Caeda: An Assassin's Holiday
by demented20
When gorgeous assassin Caeda breaks her own rule, she becomes the hunted.

This was going to be two different chapters, but I decided to try something different. Let me know what you think.

"Don't make me kill you." Caeda's gaze was deadly serious as she looked down the barrel of her pistol at the cowering prison guard. There was nothing else in the world to her at that moment. She was less than a heartbeat from pulling the trigger.

The guard lay against the side of the control console with his finger hovering above the red button that would signal every alarm at the United States Penitentiary Maximum Facility at Eastway, New York. The prison had recently been upgraded to hold the highest security prisoners in the country. It also held the country's most secret prisoners as well. This place had some of the most sophisticated security systems anywhere in the world. It hadn't been easy for Caeda to break her way into prison, but here she was. "I'm just doing my job", the man cried, hoping that she would understand. He couldn't see the slim woman's face, he saw her icy blue eyes narrow at his words.

"I won't beg you to save your own life. I've managed to get this far without killing a single guard, but do as I say, or I'll kill you." There was no anger in her voice, or malice, just an unmistakable tone of finality.

The man's hand shook and then moved away from the button. He held his hands in front of his face. "Don't hurt me, please." The guard looked around the small control room at his three co-workers who had all been knocked senseless by this young woman.

"Roll over and lay on your stomach", Caeda ordered in the same emotionless voice.

The guard complied. Caeda put her .45 in her holster and stepped closer. Caeda usually carried a .22 calibre pistol, but this job was a little different than her regular contracts. Breaking into a supermax prison had taken every trick in Caeda's bag. She'd used a secret compartment designed as an auxiliary fuel tank under an inmate transport bus to get into the walls. Once she was on the prison grounds, she'd used distractions and electronics to get inside Building C. She'd only encountered two guards on her way to the control room. Once inside, she had quickly knocked three of the guards out. The fourth guard had almost hit the alarm, and he had almost died. Caeda had promised herself that she wouldn't kill one more person than necessary. That was the only thing that had saved this guy's life. She used his own restraints to cuff his hands. She had thought to gag his mouth, but one more look at him confirmed that she wasn't going to have a problem.

With that done, Caeda took a seat behind the computer console. She had control of the entire prison from this spot. There were two other identical control rooms in other parts of the prison, but Caeda had already locked them out. There were other assassins who knew more about computers than Caeda did, but she knew enough. There were seven doors between where she was and where she was going. She could open five of those doors from where she sat, but the other two needed something she didn't have. She spun in the chair and faced the cuffed guard.

"What's your name?", she asked.

That simple question shook the guard, but he had to answer. "Anthony"

"Listen, Anthony, you're coming with me", she told him. She didn't ask, and she didn't reason. He already knew better than to object to anything this woman said. "You're going to open cell block 6 north. If you don't give me any trouble, I won't harm you at all. I don't have to say what I'll do if you annoy me in the least. Do you understand me, Anthony?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Get up, we're going for a walk."

Caeda removed his cuffs, took him roughly under his shoulder, and pushed him into the hall. He stumbled and nearly fell, but he knew better. He was far too afraid to fall. He kept his footing. His living or dying rested on the mood of the woman who was walking a half step behind him. He could feel her behind him, but he could only hear his foot falls sounding on the hard floor. It was almost like being followed by a ghost.

From the corner of his eye, Anthony saw another guard coming around the corner from doing his rounds. Earl was happy go lucky guy who got along with the inmates as much as was possible. Anthony wanted to warn him, but he knew better. To warn Earl would cost Anthony his life, and he just wasn't that brave. A slight squeeze from Caeda told Anthony to walk and act naturally, as she hid behind his bigger body. He complied as best he could, because Earl didn't see Caeda until it was too late.

Earl was next to Anthony when his eyes shot open. His right arm went down to his baton. Caeda's right leg flashed up like a black clad blur. She buried the end of her boot into Earl's midsection. He grunted and doubled over. Her foot never touched the ground. She shifted her hips and twisted her leg. Again it became a blur as she kicked Earl square in the face. His body flew back and his head slammed against the wall. Anthony heard the wind leave Earl's lungs when his back hit the wall an instant later. He started sliding to the floor. Caeda's right leg struck three times before his body made it all the way down. All the impacts were vicious. Earl crumpled to the floor and fell over with one last sigh.

"Ok, keep moving", Caeda ordered. Anthony was even more scared now than he had been before. There was not even a hint of exertion in her voice. Not only had she dispatched a trained guard with only one of her legs, it seemed as if it hadn't taken anything out of her.

They came up to the sixth door. Anthony took out his key card without having to be told. He pressed the card to the reader, and then he put his thumb to the sensor. The sensor not only read the ridges and swirls of his thumbprint, it also read the DNA in his sweat. The door opened quickly.

The door lead to a long corridor. There were cells on both sides, but so far only one side of the block had been filled. This cell block had no bars. Every inmate was in an individual cell with a yellowish steel door keeping him inside. There was one small window near the top of the door so the guards could see in, and there was a rectangular opening near the center of the door for feeding. Caeda and the guard started past the cells. Caeda had let Anthony go. She walked a couple steps behind him. Most of the inmates were awake. They saw the guard, but they had no idea who the woman was behind him. She had a nice body on her though. Her hips and legs and arms and everything looked great, but she had her face covered.

"Hey, bitch! Take the hood off so I can have a fucking face to jerk-off to!"

Caeda ignored him and kept walking. She was almost there. She was about to complete a very special contract. Caeda rarely took contracts this time of year, but this was a special case. Romano Scarlfaro was a man who had hunted down gifted people and had experimented on them, and he had used them as weapons. Caeda knew that she was a weapon, but no one was pulling her strings.

She felt the tension rise as she came closer to the end of this contract. Some contracts went smoothly, but some had problems. This one had gone smoothly. It had gone so smoothly that she distantly feared something bad was going to happen. If she was lucky, the problem would arise after she had killed Romano Scarlfaro Caeda should have remembered that she was rarely lucky.

Anthony came to the end of the block. He put his thumb to the sensor next to cell number 2, and the door opened. The guard pushed the door open. Caeda pushed the guard aside and stood in the doorway. Her hand went near her pistol.

Romano Scarlfaro looked nothing like an international crime figure. He was a grand fatherly looking man of only 5'6". His hair had once been the deepest black, but now there were only patches of dark breaking up the silver. He had always been a barrel chested man, but now he was just portly. In the prison issue t-shirt and boxers, he looked dangerous enough to swat a fly with a rolled up newspaper, but Caeda knew better. This man was a killer, just like her. She reached down to pull her pistol. She wasn't going to draw this assassination out, and she wasn't going to make it dramatic. She just wanted it over.

Before Caeda's hand could touch the grip of her .45, she and Anthony turned their heads when they heard a muffled thud. Then there was another and another in quick succession. The sounds were getting closer. Then the floor shook.

"What the hell?", Anthony asked and looked around at the dust falling from the ceiling.

Caeda drew a sharp breath. "Those are explosions! Get down!" Before she could find cover there was a flash of fire and heat. The concrete floor rumbled and the lights went out. Caeda leaned against the thick door frame. It took a few moments for her ears to stop ringing and for her mind to catch up. She could hear now. The inmates were yelling from the back sides of their steel doors. She could hear pieces of ceiling falling to the cracked floor, and she could hear her own breathing. There was dust in the air and confusion on everybody's mind. Even she had no idea what was going on. Confusion paralyzed the mind and the body. Caeda saw Romano Scarlfaro in his cell, and she saw Anthony lying on his back. She could see the door to the cell block open, but she didn't know what to do next. She didn't know if she should run or what, but she glanced back to Romano. If she was going to run, she was going to kill him first. Her hand once again went for her pistol.

She heard automatic gunfire then and guards yelling from the hallway outside the cell block. This was going all wrong. None of this was supposed to be happening. Caeda hadn't planned on explosions or shoot-outs. She didn't know that Romano Scarlfaro had many enemies. She turned quickly, just in time to see a stun grenade skipping down the cell block floor. She dove into Romano's cell as fast and her legs could propel her. She landed on the hard concrete floor just as the grenade exploded in a blinding white flash and loud bang. She had shielded herself from taking the full blow from the grenade, but she was still dazed. Caeda raised her head and turned towards the front of the cell block in time to see a team of fully armed and armored paramilitaries turn the corner and enter the cell block as a team. They moved like a multi-part whole as inched down the darkened corridor They were more than mere professionals. This group was elite. The lights flickered and the generators kicked in. Caeda had known that her only chance had been the shadows, but when the lights came on, the shadows vanished. Caeda was completely exposed. One of the paramilitary attackers saw her. He leveled his rifle at her, and without a second thought, pulled the trigger.

Twenty-seven Days Earlier...

Caeda balanced expertly on the window sill and reached high over her head. Her pale blue eyes narrowed as she concentrated and stretched further. She took one of her bare feet from the wood to extend her reach the last little bit. Gravity started pulling her down, but Caeda never fell. She tilted her hips just a little, and then she was there. She put the tape against the wall.

"I was going to ask if you needed some help", Russell said as he came into the room carrying a box of decorations for the Christmas tree. He looked up at Caeda's long lean body as she stood on the window sill. She looked so different than the first time he had seen her. The first time Russell had laid eyes on her, she had been wearing a skin tight black outfit, and her pistol had been in her hand. She had looked sexy and deadly as she had burst into that room a couple of months ago. Today, she was wearing a loose sleeveless shirt that barely came to her waist, and some paint splattered pants. Russell was just able to see up her shirt to the bottom of her bra, and he got a good look at Caeda's tight midriff.

"No, I got it. You know usually I do this myself.", she said as she jumped down to the floor. She looked around the room and judged the lights satisfactory. She had invited Russell over to her apartment to help her decorate. The choice had been tough to make. She had gone back and forth before calling him. They had known each other for a couple of months and in that time, all of her dealings with Russell had been tough. Amaris Johanssen had created her alter ego, Caeda, four years earlier to hide her true identity after becoming an assassin. There were people in the world who knew Amaris and there were people who knew Caeda, but only two people had known that they were one in the same. That was until Russell Redwine had used his power to track her down after she had seen her on a contract. Her first instinct had been to kill him, but she hadn't. She had spared his life three times. He only knew about one time. He had stayed in contact with her over the next few weeks and now here he was, in her apartment of his own free will, just because she had asked him to come. Trust was a funny thing, and he probably trusted a little too much.

