Chapter 1: Introduction

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S H E ’ L L B R I N G H O N O R

T O

U S A L L

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A

M U L A N

•R E T E L L I N G•

Commander’s POV

“Good morning.” I nodded, as my feet reached the bottom step of the communications room.

“Morning Commander.” A guard nodded, as he passed by me on his way out. The sound of the steel gates grinding against each other as they closed, caused my jaw to clench. I approached a large table in the middle of the room and it instantly lit up with different files that pixelated into a hologram mode. This thing still fascinated the shit out of me.

“This was the most recent attack.” Director Campbell nodded as he pulled a file up with his index finger before enlarging and opening it. A video instantly played of an Art Musem that I recognized as the Walten Art Institute in New York. Only moments later, every last person walking through the halls of the West Wing, began to suffocate on the air before falling lifelessly to the floor. Men with masks quickly swept the place, as a few paintings were ripped off the walls.

“I-I don’t understand.” I stated, watching the men carefully roll up the paintings before confirming the deaths and leaving the scene. “How is this a terrorist attack?” I asked the Director.

“The paintings these men stole, We believe they were random. Every last person in that museum was poisoned by Phosgene Chlorine, a lethal form of mustard gas. If they were to just take the paintings, they would have the means to do it at night, or use something much less lethal. These men looked like they chose random paintings at whim to rip off the wall.

“We could pull almost nothing off these men, except for a tattoo that was partially visible here.” Director Campbell spoke. One of the men in the surveillance video lifted up the heavy frame work, and it pushed his sleeve back a bit to reveal a freshly tatted black lotus flower on his forearm.

“The Black Lotus.” I whispered, yet it sounded like I had said a secret too loud. Most of the comrades in this division believed the Black Lotus to be a myth. An organized team of highly trained assassins that operated at night for whoever paid the highest? It sounded too outrageous, something like a story you could tell the younglings during their basic training. But here I was, staring at the infamous tattoo.

“T-They’re real? Why the hell are they here?” I asked Director Campbell. The group moved swiftly on surveillance as they made their escape before security detail could arrive at the scene.

“We don’t know, but we need to find out. And quickly.” Director replied. We both nodded silently to each other. “Total number of deaths were 34. We know who these people are, but we barely know what they’re capable of. Hell, we aren’t even sure how they pulled this off. I’ve been issued the location of someone who may be able to help.”

“Who is it?” I asked, as I leaned my arms further onto the table. This whole incident was going to be a mess to control over the media.

“An agent of ours has remained dormant for sometime at an undisclosed location. We believe this agent may have insight into The Black Lotus Organization.”

“What’s my mission?” I asked, pulling my self up and straightening my back.

“Extract Agent 27… otherwise known as The Dagger.” He replied. My eyes grew wide at that name.

Rein

’s POV

A slight breeze blew in from the south side of the main temple. The trees from this secluded location were forced into the dance as the surging winds picked up.

Montana’s weather had always been unpredictable, but the beauty of the spring never failed to amaze me. I moved quickly and silently down the path towards her home, hoping to escape the cold rain that had started to drizzle. I reached the front gates of the entrance just in time before it began to pour down again.

Instantly, the smell of mango passionfruit tea intoxicated my senses. She always had a kettle on the stove, but this time, she was up-keeping with her ancient ceramic cups. Though her back was turned to me, there was no denying she knew I had entered. She was the only one I had ever known, who could sense my presence regardless of how quiet I was.

“How is the garden?” She asked me, as she turned to set a cup of ready made tea onto the low table. I knelt onto the ground pillow and nodded a slight thank you her way.

“Coming along quite well. Everything has started to bloom. The early rain will do well for the herbs and plants. I just set up the bamboo bongs across the entrance for pure water.

“Thank you, Rein.” Chiyo smiled. The wrinkles around her eyes and smile deepened, showing a glimpse of her actual age. It always amazed me by how beautiful she was. When I had first been relocated to this location, I was surprised by how gorgeous it was. It felt like I was back home in Kyoto, Japan.

“No worries, Chi.” I smiled back. “We usually meet for tea a bit later in the day… was there something you were hoping to talk with me about?” I asked. I could see a knowing smile on her face as she sat down across from me with her own cup of tea.

There were no clocks around this temple grounds, but that was because much like me, Chico was miraculous with telling time. She had only requested I come no more than 5 minutes earlier than usual, but changes in our routine was very rare.

“Very good.” She nodded to me. “I was contacted by your old handler this morning, Mr. Campbell. There’s been an attack.” Her eyes glanced down to my jaw as I began to unhinge it.

“How many people?” I asked quietly.

“34.” She replied. I could do nothing as my eyelids unconsciously grew heavy.

“When was this?” I asked her, as I did everything I could not to completely shatter the cup in my hand.

“A few days ago.” She nodded. I could already tell what was coming next, but I hadn’t prepared an answer for her yet. “You must help them, Rein.”

“You know I can’t. If I leave this place, I will be killed. What good will I be then to them if I’m dead?” I replied.

“I know you do not fear death, my friend. What you do fear is facing the things you’ve put behind you. You cannot run from your past any longer child. They need you. They need The Dagger.”

---

Alright let me explain.

So basically, I started “Not A Glass Slipper” because you guys really wanted this one, but as time grew on, I seemed to care less and less about the updates. I couldn’t find the action and adventure and humor I craved in my books, and I really sort of let it go. So here is this book, a book that might not have won the popularity vote, but it’s a book that I think you all will fall in love with, because it’s a book that’s lit a flame underneath me. It’s a book I cannot wait to share with you.

My best work is work I’ve written with passion and excitement. I couldn’t bring myself to let you all read a book that wasn’t the best part of me.

Your guys’s feedback will always mean the world to me, but this is a form of not only art but therapy for me. I must write something that makes me happy, so I can in return, make you happy.

