DAMI

Dami tries tugging the door open, but the person on the other side has refused to let go. She puts in as much of her strength as she can bother to muster and gives it one last tug. The door finally flies open, but the visitor is no longer there. He has already taken off.

Dami wastes no time chasing Dimitri. They descend down the stairs, across the parking lot, and into an alleyway before Dami decides to stop. She pulls out Beefsteak's gun and fires at Dimitri-which to his luck, lands on the pavement ahead of him with a mere scratch to his shoulder.

This does the job fairly well. Dimitri comes to an abrupt stop. Meanwhile, Dami tucks the gun away and walks up to him all calm, as if she hadn't just open fired.

She looks at Dimitri, concerned. "Why are we running? What happened?"

Dimitri tries to catch his breath, but is too anxious to do so. "Nothing . . . nothing's wrong."

"Then why did you run?"

Dimitri has to turn his gaze away from her. "I just like running."

Dami accepts his lie as the truth and gives him a tight hug. "I missed you."

From under her grasp, Dami can feel him tense up. He's stiff. And he's still to catch his breath. "Are you okay?"

Dimitri swallows. "Y-yeah, of course." He cautiously backs away from her, one step at a time.

Then Nadine arrives, still heated. "Dimitri, you piece of shit. I told you not to bother me when I'm off work."

Dimitri stands behind her, as if he's hiding.
Now Dami's confusion doubles. "What's up with him?"

Nadine turns to see Dimitri, who just stands and watches Dami carefully. She's still perplexed, considering Dimitri is a friend. They'd been on many missions together, watching each others' backs. There was also that time when she'd left him unconscious. Wasn't Dami's fault to begin with, but Dimitri's. A simple act of intimidation and taunting that left him with a few broken bones and multiple fractures. But that's all in the past. Dami gets along well with Dimitri.

Dimitri only speaks when he's done collecting himself. Dami thinks it's from the running they just did. "Charles wants to see you." He tells Nadine.

She freezes. "He's back?"

"He came back a couple hours ago."

"Charles is here?" Dami chimes in. "Take me to him."

Instantly, Dimitri frowns. Dami stares him down-until finally, he obliges. He leads the two over to where Charles is in his car.

He's in the back seat of the Mercedes with a glass of champagne and a cigar which hangs loosely. Charles' tanned skin is wrapped all in black. The hair on his chin has turned grey, yet his hair has no trace of the color change. It remains the same jet black his clothes are.

Charles Kareem, as Dami knows, runs an odd jobs agency downtown. Except the agency isn't really public, and the jobs at hand are nothing short of legal. Only those with connections are able to contact him for assistance. His customers come to him seeking extra pair of hands for jobs such as smuggling illegal items. Some even leave assassination request at times, while others just want bodyguards. All in all, Charles is a very successful business man.

He sits and waits for Nadine, but is greeted by Dami instead. She knocks on his window and waits for his answer, then gives him a grin once he rolls the shields down.

"Well, if it isn't the devil herself." Says Charles, his voice a bit too gruff.

Dami smiles. "You flatter me."

Charles invites her into the car along with Nadine. But Dimitri declines his hospitality. "I think I'll head back to HQ."

Charles scoffs. "Don't be ridiculous, son. Get in the car."

"I don't-"

"Get in the car."

Dimitri sighs and looks at Dami who eyes him oddly. He enters the vehicle and occupies the only seat left. The one next to Dami.

The car then drives off. There's no set destination, just a means for the four present to hold a conversation.

"So what brings you back here, Dami?"

Dami looks at Charles seated across from her. "I'm looking for a man named Roland Bardot. Nadine told me you know where he is."

"What do you want with that loser?"

"Caméléonne's orders. She wants me to find him."

This statement always gets the ball rolling. Charles Kareem is a fan of the assassin, though he dislikes phrasing it as such. It's why he recruited Dami so easily.

"Well, if it's Roland you're after, then it's your lucky day. The bastard owes me money, you know."

"And he's still alive?" Nadine cuts in.

Charles shrugs. "For now."

"You damn near threw me into the ocean for that same reason."

Dimitri snorts. "Deserved."

"Shut up, tarado." Nadine shoots him a glare.

Dimitri simply lays back and folds his arms. "Why don't we tell Charles how your recent mission ended?"

"Please, we're all friends here." Says Dami. She turns to Dimitri, then says, with a smile, "Isn't that right, Dimitri?"

He just stares at her, until Charles carries on the conversation.

