Sorry for the delay. I thought I could release this last week but in my department, we're only three people. One was on vacation and the other had to go to the hospital on short notice, which had me doing several double shifts. After those, I was too physically and especially mentally exhausted to write much.
Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that appeared in the show.
"Good morning." Albert greeted the couple as they emerged from the bedroom.
"Morning dad." Leonard said. "When did you get up?"
"At four." Albert shrugged. "I'm still on eastern time. Took the time to take the dogs for a long walk. And I must say, I miss the clean air of Vermont."
"That's what she said." Leonard laughed, pointing at Penny.
"I made some breakfast." Albert pointed to the kitchen island. "Have some, then you get your assignment."
"Okay." Penny nodded and sat down on one of the chairs.
She took one of the pancakes and spread some apple sauce on it, rolling it together and eating it like a burrito. She repeated that twice and then finished her coffee before sitting down on the couch and waiting for Albert to hand her the binder he was holding.
"So, I had the idea of giving you an assignment closer to home but for some reason, the criminal underworld of Los Angeles has gone into chaos." Albert opened up. "I contacted some people I know in law enforcement and they told me that various gangs have descended into sometimes open warfare, so a lot of targets have appeared."
"Yeah, that warfare is kinda my fault." Leonard sighed.
"How so?" Albert asked.
"One evening I was perusing the contract list and saw one to take out a gang leader who distributed drugs across the city." Leonard told him. "At first I had no intention of taking it but Sheldon then did it for me, since he saw it as a good opportunity for Penny to watch me in action, so to speak."
"So how did taking out a single gang leader spark this chaos?"
"As I dove into the preparations, more and more things became weird. The gang seemed to control most of Los Angeles, despite it being only sixteen members strong. Every time a rival gang seemed to be on the rise and threatening to butt in, that gang's leader died from what seemed natural causes or genuine accidents."
"You think the target was one of us?" Albert wondered.
"At first, yes." Leonard nodded. "But he seemed to be too young and his name never came up. Not to mention that even Lillian only knew him as a gang leader."
"Lillian?" Albert looked at his son. "Lillian Mendoza is here in the city?"
"Yeah, and she's a madam." Leonard grinned.
"She's running a brothel?" Albert laughed. "Why am I not surprised, Lillian was always very fond of sex. So, what's the name of that gang leader you killed anyway?"
"Lillian gave me the name Owain Brostin." Leonard said. "Again, it might be an alias."
"Or not." Albert sighed and sat down on the couch. "This could be really bad."
"Why?" Penny became worried.
"If his father is who I think he is, then Owain Brostin is, or was, the son of Patrick Brostin." Albert told them. "Patrick is an Irishman and he used to be what I was. A government killer, only for the British government. But unlike me, he relished the job and the more he did it, the more brutal and violent he got. That led to a situation that ended so badly that the Brits had no choice but to end is employment."
"And by end you mean...?"
"The same they would have done to me if I hadn't had my contacts to help me. They tried to kill him." Albert sighed.
"What did he do to cause that?"
"From what I could gather, he got the order to kill a high-ranking member of a terrorist organization that had been found in a certain village." Albert told them. "He went to the wrong village and because he couldn't find his target, he simply assumed he had changed his appearance so he killed every adult man he could find."
"So I guess they failed to kill him?"
"Yes, they failed. After going into hiding, Patrick joined the Irish mob, worked his way up to second-in-command and when he tried to take out the boss, he failed. But instead of being killed, he fled to the states and created his own criminal syndicate. That's the last I had heard of him."
"So, apparently his son ran the Los Angeles branch of his syndicate and then I killed him and his entire gang." Leonard said, tilting his head back into the head rest. "Not to mention that Kenta seems to work for this Patrick."
"Kenta?" Albert looked questioningly at his boy. "Yorinobu Sakurai is working for a criminal syndicate? I find that hard to believe."
"I thought so too but apparently, he is." Leonard nodded and handed Albert a folder. "It seems to me that they tricked him into it."
"Yes, I concur." Albert nodded after perusing the contents. "Does Yorinobu know this?"
"I think if he did, he'd have killed the entire syndicate by now, or died trying." Leonard chuckled.
"So, this man." Penny pointed to the folder she was holding. "What am I supposed to do?"
"What do you think?" Albert smiled. "Kill him."
"Wh... what?" Penny was surprised.
"You want to become an assassin, you have to kill." Albert told her. "Your final exam is to kill a relatively easy target."
"How?" she asked. "Your files don't say anything about that."
"However you like." Albert shrugged. "Shoot him, stab him, poison him. Hell, you can do what Lillian liked to do, have sex with him until he dies."
"No!" Leonard almost shouted. "Absolutely not."
