Lucas reached the hotel as guests started spilling out. He'd ditched his gloves on the way, wearing only his casual pants, shirt, black cloth around his neck, and sneakers. He looked like any other teen in the area. The boy even pulled out his phone to act like he was taking a video.

All the while, he made his way to the back exit of the hotel, ignoring the sirens coming closer.

On the way, he caught sight of L5 scrambling down the street.

Looks like he's fine. He decided the kid had been given all the help he needed. You're welcome, Lucas added.

Seeing that the street he wanted to take was already blocked by a cop car, he casually continued. One street down, he ducked into an alley. Smoothly he broke into a run.

He used the wall to propel onto a dumpster. From here he vaulted himself over a wall. Without breaking pace, he dropped on the other side. He jogged around the back, coming to a stop by the exit which he was 99% positive his target would exit. It was the kitchen entrance. Cliché as it could get, but always used nevertheless.

I'm early, he noted.

Leaning against the wall, he tipped his head back and closed his eyes. The cellphone was slipped into his pocket as he tried to contain the butterflies within. He couldn't stop the smile on his lips. Right now, he was very much the definition of a puppy in love.

Lucas welcomed the sound of heavy feet.

Feeling giddy and light, the boy relaxed his muscles, letting them have a brief break. He pulled up a black cloth around his neck, covering his mouth and half of his nose. And then, as the door burst open, he moved.

The first guard was hit by surprise. He reacted quite well for the situation, raising his hands and blocking the fist at the last second. However, he didn't block the second one that slammed into his side. With a grunt, he stumbled to the left.

The second bodyguard was ready. He lifted his hands, ready to defend and strike the attacker.

Lucas eyed him, deciding against the immediate attack. He was well away that the pause gave the other guy time to recover, however, in this giddy moment he didn't really sweat it too much. He felt almost drunk as he took in the look of surprise that hit the men twice his size.

Most likely it was due to his smaller stature, or perhaps they couldn't believe he would dare challenge them. Whatever the case, the joke was about to be on them.

Lately he'd begun to gain emotions he'd never had before, but with them came something else. Lucas felt more alive, and so, he found the will to live made him much stronger than when he'd been indifferent. In fact, now that he had something to live for, he wasn't about to let anything kill him so easily.

As he saw the second man lifting a hand with a firearm in it, Lucas moved. The boy was fast, springing toward the man and ducking down at the same time. One palm crushed up, straight for the chin, while the other clamped onto the weapon.

He hit the perfect spot with enough power to hear a sickening crunch. At the same time, the fingers on the gun loosened and her jerked it free. Whirling, he released the clip, tossing it straight at the recovering guard who stomped toward him.

It hit him right between the eyes. Without losing a second, Lucas flipped the man he'd punched and followed up by knocking him over the back of his head with what was left of the gun.

Before the massive figure even fully crashed to the ground, Lucas sprinted at the other. He used his new target's falling comrade as a spring board. Launching himself into the air, he spun, delivering a high kick right to the side of the large man's face.

Lucas wasn't sure, but he may have seen a tooth or two fly from the poor soul's mouth. He didn't take time to consider if it was so. Instead, the moment his feet touched the ground, he reached behind him, pulled a weapon free, and whirled.

Click.

He cocked the gun, pressing it against the forehead of a man in a tuxedo.

The middle-aged politician gaped in disbelief, eyes bulging from his forehead as his eyes darted from the fallen men to the cold green eyes of ice staring at him from behind a barrel.

Something inside Lucas rattled as his finger moved to the trigger. Something begged him not to do this. The new emotion, that new feeling. He knew the nightmares would only increase with each kill, he knew the guilt would overtake and consume him one day.

"I hope you understand," he spoke. "But I don't really have a choice." His finger tightened.

Click.

Lucas' finger froze as cold steel pressed to the side of his head.

"I can't let you do that," a silky voice spoke.

The ECHO agent's heart skipped two beats before racing faster than it had from his short run here.

"I need this man alive," the voice continued.

Lucas saw white from the corner of his eyes, the silky black hair.

"That's a problem," he spoke as the steel pressed harder against his head. "Because I need him dead."

He ducked and twisted, managing to briefly deter the gun from his head. A moment later he came up, facing a beautiful girl from behind his weapon.

Brown eyes met green ones as two teens trained their weapons on each other.

"I must say," Lucas spoke, eyes flickering over the goddess before him, "that dress really suits you."

"And a bullet would look fabulous lodged in your temple," came the reply, served with a sweet smile.