Chapter 2: This Is The Dagger?

Commander’s POV

“What in the bloody hell is this place.” I asked, as I and Director Campbell sat in the back seat of our large Truck. We were currently balls deep in the middle of buttfuck nowhere Montana.

“ This is the location. There are only very few people who know the whereabouts ofAgent 27 and we must keep it this way. This is one of the most remote places to place someone in the United States. The large trees make it almost impossible to search through from arial, so we’ll take to the grounds.“ Campbell explained.

“I’m still unsure as to why you’re accompanying me.” I replied, trying my best to sound respectful.

“Well, first,” Campbell started, “if I didn’t accompany you, you wouldn’t make it on your own.” He explained, as we began to strap our gear onto our body. The vehicle was parked only a few kilometers from an actual road, but the direction Campbell was leading me in, there literally was no road. No paths. No nothing. He wasn’t even using the map that was left on the seat back in the truck.

“Are you sure you know where we’re going?” I asked, as the forest began to engulf us with its thick tall trees and shrubbery.

“There’s only very few people who know this forest better than me.” He replied, and I was going to respond but his body suddenly went rigid.

“What the-” I began but was quickly cut off.

“Don’t move.” He hissed.

“What the hell.” I whispered to Campbell, but my eyes focused on what he was looking at. All around us were practically invisible nylon that were intricately placed across the forest floor. You could only see if once you were looking for it. “A booby trap?” I asked. His head nodded silently.

“This is new.” He whispered more to himself as he slowly started to step through the open areas of the trap. “Take it very slow, McGary.” He instructed while we began to make our way though. The wire was so intricately placed, it made it almost impossible to pass through if you were carrying anything more than a hand gun and some blades.

After what felt like hours, we finally made it through.

“My god, what the hell was that?” I asked, as I wiped the beads of sweat away from my face.

“Looks like a few extra traps were placed through the forest. I wasn’t aware of that, but now that we both are, we need to take necessary precautions. If these traps were set up by who I think, they weren’t meant to leave any survivors.” Campbell explained. All I could do was nod to him.

We neared a concentrated area of the forest were you could barely see a few buildings behind the thickened leaves. As we approached, the buildings became more clear. They were large temples, colored in beautiful earth shades that enabled them to blend in perfectly with the surrounding. We both pushed through the last bit of forest, but before we could enter the grounds, Campbell grabbed the back of my jacket last minute as he yelled “Get down!” And shoved us into the dirt.

Before I even knew what was happening, a series of arrows whizzed right passed our heads and hit the trees behind us. I was about to say something, but then I noticed the broken nylon string that was lying beside us on the floor. Oh goodie, another trap.

“Very smooth, sir.” I joked, as he pulled us up again.

“They really are taking no chances.” He spoke to himself. I wanted to ask who “they” were, but I had a feeling I’d find out soon enough.

We approached a smaller building on the far end, and Campbell knocked three times before opening the door himself. My eyes furrowed up in confusion, but I dismissed it as the smell of something fruity entered my senses.

“Chi?” Campbell called out into the home.

“In the kitchen!” She replied. Before we could even take a step, she added “don’t you dare enter this house with those shoes on.”

I glanced at Campbell as he rolled his eyes, but then began to slip his heavy combat boots off. I did the same, before slipping my feet into the guest slippers. I couldn’t help but chuckle at how crazy we looked, dressed in gear and weapons, yet wearing pink house slippers.

“Hello, Chi.” Campbell nodded as we approached the kitchen. She did the same, but a grin quickly broke out on both their faces as he pulled her smaller frame into his arms. Her long dark peppered hair was braided loosely down her back that complimented the traditional robe she wore. She seemed older than she let on, but her body had this rejuvenating feel to it. He embraced her gently, as if she could crumble in his arms at any moment.

“How have you been, director?” She asked, her heavy accent lacing her words.

“I have been good. You look not a day older than when I saw you last.” He whispered in her ear before letting her go. Faint blush colored her cheeks.

“You flatter.” She giggled back.

“Where is she?” Campbell asked as Chi gestured for us both to take a seat on some cushions at a low table.

“She went to fetch some herbs for tonight. She should be back at any moment. Now don’t be rude Director, introduce me to this fine young man.” She grinned at me. I could see Campbell’s jaw lock as he glanced over at me. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch, Director, you’re very much so still the handsome devil I met all those years ago.” She added, assuring him when she noticed his body go rigid.

I had never seen Director Campbell get jealous before now. “This is Commander McGary,” he replied, “He runs a task force that deals with the status of national security. He is here because of the attack I reached out to you about.” He explained. Chi nodded to both he and I, but before she could say anything, we heard a voice from behind us.

“So are these the two who set one of the traps off in the forest? I expected better of you, Aaron.” I glanced back at where the voice came from, and a different woman entered the room. I couldn’t help but stare as she took a seat besides Chi. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail as most of her figure showed through the tight black turtleneck and tight black pants she wore. Her striking features drew me in instantly.

“Have you prepared everything?” Chi asked, as she sat down. The woman nodded silently back to her as her eyes never left Campbell.

“It’s been a while, Aaron.” The woman spoke.

My eyes grew large. “Wait wait wait,” I interjection, not being able to stop myself, “your first name is Aaron?” I asked Campbell.

“Not the place, nor the time.” Campbell replied.

“You told me it was Jack!” I hissed back.

“Jack?” Both Chi and the woman asked. “So you still go by your father’s name?” Chi added.

“You have a father?!” I asked, as ridiculous as it sounded. Director Campbell spoke nothing of his personal life. Ever.

“Ofcourse I have a father, what the fuck else would I have?” Campbell replied as he shot me a tight smile that was inviting me to shut the hell up.