"Relax, I'm just pulling your leg." Albert laughed. "But still, your task is to kill him. Do that in whatever way you want. When he is dead, you will officially be one of us."
"What gear should I take?" she wanted to know.
"That's for you to decide." Albert said. "All I did was give you the target and his current location with some added estimates about how many others will be with him. Everything else is yours to decide."
"Everything?" she felt very nervous.
"Everything." Albert confirmed. "You decide what gear to use, how to kill him, when to do the job, how long to surveil them and so on."
"Can Leonard help me?"
"No, I won't." Leonard interjected. "You have to do this job alone."
"Isn't that dangerous to do for those in training?" she wondered.
"Penny, you have learned everything we can teach you." Albert reminded her. "To be blunt, now it's time to put up or shut up. In this case, you either do your final exam like you would do any job in the future, with preparation and execution, or you don't, and you have to face the consequences for failure."
"I understand." Penny gulped, remembering that failure would mean disappointing the man she loved and herself.
"We'll let you work in peace." Leonard got up. "Dad, you wanna join me at the dog park?"
"Sure, son." Albert nodded.
They left the apartment, except for Penny, who engrossed herself in the folder to learn everything there was to learn. Leonard led Albert to his car, the two canines jumping onto the backseat while the humans took the front. Leonard drove them to dog park, this time not walking there because he didn't want to overtax his dad too much. Leonard parked the car and while Albert got out, Leonard got the dogs from the backseat, putting them both on leashes due to traffic.
"Hey, Leonard!" a female voice called as they walked towards the fenced area.
"Good morning, Katie." Leonard nodded towards her.
"Where's Penny?"
"She's working." Leonard told her, truthfully enough.
"And who's your friend?"
"That's my dad." Leonard introduced him. "Dad, this is Katie, one of the dog owners here that we meet regularly here."
"Nice to meet you." Albert shook her hand. "Albert."
"Nice to meet you, Albert." Katie smiled.
"You're here early today." Leonard mentioned after he let Major and Tyson into the enclosure, both dogs running towards the others to play.
"Yeah, finished my night shift and I decided to take Amka to an early morning play before going to bed." Katie said.
"Oh, what do you do for a living?" Albert asked.
"I'm a nurse." Katie replied.
"An honorable profession." Albert nodded.
"Well, I'm off." Katie announced a few minutes later and called for her dog, who came running.
"Does Yorinobu have any suspicions about you?" Albert asked a few minutes of them sitting at the table, when they were mostly alone.
"I told you, if he had, he'd have attacked me by now." Leonard sighed. "Though I don't doubt that he'll draw the conclusion at some point, given my usual method of operating during my jobs."
"How did you kill them?" Albert wanted to know, looking around that none of the other dog owners was listening.
"Poison." Leonard told him. "I had Bernadette mix a cocktail that would asphyxiate them. They sat in a small, enclosed room, which helped. I put a used barbecue with a faulty gas bottle in the room to make it appear that they died from that."
"Cameras?"
"Deactivated them before I went into the warehouse but apparently they had a closed system inside the office."
"So he might already know it was you?" Albert was worried.
"Howard developed scramblers that pixelated my image from top to bottom." he assured his father. "So nobody actually saw me. Howard also scrubbed me from any CCTV recording that might have me on it close to the warehouse."
"Good." Albert nodded. "Do you think Penny will be able to do the exam?"
"To tell you the truth, I don't know." he shrugged. "She knows how to do it but I truly wonder if she can bring herself to really kill someone in cold blood."
"We will see." Albert nodded and got up. "Is there a toilet somewhere near?"
"Over there is a public one." Leonard pointed to their right.
"Be right back." Albert said and started walking.
As he walked to the small building Leonard had pointed to, he noticed someone sitting in a car with headphones on and what looked like a directional microphone he remembered from his CIA days. He went into the toilet building and used the facilities but instead of exiting through the door he climbed out the back window, hidden from the car's occupant.
He took a wide route, crossing the road and walking towards the car. The driver was still wearing headphones, the microphone pointed at Leonard who was leaning back, watching the dogs and waiting for Albert to return. When he reached the car, Albert opened the passenger door and sat down on the seat, the dipping of the car alarming the driver who ripped the headphones off and smashed his arm against Albert's face, a blow Albert was barely able to block.
"Ochitsuke, Yorinobu!" Albert said through clenched teeth, blocking more blows, telling him to calm down.
"Albert Hofstadter-san." Kenta recognized him and stopped his assault. "Sumimasen. Watashi wa burei o imi shimasendeshita."
"No problem." Albert accepted the apology and showed him what he held in his hand. "And you really don't want me to take my thumb off of this."
"What is that?" Kenta asked, seeing the small device on Albert's key chain.