Russell opened a box full of neatly packed ornaments. He started pulling them out and setting them on the table next to the eight foot tree Amaris had bought. "So are you trying to win the building Christmas decoration contest?", he asked as he pulled out more and more decorations.

Amaris chuckled and went over to help. She stood next to him and started separating the ornaments that would go on the tree first. Russell felt a rush when she stood next to him. He tried not to stare as she stood next to him, but she was so beautiful. Everything about her was attractive and made Russell's heart race. He couldn't get over how different she was here in her home when she was relaxed. There was hardly a trace of the assassin. None of the people who met Amaris would have believed that she could have ever been an infamous assassin, but Russell could notice some small things. Her movements were efficient, graceful, and exact. When she opened something or untangled something, her fingers never fumbled or seemed unsure of what they wanted to do. And she never looked around to find the tape or the scissors, or anything that she had set down. She just seemed to know where everything was.

Russell caught his eyes wandering up and down Amaris' body. He had the thought to take her around her waist, but she would probably break a couple of his fingers or his wrist before she caught herself and stopped. She turned her back to pick up something, and Russell had to peel his eyes from her backside.

"My mother would kill me if I didn't decorate like this", Caeda began as she turned around and her eyes met his. "We used to do it every year. Her family had done it when she grew up, and then we did it. My father loved it too. We used to decorate the house and the yard and the trees outside. Nothing tacky, but everything was decorated in some way. So I wanted to keep it going."

"Well, thank you for inviting me."

She smiled and looked up at him. "You're welcome. Its more fun with someone else. Mrs. Havasu used to help me, but her arthritis hurts her too much these days. You're a suitable replacement."

Russell shook his head and looked around the room. There were lights and rain deer and little Santas, but the centerpiece of the decorations was a Nativity Scene carved out of a single block of wood. He knew that Amaris herself had carved it. He didn't have to ask. All he had to do was look at the faces on the figures. All of them were either happy or exalted except for Mary. She was happy, but there was a sadness in her eyes because she already knew the end of the story even if the rest of the people around her didn't. The look the Mary figure had in her eyes was the same that Amaris had in hers most of the time. Even her happy times were tinged with sadness.

"Oh! Please be careful with those. They're getting a little fragile. Those are the special ones", Amaris called out as Russell pulled some more decorations from the box. She carefully took these decorations from his hands. She held up one to inspect it. It was made of yarn and popsicle sticks. "This one was Errick's. That one was done by my older brother Carrell."

Russell smiled and held up the most intricate one. "Let me guess, this one is yours."

She shook her head and took the ornament from his hand. "No, this one was done by my father. I couldn't have done something like this when I was six. This one is mine." She held up a glossy ornament that she had sculpted out of clay and had glazed and painted. It was quite good for a six year old.

"These must mean a whole lot to you."

"More than I can express."

"Where's your mother's?"

Amaris turned away then and her hand went instinctively to her neck and rubbed at the St. Jude medal set into the front of her green and red choker. "I don't have her ornament. It didn't survive. This is all I have left that belonged to my mother." She rubbed the medal again, and Russell thought that she was going to tear up, but he didn't know her well enough to read her just yet. She had dealt with this pain for so long that tears only rarely came. She pushed the pain aside and looked at him with a grin. In a way she was glad that he was asking questions. It made her think of the good times.

"Ok", she began after a short time of silence. "Let's start stringing these lights."

"More lights? Man, I hate to see your bill next month."

"I can afford it I think. Besides I have jobs lined up after New Years."

That caught Russell off guard. He'd been trying hard to avoid talking about Caeda's line of work, but now she had brought it up. "How much do you make at being an.... you know at doing what you do."

"That's sort of a personal question isn't it? I mean I don't ask you how much you make", she replied lightly.

"$37,000."

"What? Then how do you afford that apartment on West 96th Street?"

"Charity from Mommy and Daddy. Wait! I've never taken you to my apartment!"

Amaris opened her mouth to say something, but her face turned slightly red instead. "Well, you remember the day you came here the first time and I sort of roughed you up?"

"How can I forget?"

"I followed you and saw where you live."

Russell's brown eyes narrowed and looked at Amaris for a long moment. "You went there to kill me didn't you?"

"But I didn't", she said quickly. "It doesn't matter. I know where you live, and you're still alive. Let's just drop it."

"Since you made me afraid to go home tonight, you can at least tell me how lucrative your business is."

Amaris looked over her shoulder at him. "Why are you scared to go home? You're here with me now."

"You're avoiding the question. I'm surprised at you."

Caeda hung her head and grinned. "I'm going to pay taxes on $927,000."

"You make that much!"

Amaris went back to stringing lights. "I said I'm going to pay taxes on that much. With the way I make my money, I don't see any problem with fudging on the numbers a little... or a lot." Amaris' grin was full of mirth, and her eyes practically sparkled. Russell looked into those eyes, but blinked. He couldn't get lost in there, not yet. "Wow. I'm in the wrong business", he said.

Her face suddenly changed. "No, you're not. Trust me. The money's just good so people like me can drink ourselves to an early grave."

Russell sighed. "Well, let's get back to stringing lights."

"Great idea."

She and Russell finished decorating, and she treated him to dinner before he left. Amaris wasn't the best cook, and she wasn't sure how much a treat it was, but Russell seemed to enjoy it, or perhaps he was faking it. Things were calm for Caeda for the days leading up to Christmas. It was usually calm for her this time of year. She rarely took contracts after Thanksgiving and never in the weeks leading up to the 25th. It wasn't so much that she felt pity on the people that would have been her targets, she just couldn't see ruining this time of year for their families. This time of year shouldn't be associated with death.

It was the middle of the morning a few days before Christmas and Amaris looked around her decoration filled apartment, but despite Elksede's best efforts, she was completely lonely. Most years decorating her apartment like this would bring back all the great memories of her childhood, but not this year. This year it just reminded her that her family wasn't with her. She could have gone out with some of her artist friends, but many of them made it a point to show little or no Holiday spirit. She didn't need that. She needed something else. She thought about calling Russell, but he was probably about to leave for his hometown of Chicago. Amaris figured that she was going to spend the next few days alone.

She was playing with Elskede when her phone rang. She picked it up without looking at the caller id. She thought it might be Russell. "Hello", she answered enthusiastically.

"Merry Christmas, Amaris", the Broker greeted her.

She laughed. "I thought you celebrated Christmas in January."

The Broker laughed. He couldn't see her smile, but he could hear it in her voice. "Its the Christmas season. And I'm inviting you to a party. The party is on short notice I know, but if you can make it, I think you will enjoy it. There are some people there that I would like you to meet."

"Okay, I'll be there", she replied without thinking about it. She wanted to get out of her apartment in the worst kind of way. She thought of calling Russell, but again she knew that she couldn't. He was probably on his way to the airport. She stood up and ran over to the nearest mirror and grimaced. To most eyes she would have looked absolutely beautiful, but not to her own eyes. Every event the Broker put on was a gala affair; she was going to need some work before she was prepared to meet high society. Her first call was to her hair stylist. She'd had her hair done recently, but this was a special occasion. She needed a facial and her nails too, and then what to wear...

That night Amaris stepped out of her bedroom and walked down the hall barefoot towards her living room. She had looked in a full length mirror, but she had something better than a mirror waiting for her.

Mrs. Havasu's look was approving as Amaris came out wearing a shimmering black evening gown that was low cut enough to show off her nice bosom, but high enough to be completely tasteful. For a rare occasion, she wasn't wearing a choker around her neck. Instead she had polished her St. Jude medal and set it into a triple strand of Akoya pearls. She had matching pearl earrings and a platinum bracelet with one pearl on her left wrist.

"Well, how do I look?", she asked, slightly apprehensive of the answer.

"Exquisite, Dearie. Absolutely exquisite."

Amaris' light blue eyes gleamed.

"Put the shoes on, so I can see the entire effect", Mrs. Havasu told her.

Amaris sat down on the arm of one of her chairs and slid the shoes onto her feet one after the other. Her toes were painted a pearly, creamy white after her emergency pedicure that afternoon. She carefully fastened the delicate little straps. She knew it was cold outside, but she just had to wear these shoes. She stood up when she was finished.

"Ok, you think I'm ready?"

Mrs. Havasu rubbed her chin. "Almost, you look so wonderful, that I hate to tell you that you aren't quite complete."

Amaris' face looked panicked. She had no idea what she could have forgotten. Mrs. Havasu stood up and took a close look at Amaris before she turned and slowly walked towards the door. Amaris was even more confused.

"I hate to say it, Dearie, but a young woman dressed so well should never be seen about town without a proper escort. If you don't mind my intrusion, I took the liberty of arranging one for you." Caeda frowned, and then there was a knock at the door. "That would be him now I believe."

Mrs. Havasu opened the door and smiled as Russell Redwine walked into Amaris' apartment looking completely handsome wearing a black tuxedo and a grin that showed all of his teeth. He held a dozen roses in his hands. Eleven of the roses were white, with one pale blue rose in the middle. He stepped into the room completely and got his first look at Amaris. His heart nearly stopped, but he didn't let it show. He had to work hard at keeping his cool, because he was sure that there wasn't a more perfect sight to be seen anywhere in the world. Their eyes met and they lingered in each other's gaze for a time, before Amaris looked away. "Hey", she managed to say.

"You're stunning", Russell told her as he stepped further into the room. He extended the bouquet.

Amaris took them and quickly inhaled the scent. "These are lovely, but I thought you were in Chicago." For the first time since they'd met, Russell was seeing her off guard completely. She seemed vulnerable, at least a little bit.

"Well, umm, no, my flight doesn't leave until tomorrow."

"You didn't tell me that", Amaris exclaimed.

Mrs. Havasu was all smiles. "You didn't ask him, Dearie. I knew you wouldn't, so after you called me this morning and told me that you were going to an uptown party, I called Mr. Redwine."

"I don't know whether to thank you or what", Amaris told her neighbor.

Mrs. Havasu just grinned. "Whether you thank me or not, shall be entirely up to Mr. Redwine here. You two have a nice time tonight." She very gently shoved them out the door together and made a show of closing the door behind them. Amaris had her coat and her purse, but not her keys. She was completely locked out of her own apartment. She just laughed and wrapped her arm around Russell's. He was so debonair in his tux. They walked down the stairs side by side.

