Fated Destiny Book Three

by FatedWriter

In the year 2025 Chaldea Security Organization has completed the Second Grand Order postponing Humanities destruction yet again. With the second singularity completed, they still have more questions than answers. While new faces join Chaldea to bolster their cause, there are those among the organization who are plotting its downfall. Will the group uncover who is behind everything?

11. Chapter Eleven Hunted

Chapter Eleven

Hunted

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Screaming echoed in my ears as my eyes slowly blinked open and I returned to reality. As my vision returned to me the scene of frantic people running in every direction was laid before me. "...Not dead yet I suppose…." I thought to myself with a pain filled chuckle, and just as I had that thought a sharp pain swept through my body as someone stepped on me in their frantic attempt to get away and I winced as the pain in my right shoulder was still very much there. That shot had come out of nowhere and since they weren't standing over me to finish the job, which means it had to have come from far away. I needed to get out of the open and somewhere safe. I attempted to push myself up off the ground with my right arm, but my attempt was short lived as l fell back down to the ground and another pain swept through my chest from where I had been shot. My strength was gone and I was far too weak to even lift myself up off the ground. I lifted my face up from the pavement and examined my surroundings. All around me were people fleeing, but through the feet's of the fleeing people I could see cars off to my right and to my left I saw an alleyway. I had to get out of the opening. I had too. I needed to get into that alleyway, even if it meant crawling my way over there. Snow kicked up into my face from fleeing civilians and I another pain went through me, this time through my right arm as I was once stepped on again. "That's assuming I don't get trampled to death, but all the people fleeing should provide good cover for me to slip into the alleyway." I thought to myself. I tried to lift my left arm and pull myself forward, but nothing happened and I looked over my shoulder to see left arm standing still by my side, I couldn't even move my fingers as my whole left arm felt completely numb. "God damn it, my nerves running down my left arm must be in complete shock." I thought to myself and winced. No matter, I'll crawl into the alleyway with just my right arm if I have too. I refuse to die right now, especially on some city sidewalk to a random shooter, to hell with that. I lifted my right arm up and reached forward, pulling myself forward with the strength in my right arm and what little strength I had left in my legs. With every inch I took, my body throbbed with immense pain and it didn't help that I would get kicked in the sides as people scurried over me in their mad dash to get out of here. Of course nobody bothered to stop and help the dying man out on the ground, and instead opted to let him drag his dying corpse off of the sidewalk and into the alleyway. To top it all off there was also a wet feeling that was running across my chest and legs as I inched forward, and it wasn't just the snow. I'm pretty positive I was still losing a substantial amount of blood and I'd be lucky if I even made it into the alleyway before I died of blood loss. However there wasn't much I could do until I was in safety, out of the sight of the gunmen. All I could do was crawl, so crawl I did. Eventually my long and painful crawl lead me to the side of a dumpster where I reached up with my one functioning hand and grasped the handles of the dumpster. Pulling myself up I eventually propped myself up against the wall, as my back touched the brick wall a cold shiver shot up my spine and through the rest of my back, which only amplified the pain I was feeling in my shoulder. I winced in pain as I further sat myself up right until I was comfortable, or as comfortable as one could be. I looked around the dark alleyway where I might possibly be spending my final moments, and well….

"Not exactly the place I want to be spending my final moments..." I said out loud. I let out all of the air that I had been holding in this entire time and took my first deep breath in a while of the cold air. I winced as the chilly air burned inside of my lungs and it was a few moments before it became bearable to breathe again. I returned my focus towards the sidewalk to see that the number of people passing by as they flee from where the gun shots had come from had whittled down. As my eyes shifted downwards, they glazed over the snow where I saw the long blood trail that painted the winter snow crimson, the crimson trail lead from the sidewalk up to where I was sitting against the wall. My hand went up to my chest where I placed it over the spot where I had been shot and as I rested my hand where I felt the burning sensation in my chest I felt my heart pounding against my chest furiously as it tried to pump blood. However all that blood it was trying to pump was spewing out over my hand as I felt my wet blood coat my gloves. I lowered my hand from my chest and looked down to see my gloves had been glazed with my blood and it dripped from my fingers. I rubbed my fingers together to try and get the blood off, but that usually worked better when it was dried blood and not fresh. I laid my head back against the cold brick wall and looked up into the dark sky to see the snow fluttering down towards me. When I was a child that the sight of blood use to make me sick to my stomach, even remembering that my sister would tease me about it. However now it no longer made me sick and that was because I had grown accustomed to the sight of blood, even the blood of loved ones….

"DAMN IT!" I exclaimed and immediately upon uttering those words I was hit by a coughing fit and I rose my hand up to my mouth. After a brief coughing fit, I lowered my trembling hand down from my mouth and saw more blood had caked my hand. I wiped my glove against my pants and rested my head back against the wall with my hand resting against my chest. "... Damn it. Rin warned me that I could have eyes watching me and I guess she was right. Our Good General turned Traitor must have had someone watching me and they now know that I know what Lev knew. So now that Amara knows that I know, that means I needed to be silenced" I murmured to myself and just then I winced at a sudden pain that shot through my chest again. "I let my guard down, and I guess this is the price I'm paying for my foolishness." I murmured as I took in a deep breath as the pain slowly subsided for the moment. "Well at least I still have the documents that Rin gave me." I said as I looked down at the briefcase slung underneath my right arm. So long as those documents were safe there was still hope that Amara could be brought to justice, which meant... "I can't die yet, especially not here in this alleyway. No Screw that, I'm not going to die to some sniper." I murmured and my body immediately reminded me that my life was still in danger, at risk of succumbing to my injuries. I looked down to see the command seal on my right hand glowing brightly beneath my glove, letting me know that I was still in danger. I could only imagine what Scathach or Mashu could have felt when I got shot, but I'm sure that they knew that were made aware that I was in danger, however they were five hours away from here on the other side of the state. I raised my right hand up into the air to see the command seal shining beneath it, the one on my right hand belonged to Scathach while the one on my left hand belonged to Mashu. If there was ever such a dire situation to summon a servant, now would be one of these times. Mashu would make more sense to summon Scathach in this situation, but using Mashu's command seals would mean I would lose it forever unlike Scathach's which would replenish themselves. I didn't want to use Mashu Command seals unless it was absolutely necessary, however even if I did want to use Mashu's command seal right now….. I had lost all feeling in my left arm including the use of my magical circuits in that arm. So that left me with Scathach as my only option, however not even that was an easy decision, for summoning Scathach would require me to channel whatever remaining magical energy I had into using the command seal. In doing so that would mean I would have no magical energy left to heal my injury, and an injury as severe as this would require all the magical energy I could muster. Summoning Scathach also pose the risk of people finding out, if some woman with a red spear and superhuman like abilities was to appear and run about the city with me, that would attract unwanted attention, that is assuming if Scathach didn't kill me herself. There was also the possibility that Scathach wouldn't even have enough energy left to fight, I wasn't certain. So I could summon Scathach and more than likely still die due to my injuries or Scathach herself, or I could use all my magical energy I had to heal my injuries, but even then there was no certainty I won't be killed soon afterwards. Whichever decision I made, I needed to make it soon before I bleed out….

"HEY! Are you alright!" A feminine voice suddenly cried out and I looked up slowly dazed to see a woman kneeling in front of me with a terrified expression on her face. It was a woman of average build who had shoulder length brown hair up in ponytail, and as she looked down at me I saw dark brown eyes similar to mine. The woman was wearing a buttoned up white coat with a red scarf around her neck accompanied by navy blue pants and those fluffy brown boots women were fond of wearing.

"Y-Yeah I'm doing just peachy." I replied as I let out a slight cough. "I'm just glad someone noticed that I was dying over here, everyone else just stepped on me as I crawled my way over here." I said and winced as a pain shot through my chest just at the reminder of that crawl over here. The woman looked at me with concerned filled eyes and I could see the subtle look of fear in her eyes.

"A-About that… I was one of those people who accidently tripped over you in my rush to get away…" The woman said and I vaguely remember that someone did almost trip over me. "Sorry." The woman added with sorrow filled eyes.

"Ah… Well at least you felt guilty about it. That's more than I can say for most people." I said. "And at least you came back. You're braver than most people." I added.

"I don't know if I would go so far as to call myself brave…" The woman said as she looked me over. "Anyway you have a massive hole in your chest! We need to get you to a hospital while there's still time. There's still time while that mass shooter is distracted with his rampage." The woman said and I felt her arms go underneath one of my armpits as she tried to pull me up to my feet.

"Ah Ah AH!" I exclaimed in pain as pain shot through my body and I pushed back against her. "No just put me down! I appreciate the help, but you need to get out of here!" I said as the woman let me go and I returned to my position against the wall.

"What are you talking about?!" The woman exclaimed. "You need to get to a hospital otherwise you're gonna die!" The woman exclaimed as she once more tried to lift me up.

"No just stop and listen!" I said as I raised my hand up to stop her, the woman ceased what she was doing and we stood there in silence as we listened to what was happening. "What do you hear?" I asked.

"N-Nothing…" The woman replied.

"And have you heard any more shots since the first shot was fired." I asked.

"N-No…" The woman replied with the shake of her head.

"Then it is just as I thought, this isn't the work of a mass shooter. That bullet was intended for me and me alone." I said as I placed my hand on my chest and took in a deep breath.

"W-WHAT?!" The woman gasped. "What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into mister?!" The woman asked. "Is it the Government that's trying to kill you?" The woman inquired and I couldn't help but chuckle, despite how painful it was to do so.

"... No if it was the Government they would have just picked me up off the street and tossed me into a black site, either that or they would have framed me for something and tossed me in prison for life." I said with a wince as it hurt to laugh.

"W-Well that's true." The woman murmured. "If it's not the Government who's trying to kill you then I'm not really sure what kind of business you're involved in, and I'm not really sure I want to know." The woman added. "However it doesn't matter! We still need to get you to a hospital!" The woman exclaimed as she once again tried to move me.

"No! Just stop it, leave me be and get yourself to safety." I said as I stopped her from trying to lift me up again with a dismissive wave of my hand.

