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

[Roswelllostcause]

Maria is worried about her friends that is a good thing. As for Alex and Isabel going to check on Max and Liz that is good. But they aren't going to like what they find.

[begonia9508]

Great part! Wondering how long it will take them, to notice that Max and Liz has disappeared? EVE

[keepsmiling7]

Will Max and Liz follow their plans........
Can't wait to find out.
Thanks,
Carolyn

[Eva]

Let's hope they don't walk in a trap, Val & Alex. I'm only going to be happy if they leave the big city in one piece and not in a bag. Cross my fingers that their "citytrip" will go as they wish.

[sarammlover]

I also hope Alex and Val aren't walking into a trap or at least they are smart enough to fear that Max and Liz have been taken. I also wish she would have contacted michael to give him a heads up....just so he knows if he doesn't hear back from her, they are in trouble! I can't wait until sunday!!

[Double Trouble]

Roswelllostcause: You can be sure Maria won’t stop worrying about them. Yep, there’s nothing good to be found there.

begonia9508: Thanks! Well, Michael’s going to speak to Val about checking on them, so probably not very long.

keepsmiling7: We won’t have too long to wait.

Eva: Yep, that’s a risk with them going to check on the situation. Keep those fingers crossed!

sarammlover: You can expect Alex to question it and Val to be suspicious of the situation. No worries, lol, the only reason they’re on their way to check in on Max and Liz is because Michael made that call.


Part 49

Val climbed out of the car as soon as it came to a stop and motioned for Alex to stay in for a second until she was sure that they hadn’t been followed. When nothing suspicious pulled her attention, she waved him over quickly.

He couldn’t deny he loved the cloak and dagger feeling of the situation, and yeah, part of him was really getting off on the danger, but what topped it all off was the woman he was with. She could’ve easily have left him behind, told him to wait in the car or left him at the safe house, but she trusted him enough to take him with her.

“I don’t know what’s so funny AGAIN, but stop that stupid grinning,” she told him, annoyed.

He shook his head and shrugged. There was no point trying to explain it to her. She wouldn’t want to hear it. Maybe one day, but he knew it was too soon. “I’m tryin’ but you don’t make it easy.”

Just don’t bother replying, she told herself and went down the stairs into the subway station. “Follow me and try to blend in. Check the schedule.”

He glanced down at himself. Okay, blending in he could pull off, but he couldn’t imagine her pulling that off anywhere at any time. He glanced over at the schedule and started to ask if he should be looking for anything specific and then decided it was just for show and if he did utter such a stupid question he’d get a scathing comment in response.

Valkyrie followed her instincts. They hadn’t decided on a certain hiding point for the drop, just talked about possibilities. Her eyes roamed over the station while she tried to imagine what Max and Liz would have chosen.

“They’re normal,” he muttered under his breath when he caught her assessing gaze as she swept the terminal.

She took her time, just checking briefly every now and then to see what her companion was doing. He looked suspicious in her eyes, but there was nothing she could do about it without drawing further attention. Instead she finally decided on a bench set in the middle of the station, not hidden, but not one of the most used either. Sometimes a less secret hideout was better and more effective than the obvious. She sat down on it and pretended to retie the laces of her shoes then felt around the underside of the bench for anything that didn’t belong there.

Val made a face when her hand came into contact with several pieces of old chewing gum and was about to give up when her fingertips brushed against something.

Alex tried hard not to laugh at the expression on her face when she came into contact with God only knew what. It was a cross between pissed off and thoroughly disgusted and while that remained intact he knew the moment she found what she was looking for.

It was a small folded paper packet and Val shoved it into her jacket without looking at it, pulling a tissue out so the move wasn’t suspicious to anyone. She took her time getting back to Alex and gave him the slightest nod to follow her in a minute.

He wondered if she had any idea how difficult it was to hang back and let her out of his sight.

She waited by the car when he came up again and she couldn’t help but grin to herself because he was trying his best to look cool.

“Guess it’s my turn to ask what you’re smiling about,” he said as he unlocked the door and slid inside.

“And you won’t get an answer.”

He didn’t know if that was good or bad. “So, what’d you find?” He started the car and waited for her to either answer or tell him where to go next.

