THE ASSASSIN - AU/CC/Adult - Epilogue - 11/6/16

[keepsmiling7]

You have an amazing set of events occurring here.......
I'm working hard to keep up with the cast of characters.
Thanks for the great part.

[Earth2Mama]

Bastard... Senator Havleston is a bastard!!!

He makes me skin crawl, what a piece of trash!. I hope and pray that Maria and Michael expose everything and he goes down either in flames or by death - he deserves nothing less.

[Roswelllostcause]

Oh I so want to punch the senentor in the throat! He is beyond not only an ass but a coward! But I got this feeling that Maria may some how be able to help Michael get his memory back!

[begonia9508]

Great part - even if Bane and Maria are annoying like dogs and cats can be!

At least, I understand Michael; He has lost his memory and his agressivity is the result but Maria does nothing to made things better... like I said, cat and dog!

Waiting for more! Thanks - EVE

[sarammlover]

Shame on you Senator, though why am I not surprised? Creepy washington people. And the inner circle???? even worse. Its really a shame that an entire family lost their lives because of creepy ass politics. I am glad Michael and Maria have each other....I am interested to find out how they know where Michael is...chip implant in his brain? After all, he is an experiment right?

[Alien_Friend]

Wow the circle reminds me of B613 in Scandal. So they did some kind of brain control with Michael? If they can control him, I wonder if they have some kind of tracking device installed in him somewhere? I wonder if their experiments on his brain is the reason for his memory loss and if he can be reversed would it bring his memory back? It is all more and more intriguing as the plot thickens.

I hope that Max and Liz can make it out of whatever it is that the circle is planning to keep them contained.

It would be great if Alex could uncover some, if not all, of the information that the senator has been acquiring over the years. The senator really is a coward.

Terrific update.

Looking forward to reading more.

[Double Trouble]

Eva: It is sick and it’s only the tip of the iceberg where this group’s activities are concerned. We’ll find out in time what they did to Michael and whether or not he suffered a brain injury.

keepsmiling7: There’s a lot going on and we’re just getting started, lol.

We have a wide range of characters here, but the pieces will begin to come together.

Earth2Mama: Indeed he is!

The senator is one of the lowest lifeforms. We’ll see what it takes for the senator to get what’s coming to him. We have a lot of work to get to that point, but it’s coming.

Roswelllostcause: Lol, take a number and get in line. He’s the worst kind of coward. Time will reveal if Michael will regain his memory.

begonia9508: Thanks! Lol, well, it might take a bit for them to get beyond that stage.

Maria’s in a situation she didn’t ask for and she doesn’t know if he can be trusted so she isn’t going to do anything to make life easier for him just yet.

sarammlover: Lol, creepy Washington people indeed! How do they know where Michael is? Well, Valkyrie has a theory on that one.

Alien_Friend: Michael was badly injured during the explosion. If his memory loss has a medical or a more evil reason has yet to be seen.

They are on their way to find out more about the possibilities of being tracked all the time.

Alex as well as M&L will help to uncover the truth.



Part 10

Chestnut Hill, PA – December 2015

Valkyrie parked the motorcycle a few hundred yards away from the location indicated by the red blinking light on her navigation device. She pulled the helmet off, her long blonde hair falling out and over her shoulders smoothly. Chestnut Hill, she snorted quietly and checked her weapon, fingertips ghosting over the silencer as she headed in the direction of the signal.

An impressive white house came into view as soon as she entered the smaller street. The neighborhood lay in complete darkness and silence and she knew Bane had picked this location with caution. Wealthy people tended to spend the holidays elsewhere with their families and this region seemed to be 90% abandoned right now.

She took her time inspecting the house, circling it first to locate every door and window. There were plenty of points of entry and for a moment she just considered walking through the front door, but since Bane was fascinated with C4 like a little boy with a matchbox, she changed her mind.

Slowly and quiet like a cat, she made her way through the large backyard, using the shadows of the manicured trees and bushes to hide her presence. When she reached the house, she pressed her lean body against the wall, feeling the cold rough rendering beneath her fingers and back right through the leather outfit.

Valkyrie tilted her head and focused on the edge of the balcony above her, while her hand gripped the portable cable winch at her waist. With a skillful shot, she managed to wrap it around the banister above and she was able to climb up with little more than the silent whisper of her outfit against the hard cable.

