2 A Lie

Six debated what to do for the first time in his life. He had never once questioned his orders or left a target alive a moment longer than necessary. Yet now his principles had gone completely out the window because of Claire Conway.

He was still stuck in his hiding place too. If she discovered him, he would have to kill her to make his escape.

What was he thinking?! He had to kill her anyway! That was his job. If the big brass at headquarters found out that he let a target off he would be in a world of trouble. Even considering it was idiotic but here he was.

It was possible to pretend his situation had been compromised so he could come back tomorrow…but what would be the point of that? The target still had to die. One more day wouldn't make a difference.

Maybe Six should wait until her spaghetti was done and take it for the road after killing her. That would be a somewhat valid reason to wait a few more minutes to finish the job.

But he didn't do that. He watched as the target happily slurped her spaghetti and got sauce all over her face, laughing at herself but not bothering to wipe it away until she was all done as if she knew it would happen again and didn't see the point.

He sighed internally. It was becoming obvious that he wasn't going to kill this girl today so he may as well leave, get some food, and try again tomorrow.

There was a good chance that the only reason he was like this was because he was hungry. He would be sure to eat something before coming back tomorrow so his head would be on straight.

As soon as Six had an opening, he made a break for it and dashed up the stairs to escape through a window. The front door would have been far too obvious because the target was still down there in the kitchen.

He did end up getting his cheeseburger—in fact he got two—and finally snapped out of whatever hunger-induced madness he was party to earlier. Going back to headquarters like this in utter defeat was a first.

An agent known as Raven approached him on his way in. He was one of the higher-ups and, unlike some of the other agents who were a bit less serious, Six had never seen him smile once.

"Six, did you complete your mission?" he asked.

"Not yet, sir. My situation was compromised and I had to make a strategic retreat. It will be carried out tomorrow as requested," he replied as normally as possible.

He had never lied to a superior before. Telling the truth was an imperative part of his training. As long as he remained perfectly calm there was no reason Raven should suspect him. That was one of his strong suits anyway so he should be fine.

Raven bought his story and Six was grateful for his perfect track record up to this point. It had likely helped back up his lie.

As soon as the agent dismissed him, he headed back to his favorite perch in one of the warehouses and watched people come and go below him. Today had been an anomaly. He would be back to his usual professional self tomorrow.

===

Except he wasn't. It was a Sunday and Six ended up tailing the target as she jogged around a park by herself in a gray sweatshirt and floral leggings, listening to music as she went.

Why was he doing this? It would be easier to ambush her at her house so what was the point of following her around? He normally wasn't a fan of being out in wide open spaces anyway. There weren't as many places to hide.

Six had to pretend to be a jogger as well to avoid arousing suspicion. He had long-distance running endurance training under his belt so it wasn't too big of an issue aside from being worried about having his face recognized out in public.

His hood was up but that didn't necessarily mean he was safe. At least it was cool enough outside that wearing a hood wasn't suspicious in and of itself.

After a while the target stopped jogging and took a sip from the water bottle she had been keeping in the large pocket of her hoodie. She smiled and placed her hands on her hips, surveying the park with satisfaction.

It seemed that she actually enjoyed being outside. Six briefly wondered what it might be like having absolutely no sense of danger about your surroundings. Based on her reaction to the trees around them, it must be nice.

He ended up following her back to her house and breaking in through an upstairs window, determined to finish the job this time. But he didn't do it then either.

The target changed out of her sweaty clothes and flopped down on the couch. Her weird-looking cat jumped into her lap and started purring as she flipped through her options on a streaming service looking for something to watch.

This was so boring. Six told himself yet again that he should just kill her already but he didn't do it. He watched her TV show with her—some sort of animation with a lot of shiny pink bubbles in the background—until he got hungry again and left.

He doubted he would be able to get away with the same excuse again back at headquarters so he was careful not to get caught sneaking into his room. He convinced himself firmly that he had to do it tomorrow if he didn't want to be killed too.