Isabel spread the play cards across the table with a huge grin on her face. "Straight Flush."

The men's mouths dropped open and Isabel swept the money into her clutches. She stood to leave but someone clapped a hand onto her shoulder, keeping her there.

"Wait!" the man looked desperate. "We can't let you walk away with that money!"

"Huh?" Isabel squawked, looking uninterested. "You played the game ready to lose everything didn't you?"

"What?"

"Unless you're ready to lose everything," Isabel wrenched the knife out of the man's hands and twirled it around until the man's own weapon was pointed at his throat. "You can't call yourself a gambler."

Isabel licked her lips sadistically. "That's called the game of life, old man."

The man trembled in his boots, knowing full well that he might die any second. Isabel smirked then backed away.

"I can't waste my effort on cowards like you," Isabel stuck the knife into the wood of the gambling tabletop, making it stick up vertically. "Just admit your defeat, geezer."

The door swung closed behind the red head and Charles hopped around Isabel in obvious excitement.

"You're so cool, Isabel!" Charles said in awe.

Isabel smiled in self-importance. "Told you I didn't need your backup. I can take care of myself."

"Still..." Charles smiled sadly. "How much money have we won so far?"

Isabel peeked into her pouch. "A couple of hundred."

"You don't know, do you?" Charles sneered.

"I'm not good at math, okay?!"

"Let's just meet up with the boys," Charles readied her maneuver gear. "Levi said we had another job to do this evening."

Isabel grabbed her own handgrips. "Yeah, let's hurry. Aniki doesn't like it when we're late."

Their grappling hooks shot out and their gas propelled them forward. Their cloaks fluttered as they cut through the air and their hair flew around their faces. Isabel led the way and Charles followed close behind. Her bangs were tied back and her hair had grown out the past few months. She was now more of a girl than her comrades in arms have ever seen her.

Charles remembered back to when she and Levi sat down next to each other on the couch. Her eyes went out of focus and she began to lose her mind to her memories.

_ Flashback

"So," Levi had his arm on the head of the couch.

They were both staring at the pile of rubbish in front of them, the candle illuminating the hole in the ceiling from which the garbage came. Charles had tight gauze around her head and stomach, she winced as she shifted her position on the couch.

"Your name is Charlotte Everheart?"

"I'm surprised you haven't cleaned up the mess yet," Charles overlooked his question. "You'd usually be all over it."

Levi's pupils slid to the side of his sockets to land on her. "In case you haven't noticed, I had greater priorities to take care of and I'm sucked dry of motivation right now."

Charles lifted the hot cup of tea to her lips and shivered.

"I'm not going to probe you," Levi grabbed a throw from beside him and threw it over Charles' head. "But I want to know if you're connected to anything that might get us killed."

Charles broke out into mad laughter, the pain of it making her cringe. She wiped away a tear and looked over at Levi. "You're asking that now? After five years?"

Levi sat silently as her laughter die down.

"You're right," Charles said. "There're several people coming after me, a cohesive group. I was once a cog in their system, but I left after a while. I never thought they'd still be interested in me."

Charles' smile was forced and her hands shook as she held the mug of tea. "I was a fool."

Levi watched her. He pried the cup out of her hands and placed it on the coffee table.

"Go to sleep," he said. "You need rest."

After staring at Levi for a few seconds, Charles lifted herself onto her aching feet and, securing the throw around her, walked toward the bedroom where Farlan and Isabel were already sleeping.

"Which do you prefer?" Levi asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Charles or Charlotte?"

Charles smiled faintly. When she answered Levi's eyes widened for a fraction of a second and Charles closed the door behind her. Levi was left with an almost undetectable, amused grin.

_ end

Charles had thought that Levi would kick her out. She was wholly prepared to pack her bags and leave. But hearing him say to go to bed, it was like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. She hadn't realized how attached she'd become to that house, to the people she ate and killed other people with.

She was happy there, and she felt like she belonged. She'd have to thank Levi soon for letting her stay.

Isabel and Charles landed on the ground next to Farlan and Levi. Isabel lifted an overflowing bag of money and laughed through her smile. The boys gave the pair a warm look before they all started down the road.

"So, what's the job?" Charles asked, linking arms with Farlan and Levi.

"Remember when you told me about the rookies?" Farlan asked as Isabel threaded her arm through Levi's. "It's the Alex guy, we're to send him to the next world."

Charles arched an eyebrow. "The assassination dude?"

"Yes, the assassination dude," Levi said, looking slightly uncomfortable being wedged in between the two women. "Apparently, they can't take anymore city officials dying."

"How much?"