She pulled the little packet out of her jacket and handed it to him. “See what it is.”

He slouched down in his seat a little and carefully tore the packet open, upending it and waiting for the contents to fall into his hand. His left eyebrow lifted as he stared at the tiny rectangle and he placed the packet on his knee so he could pick the thing up. “It’s a SIM card.”

“So?”

He shifted to pull his phone out of his pocket, using his thumb to slide the back off. He pressed his thumb to the card in his phone and removed his SIM card, setting it aside and slipping the other one into the slot. He turned the phone over and waited for it to reboot before thumbing through the folders and applications in search of whatever clue had been left for them. “It’s an address,” he said finally. “There’s really nothing else here that stands out.”

“Feed it into the navigation system.”

He nodded and plugged the information in, pulling up the directions in a matter of seconds. “About seventeen minutes from here in traffic.”

“More New York City traffic,” she sighed.

“So we crawl through seventeen minutes of traffic, make sure everything’s good with Max and Liz, and we’re on our way back out of the city.”

“That’s the plan,” she agreed.

He nodded and switched the SIM cards out again before shoving his phone in his pocket. He handed her the one he’d used to pull the address and then pulled out into traffic, ignoring the honking horn of some angry driver as he headed to their destination.

The traffic was heavy but it didn’t really bother him. He made his way in and out of the congested lanes and before long he took the turn that was two blocks from the hotel. He turned to glance at her, intending to ask how far back he needed to park, when he caught the look on her face as she scanned the streets. “What is it?”

“Something’s off,” she muttered with her brows knitted together.

He still hadn’t figured out how she knew things like that. If they were in the building it would make sense, but they were still a couple of blocks away. It was like some sort of sixth sense or something. “Okay, so what do we do?”

“Park over there,” she pointed at a small parking lot in front of a deli.

“I’m not stayin’ in the car,” he said as he maneuvered over to an open space.

“I didn’t say anything about you staying in the car.”

He nodded and slipped into the space, putting the car in park and sitting back.

“I don’t like those cars,” she nodded at the end of the street where two cars were parked on either side of the road.

They were normal, nondescript, but they did stand out in this particular neighborhood, like they were trying too hard to blend in. “They are pretty obvious.”

“We go in there,” she pointed at the deli. “Don’t look around too much. We’ll ask if they have a back door.”

“Alright. Any idea what we’re goin’ up against?”

“Maybe it’s nothing.”

Somehow he doubted that. She hadn’t been wrong once since they’d been together.

“We need to find a more unobtrusive route to the apartment. Just to be sure.”

“Are you sure we’re not cutting ourselves off of our escape route by leavin’ the car so far from where we need to be?” He held a hand up and pushed his door open when she leveled an annoyed look at him.

“If we need to escape, then a car won’t get us far in this hell of a town.” She slammed her door shut as well.

Okay, questioning her judgment was only going to lead to one pissed off assassin, he thought, remaining silent as they crossed the busy street.

Val went straight to the deli and pushed the door open, seeing the man behind the counter wincing.

Alex glanced over the available selection of goods and his mouth watered. Hot pastrami and Swiss on rye, damn that sounded good! Later, Whitman, he reminded himself. There’s work to be done before you can focus on your gut.

“Buy something,” Val ordered when she gave him a subtle nudge into the deli.

Well, if she insisted, who was he to argue? He ambled up to the counter and leaned his forearms on the glass display as his eyes roved over the meats.

“Help you?” the man behind the counter asked.

“Yeah, pastrami and Swiss on rye and a turkey club on wheat, easy on the mayo.” He glanced around while the guy set about assembling the sandwiches. “You’ve got a great location here, only deli in the neighborhood.”

“It’ll do,” the older man grunted. “Neighborhood’s gone downhill past few years. Punks will rob you blind if you’re not careful.” He sighed as he rolled the sandwiches in white paper, sealed them with a single strip of tape, and slid them into a bag. “Can’t trust anyone these days.”

“Ain’t that the truth?” He followed the man down the counter to the register and pulled his wallet out, shaking his head when the man tried to hand his change to him. “I was wondering if we could slip out the back? We got a little turned around while we were in the area and,” he gave a little nod at Val, “it’d sure cut off on the time it’d take to get over to our friends’ place.”

