The Ballroom

The Adversary

*Lucky's Perspective*

Lucky Dawson stared from his perch on the broad marble stairs, his shoes clicking as they nearly slipped down a step due to his legs briefly going limp. The mere sight of the familiar woman made Lucky a little weak in the knees, with her tight, knee-length dress carving out all of her curves and dipping very low around the chest. She was standing in the doorway, tall and lean and broad-shouldered, with an obsidian braid stopping at her hip. 

She sashayed her way toward Romeo, her graceful fingers clutching the handle of a sleek, black briefcase. The edges of her mouth pointed swiftly upward, her sheer lipgloss reflecting in the chandelier light, and her eyebrows slanted down, causing Romeo to take on an inquiring, intelligent expression. The first mind game had started. Hopefully, that was all that had to happen tonight: mind games, exchanges, and no bloodshed.

Unfortunately, Lucky couldn't spend all of his time staring at the assassin, whose name was Ghislane Desmira. He had his own games to play. He recognized the man standing close to Ghislane's right, named Brutus, from that jagged scar Lucky had sliced into his left cheek two months ago, the last time he battled the assassin and lost. That mission was the reason he was sent to that insufferable Zen retreat. Lucky had to win this next battle, whether he ended up fighting it with his words or his gun, or he would be put out on the street. He had to win this battle, or 6-year-old Lillian would be put out on the street with him. He would win it for that girl, his daughter. He had to.

"Ah, Scarface. Good to see you again, I suppose. How'd your little boo-boo heal?" Lucky Dawson crooned as he slipped in next to Juliette, staring Brutus in his hazel eyes and adjusting his black tie. 

"I remember you looking like dog shit in Siberia. It matches your personality better than a suit and tie, Agent Ladybird," Brutus barked back in a thick German accent. 

"Boys, rein it in." 

A sharp knife of a voice sliced through the men's banter, and hazel (almost yellow) eyes bored themselves into Lucky's soul. Ghislane's eyes. Sharp and angular just like the rest of her face, and the shape perfectly matched Brutus's. Not only that, Ghislane and Brutus shared the same night-black hair, pointy nose, and hazel eyes. They were siblings. Or cousins. How had he not noticed their relation before? Brutus had to be the older one, for wrinkles and fine lines had just begun to carve themselves into his face, while Ghislane's luminous skin didn't look a day past twenty-two. Maybe even younger.

"Go take your place back up on the stairs, Agent," Juliette hissed quietly.

In response, Ghislane snapped, "If you will, Brutus, join the man."

The women stared each other down, both wearing vicious half-smiles. The silent catfight was unyielding. Best to leave them to it.

Lucky stalked up to the staircase, Brutus trailing close behind. Both of the men would jump off the stairs anytime to save their partners, and both of the men knew their partners would do the same. That was the only thing the opposing units had in common. A powerful, undying loyalty and bond, because if they broke that bond they would all lose something. So Lucky would watch and listen, and kill if he needed. Not just for Juilette, but for Lillian, too.

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*Juliette's Perspective*

Ghislane's Desmira and her brother, or cousin, Brutus, had been unimpressive, to say the least. Brutus had been wearing an almost-new-looking suit, but it was for sure thrifted, from the scuffed cuffs and the fraying tag on the bottom the hulking brute had forgotten to tear off. Now Ghislane was standing in front of Juliette, clothed in a cheap, crap-quality red velvet dress and large, fake diamond earrings. Convincing, she must admit, but fake, a tell-tale sign being how the light refracted off of the jewels. 

Hopefully, the twenty-four-carat diamond in the briefcase the woman held refracted the light like Juliette's necklace, otherwise, her team wouldn't be handing over the twenty-thousand dollars the Obsidian Mercenary's Board gave them to retrieve the heirloom.

"Darling, you look stunning. Shall we dance?" Ghislane inquired with a smirk, passing the briefcase back to one of the women in her party and outstretching a gloved hand. Ghislane's lines sounded rehearsed, as if she had prepared to ask Juliette to dance as a way to exchange information without seeming suspicious. 

Juliette took the woman's hand and Ghislane led her to the dance floor, trying to conceal a bright red blush as she placed her hand lightly on Juliette's hip. That flush of scarlet disclosed the young woman's inexperience to Juliette. Cunning, strong, and confident, but the woman - no - girl had had little time in the field. Juliette had guessed Ghislane was no younger than twenty, just a year younger than her, but with that brief moment of weakness, of the girl letting her guard down to show her embarrassment... she might be only eighteen. Something Juliette could use to her advantage.  

"So. Is this one of your first missions, Ms. Desmira?" Juliette challenged.

"It's actually Mrs. Desmira," Ghislane replied, swiftly dodging her question. 

So the girl was married? Intriguing.

"I married my husband two years ago. An arranged marriage by the Granger Assassin's Board. So they could receive yearly," Ghislane drew in contemplating breath her eyes faltering somberly, "donations. Human donations to train into beautiful assassins like me."

Ghislane draped that cloak of undying confidence back over her face as she and Juliette waltzed to the pianoforte. Juliette still wondered why the Granger Assassin's Board had sent assassins, not to mention inexperienced and stupid ones, to a simple exchange. 

"Married at only sixteen? What a shame, you missed your glory years to bed as many men or women as you please." Juliette had woven the words perfectly. Her answer would tell Juliette if Ghislane had the experience to know not to disclose such information as her age and how old the girl was if she didn't have that experience. 

"Fifteen, actually. I was fifteen when I got married. " 

She was only seventeen, and inexperienced. Very inexperienced. That made sense in that the Board she served, the Granger Assassin's Board, had sent four other agents with her, instead of two like with Juliette. Lucky and Remi were Juliette's equals, her companions. But the agents with Ghislane... they were her babysitters.

This was going to be fun.