It was a few weeks later that Zak summoned Mick to the boxing ring. The summoning occurred after hours, yet Terry was still there, mumbling about missing a hot date with a beautiful woman for the honour.

"Shut your trap, Tel. You're getting well paid for tonight," Zak said with a laugh at the gym manager. "I can get you a whole bevvy of beautiful ladies."

"I was talking about a proper one, not prostitutes," Terry yelled at him which made Zak laugh.

"Well, if she's genuine, she'll reschedule," Zak said with a diffident shrug. "Won't she, Tel?"

"You'd better bloody hope she does," Terry said gloomily. "I'm wearing my best gear and my nicest cologne and all tonight."

"Well, wear it again next time. She won't know," Zak shot back with a barely hidden smirk.

Terry descended into a swearing bout and turned away from the grinning Zak. I grinned myself at their exchange even as I prepared myself in the middle of the boxing ring. I had been prepped by Zak already that I would have to fight that night even though I was not as up to speed with boxing techniques as I would have liked to have been.

Zak had told me that it didn't matter - that he expected me to throw the fight anyway in the third round. He'd shown me a suitcase filled to the brim with money - bets placed by people that were unknown to me. The money would go to Mick, and then Mick would pay Zak.

"So basically it's kind of money laundering," I'd said.

Zak hadn't replied but I had known all the same. I thought that I would probably wouldn't have to fake going down in the third round at any rate. I would have been surprised if I made it even that far so the money was Zak's no matter what happened.

Mick came in, saw the set up, saw who he was fighting with and immediately started backing out of the gym.

"Oh fuck no, Zak, I'm not fighting that guy," he yelled at Zak even as he pointed at me. "He'll kill me. Look at the size of him!"

I was easily taller than him by a foot and weighed one hell of a lot more. Mick was so thin and small that I doubted he could have punched his way out of a wet paper bag.

"It's okay. Even I could beat him," Terry said in a surprisingly bored voice that I suspected was faked for Mick's benefit. "Sasha's a beginner. "

"He'll still kill me," Mick whined. "He's a fucking giant."

"Get the fuck in that ring, Michael or I'll follow up on my threats of castration," Zak yelled at him.

I'd never seen anyone move so fast in my life as Mick scrambled to join me in the ring. Terry looked over at me with eyebrows raised, silently asking me if I was ready. I merely shrugged as that time was as good as any other. I knew I wasn't winning the bout anyway.

We began to spar at first before Zak pulled his knife out; I could see him throwing it and tossing it from hand to hand. Terry didn't say anything though I did see the gym manager watching Zak with a look of amusement on his face. Mick had also noticed and took it as the threat it was supposed to be; he started hitting me desperately for real. I took the blows, and traded more; I even managed to knock Mick down a couple of times yet the bastard - thankfully - didn't stay down.

The first round ended, followed by the inevitable second round. I exchanged glances with Zak and he nodded at me. I knew what that meant - go down in the next round or else. I was already tiring by then so it wasn't difficult to slow my movements, to allow more punches past my defences before suddenly in the third round, Mick got a good headshot. I felt the world slip away for a moment, stars and rainbows dancing at the edges of my vision, then something broke loose, and swum away.... and I remembered....

****

The last mission... I'd uncovered the fact that it was Tamsyn Stryker herself that was at the centre of the people smuggling ring. I'd been involved in investigating a petty thieves case in the East End from the inside out; they too had been involved in people smuggling and had been shifting large amounts of cash for the privilege. I had known that they'd been reporting to someone important - someone in the government - but they wouldn't tell me who.

I'd followed a few of them while they were making money drops and discovered that I had followed them right to my place of work. They'd given money to my handler in exchange for fake documents, which they disseminated amongst themselves. I'd moved accidentally and made a noise loud enough for the interlocuters to hear; Stryker had then stared right at me.

What happened next was a blur to me, remembered only in snatches; I guessed that I must have been captured and after torture and coercion didn't work to change my mind about reporting the transgressions, I was dosed with some pretty hefty experimental mind wipe drugs. The next thing I remembered I was sitting in Stryker's office and she was sending me on this mission. I wondered then if she'd sent me out to die, whether she'd intended for Zak to kill me...****