Love at Gunpoint (PandoraHearts)

Chapter 2

Gilbert, driving his car at a moderate speed on the highway, glanced down at the file he'd been given by Justin. He snorted indignantly as he saw Oz Vessalius's residence was listed, along with a detailed address. Usually he had to go and actually track down the person he'd been hired to kill. That had always irked him, but now it seemed kind of stupid that he'd been given Oz's address. It wouldn't take long to get there, and Oz was only a kid. Surely Justin thought this over, and Justin had seemed like a rather impatient man, so why had Gilbert been given a two-month deadline? He could probably have this all over and done with during a week or less.

In fact, he was already one his way to Oz's home. It wasn't very far, an hour and a half away from where he'd started. If there was any sort of delay, though, even a small one, it would probably take two hours. It wasn't like it made a difference. There had been several times in the past when Gilbert had been forced to reach his destination by plane; otherwise, it was always a very long car drive, usually several days long.

But this time, Gilbert had been provided with an exact destination instead of having to track his future victim down, and on top of that, the address wasn't far away. Plus he'd been given a very decent deadline, considering the circumstances. Most of the time, Gilbert had to rush to finish all he had to do before the deadline he was given. But it seemed like his current mission barely entailed any work at all.

And that meant that, if he wanted to, Gilbert could probably take his sweet time completing this mission. It might be nice, for a change, to not be rushed. Perhaps he'd have a nice time examining Oz's neighborhood. Maybe he'd visit other neighborhoods. Gilbert barely knew what to do with all this freedom. To someone else, this wouldn't have seemed like anything new, but Gilbert wasn't used to getting to choose what he was going to do. It was as if he spent every tiny bit of his time tracking someone down or trying to kill someone without being noticed. And when he wasn't doing that, he was trying to get hired by someone who wanted him to.

Even with all the benefits, there was still one more: no matter how smart this "Oz Vessalius" was, he was still a teenager. Gilbert knew for a fact that he'd never had to deal with an assassin before, and he was young and innocent. He'd have no idea what to do in the presence of one. And Gilbert was a professional, with plenty of experience. Oz would be dead way before the deadline was up.

Gilbert had to admit that this all sounded far too good to be true. If anything, this mission seemed too easy.

After Ada had left, Oz went to his bedroom and cried.

Oz was an intelligent boy and an incredible person, and he tried to act chipper and happy around other people. He tried. He didn't want anyone to know how he really felt, because he decided that would just dampen the moods of people around him and cause them trouble. It was a twisted train of thought, really—sacrificing his own happiness for everyone else's. And despite what a lot of people would think—including Oz—it wasn't a heroic act, either.

In fact, all it was doing was damaging Oz more and more. If he'd told someone—meaning Oscar or Ada—maybe he could be getting help right now. But no, that could never happen, because Oz was hell-bent on hurting himself. At least, that was how it seemed.

Oz didn't know where the tears had come from, or the all-too-familiar feeling that his heart was a bottomless pit with nothing to fill it. Just a few seconds ago, he'd been so glad. He'd felt like he was glowing with happiness at seeing his one and only sister. What had happened to all that joy? How was it possible that his happiness could just...drain like that...and in such little time?