Assassin's Eye

Chapter 2.

Evan Theren opened the shambled door up and was greeted with a kick in the face from none other than the leader of the streetrunners. "You're late," the man scowled. He was just as tall as Evan was, and he had a beard which made him that much cooler in the eyes of the other streetrunners.

"Malcolm," he replied with a grin, rubbing the back of his head after pulling his hood down off of his head. "Good to see you. I have a new... recruit. She is going to be joining us, though most likely involuntarily. This is Lucy August." There was a crowd in the barn, about fifteen people all gathered in the same place, but a hush fell over them all of a sudden, as if the room had been frozen in ice. "She is an... assassin. I think she needs to change."

"Damn it, Evan," a woman near the back of the room said wearily. "Let me guess. You had a job involving Lucy, and she caught your eye, so you had to go all 'righteous ass' on her and try to make her think your job was better than hers. What's your problem?" The woman pushed her fashionably-bobbed black hair behind her ears and grimaced. "Great job."

"That is not what happened, Kath. I saw Lucy earlier slay a man, and she looked grim about it. Later, I saw her drinking her life away in a bar. Yeah, my job had something to do with her, but that isn't the point. She is on the execution list for the Organization, and after talking with her, I found out why she looked so upset. She kills because she feels like she has to, no other reason. It isn't right to have someone like her killed, because she can change."

"I have to agree with Kath," a man leaning against the wall spoke up. He had spiky hair that was green, almost neon in the moonlight. His eyes were a shade of darker green. "It's too risky to get involved with the Organization, and who cares if another assassin is killed off? Less work for us."

"That's not very nice, Aryn. I think Lucy should be welcomed. We need more streetrunners if we're gonna make it," a pretty blond girl replied pointedly.

"Shut it, Seili. You only think that because you're sick of having less women than men in the league. You wanna outnumber us, but that ain't gonna happen!" A man with a scar running across his collarbone replied. His hair was graying, and his eyes were fierce.

"Why would I want to outnumber you idiots? You all act like you're children, if you haven't noticed, Fal, and the only sane one is Evan over there!"

"Take that back, you demon," he spat.

An argument broke out in the group, with about half agreeing with Evan's scheme and half being completely against it. One person was the difference, and he didn't seem to care one way or another. Malcolm sat still for a bit, listening to the arguments, then shouted, "ENOUGH!" loud enough to scare Simon across town.

"You are all adults, streetrunners who should know how to do their jobs. Lucy is lost, according to Evan. If you trust your colleague, your friend, your brother, you will accept her into our lives as a permanent or temporary resident, whether you like it or not! Now, all of you against it have your reasons," he looked at Kath. "But, that is no reason to be so upset about this! She is not Jax Fullbring, so don't treat her like that monster. Lucy stays, and three of you will help to keep her in line. No killing."

The crowd shifted uncomfortably, muttering things like, "Yes sir," and "Damned assassin."

"I will choose three of you to lead her towards the light, because that is what we should do in a situation like this. It is important that she stays light, and even more so that we get her to that point to start off with. Seili, Aryn, and Kath, you three spoke up first, so it should be you that have to watch her, seeing as you voice your opinions so openly, it should be a good thing to have such open people to help her." Evan looked disappointed, and looked at Lucy's unconscious form which he had draped on a stack of hay. "Evan, you should get back to work. You are, after all, one of our best runners, and if we were to have you distracted by, say some brunnette assassin who you stumbled upon at a bar, not saying anything... It could end up... badly," Malcolm grinned, causing a ripple of laughter from the rest of the runners.