seemed angry. "So you mind telling me what you think you're doing, hanging with him, I mean?"
Liz hesitated, unsure how much she should reveal in the presence of their stupid babysitters. The thugs usually stayed a fair distance away from the sisters during muggings, so they probably couldn't hear Liz and Roy's conversation, but she wanted to be sure. Then again, this CIA agent could be their only way to contact Kid; through their conversation with Jason earlier, the Thompsons had learned Franky's entire mansion was mirrorless. Patti had angrily accused him of lying, but he'd insisted it was true, saying a few weeks ago every one of the reflectors had been removed – Franky had explained it away to his gang as giving into his girlfriend Calli's wishes. While Jason hypothesized that she just had really bad self-esteem, Liz and Patti had agreed that the witch was trying to cover her tracks and hide from Shibusen.
"How 'bout a trade?" Liz offered finally. "You give us some of your information, and we'll give you some of ours."
Sounds fair, sis, Patti encouraged, sounding like she approved
Roy raised an eyebrow. "What, you conducting your own investigation?"
"Maybe we are," Liz answered evenly. Realizing Patti was still pointed at his chest, she lowered her slightly, hoping that would make him more inclined to agree.
The agent crossed his arms over his chest and contemplated her offer for a while, but eventually he nodded. "Alright," he said. "A few months back, Franky got out of prison; because of his past history, and the fact that a few of his men have been on Shinigami-sama's list, it was decided he needed to be watched. Sure enough, he was back to his old tricks.
"But what really got the agency's attention was when he started making frequent visits to a known witch. She hadn't been causing any trouble, not enough to write her up anyway, but then she went and moved in with him. Suspicious, don't you think?"
Roy then cocked his head, looking Liz up and down. "But more suspicious is what you two are doing. How'd you get mixed up Franky? Why did you leave Shinigami-sama? You're his Weapons, aren't you? Word is, a lotta the higher-ups are trying to convince him you've turned traitor."
Liz went rigid at that word. Traitor. Did Kid really think they'd betrayed him? If his council had to convince him, maybe he was holding out, stubbornly insisting they were loyal. but what if he was losing that conviction?
We are loyal, Patti reminded, feeling the turmoil in her sister's soul. Kid knows that, and here's our chance to prove it! Tell him what we know!
Right. Liz nodded, reassured. To Roy she said, "Well, you can take this back to your bosses, especially Shinigami-sama. Patti and I are, and plan to remain, loyal to Shinigami-sama and Shibusen. The reason we're with Franky is because we're trying to protect Death City; he's planted bombs in the city."
Roy blinked, looking shocked. "You – seriously?" he asked. "He's – Franky's blackmailing you?"
Liz nodded and said seriously, "Yes. And –"
"Hey!"
Roy jumped back into the shadows while Liz turned, to see Franky's goons descending on the, looking annoyed. There were four of them; the one who had shouted, a tall, somewhat muscular man with black hair and blue-gray eyes, scowled at them and said,
"Just what is the hold-up, girls? It's been a while since we've heard any actual mugging going on.
Liz glared right back; hefted Patti over her shoulder. "What d'you care, jacka$$?" she asked crudely, enjoying the deepening of the man's scowl at the name. "What's it matter if we like to play with our food before we eat it? We're still better a' our jobs than you."
The man's face turned red, and he took a swing at Liz. She dodged it almost effortlessly — even if the guy wasn't as clumsy as an ox, he didn't have near the fighting skills Liz and Patti did. When he kept coming at her, continually throwing punches, Liz, with a roll of her eyes, began to transform; Patti, knowing what to do, began the change as well. Two glowing pink lights hung in the air for a moment, and then it was Patti holding gun-form Liz, pointing it right at the goon's head. He froze.
"I'll shoot you," Patti said tonelessly. The man's Adam's apple bulged as he swallowed, and he backed away slowly. His fellow gang members snickered at his failure.
"Ah, c'mon, man, you gonna let theses b**ches pwn you like that?" One of them asked, cruel smile on his face.
The man turned red again, this time from embarrassment. He was about to answer, when Patti, head cocked, fired a shot at their feet. All four of them jumped back, startled, and looked at Patti.