"I swear, you two are no better than children." Says Charles. He puffs one last smoke. "How did the mission go, Nadine?"

She stiffens up. "It went fine. But Dami doesn't have much time left here, so we should really get her to Roland. Isn't that right?"

Dami nods and turns to Charles for an answer. "He works at the facility under contract. That guy has nothing to his name, save for the place he has at Howard street." He points to Dimitri. "Dimitri will take you."

His face falls. "Why do I have to?"

"Don't argue, son."

True to his orders, Dimitri takes Dami to where she needs to be: Domenico's apartment. Charles had them dropped off a couple minutes away before heading to some meeting. Their destination is an old apartment complex, with the apartment itself on the first floor. The hallway to the place is empty. Quiet. Too quiet. Dami dislikes it this way.

She gives the door a knock, then waits for an answer from Domenico. Except, it doesn't come. She repeats the process all over again in hopes of a different outcome. Still no reply.

Dami takes a couple steps back, positions herself, then sends a kick out for the door. It flies open and grants them instant access to the apartment.

But the search for Domenico is unfruitful. He's nowhere to be found-just his belongings which have all been left in a haphazard state across his bedroom.

"You think he ran?" Dimitri asks.

Nadine shakes her head. "Charles will kill him. He knows that."

"Then we should wait for him-" Dami is interrupted by the new visitor at the door. He has a bag full of groceries in his hands, gaping at the group. Then when it seems like he's regained his senses, he drops the bag and bolts down the hallway.

Dami closes her eyes and sighs.

Nadine gives a signal to Dimitri before they head off after Domenico. Meanwhile, Dami decides to head for the balcony instead. She grabs the fence and hops over for the shrubs below, then climbs to her feet in pursuit of Domenico. He'll probably make his way to the back of the complex since he has no car. He'll want to lose himself in the woods. It would give him the advantage of camouflage. 

Dami makes it there first, waits a couple minutes, then sees Dimitri emerge from the emergency exit. Domenico surfaces from behind the building and instantly runs smack into Dimitri's body. He tries backtracking, but Nadine already has him cornered.

Dimitri greets him with a gun. "Don't move."

Domenico begins panicking. "Listen, I said I'll pay him back. Please, I just need more time!"

Nadine and Dimitri both share a look. Meanwhile, Dami, having just caught wind of the squabble, walks up to the bunch and squats in front of Domenico. Then she kisses her fist and knocks the lights out of him.

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Domenico comes to life a while later. Much later than Dami would like but at least he's up and back in his apartment. He's ready for questioning. "Domenico Ontario."

Domenico's head shoots towards Dami. Clearly, he wasn't expecting his real name. He turns to Nadine and Dimitri. "Don't let her take me back to the Toulours. They'll kill me! They'll rip me to shreds! Please, let me go. I beg you!"

"No one is taking you anywhere." Dimitri tells him. "And we're not here for Charles either."

This settles him down. ". . . then how does she know my real name?"

"You're public enemy number two to the Toulours." Says Dami. "You're kinda famous within the family."

Domenico lowers his head, the panic now overcome by anger. "Those fucking bastards were going to kill me. After all the information they pumped out of me. After all I did for them as an informant. I suddenly knew too much for them to keep me around."

Dami gives him time to expel his frustration. He clearly needs it.

"I can't die!" Domenico exclaims. "I'm only thirty-three! I wanna get married. I wanna go to amusement parks with my wife and kids. I wanna build tree houses and decorate Christmas trees with them. I wanna take them on vacations and-"

"Stop whining and listen!" Nadine cuts in.

This shuts Domenico up instantly. Dami takes a calmer approach and occupies the seat next to him. "That's why I'm here. I need every single detail about the Toulour's network."

"And then what are you gonna do? Don't you think I would've gone to the police if it were that easy?" Domenico asks. "Those bastards are everywhere."

Dami expected as such. But she has no time to argue. "Just in case you're weighing your options, you don't have any. You tell me what I need to hear or I force it out of you." she looks him in the eye. "I don't mind doing the Toulours' job for them."

Domenico finds himself in another comma. He pries his eyes away from Dami, as her gaze is too smothering, and brings it down to the floor instead. Dami sees him ponder his odds. He could choose to leave the Toulour family's fate in the hands of another and wash his own hands off the case. Or he could keep hiding in perpetual fear for his life. The answer should be clear.

Domenico takes a deep breath in and releases it, then tells Dami everything she needs to hear.

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