Of Ashes and Embers

Taipei

"I just wanted to check on you," she purrs. My eyes narrow. I call bullshit. I want to say that to her as well. But, this is Sportsmaster's daughter. I insult her and she tells him... well it wouldn't be pleasant.

"Why are you really here," I ask. "The guards wouldn't let you up here for a playdate." She hums and begins to circle me slowly. I keep an eye on her the whole time but refuse to turn my body.

"You see," she begins, "there's an assassination that I may need help with. I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to redeem yourself."

"You know as well as I do that I am not the one who gets to make that call," I tell her. Why is she here? There was no need for her to come here. I don't get to decide whether I go with her or not. That's Sportsmaster's decision. More than that, why is she asking for help. She's one of the Shadows' most capable assassins and she comes to me, the most unsuccessful one. Somethings not right here.

"Oh," she feigns disbelief. "Do they still not trust their precious little weapon all alone?" She's mocking me. I clench my jaw. Think. Slowly. Then speak.

"After the last incident, I have not been unaccompanied, no," I inform her. She hums again and then leans really close to my ear from behind me. I want to stab her.

"How unfortunate," she purrs, " I thought you proved yourself quite capable. Managing to get out alive. Even if you failed to achieve the objective. The very simple objective." Deep breath. Don't stab her. There are steps on the staircase. Quiet, for how heavy they are. Sportsmaster. Cheshire sighs in disappointment. "Looks like it's time for me to go," she tells me quietly. She brushes past me and leaves. Both hers and Sportsmaster's steps stop at the same time. I hear their voices, but I can't make out what they're saying. Their steps continue. Sportsmaster appears in the doorway. He scans me.

"What did she do," he asks suspiciously.

"Asked for help on her assassination," I reply. There's no need to lie. I see no reason for our conversation to be concealed. Even if she had done something wrong, I have no loyalty to her. His eyes narrow.

"Why," he questions.

"No idea for the real reason sir," I answer honestly, "however, she did say she thought it would be a way for me to redeem myself." His body tenses. It's a sore subject. He was brought under question. His reaction to my emergency beacon was slow. Horribly slow when I desperately needed help. Honestly, though, it wasn't his fault. But it wasn't mine either. We couldn't have known. He shouldn't have been there. I didn't even know he was real. I thought he was just some story, thought they all were. I thought wrong.

"Get down to the training room," my handler barks after a long moment of silence.

"Yes sir," comes the automatic response.

(Timeskip)

Sportsmaster bursts into the training room, where I've been for the last few hours, and I suppress a flinch. My stance wobbles. I was stretching. Deep stretching that can be rather painful. My handler insisted that I be flexible and acrobatic... while the original training sucked I admit it's useful to be physically flexible when stealing things. Acrobatic moves have also become a big part of my fighting technique.

"Change now, we have an urgent mission. Meet me in the chopper in five minutes," he snaps. I quickly get back to a regular standing position and begin walking quickly out of the room.

"Yes sir," I mumble as I shoot by him and to my room. I change quickly, only slowing to ensure I don't poke my own eyes out when I put my contacts in. Pulling my hood up to cover my hair I head to the chopper to meet up with my handler. He's not usually this irritated when a new mission pops up. What is this mission anyway? It must not be anything good since he's so pissed about it. I slide into the front seat with around a minute left. I'm handed my pistol. "Thank you, sir."