"Awe." Lucas gave a devilish grin. "I missed you too." He nodded to the necklace adorning the girl's neck. "Do I have competition?"

The girl snorted. "Competition? Are you even in the running?"

Lucas raised his eyebrows. "How's the fam?"

In response, the brown eyes narrowed.

A whimper made the teens aware of the politician standing to the side. His legs were visibly shaking.

The girl let out a sigh. She nodded at the gentlemen. "Why are you still here?" she sounded just slightly annoyed. It made Lucas' heart flutter more.

"Go," the girl ordered.

The man gaped at her, mouth opening and closing as he stayed frozen in place.

"Go!" she barked.

That seemed to do it. He shakily began to run down the alley, just as a car screeched up at the end of it.

Lucas watched, gun still aimed at the girl.

Once the man was a few paces away, he turned his eyes back to the beauty before him.

"Hi, Amber," he finally spoke her name as he lowered his weapon. Not giving her a chance to respond, he tugged the mask from his face. In a smooth motion, he closed the gap between him and the girl, swatting her gun aside in the process. His lips crushed against hers.

She resisted only for a moment before she returned the kiss. Her hand dropped limply to the side as she got lost in the moment. Lucas' hand snaked around her head, pulling her closer.

Despite the blissful moment, he still had a mission to complete.

Still in full kiss mode, he lifted his other hand, aiming the pistol – target in sight.

Without any further hesitation, he pulled the trigger.

Bang.

Amber jerked his grasp. She whirled just in time to witness the politician crumbling to the ground.

"Really?" Amber whirled, her wrath clearly displayed one her face.

Lucas shrugged.

"Come on!" Amber glared. "That's not fair!"

Seeing the driver and another man get out with weapons, Lucas grabbed the girl. He pulled her to the side, just in time to avoided the rain of bullets.

His move wedged the two into a gap between the building and the wall.

"Winner takes all," Lucas spoke without apology. He pulled the girl, he couldn't get enough of, to him. "Where were we?" he pressed his lips to hers.

"They'll kill us for sure," Amber pulled away to breathe.

Lucas grinned at her, eyes sparkling. He wasn't sure if she was referring to either of their agencies or the armed men making their way over. Either way, he could see them all following through on that.

"Then let's not let them catch us," he replied, tracing a finger down the side of Amber's delectate face. "This is what now? Five wins for me?" he asked.

He noticed his mistake the moment the words slipped out.

Anger returned to Amber's eyes. "You cheater!" she hissed.

"All's fair in love and war," the ECHO agent returned, not heading the warning.

Amber growled.

"Ah!" Lucas warned as the first man with a gun popped around the corner.

Amber ducked, putting him in the direct line of fire. In response, Lucas raised his weapon and fired once more, doing so at the same time as the other weapon went off. He felt the air of something pass by closely, way too close. However, the howl of pain confirmed that he'd at least hit the other man.

The girl straightened, heels in one hand.

"What?' she asked the staring Lucas innocently.

"You didn't do that on purpo..." Shaking his head, Lucas let the question trail off. Not wanting to stick around, he grabbed Amber's hand and pulled her along the narrow gap between the walls.

The two made their escape. They jumped a trash can before coming to a dead end. Here, glances were exchanged. Footsteps sounded behind.

Without a word, both turned to the window nearby.

They smashed the glass together and broke through. Once inside the hotel, Lucas pulled Amber toward the still evacuating crowd. He tucked his gun out of sight in the process.

No one would look for a sniper among the people on location, not within the same building when the shot had clearly been from outside. On top of that, the bodies out back would take a few moments longer to be reported.

The two burst from a room, coming upon the fleeing crowd. Lucas was about to pull Amber along into them, but the girl jerked back, breaking his grip.

Lucas whirled to find her glaring at him.

"I want to break up," she told him mercilessly.

Lucas groaned. He couldn't believe he was hearing these words...again.

"Do we really need to do this now?" he shot a glance at the room they had come through, expecting armed men to follow at any moment.

Amber crossed her arms stubbornly. "We're never going to work."

"You always say that," Lucas replied with a grin. "And yet we always end up back together–"

"–I'm serious this time," Amber told him earnestly.

"You said that last time too." Lucas noted the evacuees were dwindling. Not good. We need to go! He reached for Amber's hand.

The girl evaded his grasp.

"We're through," she said coldly.

Lucas glanced around. He took a step closer. "Is this about me killing your target?" he asked earnestly. "Because you know it was work."

"I'm not kidding this time," Amber spoke. "Don't come near me. Because if you do..." she took another step back. Shaking her head, she turned, darting in the opposite direction of panicking people.