The balcony lay in the shadow of the house, but she moved hand over hand on the edge until she reached the wall and then pulled herself up and over the banister right next to the glass doors. Her eyes roamed over the white frame until she detected the thin cable, painted white to render it unobtrusive, which was connected to the security system.

Her hands wrapped around a small device on her belt. She lifted it to the cable and smiled in satisfaction when no power went through it. Yep, Bane had taken care of the alarm system, which worked in her favor. With a few skilled hand grips she managed to open the door soundlessly and shoved it inside.

The weapon lay comfortably in her hand when she took the first step into the house. She smelled food and wondered if the woman with him had cooked for him. Was he making friends with the target? It was so unlike him.

Carefully, she closed the door behind her to block the sounds of the night outside. She listened carefully and only allowed herself to move when there was nothing.

And then she heard the soft ‘click’.

“Took you long enough.”

His rough voice filled the darkness and she turned her head towards the direction it had come from.

“What the hell are you doing putting your life on the line for a target?” she hissed.

“Maybe I was bored with life,” he told her without an ounce of emotion in his voice. He was sitting on a chair right next to the door, gun in hand and wide awake.

She shook her head. “We’re less than a day away from them assigning someone else to take both of us out. Convince me taking this risk is worth putting my life on the line too.”

“Convince you?” He chuckled deeply. “Valkyrie, I don’t plan any such a thing. This has nothing to do with you.”

“It has everything to do with me. They’re not gonna buy it if I keep coming back only to report near misses. You’re good, but if one of us isn’t dead in the next 19 hours we both become targets.”

He leaned forward, bringing his face out of the shadows. “I’ve always followed their rules. I didn’t ask questions, I killed whoever they wanted dead.” His gaze shifted to the weapon in his hand and he shook his head.

“But not this time. I’ve been to your apartment and I’ve been looking into the target’s past. Your past and hers crossed paths and somehow that’s at the heart of their reason for putting her in the crosshairs. And you know it, otherwise she’d be dead.”

“I didn’t have a problem killing the people on their shitlist. But they’ve gotten personal and they’re gonna pay for it. Or maybe it’s just bad karma that they set me on the only survivor of an event where my past was eliminated.” He got up and walked straight towards her. “They think we’re their little puppets, but let’s see what they do when we cut the strings.”

She stared at him uncomprehendingly. “You’re suggesting we take down The Circle?”

“That’s what I’m gonna do an’ if you get in my way...”

Her eyes narrowed for a moment. She had never done anything to rebel against the people they received their orders from. Never once questioned their orders. Never failed to fulfill her duties. “You can’t take them on alone, Bane.”

He knew it was a suicide mission, but what were his choices? “I’m as good as dead anyway, so I plan to take out as many of those motherfuckers as possible before they can take me out.”

“How? If you take them out with a bullet you’re only gonna end up on a wanted poster.” She would be happy to see them all dead, but there was no point doing it only to end up on the run for the rest of their lives.

“What? Do you think my mug would look bad on a wanted poster?” he joked, but there was no humor in his voice.

“No, I’m sure you’d be the best looking one on the board. We can bring them down legally, expose them to the public. I have the means to do that.”

“They hold their cards close to the vest. What makes you so sure you could find something?”

“Let’s just say I have an ace in the hole. If you wanna do this thing, I have your back, but we’re on countdown because I’ll be on their list and I’ll have to work remotely.”

He nodded, his eyes shifting to the hallway. “With Blondie at my back, I can’t be much help.”

“You’re gonna have your hands full with that one,” she said, thinking of her own civilian sidekick she’d recently acquired.

“She’ll probably kill me with her rants before a bullet can ever make it close.” He smirked. Valkyrie was like him. They just didn’t interact well with civilians.

“Talk a lot, does she?”

“I don’t think she ever stops.”

“Duct tape works beautifully,” she deadpanned. “Does she know anything about her uncle’s dealings with The Circle?”

“No,” he frowned. “Do you?”

