“Do you have the worst intentions?”
“I do,” he answers simply.
“Then it's fine, I don't trust you anyway.”
“Why are you here then? Desperate?” Ocher shrugs again rather than respond. “Have you even been trying to figure out what you're going to do?” Azure continues questioning. “What comes next? You're getting comfortable. You claim you don't trust me, yet you're making no move to leave.”
Ocher’s shoulders come up and his eyes dart around the room, looking just as lost as before. The guy is so startlingly naive that he's shocked. How can a soldier whose one job is to fight be so out of tune with everyone? Did he never interact with anyone? Hold conversations? It's not hard to figure out how easily people lie unless you were alone all the time, then anyone could manipulate you.
He really may have ended up dead if he’d run into the wrong people and followed after them so easily as well. Fortunately or unfortunately for Ocher, he found Azure instead. And while he has no intention of killing him just yet, he’s not innocent either.
They arrive in Tamsen’s neighborhood and take up post a few houses down, close enough to avoid being seen, but near enough to hack into his home network. Azure pulls up the specialized program on his tablet and lets it begin the process of breaking into network. He doesn’t have the skills required to do something like this, but Sara, the sister of one of his childhood friends, understands technology as effortlessly as she breathes. She can always be counted on for any type of program he might need.
“What are you doing?” Ocher asks, leaning over his shoulder to peer at the screen before glancing away.
“I’m making certain he’s innocent before we finish this job.” His tablet dings and he immediately begins searching through Tamsen’s files for any indication of wrongdoing and just as he suspected, there’s nothing. Although, there are several emails indicating that Tamsen held the same suspicions he did, namely that he was being framed. He just wasn’t able to gather enough proof to build a case.
Well, it’s settled. Now, the only thing left is to take care of their target and move on. He tucks his tablet away and stands up. “You’re not going to kill Tamsen?” Ocher questions as they leave the neighborhood.
“No, he isn’t guilty. We’re going to kill the man who hired us.”
“The one who paid you?”
Azure shoots him an amused look, “So just because he paid me, I shouldn’t punish the one who’s actually guilty?”
“You could just give him his money back and leave,” Ocher reasons.
“Then he’ll hire someone else.” Azure shakes his head, “He’s dying and that’s the end of it. What’s one less dishonest person alive? Kind of like who misses one dead soldier.”
Ocher pauses, eyes narrowing at the obvious threat. “You can’t kill me.”
“I can, but I wouldn’t need to. Like I told you, there are plenty of other people that would be happy enough to end your life if I exposed who you are. Remember that.”
◆◆◆
The next morning Azure removes a handful of bullets from a gun he purchased on the way back and holds them between his hands. It’s a simple action to let his own energy flow into the bullets and it allows for a cleaner kill. The clean up will be minimal at most.
He leads Ocher to the rooftop of a building directly across from their target’s office. “Is there anything you needed from this city?” Azure questions once they’re in position with the client in sight.
Ocher looks at him in confusion, “No, why? Did you forget that I have no money?”
“Because as soon as we finish this, we’re leaving.”
“Is that what you do? Come to a city, make trouble, then disappear?”
“Am I supposed to stay around and clean up the mess?”
“It would have helped me out.”
Azure laughs and drops a handful of bullets into Ocher's palm, “You’re better off right now, we both know it. Plus, you won’t ever make me feel guilty, so stop trying.” He peers over the side and points at the client, “There he is, aim for his chest, the bullets will do the rest.”
Ocher stares down at the bullets in his hands and frowns, they look like normal bullets to him. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Azure waves his concern away. “Just aim and fire, preferably with one shot.”
Ocher glances at the bullets one final time before loading the clip and taking aim. He looks once more to Azure for confirmation and fires. Azure watches as the bullet embeds itself in the man’s chest and blood spreads across his shirt in a bright crimson stain as he crumbles into a heap on the sidewalk. They could hide, but he’s not afraid of being seen. There’s nothing they could do to him that he couldn’t escape.
The man’s family rushes to his side amidst screams while other citizens take cover, but his family quickly pulls back when the bullet finally ignites. He cries out in an agonizing wail of pain when the first licks of fire begin to eat at his flesh. Mercifully, the bullet took most of his life and he’s already gone by the time the flames fan out to fully consume his body.
“Now, we’ve finished all our business here.”
Ocher stares at him, mouth agape as he glances between Azure and the man’s burning remains. “What was that?” He questions, gesturing helplessly.
“That was you, killing him. Don’t worry, he didn’t live long while he was burning.”
“But...that was cruel.”
Azure shakes his head and takes the gun from him, swiftly dismantling it and tucking it into his satchel. “What’s cruel is sacrificing three children for your own gain. He deserved it. After all, like he said, if you get away with it once, you’ll try again.”
“I’ve never seen bullets like that before.”
“You haven’t seen a lot of things, so that doesn’t mean much. Let’s go back to the hotel.”
“Azure,” Ocher calls out to him. “Don’t you feel bad at all?”
“Why should I? You killed him.” Azure sees Ocher’s expression flicker into uncertainty and he laughs quietly.
“What about his family? You cared about Tamsen’s family, but not his?”
“If he’s willing to risk the life of his own child for money, then they won’t be any worse off than before. Might even improve their lives. Who knows, it’s not my concern.”
“How can you pick a person and decide so easily?”
Azure shrugs, “Is it any worse than being sent into battle and killing every person you aimed at without knowing a thing about them?”
Ocher pauses, “No, I guess it’s better. At least I know what he did wrong.”
“Exactly. You were raised to be able to aim on command. The luxury of picking and choosing who deserves to live or die is something you never would have had. This way, you can weigh the factors and decide. It’s your choice.”
“It’s not really my choice.”
“It is.”
“No, it’s not. If I don’t do it, you’d blind me and leave me somewhere to be captured.”