After two days of surveillance in Japan, the three bounty hunters were ready to make a move. Alec was creeping on the edge of the property that they knew belonged to the Yakuza. When he peered around the corner, Isabelle spoke into his ear "IL43, in position. You guys ready?" Another voice spoke into his ear, this time it was Jace "JH37, ready to go." Alec held his earpiece and spoke himself "AL25, we're good to go." Isabelle stated "Are you sure about this? I mean, how do we know he'll actually be here." Alec rolled his eyes for the millionth of time and said "Look, I told you, I have a good source. And the sword's definitely here, right?" He heard Isabelle breath out and then she said "Yep, I see it, 7th floor on the left. I have got an amazing view up here."
Alec looked up towards a construction building to the right of the Yakuza's safehouse. The thing had almost 20 floors and Isabelle was near the top, laying down somewhere with her trusting rifle, keeping an eye on them all. Jace scoffed and said "I still think I should've taken the sniper position." Isabelle laughed and replied "Your such a shitty shot and you know it." Alec quickly cut in "Guys, enough. I'm moving in, JH37, do the same." They had to use codenames everytime they were on a mission of this importance, because there was no telling when someone was listening to them, but Alec still felt weird using just their initials and recruiting numbers. He started to creep up on the house. Isabelle whispered in his ear "2 guys to the left by the fountain, 3 on the right by the gate." Alec nodded, although Isabelle probably couldn't see that, and slowly went behind a tree, crouching as he went. He saw the back door and a Japanese guy with a gun standing next to it. He saw the others as well, just as Isabelle had said, but he went behind the trees growing in an alley formation, so that he couldn't be seen. He reached the corner of the house, peering around it - the guy was still pacing the back door. Alec breathed in and just as the guy turned, he crept up on him and put his hand around his neck.
A few seconds later, the guy had silently passed out. "Nice one, bro." Isabelle commented. Alec smiled and waved at her, then silently inspected the lock. Since the house was not empty, the alarm was disabled, but the door was still locked. Luckily it was a standard lock. Alec took out his tools and picked the lock in seconds. Once inside he crouched down behind a couch, listening to any sounds. There was no one in the particular room he was in. Touching his ear he said "I'm in." Jace grunted and said "Yeah, me too. In the basement." Alec had spotted a small trap door outside the property, which lead to the basement, according to the house's blueprints. Alec nodded and then said "IL43, eyes on the house. How many?" Isabelle was quiet for a second and then said "Okay, so none in the room you're in. There's 4 guys on the next floor, you have to take the stairs obviously. There's 2 guys in the 3rd floor living room and the big guy is with 5 other's in his office on the 7th. The sword is just opposite to that room."
Alec let out a breath and heard Jace say "That's a lot of fire power, Alec." Alec brushed a hand through his hair, gripping his rifle and said "Codenames. And I know. So let's not make ourselves seen." Isabelle suddenly yelped "He's here! Wow, that's impressive." Alec moved his head side to side, but still saw no one outside. He asked "What? Where?". Isabelle replied with slight awe in her voice "He's on the roof. Damn, he's really sneaky. I wouldn't even have noticed if the moon hadn't shone itself on him at the right time. He's going in through the rooftop window." Alec replied "Copy that. JH37, let's move." He got up, still crouching and approached the stairs, where he met up with Jace. He indicated that he'll go first and Jace nodded, following behind. They ascended the stairs quietly, not making a sound.
They could hear muffled voices above. Jace mouthed to him "Now what?". Alec was in thought for a moment and then pointed to the elevator. Jace looked over and then nodded. He went up and pressed the buttons, it opened and he pressed the next floor inside. Then he doubled back to Alec. They waited for the familiar 'ding' of the elevator, and then they heard voices speaking loudly and saw the men heading towards the elevator, guns raised. They quickly made their way upstairs and into an open room, which turned out to be an empty bedroom. "Alright, I'll get to the room where the sword is, you watch my back, stay here and stay down." Alec whispered. "Um, guys" Isabelle said into their ears, voice alert. Alec knew something was up. "What?" he hissed. Isabelle replied calmly "There are 2 black sedans pulling up to the house. Definitely not Yakuza and definitely not friendly. You're going to get caught in the crossfire. Hurry your asses up!"
Alec shot Jace a look. Jace whispered "I'll watch your back, get to that sword!" Alec nodded and peered in to the hall, he could hear muffled shouts from downstairs and all the men on this floor rushed downstairs as well, leaving the hall empty. Alec climbed the rest of the stairs in a hurry, Jace taking the 4th floor and staying there for backup. The office door was still closed when Alec got to the 7th floor, so he stepped out into the hall and went to the door opposite to the office's and touched the handle. Locked. He saw the alarm next to it and took out the new gadget Simon had given them. He put it on the lock and pressed the little button. He could hear the electric sizzle and the alarm light went off. He slowly opened the door. He stepped inside. Alec saw the sword on a stand, along with other artifacts the Yakuza must've acquired over the years. Otherwise, the room looked empty. But Alec knew it wasn't. The curtains that moved in the wind suggested that someone had climbed through the window, which was open. He peered around, slowly making his way into the room. Just as he was about to reach for his ear piece to ask Isabelle if she saw someone, he heard gunshots fired downstairs. And just then, someone tackled him from behind.