"It's a grenade." Albert smiled. "The pin is in my pocket."
"You would die too." Kenta pointed out.
"But I have lived a long life." Albert shrugged. "But do you want to die?"
"No." Kenta admitted.
"So, how much did you hear?" Albert asked.
"Enough." Kenta said. "I know he killed the man whose death I was here to investigate."
"Owain Brostin." Albert said. "What does Patrick want you to do with the man who did it?"
"Bring him in alive." Kenta revealed.
"Yorinobu, why do you work for man like Patrick Brostin?" Albert wanted to know though he knew already if Leonard's assertion were true.
"That's my affair!" Kenta gave Albert a hard stare.
"I think I know why you work for him?" Albert said. "Let me tell you a little story and then tell me if I'm wrong."
"KekkÅ." Kenta nodded, giving Albert permission to continue.
"Years ago, you were working like you often were. Your sister was home, living a comfortable life with the money you provided for her after your parents passed away. Then one day, you came home, or maybe someone contacted you, and you found out that Yua had died from an apparent overdose of heroine." Albert told the story. "How am I doing so far?"
"Hmpf." Kenta just grunted but nodded.
"Of course, you vowed revenge. Someone sold your sister heroin and it killed her. You needed to find the people responsible and punish them with the worst you could muster. Then someone came to you. Told you that they could find out for you who killed your sister. But in return, all they wanted was your services for their organization." Albert continued. "You agreed. An indeterminate amount of time later, they give you information about the local drug gang who sold the drugs to your sister. You went to them and killed them all and since then, you give them your service as a high-end hitman. Does that sound right?"
"So you know why." Kenta grumbled. "And you know why I must do what I do. I gave my oath and honor demands it."
"Does honor demand you to follow an oath that was based on a lie?" Albert asked.
"What are you talking about?" Kenta looked at Albert.
"I'm going to tell you another story, similar to the first but with some very important differences." Albert said.
"Go on." Kenta was intrigued.
"Years ago, an assassin named Yorinobu Sakurai was making his name in the business. He killed cleanly and efficiently, no job was too hard. A criminal syndicate led by a man who knew about our organization got wind of that up-and-coming man and wanted his services for himself. Knowing that he could never afford to hire that man on a permanent basis and that the man was also too honorable to ever work for a criminal syndicate such as this, they needed to convince him." Albert recounted the theory Leonard had told him. "The syndicate was dealing in some high grade heroin. They took some of it and paid a visit to Yorinobu's sister Yua, who was living in Sendai. They injected a lethal dose of heroin directly into her carotid artery, which caused her to die."
"That's a very serious allegation." Kenta said after a few seconds of silence.
"One that is supported by evidence." Albert told him. "Have you seen your sister's autopsy report?"
"Hai." Kenta nodded. "It listed the cause of death as a heroin overdose, nothing more."
"Have you seen the police report of the investigation into her death?" Albert asked.
"I wasn't aware that there was one." Kenta was confused.
"I doubt you would have been able to see it even if you had been aware, because the report had been sealed, along with more pages of the autopsy report." Albert said. "And it revealed something very odd."
"What?" Kenta became more agitated, which was rare for him.
"That the heroin had been injected into her neck from above, which even you should know is not something people do to themselves. That her body had no other needle marks that would denote her as a heroin user. That she lived way too cleanly to be a heroin addict." Albert listed the evidence.
"What are you saying?" Kenta had an idea, but couldn't quite believe it.
"That a man named Patrick Brostin has some of his men use the pure heroin his syndicate produces to kill the sister of an assassin he wanted in his employ and then sacrificed some low-level dealers to fulfill the man's wish for revenge." Albert finished.
"An interesting tale." Kenta said, his worldview confused now. "Unless you have proof."
"I have." Albert nodded and pointed towards Leonard. "Or rather, my son does."
"Your son?" Kenta looked at Leonard, who was checking his watch, wondering where Albert was. "John Smith is your son Leonard? I should have known."
"He is." Albert confirmed. "And you know as well as I do that he didn't kill your boss's son out of ill will."
"I doubt my boss will care about that." Kenta pointed out.
"But you should." Albert retorted. "I know that Takashi taught you well, as he did me. It would be a shame if you were to dishonor your father by ignoring his wisdom."
Albert didn't wait for a reply and left the car, hoping that Kenta would see reason enough to not continue on his path of collision with Leonard. He grabbed into his pocket and took the pin, placing it back in the grenade before he finally released his thumb from the trigger, then put it back into his pocket.
"Albert Hofstadter-san." Kenta called to him, the car rolling slowly next to Albert. "Are you aware that Robert McNamara is trying to kill your son?"