"I'm not going to just leave you to die!" The woman exclaimed.

"Are all women so stubborn?" I muttered under my breath. "Fine! If you want to be helpful, then do me a favor and look behind me. Tell me if there's a hole on my backside." I said and the woman's eyes filled a bit with fear.

"A hole?" The woman said.

"Yeah a hole, an exit wound." I replied.

"A-Alright…" The woman said and she knelt down next to me. Her hand on my shoulder she pulled me forward and I let out a groan of agony as just moving filled me with immense pain. The woman looked over my backside as I looked down at the blood stained snow gathered beneath me. "Y-Yeah there's a hole coming out of your back, there's a lot of blood too…." The woman said and let go of my shoulder and I returned to my upright position.

"Well that's one bit of good news." I said and the woman looked at me confused. "It means it was a clean shot and it went straight through, means I don't have a bullet lodged somewhere inside of me." I explained and the woman let out an "oh" expression. "While that doesn't mean much, it's a little bit of good news I suppose." I added.

"Then that means we need to get you to a hospital now more than ever!" The woman persisted. "If you stay here, you're going to die. We need to get you to a hospital to treat those injuries! Otherwise you're going to bleed out!" The woman exclaimed and tried to lift me up once more, only once again to be pushed back by me. She was sure persistent, I'll give her that much.

"You really are stubborn aren't you?" I said and the woman gave me an annoyed expression. "You remind me another woman I know." I added as I took another deep breath.

"Well then you should be use to dealing with stubborn women and know that I'm not going to give up." The woman said putting her hands on her hips and I let out a faint chuckle.

"Unfortunately I don't have much of a choice whether or not I get to deal with her. We're seemingly stuck together against our best wishes." I said as I sat there thinking back at the past few years with Scathach. "Even if you are as stubborn as her, you need to get out of here and as far away from me as possible. I've got at least a few minutes left at best so even if we left now, we couldn't get to a hospital in time." I said dismissively.

"Well if we stop the bleeding, maybe…" The woman said and I dismissed her once again.

"You're probably right, that would improve my chances. However the chances of actually reaching the hospital are slim, the gunman isn't going to just let me get away." I said and the woman furrowed her eyebrows. "However the least you can do is tell a dying man the name of the lady who came to my aid?" I said. The woman furrowed her eyebrows at me, seemingly as a way to let me know this wasn't the place or time to making such comments, but I gave her an insisted look and she caved letting out a sight.

"My Name… My name is Katie." Katie answered.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Katie, the name's Christopher." I said extending my hand weakly to shake, Katie grasped it and we lightly shook.

"Pleasure to meet you too, Christopher." Katie replied.

"Well I only wish it was under better circumstances." I said and put my hand to my chest as another pain shot through it.

"I wish it was also, I can't say I'm thrilled to experience my first shooting." Katie said as she put on a weak smile.

"Well when you're in my kind of work, shooting and getting shot at isn't anything new." I replied with a chuckle. "Anyway, why don't you tell me about yourself Katie." I inquired.

"Uh well there's not much to tell about me, I'm a nobody really." Katie said. "I'm just one of many accountants who works the usual 7-5 job like most people. When I'm not working I like to hang out with my friends or read a good book at home while listening to music. I live alone in apartment with my cat Amadeus." Katie said and I couldn't help but let out a chuckle much to Katie's annoyance. "Hey it's very rude of you to laugh at my cat's name!" Katie exclaimed.

"Sorry I just couldn't help but think of someone else I knew who went by Amadeus." I said as I continued to chuckle, up until the point that I ended up coughing. "But you shouldn't say that you're a nobody Katie." I said after my coughing subsided.

"Why is that? When compared to someone like you who has people trying to kill you, I'm nobody." Katie inquired.

"I say that because there was once a woman I knew, she came from what one might call not the best of upbringings." I said. "However despite her upbringings, she was determined to not let that determine who she was." I went on to explain. "She believed that every life had value and every life had a purpose, she didn't judge you whether you were poor or rich or uneducated or had a degree in Mechanical Engineering." I explained which caused Katie to have a curious look to her face. "She believed that everybody had potential to do good in the world and that one could do whatever they wanted to so long as they set their mind to it." I said. "She was determined to make a difference and leave her mark on the world, no matter how small it may be. And she was able to accomplish what some might think was impossible for someone such as herself, and even I was guilty of casting judgement too quickly." I said and there was a brief pause as I was hit by another coughing fit and coughed up more blood into my glove and onto the ground. Katie watched on with concerned eyes and after a few moments it subsided. I wiped my mouth and continued where I had left off. "...And while there were times where her belief seemed shaken or at odds with reality... she still remained loyal to her ideals and beliefs to the very end." I said as I closed my eyes for a moment.

"This woman you speak of, she seems like an extremely kind and intelligent person." Katie said.

"She really was an incredible person; she was larger than life in many ways." I said as a soft smile formed on my lips. "She could put a smile on everyone's face when she entered the room." I added.

"You speak of her in past tense, so that means…." Katie said before I cut her off.

"Yes, she's been dead for several years now." I said feeling an ache in my heart not caused by bullet wounds.

"I'm sorry to hear that, she sounds like someone we need more of in the world." Katie said with saddened eyes.

"Some might even say she was too kind for this world." I said with another sigh. "Since you've been so kind to share some of the details of your life with a complete stranger, I'm going to let you in a secret of my own." I said and Katie raised an eyebrow. "You have to promise not to tell anyone." I said with a raised finger.

"O-Okay." Katie replied with the nod of her head and I took a deep breath…

"I am a Mage." I said and Katie's eyes filled with surprise and confusion at the same time.

"A mage?! You mean like a Wizard? Like Harry Potter or something?" Katie said her voice filled with shock. "What you say, that's impossible! Magecraft is just fiction!" Katie added.

"I didn't believe it either, but it's true." I said. "However it's not quite as you say, it's akin to something like that yes, but without the wands and stupid robes." I said. "I am a Mage who uses magical energy called mana." I explained.

"You better not be joking with me in your dying moments! If so, it's not very funny!" Katie exclaimed.

"I'm not joking around with you, as much as I enjoy making bad jokes. I'm quite serious about this." I replied and Katie gave me an unconvinced expression.

"So if what you say is true, and you can indeed use magic, doesn't that mean you could like, you know heal yourself?" Katie inquired.

"Yes I can heal myself…" I said before being abruptly cut off.

"Then what have you been waiting for you stupid jerk! You've been acting like you were dying this whole time, when you could have healed yourself!" Katie exclaimed angrily as she pounded her fist against the snow.

"I was going to do that before you arrived…" I said just before being struck by another coughing fit, this time more severe than the others as a coughed up another large amount of blood.

"Hurry up and heal yourself!" Katie exclaimed as she looked at me fearfully and it took a few more moments before I recovered from my coughing fit. I had feared that coughing fit might have been the end of me, but it would appear as if I was recovered for the moment.

"Alright, Alright. But once I heal myself you need to get the hell out of here." I said. "I have no idea what the gunman is doing, but once he figures out I'm not dead I'm going to have another target on my back and you don't want to be around me when the bullets start flying." I said sternly and Katie nodded her head.

"Just promise me you won't get shot again." Katie said.

"I don't intend on getting shot again if I can help it…" I said and raised my hand up to my chest where I had been shot. My hand once again became wet with blood as it seeped into my gloves and soon coated my entire hand. I closed my eyes and concentrated all of my remaining magical energy into healing. Without needing to mutter any words I activated the healing spell and even though my eyes were closed I could see the green light that was emitting when I activated the spell, soon afterwards I winced as I felt flesh and bone begin to repair themselves as the hole in my chest closed and it wasn't until I felt as my skin literally pull itself back together and my heart start to beat regularly, that I removed my hand from my chest and opened my eyes. In front of me was an astonished looking Katie whose jaw might fall off at any moment. Not that I was surprised that she was surprised, she just witness what some might consider impossible without several hours of surgery.

"T-the hole in your chest…. It… It's like the skin pulled itself back together." Katie said still sounding as if she didn't quite fully grasp how it happened.

"That's probably the best way of describing it." I said as I took in a deep breath of air.

"Are… Are you going to be alright?" Katie asked.

"I'm not at risk of dying at the immediate moment if that's what you mean by "Are you going to be alright?"" I replied. "However I am completely drained of almost all of my magical energy and on top of that my body is still tired." I added.

"I'm glad to hear that, even if I still don't fully comprehend what I witness I'm just glad you're okay." Katie said placing her hand on her chest.

"I'm okay for now, anything past that is uncertain." I said taking a deep breath. "Now you need to fulfill your promise and get the hell out of here, get as far away from me as possible and remember don't tell anyone about mages or magic. That's our little secret." I said and Katie seemed to hesitate as her eyes were still filled with concern. "I'll be fine Katie, now just get the hell out of here. I don't want you to get shot because of me!" I said waving my hand at her to get out of here.

"O-Okay Chris I'll rush home! I also won't tell anyone about what I saw." Katie said affirmatively as she stood up. "J-Just Please stay safe!" Katie said and I looked up at her with a reassuring smile.

"You too Katie, I don't want to hear anything bad happened to a young beautiful looking woman when I get home tonight and turn on the news." I said with the wave of my hand. A small smile formed on her lips and Katie nodded her hand in understanding. Katie turned around and I watched as she ran down the alleyway before disappearing down a side alleyway leading her to no doubt one of the roads that would lead her to safety. With Katie gone now I was left in the alleyway by myself.