“I always thought you were genetically engineered in a lab or something.” I shot back. That put a smile on Chi’s lips.

“Who is this?” The woman asked as her eyes finally caught mine. She had Asian looking eyes, yet her skin was a caramel chocolate color. Her sharp angled face and uncommon looks were undeniably beautiful.

“This is Commander McGary. Commander, this is Rein.”

“Rain?” I questioned.

“With an e,” she corrected.

“Otherwise she’s better known as Agent 27, or, as some would put it, The Dagger.”

I glanced back between Campbell and Rein, before asking something I knew I’d regret in the future. “ This is The Dagger?“

---

Chapter 3: We’re Not Alone

Rein’s POV

“ This is The Dagger?“ The man besides Aaron asked. McGary I believe was his name.

He had started to grow on me up until now.

“You expected a man,” I replied.

“Well it’s just that the stories never mentioned-”

“Stories?” I cut him off as I glanced at Campbell.

“You’ve created quite the chatter since your work with the government.” Campbell replied.

“Oh is that what we’re calling it now,” Chi chimed in, “ work. “

“Don’t start, Chi.” Campbell pleaded with a sigh as his irritation shone through. He was starting to showcase the amount of stress he’d been under these past few days.

“Tell me more about this attack.” I spoke to Campbell, before Commander McGary could say something else to piss Campbell off.

“We don’t have much to go off of.” Campbell sighed. “It was a controlled Wing of the museum. The doors had locked without any of the guests noticing before it was too late. A form of Mustard gas was released. No one in that Wing survived.”

“What makes you come for me? This is not the signature of The Black Lotus. They don’t use biochemical warfare. They are a league of assassins. They get paid to take out specific targets, not a room of random guests.” I replied, as I tried to digest the information. At this point, nothing made sense.

“We’ve got the video recordings of the surveillance tapes. One of the men’s sleeves were pushed up and there was a fresh visible Black Lotus tattooed on his arm.” McGary explained, as his large frame moved further onto the table.

“I’ll need to see those tapes.” I spoke to Campbell.

“Consider it done.” Campbell nodded. “We need to get going soon, Rein. The longer we are here, the less safe the location is.”

“I know.” I sighed to him. I could see it in his eyes… there was fear. Very few times did Director show this emotion. It was his way of telling me that he understood pulling me from this location may be sentencing me to my death, but that was a sacrifice he had to make.

Besides… every agent is expendable.

I was no exception.

I turned to Chi, before I solemnly looked around. This place had been my home for so many years. There was a possibility that I might be able to come back, but I knew my odds. Once I had fallen off, my reactivation would inevitably be my downfall.

“Let’s go.” I nodded to them both as we stood up. As soon as Chi was standing, I pulled her in for another tight embrace. “Arigatōgozaimashita, thank you. If I do not see you in this life, I hope to experience your soul once more in the next.” I whispered into her ear as her arms pulled me tighter.

“Little one,” she whispered as her hands massaged the nape of my neck, “it’s time to stop running.” All I did was hold her tighter for a few more moments before reluctantly letting go.

“My things are by the door.” I nodded, as we made our way to the entrance of Chi’s home. I gave her one more halfhearted smile before picking up my case and heading out after the two men.

“This is all you have?” McGary asked as he glanced down at my black case and back pack.

“She’d carry just her weapons if she could.” Campbell replied as he lead the way ahead of us. He stopped just before we entered the forest. “Uh, Rein?” He called.

“Yes, Aaron?” I replied with a playful tone.

“I was just thinking, it might be better if you lead the way.” He replied as he glanced back to both Commander McGary and I.

“Right.” I nodded, tossing a knowing smile his way. I still couldn’t believe he triggered one of the booby traps. The Director I knew would have never been so unaware of his surroundings. He would never have become so comfortable with his surroundings, that he let his guard down.

“I’m getting old.” He replied simply, as if he knew I was silently judging him for his dull senses.

“To be fair, Campbell pulled us both down just in time before our heads were skewered off by arrows.” McGary added.

“I’m impressed.” I replied.

I really was.

The booby traps I had laid out, was not something to be taken lightly. He must have had to literally sense the microfiber nylon tug against his foot milliseconds before pulling them both down to the ground in order to avoid the arrows.

“Looks like you still got it.” I spoke to Campbell as I lead them expertly through the forest towards the main road.

“There were never traps set up before when we chose this location. When did you put them out?” Campbell asked.

“A hiking group wandered up here a few months ago. They got no where near the temple grounds but we could see the smoke rise some kilometers out from one of our perches. I couldn’t take any chances on the location being compromised.

“Weren’t you informed we were coming? We could have been killed!” McGary added.

“To remove those traps is to make us venerable. If you were who you said you were, I had faith you’d be able to emerge unscathed.” I replied simply. He looked at me like I had grown a third head, but Campbell nodded “fair enough,” as we emerged from the forest to the vehicle.

I could already feel something was off as we approached the vehicle. Before McGary or Campbell could take another step, I pulled both their bodies back just in time before an arrow whizzed by our faces.

“Get back to the entrance of the forest.” I instructed as we quickly sprinted out of plain sight and back under the cloak of the trees.

You could hear rustling coming from the far right of us somewhere in the forest. “What the hell is happening?” McGary asked while he and Campbell drew their pistol.

“I’m not sure, but we’re no longer alone out here.” I whispered as my hands wrapped tight around my black case.

---

Chapter 4: Arrowhead

Rein’s POV

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” McGary whispered to himself as we positioned ourselves behind the bases of the large pine trees. The setting of the sun had started to darken the sky, allowing us a natural cloak from our enemies.

“Who are these people?” Campbell asked me and I began to slow my breathing. I needed them both to shut the hell up so I could listen. There was another snapped branch somewhere distant.