“Nothing concrete, but there’s a connection there. The senator walked away from a so-called accident that wiped out his entire family with the exception of his niece who only managed to survive because she was inside the house. I checked with a contact, had him look over the reports from that day, and he says there are too many inconsistencies, too many points that indicate the explosion wasn’t gas-related. He was able to point out several places in the evidence photos that clearly show pieces of bomb fragments.”

“Do you have a list of the people that attended the wedding?”

“Yeah,” she pulled the folded sheet of paper from her back pocket and unfolded it before handing it to him.

He glanced over it briefly, his eyes stopping on the people who carried the last name Guerin and it felt surreal. They were just names to him, nothing more.

“You had quite a rap sheet for a 16-year-old.” She snorted and shook her head. “Somehow I wasn’t surprised.”

“Seems like I never fit in with society, huh?” he muttered, shoving the sheet of names in his pants pocket.

“Interested in meeting the boy you were?” She’d heard enough about her past, had it drilled into her what a misfit she’d been that given the same opportunity she’d decline the offer.

“It doesn’t matter.”

She shrugged. “No, I don’t guess it does. Alright, back to business. You’re gonna be on the move and I’m gonna have to do the same but we need a way to connect if we’re gonna do this.”

“What do you suggest?”

“I don’t know. Burner phones would work for a while, a secure online connection would be good, but that’s gonna be difficult to do unless we can set a time to meet. I don’t know how they’re getting your locations, but they’re tracking you. The coordinates I was given led me right to this house.”

Bane frowned. They had driven to the middle of nowhere, stayed away from the larger cities, so how was it possible they were able to pinpoint his location? “Burner phones will have to do for now.”

She nodded. “If I can figure out how they’re tracking you I’ll get the information to you. The senator had a couple of guard dogs on her and he’s already fired them. He had their hands tied as far as how involved they could get, but there’s always the possibility that she’s got something on her that’s allowing them to track you.”

“You should go. The sun will be up soon an’ we can’t stay here.” He glanced at his watch. “We both know they’ve already made their choice for the next assassin an’ we need to get back on the move.”

“Watch your back, Bane.” She looked around for a pen and paper, scrawling out a coded number. “Something comes up, that number’s secure.”

“They’ll set Brooks on you,” he told her, knowing their dislike of each other. “He’s good with his rifle, but he sucks at hand to hand. Use that to your advantage.”

“I’ve been waiting for an excuse to take Brooks down.” Her eyes and tone were both as cold as ice. “I hope he does come at me.”

He waited until she stepped back to the glass door then nodded. “Good luck, Catwoman.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “She has nothing on me.”

When she was gone he walked down the dark hallway towards the room Maria had claimed hers the second she had a look at it. He opened the door slowly and found her wrapped up in a blanket. There was a pile of clothes next to the bed, which told him she was sleeping in nothing but her underwear and he knew she’d give him hell for walking in on her like that. “Blondie,” he called her.

Maria made a humming sound and stretched. She was comfortable and warm and having the most wonderful dream. She frowned when a sharp, rude voice intruded on the scene. She sighed and wished it away as she burrowed down under the covers and went back to that happy place.

“Oh no, you don’t,” he muttered and went over to tug the blanket away from her. “Get up, we need to leave.”

Her eyes snapped open when cool air suddenly rushed over her sleep-warmed body and she quickly scrambled to sit up against the headboard when she saw Michael standing there. She snatched up one of the pillows and held it against her body. “How dare you come in here and take my blanket just so you can leer at me like some pervert!”

“Leer?” He smirked. “Believe me, I’ve seen better. An’ this underwear...” he let his eyes travel over her, “...did your uncle buy it for you?”

“Get out of here!” She grabbed the other pillow and threw it at him. “Get out!”

“No.”

“What do you want?” She refused to allow her mind to go in the obvious direction.

“Our location’s been compromised, we need to move.” He went over to the bed, remembering Valkyrie’s words. What if she could be tracked? He needed to check.

She watched him, her eyes tracking every move he made, and when he came around the side of the bed she crawled backwards to move further away from him.

“Have you ever had any kind of surgery?”

“What?” She suddenly felt even more self-conscious when his eyes moved over her, assessing.

“Surgery?”

“Yes, but I don’t see what business that is of yours.”

