But An Assassin

Fynn was standing there when he entered, arms crossed and eyes closed, as if he had been waiting there a while. It had only been a few months since he had started talking to the DIU, but they had grown on him like a fungus, so he felt a little sorry when he spotted the young one waiting for him. He was actually a little surprised that he was only 27, like actually 27 too, not the way Xinyi said they were 32.

Xinyi moved so he was hovering over Tweedle Dee, not touching, just sitting, seeing if he was actually asleep or if his eyes were just closed. He wasn't, asleep that is, unsurprisingly, but he wasn't paying attention either as he just about jumped a mile high when he opened his eyes to find Xinyi standing over him. They stared down at Tweedle Dee as he tried to catch his breath from where he was hunched over. Xinyi backed up and moved into the file room across from Director Orange's office, shuffling around papers to find people with similar M.Os as his most recent killer. He didn't find any, putting him in an even worse mood than earlier.

" You probably won't find who you're looking for in there, as that is where we keep cold cases and solved cases. I can take you to the active case files."

It was their turn to startle as Tweedle Dumb came out of no where. Or, more accurately, their voice came from above Xinyi, who looked up to find Little Twee reading what could only be a cold case with how enthusiastic they were about solving unsolvable puzzles. Funnily enough, those puzzles never seem to stop Little Twee.

He took them up on their offer, not questioning how they knew what he was looking for. Little Twee always knew.

The open case closet was significantly smaller than the closed case one, showing off either how little the DIU was actually needed, or how good they were at doing their jobs. Xinyi immediately got to work looking for a matching M.O. What he came up with was the pattern for how the mafia had recently started dumping bodies. The Tweedles gasped when he slammed the folder on one of the empty desks, looking in shock at the folder they knew all too well. They looked back and forth between him and the folder, before Little Twee sped over and started checking him over, worry evident on their face as they turned him this way and that. Dee just looked at him with wide eyes and obvious confusion.

" How the fuck are you still alive?"

It wasn't like Xinyi had been hiding, ok? He knew he was an uncommon species, and even then, his particular set of abilities were not a species wide thing. It had more to do with how ancient Ailbe was and a lot less to do with him. The thing was, they know that Dee had seen him be shot through the head at least once, and there were the many rumors about him from when his employer refused to pay him, something that still happened, so why was he asking?

" What do you mean?"

" In the last 8 years, an organization called the No'Tergilage Mafia has been picking up in activity. More and more often we'll link them back to a crime but by then they're already gone and have alibis that are almost airtight. Recently, they have begun using new methods that we haven't been able to figure out yet. Somehow they get to places at impossible speeds and clean up crime scenes faster than possible. They also seemed to have developed a bullet that can cut off a mystics healing," a little surprising, and with the rumors, and probably proof, they had definitely tried to shoot him with that bullet.

His brain buzzed with the new information, and he had to fight to keep the smile off his face. New information was good, and this was definitely good. New information meant he had more to sell, and more to keep. That was unimportant here though. This information means he can find the piece of shit who shot him and make them experience being dismembered and shoved in a trunk, before being tossed in the harbor. He wouldn't even shoot them either! Let them have some real fun.

" Where are they based?"

" No idea, it's part of why we have so much trouble with them, and why they're still in the open case closet. You're more than free to find out and then tell us though."

" If you're willing to pay me, I'd gladly accept Little Twee."

" Stopped calling me that!"

Xinyi laughed as they moved to return the now useless folder back to the spot in the closet where they found it, more than a little disappointed about having to do more leg work. It would all be worth it though, because after he was shot he dropped his phone and it broke, now he had to replace it and all his shit was gone. They were going to have a grand time when they caught such a rude person. Manners were important after all.

He stayed for a little while more, just talking with the Tweedles and learning about things that had happened while he was asleep. Jokes that were popular when they were younger, jobs they'd been on, major global changes as they remembered them. It was a nice change of pace from his honestly redundant schedule. The two of them were an interesting pair too. They bickered and fought like siblings, Little Twee taking care of Dee as best he could as the older of the two, and Dee being slightly more annoying at times than Little Twee, asking for things with big sparkly eyes that would have a lesser man cave to his knees.

They bid the two good bye when they started to yawn a little too much, evidence of late nights waying down their eyes and limbs. They tried to convince him to take the couch again but they were still sore after their last stay so they opted to head home and put duct tape over the window.

They regretted not bringing a coat the whole way home, late autumn air catching him in the face and making a chill crawl down his spine as he sped along down the sidewalk. Times like this were the only time he wished he owned a car.