"I have a little surprise for you", Russell teased as they entered the lobby. He pulled open the front door and held it for Amaris as she exited. When she did, she saw a white Rolls Royce Phantom. The driver tipped his cap as Amaris walked out the door.

"Russell, you hired a driver and everything too?"

Russell took her arm again as they started down the steps. "I don't want the folks at the party to think the lovely Amaris Johannsen is out with a bum."

She squeezed his arm as they crossed the sidewalk. The driver opened the door as they approached. "How much money did you say you made again?"

Russell looked at her and smiled. "I have rich parents."

The Party & and the Contract

There was elegant commotion around the Broker's posh Upper East Side town house. It was more like a town palace. There were finely dressed women with their husbands or boyfriends going up the stairs into the party. There were valets outside trying to keep moving, partly to earn their money, but mostly to stay warm against the night chill. The chauffeur stopped in front of the door once the line moved forward. He quickly jumped out and opened the door. Russell got out of the car and extended his hand. Amaris smiled up at him and put her hand in his. She stepped out of the car and pulled her coat tighter around her neck. The door opened before Russell and Amaris' shoes touched the landing.

"Welcome", the doorman greeted them while someone came to take their coats.

"This is a nice place", Russell whispered in Amaris' ear as they walked further into the very richly appointed house.

"Our host has refined tastes", she told him. "Oh here he comes now."

The Broker was not man of large stature. He stood barely 5'8", and his build was not quite slight, but almost. He was wearing a tuxedo that probably cost a fortune and he had a glass of egg nog in his hand. He fairly glided across the floor towards Amaris when he saw her standing there. His grinned broadened and stretched out his arms. Amaris leaned in and they embraced affectionately. He kissed her on both cheeks, took a step back and held her by the shoulders while looking her up and down.

"You are ravishing tonight, my Dear", he exclaimed in his almost Slavic, almost English accent.

"Thank you so much." Her face looked so happy. It only added to the Broker's joy to see her face light up.

"Let me introduce you two", Amaris began. "Russell, this is our host Mr. Dimitri Aleksandrovich Alexeyev. And Mitya, this is Russell Redwine."

The two men shook hands. Russell was surprised at how warm the handshake was. "Nice to meet you young man. I have heard quite a lot about your family."

"Oh? Good things I hope."

The Broker grinned. "For certain." He lead them into the party. There was live music, and any sort of beverage your heart desired. Amaris had already decided that she wasn't going to drink too much, maybe a little wine, but nothing more.

"You two make a wonderful couple", the Broker said as they entered the ball room.

They fell over each other trying to correct him. "Oh we're not a couple", Amaris told him. "We're just friends."

The Broker looked amused. "Did you two not come here together? Then for at least this night, you are a couple." Russell and Amaris just looked at each other and laughed. The Broker left them alone while he greeted other guests, but none as warmly as he had greeted Amaris.

"You and Mr. Alexeyev must be good friends for him to invite you to a party like this."

"Mitya's not my friend. He's more than that. When I was 12, he pulled up in a big white limousine and rescued me from the group home where I was living in at the time. I'd do anything for him."

"I picked you up in a white limo. What will you do for me?"

Caeda's stare was icy cold. "Don't push it, Russell", she said in a voice hardly above a whisper. She held her stare for a couple of seconds before her lips formed a smile and she laughed. "You should have seen your face!"

Russell chuckled at himself. "That wasn't funny."

The party itself was great. Russell and Amaris separated and made their way through the party. There were all sorts of people there from all walks of life. Amaris had run into Wall Street tycoons, and she had run into the Sanitation Department crew who regularly picked up the trash here at the Broker's house. He had invited all of them and their wives to the party. They seemed to be really enjoying themselves. She saw more than one couple kissing under the mistletoe. She was careful to avoid mistletoe. She was sitting on one of the divans across from the huge Christmas tree. She was content for the moment to watch the people having a good time. She sat back for a moment and sipped at some champagne. She wanted to collect her thoughts and just enjoy the scene for a few moments. After a while, she stood up to look for Russell, but the Broker found her first.

"There you are", he said. "There is someone I want you to meet." He lead her to one of the rooms on the ground floor that was closed to guests. He swept his arm out, and a man walked closer.

Amaris looked out past the Broker and out the double doors. Her breathing stopped when she saw a man darken the doorway then step into the light. She wasn't sure, but her heart might have paused too. The man could best be described as agonizing handsome. He walked in with more confidence and authority than anyone deserved to convey. His body was strong and his personality seemed even stronger. Caeda had to remind herself to breathe when their eyes met. He appraised her like a piece of art. He took in the curves of her graceful body, her styled dark hair, her clear flawless skin, and of course her intense icy blue eyes. She suddenly felt very alone as this man studied her. His blond hair just brushed his collar as his bright blue eyes looked at her. He extended his hand. "My name is Morgen Stern." His voice matched the rest of him. It was deep, resonant, soothing, and commanding.

"Amaris Johanssen", she made herself respond. She swore that she felt her brain spark when she touched his hand, and she felt ashamed to feel a little tingle between her legs.

"Pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you." He still held her hand and looked into her eyes. There was a familiarity there that Caeda hadn't seen before. But she didn't know this man. She would have remembered if she had ever laid eyes on him. She didn't know what to say. She felt silly and probably looked worse.

"I've heard that you are best in the business. I knew your power was useful for different tasks, but you've pushed it further than I thought you could."

Caeda was taken aback, and it showed on her face.

"I'll explain", the Broker said. He motioned for everyone to have a seat. One of the countless servers brought them all drinks. Caeda felt more than a little uncomfortable under the near constant gaze of Morgen Stern. He wasn't creepy or anything, in fact, it was the opposite. He was so charming and so attractive that she was finding it hard to fight off the urge to act on her impulses. She did wonder how much he knew about her though.

"Hmm let me see", the Broker started. "You're wondering how he knows about you. Well, Morgen and I are partners of a sort. He's in the information business. We met in the mid 80's when our goals were closely aligned. I helped him accomplish his goal of providing information to the West in order to help bring down the Soviet Bloc. In return, he gave me information on gifted people for my business. He knows about you because after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Morgen came to the US to set up business over here. We still did favors for each other, and it was Morgen who informed me about a certain gifted twelve year old girl who was living in a group home in Pittsburgh. So you see, if it wasn't for Morgen, I might not have ever known about you. And he stayed abreast of your life as you grew older."

"Why haven't you ever mentioned him?", Amaris asked.

"I prefer to stay in the background. I told Mitya just this afternoon that today would be a great day for us to finally meet in person."

Amaris didn't have anything to say. She looked at the Broker then at Morgen Stern. For some reason when her eyes met his, it was very hard for her to turn away.

"So", Morgen said with a smooth smile. "I have been at a distance, but I have always taken a keen interest in your well being. It was really hard for me when I heard about what had happened to your foster family a few years ago."

Amaris' eyes narrowed and Morgen changed the subject. "You've done well for yourself in all of your endeavors, despite the hardships of your life. I hear that you are the best in your business."

"I'm not the best, and I don't talk about it much."

"Not the best? Who then?"

"Chet Perkins is the best. He's forgotten more about completing a contract than I'll ever know, but if it is all the same, I'd rather not talk about this tonight."

Morgen put his hand on hers. Amaris' body shuddered, from caution and arousal. "If only it were that easy." Morgen slowly looked away from Amaris over towards at their host.

The Broker took a drink from his glass. "You see, Morgen and I have been working for some time against a European Syndicate that wants to make people like us into weapons to be used by the highest bidder. They would go into places like my native Russia and in some cases kill dozens of people just to get at one gifted child. Once they had this child they would experiment on him. Either he survived or he didn't. They did this over and over. I visited Armenia when I was a boy and went to a quaint little town there. It had a history going way back. Ten years ago, I went to the same town to find a gifted boy, and the town was gone. There was nothing but smoldering buildings there. Every man, woman, and child in that village had been slaughtered. Well, not every child. One child lived. The child I had come to see had survived. He had been huddled in a collapsed well so scared that it took me nearly two day to talk him from the hole, and it has taken years of intense therapy to heal the mental damage. The child's name is Armen, and he was the Syndicate's target. They killed an entire town to get at one boy, and they used his own brother to get to him. His older brother was a dyed in the wool Syndicate follower and he was willing to kill his own countrymen to get at his little brother. Thank God he failed and they believed the boy to be dead. They had wanted Armen because he shares his older brother Meshrob's power, but he is even more powerful. Armen is a young man now, but for years he refused to use his power. They could have turned him into a terrible weapon. Just this past year they were chasing a young boy named Thomas Lee who can harness and control the forces of electricity. He is a good and sweet boy with a power that could devastate entire regions. They murdered that boy's family right in front of his eyes, just so they could have his power."

That chilled Amaris to her core. Her hand went to the medal set into her pearl necklace, and she saw her family laying dead. The images and the sounds and the smells of that horrible night came back in one brief instant before she pushed it away. "I still don't see what this has to do with me."

The Broker continued. "Recently, the leaders of this Syndicate were brought down. The ring leader is a man named Romano Scarlfaro We just found out where he is being held. This man has too much knowledge."

"He must be killed", Morgen Stern interjected.

The Broker looked down. "I know how you don't like to do missions this time of year, and if you do not want to---" The Broker's hand shook a little as he set the glass down on a table.

Amaris took Broker's hand with both of hers. "If you say it needs to be done. Then I'll do it."

The Broker looked up briefly before his eyes fell again. He nodded weakly. "It has to be done. This man's knowledge is too dangerous."

Amaris lifted the Broker's chin. He looked up into her smiling face. "Its okay. I'll do it, and don't feel bad asking me."

"Excellent", the Broker said and stood up. "Of course your compensation will be most generous."

Caeda grinned and lifted her glass. "I'd expect nothing less." The three of them raised their glasses and drank to the death of a vile human being. Amaris was smiling while she finished the last of her wine. When she lowered her glass, she saw Morgen Stern looking directly at her. His gaze contained something that it hadn't before. And that something made Amaris apprehensive.

The Broker was pleased that Amaris wasn't upset about his request for a man's assassination at this time of the year. Perhaps he had underestimated her. He had to remind himself that Amaris was a very educated young lady and more than capable of seeing the big picture. He started to say something, when a member of the staff came and whispered something in his ear. "The mayor is about to depart. I must see him off. If you two would excuse me."

They both watched the Broker leave the room. Amaris felt strangely abandoned as she watched him leave. She decided to take her mind off that feeling.