"Oh, come on!" Lucas yelled after her. He let out a regretful sigh as his barefoot goddess fled the crime scene. "Say hi to your brother!" he added.

"I hope you get your ugly butt killed!" came the spiteful reply.

"You don't mean that!" Lucas ran a hand through his hair. "Does she?" he asked himself doubtfully.

He heard glass break and cursing.

Guess that's my cue. He shot one last glance in the direction Amber had disappeared in. "Girls," he muttered. With that, he joined the crowd.

Lucas was kind of disappointed at how easy it was to get away from it all. However, he didn't dwell on it for long as a much more important thought occupied his mind.

Did we just break up? He turned over the thought, trying to not get caught up in the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. No. She's not serious. He scowled. I did take another mission from her. He let out a frustrated sigh. But what am I supposed to do?

He was still lost in thought when he checked into the hotel only a few blocks down. Perpetrators didn't stick around the crime scene, not the usual ones anyway. Even if someone was weary of the disgruntled looking teen, the moment he walked into the hotel room, he'd pretty much disappeared from the country. ECHO would take care of it.

He took the elevator up, heading to the room which he had for a few more hours.

He inserted his key card and there was a click. Lucas strolled in, trying to keep at bay the sinking feeling from his possible dumping.

The operative froze mid step when he saw the figure standing by the window. There was no panic at the instant recognition of the back.

The figure whirled, grey eyes flashing with anger as he stared down the boy.

"K13," the man, his senior, spoke firmly. "You went against orders and almost compromised your job."

"I got the job done," Lucas replied.

The door clicked shut.

"You should have heard. I don't work well under orders." The boy tapped his ear. "Having someone in here isn't exactly helpful. I'm better on my own."

"You were told to dispose of an operative if he got in the way."

"There was no way to take him out in that chaos." Lucas pulled the gun from under his shirt. He placed it on a small table nearby. "If I had left him they would have got him. He's still in training. You think he wouldn't have spilled everything?" He turned to the other man. "I did you a favor," he snapped.

The grey eyes portrayed surprise at his outburst.

Ah... Lucas realized he'd lost his cool for a moment. Guess break up number three has affected me more than the other two. He immediately let his face relax. "Things didn't go as smoothly as I wanted either," he defended his actions. "I'll write up a report if needed–"

"–you have three hours," he was cut off curtly. "Get cleaned up. Head back to headquarters. There's another job waiting." His senior marched for the door.

Already? Lucas kept his face devoid of surprise. He knew the corporation was swamped, but he felt that he'd been kept especially busy. It was as though there was someone who didn't want to give him any time to think,

Lucas watched the man grab the gun, tuck it under his shirt, and leave the room.

Well, it's certainly been an eventful day. Exhaustion washed over the boy. He walked to the large bed and flopped down in the middle of it. For a moment, he seriously considered skipping out on a shower for a nap. However, he bolted upright when his thoughts cleared.

Stupid, he scolded himself for momentarily loosing sigh of the reason he'd taken this job.

He was finally here, in the city he'd been trying to get to without raising questions within ECHO. His eyes darted to the window.

Go to the Blue Oasis, the words echoed in his head. Ask for Raven. You'll find out more from him.

"Raven," Lucas repeated the name of the next crumb that would take him closer to the truth. Ever since he'd checked that microchip a year ago, he'd gone from one name to the other, following an endless trail. And he still didn't feel any closer than he had back then.

Guess I just have to keep going. Lucas got to his feet. Three hours. His mind worked. If I head out now, that's enough to get there and back with some time left to shower. The boy's eyes darted to the door. The problem is...if they're keeping an eye on me they'll ask questions. He didn't want ECHO asking. No, not while he wasn't sure what was going on.

So... Lucas' eyes darted back to the window. I guess I could try the good old jump out of the window trick. He had the equipment, but he was a good nine stories up. The chances of someone spotting him outside was quite high, and no one would just ignore someone climbing down the side of a building.

Or I could just walk out the front door and loose anyone who tails me. His eyes darted to the door. I can find an excuse later...unless I just make something up now and let them know I'm headed out. He walked to the window and gazed out for a moment. Or... he latched on to the close building right across. What about a jump for it?

The next chapter has been posted and so options are now invalid.    

Options:

a) Propel down the side of the building and worry about people if that problem comes up.

b) Leave through the front door and try to lose any tails.

c) Make up an excuse to the ECHO members on site and hope they let him head out without asking questions.

d) Try to jump from his window into the window of the building next door. Because...why not?