“What kind?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“I was injured in the explosion. I had to have extensive surgery on my right leg and I was also hit with debris all down my right side and my back. I was in the hospital for several months afterwards.”

He nodded. “Anything else? Even something small like getting rid of a liver spot.”

“What? No.” She looked at him and then frowned. “Last year I broke my ankle and they had to put a couple pins in it.” She shrugged. “Skiing obviously isn’t one of my best sports.”

“Injections?”

“Just the basic... immunizations, yearly flu shot, that’s it.”

In his mind he went over the possibilities. Damn, if she had a little transmitter, it could be anywhere and depending on its size, it could be very hard to find it. “Get up.”

“Why?”

“Because beauty sleep is over. We need to get back on the road and before that we need to check you for any kind of GPS transmitter.”

“If I had some kinda transmitter on me I think someone would’ve rescued me by now.”

“Not if the wrong people implanted it and have you on their radar.”

“I really think it’s more likely someone like you would have some kinda implant. Why would anyone care where I’m at?” She was slowly doing her best to move away from him, fully conscious of the way his eyes followed her every move.

“Let’s see. Maybe the same reason why they want you dead now? They’ve probably been watching you your whole freakin’ life, Blondie.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. I’m nobody!” She wished for her clothes to be within reaching distance, but he seemed to sense her thoughts and a moment later his right foot shot out and he kicked them across the room. The last thing she wanted was for him to put his hands all over her. She shivered and frowned at the realization that it wasn’t disgust that caused it. Crap!

“You probably are. But to someone out there you’re someone who’s digging too hard into the past.” He went around the bed to get closer to her. “Let’s get this over with.”

“I really think this’s unnecessary.”

“I don’t care what you think. Better safe than sorry.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “And after that, what? You want me to check you?”

He snorted. “I’m not dignifying that with an answer.” He leaned forward and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards him.

“I’ll bet you never get a second date,” she muttered.

He pulled her up on her feet and turned her back towards him, brushing the long blonde hair over one shoulder. “Good thing I don’t date.”

“Yeah, probably can’t get any girl to go out with you.” She lifted her eyes to stare at the ceiling in an effort to avoid thinking about his hands on her. “Or maybe you’re into guys. I can see that.”

His movements hesitated at the clear insult. “Did you just call me gay?”

“I’m just saying maybe you need someone to take control once in a while so maybe there’s some guy you go to for that.” She cleared her throat as quietly as possible. “See, I know this guy from the university and that’s kinda his thing. Totally about control and you’d never expect him to date someone who’s quiet and smart, a little shy even, but his boyfriend, he’s gay by the way,” she babbled, “he’s like that. He understands that controlling nature. He gets that and it works for them. So maybe you’ve got someone like that. You know, for when you need to relax and let someone else take the reins.”

“For the record, I don’t give up control,” he hissed and his hands wandered to the fine curves of her ass. Spreading his whole palm over one cheek, he squeezed it. “And I’m not gay, Blondie.”

Okay, she’d never really understood why anyone seemed to be affected by that move and certainly no one had ever dared to do such a thing, but it set loose a wave of unknown feelings that washed through her and screwed with her ability to breathe. Stupid, it was stupid. The guy was copping a feel under the guise of looking for some kind of transmitter and all she could think was how good it felt! “Okay, not gay. Maybe you’re bi.”

“You have a big mouth, woman,” he groaned, going on with his search. His hands roamed over her back while he felt around for any kind of irritation on her skin, a hard spot... anything. “What about you?” he asked when he sat on the bed to have a look at the backs of her legs. His hands cupped the thigh that showed several little scars. “You into women?”

“No, can’t say that’s my preference.” It was ridiculous to be so affected by this man. She didn’t even like him! He was a hired killer, a criminal, an expert on breaking and entering... She rolled her eyes when her thoughts ran off with her choice of words. Okay, maybe she’d never done the deed, but she had read plenty and she was well aware of how things worked. She wished he’d hurry up already. “How long can it possibly take for you to determine there’s no tracking device on me?”

“Turn around.”

She inhaled deeply, holding it in before slowly releasing it and following his quietly spoken order. “I think if there was any kind of implant I’d have found it by now.” The last thing she wanted was to be facing this man while he ran those big rough hands all over her body.