"No, I wasn't." Albert said after a few seconds of processing that piece of information. "It seems that this particular trait of their family didn't skip him."
"Give this to your son." Kenta said, holding out a piece of paper with an address on it. "He can set a trap for Robert there. Tell him to bring the proof you mentioned and I will see for myself if you were telling the truth."
"Very well. Ogenki de." Albert nodded and took the piece of paper before Kenta drove off.
With a sigh, Albert walked back to his boy. He had to have a serious conversation with him.
"What do you in case something goes wrong?" Leonard asked her.
"Fight dirty." she replied. "Kicking guys in the balls, stab them in the back, whatever is needed to survive."
"Right. And always use your surroundings." he nodded and gave her a last kiss. "Now off you go."
Penny felt kicked out when the apartment door closed once she was out in the hallway. Still feeling a bit bewildered, she went down the stairs and to the car she would be taking, putting her gear onto the passenger seat. Taking a deep breath, she drove to the building she had scouted out as a good observation spot.
She was wearing a two-piece bodyglove, something that was similar to the ones Leonard had and she would hopefully get once the mission was over. It was tight on her body but it fit well, nothing flapping around and some gear stored in pockets attached. She had chosen two knifes, a gun plus ammo, the glasses that helped her see in the dark and a cap to avoid her hair flying around with said hair tied in a bun underneath it.
She had found a dingy apartment block close to their location, with most of the apartments empty and the rest inhabited by people an inch away from being homeless. She parked the car a bit of a distance away and grabbed the backpack with her stuff, walking half a mile to the building. Since it was still dark, few people were out and about and none gave her a second look, even though she kind of stood out.
She walked up the stairs to the top floor, entering the apartment she had chosen and after closing the door, she put a chair against the knob to avoid people just walking in and checked around. The only reason she had chosen this place was because it had a working toilet, even though no seat or lid, so doing her ablutions would prove a bit difficult. She unrolled her equipment, which included binoculars, her gun and the knifes. She took a deep breath and put the gun together, then took it apart again before putting it together once more.
She repeated the exercise to calm herself. Her heart was pounding in anxiety, the idea of completely being on her own in this terrifying but at the same time exhilarating. This was her make or break point, the day that would either make her an assassin or most likely kill her. She grabbed the binoculars and headed to the window, checking the compound where her target was located. The area was filled with old, rusty shipping containers, full of holes and looking as if they had been randomly thrown into the area, creating a maze of passageways between them.
The man who was her target had apparently made his lair in the center of the area in what looked like a ramshackle building put together from old wooden boards, doors, walls cut out of shipping containers and whatever material could be found. She could hear loud music coming from there even in the top floor apartment she was sitting in and light spilling from holes in the outer walls that acted as windows. She mused that if she had properly learned to fire a sniper rifle, she might have been able to kill him with that, however a closer look revealed that she would have had no line of sight. With a sigh, she settled into the second old chair in the apartment and looked out the window.
She spent three days watching the comings and goings from the compound. She made notes of how many people came in and left, how many stayed during the nights and their movements through the area. Unlike the gang that Leonard took out, these guys seemed to be amateurs. There was no guard posted anywhere, no patrols of the compound, just people going to the center to presumably pick up drugs.
She continued the surveillance for another two nights, using the days to sleep but unable to shower due to the lack of a shower head. The sink allowed her to clean herself a little with the cold water it provided but otherwise, she stayed in her clothing and just sat on the chair as not to sweat too much. Whatever she ate or drink came from ready-to-eat stuff that didn't need cooking and doing that made her wonder if she had chosen the right profession after all.
"Okay." he said to herself on the third night, the sky dark and a few lamps illuminating the area her target was located in.
She took the chair from the door and walked out of the apartment, down the stairs and left the building. Instead of going through the main entrance, which was well lit and in line of sight to the center building, she walked around the compound along the fence line until she reached the point she had chosen to enter.
She pushed the lower part of the mesh inward and slowly crawled through to avoid her outfit snagging on the fence. After getting up, she checked her knifes and gun and pulled the glasses over her eyes, the dark environment becoming almost light as day. She began moving towards the center area, having to move through the maze of containers but since she had memorized the route, she found her way without problems. Only once did she have to to a small detour due to a loud banging coming from one of the containers.
She saw no guards anywhere and walked into the ramshackle building. It had a narrow corridor with several empty rooms on the sides, several small bedrooms on one side and a makeshift kitchen and similar bathroom on the other, though she wondered how they got plumbing into this dump. The sound of music got louder and louder the closer she got to the what she called the office area, where the gang was having their nightly party.