Think, Rein. What did you see? I asked myself.

I remembered the arrow that whizzed past us. It’s structure was… different. My mind faded back to the first time I had truly experienced the stone carved edge of a Black Lotus Arrow.

I could feel my back hit the caves walls as blood began to soak my shirt. I hadn’t even noticed I’d been hit until the dull pain became a sharp one. Fallowing the edge of the cave with my hand, I stumbled deeper into the darkness as I tried my hardest to take my mind off the excruciating experience. The walls began to grow icier to the touch the further down I went.

I knew my things were only a few feet ahead when I could barely make out the fire pit I had lit earlier. I slid the matchbox out of my bag and lit one before tossing it into the fire and slowly sliding myself onto the floor. I had chose this location earlier in the day because no one would know I was here. The caves tunnels were buried so deep, the light from the flame couldn’t reach the entrance.

I glanced down at the arrow that was now extruding from my abdomen as I laid out numerous amounts of gauze and medical tape. My hands grabbed the end of the arrow as I braced myself for what was to come.

I took one deep breath before my hands snapped the wood sideways. Excruciating pain shot through my stomach but all I could do was bite down hard on my teeth and wipe away the access blood from the wound. I wouldn’t be able to remove the jagged arrow without making an incision into myself. I grabbed the sharp blade from my pack and held it against the fire as I pulled out a bottle of whiskey.

It was gunna be a long night.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of a gunshot as Campbell fired his weapon towards the direction of where the arrow was shot from. As expected, we heard a cry out as the bullet hit it’s intended target. Campbell never missed.

“I’ll take the path west through the forest to insure it was just one person.” I nodded to Campbell as I grabbed my black case.

“You’re just going to let her go out alone?” I heard McGary ask while I made my way through the trees. Campbell and McGary approached the man Campbell shot.

Something still felt wrong.

I wrapped around the far side of the forest as I approached Campbell and McGary. My body slowed almost instantly as I felt something else. My hand instinctively slid one of my daggers out from my right boot. My breathing was steady and in tune. I faintly heard the sound of another arrow being pulled back further through the forest. The sound was distinct to me.

“Get down!” I called again, as my hand slid the blade completely out before flicking my wrist in a swift hand motion and throwing it directly  above McGary’s head. Both Campbell and McGary dropped to the floor just in time. The blade cut directly through the bushes before we heard another man cry out.

Both McGary and Campbell looked at me before looking towards the shrubs where part of another man’s body lay.

“Black lotus?” McGary asked, pulling himself up as I walked towards the two men.

“If they were the Black Lotus, we’d be dead. The Black Lotus do not miss.” I replied, signaling towards the arrow that had barely missed us, and hit the tree to the left of us.

“Apparently, neither do you.” McGary added as we stood around the man that now had one of my daggers clean through his left eye. I knelt down and gripped the edge of my dagger before forcefully pulling it out of the lifeless body.

Commander’s POV

“That’s just gross.” I whispered to myself as she cleaned the blade off on the man’s shirt.

“That dagger is more expensive than you and I’s net worth combined.” Campbell replied. We just watched her reattach the blade to her holster in her boot. I was still baffled by the accuracy of the throw from such a distance. I guess the stories about her had some merit after all.

“So if these men aren’t from The Black Lotus, who are they?” I asked.

Judging by their clothes, they must have been stranded out here for a while. It looked like they wanted to rob us.“ Campbell replied as he slid his walkie talkie out of the man’s backpack. “Let’s see what else they took from the vehicle.”

Rein and I nodded as we made our way back to the truck. Everything looked trashed and ransacked. Most of our food supply was gone, along with some of the water we had put in the back. The ammunition was moved but not taken.

“They left the ammunition?” I asked.

“It’s all military grade. I’m sure if they had a gun, which I highly doubt they did since they were shooting handmade arrows at us… it would be a basic handheld.” Rein replied.

I nodded to myself as we continued. It looked like it was mostly just survival things that had been taken.

“It’s time we leave. Now. I don’t want to draw anymore attention to this place. Chi needs to be protected at all costs.” Rein reminded Campbell as we piled into the truck. The food and water wouldn’t be a necessity on the journey back. I couldn’t help but glance over at Reins upright position as she sat in the seat in the back. Her body was rigid and she looked incredibly serious.

I couldn’t help but be drawn in to her mystery as we continued down the rough terrain of buttfuck nowhere Montana.

---

Cast:

Rein (The Dagger or Agent 27)

Commander McGary (Charlie Hunman)

Director Campbell

Chapter 5: Flight 452 For New York

Commander’s POV

We arrived at the private airport in Helena Montana around 9:30 pm. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 10:30 but since it was through a government plane, we were the only ones boarding.

Rein had been quiet through the drive back, as Director Campbell practically talked to himself. He asked her about the few years he had missed out on while she stayed here in Montana, but he never brought up anything about her past. Her replies had been short and choppy.

All she carried was her black case and bag as we walked through the doors of the considerably vacant airport. Campbell and I, on the other hand, were carrying bags of weapons and ammunition that were mandatory on every mission.

We were welcomed by a few guards who led us through to the check in. “We’re going to need to issue every weapon.” The man instructed as Campbell and I were already starting to remove our handhelds. We were both used to protocol but Rein looked confused.

“I don’t like the sound of that.” She spoke in a quiet voice to Campbell.

“It’s okay, they will be given back to us once we land.” He replied. His own voice had oddly gone softer as she bit her lip in contemplation.

“You know the full cost of my weapons.” She spoke quietly, but she bent down and slid her dagger out of her boot before gently setting the blade and holster in the plastic container. She was instructed to walk through the detector but the second she passed the metal detecting bars, it lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Rein.” Director sighed as he directed her back through. “You have to remove all of your weapons.”