"So, you know about my abilities, and obviously the abilities of many other people. What about you? Do you have an special powers?", she asked Morgen Stern.

There was a strange twinkle in Morgen's eye as she asked the question. He leaned towards her so that his impossibly handsome face was close to hers, and looked her directly in the eye as he spoke. "I have one ability."

"What is it?", Amaris asked in a breathy voice.

Morgen grinned. "Do you see that letter opener on the table?"

"Yes."

"If I were to ask you to take that letter opener and throw it like a knife and bury the tip into the door frame behind me, would you do it?"

"I don't know", Amaris replied without taking her eyes from his. "Maybe."

"What if I were to tell you that you had already done it." He pulled his head away from hers so she could see the gold plated letter opener buried into the polished wood of the door frame.

"Oh my!", Amaris explained. Her right hand was still extended from the follow through of her throw. "I didn't even know I was moving."

Morgen Stern adjusted his tuxedo jacket as he sat back. "That's the highest level of what I can do. Most people couldn't have done that even if I had put the suggestion in their minds. Your power allowed you to do that." He put his hand on hers and inched closer.

"That was amazing", Amaris said and moved closer to him. There was almost an animal attraction towards him now. It was irresistible. She didn't know where it had started, but she could feel it. He was handsome for certain, but was more than mere physical attraction. He was a drug, and she needed him.

Russell was standing near a corner finishing off a glass of wine when he decided to look for Amaris. He was getting frustrated after a few minutes of fruitless searching, but he continued anyway. He came around a corner, and paused because he thought he heard something. His footfalls echoed in the semi-lit hallways as he neared a set of double doors. One door was closed and the other partially open. He slowed as he neared and spied a man sitting on a sofa. Russell could see that the guy was handsome to a fault, and smooth to boot. This guy was relaxed and formal at the same time. Russell was about to walk away, but something wasn't right. He turned towards the double doors and walked down the hall with a purpose. For some reason, he was feeling that he was urgently needed in that room. He didn't run, but he quickened his pace. He pushed the partially opened door before he knocked. His face flushed when he saw Amaris sitting across from the man. They both looked surprised, but the man looked annoyed or worse.

There was not a thought in Amaris' head as she leaned closer and closer to Morgen. She wanted him, and she usually had what she wanted. She didn't know that Morgen Stern was accustomed to always getting his way as well, and right now he wanted Amaris. She was powerless to stop him. Their lips were getting closer, and Morgen's hand was on her thigh. His touch was sensually overwhelming. She felt herself completely surrendering to this lust. There was no light; there was no dark, no right, no wrong; there was only Morgen Stern, and then it was all gone. In an instant all that lust and attraction was ripped away. She looked again at Morgen Stern. Nothing about him had changed except that confidence. When Russell walked in, Morgen seemed to shrink just enough for Amaris' personality to pull free, and only with great concentration, she was able to pull her hand away from his. She was starting to feel more and more attracted to him with every beat of her heart.

"Ru-- Russell", she stammered and slowly got to her feet. She was unsteady and Morgen Stern took her by the arm to balance her. He said a word to her very softly, and once again she was powerless. She felt herself fading away.

Seeing this man touching Amaris made Russell more than a little angry. He hurried over to his date and put his arm around her waist. He had never seen her shaky, never. This man must have done something to her. At first Russell thought that she had been drugged, but no that wasn't it at all. Russell could hear the whispers. He could hear this man's power speaking to Amaris as she stood there. Russell looked in her face and there was no recognition in her eyes.

"What are you doing?", Russell demanded.

Morgen Stern's humor seemed to be gone. "You saw what I was doing before you barged in, and I intend to complete what I started", he stated with all the authority of a king.

Russell wasn't impressed. "The hell you are."

"Young man, do you know who I am?"

Russell was having a hard time holding Amaris up. The man's whispers were getting louder. He decided he had to do something. "I don't care who you are, and I don't know what power you have, but you better leave her alone before you and me are going to have a problem."

Morgen laughed then. He didn't say anything, but he turned his power to Russell.

Russell felt Morgan's power like a pressure on his very consciousness. His power slipped in beneath a person's thoughts down to their core instincts. He could tell your brain what it should think, and what it should do. Most people had no defense for what Morgen Stern could do, but Russell had a power that went much deeper than even Morgen's power. Russell could control other's emotions, but first he had to get control of his. Russell softly let Amaris slip down to the sofa. He concentrated and built up anxiety on the front of his mind, and when the emotion was fully formed, Russell blasted Morgen with it.

Morgen Stern drew a sharp breath as he felt the attack. His fingers began to tremble and a bead of sweat appeared on his forehead, but he fought back, and strengthened his own attack. Morgen Stern turned all of his power to bear on this upstart. He would crush him.

Russell's jaw was set and his eyes bored into Stern's as they fought for control. Russell pushed harder and harder. At first he had been focusing his power on Stern, but they were past that now. While Stern focused his power, Russell's power radiated out from his mind in all directions. Russell pushed harder and harder letting his power take over. Morgen resisted, but Russell's power kept growing. Then Morgen began to speak words quietly. The words didn't have to be loud. They just had to be heard. It took Morgen's power to another level.

There was so much psychic energy in the room, it was overwhelming to Amaris' mind. She was still unaware of anything around her. Russell pushed still harder, as Morgen's power grew.

The people in the party gave each other sideways glances and suddenly everything was a potential danger. A champagne glass fell to the floor and the sound was enough to send several people into a state near panic, but it only got worse. A server dropped his tray onto a couple who had huddled next to each other. Then there was a scream followed by another. The people farthest from Russell couldn't understand what was going on, but his power kept growing until they soon felt the first touches of acute anxiety.

There was sweat on Russell's brow as the fight continued, and Morgen had lost that sense of cool control.

"Enough!", they heard a voice yell from the door. "Both of you stop it now!", the Broker yelled at the top of his lungs.

Neither man stopped immediately. That would have been a disaster. Instead they backed down as they felt the other back down.

The Broker rushed over between the two men. His look was venomous when he turned to Russell. "If I did not respect your father and your family, I would have you flogged!" He spun on his heels towards a once again smirking Morgen Stern. "And you! This is not a playground! This is my home, and this is my party! I will not have it ruined for your amusement."

Morgen chuckled. "We were just feeling each other out, Mitya. Nothing more. I meant the young man no ill will whatsoever. I am sure he didn't mean me or any of your guests harm."

Russell took Amaris under her shoulders. "I don't mean anybody any harm right now, but whatever you did to her, you'd better undo."

"Idle threats aren't necessary." The Broker's tone was once again measured and steady.

"Who said my threats were idle? This is your home, and I'll respect it, but this man was using his power to take advantage of Amaris, and I'll not have it." He looked down in her face, and she was still unresponsive. Russell looked up at the Broker.

"Is that true?", the Broker asked.

Morgen shrugged his shoulders. "I was just having a little fun. I wasn't going all the way. Maybe I would steal a kiss at worst."

"Undo it, or next time all the yelling in the world won't stop me. I'll put everybody in this house in a panic. I swear it." He started forming the emotion on the front of his mind. He had it fully formed, and all he needed to do was release it.

Morgen Stern nodded seriously. The little smirk fell away. "I respect you, young man. You are willing to fight for something and make a stand." He said something softly, and Amaris started to come around.

She rubbed her head and slowly got her feet. She saw the three men standing very near each other. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing, Dear", the Broker said quickly. "I just have to speak with young Mr. Russell for a moment or two." He took Russell by the shoulder and lead him off to a corner of the room.

"So it was nice meeting you", Caeda told Morgen Stern. She remembered nothing about what had happened on the sofa only a few minutes before.

He extended his hand. "My pleasure."

"And don't worry about the contract. I should be able to get it closed quickly."

The Broker had his arm around Russell very gently as he lead him into the corner. "Don't mind Morgen. He can be quite juvenile when he wants to be, but you must fix what you've done."

"Excuse me?"

The Broker smiled. "Young man, do hear any laughs or music anymore? No. That's because you took away all the good cheer. No amount of alcohol can fix what you did, so I want you to give my guests back their good cheer, and I'll take care of the rest."

Russell looked like he had been punched in the stomach. "I'm so sorry, sir. I didn't mean for--"

The Broker held up a hand. "Call me Mitya, and just fix it."

"Ok. I'll do it right now." Russell formed the desired emotion at the front of his mind and projected it out towards the party. At first there were a few nervous giggles, but before long the drone of renewed conversation could be heard. The band had left the stage, but they slowly came back, and after a few minutes the music was once again playing."

The Broker patted Russell on the back. "There you go. Now I'll go do damage control and try to explain to everyone that they never really had anxiety attacks." The Broker smiled and left the room quickly. Russell saw Amaris talking amicably to Morgen Stern, and he rushed over.

"Oh sorry to interrupt, but Amaris, I think Mitya had something to tell you."

She smiled. "Oh, okay." She looked up at Morgen Stern. "Well, like I said, nice meeting you, and I'll see you later."

"Yes, we must do this again sometime."

Russell waited until Amaris had left the room to let his anger show. "You stay away from her!", he demanded. "She doesn't know what you were trying to do to her, but I do."

Morgen Stern laughed. "You are so gallant. You're trying to play the hero and save her, but she doesn't need saving. You do. You don't even know who that woman is."

"I know who she is and what she does."

Morgen Stern put a hand on Russell's shoulder. "Then I suppose you simply lack the good sense to stay away from her. You have no idea how dangerous that young woman really is. She's a killer through and through. She affable personally, and outwardly extremely pretty. That's why she's the perfect assassin. Most people see Amaris' beauty. They look at her face and drink in that wonderfully flowing body of hers. Everybody sees Amaris, but they don't know that Caeda lurks just beneath the surface. She fancies you right now. Congratulations young man. You might even get lucky and sleep with her. From what I've heard, that's quite a thrill since she has such excellent control of all of her muscles, but make no mistake. Amaris Johanssen is a killer. Give her reason enough, and she'll slit your throat." With that, Morgen Stern turned and walked out.

Later that evening, Morgen Stern's words were still echoing in Russell's mind as he lead Caeda to Mrs. Havasu's front door. His words had been annoyingly stuck in Russell's head. He had looked at Amaris and studied her face. He couldn't find a trace of animosity or danger on her. He had even used his power to search her emotions. The pain was still there as bad as ever, but on top of that she was perfectly happy and content. He knew that before she told him so.

"Tonight was great", Amaris told Russell. "I'm glad you came."