She stood outside the door, taking a deep breath and listening to the carousing in the room. She had counted six people before she had left the apartment and her target had been sitting behind a desk made of an old door placed on a couple of cinder blocks. This was it. She would take a life today. Not by telling Leonard to kill him, like she had with Kurt, but actually put a bullet into a person without the feeling of desperation like it had been when she had shot Caspar.
She wondered if that guy had a family. How would his parents react to his death? His siblings? Did he have children to whom he was a loving father despite what he did to make money? What about the others in the room, some of which she might have to kill too to get away? Her hand was on the door handle but she couldn't bring herself to push it open, despite her desire to make Leonard and Albert proud.
Without realizing it, Penny found herself walking away from the door and out of the building again, tears welling in her eyes at the realization that she couldn't bring herself to kill someone in cold blood without knowing who else might affected by his death, even if the person might deserve it. She wondered if she should just leave, go back to Nebraska and not face Leonard and Albert again.
Her train of thought was almost her undoing when one of the containers suddenly opened and someone came out. She barely had time to slip into a dark nook, watching the guy stretch and walk away to the building, presumably to join the party. She wondered if the container was used as a toilet and she slapped herself mentally for her carelessness. When the guy was out of sight, she left the nook and was continuing back towards the fence line when she heard a sob coming from the container. Curious, she slowly opened the door, which had been left open a bit and stepped inside, the glasses allowing her to see properly from the light coming in from the outside.
"Please, no more." a quiet voice pleaded.
"Oh my god!" Penny gasped when she saw the young girl on a dirty mattress, clad only in rags and bound to the wall with thick ropes tied at her wrists.
"Who are you?" the girl asked, trying to move against the wall.
"What are they doing to you?" she asked, staying in the shadow to avoid the girl seeing her face.
"I was the girlfriend of the guy who runs this crew." she sobbed. "Then he got bored with me and put me in here for his friends to use as they fit."
"They... rape you?" she couldn't quite believe it.
"Several times a day." the girl cried. "Sometimes two of them at the same time."
And Penny saw red.
"Run!" she shout-whispered at the girl after cutting her bindings.
Not waiting for the girl to start running, Penny turned around and checked her gun, making sure a bullet was in the chamber and the safety off. She walked back through the narrow corridor towards the back room, once again hearing the sounds of music, laughter and yelling, the group's party going on like before. She kicked the door open and stepped inside, seeing a seventh person present, the laughter and talking stopping and only the music continuing until the gang leader, her target, used a remote control to turn the volume down.
"Well, well, what do we have..." one of the guys to her left began sneering at her but was silenced when the knife in her left hand went through his chin into his brain, the man's eyes trying to catch up with the fact that the brain was no longer working properly before Penny twisted the knife and ripped it back out, blood, teeth and some brain matter falling to the floor as the guy collapsed.
"What the fuck?!" another voice shouted, just as Penny put a bullet between the eyes of the leader.
Her now dead target fell back onto his chair, his upper body bouncing off the backrest and back forward, dropping onto the table and the remote control, bringing the music back and increasing the volume to its maximum. While the remaining five guys in the room stood there stunned, Penny took one of the bottles in her reach and threw it against the light on the ceiling, smashing the bulb and bathing the room in darkness, only the outside lights providing a modicum of illumination, more than enough to make her see with her glasses. She immediately dropped down and to her left as the room erupted in panicked pandemonium, the remaining five men running around confused, yelling at each other.
She moved around the couch and used her knife to slash at the Achilles tendons of the man next to it, cutting both and making him fall down screaming before another shot to the head ended his life. She quickly moved behind the leader's desk as more shots began to rang out in the room, at least two of the remaining thugs opening up with their guns.
She heard shouts of pain and another body dropped, apparently killed or at least wounded by his own buddies. Using their muzzle flashes as targets, Penny shot twice more, the two armed men dropping with bullets in their chests. The last thug was also on his knees, whimpering and trying to find one of the guns his friends had dropped.
Penny got up and slowly walked towards the guy, her enhanced vision allowing her to see him turning on his back and crawling backwards in fear from what was for him just a dark outline approaching. When he was about to find his gun, she stomped her boot onto his hand, the bone crunching, causing him to scream as he fell back.
"Jesus, who the fuck are you?" the guy cried but his breath was taken away when Penny slammed one of her knees down on his chest and pushed the tip of her knife against his throat.
"How long did you abuse the girl you had in the container?" she asked, referring to the girl she had found and freed.
"Um..." the man stammered and that was enough of an answer for her.
Slowly, she pushed the knife into his throat, hearing the gurgle of his blood filling his lungs. Once he stopped twitching, she pulled the knife out again and wiped it on his shirt before putting it back into its sheath hidden in her clothes. She got up and left the room, but as she walked through the corridor, she heard gunshots coming from the outside.