“All of them?” She asked as her face sank.

“All of them.” He confirmed.

I heard her faintly sigh as she slid the front of her shirt up a few inches to remove a dagger that was holstered in. Along with a few blades that were holstered at her sides. She then rolled up her sleeves just enough to pull two more incredibly thin knifes there. I could see a tattoo of something that sort of wrapped around her arm but she pulled the sleeve back down before I could make it out.

Next was her left boot as she pulled out yet another knife. The security detail looked on with concerned faces as at last, a gun was pulled out from her back.

“Holy shit.” I whispered at the bucket full of weapons.

“I see we’ve started packing less.” Director commented. I glanced back and forth between the two like the had lost their marbles. Less?!

She was packing enough to arm a small army.

“It was weighing me down.” She replied, before walking through the detectors again. This time, they didn’t go off.

“We’re going to need to check the case that you’re also carrying, ma’am.” The guard instructed as he reached for it, but Campbell quickly intercepted.

“It’s a diplomatic case protected by a diplomatic seal. Unless you have reason to believe there is a bomb in this case, you don’t have the means to search it.” Director Campbell replied. Rein stood beside him, not saying a word, but I noticed just how tight her hands were gripping the case.

The security man nodded hesitantly while he slowly backed his hand away. “You’re all clear to board.” He instructed.

All three of us picked up our carry on and made our way through to the gates before approaching another airport worker. “Boarding flight 452 for New York?” The lady asked. Campbell nodded as he handed her our boarding passes.

“Perfect thank you, please go in and make yourselves comfortable. We will be departing in 15 minutes.” She nodded to both of us while she watched us make our way through the boarding tunnel and onto the plane.

Campbell lead the way towards the front compartment of the plane.

Rein looked out of her element. Her body was more rigid than usual while we looked for our boarding seats. Campbell took his seat directly beside us across the isle of the plane as Rein and I sat in the two seats to the right. She slid into the seat by the window while I took the one by the isle.

The announcement lady came on as she prepared us for our flight.

~

I recline the seat a bit once the plane began to take off. My hand accidentally graced Rein’s when I tried to set it on the arm rest and I heard her inhale sharply. “Sorry.” I whispered, but when I looked over, her eyes were shut tightly as she held a death grip on the arm rest. “Rein?” I whispered quietly. I didn’t get a reply. “Rein breathe.” I instructed as I noticed her breathes becoming labored. “Breathe in and out.”

Her mouth opened slightly as she released a slow and shaky breath. I reached into my carry on and pulled out a pair of headphones. “Here.” I nodded, slowly moving closer to her as I slid the headphones onto her ears. Her long eyelashes fanned against her face from how tightly she was squeezing her eyes shut.

I unlocked my phone and shuffled through my playlist until I found my instrumentals. As soon as the music began to play, I handed her the technology. Her grip had started to ease up considerably.

I couldn’t pull my eyes away from her while she began to relax. Her body slumped slightly against the window as she kept her eyes closed. She looked like she was sleeping but something told me she wasn’t. Something told me she hadn’t slept well in quite some time.

---

Chapter 6: Goodnight

Rein’s POV

The plane landed in New York around 1:45am. I gently laid Commander McGary’s headphones back in his lap as the plane began to touch down. Both him and Aaron had taken the opportunity to get some rest, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t the fear of flying that caused me to clam up, it was the uneasiness of being unarmed. I could never get used to that feeling of not having any of my specialty tools with me. That venerability.

I glanced over at McGary as he slept with his head tilted my way. I hadn’t been in this proximity with him yet, so when his eyes slowly opened and held mine, it took me by surprise by how grayish blue they were.

“I felt you staring at me.” He replied simply with a slight smug.

“I wasn’t staring. You felt my eyes on you.” I corrected. “There is something we say in my religion that translates to ‘The eye is the gateway for the soul. You exist only when they are open. When they are closed, you are not present.’”

“Is this why you can feel when eyes are on you?” He asked simply. Neither of us deciding to look away or back up a little as our gaze intensified.

“Exactly.” I replied softly. As the plane touched the ground and jerked slightly, Aaron was awoken from his sleep.

“Goddamn. We here already? That felt like a 30 minute nap to me.” He spoke, glancing at his watch.

“Make it to the hotel, then you can get a good night sleep in you.” McGary replied, not looking away from me.

“Well let’s go, you two. I’ve got a date with a hotel bed and I sure as hell won’t be missing that shit.” Campbell barked.

Here was the Director Campbell I knew.

I slowly pulled away from his gaze as I stood up and collected my black case from the compartment above us. McGary eventually did the same with his carry on.

~

We arrived at the hotel at around 2. One of Aaron’s men had checked us in, so we just picked up the keys for our room. I gently traced the outline of my knife holsters as I felt the knowing feel of the blade handles push against me while we walked towards the elevators.

Aaron glanced back at me and as McGary carried in front of us, he hung back. “Are you better, love?” He whispered close to me, yet making sure to keep his distance.

I nodded back to him.

He was one of the few who understood my attachment to these knifes.

We entered the elevator and headed up to the private floor Number Five. I could see the lack of sleep eating away at the two men, yet I knew no sleep would meet me tonight.

“Your rooms are down this hallway. All three are conjoined with Rein on the far left and I on the far right. You have the middle room, Commander.” Aaron instructed as he handed us our keys. “Goodnight.” He said simply, before opening up his room and disappearing behind the door.

McGary chuckled slightly while we moved further down the hall. He set his bags down and slid his key in before getting the door open. “Goodnight.” He nodded to me, lingering slightly before picking up his bags and walking in.

I continued to the last door before sliding my key in, and bringing in my bag and case. The room was simple, with a bed in the center and a bathroom in the far corner.