The man eyed the woman for a moment before he nodded. “Sure, but I don’t let anyone in thataway less it’s my mornin’ delivery. Can’t trust anyone, y’know.”

He nodded. “No problem. By the time our visit’s over you’ll probably be closed anyway,” he said with an agreeable smile. He held the sack up as he led the way to the door the man motioned to. “Thanks again.”

“Who would’ve thought you’d be a genius at anything other than computers,” Val muttered when she followed him.

He snorted and shot a glance at her over his left shoulder. “I’m a genius between the sheets.” He grinned smugly. “You’ve said so more than once.”

“I don’t recall that,” she answered drily.

“No?” he asked conversationally. “Huh. Guess when we get back to the safe house I’ll have to remind you.”

“Shut up and concentrate.” Val pushed the back door open and quickly checked their surroundings. After a moment she nodded. “Good, we have the buildings for cover.”

He chuckled under his breath and followed her lead. She moved with single-minded purpose, not welcoming conversation as they walked close to the buildings. He had no idea what they were walking into but he’d follow her into the very depths of hell if she asked him to. Well, told him to would be more like it, he thought with a silent laugh.

Val stopped when they reached the building that was supposed to be the one Max and Liz were using as a hideout. She glanced along the hallway, satisfied to see it had several escape routes in case of emergency and the windows weren’t barred either. “Did the SIM give a floor?”

“Yeah, second floor, room 12B. Not the kinda place that asks questions, is it?” The place was a dump.

“No, it’s a hole, but it does what it needs to do.”

“Cockroaches here are probably as big as my dog.”

“You stay behind me.”

He nodded. He was a man and yeah, he had that gene that made him want to take care of his woman, but he wasn’t stupid. She had the upper hand here – experience, training, and killer instinct. So he’d do as she said and watch her back to the best of his ability.

“Give me the bag,” she held her hand out.

He did as she’d ordered, wondering why she wanted it.

Val took the food from him and walked into the building, detecting another suspicious truck parked nearby. They took the emergency stairs to the second floor and after checking the hallway she nodded at him and they slipped inside.

Alex glanced up and down the hall, his gray eyes checking room numbers. Some of the numbers were barely hanging onto the doors and others were missing numbers altogether. The place reeked of a careless hand and it was evident the people who resided there didn’t bother anyone or ask any questions. Someone could probably be shot right there in the hallway and no one would bother to look or call the cops.

“Here,” Val more mouthed than said and stopped next to the door with her back against the wall and one hand on the knob. She gestured for him to stay where he was.

He forced his breathing to remain calm as he reached for the gun he never seemed to be without. What if there were assassins waiting on the other side of the door? What if Max and Liz had been taken? What if they had been found and killed? Which of those options would be worse? He swallowed hard. The Circle didn’t discriminate. They killed at will and from what he’d read they weren’t above torture if it meant retrieving information they wanted.

Val turned the knob quickly, opened the door a bit and then threw the bag with the food inside, waiting for any kind of reaction. She smirked slightly when whoever was inside obviously thought it was a treat.

Damn waste of good food, Alex thought as his hand flexed around the grip of his weapon.

Val waited for a moment and listened carefully to make out that there were two people in the room, both men.

She had known something wasn’t right.

With another quick glance at Alex she nodded and kicked the door open, a gun in each hand.

Cyclops, aptly named due to the eye he’d lost in a hand to hand combat situation on assignment whirled around, gun drawn, and took aim at the woman standing there. His lips curled up, drawing the scar that ran from his brow, through his left eye, and down over his cheek, taut. He glanced at his companion and nodded. “Told you it’d be her that came.”

Casper shrugged. He’d been banking on Bane to show up. He could care less about taking Valkyrie down. It was Bane he wanted. “Where’s that pansy civilian you hooked up with?” he asked rather than respond to the comment.

“I don’t need anyone to bring the two of you down.”

“Not what I’ve heard,” he said carelessly as he took a bite out of one of the sandwiches. The sawed-off shotgun with the pistol grip rested on his propped up knee.

