Black Swan | Ghost & König [I] ✓

chapter 22

I really didn't think to bring another scope? Putain de merde, [Y/N], you are such a fucking dumbass.

You exhaled and then made your way back to your rifle. You angrily took off the thermal scope and casted it aside. Looks like we're doing it without one.

"Odile, this is Ghost. Where the hell are you?"

"For fucks sake," you groaned. Having enough, you turned on your microphone. "I'm hiding in plain sight to kill the Hofmanns. Now get off my dick, enfoiré de cul stupide."

"You're going against orders, [Y/N], you need to drop what your doing and rendezvous back here with us," Ghost growled.

"Don't say my name," you managed as a response. You knew he was right, but you had to see this through.

You scanned the area below; luckily, you were close enough to the crowd where you could somewhat make out individual faces. You searched and searched for the Hofmanns. Come on...

"Blutige hölle, [Y/N], he's right. Get your ass over here now."

Kilgore's soft, almost parental voice caught you off guard, causing you to lose focus for a split second. You shook it off.

"Ich muss ihn töten, Kilgore! He's a threat to out hometown!" you cried in exasperation.

"Hör auf, unwissend zu sein, [Y/N], and follow the damn orders," he pleaded. "You're going to get yourself killed if you're not careful. We don't know what kind of men they have and where they are. You could blow the entire thing, meine liebe."

Those last two words almost made you pack your shit up and leave. But then you remembered. You remembered who you were.

"I can't," you said weakly. And then slowly, like filling a cup with water, a tank with fuel, you said with more resolve, "I can't."

You then turned of your headset and hung it over your neck.

Breathing deeply, you tried your hardest to relax your body and your mind. C'mon, [Y/N], look. Where are the Hofmanns...?

And then you saw one. Just one.

And that's all it took.

You aimed your rifle, manipulating your breaths to be even to steady your aim.

I've only got one shot. Your mind flooded with anxiety, but you remembered who you were, your talent, your skill.

"All I need is one shot."

Those words of reassurance you spoke to yourself was enough to motivate you to pull the trigger. The recoil from your gun knocked you back violently, the sound of the bullet leaving its chamber, on the other hand, silent and quick. Like a black widow sneaking up on its prey.

You pulled yourself up and looked down at the crowd, watching the man slump to the ground uselessly.

You cheered inwardly, a toothy grin breaking across your face. Pride flushed through your body as you watched bystanders glance at him. Some simply walked by, others bearing extreme concern and bending down, theorizing as to why he suddenly collapsed out of nowhere.

"Very skilled you are, Mrs. [L/N], very skilled indeed. I almost thought you wouldn't make the shot."

You whipped your head around, the dorky expression wiped from your face as your blood ran ice cold. Oh fuck.

It was the other one. The other Hofmann.

He stood smugly on the far end of the roof top, a gun in hand aimed straight at your face. You froze completely, unable to move.

There was nothing you could do.

His scraggly beard and hair was almost black in the dark, overcast Austrian sky, yet his eyes glimmered with valor. He did not fear you one bit. He knew something... He was aware of something that you were not.

Like this was all according to plan.

"Wh..." You looked into your mind aimlessly for words, anything to get you out of this. But you were stuck. You didn't know what to say, what to do.

So you followed your gut.

You rolled around on the ground, quickly taking your SMG out of your tactical vest. He fired a shot at the ground where you were laying, but just barely missed. You heard the side of your trousers rip from what you assume to be fragments of the bullet he fired.

You aimed your SMG and fired, grunting from the ground. He dodged, rolling on the ground before pulling himself back up to his feet. You aimed your gun at him, pausing. He paused as well, aiming his weapon right back at you.

"I wouldn't pull that trigger if I were you, Clara."

"Warum zur hölle nicht?" you spat in German.

"Because I have something of yours," he grinned viciously.

"What?" you challenged. "What do you have? My patience? Because I'm sure wondering where that went."

"No, not that," he chuckled darkly. He then wiped the smile off his face. "Very admirable you are, Odile, and very comical it is, your fake little persona you've created for yourself. Ironic, that you came undercover to Vienna to perform in Swan Lake with a name like that."

"Yes, yes, very ironic, ha-ha," you seethed. Even in a situation like this where you could very easily lose your life, your smart mouth always got the best of you. You tightened your grip on your gun. "Look, old man, let's just call it a day and let me put a bullet between your eyes, m'kay?"

"You could, I suppose, but it won't take long before my men find you and kill not just you, but the men you have with you as well."

"Your men?" you scoffed. "You mean Hassan's men?"

"Tomayto. Tomahto," Hofmann shrugged.

"Why the fuck are you doing this, bâtard? Who in their right mind would want to blow up their own city?"

"I don't have a choice," he hissed. "And, if it helps, I'm not in my right mind, so it wouldn't matter either way."

"What do you mean you don't have a choice?"

"My brother and I were threatened," he said frustratingly. "We had a space for them to hide their missile. They wanted that space. We had to let them, or we both would die."

Your eyes widened marginally, but you immediately hid it. An epiphany washed over your being. To test and see if you were right, you inquired, "And where is this missile?"

"Like hell I would tell you," he spat.

Your intuition was right. He doesn't know the Task Force disarmed that missile. And if he doesn't know, neither does Hassan.

Maybe the Task Force's cover wasn't blown after all.

But one obstacle stood in your way — this guy. And you had to kill him, one way or another, or he would kill you.

Your finger tightened around the trigger, ready to pull it. You've gotten all you need from this man. Now you just wanted him dead.

"Ah-ah-ah, Mrs. [L/N]. Careful there," Hofmann tutted, instantly catching on to your plans. "Wouldn't want to do anything reckless, now would we?"

"I'm kind of known for that," you said sarcastically.

"Nonetheless, you neglect to remember two very important things I said earlier."

"And what may that be?" you said. Your heart thrummed in your ears, your body pumped full of adrenaline. Your body was hot and sweaty, and the temperature of Vienna outside surely did not help.

"That my men will surely kill you if you were to kill me."

"Let them try."

He smiled, as if patiently waiting for something. You then realized.

"And the second thing?"

He tilted his head and stared at you through his eyebrows, a sickeningly sweet grin reaching his ears. "I have your father."