IRIS/PHANTOM POV
I watch as Trixie pulled Johnny out the car and Team Danger secured the triplets. "Set them in the family guest room on the last level." I shout to them as they made their way into the company's living quarters whilst we made our way into the main building. I tell the others to head to the meeting room first before I barge into Ed's office without knocking. He was talking to a private investigator. Ed paid no attention to me but the investigator who looked like he was in his mid 40s. "How dare you barge in into a private meeting? Get out this instant!" He yelled. Someone didn't get their late night coffee. I replied in a bored monotone voice. "Relax officer. I'm just here to get what I came for."
Ed throws me the envelope. I ripped the opening and counted the stacks of cash inside. 2 million, not bad. I knew the investigator was looking above my shoulder as when I turned around his jaw was dropped. He immediately faced Ed. "Edward! That was the money I paid you to help me find the missing Vans! How dare you casually pass the money on to this spoiled brat." I shove the envelope into my jacket's inner pocket. And as I walked out backwards towards the door, I gave a wave to the investigator. "I found them by the way." A fake smile plastered on as I exited the office. As the door closed and I make my way back to the others, I couldn't help but click my tongue in annoyance. "Tsk. Investigators coming one by one but not appreciating the help they get."
JOHNNY POV
I was suddenly thrown onto something soft and a huge force dropped on my body. The bag on my head was removed and I immediately get up, ready to defend myself but it turned out to be just a duffel bag. "Here. Your family packed it for you. It contains your clothes and other necessities you may need. You're not allowed to meet them yet as you are still under victim custody." I open the bag to find some of my old shirts and a picture of my family. That's when I remembered.
"My boys! Where are they?" I ask in an alarmed tone. "Old man you're getting blinder as the days go by, we're right here." I turn to see James lying on the couch, switching channels. "Go easy on him little bro, he's still in a rough state." I turn to see Jacob coming out from a different room with a plate of food. "Here dad." He places the dish on the bedside table before walking away whilst giving me a smile. "Where's Jack?" I ask. "He's in the shower." Jacob briefly replies me as he disappears back into the room he came from. I breath a sigh of relief.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. The man with a huge build walked towards the door, leaving me alone for a while with the boys. "What happened?" I ask, hoping for an answer. "Like you said old man, they can help us. We were captured by this girl and brought here. I bet she was the same girl that questioned you and gave you all those shots." James replies me, eyes glued to a football game on the screen. "How'd you know about the shots?" He gives me a quick glance.
"She showed us the footage. You know, I always wondered why the 3 of us were so misfortune to be stolen. But hey surprise, turns out we were dropped off the orphanage and picked up again by the very same man." He says in a tone of anger. A hand placed itself on my shoulder. "It wasn't Dad's fault. Our family was poor. Have you forgotten the reason why we decided to join Dad in this immigrant business in the first place? It was to help our poor family." Jack was standing behind me, I wonder for how long had he listened in. In fact, I wonder where we are and what's going to happen to us from now on.
IRIS/PHANTOM POV
I pressed in a series of codes and scanned my fingerprint. The door of the private meeting room opened. Everyone was seated around the long glass table.
I take the envelope out of my jacket and slide it on the table towards 2bullet. "Divide it." He quickly had 5 stacks divided from the rest. I slide the 4 $5000 stack towards Rock, Beast, Mask and Red. The $6000 one went to Flame. "Woah they get paid way better than us." Rock exclaims, counting the cash stack he had in his hand and eyeing the rest of the money by 2bullet's side.
"Didn't you just gave me $1000 last time? On that writer mission?" Flame asks, his eyes widening at the $6000 dollar stack in his hand. "Wha-! Wait, how come he has a $1000 more than us? And now he's got $2000 more?" Mask exclaims. Flame couldn't help but smirk and give her a mocking smile, "You jealous?" Mask rages, "Let me at him! Let me at him!" Beast held onto her as she struggles to get to Flame.