"Yes, I enjoyed it too."

Amaris cocked her head towards the door. "Do you want to come in? Well, in my place, I mean, once I get the keys." Her beautiful face was as serene and calm as he had ever seen it.

Most of Russell wanted to say yes. "No, thanks. I really better get home and pack." It hurt him to see the disappointment on her face.

"Well, when you get back, will you come back over to help me take down the decorations?"

"Sure will."

"Great. Just come over when you get back in town, and I'll be here."

Russell kissed her on the cheek and walked down the stairs. He had wanted to kiss her, really kiss her, all night. Now though, he didn't know what he wanted, or what he should do. He walked silently to the waiting Rolls-Royce. Morgen Stern's warning was stinging his ears, "Give her reason enough, and she'll slit your throat."

The Prison...

Caeda closed her eyes as the mercenary leveled the muzzle of his rifle. For the last four years, Caeda's life had been one long head first dive towards death, and here was her chance. For the last four years, since tragedy had befallen her foster family, Caeda had been courting death. On each contract, she knew that death could be awaiting her just like it waited for her victims, but so far she had lived. She had never found that last mark. The last mark was the mark better than her, the man who would defeat her. She had been searching for a contract where the mark would kill her and take away all the pain of her life. All these thoughts went through Caeda's mind as she closed her eyes. Here was her chance. This wasn't the one on one scenario that had played out in her head so many times, but it would do. She could die here, tonight, six months shy of her 25th birthday, in a federal prison, killed by a nameless, faceless man who had gotten the drop on her. Only her friends would be shocked that Amaris Johanssen was a assassin. The rest of the world wouldn't care. She thought about all the things she would leave behind. She had everything planned, and she wasn't afraid to die.

Three bullets left the muzzle of the assault rifle. They flew straight and level, but the merc's aim hadn't been true. He was just a little low. The bullets hit the hard floor and ricocheted away. Caeda rolled to her right as the bullets missed her. She took several deep breaths and had to work at calming her racing heart.

"He missed", she whispered to herself in disbelief. "He missed", she repeated louder, her breaths coming in loud pants. She commanded her hands to stop shaking, but she had to hold them together to make them stop completely. She had been so close. She balled her hands into fists as anger welled deep within her. "You missed!", she yelled at the top of her lungs. No one who missed an easy shot like that deserved to kill her. Caeda frowned beneath her hood and jumped to her feet. The paramilitaries were a quarter of the way down the hall when she spun, exposing her body to all of their guns.

The mercs aimed their rifles at the only target that presented itself. Caeda stood fully in the doorway, her arms at her side and her hands balled into fists. Her weapons were stowed in the pouches of her skin tight black assassin's outfit. The weapons in her pouches were useless against armored men from this distance, besides she would need her hands free for what she planned to do. This would stretch her powers to their limits, but this was the only way. Her icy blue eyes were fixed on the team of men standing seventy-five feet away, but she wouldn't need her eyes either, not yet. She closed them and let her power take over. Walking up walls was only one of her tricks. She could feel everything around her. She could feel every surface, and she could feel all the people. She could feel the team of five men moving. She could feel the barrels of their rifles moving. She could feel their fingers curling and pressing against the triggers. It was then that Caeda moved. She took one step forward and jumped as hard as her strong legs could propel her. She flew up and to the right faster than the men believed that any human could. Her hands stuck to the wall as soon as they touched, she pulled her entire body up to the wall and crouched there long enough to feel the men change their aim and begin to fire. Every nerve in her body was tuned in and her senses were working to split second timing. Caeda bounded to the other side of the wall with a powerful leap. Her body was little more than a dark shape across the room. The men could almost track her with their rifles, but not quite. She could hear the buzz and feel the sting of the bullets as they flew close to her. Her hands hit the opposite wall and she stayed just long enough to jump to the floor. She was getting closer.

Caeda ran on the floor, and then she started running up the wall until she was completely upside down running along the ceiling. The mercenary team backed up and aimed their guns. These mercs were some of the best trained people around. All of them had been members of the armies of their home countries. Three of them had been members of their nation's special forces, but they had never seen anything like this. They kept their fingers on the triggers now. The men yelled in frustration as she got closer to them. She still hadn't pulled a weapon, but it was almost time. Caeda could feel her muscles starting to tire, but she was almost close enough. She jumped onto one of the cell doors, and then back up to the ceiling. She heard some of the rifles stop firing. The men had their magazines taped back to back for quick changing, but not quick enough.

Caeda reached her right arm down from the ceiling as she dropped to the floor. She opened her eyes, wrapped her fingers around the barrel of the first merc's rifle and pushed it down. Her body fell inverted from the ceiling. She pulled her ka-bar free as her body tumbled down. The merc looked up. She had his rifle and he couldn't raise it. He let go of the pistol grip and went to his secondary, but it was too late. Caeda searched his body armor for a weakness, and she found it. The matte black blade of her foster father's old knife slide down between the straps of his chest guard, through his uniform, and into the flesh where his neck met his shoulder. The knife went to the hilt. His screamed only added to the commotion.

Caeda spun her limber body in the air, and she landed on her feet in the midst of the team. They scrambled to attack her effectively. Caeda spun and used her momentum to pull the knife free. A trail of blood followed the blade as Caeda grit her teeth and swung the knife in a tight arc towards her next target. The knife struck home at the base of the next merc's neck, sinking into the soft tissue just above the sternum. As the blade was slicing through the merc's lung, Caeda's left hand pulled free her H&K .45. It slid out smoothly from its own special modular holster. Caeda turned her head as her pistol came up. The merc had moved to his left in an effort to bring his rifle to bear on the target, but it had played into her hands. She raised her pistol and rotated her wrist. She placed the barrel against this merc's chin strap and pulled the trigger. The top of his head exploded like an overheated can of soup, and the big slug slammed into the bottom of his kevlar helmet knocking it from his head. Before the helmet had fallen halfway to the ground, Caeda had turned on axis again, and pulled her knife free. It searched for a target, and the pistol searched independently. Each of Caeda's hands were deadly regardless of what the other was doing.

She bent her legs as the two mercs brought their rifles around. They had her in their sights until she ducked. The one on her right pulled the trigger anyway. She watched the muzzle flash as one merc poured hot lead into his own comrade. The body armor was top rate, but a 5.56mm round at this range pierced portions of the armor. The merc stopped firing and screamed in frustration as his bullets riddled the other merc's body. Caeda didn't give him time to recover from his fatal mistake. She brought her pistol around and worked the barrel under the seam of his body armor and pulled the trigger twice. Two large slugs entered the merc's abdomen and did all sort of damage as they passed though his body. He fell to the ground clutching his belly and bleeding to death.

Caeda finally allowed herself to take a breath. She didn't admire her work. She bent down and picked up one of the merc's Steyr AUG rifles. These were nice rifles, not the crap that most mercenary units used. These guys were not just good, they were well financed.

Romano Scarlfaro had taken cover behind the steel frame of his bed when the shooting had started. It hadn't been much cover, but it was all he had. He realized then, that he didn't need cover. He had been amazed by the young woman who had bounded out of his door and killed five men in the space of a few heart beats. The way she moved was both dangerous and intoxicating. He could see this woman as she stood tall over the bodies of five of the men who had come to kill him. Romano knew who had sent these mercenaries. The Commission had sent them here to kill him because he had failed so dramatically. Romano had held the future of the Syndicate in his hands, but he had failed to grab it, so now here he was, in a U.S. Federal prison, far from his home, and under attack. These men would stop at nothing to compete their mission, and he would most certainly be dead if it were not for the striking woman in the black outfit. He couldn't see her face, but a body like that was enough. He came from hiding as she came towards him.

Caeda started back towards Romano's cell. She was pretty sure that she would kill him, and then make her way out of the prison. She stopped though, when she saw movement. The merc she had stabbed first was still alive. He was trying to find a weapon. Caeda exhaled through her nose in frustration. She calmly walked up to the man and kicked his helmet from his head. He turned towards her, and the last thing he ever saw was the barrel of his own rifle as Caeda pulled the trigger. He shouldn't have missed her when she gave him the chance. He paid for his bad marksmanship with his life.

"Grazie. Grazie." Romano came from behind his cover and stood in the doorway of his cell. He had put on his prison issue jumpsuit, and he came out into the corridor.

Caeda saw him, and was about to shoot him, but instead she went over to Anthony the prison guard. He began to stir as she came close. He blinked when he look up and saw the bright lights; he thought that maybe he died, but then he saw that same woman in the tight black come into view. She stood over him with a automatic rifle resting in her hands.

"You don't have any holes in you that I can see", Caeda began in her emotionless voice. "I suggest you stay here."

Anthony looked up at her with a mixture of awe and fear on his face. Then his eyes looked past her legs to the five dead bodies. He saw four rifles strewn on the floor, but she looked as if she hadn't been touched. He watched Caeda turn and walk away. She stepped over the bodies as if they were nothing. He saw one of the prisoners follow her down the corridor. It was Anthony's job to try to stop him, but he knew better. That black clad woman had let him live because he hadn't annoyed her. It wasn't time to start annoying her now.

"My name is Romano Scarlfaro", he told Caeda with an extended hand.

Caeda looked at his hand as if it were diseased. "I know who you are", she responded in an even tone.

"These assassins were sent by the Commission to kill me, but you stopped them. I am true to my word."

"What?"

"I pledged that whoever rescued me from this American captivity would receive more money than you can ever spend. If I live, it is yours. You can have everything you have ever wanted."

"Really?", Caeda asked with skepticism.

"For sure. Anything in this world will be yours." Romano wore a wide smile on his face.

"All the money in the world can't buy what I want", she whispered. Caeda had decided to not kill him yet. There was so much that she didn't know. She had seen 5 mercs in Cell block 6 North, but there had to be more than that. A moment later she knew that she was right. Automatic gunfire rang out.

"Its coming from 4 South. My old cell block, they just moved me two days ago.", Romano informed her. He worked the action on the AUG rifle had picked up. Caeda was only moderately concerned that Romano would try to kill her. After all, he thought she was there to rescue him.

Caeda had no interest in finding out what was happening in 4 South, but she had to pass the door to get to the roof. She assumed a tactical stance and crept towards the shoot-out, using the wall and angles as cover.