"Well I better get moving too." I said and I slowly completed the difficult task of raising myself off the ground and up onto my feet, and after a little over a minute I was what one could call standing, although be barely as I was slumped up against the wall for support. However feeling in my left arm was slowly returning to me as I began to curl my fingers and twist my wrist. I heard a bone pop in my arm and after a minute I regained most of the feeling in my arms. I pushed myself off the wall and stood up straight, still however relying on the support of the wall to keep myself up. I looked around the alleyway to gather my bearings, as expected it was completely deserted with the exception of me. There were no longer people running past the alleyway anymore which made sense since it had been at least ten minutes since I had initially been shot, I hadn't really been keeping track of time. What I was more worried about was the shooter, where was he or she? My body wasn't where they had shot me, so they must know that I'm not dead. The question was why they haven't come down here and found me yet? They could have easily finished me off, instead nothing but silence since then. Perhaps they had rushed off before confirming the kill? Or perhaps they were waiting me out? I didn't know the answer to those questions, but I did know is I needed to get out of here right now and get back to my car. I turned around to face the dark alleyway and started taking my first steps forward while my hand traced along the brick wall as I used to support myself. I had only taken a few steps and I already felt my breathing grow heavy, and I placed my hand up my chest as I stopped to catch my breath. Even though my injuries were healed, my body was still not recovered and the healing spell had left me exhausted. Regardless of that fact, I needed to get a move on it. I pushed off of the wall and fought through exhaustion, slowly staggering my way down the alleyway…

Upon reaching the end of the alleyway after a few painstaking minutes I stopped just before the alleyway exited out onto the street. I slowed down and creeped towards the edge of the building where I pressed my back up against the building and looked out onto the street. The street for the most part was completely deserted as anyone who was in the immediate vicinity had fled, well everyone except for me. All that remained now on the street were parked and abandoned cars. Scattered about the ground were shopping bags and other accessories from pocketbooks and even phones. This all felt surreal, this was like a scene out of a horror film or a show on National Geographic. Either way it wasn't the first time I've seen places completely deserted where it looked as if everyone had dropped everything and fled. However every time I had been in one of those situations I had at least a few dozen guys, tanks, and attack helicopters backing me up. This time it was just me and a lone sniper in a deserted district of one of the most populated cities on the east coast. Off in the distance I could hear police sirens approaching so I shouldn't say it was totally deserted, there could already be some cops on site and soon SWAT Teams and cops would be flooding the area. However by the time they got here, it would be too late for me. I had to get back to my car, which was all the way across the city, and then get back home. "Boy once I never get home, I'm never leaving again. Although I do wonder if a sniper bullet would be better than the verbal abuse I'll receive from Scathach when I get home…." I thought to myself, but shook those thoughts out of my head. I checked to see that I still had the briefcase underneath my arm and upon confirmation I rested my head back against the cold wall behind me and I rose my hand up to my chest as I took in several deep breaths. Upon my final breath I rounded the corner….

I stepped out into the open with the snow crunching beneath my feet and everything seemed quiet for a few moments, but that deafening silence was short lived as a second shot rang out and I heard as the bullet zipped over my head barely missing me.

"Shit!" I exclaimed as I ducked my head and scurried across the road ducking behind a car just as the third shot rang in my ears. Glass flew over my head and sirens blasted in my ear as the car alarm went off right next to me. I stayed prone on the ground for a moment as I looked underneath the rows of cars, I couldn't see anyone down the street so that could only mean that the shooter was not on the street level and instead watching me from a towering building. I looked around and saw there weren't many options for me, I could either run backwards which was at least several blocks and that was taking a huge risk as the further back I went the more of a height advantage over me this guy would have, running forward which would be suicidal and stupid, or making a break for another alleyway of the side. I think the answer quite obvious; heading down the back alleys was my safest option. I pulled myself up off the ground and crouched there behind the car for a few moments and then…. I took off running straight for the alleyway. As soon as I left cover another bullet whizzed past my head, but it only took a few moments for me to reach the alleyway to safety by the time the fourth shot whizzed scrapped past my backside tearing my coat a little. However I was safe for now as I stood there with my back pressed up against the wall breathing in deeply. My hand went to my back as I felt to see if I was bleeding, but everything seemed good back there. "Well at least I now know for sure, that the assassin isn't going to be going anywhere until he kills me or I kill him or both maybe." I thought to myself as I took another breath and looked down the alleyway, it lead down to the next street. I know that I had spent at least roughly thirty minutes walking before I had gotten shot, and it had taken me an hour to get to Rin from the parking garage and that had been at a fast pace. My phone had told me I was taking the fastest route back to my car, so assuming that it was telling me the truth I was maybe roughly ten to fifteen minutes out from my car. So long as I stuck to the alleyways for the most part and avoided wide open spaces I would be safe, and I mean the shooter would eventually run out of building right? So I needed to keep moving to stay alive. I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled my phone out, holding it out in my hand I tapped the screen and it lit up to reveal Mashu's smiling face covered in blood, I frowned a little and wiped my the blood off the screen, this did little to clean up the screen and instead only smeared the blood across the screen. I didn't have time to clean my phone properly so there was not much I could do right now. Sliding my thumb across the blood covered screen I went to my map app and looked to see if I was even heading in the right direction. If I kept heading east west down the alleyway I would reach the parking garage soon enough. With the information in check I slid my phone back into my pocket and headed down the alleyway…

Five minutes later

I rushed into the alleyway just as another shot rang out behind me. I stopped to catch my breath as I rested my head against the wall of the alleyway. I looked over my shoulder to back at the road where I had narrowly avoided death once again. There had been several near death moments crossing over the roads since that was the only time the sniper ever had a shot at me, but so far I had been lucky narrowly escaping death as bullets either grazed me or I had ducked behind cover. Either way, I wasn't going to complain that this sharpshooter was a bad shot. I needed to keep moving and get back to my car; I've had about enough of this city. I turned around and looked down the alleyway to see it was relatively short before reaching the next road, as I was getting farther away from the city center where taller buildings were. That also meant that the shooter was running out of taller buildings overlooking me, assuming he was jumping from building to building. Which also meant if he wanted to kill me he'd need to come down to ground level, this was both good and bad since his odds of killing me increased the closer he got to me. "I just need to keep moving!" I thought to myself as pushed myself off of the wall and rushed down the alleyway. Reaching the end of the alleyway my eyes widened as I was met with the realization that had also reached the end of the alleyway experience. The path that lay ahead of me was a long stretch of road flanked by two to three story housing on either side. "I suppose it had known I would eventually run out of alleyways to duck between. Oh well, I can't stop now." I thought to myself and as I finished I took a deep breath. I then stepped out into the open. I looked around as I came out into the open to see if the coast was clear. Upon confirming the coast was clear, my steps soon broke out into a full sprint as I rushed across the open road and for a few minutes everything seemed peaceful… A little too peaceful. Just as I was across the road and make it to safety, pain once again greeted me…

I hit the ground face forward crashing into the snow as pain jolted up my leg and through the rest of my body.

"FUCK!" I cried out in pain as I turned over on my side and looked down at my leg to see blood oozing out of the bullet hole in my leg painting the snow red. I scooted backwards to safety behind the concrete wall in front of the houses. I looked down at my leg and placed my hand over the bullet wound to try and stop the bleeding. Blood oozed into my gloves just as it had before, but this time it wasn't as bad.

"God damn it I guess it was only a matter of time before my luck ran out and he hit me…." I murmured as I pressed down causing me to wince at the pain. "Well at least it was in the leg this time…..not that it makes it any better." I murmured before wincing once more at the pain shooting up my leg. I took a deep breath and focused my mind as I tried channel mana through my arm. There was a small glimmer of green beneath the palm of my hand, but it disappeared in mere seconds. The pain however still persisted and I lifted my hand to see that the wound was still there. "Shit it's as I expected, I don't have enough mana to even cast a healing spell for a wound such as this." I murmured as I reached up and grasped my scarf around my neck. The scarf unraveled as I pulled it from my neck and began to wrap it around the hole in my leg. "The wound doesn't seem to be fatal so hopefully this will do until I can get back to my car…." I murmured as I tied the knot on my scarf. I slowly rose to my feet and turned around facing down the street and began walking forward. I gritted my teeth as pain shot up my body as each step I took was painful, but I had to bear with it for now. I made my way down the long stretch of road slowly but surely…

It was a minute or more before I finally reached the end of the long stretch relatively unhindered, well except the slight limp in my walking now. I reached down and grasped my leg as the pain was constantly reminding me that there was a hole in my leg. The wound was slowing me down even more than I already had been, if it hadn't been for that wound I could have already been here a minute ago. I reached into my jacket and pulled out my phone again to check how far away the garage was. Opening up the map app revealed that I was only a few blocks away from the Parking garage now! A few more blocks and I could finally get the hell out of here! I slid my phone back into my pocket and limped forward down the alleyway before coming out the other side onto the next street. As I emerged from the alleyway I cautiously looked up and down the street to make sure the coast was clear before taking another step forward. The street as the others before it completely deserted, I limped a few steps forward before ducking behind a car and peering around the corner. Even though I was already miles away from the where first shot had fired, the shots that followed me throughout the city had sent everyone within earshot indoors or in the opposite direction. Now that I think about it, I wondered if I should have just found a building and ducked inside until morning so police would have things locked down. However that would put me at risk of being cornered if the shooter found me on top of putting civilians at risk depending on how far this shooter was willing to go to kill me. "I won't have any civilians caught in the crossfire when I'm the target." I murmured to myself. The best solution that reduced the risk to civilian casualties and myself was still to get to my car and get the hell out of here. With that decision final, I burst out from behind the car and dragged myself down the street until I had reached the next alleyway. Reaching the entrance to the alleyway I stopped once again as I grimaced as the pain shot up my leg.

"Just a little bit further…" I murmured to myself and carried onward down the alleyway until I reached the end of the alleyway which led instead of plopping me out onto another street, it brought me into a rather large open area. It was a playground area behind the houses or apartment buildings where kids could play on equipment or around the trees. At the moment there actually were a young female and male child happily playing in the snow of playground. It reminded me of my happy carefree days with me and my sister at home when we weren't getting shot at constantly….. I shook my head; there was no time for such thoughts. I'd rather be alive and call my sister later to have her chew me out for pestering her then have her mourn my dead body… With those stupid thoughts out of my head it was time to move forward. I slowly stepped out into the open, the sound of snow crunching beneath my feet as I inched forward. It was best just to act casual and not raise any suspicion. "Why the hell were their kids out playing this late anyway? I wouldn't say it was past bedtime for most kids, but it was surely late out to be playing? And where were the parents? Didn't they know there was a shooter out and about the city?!" I thought to myself as I looked on at the kids playing as I casually walked by. "God damn parents these days! Leaving their kids unattended too! My Mother would ring my sister and I's necks if weren't in our rooms working on homework or sleeping at this time!" I thought to myself as I recalled the scolding I would get from my Mother for not going to bed on time. Just as I finished having these thoughts something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. All of the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I froze in place, slowly turning to face what had caught my eye. Another figure had emerged from another one of the alleys and looked around furiously; the figure was clad in heavy white armor and winter camo. The figure scanned the area with their hands firmly gripping the black automatic rifle in their hands. Then their gaze eventually stopped on me and instinctively raised their gun at me.