Val smirked and threw one of the weapons in her hand, which was unloaded at the other assassin.

The man reacted with surprise and made a move to catch it just as a bullet from the silenced gun in her other hand impacted with his chest.

Casper dropped to the floor and rolled over, firing off a shot and smirking when she jerked back as the shot scattered and peppered the walls and door. He heard the muttered curse and he knew he’d hit her. Maybe only a minor wound, but he’d drawn blood. He slowly backed up and got to his feet, taking aim at the wall she would be leaning against.

Val bit her cheek until the pain was manageable. He hadn’t caused a very serious wound, but the area at her side was sensitive and it burned like hell. Her head snapped to the side and just when Casper made a move for her, Alex stepped into the room and fired off a shot.

The assassin writhed on the floor next to his lifeless companion. A gut shot was a death sentence, and one that came with a shitload of pain. It took every bit of strength he had to reach for the gun that had dropped from suddenly nerveless fingers but before they could close around the grip Valkyrie was standing on his wrist, pinning it in place, careless of the pain he was in.

“You’ve never been the brightest crayon in the box,” she spit out and added pressure with her foot.

“What the fuck are you thinkin’? You turn on these people and your number’s up,” he rasped.

“So?” She lifted one perfect eyebrow. “Who wants to live forever anyway? Might as well take down as many assholes as I can before I go.”

“You’ll never take them down and they’re gonna know how to find you before long anyway.” His head dropped back against the floor and he coughed, tasting the coppery flavor of blood on his tongue.

“You won’t find out, Casper.”

Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. “The clock’s tickin’, Valkyrie.”

“Yours is about to stop.” She leaned down and looked him in the face. “Where are the civilians, Casper? Do your soul a favor and maybe spare yourself a few torments of hell when you get to the other side.”

“Ol’ devil’s owned my soul for too many years to count.” He shook his head weakly. “You go after them you’re dead.”

“We’re all dead sooner or later.”

“Can’t argue that one.” He shivered as cold crept into his body. “You’d need an army to get to them but it won’t matter once Janus is finished fucking them up.”

Valkyrie released an impatient huff. “I wasn’t asking for advice or warnings. I need answers. Where the fuck are they?” She had only met Janus once in person, but if the rumors were true about him then they didn’t have much time before the civilians spilled every secret in their soul. He was a cold, heartless bastard, trained to get whatever he wanted out of them.

Alex felt a little dizzy when more and more blood welled up and spilled over from the man’s wound, forming a river along his side that slowly but surely started to soak the filthy, beige carpet underneath him. He dropped down on the bed and just stared at what his companion was doing while it slowly crept into him that he had taken the life-ending shot.

“I don’t know where.” Casper’s eyes were clouded, but she noticed their shift to the edge of his pants where the outline of a cell could be seen in one pocket. With a quick move she got it out and glanced at it. “If your friend is such a genius...”

Val knew that someone would call sooner or later to get a report from the assassins. Question was if it would happen before the Circle found out they were already dead.

Her eyes narrowed when he suddenly inhaled sharply and his body arched up off of the floor. His right hand flailed for a moment as he tried to get it to cooperate with his wishes and it flopped against his chest weakly. His eyes widened and his mouth formed a silent scream as his fingers began to spasm and his body convulsed.

“Alex, we need to move. Now.”

When he didn’t move she grabbed his arm roughly and jerked him to his feet.

“What?” He couldn’t keep his eyes off of the man lying on the floor, couldn’t look away from the blood soaked carpet, couldn’t help the sickening feeling that washed through him as he watched the man’s life slip away one agonized breath at a time.

“They were left here to take us out,” she said as she shoved him out the door.

“But they’re… we took them out first.” He couldn’t seem to get his brain to focus on what she was saying.

She continued to shove him, trying to get him to pick up the pace. “The kill switch, Alex! We took them out but the biometrics in their fucking trackers have alerted the Circle and if I’m right we’re about to – “

The rest of her words were swallowed up by the explosion that tore through the hallway behind them and rocked the building.

For a moment Alex had no clue what was up and what was down. He felt his body moving but wasn’t sure in which direction. When everything came to a stop and only the ringing in his ears remained, he took some time and a few deep breaths before he opened his eyes.

