Author's Note: Levi is 24 for this story. Too much of an age difference would be weird.

Petra Ral was an assassin.

It worked for her. She was innocent, sweet, charming, beautiful-

Ruthless, cold-hearted, greedy, emotionless-

"That it?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, riffling through the wad of cash she'd received from her last job. "Seems I should be paid a bit more than that."

Her boss studied her through lidded eyes, then sighed. "Alright Ral, here's an extra hundred. Take it or leave it."

Petra smirked, reaching across the counter and snatching the bill. "Thanks, boss."

She walked out of the room, her 5'2 frame never betraying the fact that she was a killer.

"Come back here for a second, Ral!" Her boss yelled. "We're not done!"

Petra let out an exasperated huff, peeking her head back through the door. "What is it?"

"You've got another job," the man said. "Here's the file."

"Already?" Petra grumbled. "I just got back. Give me a break."

"Sorry, Ral." Her boss replied. "But we're short on staff and need to keep up with demands." He handed her the Manila folder. "You leave tomorrow morning. Read this through tonight."

Petra took the file, weighing it in one hand. "It's pretty light," she remarked.

"Yeah, we don't have much on this guy," her boss answered. "He's real secretive. Just do your best with what you have."

At home, Petra immediately sat down and began flipping through the contents.

"Levi Ackerman," she read. "Male, age 24, height is 5'3, weight 150 lbs, occupation is automobile manufacturer..." She skimmed through the rest of the information, her eyes landing on his picture.

He was a fairly handsome man, despite his small stature. His eyes were steel gray, highlighted by black lashes and a pale face. His black hair was fashioned in an undercut, and from what she could see from the half-body shot, he was rather muscular.

"Boss was right," Petra said to herself. "There really isn't much info on this guy."

She was about to put the papers away, when a smaller piece caught her attention. She picked it up, squinting at the small type.

"Ahhh..." Petra murmured. "This could be a bit troublesome. He's got no record whatsoever. Nothing, not even exact date of birth or the hospital he was born at. No blood type, no country of origin...jeez, I don't even know how long he's been in America."

Something was definitely wrong with this guy. It was as if all his data records had been wiped, or maybe never put into the computer to begin with.

Really, the only noteworthy thing was that his location and schedule was known. He was currently living in Florida. He lived alone, apparently, and left home each day at 6:00 a.m. to go to work. He got back at 6:30 p.m. and would go out to eat every Saturday at a seafood restaurant.

Well, hopefully she was just overthinking things. Maybe it would all turn out as planned, and she could complete her mission without a hitch.

Hopefully.

***********************************

Petra stepped off her plane on Friday the next day at 1:30 p.m. She was dressed like a normal tourist, wearing a flowery blouse, kaki shorts, and flip flops. Her overly large handbag hid the fact that she also carried a multitude of weapons, lethal poisons, and other various assassination tools.

According to the hired spy, Mr. Ackerman was taking a day off from work. He was at the beach with two other people, a red haired teenage girl whose name was Isabel Magnolia, and a sandy haired man, Farlan Church, who was a little older than Levi.

Well, it was time to go meet her target. She checked into her assigned hotel (it was directly across the street from his flat), and then hurried down to the crowded beach.

Petra walked casually across the sand, her sunglasses hiding the fact that her eyes were flitting from person to person, waiting for her target to come into view.

After ten minutes of strolling, she finally saw him.

He was sitting cross legged on a towel with Church, wearing a tank top and shorts. A large blue umbrella shaded them from the sun.

Magnolia sat on the sand a few feet away. She was building a messy sandcastle, looking up for approval from the two men from time to time.

Petra was almost taken aback by how normal they looked. She'd sort of suspected that a man with no record would look a bit more shady. But that was one of the first lessons she'd learned in assassination, and one that she often practiced herself: never let appearances fool you.

Petra studied them for a few moments, deciding her approach. An open drink sat next to Ackerman. That would work to her advantage.

Nonchalantly, she reached into her handbag, extracting her camera.

No one would guess she'd also grabbed a pinch of muscle relaxant powder. It wouldn't go into effect until hours later, when he would likely be in bed. His movements would become slow and sluggish, keeping any chance of a struggle minimal.

Petra made her move. Snapping a few pictures of the water as she went along, she wandered closer and closer to their towel. When she was only a mere foot away, she 'stumbled' over a stray flip flop nearby, dropping her camera right next to Levi's hand.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Petra exclaimed, immediately bending down to retrieve it. The moment her hand passed over his cup, she released the powder.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Levi replied also bending over. He picked up the fallen object and handed it to her.

The moment he laid eyes on her face, however, he froze. His face changed for a split second, steel eyes narrowing.

A second later, it relaxed again, splitting into an easygoing smile. "Don't worry about it, miss."

Petra's heart was racing, but she didn't let it show on her face. "Thank you." She flashed him a smile and walked off, finally settling down on an area of the beach where she could see him, but was hidden from his view.

The way he'd looked at her...it wasn't right. It was as if he was scrutinizing her, had looked right through her smiling facade and uncovered her true intentions.

Farlan had been eyeing her that same way as well.