"SHIT!" I exclaimed and my eyes immediately went towards the two kids playing in the middle of all this. I rushed forwards towards the two kids just as the area behind me was sprayed with bullets. Before the two kids themselves knew what was happening I swept them up underneath my arms and rushed forward to the nearest alleyway ducking my head as more bullets went overhead. These kids were either some of the calmest kids I had ever encountered or they were solely petrified with fear, because there was only a few gasp and cries as I picked them up. With the two kids tucked underneath my arms, my feet carried me as fast as they could across the wide open area. The sound of bullets cracking through the air was head and several bursts of bullets whizzed all around me shooting up the entire neighborhood. I could hear cries come from inside the buildings and dogs barking as this entire neighborhood woke up to the sound of gunfire. "God If I don't die, I can only imagine the headlines tomorrow morning…" I thought to myself and winced slightly as a bullet grazed me slightly. Meanwhile the two rascals beneath me continued to remain quiet, either because they knew that they were in extreme danger and should keep their mouths shut or as I theorized earlier, they were still in extreme shock. Either way I was just glad they weren't kicking in screaming or this would be even harder on me. Just as another hail of gunfire whizzed past my back, we finally reached safety as I ducked into the alleyway. However my feet didn't stop carrying me forward, I knew the gunman would be right behind me in a few moments. After I was about halfway down the alleyway I let the children down onto their feet.

"Get out of here!" I shouted at them and they looked back at me with fearful expressions. "Run back to your parents! GO ON!" I exclaimed as I gave them a push forward. The kids looked at me fearfully before they finally ran crying down the alleyway and disappearing around the corner. Pain shot through up my leg like a bolt of lighting and I winced as I was reminded that I still had a bullet hole through my leg. Just then I heard the sound of footsteps rushing through the snow and knew I had to keep moving despite my injury. I'll just have to bear with it, just a little bit longer…

I rushed out onto the street before coming to screeching stop and my head swiveled back and forth as I looked around the street. It was another deserted residential street filled with parked cars, but where were the alleyways!? Getting caught out in the open was a death sentence waiting to happen and I needed to try and lose the gunman before I got back to my car. Speaking of my car, which direction was the parking garage anyway! Just as I was having these thoughts I heard footsteps behind me and my head snapped to face the shooter emerging from around the corner. Shit! I shot down the alleyway just as I heard more shots behind me as the gunman had tried to shoot off a quick burst before my escape. I ran down the street at full speed fighting back the pain in my leg, and I heard footsteps behind me and looked over my shoulder to see the gunman appear around the corner with his gun raised and take aim at me. He was gonna have a clear shot at me running in straight line down the street! I returned my glance forward and seeing the nearest car I threw myself at it. A pain shot through my shoulder as I slammed into the windshield and rolled over the hood of the car before plopping down on the ground with a prompt oomph. Overhead the car was riddled with bullets and the car alarm blared in my ear following shortly after. I rolled over on my side and pushed myself up against the car. My eyes darted up and down the street as I looked for a way exit, to my right I could see guard railings at the end of the street and the street split off into two directions. That must have meant that we were close to the river now, and if memory served me correctly the parking garage sat alongside the riverbank. Now all I needed to do was follow the river, however taking the road route would be suicidal. I needed to stick to the alleyways, that was my best chance of survival. As I scanned up and down the street it was then when I spotted an opening leading to an alleyway on the other side of the road. The only problem now was getting there. I got up to my knees and remained crouched beneath the car, turning around I peeked over the hood and scanned for the gunman. It didn't take long for me to spot him coming slowly down the sidewalk with his gun raised in my direction. He had apparently spotted me as well as the barrel of his gun swiveled straight at me. I ducked my head underneath the car just as another burst of bullets riddled the hood of the car and shot overhead. I took a deep breath. "That was a close one!" I thought to myself and just I had that thought my heart skipped a beat as bullets whizzed past my head and shot up snow around me. I looked to my side to see several bullet sized hole next to me as the shooter had shot through the car! "Well of course he shot the car you idiot! You're not hiding behind an Armored Truck! You're hiding behind a Family Sedan!" I thought, angry at myself. I peeked over the hood of the car once more to see what our shooter was doing now. Just as I did I saw he was performing a mag swap. Shit now was my chance! I pushed myself up to my feet with a groan and rushed across the street. Looking over my shoulder I saw the shooters masked face shoot towards me as he rushed across the street and he rushed to reach for a fresh magazine. I redirected my attention forward and saw the line of cars in front of me, and as I reached the other side of the street I leaped over the hood of the nearest car and came crashing down on the ground with a grunt as I hit the hard concrete. Just behind me the car was riddled with more bullets setting off yet another car alarm. I didn't waste any time as I scrambled to my feet and stayed ducked behind the line of cars and began going from car to car as I made my way down the street. My ear ringed as more shots fired and I ducked my head as glass rained all around me. The shooter continued to fire at me as I traversed behind the cover of the cars, several more car alarms set off as they were sprayed with bullets. It didn't take long before I had reached the entrance to the alleyway and I stopped to take a deep breath…. Then I jumped up to my feet and made a dash for the alleyway. It was only a few moments before I ducked inside the safety of the alley just as dust clouds shot up behind me from the shooters last burst he sent towards me, but only end up hitting the brick wall behind me.

"HA! Sucker! They should have sent someone with better aim!" I exclaimed as I ducked into the alleyway and rushed forward hoping to lose him.

A few minutes had gone by as the gunman chased me down, but it finally appeared as if I had lost the in the maze of alleyways. I could see the large towering red pillars of the car garage ahead of me meaning it wasn't far now. It wouldn't be long now before I was sitting back in my car and on way home…. At that moment I was completely blindsided as I felt a heavy weight slam into me from my side.

"UCK!" I exclaimed as I smashed into the wall and crashed to the ground hitting the floor of the dirty alleyway. I groaned in agony as I hit the ground for the pain from my shoulder injury was still lingering. I slowly lifted myself off the ground before being sent back down with a kick to the back. An oomph left my mouth as I hit the ground again, and this time I turned over on my back slowly to face the person who had just kicked me down. There was only one person it could be, and my suspicions were confirmed when I faced the armored shooter standing over me with his gun. The man stood over me wore white combat armor with white camouflaged clothing, his mask was covered by a black ski mask and goggles, and he had on a white combat helmet. There were no identifying markers on his armor or any flags, but there was no doubt this man was from Chaldea. The barrel of what appeared to be an M4 Automatic rifle was pointed in my face and I rose my hands up in surrender. I was blinded as the flashlight on the side of his gun flicked on and I rose my hand up to my face to cover the blinding light. Behind my hand I saw the gunman raise his hand up to the side of his helmet.

"Target Confirmation?" The gruff male voice said into what appeared to be a headset microphone. A few moments passed as I sat there anxiously before he spoke again. "Roger that, Kill Confirmation?" The shooter asked and I sat there now with sweat rolling down my forehead even in such freezing weather. A few moments passed, but when his hand returned to his rifle and he raised it up taking aim, it was then that I knew this was it. I had hit the end of the line. My mind raced as I tried to think of something to do, but nothing was going to save me this time. This masked gunman was going to kill me here and now in some cruddy alleyway in a far away city, and just when I was so close to escaping…. "Well I always knew this job was going to be the death of me, even Raelin had warned me that Chaldea might be the death of me. And I guess she was right, but I don't think even she could have anticipated that I'd be killed by my own employer after getting caught up in some plot out of a spy novel…." I thought to myself as laid there before eventually taking a deep breath. "A-Ah well I suppose I had a good life, now I'll finally able to reunite with you Raelin… My only regret being is I will have failed those in life just as I failed you. I'm sorry Mom, Dad, Kira, My friends, Mashu, Jeanne…. And even Scathach. I'm sorry for letting you all down…"

Just as I was about to accept my fate of being shot in this alleyway I saw something out of the corner of my eye soaring through the air before finally striking its target.

"Guck!" The Gunman exclaimed just then as what appeared to have been a snowball of solid ice struck the side of his head. The ice ball bounced off his helmet, but was still enough to make him to turn his attention to his side. This was the opportunity I needed! I swept my feet at the shooter and kicked his feet out from underneath him. The gunman hit his back as he crashed to the ground. Not wasting any time I scrambled to get up on my feet and I rushed down the alleyway putting as much distance as possible between me and the gunman. I wasn't going to let myself get captured again by the gunman, just a little bit further. My legs kept carrying me forward and as I got closer to the large red pillars of the parking garage I spotted a door handle sticking out from a wall. That had to be a side door to the parking garage! I reached my hand out as I drew closer and grasped the handle.

"This had better not be fucking locked!" I murmured and gave the door a tug…. To my surprise the door pulled open. "Good." I said and swung the door open. I turned my attention down the alleyway and saw the gunman still on his back; however our eyes met at that moment as he sat up. The gunman reached for his rifle grabbing it and took aim at me; my eyes widened and scurried inside. At that exact moment the door was riddled with bullets and I ducked my head narrowly avoiding being sprayed with bullets. Turning back to look at the door I saw it filled with 10-15 something odd holes, he had dumped half a mag into the door! I pulled the door shut and looked around for a way to buy myself some time. I was in the staircase of the parking garage and it was bleakly lit by one light bulb on this floor. There wasn't going to be much here to help me, but there was a chain hanging from a post. Reaching up I grasped the chain and brought it down, and began wrapping it around the door handle and a nearby pipe running along the wall. Taking a step back I looked at my work. "Good that outta buy me a few minutes…" I murmured as I gripped the strap of my briefcase and tugged on it to make sure it was still secure. With briefcase still secure and some minutes bought I turned around and dashed up the stairs as fast as my legs could carry me...

