Friendly Fire

Chapter 1

I sat with my coffee steaming in hand. The warmth bless through the cup and soaked into my palm. No coffee for almost 7 years. I found it funny how much the taste had changed from what I remembered.

The fancy writing on the menu was harder to read than I remembered too. I read carefully, almost entertained as if reading an old book.

"Sir?" A beautiful blonde young woman in a black apron stood by my table. I would've kissed her if I weren't trying to keep my head down. "Are you ready to order?"

I took off my sunglasses and smiled politely. I had about 2 and a half seconds to analyze her. She wasn't who I was waiting on. "Yes, I'll have a cinnamon bagel with cream cheese and a refill on coffee please." I stole slowly and thoughtfully.

"Your order will be right up, sir. Would you like to rent a laptop or book while you wait?" The library in the cafe was new to me.

"No, thank you." I gave her a kind smile - forced, but kind. She returned the kindness. I noticed her eyes were different colors; blue and brown.

My food was out in a brown bag in only a minute. I was glad to see service hadn't changed in 7 years.

I noticed her name tag and smiled genuinely this time. 

"Spongebob?" I asked. She blushed.

"Employee games." She set down my food.

"Sounds fun, thank you." She nodded and left.

I studied the room around me, looking for any possible threats, as I was trained to do by coldwater. All I found was the cashier was stealing and the bar had a pickpocketer. He seemed desperate.

They didn't know desperation like I did. They would never know; I was happy for that.

I sat, finishing off my coffee and bagel, studying how human behavior had changed and new slang. I stayed vigilant to threats.

"Excuse me, sir?" A shy young girl,  red shirt, blue jeans, and a baseball cap. "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?"

"Sure, have a seat." I trained my gun on her under the table. She was my threat.

"We were wondering," she glanced back at her friends behind her. "How did you get those scars on your face, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I was in a hell you would never know." This caught her attention. She urged me to go on with the story. I began to think she wasn't my threat, but I kept my gun on her anyway. "17 years ago, a team was looking for recruits. A team of highly motivated individuals with extraordinary gifts. I happened to pull off the biggest bank heist in almost 9 years, earning me the label of a white-collar criminal. I had no team. I entered the most high-profile bank in Russia and stole 32 grand clean. The group found me and wiped my record clean for 15 years of service. On my 10th year, I was betrayed by my most trusted partner." She was wide-eyed, on the edge of her seat. She was really selling her role as an innocent bystander.

~

6 months ago.
The silence was getting to me again. I couldn't feel anything. Nothing emotional, physical.

"Hi!" A young girl sang. I opened my eyes to see an 8-year-old frame on the other side of the cell.

"You're not real. A hallucination produced by memory."

"I am too real!" She pouted, making me wince. I recognized her. She was the first innocent I'd ever let down. "You know, you made me a promise, Luke."

I put my face in my hands. "Not real. Not real. Not real!" I opened my eyes to see she had disappeared. Guilt forced my chest to tighten and my stomach to do flips.

I doubled over and puked what little I had accompanied by some blood. I knew I was dying. I smiled. Slowly small chuckles slipped through my lips. The blood stringing from my lip to the pool on the floor swung and wiggled with the chuckles.

Delete flooded through my body, making my hands tingle. Tears joined the pool of blood and puke in front of me.

"I'm going to get out of here, forever!"

The laughing stopped and I became dizzy. Darkness crept from the outside of my eyes. I leaned forward and fell face first into the pool, unconscious.