Lesson 5: Bird Watching

I was getting ready for university, packing up things here and there. Yes, it didn't start for a few more weeks but I'd always liked to be prepared.

My summer had been pretty normal except for the interviews I did thanks to the whole restaurant fiasco. One person did die due to fatal wounds and about four were injured in some shape or form but other than that my 'hero move' worked out quite well. Avery got out unscathed though, not even a scratch on her annoyingly perfect skin.

I'd get her one day, maybe when this whole mission blew over or during; I wasn't opposed to either.

However, that wasn't my focus today. Today, something awful was supposed to happen and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. That was a lie; I hated even the idea of it. It had to happen for the good of the mission but I internally wished it wasn't necessary — of course, I never mentioned that to Luca because an assassin could never have doubts or weakness.

Shaking off these thoughts, I continued to pack. I shouldn't have been questioning this. Luca knew what he was doing and I trusted him wholeheartedly.

Julie and Mike (my 'parents') were away for the weekend but were supposed to be coming back sometime later today. They had been very good to me, treating me as if I were their own despite the whole situation they'd been faced with. It warmed me a little on the inside, knowing that they cared and I wasn't alone here in England. That didn't stop me wishing that I was back in Italy. Everything there was so much more lively and fun. Maybe I was just saying that because I missed the mafia lifestyle but I doubted I could ever truly call England home.

After running my fingers through my thick hair for the millionth time, I zipped up my suitcase. Everything was packed and ready. MI5 needed to hurry the hell up in discovering and recruiting me because I was extremely bored. It turned out that not sneaking into places and killing people was so very dull.

I probably should've thought through everything more carefully before I accepted the mission. I thought it was going to be full of action and danger but so far it'd been rather stale and I needed that to change soon because I could only stay bored for so long before I started to lash out.

Deciding to go for my regular walk around the park by my house before it got dark out, I slipped on my combat boots and a jacket, making sure to lock the door behind me as I left. Children were laughing and playing as I walked by, enjoying the play equipment to the fullest extent. There was a small smile on my lips as I watched them having fun and laughing. It was so refreshing to see such innocence and happiness.

I took in all the details as I walked around, observing everything around me. I liked to have a clear image of everything. It was a habit if mine that kept me out of trouble on missions. You never knew when the tiniest detail would come in handy so I was always one to be on the safe side.

Breathing in the fresh air, I released a pleasant sigh as I smiled at a few of the kids before finishing my lap of the park. I was on the way back to my house after my nice walk when I heard a muffled scream. My brain went into overdrive, raking over all possible scenarios for what that scream could have possibly been about.

Deciding that I was just being paranoid, I carried on walking. I was not on a mission right now so I needed to stop overanalysing every little detail.

Just as I was about to step onto the pavement, leaving the grassy earth behind, I heard another shriek, this time much louder. I halted dead in my tracks but made sure I didn't look suspicious by bending down to tie up my shoelace. You never knew who was watching.

This wasn't part of the mission so either it was a figment of my imagination or something bad was about to happen and my gut was screaming that it was the latter. I always trusted my gut. Looking as oblivious as possible, I turned to do one more lap of the park, no longer on my way home.

The sun was starting to set but was still present in the afternoon sky which meant I had time. Once night fell it became much too easy to lose people in the darkness.

I walked past the children again, all still happy and smiling but something was off. One of them was missing. Shit. Pretending to look unbothered, I smiled as I walk past them towards the source of the shriek I had heard, ensuring I took the moment to remember each of their grinning faces.

Don't get me wrong, I was all for crime and violence normally. It was not my job to help random people so why would I get involved in business that wasn't mine? However, I drew the line at little kids who were far too young to be part of anything. Yes, I learnt about the mafia when I was a child but violence was not something I'd like most children to be involved with if it could be avoided.

Stealthily, I ducked behind a row of hedges, making sure I kept my body low. I wandered further away from the park and towards the wood beside it where lots of people liked to practice bike tricks for some reason. A guy from school wanted to take me there once but the sinister smirk on his face when he did gave me bad vibes so I'd kneed him in his crown jewels. Safe to say he had never bothered me again.

A twig snapping caught my attention and helped me to spot the cause of the noise. Moving between vast quantity of trees was the missing child with a gag in his mouth, a blindfold over his eyes and rope tying his wrists together as he was yanked forwards. He couldn't have been more than five and it was obvious how scared he was by his violent trembles and muffled protests.

My eyes were twitching in anger as I watched the woman holding him captive. "Shut it you little brat," she hissed venomously and I clenched my fists, following them from behind the hedge.

I kept my eyes fixed on the pair as I moved so subsequently wasn't looking where I was going and accidentally bumped into something. "Fuck," I cursed under my breath, momentarily tearing my eyes away from the little boy to see a guy who looked oddly familiar.

"Miles?" I questioned after a few moments, finally placing where I knew him from. I hadn't seen him since he'd vanished a couple of months ago after the attack on that restaurant. He looked similar to when I had last seen him, inky black hair still messy, grey eyes still calculating and build still very much toned.

Now that we were not in a life or death situation, I had time to analyse him properly as he turned to face me and noticed a pair of binoculars in his hands. "Jaia? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question," I shrugged. "And what's with the binoculars?"

He eyed me suspiciously before turning back to the scene in front of us, talking in a low whisper. "See the kid and woman behind that tree over there. I saw the boy wander a bit too far and get snatched into the trees. I'm waiting for the right moment so I can help him out," he said casually as if this was a daily occurrence for him.

"So you just happened to have binoculars with you because..."

He hesitated. "I was bird watching." Lie.

"Sure..."

"Can't a guy have hobbies?"