The crisis team of the prison had responded to the attack. The mercenaries had attacked with military grade weapons and with a large group. The prison guards were out gunned and over matched. They hadn't been trained or prepared for this. All the guys on the crisis teams were former military, but they were too out gunned for their experience to matter. The crisis team, decked out in their own body armor and their M4 carbines, had caught the mercs at the end of the corridor of 4 South. They had opened fire, but the mercs had already killed two guards, and the guards were falling back.

Caeda watched as the guards backed out into the main hall only 20 feet from her. The men were trying to cover their retreat, but it wasn't looking good. A man was shot in the lower leg. Blood sprayed out from the wound, and a piece of skin and muscle was shot away. He fell over in pain. He didn't stay in pain long. The mercs singled him out and killed him. The rest of the team turned and ran. The mercs gave chase. The crisis team ran down the hall opposite Caeda's position. She watched them run. They were no longer trying to cover themselves. The mercs ran from the cell block firing their weapons with only a cursory look in the other direction. Caeda and Romano were around a small curve. She rushed out after she saw the last of the mercs run out. She went to a kneeling position and took careful aim. She spotted her front sight and then lined it up with her rear. With that done, Caeda released the safety and squeezed off single shots as fast as her finger could pull the trigger. It sounded like she was shooting fully auto, but every one of her shots were aimed. The mercs were so heavily armored that it took that many shots to do any damage. The two mercs in the back dropped, but the other three kept running not even noticing that two of their number had fallen.

Caeda ran down the hall at full speed. She found the two mercs still alive, but barely. She killed the first one, but Romano dispatched the next one. Caeda turned around quickly when she heard the shot behind her. Romano just nodded and started down the hall behind her. The crisis team survivors were holed up in a cell block. Caeda slammed another mag into the rifle. She was about to attack the three remaining mercs when her hands went to her ears. Assault rifle fire was pretty loud, but one of the mercs had a German MG3 that laid down over 1100 rounds a minute of .30 calibre lead. The guards had no chance. The mercs fired for a while before leap frogging each other down cell block to get closer to the guards.

Caeda could hear the mercs on their radios, but they were speaking Italian, and she didn't speak Italian. She turned around, took Romano around the collar and yanked him to her. He surprised at how easily she did it.

"What are they saying?", she demanded.

"They're calling in reinforcements. There must be another team on the way. We have to get out of here!"

"We have to go through that door to get out. The rest of the doors are still locked."

Caeda's mind raced with different solutions to her problem, but staying put wasn't one of them. She was trapped between locked doors at one end of the hall, and mercs on the other end. She decided that the mercs would have to die.

Caeda looked at the flashes of gun fire coming from the open cell block door, and then suddenly ran down the hall to the two mercs that they had killed. She searched the first one's belt and found what she was looking for. She hurried back down the hall, and wasted no time pulling the pin on the stun grenade and tossing it down the cell block. She readied her rifle as the stun grenade cooked then exploded. Caeda burst into the space, the rifle tucked into her shoulder, and her feet ready to fire and pivot. She was deadly efficient as she hurried down the hall firing. To her surprise, there were still several members of the crisis team alive. This cell block was empty and the crisis team members had taken cover in the empty cells.

"Who are you?", one of the crisis team members asked Caeda as she checked to make sure the three mercs were dead. The one slumped over the still steamy MG was the last to die.

She looked up, and her cold eyes met the eyes of the man who had asked the question. He knew better than to ask another one.

"Thanks for saving our asses, whoever you are", another crisis team member said.

"You're welcome", Caeda replied without any of the usual emotion that accompanied that statement. She simply dropped her now empty AUG mag on the ground and picked up two more from the men she had just killed.

Just then the radio started crackling. There was another crisis team in the area and they were being chased by mercs. "Come to 4 North!", the leader of this team yelled into the radio.

"What the hell? We can't take any more!"

"Shut the fuck up and get ready", the leader yelled and started towards the front of the cell block. Caeda watched the men ready their weapons and get ready to help their team members.

"What are we going to do?", Romano asked Caeda. He too had reloaded his rifle. His having a rifle still made her nervous, but she didn't say anything. He had come in handy so far.

"I have an idea", was all she said. Caeda slung the AUG over her shoulder and got a wide base before she bent down and lifted a dead mercenary just enough to roll him off of the MG3. She kicked his body against the wall, and she laid down on the cold concrete floor behind the powerful weapon. She turned it so that it faced the door to the cell block. She racked the bolt a couple of times, making sure the action was clear before she tucked the stock in tight to her shoulder. She sighted the weapon and then looked up at Romano. "Shoot out those three lights. Leave the one nearest the door", Caeda ordered as she stuffed wax into her ears.

The crisis team members turned when they heard the shooting behind them, but they turned back quickly because there was a gunfight in the hallway getting closer. The second crisis team ran in through the open door and quickly turned to get ready to repel the mercs. They didn't even see her on the ground.

Caeda sighed and shook her head. She reached down and pulled the bottom of her hood up just enough to expose her mouth. Romano looked at her chin and soft lips. It was enough to make him long to see the rest of her, but Caeda didn't see him. She put her fingers between her teeth and whistled loudly. The crisis team members all turned to see her calmly motioning them away from the door as if they were standing in front of the television.

She waited patiently while the mercs approached the door from the main hall. Patience was an assassin's most potent weapon. She knew that they would probably toss a stun grenade into the hall, but she was all the way at the other end.

She was right. The grenade exploded in a blinding flash with a disorienting noise, but Caeda was barely affected. She could see ten mercs come in to the nearly dark cell block. They were all in a tactical mutually supporting formation as they came further into the corridor. All the tactics in the world wouldn't have helped these guys. Caeda waited until every one of them was in the cell block then pulled the trigger. Most machine guns have a staccato report, but the MG fired so fast that the human ear couldn't detect the individual shots. Instead it made a continuous roar that filled the space. The mercs' body armor did them no good as the MG's 1100 rounds a minute tore them to pieces. Caeda didn't stop firing until all ten of them were on the ground.

Thin white smoke wafted from the muzzle of the machine gun after Caeda finished firing. The crisis team members emerged from the empty cells and looked cautiously in both directions. To one side, they saw the woman in black taking the barrel off the MG, and in the other direction they saw ten men laying dead. Caeda pulled her AUG off her shoulder and made it ready for action as she started down the hall with Romano close on her heels.

"Good Lord", one of the crisis team members said in amazement as Caeda came closer. "Whoever you are, remind me never to get on your bad side."

"Just remember that if any of you think about following me", Caeda warned as she passed them. She paused at the door just long enough to check the hall, before she disappeared around the corner.

Caeda was almost there. There was only one more door between her and the control room. Once she got to the control room, it was easy for her to get to the roof, and then out of the prison, but she could hear gunfire coming from that direction. She slowed as she came to a place where the hall turned into a large assembly area compete with chairs and tables, before narrowing into a hall again. She could see a group of regular guards trying to defend themselves with shotguns and pistols, but six mercs were pressing on them from three sides. Two of the four guards died while Caeda was looking. The other two kept firing. The one of the left took a shot to the side of the head. He was dead before he his the ground. The last guard, a tall black captain, kept firing until he took a shot high on the arm. He fell over wounded, but not dead.

"Okay", the captain yelled. "I've had enough. Just don't kill me." He held up his left hand, while his right arm was injured.

One curly haired mercenary walked up to the captain and stood over him. "You die." He raised a pistol and shot the guard in the torso twice. The mercs laughed before they went back down the hall towards the control room.

Caeda and Romano waited a few moments before coming out of their hiding place. She walked around the tables and chairs. She saw two dead guards. She shook her head. It was just a waste. She hadn't planned for any guards to die, and now here were two men lying dead. They probably had families. Caeda didn't mind killing, but most people deserved to live. She heard a noise to her right and turned in a blink with her rifle ready. Instead of a target, she saw the captain raising his hand towards her.

She slung the rifle, rushed over to him and went down to her knees. She took his hand while she looked at his wounds. She had been trained in trauma aid by her foster mother, but a quick look at this man's wounds said that there was no help. Her eyes met his dark brown eyes and lingered there for a moment before she spoke. "One of those bullets hit your hepatic artery, and the other punctured your liver and might have hit the vena cava ", she informed him in a sympathy choked voice. "There's nothing I can do. You have about two minutes more. I'm so sorry." Caeda could see fear in his face. His eyes darted back and forth in his skull.

Caeda pulled her gloves off and then pulled her hood off. "Hey, I'm here. You aren't alone", she comforted him. "I won't leave you." She knew that he need to see a person, and he needed real human contact. Her gloves just got in the way.

"My son", the guard croaked. "You have to tell my son-"

"I can't give your son a message", Caeda began, and blinked back a tear. "I wish I could, but I can't. All I can do is kill the man who killed you." She saw his eyes focus in on her. "I'll make him suffer", she promised. "Don't worry about that."

The guard looked away from Caeda's face as he came nearer his death. "Its okay", Caeda whispered as she saw the last panic come over him. She gave his hand a squeeze, and she touched her hand to his cheek. "Its okay", she repeated and squeezed his hand tighter as he felt himself slipping away.

He came to terms with his death and made his peace. His eyes locked on hers, and his face was calm. "I'll see you", he whispered, then breathed his last. Caeda closed her eyes and her chin touched her chest. 'No you won't', she thought to herself. She slowly let go of his hand and laid it gently across his chest. She took up her gloves and hood as she stood up. She slipped on her gloves, and then she slowly pulled the hood over her head. Romano realized that for a few moments, he had seen the woman, but now as she stood there looking down at the dead captain, he was once again seeing the assassin.

"We can get out of here now", Romano announced as he came up behind her.

"I'm not leaving yet."

"What?"

"You heard me." Caeda's voice had just the slightest edge to it. "I just made a promise to a dying man. I plan to keep it. You can go wherever you want to go. I'll find you later.", she told Romano as she started down the hallway. He stood still for a few seconds considering his circumstances. He decided to follow.

Caeda felt him getting closer. She smiled under her hood. She had given him a chance to run away, and he hadn't taken it. Trust is truly a funny thing.

Caeda found the six guards in the control room leafing through files trying to find where Romano was being held. They didn't know that Romano was right outside the door. Caeda put the AUG down on the ground, as she looked at the guards in the room. The rifle could only kill in one direction at a time, but Caeda needed to kill in five directions at once. She pulled the only two throwing knives she had brought with her and held them in her right hand. She rolled her hood up a little and put her ka-bar's blade in her lips. She then pulled the .45 and held it in her left hand. Caeda gave Romano a look that told him to stay put. She crept around the control room towards the door, then exploded into the room. Her right hand flashed once, and a knife flew. It struck a merc in the neck. Her right hand flashed again. The second blade stuck home. Then the .45 fired. This merc was wearing a helmet, so she shot him directly in the nose. Then her right hand moved again. She pulled the ka-bar from her mouth and in an instant it was in the air. Before the knife struck home, the .45 had fired again. The two mercs fell. Five men had died in less than one second's time. It was one of the most amazing things Romano had ever seen.