I set my things down before walking into the bathroom for a much needed shower. My hair had slipped into a loose ponytail and my skin looked slightly dirty from the hike through Montana. I stared at myself in the mirror before starting to strip down.

I pulled the turtleneck over myself, revealing the several holstered weapons. Once I slipped those off and set them on the table, my hand ran over one of the many scars that lined my body. I was brought back again to the night I had gained this injury…

The incision knife became a fiery red, and I knew it was ready. I pulled it out of the flame and let it cool before I laid my body back a bit. The arrowhead had stopped the bleeding, but I knew that once I cut into myself, I would have very little time to

minimize the blood flow before I passed out from the blood loss.

I opened the bottle of whiskey and braced myself as I poured the liquid onto the wound. Instantly, the burning sensation surged through my stomach as the alcohol began to cleanse the wound. Immediately after, it left a numbing sensation and that was when I knew I had to begin.

It had taken me 42 minutes exactly to cut into myself, and remove the sharp jagged edge. The arrow had barely missed a major artery as I pulled the broken pieces out of my flesh. Blood had pooled around the cave floor as I barely managed to bandage up my wound before I fell to the ground unconscious.

The scar it had left was a nasty one that was right beside my belly button. As I stripped to nothing, I exposed the body I had learned to hate. Every scar told a story I wished so desperately to erase from my memory.

I caught a glimpse of the dragon that wrapped around many of my scars from my back to my arm as I headed toward the shower. The warm water running down my body stung at first like it always did, but it was a good kind of pain.

I could see the dirt being washed clean from my body as I laid my head against the stone tiles and let the silent tears fall.

---

Chapter 7: Do Not Question My Dedication

Commander’s POV

I was awakened from my sleep by the sound of a door being shut. I glanced up at my room door but it was still closed. The walls were only thin enough to hear a door close as long as it came from one of the conjoined rooms.

My curiosity eventually got the better of me as I slid my handheld out from under my pillow and slipped it into the waistband of my pajama pants. You could never be too safe. I looked around for a shirt and found the one I had set on the couch, before I pulling that over my head. Glancing at the clock, it read 4:52am.

My rooms temperature was set to 77° so when I opened the door, I wasn’t expecting the cold 66° that were blasting through the halls. All you could hear was the sound of ice and vending machines vibrating and echoing off the thin walls. I glanced at both ends of the hallway and was about to shut the door again, when I heard someone clear their throat further away.

I grabbed the key off the table besides the door before wandering out into the vacant halls. To my right, there was only rooms that stretched until the end of the corridor, so I headed towards the left where the elevator was. As I turned the corner by the vending machines, I stopped shortly and saw Rein sitting on one of the arm chairs with her back turned to me.

She was holding a book, and a cup of what I could only presume to be tea, as she looked past the words and out towards the large window that showed a view of the cities busy nightlife. “Couldn’t sleep?” She asked me after some time. I wasn’t sure how exactly she knew it was me.

I walked towards another one of the comfy plush chairs as I joined her by the window.

“I’m a light sleeper.” I replied honestly. She never glanced away from the window as she took a sip from her cup. I couldn’t make out the book she was reading, but it was large.

“American tea is shit.” She announced, setting the empty cup onto the table. I cracked a grin at that.

“We specialize in coffee.” I replied. Coffee was American’s crack cocaine.

“Mm.” She nodded more to herself, before she returned to reading. I couldn’t help but continue to stare as I watched her read. Her body was more relaxed than before. Her hair was tied tightly into a neat ponytail and she was wear another one of her infamous black turtle neck shirts, along with some black tight pants.

“Did you not change?” I asked her after sometime. I was afraid I had broken her concentration but she answered me without looking away.

“I did. We will be leaving in a few hours so I decided to get ready early.” She replied simply. I just nodded at that. She flipped to the next page of the book as I rested my head against the back piece of the chair and glanced out the window. I wasn’t sure as to the exact time I fell asleep, but I knew it found me quickly in her presence.

~

“Wake up you little piece of shit!” Campbell barked as he hit me with a rolled up newspaper and I fell off the chair.

“Fuck.” I groaned, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I focused in on both Rein and Campbell holding their luggage ready to go. “What time is it?” I groaned.

“7:45am.” Rein replied.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” I whined again to Rein, as I tried to scramble to my feet.

“That’s not her job you idiot. You should’ve had an alarm set.” Campbell snapped back as he hit me again with the newspaper.

“I did! I set it on my phone!” I replied, as I searched my pockets for it… until I realized I left that on my bedside.

“Are you serious right now?” Campbell continued to yell, “you brought a fucking gun but not your own phone?” I looked down at my shirt that had now ridden up a bit to reveal the handheld I had grabbed from under my pillowcase.

I glanced up to see the edges of Rein’s mouth twitch up into a slight smile. I couldn’t help but smile myself as I got up.

“This isn’t funny!” Campbell replied, glaring at both Rein and I. “You need to go get ready now . We are leaving in 20 minutes with or without you.” Rein gave me one last grin before she followed Campbell into the elevator with their bags in hand.

She had a pretty smile.

I stumbled through the hallway of the hotel as I tried to make my way back to my room to get ready.

Rein’s POV

“How did you sleep?” Aaron asked while we loaded the last of our bags into the government car. I just glanced back at him. “Are the nightmares still happening?”

“No,” I answered simply, “I don’t let them.”

“For Christ sakes, Rein!” Aaron whispered as he turned to face me completely. “How much sleep have you been getting a night?”

“An hour. In increments.”

“Rein,” Aaron sighed. He looked conflicted, like he wanted to pull me in for a hug, but he knew my limitations with my personal space. “Did Chi know?” He asked finally.

“She made me this herbal blend of teas that helped with sleep inducement, but not with the nightmares. After some time, I only slept short amounts of time at a go. Enough to function.” I replied. I could see his fingers rub the bridge of his nose.

