Deja Vu

The first few hours of the night were rather uneventful. The silence was filled with the soft rhythmic sounds of Amalia's and Hunters breathing interspersed with soft ticking of a clock which measured the time with its infrequent tock tock tock.

The apartment was dimly lit and Hunter had been dozing lightly in the chair which he had leaned against the wall. Every so often he would open his eyes and through the haze of sleep quietly listen for signs of trouble with an alertness which came from years of military training.

It was sometime midway through the evening that this relaxed routine was broken by a loud crash which startled both Amalia and Hunter awake. There was a faint shuffling noise followed by a the muffled sound of footsteps clattering up the stairway to her apartment.

It was at this point Amalia emerged from her room, as an eerey sense of deja vu began to fill her heart with dread.

Before she knew it she was back at her childhood home watching the men assault her father. A cold sweat broke out on her skin as she felt the blood drain from her face. Hunter watched as she stepped forward. He saw the color drain from her face, saw her legs tremble and in an instant he was there to catch her before she hit the floor.

Her eyes were glazed over as she whimpered incoherently and pulling at this heart strings. He wanted to shake her, to snap her out of it. But the footsteps were growing closer. Leaning over her, he pressed his lips to her forehead and whispered:

"Sorry Lia, I'm going to need you to sit tight for a moment."

With that he lay her back down on the bed and secured the door. He was on full alert now, his cell phone dialed and on speaker phone resting safely on the table somewhere as it dialed Cages number. His knife at ready he squared off against the group of masked men as they entered her apartment.

Hunter was counting them as they came in. One, two, three, four of them. Standing on guard he sized them up. The one to the right, was about mid 20s. Average build and height. There didn't seem much about him to remark upon but Hunter knew better than to take him at face value. The seemingly unremarkable one, would be the first one Hunter would take out.

The other three of them had spread out to try to surround him. In the center, to left of the first man, was a taller more bulky man in his mid thirties. He was around 6 foot tall, built like a house and under the right circumstances he could have played the quarterback for any number of football teams. Tonight he was here in, in his girls house, and he was a threat that needed to be removed.

The third man in the center to the left  was somewhat short in comparison to the others. He couldn't be more than twenty. He was slim and agile looking. Hunter made a note to watch for him, if they had a stealth expert it would be him.

The last of the three was he same as the second. Tall, husky and built like a house. This most definitely was not going to be easy. In the blink of an eye Hunter had them flanking him on all sides. He swung his right arm out to block a punch his legs shooting out in the opposite direction to take out his other assailant on the left. While he was busy dodging and counter attacking the once silent apartment became filled with the sounds of ragged breathing and scuffling noises.

The sounds of the men shoving each other slowly filtered through Amalia's subconscious dragging her from the hell she was reliving in her mind and into the hell which was slowly beginning to develop in her living room.

Rising from the bed Amalia put her hand to her forehead as the world began to spin around her. She placed her feet on the floor and took in three deep breaths. Opening her eyes she glanced around the room to noticed the door had been closed. As she drew closer to the door she could hear the sounds of the men fighting outside.

Amalia reached for the handle trying to turn it open only to discover it locked and she began to panic. What if she didn't get to Hunter on time? What if he died the way her dad did and left her alone. She swallowed against a growing lump in the back of her throat and finding a strength she didn't realize she possessed shoved with all her might against the door.

**BAM**

The door came crashing open as she looked at the scene unfolding in front her. Hunter was swinging violently at his assailants with a knife while trying to dodge their attacks. She could see a red spot slowly spreading across the white of his t-shirt and immediately she was furious.

How dare they? Just who the hell did they think they were, trying her jump her boss like that? Infuriated by what she was seeing, her body tensed. All her instincts from fighting on the street sprung to forefront pushing her fears to back of her mind. In a blink of an eye the weak kneed girl from moments before was transformed into the weapon her boss had wanted her to be.

Amalia stepped forward, looking very like Luke as she had before. Her movements were fast and precise. She reached forward with the ruthlessness that was befitting a Soldier and pulled the shortest of the four men off of Hunter.

As Amalia retracted her arm, she dragging his to body to her she raised her right knee and shoved it deeply to his stomach. While he spun around from the recoil trying to catch his breath Amalia brought her left hand down on the back of his neck and rendered him immobile.

Hunter was left with the remaining three men. Amalia moved to cover his back. Standing back to back with him, the two of them squared off against the remaining three men.

Hunter swung his right fist out into a punch at the first man from early. He was the more immediate threat, his nondescript demeanor only served to send of warning signals to Hunters brain. As it turned out, he was right.

This first assailant that Hunter had sized up seemed not only to be faster than the other three but more skilled. He was fast on his feet and he attacked with precision. Had it been under any other circumstances Hunter might have wanted to recruit him. As it was now, the only thing Hunter wanted at this point was to remove an obvious threat.

Using the training he had learned in the military he kicked his right foot out with enough force that it not only disarmed him but also shattered the bones in his wrist.

As Hunters assailant recoiled in pain from the kick, Hunter brought his fist up in an uppercut rendering him unconscious.

It was around this time that Amalia had landed a finishing blow on her opponent as well. The last of the four men turned white in fear and fled the scene.

Amalia raised an eyebrow in question at Hunter as the man escaped.

"Are we just going to let him get away?" She panted, gripping her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

Hunter smirked as he looked at her, almost bursting with pride. Not only had she overcome her panic earlier but she had also fought like a demon as well. If there was anyone deserving as being Satan's woman, it was definitely her.

"Of course not silly" he laughed. "We are going to use him to flush out whoever is behind this."

Hunter smirked as he said the words, his heart was pounding as it continued to flood him with adrenaline. He looked at the young girl in front of him and before he was aware of what he was doing he had her pinned against the wall. His mouth came down of hers in a kiss so hungry it left her breathless. As Amalia gripped his shoulders tightly she could feel her knees go weak again for the second time since she arrived home.