Their house was exactly like they left it, empty, dark, and annoyingly cold because of the hole in his window. He took out the tape he picked up on his way past the corner store and applied a generous amount before turning in for the night.

It was very annoying when once more the next day, another shot was fired in through his window, missing him by just a hair, and once more shattering his window. He slumped over, hitting his counter top where he had been making breakfast on his way down to the floor. He was intimately familiar with the way bodies slump when shot through the heart, both his own and others. He held still, held his breath, and hoped clean up wasn't someone else's job. It didn't take long for someone to open his door, and it was only one person, so they were probably the shooter. That was his first though, his second was visceral and undeniable disgust, as the smell of rot and decay wafted in through the open door.

It wasn't the smell of a killer or an innocent, it definitely wasn't the smell of a human. It was sulfur and ash mixed with earth and the shit they used before they cremated people, sickeningly sweet in the promise of death and peaceful rest. It was, most simply, the smell of a dead thing waking. And it was in his fucking house, his den, clogging his nose and making it so much harder to think than usual. There was an alarm going off in the back of his head, blaring out but not in warning, and more than a warning it felt more like a flare, a desperate attempt to gain attention.

Xinyi couldn't move as the person closed the door, locking it behind themself and closing the scent into his home. It was a struggle not to wiggle, to gag as he reached for a weapon to end this poor being's suffering, because the smell spoke of so much suffering. They held completely still, not even a twitch as they imitated a corpse. Their killer moved slow, one foot in front of the other as they waited to see if he was actually dead for the moment or not, the dark of the early morning helping to hide that the growing stein under his body was a very runny red velvet pancake mix that was only seeping across his floor because he knocked over the milk jug when he hit the counter. They crept closer, moving silently with years of practice, a trained killer expertly looking for signs of life. Jokes on them, even if they really did die here, they would never be able to forget that rotting scent no matter where they went, and when they came back, they would most definitely find them.

The killer was right over his body now, knife glinting in the light as they prepared to sever neck from shoulder, and Xinyi took his chance. He used his hand as a shield, taking the knife through the palm and yanking it out of his assailant's hand before using his other hand to deck them straight across the face. They fell off balance but righted themself before Xinyi could properly get their hands on them. They dashed back and attempted to head for the door, but Xinyi used his vantage point from the floor to trip them and drag them back, crawling onto their back and pinning their arms. They were unsurprised to find they had the superior strength between the two of them, they were however surprised when they nearly lost their head to a blade of water they barely managed to dodge.

The distraction allowed Killer to wiggle out of Xiny's grip and resume their impromptu escape, but Xinyi had always prided themself on their speed and reflexes. He had nothing to seal the door with, but he did have his bowl from a failed breakfast, which they used as a projectile and chucked at Killer's head. They didn't fall, with how little strength Xinyi had put into the throw it would have been pathetic if they did, but they once more stumbled. Xinyi was on them in the space of time it took them to right themself, hands gripped firmly in their light brown hair which had been exposed after their hood fell off. Yanking harshly, they were both sent careening to the floor. His hold wasn't good enough though, as Killer got loose almost immediately and whirled around to send an ice blade directly into Xinyi's throat.

They reached up, choking on their own blood and rapidly losing control of their limbs as the world started to fade, static creeping in at the edge of their vision. Seeing that he was once again on the edge of death, breathing hard and unable to get enough air, thinking himself to be safe now that he could properly dispose of Xinyi, Killer renched the mask off their face to take in some much needed air.

Xinyi was no stranger to killers, all kinds roamed around in the underground, and every soldier on the field with him had been one, but there was one type he had always hated. They reminded him far too much of himself, and he was glad to see less of them off of the battlefield, but they still appeared sometimes, clashing with him when he was looking for jobs, as rivals in his field of work. See, child killers, the kind that were young, no innocence left on their faces as they succumbed to what the world had handed them, not the vile creature who robbed the world of a potential meal should they have had the time to grow, were his least favorite things on the earth. They brought up all his bad memories and shoved them down his throat, made him confront what kind of person he was, and not the one he pretended to be. Because that was what this child in front of him was doing, digging his little claws into his brain and ensuring that he never left.

The world faded out, the smell stopping and his brain shutting down, and then he was left to wait. Plans changed, people changed, things changed, and Xinyi was stubborn, but even he in all his self-proclaimed doneness had a limit. He wanted nothing to do with this child. Ever. Again.