The air around him was dusty and a fine film of debris had spread all over him and in his mouth. It coated his tongue and throat making him feel as if he had just swallowed a whole bucket of it. Slowly he took inventory of his body, trying to move both of his arms and then his legs.

“You done resting?” An annoyed sounding woman bent over him.

“Am I still in one piece?” he asked carefully and tried to move his upper body.

“Your body yes, but I’m not sure about your head.” Val reached for him and dragged him up.

He stumbled, coughing dryly as he tried to expel the worst of the dust but it was to no avail. It was going to take water and plenty of it before the desert in his throat was washed out.

“We have to move. No one may call the cops to this dump but this’ll have them runnin’.”

Alex nodded and forced his feet to move. “I’m good. Let’s…” he glanced around, trying to remember if he’d had the gun in his hand before the explosion. It could identify him, draw unwanted attention to them.

Valkyrie finally realized what he was doing and she shook her head. It was the smart thing to do, but he was so rattled he had no idea the gun was tucked into his waistband at the small of his back. He’d have no problem remembering it when the bruising there started giving him hell. “It’s still on you.” The sound of footsteps pounding across the floor below them had her immediate attention and she turned, taking aim at the window at the end of the hall and firing. She used her elbow to clear enough of the broken glass to give them a way out and after taking a quick look down along the fire escape she grabbed her companion’s arm and pushed him towards the window.

Alex stumbled out. “Not so rough, sweetheart.”

“Shut up and move,” she hissed, following him down the steps impatiently when he took more time than she liked.

“What now?” he asked as soon as his feet hit the ground. He was breathing harshly and it was annoying since she seemed to be entirely fine. “Back to the car?”

“No, they might’ve seen us already.” Val glanced around and then nodded towards the narrow alley between the buildings. “This way.”

He frowned but knew better than to question her. He followed when she started to walk in the direction she had chosen and was glad to see that the alley didn’t end in a dead end. A busy street came into view when they made it around the corner of the building.

“Yeah, we’re gonna blend,” Alex muttered as he took in the people scattered around the rundown area.

“Just keep your head down and follow me.”

“No problem.”

“We’re just a couple of blocks from the subway and from there it’s about a fifteen minute ride to Penn Station.”

“And from there?”

“We catch the first train heading out of state.”

“They’ll expect that.” He reached up to rub his head, suddenly realizing it was pounding.

She snorted. “Of course they will. But we won’t be on that train. We have plenty of routes to choose from and we’ll be heading north for now.”

“North, like up into Canada?” He shook his head. “We cross the border we have to have proof of – “

“Whitman, would you chill out? We find a spot to hole up for a few minutes and you hack the system. Using information I give you to make them think it’s us, you put us on about a dozen different trains. By the time you’re finished, they’re gonna be tied up searching airlines, bus lines, shipping lines, and the trains. They’re already spread thin and they won’t be able to risk not searching all of them.”

“Okay, but where’re we goin’?”

“New Hampshire. Private airstrip.” She shook her head in annoyance at the half dozen punks up ahead just looking for trouble. “These assholes up here say anything just let it pass. Don’t look ‘em in the eye, just ignore ‘em.”

He shot a quick glance at the group lounging against the wall of a building. He tried to play it cool but one of the greasy looking thugs pushed away from the wall he was busy holding up as they approached him. They couldn’t afford to draw any more attention to themselves but he had a bad feeling they weren’t going to have much choice in the matter.

[Roswelllostcause]

Hopefully they will be able to find Max and Liz before it is too late!

[begonia9508]

Great part, especially the story about the sandwich! Who could do such a trouble for a sandwich!!!!!

But at least, Valkyrie discovered something and I hope for them, it isn't a trap!

Thanks EVE

[keepsmiling7]

Looking forward to Max and Liz again.
Thanks,
Carolyn

[sarammlover]

F WORD!!! At least Val and Alex know who took Max and Liz. I hope they get to them in time!! I LOVE how strong Val is and how she isn't afraid to take out any one who is a threat and I love that Alex lets her take that role and doesn't get man macho.....can't wait for next week!!!