“I’d rather check for myself,” he muttered, looking her slim legs up and down. She had a nice body, no doubt about that, and the little scars caused by the explosion made her looks more interesting than ugly. Of course, he wasn’t planning to let her femaleness distract him on this mission.

His hands roamed over her thighs, feeling for any kind of unevenness there but finding nothing. He grabbed her hips and felt the flesh there, his face level with her stomach as he concentrated on the feeling beneath his fingertips.

It was pure torture to be touched by a man like him and experience feelings she’d only read about. Feelings that had no place between them. Feelings that writers had somehow missed capturing. What was wrong with her? She tried to pull back but his grip only tightened and without thinking her next action through, her right hand raised and swung towards his face.

Bane reacted quickly and caught her wrist, tightening his hand painfully around it before her palm could come in contact with his cheek. Slowly, he raised his head to glare at her.

“You have no right to treat me like this!” she shouted, hating the way her voice cracked. As much as something inside of her enjoyed his touch, everything else was rebelling against it. There were so many conflicting emotions raging inside of her and some of them she just couldn’t make sense of.

“What the hell are you talking about?” He jerked her back towards him and stood at his full height. “Don’t fuckin’ make more outta this than what it is. This has nothing to do with me feelin’ you up, Blondie. This’s about our safety.”

“Liar!”

He snorted. “Conceited much?”

“I want my clothes now!”

“If you weren’t so freakin’ frigid, this would be over by now.” He wrapped one huge hand around the soft skin high on her neck and used his thumb to turn her chin sideways.

“Frigid?” Now she wasn’t only freaked out, she was pissed off! Who did he think he was calling her frigid? “Why? Because I don’t enjoy being mauled by a hired killer?”

Blanking her words out, he went back to inspecting her, determined to get it over with. His free hand brushed her hair aside so the side of her neck and shoulder were exposed. It was too dark in the room to see clearly, but he was positive that there was a little skin irritation right at the hairline behind her ear.

“That’s from the accident,” she huffed in irritation when his thumb moved over the slightly raised area over and over again. “It’s just scar tissue from when they went in a few years ago to remove a piece of shrapnel.”

“You don’t have any other scars in this area.”

“Well, I can’t do anything about the path flying debris took during the explosion,” she snapped. “I was having headaches like crazy so my uncle sent me to a neurologist and they detected the shrapnel. Once they removed it the headaches stopped.” She shrugged. “The scar was a small sacrifice to make.”

He pressed his finger deeper into it. He was certain he could feel resistance other than the knotted skin.

“I don’t care to go back to having those headaches if you don’t mind.” She tried to shove his hand away.

“Stop it,” he hissed, wrapping one arm around her to block any movements of her arms and upper body. It brought them close together, but he wasn’t paying attention to anything but her neck. “Bend your head to the right as far as you can.”

“You’re gonna make it start hurting again,” she muttered as she complied with his demand.

Bane placed the pad of his index and middle finger on it. “Now move to the opposite side very slowly.”

Once again she did as she was told, hoping like crazy that what he was doing made some sort of sense. There was no way she was carrying around some kind of implant like an alien abductee. It was freaking scar tissue!

Yeah, there was definitely something under her skin. It wasn’t obvious and probably implanted a little deeper than normal to make sure she never wondered about it. Without paying attention it could easily be mistaken for scar tissue and nothing more. He released his tight grip on her and grabbed one of her hands to place it over the spot. “Feel it with the movement of your head.”

She complied with his demand, her eyes stopping mid-roll when she felt something that didn’t quite feel like scar tissue. “What is it?” she asked fearfully. It wasn’t what he thought it was, it couldn’t be!

“You know what it is,” he answered, his voice monotone.

Maria shook her head. “No, no it’s not.” Her fingers continued to play over the spot even as she refused to accept what he was saying.

Bane stepped away from her so she could get dressed. “I’m gonna look through the house to see if they have everything we need to get rid of it.”

“What? You can’t just start dissecting me!”

“It needs to go,” he said firmly. “If they can track you they’ll follow us wherever we go.”

“If they could track me then I’d either be rescued or dead.” She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. “You’re not cutting me open and digging around in my head for some tracking device that isn’t there.”