His gun fell and slid away from him, while he was held down by the guy that tackled him. "Well then, and who might you be?" came a slow and deep voice. Alec heard the voice coming from very close to him, so he knocked his head back and heard a groan, meaning he hit the target. His hands sprung free and he was on his feet, turning around. In front of him was none other than Magnus Bane, who held onto his nose and was glaring at him. "Wow, flowers would've been a nicer greeting. Good thing it's not broken, my nose is one of my best features." He moved his hand away, revealing a only slightly bloody nose. He had a smirk on his face. Alec noticed that he was wearing a black T-shirt that hugged his figure (Alec definitely noticed the muscular arms), and a black jacket on top of that, he was tall-ish, well built and just like he had seen from his picture, he was wearing eyeliner and glitter in his hair. "Stare much? Though, I have to admit, I am a sight to behold," Magnus stated with a grin. He was holding a knife. Alec shook his head out of its daze and said "Magnus Bane. You are coming with me."
Magnus smirked again and replied "Oh, I don't even know your name and you want to take me home?You move fast." Alec blushed but said "What? That's... You are not getting that sword." Magnus' expression grew more serious and he quietly said "I am, in fact. It belongs to the people and I will see to it, that they get it back." Alec didn't understand any of what he just said, but he heard a shout and knew it was Jace. This distracted him enough, because when he flicked his gaze to the door, he didn't notice Magnus flinging his knife at him. It flew through the air and hit him. But it didn't hurt. Alec found himself pinned to the wall by it, it had only gone through his shirt below his armpit and scratched his skin. Magnus smiled and strode to the sword, snatching it from the stand. Alec pulled the knife out (which was quite a challenge) and rushed to pick his weapon up. "Alec, they're almost upstairs! Alec, I'm coming down!" He heard Isabelle shout inside his ear, completely forgetting their codenames in panic.
While Jace was caught up with everyone else downstairs, Isabelle had kept an eye on him, shooting the people who had interrupted their mission. "Jesus, do I always have to save their asses," she mumbled, while pulling at the straps. She fastened herself to a cable that run straight to the rooftop and swung herself forward. Meanwhile, Jace was in the hall, behind a fallen table and getting shot at. "Alec, what the hell are you doing? We have to go!" Jace shouted. Alec spun around to see Magnus out on the balcony. "Don't move." Alec said, approaching him, holding him on gunpoint. Magnus smiled at him and said "Or what? You going to put me to sleep? I know those aren't real bullets. Come on, Alexander, you know you don't want to do that." Alec's eyes widened. How did he know his full name? He heard Isabelle scream something to his ear, but he couldn't shoot. He just stared at Magnus, who was clutching the sword in his hands.
"I'm going to go now. But, as funny as this sounds, I hope we might meet again. Well, in a situation where people are not trying to kill each other, that is." Magnus stated with a smile. Swiftly, he strapped the sword to his back, and jumped up, reaching to the edge of the roof and hauled himself upwards. Alec took three long strides to the balcony and looking up, saw Magnus disappear behind the ridge. He just stared at the place the man had been and then cursed out loud. How could he have let him go?
Isabelle raced into the room, her eyes shining. "Alec," she panted, taking a breath before saying "What happened? I saw Bane on the roof, but he was too far for me to shoot. And the sword?" Alec turned towards her. Just as Jace moved into the room he said "He's gone. Got away with the sword." Jace looked at him with wide eyes but Isabelle gave a whistle and said "Wow, really? He must've charmed the hell out of you to get away." Alec rolled his eyes and said "That's not what happened." Jace cut in "Never mind, you'll tell us later, right now we need to make ourselves scarce. There's more guys coming in, we're in the middle of a terf war." The other two nodded and they all made their way out to the balcony. They strapped themselves to the railing by cables and slid down from the edge of the building. Once down, their van, that Isabelle had already parked there earlier, was waiting in the shadows.
Isabelle drove, while Jace and Alec sat in the back. Alec went over to Jace, examining him. "You hurt?" he asked his brother. Isabelle glanced at them from the mirror, her eyes worrying. "Dude, I'm fine. But if you wouldn't have stalled, I might've gotten shot. Which would have been more interesting, granted." Jace stated matter of factly. Isabelle grunted from the front and said "Getting shot is not what is interesting in our books, Jace. Dickhead." Jace smiled but let Alec look him over. Once he had done that, he glanced at his sister "You good?" he asked. Isabelle gave a nod. "What about you, Mr. 'I let the handsome conman get away'?" She asked with a smirk. Jace was snickering. Alec hit him in his shoulder, hard and Jace gave a small "Ow!" Alec sighed "I'm sorry guys. I fucked up."
Isabelle was looking at him with concern in her eyes and said "Hey, it's okay. We can still get him. We've got time." Jace smirked again and said "Yeah, enough time so you can buy him flowers for the next date. Or is Magnus a cologne guy?" Jace gave another yelp when Alec hit his other shoulder, and Isabelle laughed out loud.