I throw myself into the head chair and slouch a little. I really want to rest but school is in a few hours anyway. I take out my phone and started sending some texts around. Suddenly one caught my attention. "Sorry guys! I gotta go, I'll come back later!" I rush out of the room.
~~~~~~~~~~
Everyone watched as Phantom suddenly rushed out of the room. "What's up with her?" Red asks. "Not sure. But it happens. She's always going somewhere." 2bullet says as he counts the rest of the cash and hands the envelope to OO9 to keep. "Always?" Red raises an eyebrow. "Always." 50k confirms. "Where'd the tablet go?" 2bullet asks, looking around. "Phantom took it." Trixie replied. "Sneaky too it seems." 2bullet sigh, "I didn't even notice."
~~~~~~~~~~
"3 million."
"1 million."
"2.5 million."
"1.5 million."
"Look kid. My services ain't that cheap."
"I beg to differ. I know what you're going through. Why you have the money." I toss a file towards him. His men crowds around him as he opens in. As he reads his eyes widen and his brows rise.
"1.5 million, final offer." I say, voice sharp as a knife. No room for negotiation.
"Alright kid," he leans against the wall in the alley we were standing in, as he tugs the file under his jacket. "What do you need?"
~few minutes later~
"Kid we ain't talking cheap. Soldiers and guns are two different things."
"I know but what I want, I get. You'd understand."
"Fair." He enters in his details before signing the contract. Once he was done I snatched the tablet over and tuck it away. "Great doing business with ya." I started to turn and walk away. "Kid." I turn back and face him. He starts to take out a cigarette and one of his henchmen take out a lighter. "Be careful will ya? You may be rich but you're only 14." In a flash I grabbed his box of cigarettes. "What about you?" I take out my gun. They froze for a second, waiting to see if I'll attack and make our contract void despite the long negotiation we just had a moment ago. I took out a cigarette and swiped it across the handle of the gun and it lights. I shove my gun and the box into my pockets. "You may have great services but in the end you're still you." I take a whiff and blow out through my mouth. "I don't have that carefree life." I took in another whiff and blew some rings. "K-kid. You smoke?" He stutters. I glance at his unused butt, the burning end was growing longer and I watch as it burns some more before falling to the ground. "It's a trick of the eye. You can't always believe what you see," I drop my butt and rub it out with my heel before turning to walk away again, "or hear."
~~~~~~~~~~
IRIS/PHANTOM POV
As I make my way back into the meeting room, I noticed some oddities in the air. I open the door of the room. Ed was in the room, sitting in the head chair. Everyone was sitting around the table, formal style. Actually only Vince's team was since my team never sits like that, hands and legs together? Er no thanks. I make my way to a seat, I then noticed everyone's eyes on me. They wanted something that's for sure. As I sat down and made myself comfortable, Sue gave me a cup of tea. I take a sip before saying, "Hell no." Jennifer laughs, "You haven't even heard the news yet." I put the cup down. "It's never good when it comes from Ed." Tricia shrugs, "Maybe, but there are a few times its good. Like..." she drags out the last part, "okay never mind."
Ed clears his throat. "It's good and bad. This time." I glance at him. "Go on." This time Vince speaks up. "I'll be going back with my team. I'll be under their care this time and I'll be joining their mission. Right after that I will return with them to London." My hand which was halfway rising to my lips with the cup, dropped back down onto the table, putting the cup back on the table. I sigh, I guess now's a good time for that. I took out an envelope from my jacket and slide it across the table towards him. He picks it up and opens it. "It's a letter from your family." His eyes waters as everyone stares at me in shock, except Ed and my team. "H-how?" Lily questions. "His family died when he was 13. In a kidnap murder case. The police searched everywhere, everything. So how come, you have this?" Her voice filled with disbelief.
"The police? Did they hack into his mother and father's work?" Lilly made a face. "They had experts." I cross my arms, "Did they have assassin hackers? That can trace all the way back to deleted and lost files?" Lilly didn't reply. "Thought so. Good job Kahi." We high fived. "It's nothing. Simple processing." He shrugs with a smirk. "Isn't it about time we visit our guests?" Ed says as he looks down at his watch. "I'm sorry, we? There is no we, just us." Katherine says, standing up. "Haha fine. I'll have a nice chat with these lads and I'll email you the details." Ed laughs, taking out his phone. We leave the room silently.