"Decent amount of pay," Farlan answered. "Levi wanted to bargain more but I felt like we were pushing it."

"We weren't," Levi interjected.

"Well, this will be a toss-up," Charles frowned. "He can actually see me, so our usual tactic of keep the fodder busy while I kill their leader won't suffice."

"Are you underestimating us?" Isabel narrowed her eyes at Charles. "We did just fine even before you joined, remember?"

"But then you guys got lazy and became dependent on me," Charles threw back at the red head. "I even think your minds have been rewired into thinking I'll always be there to redirect the course of a bullet aimed at your big heads."

"If you aren't, we die. Simple as that," Levi said.

"But that's not a problem," Isabel did a fancy twirl to put her arm around Charles and separate her from Farlan and Levi. "Because Charles wouldn't play around with our lives on the line."

"What are you talking about?" Charles looked genuinely defensive. "I always play around."

"Don't sound so insulted!" Farlan said as Isabel slumped in defeat. "Let's get this done and get back home before nightfall."

"That means we have three hours," Charles calculated.

"Not enough?" Levi asked.

Charles smirked at him. "No, I'm just thinking Farlan is being far too lenient."

She shot a grappling hook to plunge into a building and bulleted forward. The rest followed and she let Levi lead the way. "I suppose, if we bust a gasket, we could have it done in less than an hour."

Farlan scoffed but had on a smile, Isabel's mouth pulled into her Cheshire grin, and Levi had no change in appearance, though his demeanor fired up.

"Challenge accepted," the trio chorused.

The flying collection soared over heads and headed to the western district where it was discovered that the assassination group's headquarters were located.

The building was average. It blends in with the others and had that presence of normalness. Charles didn't know what she had been expecting. Maybe a warehouse or a huge building with no windows and invisible doors. Needless to say, she was disappointed. She had gathered information on their location by Farlan's instruction, but never took the liberty to visit. Especially since that one incident with the guy and the gun and the fact that she had almost died five times in that span of acquaintance, she had wanted to do a little exploring. But she had never found the time or the motivation to. So in her little subconscious, she'd built up this image of burning down the assassination organization's palace of a headquarters. But no. They give her a building that could've been used for a pit stop for some insignificant human.

"Dull," she whispered under her breath as they looked over the structure from a top a neighboring one.

"What's the plan?" Isabel inquired. "A or B?"

"It would be faster with A, but more efficient with B since we need to completely dispose of them," Farlan mused.

"Say 'kill'. It's not any less immoral if we replace the word," Levi said, preparing his gun.

"Do we leave our gear?" Charles asked.

"Yeah," Farlan worked on loosening his belts. "It'll be easier to move around."

"Plan B then?" Charles confirmed as she hid her gear behind some crates.

"Nah," Farlan secured his blade sheath around his thigh. "Plan C."

"Oooh," Isabel retied her pigtails. "We're getting serious."

Farlan grinned. "Of course. Seeing as how we have to finish in less than an hour."

"Let's get going then," Levi jumped.

"And here we have the amazing Levi who expects to live after jumping ten stories," Charles said in a reporter's voice. Levi landed smoothly on the HQ and smugly looked over his shoulder. Charles rolled her eyes and backed up, resuming her reporter's voice. "This person has just been schooled."

She ran and kicked off the edge of the roof. She had a less graceful landing as she had to roll once to avoid excruciating pain. Farlan and Isabel waved at them from the other side and the pair disappeared into the shadows. Levi gave Charles a questioning look to which Charles answered with a nod. They used soft footsteps to run over to the hatch that led to the inside, then waited patiently.

After a couple of minutes, they heard shouts and gun shots as Isabel and Farlan drew out most of the men to the lower levels. Levi shot the lock that held the hatch closed and it broke with a clatter. They slipped into the building and Charles made a move to look for the leader, but Levi held her back.

"What?" Charles asked as the sound of fighting came from the lower levels. "Did you forget? You need to flank them."

Levi stared at her for a second. "I'll go kill him."

"Huh?"

"You go assist the others."

"What're you talking about? Why-"

"Just listen to me," Levi said, pushing her to the staircase while he ran around the corner.

"Wait!" Charles yell whispered, but he was already gone. She frowned while she headed to the stairs, loading her pistol. "What was that about?" she grumbled.

She glimpsed men on the foot of the staircase and gunned them down. As they fell with much cursing and screams of pain, Charles grabbed their guns and attached them to her belt, thinking they'd come in handy later on. She wasn't much of a marksmen, not compared to some people she had met years before. She'd only be able to hit someone if they were standing still and about a couple of feet away. This wasn't necessarily a problem because her target would never realize a gun was aimed at their head until their soul was looking down on their bleeding corpses.