“We need you to be at your best for this, Rein-” he started, but I quickly cut him off.

“There is not a second in a day where my senses are even the slightest bit nulled. Do not question my dedication, nor interfere with my process.” I replied, my voice going back to the cold, distant, monotoned one I had when I was first introduced to Aaron 5 years ago.

---

Chapter 8: Copycats

Rein’s POV

We pulled up to a tall skyscraper building that quite literally scraped the sky with its pointed cell pole and dark tinted mirrors that layered floor after floor until it reached the busy streets of New York.

I didn’t enjoy this life. The city.

I didn’t like smell, or the sounds of a horn blaring every millisecond. It made it practically impossible for me to think and focus. And right now, I needed to focus.

What I did love, and couldn’t resist, was the beauty. I had always found the large bamboo trees, and secluded temple buildings to be beautiful… but as I sat in that armchair for hours, gazing out into the colorful lights of the New York City nightlife, I could help but find a calm within the chaos.

It was like a piece of time that was locked away within the madness, and somewhere somehow that night, I had tapped into it.

But I was no longer in hiding now and I was no longer safe. I could die at any moment and it could be at any place. I was almost convinced that right now, I was being kept alive for a reason… but that could change at any time. I wasn’t sure what piece on the chess board I was, but I felt like a pawn. I didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t see the entire play.

I also didn’t like the fact that they couldn’t have chosen a less busy city to ignite a terrorist attack on. I felt so exposed to every passerby that caught a glimpse of my face… as if they knew who I really was.

“Welcome, sir.” Aaron was greeted, as we were walked through the main entryway of the building. From the outside, it looked like a regular business firm, but as soon as we entered one of the many elevators, things changed. A full body scan was immediately issued on both Aaron, McGary, and I.

Aaron didn’t even push a button as we descended to the parking garage floor. As the elevator doors opened, instead of seeing a parking garage, we walked out into a large hallway that lead to yet another door.

There were guards on both end of this hallways while one of them opened the door for all three of us. “Good morning, Director.” They nodded to Aaron. He gave them a slight nod before guiding us through into an open room filled with people.

Everyone had some sort of screen in front of them as they sat behind conjoined tables, facing towards a larger screen in the front. Not one of them turned around as they typed away, busy with the task at hand.

To the left, there was yet another hallway that had a few conjoining rooms. We entered the door at the very end of the hallway which lead us down one more flight of stair to another room.

This room had a large table in the center yet lights were bouncing off of it. “What kind of futuristic shit is this?” I whispered to myself as image projected off the glass.

“You’ve been gone for quite sometime.” Campbell replied.

“A few years, not a fucking lifetime.” I hissed back.

“It still throws me off sometimes too.” McGary admitted. A few files popped up at Aaron’s voice command.

“This was the attack from a few nights ago.” He stated, ignoring us both as an image was pulled out from file before a video played.

It showed a group of people, many of them mid 30’s, some mid 20’s, wandering around what looked to be and Art Museum. I didn’t recognize the institute, but I recognized the art up on the wall. Most of the work was done by Japanese artists that had since long passed, but their work was commonly known back home.

A particular painting instantly caught my eye as the people began to seemingly choke on the air. The suffocation came quite instantly. They starting dropping to the ground lifelessly while some tried making it to the door with no prevail.

This was when things got interesting. A group of men in masks followed in shortly after.

Well, a group of men and one woman rather. It was hard to tell from the average eye, but the proportions were different with one of the team members.

My eyes focused in again on the painting that caught my eye as a man grabbed that and a few others off the wall. “So this was an art heist?” I asked, glancing at Campbell shortly after the video cut.

“We don’t believe so, the art looked chosen at random, and they confirmed the death of everyone in that room… like the maximum amount of fatalities were their target.” Campbell replied. “What do you see, Rein?” He asked after some time.

“First, The Black Lotus to not handle their business like this. They are assassins, not terrorists. If this was them, the intended target would be the people, not the art. You are correct on that… but they do not take on a target of this magnitude ever. They are a myth to many and they intend to remain that way.

“As for this team, there is a female in this group. A female in the Black Lotus is incredibly rare. It comes once a lifetime.” I replied, as Campbell caught my eye. “Next, is the art piece that they pulled off that wall. Specifically the one that nudged that man’s sleeve up. That is a fake. A replica.”

“How do you know that? How do you know all of that?” McGary asked.

“I know about the painting because I have the original hanging up on our wall back home.” I replied, looking only at Aaron now. “And that tattoo incident was staged. They want you to believe this is the Black Lotus but the tattoo isn’t real. The original Black Lotus tattoo is done with a strong potent Indian ink, so strong it cannot be easily covered up. The recovery time for this tattoo is months. If that were real, the tattoo would have been bandaged due to chances of infection.” I explained as both Aaron and McGary were listening intently.

“So this isn’t the Black Lotus?” Aaron asked after sometime in a quieter voice.

“No, Director. I’m not too sure you have a group of terrorists on your hands either. All I know is this: The Black Lotus are very much real, but this isn’t their M.O…. and they don’t take well to copycats.”

---

Chapter 9: Much Like Every System, There Are Flaws

McGary’s POV

I glanced back between Rein and Director Campbell as they both sat in the chairs on either side of me with Director Campbell at the edge of the hologram table. We’d all just been sitting here for the last few minutes.

“I’m not sure what to make of this.” Director Campbell sighed. I don’t think I’d seen him this stressed last since our Afghan mission. “So this group is trying to pass for The Black Lotus?”

“Well, yes. Honestly, I’d give it a few days before this entire group of people are wiped out by the actual Black Lotus.” Rein replied honestly. We just sat together for another minute before anyone spoke.