It made her nervous. Not one of her victims had looked at her that way.

"Relax, Petra," she told herself. "Stay calm."

But she just couldn't possibly force herself to do that when she realized that Levi hadn't lifted his drink to his lips even once.

***********************************

Petra lay in her hotel bed that night, pondering her next move.

It was too risky to try anything tonight, she decided. She'd watched her target get up and throw his drink away after a while, so he couldn't have possibly drunk the muscle relaxant.

There was also the possibility of him and his subordinates suspecting her. She'd seen them enter his flat with him that night, and since then, no one had left the house. If she tried to go in tonight, she'd have three people to contend with.

Petra decided to take things slow. She would stay under the radar for a while, act like a normal tourist. Hopefully, any suspicions he had of her would fade.

Just be natural, she told herself, before rolling over and falling asleep.

***********************************

The next day, Petra silently observed Levi as he made his way to work. He took the bus, she noted. No car.

That meant he was a traveler, never staying in one place long enough to need a car. Just one other strange thing about him.

A bit later, his two companions also left the house and walked away down the street. They got on a bus and departed soon after.

Petra immediately pulled out a pair of special binoculars, given to her specifically for her line of work. Peering through them, she examined the front of Levi's home, searching for any cameras or security system. Her binoculars beeped slightly when one came into view. The most intricate one she found was a simple alarm--which could be easily disabled.

She stepped out of her hotel a few moments later, walking towards Levi's flat. A pair of white gloves covered her hands to ensure no fingerprints would be left behind.

Minutes later, the alarm system was disabled and she was inside. Petra glanced around the flat. She was in the sitting room. It was sparsely decorated, only the necessary sofas and coffee table occupying space.

Feeling jittery, and not knowing whether or not Ackerman would return, Petra poked around until she found the room she supposed was his. A few papers were scattered on the desk, seemingly work related. Petra skimmed them quickly and deemed them unimportant.

She began searching his drawers, careful to leave everything just as she'd found it. Nothing.

Petra was just about to close the last drawer when the slightest rattle caused her to freeze. She paused, peering back into the drawer that she was sure only contained soft linens.

On closer inspection, she realized the floor of the drawer was raised a tad bit higher that the other ones. Pulling a thin metal strip from her bag, she eased it through the crack and lifted the wooden bottom away.

What she saw made her blanch.

The bottom of the drawer was lined with guns.

And knives.

And many other various tools Petra recognized from her work.

They were the tools only assassins and government agents could get their hands on.

Petra left the house as quickly as she could.

***********************************

Levi returned later that night from work. Farlan and Isabel arrived not long after.

The first thing he did was check the alarm system.

It was on, but that didn't mean she couldn't have just disabled it and then turned it back on after.

Farlan watched him with raised eyebrows. "Well?"

"Dunno yet," Levi grunted. "You guys go check the house. I'll look in my room."

The pair have him a nod and hurried off; Levi climbed the stairs to his room.

On first glance, nothing seemed out of place. Then he opened his concealed weapons drawer.

"Yep," he muttered. "Thought so."

The little string that he'd placed between the crack had fallen through, and was lying in the hidden compartment. He'd placed it so that it would only fall through if the bottom of the drawer had been lifted.

"Yo, Farlan! Isabel!" He called from upstairs. He heard the pounding of their feet as they hurried to meet him.

"What's up, big bro?" Isabel asked as she peeked in the doorway.

"The trap's been sprung," Levi informed them. "She was definitely here."

"Do you think she knows?" Farlan asked. "And why on earth is she here with us in Florida?"

"Alright, I have a hypothesis," Levi said, sitting down on his bed. "As you guys both know, Ms. Ral's an assassin. She works for our rival company, the Scouting Wings. And we've been ordered by our organization, the Legion, to eliminate her because she's been taking out way too many of our agents."

"Yup," Isabel replied, bouncing on the bed beside him.

"My guess is that she was probably sent to kill me. It just so happens that we were planning to leave today to her home state, Indiana. But she beat us to the chase, so now we're stuck here."

"Then do you think she knows we work for the Legion?" Farlan asked.

"Doubt it," Levi answered. "We've kept who we work for pretty low-key, so no one should know. But the guys at Scouting Wings have been suspicious of me for a long time. They're probably just doing it as a precaution."

"Then we need to hurry up and finish the job so we can get out of Florida. It's better to move quickly. I hate when they have a lock on our position." Farlan told him.

"Yeah..." Levi rubbed his head with his hands. "This flat isn't all that great either. There aren't many good hiding places for my weapons."

"Umm...big bro?" Isabel piped up. "What should we do now, since Ral saw your tools? Don't you think she knows you're an assassin now?"

"Act normal," Levi replied. "She'll probably start tailing us now, so expect to meet up with her. We'll go out to eat tonight, just like usual. Expect her to be there. Listen, we should get to know her as well as we can. Learning about the prey makes them an easier target. Then it will just be a matter of killing her before she kills us."

"Sounds like a plan," Farlan grinned, clapping his hands together. "I'm always up for a challenge."

Levi nodded his approval. "Then let's eliminate Petra Ral."

To be continued...