Charles slid down a banister and she was on the fifth level. Some men spotted her and she flipped to avoid a couple of bullets.

But the main problem was...

Charles reloaded her pistol and peeked out long enough to blast someone in the head and quick enough to avoid the same fate that would've been delivered by the dead man's companion.

...The pistol would immediately draw people's attention when she fired and her company was quickly discovered.

Charles darted out and betting her luck that she wouldn't be killed, ran at the man with a dagger. The man shot at her before she struck him in the stomach and felt a little blood trickle down her chin.

"You weren't half bad," she grinned as the man fell, shock and pain succumbing his being.

She swung out her blade with a swish to get the blood off and sheathed it in its place on her belt. Tiptoeing to a corner, she cradled her side where blood was staining her shirt faster than a wildfire. She didn't hear anything but decided not to risk it again, expressly because more bullet wounds would only lessen her chances of arriving to help Farlan and Isabel alive.

Taking out a small compact mirror, she tilted it around the bend to check for any stalking enemies. She saw the next staircase and an empty corridor. When she thought she was clear, the mirror shattered and she hastily pulled her empty, bleeding hand out of the way.

"Che," she lifted her pistol to her face. "How many are still left up here? Did we miscalculate?"

"Come out with your hands up!"

"Who do you think you are?!" she yelled back. "Law enforcers?!"

"We realized a long time ago you were mercenaries sent here by our foes. Most of us here have come from your same background and we understand your situation and we're trying to be as merciful as possible."

"Being soft will kill you," Charles appeared into their line of vision, the man she had stabbed lifted up to guard her body. The two men seized up at the sight making Charles grin in pleasure. "This man is still alive, will you throw away his life to take a shot at me?"

They hesitated, giving Charles the opening. She shot at their trigger hands and then at their thighs. She threw the dying man on top of them and ran down the next staircase.

Floor 4

Charles took rattling breaths as the wound to her side became too much. She pulled off her shirt and saw that the cheap bullet was discernable. She took out some bandages and wrapped them around her torso before throwing on her shirt again and reaching the next staircase. The building seems to have been vacated and Charles was thankful for the easy descent down. All she needed to do now was kill the rest off with Farlan and Isabel while Levi took care of the leader.

Which brought her thoughts back to how weird Levi had been acting when they first infiltrated. Plan C consists of Farlan and Isabel attracting all attention on them while Levi and Charles sneaked in from the roof. The men would scurry down the stairs to assist their companions, leaving the leader with no more than a few body guards since they'd hear that only two had penetrated their hideout. Levi would then go and flank them, attacking from behind whereas Charles goes to hunt down the leader. After she was done, she'd go and join up with the others to either help or go home. This plan worked 99% of the time since most organizations were thick enough to never expect that only two people attacking is suspicious.

So why did Levi want to switch roles? Did he get bored with the proceedings and decide that he'd much rather kill the big man in charge? Charles would admit that it was the quickest job in the plan, but also the most dangerous and her ability was the only reason she managed to come back alive most of the time-

Charles hit herself in the face. Of course! Her ability isn't effective on the leader, that's why Levi decided to make that alteration. Charles smiled, finally reaching the first floor where most of the chaos sounded behind a door. She understood now. Levi didn't want the plan to fail because of that little glitch.

She reached out a hand to open the door when she caught something from the corner of vision. A click and she froze.

"Don't move," they ordered.

Charles did so.

_

Levi had checked all the rooms to find them empty. He began to worry. The leader wouldn't have went down to deal with only two intruders. It would've been too much of a triviality, not worth their own labors. They would've been lounging in their office, letting their subordinates take care of the problem. Levi tsked, running down the stairs, once in a while just jumping a whole flight. This guy must be erratic. Either too bored, smart, or just idiotic. He must be down there with the others.

He could still catch up with Charles if he moved quickly, he just hoped she didn't meet the guy halfway. That would mean imminent death for her. She relied on that weird skill of hers too much.

Levi passed by the bodies of the men that he had heard Charles shoot at and jumped over a railing to cut the time of descending the whole staircase. He passed by two more cadavers and now saw blood trailing down the hallway. He gritted his teeth. She got hit.

_

"Are you the one responsible for this raid?" the person with Charles' life in their hands asked.

Charles recognized that voice. An evil smile spread across her face. "It's not much of a raid as an eradication."

_

Levi followed the path of scarlet blood and he heard a crunch as he stepped over a pile of shattered glass. There was no more blood leading the way to Charles and he deduced she had treated her wound before continuing.

He bolted to the next staircase.