Finally reaching the top of the staircase I stopped to catch my breath as I leaned against the doorframe panting. I took this moment to look around the dark parking garage, only to come to the realization that this wasn't the top floor!

"Are you kidding me? This staircase doesn't go all the way to the top!" I exclaimed angrily, gritting my teeth I hit my fist against the door frame. I be there was probably some elevator I missed at the bottom…. Oh well I guess I'll just have to go up via the ramps. I pushed myself off of the doorframe and stumbled forward into the dark garage. The parking garage was pitch black with the cold air of the garage being evident as my breath was visible with each breath I took. The whole feeling gave off an eerie vibe, and it didn't help that a gunman was lurking a few floors below me. I crept my way forward approaching the ramp where I made my way up the next floor. My hand traced the railing until it finally ran off until I reached the next floor. I rounded the corner and passed by a few cars…. When suddenly I heard the ding of an elevator and my head swung around to look behind me. My eyes widened as I saw the green light above an elevator letting me know it was stopping on my floor. I knew there had been an elevator damn it, but how'd the gunman know to stop on this floor? I bet you the same stupid person who designed the staircases of this place also designed the elevator to drop you off on the second to last floor. I may have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, but it didn't take an Architectural degree to know that this place's design was flawed. Now wasn't the time to complain about the flawed design of this parking garage, I needed to get out of sight! I rushed to the nearest car and ducked behind it, just as I entered cover I heard footsteps exit the elevator and the elevator doors close shut. I wasn't going to waste any time hanging around here! I spun around and made my way around the front of the cars. I slowly crept alongside the cars making my way towards the other end of the line of cars. Being quiet as one could possibly be I heard the footsteps continue to approach from behind me. Finally however I reached the other end of the cars and now all I needed to do was cross over to the ramp leading me upwards. I stayed crouched behind the second to last car and I looked towards the ramp leading upwards. However just as I was about to make a break for it a voice called out to me.

"OPERATIVE! I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE!" The gunman called out and I stopped myself short of dashing to the ramp. I remained hidden behind the car before slowly backing up towards the front of the car once more making my way around the last car, concealing myself in the darker area of the garage. I crept alongside the car peering over the doors trying to see through the windows, to no avail. I made my way to the end of the car once more and stayed crouched there motionless. As I sat there motionless I could hear the gunman's footsteps drawing closer and closer. "I could have sworn that I shot you straight through the heart, but I guess you got lucky. Otherwise we wouldn't be here right now." The gunman called out. Yeah well you can thank me being alive for your shitty aim. "However your luck runs out here in this parking garage, I suggest you slowly come out with your hands up. I might be merciful." The gunman called out to me once again. That's what they always say, there's no way in hell I'm going to believe that. There's only one more floor to go up before I reach my car, this guy's just wasting my time. I was about to dash across to the ramp before I was stopped once again. "ENOUGH GAMES! Come out otherwise I'm going to blow your friends brains all across the car windshields if you don't come out right now Operative." The gunman demanded. What friend? Was he talking about Rin? No way, Rin should be on her way back to Fuyuki by now. It was then when a familiar voice cried out to me.

"Chris!" The familiar voice of Katie called out to me. My ears almost couldn't believe it, was that really Katie? I peered around the bumper and down the line of the cars I saw the gunman standing there with the young woman I had met thirty minutes ago held in a headlock with a gun pointed to the side of her head. I ducked my head back behind the car and raised my hand up to my head. Shit that really was her. "What on Earth was she doing here? I thought I told her to get as far away as possible, I swear to god! She really was as stubborn as Scathach." I thought to myself as I gritted my teeth. What on Earth was I going to do? I could do as the gunman asked and come out peacefully and maybe she might be spared in exchange I'd probably get shot, or I could slip away and get to my car. Katie would probably get shot in the latter, but at least I'd get away… God what was I going to do? On one hand I barely knew this girl, but on the other hand she had come to my aid and was an innocent civilian...

"OPERATIVE! I grow tired of waiting, come out or these cars are gonna get a red paint job." The gunman said and I heard sobbing begin to ensue from Katie. My options were pretty limited here. My hand went back to my side as I pushed my jacket back and my hand went to my empty waist side….. "God damn it! I forgot my gun in the car! This is the last time I'll ever not carry my gun on me!" I thought to myself as I grimaced. It was then when I heard the cock of a gun and I looked up. "I'm going to start counting to three…. One…" The gunman began his countdown. I stayed there crouched as I thought of what to do. Sweat rolled down the sides of my forehead as my mind raced. "...Two…" The gunman was now only one number away to Katie's death. I felt my heart beating against my chest telling me that I should run for it, but….. "...Thr….."

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!" I exclaimed as I stood up from behind the car and stepped out into the open with my hands raised up. The gunman's gaze shifted to me, but the barrel of his pistol remained pointed at Katie's head who squirmed underneath his grasp. "You've put me in quite the unfortunate bind it would seem." I said.

"Heh that's funny. I was about to say the same thing, I've had to chase you down throughout this whole damn city." The gunman replied and I frowned. My gaze shifted to Katie who was looking at me fearfully.

"Katie what the hell are you doing here! I thought I told you to get as far away as possible!" I exclaimed.

"I-I'm sorry Chris….. I just wanted to make sure you were safe….." Katie murmured pitifully.

"You should have just gone home! Now we're both probably going to die." I said with a sigh.

"You shouldn't be too harsh on the poor girl Commander. She did save your life, if it hadn't been for her I would have shot you dead in that alleyway." The gunman said and I grimaced. So that had been her that had hit the gunman in the head with the ball of ice. I guess I never really had a choice in whether or not I could reveal myself, I owed Katie my life.

"Katie god damn it." I said shaking my head and I heard her let out a whimper. "Now you've put us both in a tough bind…" I muttered before looking up. "Well I would ask if I could appeal to your sense of morality Soldier and ask that you release an innocent civilian, but given the fact you shot at me while I was carrying children I doubt you have a sense of morality." I said and a few moments passed before the soldier started laughing.

"Ha-ha what they say about you really is true Commander. You really are a Smartass." The gunman replied.

"Well it was worth a shot. I don't suppose instead I could order you to put down your gun and stop trying to kill me." I said.

"I'm afraid not this time Commander, you've been outranked." The gunman said.

"I figured as much. Alright so what do you want? Besides to shoot me?" I asked with my hands still raised up.

"Put the briefcase down on the ground!" The gunman barked at me.

"The Briefcase?" I looked down at the briefcase still tucked underneath my arms. "The one filled with your dirty little secrets?" I said before looking back up.

"Drop the briefcase Commander." The gunman said.

"I'll drop the briefcase and leave myself at your mercy if you'll agree to let the woman go." I said. As sucky of an option as it was, it was only the right decision to make to exchange my life for Katie's. "She has nothing to do with this and is just an innocent bystander." I pleaded and the gunman remained silent for a moment.

"Drop the briefcase and you have a deal." The gunman replied.

"Alright. I'm dropping the briefcase, let's all just remain calm." I said.

"Christopher don't do it…." Katie murmured at me pitifully.

"Katie just shut up, this is the only way." I said as I slowly let the strap of the briefcase slump down my arm till it was in my hand. The gunman watched as I slowly lowered myself and the briefcase to the ground where I placed it next to me.

"Alright I did what you asked. Now just let Katie go." I said as I slowly stood back up with my hands raised.

"Good work Commander, at least you're somewhat capable of following orders." The gunman said.

BAM!

In that moment it felt like time momentarily stood still as my ears ringed at the shot that went off sending a ringing noise throughout the parking garage and my eyes widened as Katie's brains were blasted through the other side of her head spraying blood everywhere across the parking garage. The gunman let go of her body and I watched on in horror as her lifeless body fell down to the ground.

"KATIE! NO!" I exclaimed reaching my hand out as her lifeless body hit the ground and a blood puddle formed around her body. I watched as the life left the young woman's eyes and all that remained was a corpse. I looked up at the gunman furiously as my fingers curled into a fist. "You bastard!" I exclaimed angrily.

"Sorry Commander. Letting her go was never going to be an option. Especially after you broke the cardinal rule." The gunman asked. "Telling or exposing normal humans to magic is strictly forbidden." The gunman went onto say. I grimaced as I remember that I had indeed told Katie about magic in that alleyway alongside of showing her, and thanks to my mistake Katie's lifeless corpse now laid in a parking garage. "So even if I had wanted to let her go. A normal human knowing of magic couldn't be allowed to live." The gunman as he pointed his gun at me now. "Now I believe it's time to wrap things up, you'll be joining her shortly." The gunman said. Shit! Another shot rang out through the garage and I ducked my head just as a bullet whizzed past my head. I scrambled to get to the ramp now. Before I left however it was out of the corner of my eye I saw my briefcase still laying where I had laid it down. I wasn't going to leave my briefcase behind all the evidence, not now, not after Katie had been killed for this evidence. I ducked down grabbing the briefcase just as I missed another bullet and scurried around the corner and rushed up the ramp, but not before shooting one more look at Katie's now lifeless body laying on the floor. I looked back cursing myself for being unable to save her before I ducked behind the pillar, barely missing yet again another bullet that whizzed past my backside. Behind me I heard the gunman scream DAMN IT!

