blood moon, marc spector

sixteen.

LILITH TRIED NOT TO LET LEO'S WORDS BOTHER HER, BUT SHE WAS STUCK ON THEM AS SHE AND FRENCHIE LEFT. he could've been lying, certainly, but he seemed too at ease with death to be trying to delay it. 

jabez was far from perfect, but he'd been the closest thing lilith had ever had to a constant father figure. he'd acknowledged her talent, put her in charge and supported her. surely that hadn't all been for nothing.

"he doesn't know what he's talking about." frenchie said, practically reading her mind. 

"i hope you're right." she replied. "have you heard back from remy and charles yet?"

frenchie nodded. "remy got him in the hospital, everything seems good. no infection, stitched up well. he'll be fine to fly out after we find niko."

lilith could feel her shoulders drop in visible relief knowing that charles was okay. she'd never lost a team member, and leo's words were getting under her skin more than she wanted to admit. the thought of losing frenchie, losing marc, even.. was damn near unthinkable. 

"do you think niko's where he was before?"

"could be." he replied. "or, he could be avoiding leo's goons. did the mission report say?"

"i don't know, i read them on the plane."

frenchie sighed. "okay. so we have to go back to the hotel to figure out where he is."

"or.." 

"you want to just barge in, hope he's there, and demand money?"

"seems like the best option we have right now."

frenchie couldn't argue with that. the two went to niko's former hideout, and frenchie raised a hand.

lilith's brows furrowed. "are you seriously about to knock on the door?" before they could argue on this, the door opened. 

"after you." frenchie said.

lilith walked in, keeping a hand on her gun in case this was some kind of trap. 

"james, duchamp." a voice said. lilith recognized niko's sharp cheekbones and dark hair, walking closer.

"we've taken out leo." she said simply. 

"and now you expect your payment, i'm sure." niko mused, turning to grab cash from a safe.

lilith stiffened. "one of our team members was shot. we expect an uncharge for his injuries, and for our troubles."

niko looked over at her and frenchie, standing stoically. "ah, yes. as would be expected. an extra $400 each for your troubles?"

"that won't cover his medical bill, will it?" frenchie replied.

niko frowned, but bent to their request nonetheless. "an extra thousand for the four of you should be fitting, then." 

lilith took half of the cash while frenchie took the other bag. "we won't be working for you in the future if you continue to avoid disclosing all the details of our mission." 

niko shook his head. "i'm not sure what you mean."

"you knew leo had his own group of mercenaries. we deserve more pay for the situation, and we deserved to have been more prepared." 

"do you speak for jabez now?" niko asked, standing closer to her. "you mercs believe that you're in charge of things, don't you? that you have a say in your lives. but you don't choose anything other than the highest bidder."

frenchie leaned closer. "let's go."

"what if i told you he had a family?" niko asked. "would you still have killed him then?"

"you're so certain that i only kill when i'm told?" she replied. she'd kill him if he wanted to keep talking.

"let's go." frenchie repeated, tugging on her arm. 

lilith let him, following him out. looking over her shoulder, she could see the wicked grin on niko's face. 

𓁂 𓁃 𓁄

now that they had additional luggage full of cash, lilith, frenchie, remy, and the injured charles all climbed off of their plane. it was often too dangerous to tell family about any aspect of the job, but charles' husband still was able to greet him when he got off the plane, checking his injury.

lilith held her duffel bag onto her shoulder with a hand, walking down the jet's ramp with frenchie behind her. she could feel the eyes on her before she saw them. she looked up, seeing marc leaning against the same wall where he'd watched the jet take off.

"you been standing in the same place all week, spector?" she asked, taking her time walking over to him.

marc chuckled. "i left to stretch my legs every now and then." he looked down at her. "so, you.. made it back in one piece." he observed. "or.. are your guts spilling out?"

"you wouldn't know under the shirt, but i'm actually losing intestines left and right." lilith replied.

marc chuckled. "good. a little less of you is better than all of you."

"charming."

"figured you'd need a ride." he said, an invitation within a question within a statement.

she nodded. "yeah, that would be nice." 

"how did everything go?" marc asked once she was in the car. "i saw charles got hit."

lilith sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "it was a bit of a shit show, to be honest. the guy we were after had his own group of mercs, who shot charles. i thought we were going to be cornered, but remy got us out of it. then french and i found the guy, who started blabbing about how all of the people working for jabez are going to be killed or something.."

"woah." marc replied, a hint of concern in his gaze as it shot over to her. "think there was any truth to that?"

she shrugged.  "i finished the job. but then the client.. he was being weird about it, too. tried to talk to me about morality."

marc looked between her and the road for a moment. "sounds like it was eventful, then."

"yeah. we got an extra thousand each for charles getting shot, but we all just gave it to him. figure he earned it, huh?"

that made him chuckle. "probably. have you ever been shot before?"

"no." she said, looking over at him. "have you?"

marc nodded. "once, back when i was still in the marines. it honestly made me feel pretty cool, though. i wished it had scarred a bit better, it's on my shoulder like charles." 

lilith chuckled at the absurdity of his comment. "you wish your gunshot wound had scarred more." she repeated, shaking her head. "is that what got you kicked out?"

"kicked out?"

"of the marines." she explained. "i thought i remembered you were discharged."

marc seemed to stiffen. "no, that was.. i didn't get discharged because of the gunshot."

"okay." the car was quiet for a second. ".. why were you discharged?" 

"erratic behavior." he said. 

"what's that mean? you have some sort of.. psychological problem i don't know about?" lilith smiled, but marc seemed unamused by the comment. 

".. something like that." he replied, stopping outside of her apartment complex. "i'll see you soon."