"Where'd you go?" Jennifer asks, walking by my side. "Preparations." I answer simply. "I don't think prep work has the need for cigarettes." She waves the box in my face. She must have taken it without me knowing. "I got that from someone." I say, taking it back. "You took one didn't you?" She glances at me. "Just two whiffs." She used her evil eye to see if I was lying, after confirming we continued to walk in silence to the family guest room.
Tricia knocks on the door. The man we hired to watch the four, opens the door and steps out. "How are they?" Katherine asks. "They've made themselves comfortable." He replies. "Thank you, now stand guard outside while we talk with them." As we walk past him into the room, Katherine shoved some money in his pocket. No one does things for free nowadays in the assassin world.
~~~~~~~~~~
JOHNNY POV
I step out of the showers, feeling refreshed. They don't give many shower breaks in the immigration business. As I exit the bathroom into the foyer, the front door opens. But it wasn't the man with a big build, it was the 5 kids. I tensed up. "Johnny, we need to talk." The girl who had shot me many times, say. "Of course we'll need to talk to your sons too." She walks past me, into the living room. The boys! I hurriedly turn and rush in, forgetting about the other four. As I approached, I heard James shout, "You!" She stands casually as James whipped out his dagger.
Jacob and Jack hurried to see what was the commotion, but as soon as their eyes landed on her, their eyes darkened a little. "Well ain't that rude." She makes her way to the large dining table that could seat 10. She pulls a chair out, "How bout we talk it out?" She smiles. James didn't put his dagger down, her team mate approached and hit his inner elbow, resulting for his arm to bend and momentarily lose focus on his grip. She grabs it and throws it to the girl. She catches the dagger by the blade and flips it over before jamming it into the wooden table. "Please?" She asks with a smile. I quickly hurried over, "Boys, they are our saviour and we've already caused them a lot of trouble. So let's just listen to them." I nudge James, Jack and Jacob towards the table.
The four of us sits on one side of the table and they sat opposite us, leaving an empty chair. "First of all, I'm Phantom and you will address me as such," she points to each member as she introduces them, "this is OO9, 50k, Trixie and 2bullet." She turns back to us. "And of course we already know who you are." James growled, "What do you want?" She smiles darkly, "Oh it's not what we want, it's what you need." We got confused at that. "Of course I still have basic questions that you must answer." She suddenly leans back and kick her legs up. She takes out a tablet and started firing questions at us.
"How good are you at combat?" I couldn't really answer, "I'm an inside worker." I say. "We're pretty much on the same level but Jack is good at close range, James is far range and I'm just a little of both." Jacob answers for him and his brothers. She takes it down, her hands flying over the digital keyboard.
"Kills?" We went silent. Sure we're in dangerous business but we haven't killed anyone yet. That was the superiors' job back in the business. "Three." The boys answered at the same time. I stare at them, bewildered.
"It was a long time ago, b-but i-it was an accident! One of them hit his head on the concrete too hard, the second had his neck broken against a tree and the third rolled down a rocky hill." Jacob says, nervously. She clicks her tongue, "Tsk. This is gonna be a little tough." Her hands fly over the keyboard again. We answered as many as we could. "Okay let's take a break." She puts the tablet down and stretches.
"I have plenty more questions but breaks are important." She leans back in her chair further, balancing on its hind legs. "2bullet." She calls him over and they reviewed the answers we've given. They were talking in hush whispers, he was obviously remarking them. "I need a whiff." 50k stands and grabs a cigarette from a box in Phantom's pocket and heads to the balcony. She swings forward the rifle strapped to her back and swipes in a swift motion on the barrel, it lights. "How old are you guys?" Jacob asks bluntly. Phantom smiles, "14." She answers before walking away and taking one out for herself. "Dad, their lives are so wrong, so much more than the one we had. Sure we stole and bluffed but we didn't smoke!" Jacob tells me, concern in his eyes. He was always one to pity others.