The cold hit me as I reached the top of ramp practically out of breath by now as I hadn't stopped running since leaving the gunman and Katie behind me. I stood there for a moment out of breath as I looked around the top floor of the garage. The snowstorm was really starting to begin now as snow flurried down to the ground from the dark clouds above. The top floor of the parking garage was dimly lit by a few lamp posts, but nothing compared to the previous lighting this was certainly an improvement. As I scanned the top floor I finally spotted my car tucked in the corner where I had left it and seeing my car brought me some small hope in this nightmarish night. My legs carried me forward and I limped towards my car. I almost ran into the back of my car because of how ecstatic I was to finally see my car. Upon reaching the back of my car my hand dove into my pocket as I searched for my key. When I finally had grasped my key I pressed down on the trunk release button and the familiar pop was heard as the trunk opened up. I lifted the trunk up all the way and slid my briefcase off my shoulder and with my other freehand lifted the trunk floor and placed the briefcase where the spare tire was. Once the briefcase was secure I slammed the trunk shut and rushed around the car to the driver door. I grasped the door handle giving it a pull, and much to my annoyance it wasn't open. "Oh for god's sake." I murmured as my hand dove into my pocket once more reaching for my key. Finding my key once more I clicked down on the car door unlock button and gave the door another tug. Still nothing! "What the hell!" I exclaimed. Just then my eyes spotted the gunman appear as he came up from the ramp. I ducked my head behind my car just before the gunman turned to look this way. After I ducked down I saw my own dirty face in the reflection in the black paint of my car. I frowned and ruffled my eyebrows as I pulled my keys out of their pocket and looked down at them trying to make out the symbols in the dark. I looked up and pointed the key at the car pressing the unlock button while my other hand gave another tug on the door handle, much to my annoyance nothing happened. "Oh come on this is pissing me off." I said as I turned the key over and jabbed it towards the keyhole. Tch the keyhole was frozen! I jabbed at the keyhole repeatedly as I whittled down the ice before the key finally slipped in and I turned it hearing the metallic click letting me know the door was open. I pulled the car door open and stepped back as it swung past me, the map light turned on illuminating the cabin. I crawled into the cabin and pulled back the center console and gripped my Colt 1911, pulling it from its holster in the console. I slid back out of my car and remaining crouched I crept over to the back end of my car. Looking back at my gun, I reached out and pulled the slide back on my 1911 which caused me smile as it cocked into place. "Oh God, how I've missed you. Never again will I go anywhere without you." I murmured and just then I heard the gunman's footsteps grow closer. I pressed up against my car and peeked around the corner of my car to see the gunman walking slowly down the line with what appeared to be an MP7 submachine gun in his hands. "Oh come on!" I thought to myself as I retracted my head back behind cover. I shook my head, it didn't matter what gun he had, and now that I was armed as well the playing field was at the very least, a little more even. I slowly stood up as I peered over the trunk of my car with my firearm at the ready. The gunman was slowly approaching my car as he scanned the area with his submachine gun. I rested my arms on the trunk of my car and took aim with my pistol resting the sights on the gunman lining my sights up with the center of his chest. I wrapped my finger around the trigger and inhaled, exhaling I squeezed the trigger….

The muzzle flash was so bright that it could almost blind a man. The gunman staggered backwards as the bullet hit him square in the chest. However that wasn't enough to put the gunman down as he had recovered from that in no time as he turned his gun towards me and I ducked my head just as he squeezed a burst off in my direction. The bullets whizzed over my head and I emerged from cover again with my pistol raised and squeezed off another few rounds which missed him. The muzzle flash almost blinding me along with the air filling with gunpowder. Once I had sent off my rounds I quickly returned behind cover and as I ducked behind cover there was the sound of another burst of automatic fire went overhead and I heard a loud shatter as the bullets struck the rear glass of my car and eventually shattered after more bullets struck it. I grimaced and ducked peered around the corner of my bumper with my gun raised; taking aim I squeezed the trigger once more. Once the muzzle flash had cleared I saw the gunman stagger back after the bullet had struck him, only for him to recover a few seconds later as he raised his gun and firing at my position once more. All that god damn armor he had on is just allowing him to absorb my .45 rounds; I should have worn armor... I looked away as plastic from my tail light shattered and hit me in the back of the head. I looked back to see the gunman getting closer to my position. I rose my gun up once more and took aim before squeezing off another round only for it to miss him. The barrel of his gun flashed as he shot off another burst and I ducked behind my car once more as more bullets tore up the back of my car. I peered out from behind the car to see that the gunman ejecting his magazine to the ground and reaching into his pouch for another magazine. I need to relocate to a more tactical position and this was a chance to get some good shots off. I exited from my cover and took aim immediately as I backed up. The gunman looked up as soon as emerged from cover and I took aim at him and squeezed the trigger. Past the muzzle flash I saw the bullet strike him as he staggered backwards as it looked like my hit had landed on his left arm as I watched blood run down his arm to the ground.

"Gurk! You bastard!" The gunman exclaimed as his hand went to his shoulder, I squeezed the trigger once more sending another shot his way and it ended up striking him in the chest sending him staggering backwards. I continued to back up until ducking behind the next car and slumping down to the ground. I pulled the slide back on my pistol to see I still had one bullet left in the chamber. Suddenly the car jerked as it was riddled with bullet holes as it seemed as if the gunman had finally reloaded. I sat there slumped against the car wheel as bullets rattled the car. A few moments then passed and it was relatively quiet, a little too quiet. I decided to poke my head out from behind cover and at that moment I saw as the gunman lobbed a grenade straight at me. The grenade landed a few meters away from me. SHIT! There's no way I can clear the blast radius in time. I scrambled out of cover for the grenade, and upon breaking from cover bullet whizzed all around me as the gunman opened fire on me. I scooped up the grenade in my hand and turned around to face the gunman, I only had a few seconds to spare! Throwing back my arm I chucked the grenade straight back at him much to his surprise as he backed up as the grenade hurtled through the air towards him. An explosion followed mere seconds after I chucked the grenade and I rose my arms up to protect my face as shrapnel flew overhead. A moment passed before I lowered my arms and saw a black smoke cloud in front of me. I rose my pistol up and aimed into the black smoke cloud waiting for it to clear. I narrowed my eyes as I tried to look through the clouds of smoke. Did I get him? That would certainly be nice if that was the case. As I stepped forward keeping my gun raised, and just when I was beginning to think he had been killed by his own grenade a figure rushed straight towards me through the smoke.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The gunman exclaimed as he rushed through the black smoke cloud slamming into me. I was caught completely by surprise as he slammed into me and my grasp on my pistol loosened and it fell from my hand as the gunman picked me up off my feet and over his shoulder. The gunman carried me over his shoulder for what I could only determine was several feet until a pain shot through my back as I was slammed against a railing and I fell to the ground letting out a groan. This was followed by another pain to my chest as I was kicked in the chest.

"Oomph!" I groaned as I held my chest and slowly lifted my head up to see a gun barrel pointed at my head once again.

"You've been in the real pain in the ass…." The gunman said and I heard him panting heavily underneath his mask. "... But this time it really is the end of the line. No woman is going to save you this time." The Gunman went onto say. I grimaced as I was reminded once more of Katie's dead corpse lying two floors below us. She had come to my rescue even though she knew that she could have been killed. Katie was killed while trying to save me. I couldn't let myself be killed here by this gunman after what he had done.

"No way…." I murmured. I watched as the gunman wrapped his finger around the trigger, my mind raced. There had to be a way out of this, some way to try and turn the tables to my advantage. I had to do something…..

"Now then, the General sends you her regards..."

Cracks of gunfire filled the air and just then I saw the gunman stagger forward as several projectiles struck him in the back. Both the gunman and I looked back to see a line of flashing lights as police cars and SWAT Personal aimed their guns at the gunman, and hopefully not me. The gunman let out an enraged cry as he turned around aiming his MP7 and opened fire on the police cars. Bullets tore into the line of police cars with the sound of glass shattering heard even from over here. I saw the officers duck behind their police cars to avoid fire. The night soon was consumed by the sounds of gunfire as the police returned fire on the gunman. Bullets flew all around us as I could only try to crawl out of the way of their fire. The officers and the gunman returned fire at one another for what felt like a good thirty seconds before the gunman was eventually struck by several bullets as he staggered backwards. More SWAT Officers appeared from up the railing and soon even more guns were being fired upon him. The gunman still held out, however it wasn't long before even all of the heavy armor he was wearing wasn't enough…. The gunman staggered backwards towards me as more bullets him and when his back was against the wall, he was struck by higher caliber rounds and I watched as fell backwards over the railing. I blinked in amazement that one man had been able to sustain so much fire and also at the fact that the man who had been trying to kill me was now gone. Presumably killed by police gunfire and gone over the railing to fall to his death. I sat up and took a deep breath of the cold air as I watched the police lower their weapons and several officers came in my direction.

"Heh Saved by the Police…" I murmured to myself as a pair of officers rushed to my side. I sat there holding my stomach as the police officers came to my aid. Several more rushed over to the side of the railing to look over, to try and find the gunman who had went overboard. The two officers who came over to me kneeled down next to me and looked me over.

"Sir are you alright?" One of the officers asked.

"Eh Heh Evening Officers, I'm doing just peachy. Doing a bit better now that you're here." I said before letting out a cough, probably my body telling me to knock off the bad jokes.

"We're going to get you to the hospital to look over those injuries. Just hang in there Sir." The officer said and I felt as their arms went underneath my armpits and lifted me up off the ground.

"There was a girl… A few floors below…" I said. I grimaced as I was lifted up onto my feet. "The gunman killed her…" I muttered. I knew that I shouldn't say much, but at the very least I should get that out there.

"They'll be time for statements later Sir. Right now we need to take you to the hospital too look at that leg injury." The policeman said. Behind me I heard one of the officers exclaim. "I don't have a visual on the gunman, where'd he go?" So the gunman was gone and I was left alone in Police care. Well at least tonight was finally over….Or so I thought.