The sixth, the curly haired mercenary was turning with his rifle. Caeda didn't see him. She didn't have to. She pulled the trigger of the .45 and the large slug hit the curly haired merc in the right hand. He cursed and dropped the rifle. She shot him twice more, once in the meat of his left shoulder, and once in the right knee. He fell against the console before he slipped to the floor.

Caeda stood over the wounded man and calmly dropped the empty mag from her pistol. He looked on with acute apprehension. Caeda chambered a round, and then slipped the pistol back in the holster. She went over and retrieved her ka-bar. She slid it from the dead merc's throat slowly, letting the blood drip to the floor. She turned and looked down at the curly haired mercenary as the drops of his friend's blood puddled on the floor.

"Wait! Wait!", the merc yelled in accented English.

Caeda kicked him in the face. He swallowed two teeth and his head hit the hard concrete. Caeda knelt down and pushed him to the floor. She held the knife where he could see it and rotated it. His eyes were fixed on the blade in the moment before Caeda brought the knife down with a powerful stab.

The merc's scream was nearly inhuman. It was high and shrill and anguished. He screamed until his lungs were out of air, and even then his mouth remained open. Caeda looked this man in his bulging eyes as she twisted the blade between the his legs and then chopped downward. Blood quickly soaked his uniform and began to run on the floor. Caeda pulled the knife from his severed genitals very slowly. His body was already starting to convulse from the pain. She wiped the blade clean on the merc's uniform before she slowly slid the blade into the sheath. Romano didn't say a word as Caeda walked from the control room. He handed her the rifle she had laid down, and looked back into the room. He saw the man dying on the floor and quickly looked away.

Caeda was heading towards the offices on the floor above, when she heard helicopters. The sounds were faint but she could make them out. Her first thought was that more mercenaries were on the way, but then she heard a bull horn announce that the National Guard was securing the prison and that all armed attackers were to lay down their arms and surrender. Caeda knew that they probably didn't know that she was in the prison, but she was an armed attacker. She had no intention of being caught by the National Guard. She picked up her pace. Romano was having a hard time keeping up. More than once Caeda thought about turning around and killing Romano, but she didn't. She just kept running.

The mercenary teams had planned for the National Guard or Army to come to the aid of the prison. They had gotten this mission on fairly short notice, and they didn't have good intel, so they figured that it would take longer than their normal operation to find the target. As of yet, they hadn't located the target. The merc leader had lost contact with all of his men who had gone to 6 block and 4 block. He figured the guards there must have put up a hell of a fight. It was too bad that he had lost good men, but he still had a mission to complete. If that meant shooting down some National Guard helicopters then so be it. A group of mercs were on the way to the roof with shoulder fired missiles.

It was this group that Caeda ran into as they rounded the last corner and came through the last security door. A team of five mercenaries were making their way to the roof with shoulder fired missiles still packed in green crates. Four of the five were carrying crates while the 5th was providing cover. He saw Caeda and then Romano coming up behind him and his team. He yelled and turned at the same time. He brought his rifle around. His finger was on the trigger and he was locked in on his target.

Caeda ducked at the last instant as the bullets flew towards her. She dove to the ground firing as she came down. Her bullets hit two mercs in the back and one in the front, but their body armor took the shots without allowing the slugs to penetrate. Caeda rolled as her shoulder hit the floor. In an instant, the ka-bar was in her capable hands. The other four men had dropped the crates and had their own rifles in their hands. Most people retreated when guns were pointed directly at them, but not Caeda. She surged forward into their midst. Her right hand sliced forward as she went. The blade bit deeply the mercenary's upper thigh, slicing his femoral artery. Caeda's movements were more than quick and more that precise. She was a symphony of movement as she moved in an out of their gun sites.

Romano had caught up. He saw the fight going on, and he paused. He could see the door to the stairs, but he couldn't get there. He turned and thought about going the other way, but he could hear gunfire. The National Guard was pressing the mercenaries, and they were falling back. He couldn't go that way. If one of the mercs didn't kill him, one of the Guard soldiers would capture him, and he could look forward to spending his remaining years rotting in a hole between interrogations. That was no life for a man who had once had everything. The Commission would rue the day they had decided to kill him. He would establish his own organization and become unstoppable. He turned back and saw the woman killing the men. He raised his rifle to assist, not so much for her, but for him. He owed this woman a lot. Too bad she wouldn't live to get any of it. Romano aimed for a head shot on one of the mercs that Caeda was fighting, but a loud bang from behind him made him turn again towards the other end of the hall.

Romano went to a knee brought his rifle up and fired as a group of mercenaries tried to retreat into the hall where he was. He couldn't let that happen. He had to keep them at bay, but now he couldn't cover the woman. If she died then he died, but that was a chance he was willing to take. She was more dangerous than any single person he had ever seen.

Two mercs lay dying as Caeda brought her knife around. She was more deadly with a knife in her hands than five men with rifles. They were married to their guns. They made them feel strong and in control, but to Caeda, a gun or a knife was just a tool. If she was far away, she used a gun, if she was close, she used a knife. One thing remained the same, she was the weapon. The tool only did her bidding. Bullets flew close enough to singe the fabric of her hood, but she moved as if there were no bullets flying near her. Caeda concentrated and turned the knife to stab. This merc tried to jump out of the way, but Caeda was fast enough to adjust. She stabbed the man in the small of his back just be low his ribcage. She had already started pulling her blade free, but the man twisted from the pain. Caeda felt resistance on the blade as it got stuck between his lowering ribs and his rising hip bone. Reluctantly, Caeda was forced the release her grip. She turned in a tight circle, as the first merc tried to get his muzzle around. He pulled the trigger and nothing happened. He was empty. He swore at his bad luck. He had only needed one bullet. He felt Caeda's left arm go between his legs and with her right, she grabbed the body armor strap on his shoulder. He felt her body tighten as she lifted with all her might. He went to his toes trying to keep his feet on the ground, but Caeda swept his leg from under him. He landed on the ground with her on top. She punched him once in the lower abdomen before scrambling up his body. She put her left arm beneath the merc's head and crossed her right arm over his face. He put his hands on her ribs and stomach and tried to push her off, but she had hooked her ankles. She wasn't going anywhere until he was dead. Then he felt her body harden. She tilted her body back while her knees were on his shoulders. All her strength and leverage was being focused on his neck. He could feel his vertebrae and ligaments stretching. It seemed as if she was trying to pull his neck apart.

Caeda could sense the other mercenary behind her. She didn't have much time. With a final grunt of effort and burst of strength, Caeda pulled back hard. Ligaments tore in his neck and at the same time, she twisted her entire body. The mercenary's neck broke with a loud crackle. Caeda started to roll away from the merc with the rifle. She hoped that it wasn't too late for her.

She didn't know that the merc on the stairs was out of bullets too. He had used most of his ammo during a shoot-out with the prison guards and the rest trying to kill this woman, this impossible woman. This woman was the answer to every fantasy he had ever had, and now here she was, about to kill him. Unless he killed her first. He turned his rifle in his hands and leapt over the railing. He saw the woman begin to change her direction, but for the first time today, Caeda didn't move fast enough. He swung his rifle like a baseball player trying to hit a ball to the moon. The rifle struck her high on her back and shoulders. He had been aiming for her head, but this was good enough.

The force of the blow was tremendous. Caeda's vision went white and everything around her seemed to disappear. Her body spasmed, and she rolled over on her side. Her body contorted from the pain, but her mind was still thinking. Her left arm would barely move, so she reached across her body and pulled free her pistol, but the merc saw it. He grabbed her wrist with both his hands and squeezed. He twisted and started slamming her wrist into the railing as hard as he could.

A gasp of pain escaped Caeda's lips as she felt something pop. Her fingers lost all strength, and the pistol fell to the ground. She threw her legs up and wrapped them around the merc's neck. He let go of her wrist and tried to pry her legs off. Caeda crossed her ankles and bore down. The merc raised his arm high and then brought it back. The point of his elbow hit Caeda in the pit of her stomach. The air left her lungs in with an audible and pained whoosh. She felt a burning where his elbow had impacted. He brought his arm up then down again. This time Caeda was ready. Her abs were tight. His elbow actually bounced when it came down. Caeda still exhaled in pain from the blow. He served up three more quick elbows with the same results. Caeda's face was bright red and her eyes were watering from the pain. She held on though. She knew that it as only a matter of time. The merc was losing consciousness, but he wasn't done. He pushed his arm through the very small gap between Caeda's crossed knees. He then worked his other arm in. He knew that he didn't have more than a few seconds of full strength left. Either he saved himself, or he was going to die. With all the strength still in his body, he pulled his arms apart.

Caeda pressed her injured back and shoulders into the floor for extra leverage as she struggled to keep him controlled. She had to keep him down. The pain was at the edge of what she could take, but she pressed her back down harder still. She couldn't let him go. Caeda had no illusions as to what would happen if he got out. She couldn't form a fist with her right hand, and her left arm was just now regaining feeling.

He thrust his arm through her hold giving his neck just a fraction of a inch, but it was enough room to allow him to take a breath. He felt the strength returning to his body, as the oxygen replenished his system, and he could feel the woman beginning to tire. He thrust his right arm up through her legs and then reached back towards her trying to get a hold of her to pull her to him.

Caeda had her eyes closed in concentration. She felt his fingers trying to get a grip on her tight outfit, and she could feel her legs getting tired. She couldn't kill him from this position, and she couldn't hold him like this for much longer. He was going to get out unless she did something quick. Caeda lowered her hips making her hold on his neck weaker, allowing his arm to come up all the way to his shoulder. He reached out. His fingers could almost touch her chin. That was her chance. Caeda readied herself for the intense pain, then her arms moved in an instant. She took his forearm in both her hands and pulled it down to her stomach. With his arm secured, Caeda raised her hips and pushed down with her legs. The merc screamed and frantically tried to free himself. Caeda bore down. Her teeth were set on edge as she tightened every muscle in her limber body.