"Jacob, we mustn't interfere with their choices." I whisper to him. "Argh I wanna sleep!" We jump in shock at the sudden exclaim. Phantom walks over and knocks Trixie on the head lightly, "Don't, if you sleep now you won't be awake for school. Keep your eyes open." Phantom passes her some gum. "Try and get a sugar rush." She takes it but not before stating, "I haven't slept for the past 38 hours." Phantom hits her again, "So have the rest of us and you don't see us complaining." She removes the cigarette from her lips and puts it out in the tray on the table. "Okay! Back to business." She sits in front of us again and fires questions all over again.
TAKAHIRO/2BULLET POV
"Okay now for the main purpose of our visit." I push Phantom out of her chair once she was done with her part and sit on it. She shoots me an annoyed look but says nothing before proceeding to sit on my original seat. "We're going to make a deal." I say, looking at them in the eye one by one. "First of all, have you ever wanted a normal job? Say, $10 per hour?" I ask. They look at each other before Johnny answers me, "Of course we do but it wouldn't pay enough." I stare into their eyes, "Alright, how about $50 per hour?" Johnny answers me with the same reply, not enough.
"$80." Still. "$100." Nearly there. "Tell you what, $300." I offer my final decision. "That would definitely cover our expenses better but where would there be a job like that?" Johnny looks at me. I couldn't help but smirk, this deal is two steps away. "Here of course." They look at me bewildered. "But you're illegal." Jacob points out. "Not exactly." OO9 answers him. "We're quite legal, in a way." Trixie adds in. "We've noticed your talents and they would be useful for our cause." Phantom says. "Your cause?" James asks suspiciously. "That we of course won't tell." 50k says and winks at him. "Why should we join you?" Jack finally speaks up.
"Well you have to. First of all, we get what we want. Second of all, we'll let you go once the deal's off which brings us to the third point, you have to pay back your family." They give me looks. I sigh, "I'm saying you're going to earn back what your family lost to pay us to find you." James suddenly stands, toppling his chair over. "What?!" He exclaims.
"How bout I break it down since you still can't process it. Your family paid a private investigator 1 million dollars to find the four of you who have not been keeping contact with them for the past five months." Their eyes widened at that but I wasn't done. "The investigator gave up however after 2 months and came to our company for help. He paid our boss 2 million to help him but of course that money goes to us. Our boss sent us out and we're usually paid a few thousand dollars for a job and the money usually goes straight into our account. Did I mention that when hiring private investigators you have to pay them extra every month and its been five?" I think their jaws were already touching the floor.
"First of all, we'll cut you some slack since you're not the one paying us, our boss is." OO9 pats Johnny's shoulder. "Shall we add up the math?" I smile, taking out my phone calculator. They look terrified, I can't tell if its us or the money. I held my laughter in. "1 million plus 2 million gives us 3 million so far." They gulp. "Your family pays an extra of $500 every month. Times that by five oh look at that, $2500!" I act enthusiastic.
"Let me just say this, you're only paying back 3 million, 2 thousand and 5 hundred dollars. If we added our share, that would be," I punched more numbers in, "3 million, 1 hundred thousand and 5 thousand," I show them the screen, "without interest." I smile at the last part. They were shocked now, truly shocked. "S-so w-we owe y-you t-that much?" Johnny stammers. "Yep." Trixie answers with a smile. "We've already cut you slack." Phantom states. We stand up and get ready to leave. I place our name card on the table. "Contact us whenever you're ready, the sooner the better of course. We'll give details then." We make our way to door and I open it for the others, as they exit I turn back and wave before leaving, "Good luck."
AUTHOR'S NOTE
I almost died writing this haiz. Took me longer than expected. To my readers, I apologize but I rushed already okay. I know I took very long but here it is. If you reading this note, that means you need wait another eternity before I publish again. Okay, bye :)