Turning my attention back to the woman who was now typing viciously on her phone after tying the child's arm to a low-hanging tree branch, I replied. "Yes, but I didn't know bird watching involved having a knife your pocket."

He stilled next to me and I could feel his stormy grey eyes burning into the side of my head, most likely watching me with that calculating look of his. "How'd you notice that?" he asked incredulously.

I shrugged, pretending to act indifferent. "Grew up on the wrong side of town." That was putting it lightly.

"Right... anyway, what are you doing here?"

I shoved my hands into my jacket's pockets, crouching down even lower as I focused on the pair in front of me. "I was taking a walk and noticed that one of the playing children had disappeared so I had to investigate."

From the corner of my eye, I could see the sceptical look on his face. "That's very observant of you," he whispered, dragging his attention back to the child when he wailed in pain through his gag.

"When you grow up in a bad area, you have to be observant," I dismissed, sticking to the backstory Luca and I had fabricated.

He nodded, murmuring his next words to himself but I still caught them. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Leaves rustled from where the lady was standing, drawing our attention back to her and thankfully away from our conversation. The more I told him, the more likely I was to slip up and the more likely I was to have to kill him.

Out of the bushes appeared a man. He was obscenely tall and dressed in a suit that would've been in pristine condition had he not just trudged over plenty of mud and between countless bushes to get here. He smoothened out his suit, a scowl on his face as he appraised the child in front of him.

"Weren't you supposed to grab the little girl with the black pigtails?" he asked sharply, still scrutinising the young boy.

The woman ground her teeth together, clearly trying her best not to lash out. "He was the only one I could get to without being spotted, Gold."

"Were you not trained at all?" Gold — shit code name if you asked me — exasperated. "I suppose he'll have to do. Now, untie him, Shard, and let's get out of here before anyone spots us."

I could practically feel the steam coming from Shard's ears. "Stop doing that."

"What?"

"Acting like your above me, Gold. We're on the same level. Stop insinuating that I can't do anything right. I didn't lead anyone here. I was careful. I'm not fucking stupid enough to be followed so you can shove your snarky comments up your ass and not be a douche for once. I'm sick of it. Fucking sick of it, Gold. You're not my superior so why d—"

I'd stopped listening to her rant by this point, instead nodding at Miles when I caught his eye.

He mouthed a countdown from three and adrenaline was already pumping through my veins as I got ready to pounce. The chase was fun and all but nothing was better than actually attacking your prey.

3

2

1

Both of us snapped into action, Miles going left and I right. Simultaneously, we both jumped on our respective targets.

Shard let out a surprised scream, thrashing beneath me, her fists pounding into the ground. I was so focused on trying to restrain her arms that I didn't anticipate her leg jerking up so I tumbled to the side.

"Fuck," I cursed as Shard and I both stumbled to our feet. "That wasn't very nice of you."

She scoffed, wiping some of the mud from her mouth on her exposed arm. "Neither was ambushing me. Just who are you?"

I shrugged, grinning devilishly at her as I lunged forward. "Tsk, tsk. Now that doesn't concern you." Before she even had time to think, I sent a right hook to her cheek forcing her to stagger back as she clutched her mouth in pain.

"You fucking bitch," Shard hissed, spitting blood onto the ground. "I'm going to murder you." Without warning, she quickly pulled a gun from her back pocket and aimed it straight at me.

Too predictable.

I didn't even flinch — much to her surprise — instead, using her moment of uncertainty to dodge to the left and tackle her to the ground. We wrestled on the floor for a few minutes, fighting for the black metal clasped firmly in her long, bony fingers.

In the background, there were shouts from both Miles and Gold as they made moves on one another before Gold let out a low grunt of pain. "This is all your fault, Shard. You said no one followed you."

"You think I wanted this to happen?" she bit back but her momentary distraction allowed me to pry the gun from her hands and press the cool metal against her forehead.

Shard went completely stiff beneath me, whimpering quietly in defeat. Any other day I would've pulled the trigger by now but this time Miles was here. I couldn't let him see me kill this woman no matter how much she deserved it. I hated being undercover sometimes.

To ensure she didn't try anything, I settled for shooting her in the leg instead. She wailed in pain, sounding remarkably similar to how the little boy did earlier except she was much screechier than he had been. The noise grated on my eardrums so much so that I hit her over the head with the back of the gun and knocked her out cold, her body lying limp on the muddy ground.

If only the fucking bitch was actually dead.

Not a moment later, someone grunted loudly before everything went deathly silent. I looked up to see Miles putting some handcuffs — where he got those from I'd no clue — on an unconscious Gold who had a small volume of blood trickling from his forehead down to his temple.

He stood up, moving over to me to do the same to Shard before helping me to my feet. "Help the kid," he said simply. "I've got to make a phone call."

Normally I'd protest but seeing the little boy struggling to break free quickly changed my mind.

I worked fast and loosened his restraints enough for him to slip his thin wrists through and take off his blindfold and gag. The boy fell into me once he was free, shaking like a leaf, tears welling in his molten brown eyes.

"Shhhhh," I comforted him. "It's okay. You're safe now." I rubbed his back soothingly and although he didn't say a word I could feel him calming down in my arms, his violent shakes ceasing and his breaths softening.

Before long, Miles returned to my side but this time he wasn't alone. Beside him stood three large men, all of which appeared brutish and intimidating.

I was sure the confusion on my face was apparent but before I could so much as open my mouth I felt a sharp prick in my arm and my world started to darken.

"Son of a- son of a bitch," I gritted out through clenched teeth. I should've never let my guard down. I tried to lift my arm to at least get a punch in but it was like a deadweight by my side. I couldn't feel my limbs. I couldn't feel anything at all.

The three men and Miles became hazy blurs until they vanished. Until the world vanished and everything went completely black.

~*~*~

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