The strain on the merc's elbow was too much. It dislocated in one quick and grotesque snap. Caeda's own wrist was burning like it was on fire as she rolled up to her knees. Caeda knelt over the man long enough to reach behind her and pick up her .45. She held it in her right hand, but it was too weak to hold the gun. She quickly shifted the gun to her left and pulled the trigger. The merc died. She sighed and got to her feet and looked around. She pulled free her knife, and started towards the door.

The gunfight was getting closer now despite Romano's best efforts. The National Guard soldiers were winning. Caeda could hear the slightly different reports from the M16's. She hurried down the hall, and grabbed Romano by the collar with her left hand. He turned in a fright. He hadn't heard her coming.

"Come with me", Caeda ordered him.

He fired the last two bullets from this rifle and dropped it. He started looking for another one. Caeda leaned over and handed him the rifle she had dropped earlier. "Now!", she yelled. The National Guard was getting closer. They ran through the door to the stairwell and up the roof. The cold air was a shock to the system. Caeda started shivering as she crept across the gravel roof. She wanted to make her body stop because it hurt her wrist when she shook. Her left hand was holding her right hand as she peered over the side of the roof. She was more than exhausted, and she had to fight back the tremendous pain.

"How do you plan to get down from here?", Romano asked from behind her.

"Right there", Caeda lied and pointed to a built in ladder that she had no intentions of using.

"Thank you", Romano said.

"For what?", Caeda asked absently, while she searched to see if her real escape route was open.

"For bringing me up here to save me. I really do appreciate it, but I am sorry that I won't be able to pay you the money I promised. I think I shall keep it for myself. I need it to rebuild myself and bring the Commission down."

Romano brought his rifle to his shoulder, and aimed it at Caeda's unprotected back. He knew how fast she was, but she was too far away to stop him. "I'm sorry for this", he said as he pulled the trigger.

"Its okay", Caeda replied when the rifle clicked. Romano pulled the trigger twice more before Caeda turned around. Romano backed away from her. The fear was painted on his face. "I didn't bring you up here to save you. I brought you up here so I could kill you myself." Caeda took one step forward faster than Romano could retreat. She dug her heel into the toe of Romano's soft prison shoe. She kneed him in the stomach and then took him by the collar and the waist. Pain shot up both of Caeda's arms as she lifted up and then pushed Romano Scarlfaro off the roof. He screamed until the concrete below made him stop. Caeda looked at him for a second or two before she ran to the other side of the prison and jumped off the roof. She touched the wall in places to slow her fall. With her injuries, she was near tears when her boots hit the hard frozen ground. She picked up the heavy bag she had left under a bus when she had broken into the prison. She could see the flashes from the sirens of police officers, firemen, and paramedics. They weren't close to her, but she had to hurry. Caeda ran to the wire fence and opened the bag. She slowly attached the ends of the bangalore torpedo. She put the ends of the explosive between the links on the fence. Once it was in place, Caeda backed up and detonated the explosive. That got the attention of every officer, guard, fireman, and solder on the prison grounds, but by the time they got to where the explosion had taken place, Caeda was long gone.

Caeda went back to New York City and went to one of the Broker's safe houses in Brooklyn to change clothes and get her outfit and her pistol destroyed. A doctor on the payroll came and examined her injuries. He put a soft cast on her fractured wrist. Caeda left the safe house in a strange mood. Her body hurt all over, but she couldn't force herself to go straight home. She was needy. She just didn't know what she needed. She passed a bar on the way to the subway, and she instantly knew what she needed. She walked in up to the bar and ordered a drink. Caeda poured the drink down her throat and ordered another. It made the acute pain of her wrists and her shoulder become more of a dull ache as she turned to survey the bar. Most of the patrons had already seen her. The men were eyeing her, while the women were eyeing their men to see if they were looking. Caeda face wasn't that of a woman who was waiting for a man to talk to her, she was on the hunt. It didn't take her long to pick out a suitable subject. He was tall and handsome with a nice build. Caeda took her third drink to the pool table where he was playing with some friends. It didn't take long for the guy to notice Caeda's glances. In a few short minutes, the pool game was the last thing on this guy's mind. Caeda looked at the guy and saw him for what he was. A cute, but probably impoverished college student. "My place", she told him as they left the bar together. Caeda was going to put this guy through his paces. He would enjoy it, but probably not until it was over.

The next day, Russell caught the first flight from Chicago to NYC. He took a cab to his apartment. He made himself a quick lunch before he took another cab to Greenwich Village and up to Caeda's apartment. He had a bounce in his step as he buzzed Mrs. Havasu to let him in. He wanted his early arrival to be a surprise. He waved at Mrs. Havasu as he came down the hall, and knocked on Caeda's door.

"Just open it", he heard Caeda call out. Russell's smile became a frown when a half dressed guy opened the door. The guy's eyes went wide in his head when he saw Russell standing there. There was an awkward moment and then the guy went back to pulling on his pants. His white shirt was unbuttoned as he hopped around. Russell walked in past him. Caeda was only slightly more dressed when she came down the hall towards her living room. She saw Russell and turned and went back to her room. By the time she came back out, she was wearing pants, and her conquest from the night before was gone.

"Who was that?", Russell asked with an inquisitive smile.

Caeda wasn't smiling. "None of your business. I was a little horny last night. I wanted some, so I took it. You have a problem with that?"

Russell looked at her for a long time. Her eyes were puffy, and he could see bruises on her jaw. He saw the cast on her right wrist, and he had noticed the marks on her legs. "You were out on a contract weren't you?"

Caeda' face turned completely dark. "I won't be judged here in my own place by you or by anybody. If you want to be like that, I think it would be better if you left."

"What? You're getting mad at me. What the hell did I do?"

Caeda stomped past him and snatched her door open. She took a calming breath before she spoke. "I said get out!"

Russell bit down hard, and his eyes narrowed. He snatched up his coat and turned. "If that's how you want it, fine!" He snatched the door from her hand as he walked out and slammed it behind him.

Caeda bit her lip from the pain of him snatching the door. She reared back and punched her left hand into the back of her door. She sank down to the floor, and didn't notice that she was crying until the cold tears dropped from her eyes to her still smarting hand. Elksede stepped carefully onto her legs and purred. He nuzzled his nose close to her.

"I guess you're all I've got", Caeda told her cat. She rubbed his fur and just let the tears fall. She figured they would stop on their own, or maybe they wouldn't. She didn't care one way or the other. She didn't care about anything.

Epilogue: Three days later

Amaris cursed her broken wrist as she tried to reach her hand up and take the delicate angel from the top of her Christmas tree. She had already taken down most of the decorations, but she was having a harder time than usual. Her body wasn't close to being healed. If anything, her injuries hurt worse. Elksede was posted up on her coffee table looking at his mistress struggle with tasks that normally would have been second nature.

"You don't have to rub it in", she told her cat. "So I got worked over this time. You should see the other guys."

Elksede just yawned and kept looking. Caeda tried to smile, but she had been a compete bitch for the last few days. She had pretty much insulted every person she had come in contact with. That was why she was at home. She was still needy, but not knowing what she wanted. She had gotten drunk and had sex, but that didn't help her. She had tried to sculpt, but that didn't help either. She was at a loss, and then there was a knock on the door. She climbed down to the floor instead of jumping, and hesitantly opened the door. Her face brightened into a childlike grin when she saw Russell standing there.

"You actually seem happy to see me."

"I am. Come in. I have been such a bitch the last few days. I shouldn't have treated you like I did, just because I was upset", Amaris spilled out quickly. "I invited you over and then treated you like that. That's why I told you--"

"Shh", Russell began. I have a surprise for you."

"Oh? What?"

"They're in the bag, but you have to come with me. Grab a coat." Russell lead Amaris down the hall and out to a waiting taxi. "Okay, close your eyes." Amaris rolled her eyes then closed them. She felt the cab pull off. After a while, the car stopped and they got out. Amaris stood with her eyes closed while Russell paid the driver. She was wiping tears when he turned around.

"What is it?", Russell asked.

"Its you. I don't normally cry at all, but you have a button that makes it happen."

"I'm not using my power on you at all, I promise."

She reached out and touched his arm. "I know. Its just that you're so nice to me. I mean I kick you out of the room and then you bring me here. I'm just wondering why."

"Wait. How do you know where here is? Can you see with your eyes closed?"

Amaris chuckled. "Yeah in a way. So you thought that climbing walls was my only trick? No, I can feel where objects are in relation to me. I can feel the people down below, and I can feel the shape of the GE Building behind me."

Russell shook his head while a smile appeared on his face. He unzipped his book bag and started pulling out its contents. "Well can you tell what I have in my hands?"

Amaris laughed. "Two pairs of ice skates. One of them is just my size." She opened her eyes and looked at Russell. She didn't have anything to say. They put on the skates and made their way onto the ice. Russell took Amaris' injured right hand gently and they skated out into the crowd. She pulled away, and Russell watched as Amaris' graceful form glided in front of him before she twirled her body and did a double axle. She landed and skated back to Russell who was right behind her. They held hands for a while and were content with the other's company. They had to change their path a little when they came up behind a middle-aged couple embracing on the ice. That couple smiled as Amaris and Russell skated around them. They glided around the ice for a while longer. Amaris could feel tension rising in Russell's body. She was about to ask him what was wrong when he stopped suddenly and spun her gently by the left arm.

'Oh no!', Amaris thought as Russell spun her. She had to fight the urge to dig her blades into the ice to keep him from turning her. She knew why he was tense. When their eyes met, Amaris wouldn't look away. "Don't do this", she whispered as Russell put his hands on either side of her face. "Everybody I've ever cared about gets taken away from me."

"I'm not going anywhere, no matter what you do." He had struggled with Morgen Stern's words for days, but finally he decided that he wasn't going to let anybody scare him off.

"It won't be you, but I just want you to be happy. You should find a woman who can do that."

"Amaris, you'd have kill me to get rid of me."

"I couldn't do that, never", she declared trying weakly to pull herself away.

"Then let it happen." Russell leaned his head down and came closer.

Amaris stopped him with a finger to his lips. "Don't fall for me."

"Its too late." Russell leaned in and his lips met hers. It felt perfect and right, and Amaris' tears started again. She knew now what she had been needing all along.

Link to other Caeda stories.

Caeda: The Art of the Kill  
Caeda: Death's Shadow
Caeda: Rules to Kill By
Caeda: Mountain Rescue

More Caeda to come very soon!

comments encouraged: dem2@hotmail.com