Cursing under her breath, she began running for the exit, the fresh night air whipping her face as she came out of the building. She tried to figure out where the shots were coming from, the echo from the metal containers distorting the direction the sounds were originating from. She began moving swiftly towards the fence line to get out of the area but when she stepped into the clear, lit area between the building and containers, she was met by a large group of men, all carrying guns.
"Shit!" she cursed to herself, seeing one raising his gun.
"Don't kill her yet, she might provide some fun." the guy who appeared to the leader of that group said, the other goon lowering the gun again.
'Use your surroundings.' she heard Leonard's voice.
As the lead goon continued talking, Penny looked around, seeing the break between two containers she had been heading towards. Not waiting for the guy to finish, she lifted her gun and put a bullet between his eyes before darting for the passageway while the guy's buddies were looking shocked at their falling fellow criminal. Just as she went out of their line of sight, bullets started impacting the metal containers, Penny feeling the air current from passing shrapnel around her but luckily, nothing was hitting her.
She cursed to herself as she ran, hoping not to run into a dead end, given that she had to deviate from her memorized route. Not only had she let her emotions influence her, allowing herself to revel in killing the entire group and not just the leader but most surprisingly, she hadn't, despite watching the place for several days, seen anywhere as many people on the compound. The gunfire was increasing and she ran harder, the narrow, labyrinthine passageways between the containers increasing the echoes of the shots. Suddenly, she came up on a junction and a large body crashed into her from the side, tackling her to the ground, her gun falling out of her hand and skidding several feet away.
"What?" the guy lifted himself into a sitting position, looking at her confused and then behind him before raising the gun in his hand to shoot her.
Before he could pull the trigger, seventy-six pounds of fur, muscle and bone crashed into him, pushing his upper body back to the ground before sharp teeth sank into his throat, his scream silenced by blood welling out of the large wound. She scrambled back from the sudden onslaught before recognizing the animal, the tattoo-like dark fur over his eye visible in the enhanced light of her glasses and she also noticed the backpack-like contraption he wore.
"Tyson?" Penny asked, as if she expected an answer, the dog wagging his tail and giving her what she has learned was a grin, but luckily, not licking her all over the face given that his snout was still bloody.
"No time to rest, get up!" an appearing Leonard grabbed her arm. "And get your gun."
"Leonard?" she asked shocked. "What are you doing here?"
"I'll explain when we're out of here." he said and looked into the direction the guy had come from, the sound of gunfire still coming from all direction.
He whistled and Major appeared, wearing the same backpack-like thing she saw on Tyson. Leonard opened one of the pouches on Tyson's backpack, throwing two magazines at her, which she caught and used to quickly replace her almost empty one, leaving the two remaining bullets inside the used one as she packed it away in Tyson's pack.
They continued on, going through the passageways between the old containers as fast as possible to get out of these death traps. Several times, Leonard dispatched one or two men coming into their lane, quickly checking the side passages before leading her onward. When they came to another small clearing, gunfire suddenly erupted against them, both quickly jumping behind the container to avoid getting hit.
Leonard reached into his bodyglove and took out what looked to her like a round ball. He pulled the pin of what became apparent to be a grenade and threw it into the clearing, the small object exploding with a high pitched scream and blinding flash, the bang followed by a multitude of screams.
Leonard moved crouched into the clearing, dispatching every opponent with a shot to the head. Penny could barely believe her eyes, but to her shock and surprise, the cold violence of the whole thing didn't bother her like it had when Leonard had saved her from being raped. He waved her onward and she joined him in the clearing, his dogs around them and sniffing the air for possible threats.
Leonard pointed to the west and nodded towards her. She nodded back and after a finger countdown from him, they started moving again, fast and low. Any remaining goon getting into their way was met with either a bullet or canine teeth, his dogs attacking anyone coming close and holding them down so either Leonard or Penny could shoot them. Penny, adrenaline pumping, missed some shots, hitting the bad guys often just in the side or leg while Leonard pumped bullets into heads or hearts without missing a beat.
Every time he dispatched one, he gave a short whistle and the dog holding the victim let go before running beside them and attacking the next attacker either Leonard or Penny couldn't shoot yet. As they stayed at another junction, Leonard pointed to Tyson and her and Penny understood what he meant. She grabbed two more magazines from his backpack, replacing them with the empty ones from her pockets and reloaded her gun for the rest of the run.
Both started moving again, Penny controlling Tyson this time. The dog stayed close to her and attacked thugs left and right, Penny finding her rhythm with him. It took almost six more minutes before they finally reached the fence, where Leonard grabbed the bottom of the mesh and pulled, creating a small hole for Penny to crawl through, the dogs following her. Penny took his place, holding the mesh so Leonard could get through.
