2 Target C

"Another one?" Alicia scowled, seeing the nervousness in her mother's eyes the moment she got home. Today qas her birthday and yet... It seems rather than getting gifts, she was getting requests--- orders to play a male in the public. "What is it this time? An annual dinner? A ball? What do I need? A three-piece suit or tuxedo?"

"I-Its not that." Her mother whispered, her cheeks flushed off any warmth. "I-Its just... Have you seen your brother?" The woman flinched when she saw the murderous look in her daughter's eyes. This... Was the crappiest day of her life. Forget the gifts, her mother preferred asking about her brothers than telling happy birthday.

Of course... Her own mother... Never once bothering to ask her about her day. The mother whom let the nannies take care of her child... The mother who acted as if Alicia wasn't her daughter.

"Edward's probably still in his shift... Carlo... I didn't come home with him." She reported, taking off her waistcoat and hanging it in her wardrobe. Her room was plain, almost fitting the description minimalist life if not for the high-tech gadgets and huge space-taking furniture. Her ceiling was a gradient of light gray to dark gray with the glow-in-the-dark stars. Her walls was painted dark blue with a matching carpeted cerulean floor.

"Why didn't you? Did something keep him busy? Why didn't you---"

"Why should I? They'd treat me like a girl, since they known who I am... And then rumors will follow... You know how the public sometimes takes notice of new actors. Who knows the public may guess right about my gender? Who knows I might... Slip," She snarled, adjusting her tie. She had a good-enough build, not that packed with muscles, but not too thin either to assume she was frail and weak. She was born with her mother's sea-green. She had full lips, and an oval face that looked feminine. But, with her good choice of clothes, she came off as a beautiful man with an alluring charm and aura. All in the making of her mom.

Her mother, meanwhile, flushed red in anger from her daughter's rude way to talk to her. But, that anger turned to embarrassment. Her Son--- daughter was so handsome! Letting it go, she left the room not before telling her to cooperate more with her brothers in the public and try to act more masculine at the same time.

As soon as the old lady left, Alice screamed in her room. Even though she did, no maid, butler or relative barged into her room in worry.

In this life, it's a man or woman to theirself. Be weak, and you can never survive in the Knights.

--- --- --- --- *** --- --- --- ---

"Mom was worried about you." The silence was killing her. The three of them was out, doing a mission for Serendipity that involved murdering a hired assassin before it kills a government official. Her heart was pounding in her ribs, her first mission... Heaven knows she dreamt about it in her nightmares.

"Mhmm... Is she still that dense?" Carlos, otherwise known as Carl or Carlo, was busy in his laptop, typing and going a hundred-fifty words a minute. He had the same build as her, his jaw was rather soft than hard, but when he smiled he had those alluring dimples. From what Alice knew, he was branded the Prodigy of Qin University. She'd see it to to an extent when she enters the university next week as his junior.

Turning back to the screen, she couldn't understand the codes zipping around his screen until a catalog popped up and explained it all by confirming "All CCTV's around Building One off".

"You can't say my mom is the only one dense. My father's concubines, or in more pleasant terms, mistresses, are also very dense" She stated as she zipped open her guitar pack revealing a sniper attached to it with a custom silencer. It doesn't technically quiet down the noise, but it did lessen it. Fixing it, and setting it upright around the railings. "And... I'm auditioning for 'Time After Us' as the second main lead, so try not to audition as the main lead."

"Uh-huh..." Carlos muttered, digging around his pocket for a lollipop. "Turn your earpiece on. Target C is approaching."

Alice nodded, her pale and nimble fingers turning it on to suddenly hear Edward's deep voice reporting the location. She lowered herself in a comfortable position, following his instructions as she adjusted her scope to look closer.

"Target C, found." She reported, as she steady herself, her finger itching for the finger.

"Target A and B, found." She heard Carlo said with an edge of nervousness. She almost looked away from Target C, a burly chap all in black and obviously out of place. But, the one thing snipers must always concentrate on is their target. If she did, they could easily slip away in the crowd, in the dark, or in some restaurant and lose sight of them.

"EDWARD TO THE LEFT! FUCK!" The sudden curses pulled her out of the scope and towards Carlos who was frantically shouting instructions, warnings, and moves as if he was playing a combat game. But this game... It involved her older brother's life.

Moving away from her spot, and taking a look at Carlos' screen, her heart dropped. Edward... Prime doctor of Zin Hospital was engaged in hand-to-hand combat... And he was terribly losing.

"Edward!" She gasped, holding back tears at the rough way her own brother was being held by the two targets. Just as when she thought she'd witness his murder, he fought back. Knocking the first target with his elbow and kicking the other on his family's jewel. Over and over, her brother fought until the two was writhing on the ground with their injuries.

Tears fell from her eyes, in relief. "For a doctor, you sure are aggressive." She said through her piece as she went back to position... Until she heard a loud, unmistakeable gunshot.

"Edward!" Carlos shouted. Alice turned back to the screen... To see their third target with a gun on her brother.

"No!!!"

Why... Why was it like this? It was her first mission... Did she really have to be this incompetent? To the point her brother got hurt?