"I told you," she said, "that I'd shoot you."
The four of them looked at each other uneasily, until finally one of them spat in the dirt and turned around. "Let's just go," he said over his shoulder as he began to walk. Two followed him, while the remaining one, the one who had been throwing punches, glared expectantly at Patti.
C'mon, Patti, Liz said to her sister, in a soft voice. You know what we gotta do.
Yeah, came Patti's surly response (Liz was relieved to hear emotion in the younger girl's "voice"). With a resigned sigh, Patti followed after.
...
Being woken up before she was ready was one of Liz's biggest pet peeves, but being woken up by her door being slammed open and a cacophony of harsh voices yelling for her to get up was infinitely worse.
The sound of the door smacking against the wall startled Liz so bad she tumbled off the side of the bed, landing with a hard Thump! on the hardwood floor. Patti shot up beside her, eyes wide (though there were two double beds in the room, the sisters had taken to sharing one).
"Up, up, up!" One of Franky's goons shouted, one of the few women in the gang. A tall, well-toned woman in her late twenties with magenta hair and lavender eyes. She had a cruel smile on her face. Behind her were three men, the Thompsons' usual guards.
"What the h*ll is going on!?" Liz demanded angrily, getting up and refusing to rub her backside, even though it hurt a lot. Magenta-hair (Liz didn't have the will to remember their names) just jerked a thumb behind her.
"Boss wants ya in his office," was also she said before exiting the room, allowing the guards to come in and haul the two out of the room. Feeling invaded, Liz desperately wanted to fight, but she knew she ought to comply. Though Patti had a murderous look in her eyes, she likely knew the same, as she did nothing as they were forcefully paraded to Franky's office.
"What's the meaning of this?" Liz snarled at Franky when they entered the room, but then her eyes widened as she saw what — rather, who — was lying on the floor in the middle of the room.
Roy Harper, Shibusen CIA, was currently being held down on the floor by Callisto sitting on his back. Another person, probably Roy's Weapon, was struggling against two of Franky's strongest men, a look of rage on his face. He had short black hair and wore a blue T-shirt and what looked like a blue bathing suit.
Roy looked over at the girls and attempted a small smile. He had a black eye and a few cuts on his face. "Ah, lovely. You've brought in the top dogs for me. I'm flattered." Liz felt a little hurt at that, but then pushed it aside. What did it matter what he thought? Patti and she knew what they were doing, which is more than she could say for Roy — what kind of agent was he, getting captured by mere humans like this.
"So glad you could come," Callisto exclaimed in her deep voice, as if they hadn't been abducted from their sleep. She turned to Franky. "Frranky-bearrr, why don't you answerrr theirrr question?"
"Of course, my dear," Franky replied, leaning back in his chair. He looked at Liz and Patti. "You see, girls, when Donnie and Raph told me how...poorly you performed tonight, not too mention threatening my boys, I decided a test was in order, make sure you remembered what you're really here for."
Liz's throat constricted when his hand neared his shirt pocket, where the detonator sat. "No, please —!"
Franky chuckled, then removed his hand. "Don't worry, darlin', I didn't think you were that naughty. No, no, since this is your first offense, I'll make it easy." He pointed at Roy. "We caught these two bozos sneaking around the house. So, your test of loyalty is to shoot him."
"No!" Roy's partner shouting, straining against his captors. "Don't you dare! Don't you dare turn traitor on us!"
Liz winced, even as she held out her hand; automatically, Patti transformed, landing in her sister's outstretched hand. She pointed it at Roy, who stared up at her with a solemn gaze.
Franky was laughing as he addressed Roy's Weapon, "Man, kid, didn't you know? They're already traitors to you!"
"I just have to shoot him?" Liz clarified, tone distant. Franky nodded.
"Yeah. Just him, I promise — I'm not cruel." His smile, however, definitely was.
Sis, Patti said quietly, worriedly. I don't like this but —
Yeah, Patti, I know, Liz answered. I know what we gotta do. She leveled Patti, and took a deep breath. Squeezed the trigger.
Bang.