_

Charles stared at the doorknob she still had her hand over, unable to turn to look at her captor. She knew a gun was pointed to her head and she just had to hope she could stall for time. If he was here, then Levi would be along soon.

"I'll commend you for your strategy," the man said. "I never would've thought that those two up front were just luring us away. You were going to attack from behind and surround us weren't you?"

"I'm not obliged to answer my prey's questions, Alex."

_

Levi scaled the next few floors, not finding any more bodies that might've told him about the state of Charles. Was she still alive? Did she join up with the others? Is he worrying about nothing? No. He couldn't relax until the leader of this assassination group was dying under his feet and his friends standing next to him.

He just needed to get down there as soon as possible.

_

A click. "So you know my name."

"We've met before," Charles gripped her dagger away from the man's sight.

"Turn around slowly."

"Why won't you shoot?" she asked, ignoring his command. "Confidence?"

"Hardly," he said. "I'm not prone to kill a woman any chance I get."

"Ah," she was surprised he could tell her gender. Granted, she did grow out her hair a bit, but people still mistook her for male more often than not. "Then it's sexism."

"I have a loaded gun pointed to your head."

Charles chuckled. "You got a point."

_

Levi was on the second floor and heading to the next staircase when he had to jump out of the way of a couple of bullets. He waited behind a wall for them to stop, and caught his breath, slightly spent from all the jumping, running, and stair plunging.

He was getting impatient. He was one floor away and these buffoons were blocking his way. The fact they were even there, made him pissed. What the hell was Charles doing? She was supposed to take care of all the men left on each floor before going-

Levi closed his eyes. She forgot didn't she?

_

"Turn around," he repeated.

"I don't want to."

"You think you have a choice?"

"Yes, since it's my muscles and body we're talking about."

"Then your muscles are okay with me shooting them right here and now?"

"Don't know, why don't you ask them?" Charles slowly slid the dagger out.

_

Levi considered his choices, having only about a few seconds before the men rounded the corner. He could always backtrack and attack them from high ground, but he didn't really want to be chased all the way back to the other stairway. He looked down at his feet. He wondered how thick the floor was.

_

"Turn around," the man reiterated irritably.

"Why? You can shoot my head from this position can you not?" she was really pushing it.

"I want to see your face."

This really confused her but she brushed it aside, focusing on the dagger in her hand. "Why would you need to see my face? You want a clear view of the horror flashing through my eyes when you shot me?"

"Just turn a-"

Charles opened the door inwardly to cover her and the bullet passed through the wood with a bang. She kicked it at the boy and he shot the door to blast it away, just like he did with the barrel. She ran at him, intending to disarm and then decapitate. But the man was one step ahead. He grabbed the dagger with a hand covered in a thick leather glove and then swept her off her feet and holding her down with his legs, pointed the gun right at her forehead.

Charles lay frozen, not quite processing what had happened. The only people that could position her like this were Levi, Farlan, and Isabel and none of their faces were above her right now. She was going to die. She was going to hell and meet Satan and all the people she had murdered and...

The gun lowered to the man's side and Charles was surprised to feel drops of wetness on her face. She stared aghast at the sobbing man.

"It's you..." his voice cracked. "It's you..."

Charles didn't know what to do but watch him cry.

"Don't you remember me?" the man cracked a smile. "Of course you don't. You've thought I was dead for over fifteen years."

"I..." Charles tried. "Who the hell are you?"

The man wiped away his tears. "Charlotte Everheart. Don't tell me you've forgotten this handsome face of mine."

Charles gave him a weird look. Alex smiled.

"I'll give you a hint," he cleared his throat, pausing for dramatic effect. "What goes up but doesn't move?"

_

Levi waited until the men had joined him when he kicked the loose foundation under them. This sent them falling down to the lower level. Being prepared, he didn't get tangled in the wood floorboards as his opponents had. Dust and wood splinters flew around before settling and Levi spared the groaning men a glance before looking around at his surroundings.

_

Tears filled her eyes and she covered her mouth. Those eyes, that hair, his quirky smile. "It can't be..."

He smiled wider and Charles stared at him, her eyes never leaving his face even when the ceiling collapsed a few feet away from them and people came tumbling out.

"The one and only," he laughed.

Charles tossed her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug, crying into his shoulder, breathing in his scent. He was there. He was really there. He was returning her embrace. His body was warm and alive.

Charles didn't want to let go. If she did, he might vanish again. If she did, she'd be met with that same despair that had struck her back when she realized he was dead. But he wasn't! He was there.

"Axel!" she wailed, breathless from her tears. "Axel! Where have you been?! I was so lost without you!"

Axel laughed, tightening his hold. "I'm back, Charlotte."