As they looked around, they heard the clarion call of sirens in the distance as well as the sound of helicopters. Leonard grabbed her hand and they ran away from the action. A mile later, they slowed down, Leonard holding out his hand for Penny to give him her gun and she complied, watching him store their guns into the dogs' backpacks before producing a loose sweater for her to put on and then leashing the dogs and handing her one so it appeared they were just walking dogs.
"Are you okay?" he asked, seeing her shake.
"Yeah, it's just adrenaline, it will wear off." she nodded before she had to run to the bushes and started vomiting.
"Let it all out." he chuckled.
"Damn, I really thought that wouldn't happen to me." Penny whined and got up, taking a sip of water from a thin bottle Leonard had produced from somewhere, probably one of the dog backpacks.
"SHIT!" Leonard cursed, looking at her side.
"What?" she looked down and saw only the sweater, her concern only rising when she noticed the blood on his hand after he had touched her there. "Shit."
"Sit down!" he ordered, pushing her against a stone pillar. "Lean to the side."
"How much is this going to hurt?" she asked as she saw him produce a spray bottle similar to the one she had seen back home when he had saved her life in the alley, spraying the wound with the liquid.
"Very." he nodded and gave her a piece of leather to bite down on before he set a lighter against the wound. "I can't see the bullet and the wound seems a bit messy, you need a doctor quickly."
She screamed at the sudden burning pain before it left as quickly as it had come. The wound now superficially closed, he pushed her outfit back down to hide it before grabbing her hand, both walking down the street until they reached a more busy area. Leonard flagged a cab, the brown-skinned driver shaking his head when he saw the two dogs with still some blood on their snouts but quickly opening the doors when Leonard produced several bills of a large denomination and showed them to him.
Penny and the dogs got into the backseat, Leonard entering the passenger side and giving the man an address. The trip took almost an hour due to the traffic being rerouted as a result of the big police operation in the area Penny and Leonard had just left, the radio of the cab blaring the news of a firefight, describing it as a war zone.
"Keep the change." Leonard said as he handed three one-hundred dollar bills to the driver, the man profusely thanking him as Leonard helped Penny out of the backseat.
"What about the car I used?" she wondered.
"We'll get that back later." he waved her off.
"Where are we?" she asked, seeing the large double doors out of glass, a uniformed doorman eyeing them.
"Where do you think?" Leonard helped her up the stairs, the doorman opening the door for them.
"Welcome." the receptionist greeted them, eyeing her torn clothing with the blood soaked into it and the two dogs with bulletproof backpacks on them.
"We need a room for the night." Leonard said, pushing one of his golden coins towards the man.
"Room Two-One-Five." he gave him a key card.
"Is the doctor in?"
"Of course." the man nodded.
"Send him up please." Leonard said, pushing another golden coin over the counter.
"May I suggest a drink as well?"
"Yes!" Penny groaned, the adrenaline worn off now and she was really feeling the pain.
"Very well." the man nodded.
"We're going to need the tailor as well in the morning." Leonard added.
"She will be there at ten o'clock." the man nodded again.
Leonard led her to the elevator and they piled in, his dogs looking up at them as he held her up. The elevator dinged its arrival and Leonard opened the door to the room he had gotten, a large, spacious room with a large king-sized bed and large couch, with two arm chairs as well, a bathroom and an antechamber for their clothes and shoes.
Before they could even take off their shoes, a knock on the door announced the arrival of room service, the young man handing Leonard a bottle of scotch and two glasses. Leonard gave him a tip and closed the door again, placing the objects on the table at the wall opposite of the bed. He went to Penny's side and lifted the upper part of the bodyglove, revealing the gel-covered wound.
"I didn't even feel being hit." she said, looking at her hip.
"Luckily, it didn't seem to have hit anything serious or you would feel a lot worse by now." he said and examined it a bit more until a knock on the door interrupted him a minute later, Leonard opening the door to reveal a rather young looking woman.
"Yes?" he looked at her.
"I'm Doctor Abernathy." the woman introduced herself.
"Oh, what happened to Doctor Cliff?" Leonard looked surprised.
"He died two months ago. Prostate cancer." Abernathy told him and pointed to Penny. "She is the patient?"
"Yes, entry wound on her hip, no exit." Leonard nodded. "At least from the looks of it."
"Lets see." Abernathy said and pointed for Penny to sit down on one of the chairs, sitting down next to her. "Mam, please take off the top."
"Call me Penny." Penny smiled at her and tried to do what she asked, but the pain from lifting her arm high up made the doctor decide to use her scissors to cut that part of the bodyglove off.
The doctor injected the area around the wound with an anesthetic, using the time until it kicked in fully to scrape the hardened gel off of the wound, revealing the hole.