“That isn’t there?” he echoed in disbelief. “Wake up, Blondie. Your little sheltered life is over. This’s the real world and they’ll kill you for real.”

“Fine, go look for your little tools or whatever.” She turned around to snatch her clothes up and put them on. He could look all day for all she cared; he wasn’t coming near her with any kind of sharp object. He was a hired killer, not a surgeon.

He went downstairs and went through stuff, cursing when he couldn’t find anything to disinfect. What kinda family didn’t have a single drop of alcohol in the whole damn house?

Maria looked around as she bundled up in the coat he had given her. She had to get away before he came back with something to carry out his demented plan. She stared at the balcony doors with the pretty lace curtains drawn back over them and a plan suddenly burst to life. No, she didn’t know where to go, but she knew she had to get away. Now.

She moved to the doors and cautiously pulled them open, not sure if opening them would set off an alarm elsewhere in the house. When she didn’t hear anything she stepped outside, inhaling sharply at the icy wind that blew clean through her. She looked over the side and swallowed hard at the snow that was piled high on the bushes that had been planted around the house.

She moved closer to the railing and carefully swung one leg over it, clutching onto the rail for dear life when her foot landed on a patch of ice. Her body dangled for a moment before she forced herself to let go and she fell, the snow-covered bushes cushioning her fall. She rolled off of them and hit the ground, quickly getting back up on her feet and running around the side of the house.

He had parked the truck several blocks away and she wasted no time making a run for it. She ran hard, her breath sawing in and out of her lungs, and she nearly collapsed in relief when she saw it. He had no keys for it so the doors were unlocked and her hand wrapped around the snow-encrusted handle, jerking on it repeatedly when it stubbornly remained closed.

“Please,” she nearly sobbed in frustration. All of her pulling and jerking finally paid off and she felt it give with a crunching sound as the ice gave way. “Thank you, God.” She climbed inside the freezing cold interior, the old cracked leather seat creaking beneath her. She was mindless of the temperature as she leaned over and fumbled for the wires she’d seen him pinch together several times the day before. “Please let this work.” She lifted her head to look through the windshield, knowing he would be coming after her at any second, and releasing a relieved breath when she didn’t see him.

The engine suddenly burst to life and she squealed in surprise and relief, changing the gear to reverse with a shaking hand. Yes, she would make her escape!

Driving through the still dark city, she leaned to the side and opened the glove box. The little handgun he had placed there yesterday was still there and from what she had seen it was fully loaded so at least she wasn’t totally unarmed.

As soon as she reached the next intersection, her gaze lingered on the street signs for a moment. Where to go, she wondered.

Bane suddenly straightened up as a feeling he didn’t care for skittered up his spine. He dropped the things he had been gathering and sprinted up the stairs, running into the bedroom she’d slept in and staring at the open balcony doors in irritation. He wasn’t shocked. No, he’d expected an escape attempt at some point. He just hadn’t expected her to jump from the second floor.

He moved quickly, straightening everything up and hiding the fact that the homeowners had been host to unwanted guests while they were away, and slipping out of the house. He reset the alarm and made his way through the neighborhood to the street where he’d left the truck.

“Sonofabitch!” he snarled under his breath when the only thing there was an empty parking spot. She hadn’t even let the truck warm up long enough to melt the snow below the tailpipe. He knew she’d taken off straight down the street, but without following the tire tracks he knew he’d lose her in a matter of minutes. Damn it! He hurried to get out of sight.

He had to find another vehicle and quick. He pulled his phone out and punched in a coded message to Valkyrie. He had to get to Maria before the next assassin did.

[begonia9508]

Stupid action Maria, even if you don't trust him, he said a lot of things who should avert you that he said the truth...

Looking impatiently for more! EVE

[L-J-L 76]

Great Chapter!!!! Please please please please please please please please come back and post more really really really really soon? I can't wait to read what will happen next for Max, Liz, Maria and Michael. I don't know if Liz should trust him or not. But so far he has told Maria the truth. I wonder if Max and Liz will try on their own to find Maria or let whoever Maria's uncle gets to find Maria.


From:
L-J-L 76

[Earth2Mama]

Oh God, really Maria?! Ugh

I hope Michael finds Her and quick. She's a moving target until that implant is removed, really dumb ass move!