The rest of my night was spent in one of two places, neither one being places I'd want to spend a Night. The first being the emergency room of Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where I laid on my side on an operating table high on morphine as Doctors stitched together the bullet hole in my leg. The Doctor told me that I was lucky the bullet hadn't severed anything important and had only caused minor damage, on top of being lucky I didn't bleed out. He said that it would heal over time and the limp should go away in a few weeks, but other than that I was fine. However that being said also meant my stay at the hospital had come to its end as the police took me into "Protective Custody" as they called it, as I so far had been charged with no real crime. Not that I should be, considering I was the victim in this whole incident and was only defending myself! Suffice to say I spent the rest of this miserable night sitting in an interrogation room as the hours ticked by with only a coffee and my thoughts to occupy myself. I could only nurse my coffee, while my thoughts kept replaying the events that had transpired this night… Really I just kept seeing images of Katie's lifeless body lying in the parking garage with her brains splattered across the ground flashing inside my head. Katie had ended up losing her life for some guy she barely knew and I had been helpless to save her. "I told her she should have gone straight home, so why the hell did she have to follow me?"

Just as I was having these thoughts the door to the room swung open and my head shot up to see a woman holding a briefcase standing in the doorway. The woman in question was of an average build and height with long brown hair that went to her mid back, and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a black suit jacket with white collared shirt underneath, a pencil skirt, and a pair of leggings underneath with black heels.

"Elaina" I exclaimed as I leapt outta my seat to greet Chaldea's favorite lawyer. I myself wasn't a lawyer, but I knew enough not to say anything to the cops until my lawyer had arrived. I know it didn't make the police happy, but I knew my Constitutional rights damn it and I wasn't saying anything until she arrived. So we had all been patiently waiting for her to arrive that entire night.

"I'm not your Personal Lawyer you know!" Elaina replied as she pushed her glasses up with a disapproving look on her face.

"I know, but technically you are Chaldea's personal lawyer. So in a way, you kinda are!" I said amusingly which only earned me a heavy sigh from Elaina.

"Heh… I'm just glad that it was you that called me down here rather than the morgue." Elaina said as a small smile formed on her face. She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Yeah I'm glad that is the case as well." I replied with a soft smile. "It's been one hell of a night." I added.

"That it has, I was watching the news reports on this shootout on the plane ride over here." said.

"Eh heh…. It's on the news already? I hope my name hasn't been mentioned?" I asked scratching the back of my head and Elaina shook her head in reply.

"No it wasn't and I'd like to keep it that way." Elaina said as she placed her briefcase down on the table. "Even though this was a case of self defense there's still some major legal hurdles we face, especially since a civilian was killed in this incident." Elaina said.

"I know! It hadn't been my intention to get her killed! She followed me to try and help, but she ended up getting herself taken hostage and eventually killed." I said gritting my teeth as my fingers curled into a fist as I grew angry at myself. Elaina watched my fingers curl into a fist and then uncurl as I calmed myself down.

"Well suffice to say the police aren't formally charging you with anything right now, but we're still going to be spending the rest of the night here until I get all the facts and we talk to the police." Elaina said. "I'm going to need you to tell me everything you can from the start of the shooting up to the very end." Elaina said and I nodded my head in understanding, this wasn't exactly the first time we had this conversation. "Afterwards the Director is going to want to talk to you." Elaina said.

"I figured as much…." I said as I let out a heavy sigh and plopped down into my chair…

The rest of the night was long and equally painful as the rest, as I had to sit for hours and recount the entire night to Elaina. Then we had to talk about the law and my legal options, which all the legal talk, hurt my head. Then I had to talk to the cops and tell them about the night while answering any questions they had with Elaina advising me. It wasn't what I would call a fun way to spend the rest of my night, however at least I wasn't out in the freezing cold getting shot at. After answering all the questions the police had they finally released me under Elaina's care. It was then that Elaina drove me to a Motel on the outskirts of town where I would be spending the rest of that night and probably following morning. I opened the door to our motel room and stepped inside with Elaina following behind me. The Motel room wasn't fancy, but it was better than they alleyways I had spent most of the night in. As I entered Elaina was telling me what was going to happen next.

"You won't be able to reclaim your gun until the Police make sure it wasn't used to shoot that innocent girl alongside of ballistic test." Elaina said as she shut the door behind her and I heard the lock shut into place.

"I better get that gun back; it's been in my family for as long as I can remember!" I said wagging my finger at Elaina as I turned around. "Not to mention that gun has saved my life more than I care to count, it's very important!" I empathized to Elaina.

"I'll be sure to do everything possible to make sure you get it back...Meanwhile your car is still also part of the active crime scene so you're going to have wait until later today once the crime scene has been properly documented." Elaina said as I walked over to the couch and plopped down, throwing my hands behind my head.

"Whatever I suppose, I'm just glad to be done with tonight." I said. "That asshole also shot up my car….. Do you think my Insurance will cover bullet holes?" I asked looking up at Elaina.

"I'm your Lawyer, not your Insurance agent…." Elaina replied with narrowed eyes and I let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm going to have to replace my window! That's not cheap you know!" I murmured under my breath.

"Well next time don't use your car for cover." Elaina replied.

"That's easy for you to say! I have to use what I could at the time!" I rebutted her.

"Well then next time don't accept a job to work at an Organization that constantly puts your life in danger." Elaina suggested.

"Very funny Elaina. You work for Chaldea too." I replied.

"Yes, but I'm a lawyer. The people I piss off are in court." Elaina replied and I sighed once again.

"Ugh…" I grunted.

"Speaking of Chaldea, I believe the Director wishes to speak to you now that we're done." Elaina said as she reached into her briefcase and pulled out my phone handing it to me. "There were also several calls from a Mashu….Kyrielight?" Elaina said reading off the name before turning the phone over to face me. There were three missed calls from Mashu on the front of my screen. I furrowed my eyebrows a little and frowned a bit.

"It's nothing to worry about, I'll see her tomorrow." I said as I reached up and took the phone from Elaina. "Calling the Director is more important." I said as I swiped right and unlocked my phone. I found the Director's contact's contact and tapped the call button before bringing it up to my ear. A few moments of ringing went by before the ear chewing I would receive happened…

"Christopher I'm glad you finally have the time to call me." Olga said after she finally picked up the phone.

"I called you as soon as I could Ma'am, I had a bit…. of an incident tonight per say." I said cautiously mincing my words even though I knew it didn't matter in the end for the Director already knew.

"Yes you had quite an incident tonight Operative, didn't you?" Olga said as I heard her finger tapping against her desk. "In fact I'm watching the fallout of your incident all over the News as we speak." Olga said in a calm voice.

"Y-Yes Director. I'm afraid there was an incident and I'm afraid I was caught up in the middle of it." I replied...

"Yes quite the incident indeed…..A SHOOTOUT IN DOWNTOWN PHILADELPHIA OPERATIVE!? REALLY?" Olga screamed into my ear as I lowered the phone from my ear. "Operative do you know how infuriated I am right now?" Olga went onto ask.

"I can imagine Ma'am." I replied as I gulped. "But let me just say that I was almost killed and the shootout did not happen until I got to my car, and it was in self defense." I added as I attempted to defend myself.

"Oh I'm quite well aware of the details. Elaina filled me in on all of the details." Olga replied and I looked up at Elaina who looked back at me with the "Don't give me that look" expression on her face. "A Civilian got killed in the process and that's not good attention, Chaldea could be exposed if we are not careful about how we handle this." Olga went onto scold me.

"Yes Ma'am and I deeply regret that there was a Civilian casualty." I said regretfully. "She was a woman who offered me help when I was shot, and she decided ended up getting captured and used as a hostage by the gunman against me, but the gunman had no intention of letting either one of us leave alive, so she was killed. I didn't have my gun or magical energy to save her I'm afraid…." I explained as the image of Katie getting shot flashed in my head again and I frowned.

"I see, an unfortunate tragedy indeed." Olga said, her voice showing some signs of sadness. "You should however been more careful not to get civilians involved, even if that meant knocking her out to keep her safe." Olga said.

"I don't think I could have knocked her out in my condition Ma'am, I could barely walk let alone defend myself at that time. I did all I could to make it clear that she needed to go home." I explained and there was a grumble from the other side of the phone.

"I see…. I'll see about sending money to her family as a sign of appreciation that her daughter helped one of my employees and show our regret for her loss." Olga said and I furrowed my eyebrows a little, I don't think any amount of money would ever be able make up for the loss of a daughter. "More importantly, what in gods name WERE YOU DOING OPERATIVE? What were you doing away from home? Who was trying to kill you? Have you been getting into some shady business on the side Operative?!" Olga demanded answers.

"NO MA'AM!" I exclaimed a tad bit irritated to be accused of illegal activities, when it was the Director's own General who was committing shady business while I was trying to stop her! However I don't think I should tell the Director about that quite yet… I needed to go over the documents and information Rin had given me when I got home. "I stay home and keep my head down, however just this one time I wanted to go and meet up with a friend of mine. I'm allowed to have a life outside of work yes?" I inquired.

"What you do in your free time is none of my concern, except for when you put the Organization at risk. You're free to visit friends and family as you choose, but visiting friends and family usually don't end up in a city wide chase and shootout!" Olga exclaimed. "Now who exactly was trying to kill you?!" Olga demanded once more. I thought a moment on how best to reply before opening my mouth to reply.

"Well Ma'am it was a masked gunman so I didn't see who it was, but he was heavily armored and skilled. I think perhaps the person behind the Singularities sent them to kill me." I said. Technically I wasn't lying; the person who sent them really was behind the singularities. I just didn't say who was behind the Singularities, that would have to come later.

"Are you positive about that Operative?" Olga asked.

"Yes Ma'am. One hundred percent positive." I replied and there was a moment's pause.

"Hmmm I see, so the people behind all of this finally took notice after we've foiled two of their singularities, so they sent someone to kill the master to try and stop us. It makes sense, but you said you couldn't identify them." Olga said as she seemed to be drifting off into thought.

"No Ma'am I couldn't, but they specifically said that my meddling in the past was going to come to an end now. So that would only mean they meant the Singularities." I said. Well that was a lie actually, but I needed to build up my case against the General before I accused her.

"Yes that would be the case, wouldn't it?" Olga said before going quiet for a few moments. "Now that begs the question why the hell didn't you bring one of your servants with you?! You knew that people would be trying to kill us to prevent us from stopping them, so why did you not bring either Mashu or Lancer?!" Olga demanded furiously.