"It doesn't look like a bullet wound." Abernathy commented after a brief examination.
"Ugh." Penny had to hold back some bile when she made the mistake of looking down at what the doctor was doing, seeing her dig out some dead flesh mixed with more covering gel that got into the wound.
"I can see it." Doctor Abernathy said after examining the wound with a magnifying glass contraption that looked like the one clock makers used she had put over her right eye.
"Did it hit an organ?" Leonard asked, hovering behind the doctor.
"It's not a bullet at all." Abernathy revealed and she enlarged the wound to use her tweezers, which she used to pull a piece of metal out of the wound.
"Rusty metal?" Leonard wondered. "Must have come from one of the containers."
"Seemed to have been the only one." Abernathy said and cleaned the wound before deftly sowing it shut. "Keep the wound clean, stay away from alcohol for tonight and no strenuous activity."
"No alcohol?" Leonard wondered. "Why?"
"Alcohol slows the healing process and increases the risk of infection." she told him.
"I thought alcohol could be used to clean wounds." Penny interjected.
"Only if you don't have any iodine or other disinfectants on hand and then only when it's as pure as possible. But rubbing alcohol over a wound can damage tissue and cause pain and irritations." Doctor Abernathy said while taking out a syringe and drawing something from a small bottle.
"I never knew that." Leonard admitted. "Maybe I should have refrained from the scotch after getting my wounds stitched."
"What is that?" Penny asked when Abernathy came back to her with the syringe.
"A tetanus shot." Abernathy replied and disinfected her left upper arm before injecting the needle and pushing the plunger down and putting a small band-aid over the needle wound. "You don't want to end up with painful spasms or paralysis, do you?"
"No, I do not." Penny agreed.
"Anything else?" the doctor asked.
"No, we're fine otherwise." Leonard shook his head and pushed another coin into the Abernathy's hand. "Thank you."
"Just doing my job." Abernathy smiled and left the room.
"She seems chipper." Penny mentioned once they were alone.
"She hasn't been here for long, that will go away at some point." Leonard chuckled sadly. "If you spend your days sowing up people, you tend to get a little jaded."
"Can we get something to eat?" Penny asked. "Something light?"
"Sure." Leonard nodded and called room service, giving some orders that included dog food.
They waited for the food, which took ten minutes, Leonard again handing the man bringing it some money. He placed the two bowls with dog food on the floor, Major and Tyson greedily eating their share while he brought a bowl with a broth that had cabbage, cauliflower, carrots and other vegetables in it, along with some dry, dark bred she could dip into the thick liquid.
Leonard had salmon with quinoa, two whole eggs and some vegetables on the side. The can he took contained herbal tea, which he poured for her and himself. Knowing him and his dad, this particular food choice was mostly to help with the healing process in her case and overcoming the exertion of the fight in his.
When he finished, he led the dogs into the bathroom and cleaned them, washing the remaining blood from their snouts and what had gotten into their fur. When they were done, he waved Penny into the room, helping her take off her clothes and gently washing her, taking special care not to disturb the wound. After helping her back into bed, he sat down at his laptop and started to type while she just lay in bed.
"What exactly happened?" Penny asked after a while. "I did reconnaissance before but I hadn't seen remotely the number of people we encountered on that container yard."
"Something you had no control over." Leonard shrugged. "Apparently, tonight was the night a rival gang wanted to take over the territory by taking out this one."
"Do you think Albert will give me another chance, given that I had no control over the situation?" Penny asked, horrified that this thing could derail her success.
"Why would he?" Leonard looked confused at her. "You passed."
"But, it ended up in chaos." she argued.
"What was your mission?" he asked.
"To kill the leader of that gang." she replied.
"Did you kill him?"
"Yes, I put a bullet between his eyes." she nodded, this time feeling a lot less of the revulsion at herself that had made her turn around the first time.
"Then your mission was a success." he shrugged again. "I already forwarded it to the organization but they're not going to reveal it yet."
"Why not?" she wondered.
"Because in a few days, I'm going to meet Robert McNamara." he revealed.
"What are you going to do with him?" she wanted to know.
"Ideally, I'll convince him to stop his vendetta against me."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then I will kill him." Leonard stated with a simplicity that astounded her, even given the seriousness of it.
She lay down and closed her eyes, Tyson jumping on to the bed to rest at her feet. The sound of his fingers hitting the keyboard soothed her mind and as she started to fall asleep, she felt a strange sense of giddiness and pride. She officially was an assassin now.
Though her hesitation still bothered her.
Well, the chapter got a little longer than I expected but I didn't want to split it. Though I think you don't mind ^^ Hope you liked it.
Review please :)