"I k-know Ma'am!" I exclaimed as I reached up and scratched my head trying to think what to say. "I just thought that I'd be safe visiting and old friend and wouldn't need to bring Lancer or Mashu along." I said.

"Well that obviously turned out to not be true now didn't it?" Olga asked in scolding tone. "From now on you are to bring your servant with you wherever you go. I want you to head home tomorrow and stay there with your servants." Olga ordered me.

"You don't need to tell me that Ma'am. I'm going straight home and staying put." I replied.

"Good. You're to stay there until you recover and then I want you to come back to Chaldea until further notice. You'll be safe here." Olga said.

"Y-Yes Ma'am. I understand, once I recover we'll come back to Chaldea." I said not exactly pleased at the thought of being stuck at Chaldea for months instead of weeks.

"Now if there's nothing else I'll be in touch with you soon…." Olga said, but before she hung up I stopped her.

"Director there is something I would like to discuss with you in private when I get back." I said. "It's not something I can talk about securely over the Telephone line." I added.

"Understood Operative, I'll talk to you when you return to base. Goodbye and stay safe this time idiot." Olga said just before hanging up and I heard the beeping sound letting me know she had hung up. I brought my phone down from my ear and looked through my missed calls one more time before locking my phone and putting it back into my pocket. I could talk to Mashu when I got back, I didn't feel like talking to her right now.

"Well then I suggest you get some rest Christopher, you'll need it for the ride home tomorrow." Elaina said, sounding more like she was ordering me to get some rest rather than recommending it. I nodded my head deciding it best that I take that order, my body ached all over and I was completely exhausted.

"And what are you going to be doing Elaina?" I asked looking up at her.

"I'll be keeping you company to make sure you're safe." Elaina replied. "I've also got to start working on all the paperwork and putting together the case. You might get to go home, but I have to stay behind and clean up your mess." Elaina said as she put her hands on her hips and looked at me unamused.

"Well that's why you get paid the big bucks." I said chuckling.

"Just go to sleep before I put you to sleep myself." Elaina said and I couldn't help but chuckle some more, even Elaina started to chuckle as a soft smile formed on her lips. Just then there was a loud knock on the door and everything went silent…

"Shit who is that?" I murmured.

"I don't know. Nobody should know that you're here." Elaina said.

"It couldn't possibly be the gunman…" I murmured.

"I don't know, but stay put and don't move." Elaina ordered me.

"Don't be ridiculous I can't stay put if it really is him, that guy will kill us both." I said shaking my head as I tried to push myself up groaning. I was pushed back down to the couch by Elaina as she stood over me.

"I said stay put, I'll handle this." Elaina said as her hand went up her jacket lifting it slightly. I saw her hand rise up and rest on a black polymer pistol that she slowly pulled out of a holster on her hip. I looked at her pistol and then back up at her, Elaina rose her finger up to her mouth signaling me to be quiet. I hesitantly nodded my head and watched as she turned around before making her way over to the door. I watched on as she made it across the room without making a noise before finally reaching the door. As she did there was another loud knock on the door. I watched on nervously as Elaina's hand slowly pulled back the latch on the door before going for the doorknob. Every second that passed by I felt more swept roll down my brow. Elaina's hand grasped the doorknob and slowly turned it downwards, and then the creak of the door slowly opening filled the room along with a cold chill shooting through the room. Elaina stayed behind the door with her pistol raised in one hand and the other on the door as she pulled it open. And then when it was open enough Elaina turned around the corner with her gun pointed at the person in front of the door. Before I Elaina did anything drastic I saw the familiar red coat and flowing black hair with amber colored eyes. I almost leaped up from the coach in response….

"Wait don't shoot her!" I exclaimed raising out my hand. Elaina looked back at me and then back at Rin Tohsaka in front of the door with a surprised look on her face. "D-don't shoot her, she's not an enemy. She's a friend." I added as I stumbled to get up while holding my waist.

"A-Are you sure Christopher?" Elaina asked looking back at me.

"Yes I'm sure. That's Rin Tohsaka, my friend. Just let her in and put the gun down." I said.

"Ms. Tohsaka. That's a name I've heard before, and knowing that name I know Ms. Tohsaka is not a gunman for hire." Elaina said as she lowered her gun and locked in back into her holster before pulling the door open all the way.

"No I don't think she's even picked up a gun in her life, let alone shot one." I said as I stood up and winced a little at the still lingering pain.

"Very funny. At least I don't go getting shot every other day." Rin replied in her snarky manner. Rin stepped inside with the door closing behind her with the locks closing shut once more before Elaina walked over to us.

"Funny as usual Ms. Tohsaka." I said.

"I said to stop calling me that, just call me Rin." Rin exclaimed.

"Right sorry Rin…. But is that how you greet all your friends who have just been shot?" I asked as I fell back down on the couch, my face making a twisted expression at the pain still lingering.

"I don't have many friends who get shot." Rin replied.

"That's true I suppose." I said as I turned over in the couch and lay back against the pillow of the sofa.

"You should consider yourself lucky. I dropped everything and even missed my plane home just to rush and find you as soon as I saw the reports of the shooting on all the airport televisions." Rin said and I let out a painful laugh.

"Ha Ha Ha you were concerned about me Rin?" I asked looking up at her. Rin narrowed her eyes at me and crossed her arms.

"Of course I was idiot. If you went and died after everything we talked about, logically I would be next obviously." Rin muttered with an embarrassed expression on her face.

"Ah I see how it was; you were actually only worried about yourself." I said chuckling.

"Idiot, how can you still make such crappy jokes after all you just went through?" Rin scolded me.

"If I didn't make crappy jokes I'd have to be sad and depressed instead." I replied jokingly. Rin narrowed her eyes judgingly and I chuckled in response as I shifted my gaze forward and got comfy. "Anyway how did you find me?" I asked looking back up at her.

"Oh I have my ways." Rin replied with a devious grin.

"I don't know if I should be disturbed by that or not…" I said as I crossed my arms across my chest. "So what do you want Rin?" I asked. Rin furrowed her eyebrows in response and crossed her arms at me with an irritated look on her face.

"What do you mean: What do I want?" Rin asked her voice filled with annoyance and I felt a burning sensation as I was smacked upside the head and I looked up at her in irritation. "I'm making sure you're alright, you Idiot!" Rin exclaimed and I was taken aback to see Rin's eyes filled with concern.

"O-Oh!" I said and looked back down as I rubbed the spot on my head where Rin had hit me. "I'm fine as you can see. Just a few bullet holes here and there." I said and there was a low grumble from Rin as she showed her annoyance at my response.

"I already figured that much already, what I'm really asking you is how you're feeling right now?" Rin inquired and her tone softened a little bit.

"Well I'm not dead, but I sure am exhausted after spending all night running about the city." I said and looked up at Elaina. "Elaina could you please get me some water, I'm afraid I still feel a little dehydrated, stale police station coffee didn't do very much to hydrate me." I said and Elaina nodded her head.

"Having had my share of police station coffee, I concur. I'll go get you some water." Elaina said and walked off into the kitchen. I watched Elaina disappear before turning to Rin, Rin kneeled down next to me and looked me in the eyes seriously.

"You don't really look alright so tell me. So tell me what's wrong?" Rin asked again and I frowned.

"There was a woman….. A beautiful young lady who had assisted me after I had been shot and she ended up getting killed because of me." I answered her truthfully in a somber tone.

"I-I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure you did all you could." Rin said sympathetically.

"Yeah, these things happen unfortunately." I said somberly. There was a moment's pause before Rin spoke up again.

"So tell me, it was someone sent by Amara wasn't it?" Rin said as she narrowed her eyes.

"Y-Yeah I can't say for certain, but I think it was one of the soldiers under Amara." I said sitting up. "He said right before he was going to shoot me. "The General sends her regards."" I added and Rin cupped her chin.

"It's a little suspicious that he would be so open about who sent him….." Rin said as she sat there in thought for a few moments.

"They probably knew that I already knew so why bother hiding it?" I asked in response. "I mean it's not like I could tell anyone

"Yeah… You're probably right…" Rin murmured as she waved her hand in the air to dismiss whatever thoughts she was having.

"Here's your water." Elaina said as she stepped in front of me and placed the water down on the coffee table in front of me. I looked up at her and gave a warm smile in return.

"Thanks Elaina." I said.

"You're welcome." Elaina replied. "Now I'm going to go start on the legal work, I suggest you get some rest. So I'll leave him in your care Ms. Tohsaka." Elaina said and Rin nodded her head in response.

"I'll keep him company." Rin replied. With that said Elaina picked up her briefcase and brought it over to a nearby desk where she sat down and began her work. My gaze returned to Rin whose gaze met with mine.

"Well we now know that we're onto them, so you need to tread carefully now." Rin said. "Have you thought about sharing our information with Elaina? She might be able to help you." Rin suggested and I rubbed my cheek.

"It's worth considering, but for now I still think I need to go over it." I said. "However Elaina is just a lawyer for Chaldea, she has little power in the Organization is on a need to know only basis." I said and Rin let out a sigh.

"I suppose you're right." Rin said. "Anyway, how about you tell me about those missions you said you'd tell me about at a later time, now that we have time." Rin said and I closed my eyes and crossed my arms. "Hey don't ignore me!" Rin murmured and there was a burning sensation as I felt her pull on my cheeks causing me to frown. I swatted her hand away in response.

"Fine I guess I can tell you now that we have all the time in the world." I said as I opened my eyes and Rin smiled now that she had gotten her way. "It's better than being stuck out in the cold getting shot at anyway." I muttered.

"Would you stop complaining already and tell me what happened!" Rin said as she reached behind her and pulled a comfy seat forward for her to sit down in. Rin leaned forward in her chair practically in my face now.

"Alright, Alright! Just keep your voice down will ya?" I said. "If Elaina hears me telling an outsider classified mission material, getting shot at will be the least of my problems." I added and Rin nodded her head as she listened attentively. "So then this was roughly three years back as I stated early. We, meaning Chaldea, had started having problems with thefts at our warehouses. So my Commanding officer assigned several people, my partner and I being some of those people, with the mission of investigating these thefts and putting an end to them….."

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