“So what’s our next move?” Campbell asked honestly. At first I didn’t think I heard right. I’d never witnessed Campbell ask someone else for a game plan.

“It all depends on what you want to do,” Rein replied honestly. “If you don’t care about what happens, you can allow the Black Lotus to take them out first- which I guarantee you, won’t take long at all. If you want these people alive, then we need to find them before the Black Lotus do, which is much easier said than done. But it’s your choice.” She replied.

I could see the wheels turning in Campbell’s head but we both knew what he would decide. “If we were to go ahead and hunt this group down first, where would we start?” Campbell asked.

“Well we need to head over to the museum as soon as possible. I need to absorb the crime scene. Exits and entrances, because these people didn’t just disappear.” Rein replied.

Campbell just nodded.

“Next, I’ll need to go underground for a while.” She added. Both Campbell and I looked up at her.

“Underground?” I asked. That didn’t sound good at all.

“These people worked with chemicals that could only have been received illegally. If they had stolen these gasses, we’d have heard by now. This means they were bought through an unlisted seller. Our next move would be to identify the seller, and figure out first: how much was bought. If there’s going to be a second attack, we need to know about it, and Second: who handled the details. The unlisted seller in this case won’t know who exactly the buyer was, and vise versa. This is a system that has been kept for decades within the Black Market due to instances like this.

“After the purchase, whatever the buyer wishes to do with the product is up to the buyer, and the seller makes it so it cannot be traced back to them. The whole system is ingenious.” Rein explained.

“Then how would we get in? How would we find the seller?” I asked.

“Much like every system, there are flaws. We would need to work an angle. I would be inquiring as to where I could come into contact with such a weapon. I know a few of the buyers and there is no way this’ll go smoothly, but it’s the only option we have considering the circumstances. We need to move as quickly as we can because The Black Lotus has full connections within the Black Market. If tear gas was bought, they’ll know from whom.”

I was still baffled as to how she could possibly know this much about a group of assassins that supposedly didn’t exists until a few days ago.

As Rein talked, I only grew more and more suspicious as to who she really was.

“If The Black Lotus figures out the group before we do, the whole mission is as good as done, right?” Campbell asked.

“If the Black Lotus succeed first, you can bet on the fact that everyone on that security tape will be hunted down and killed. If we succeed, we may have captured this group of people, but that will put us directly in the path of The Black Lotus and their target. I don’t think you want to know the odds of all of us making it out of this mission alive.” Rein spoke honestly.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The fear of The Black Lotus had never really entered my mind until now. Every story, every unsolved case, every death. I had completely believed it all to be a myth, but to finally hear that this is all very real, it made the hairs on my arms stand up.

“So either way, we can’t win?” I asked Rein.

“Think of this like War. There is no true win with war. You may be victorious, but collateral is inevitable. People will die regardless, it is rather the decision of who you are willing to sacrifice in the name of justice, or whatever you stand for.”

All I could do was stare at her. For a moment there, her facade dropped and I saw true pain in her eyes. An emotion I hadn’t witnessed yet… and an emotion I never wanted to see again.

Before Campbell could say anything, the holograms on the glass table suddenly disappeared as the the screen turned black. All three of us stared at the monitor, then each other.

“What just happened?” I asked.

“I’m not sure.” Campbell replied. The screen twitched again before a curser appeared. It blinked a few times. Writing finally came on that read:

Hello, Renge|

I glanced at Rein as she gripped the edge of the table so hard, I thought it would shatter.

“Up. Now.” Rein demanded, as she already started power walking towards the the entrance to Campbell’s office. It took everything in us to keep up with her while she made it back to the communications room. I was about to call her name as she stood frozen, but then I saw what she saw.

Every monitor in the room had the same screen as the one in Campbells office.

“What the fuck is going on Rein?” Campbell asked as Rein began to tinker with the main monitor in the middle of the room. After a few moments, voice came through that read exactly what the print said:

Hello, Renge|

I glanced at Rein but she had an emotionless expression. Her body was shaking slightly.

“Rein!” Campbell called, snapping her out of her trance. She turned to both Campbell and I before speaking in an unrecognizable voice.

“We’re being hacked.”

---

Chapter 10: Hacked

Rein’s POV

Breath. Breath.

I could feel my body losing control as that all too familiar voice resonated in my head. Confusion was blatantly on both Aaron, and McGary’s face, but I wasn’t sure how to explain it further without giving everything away.

I glanced back at the two men as they desperately looked to me to explain the situation. But there was only one explanation, and it was something I wasn’t ready to explain quite yet. “We’re being hacked.” I told them.

Their eyes grew wide as they finally took in what I was saying. Campbell immediately jumped into action. “Shut it all down! Every server, shut them down!” He called, but I knew it was too late. I hopped back onto the main monitor and it opened the hackers page. I recognized this M.O. all too well, and he knew I did. In seconds, I was able to shut down the hack and increase the firewall, but we were too late… I was too late. It only took seconds to confirm my suspicions as I checked the file he hacked.

By now, both Campbell and McGary were standing beside me.

“Was it them?” Campbell asked quietly. All I could do was nod as we stared at an empty folder of where the supposed terrorist attack file was.

“They deleted they whole file?” Campbell asked.

“Everything.” I confirmed. I was willing to bet there was no back up file… but who would need it when you’re running off a supposedly secure government network that’s almost impossible to hack. Almost.

“Fuck!” Campbell hissed, as he tossed the papers off one of the communications table before massaging the brim of his nose again. After sometime, he glanced back at me, and he didn’t have to say anything for me to know what he needed.

“We stick to the plan, yet accelerate the process. First, we need to visit the museum. McGary and I can go. You need to remain here and let me know if anything else happens. I don’t believe it will, but I won’t risk anything else. I will leave a number for you. You need to give this man a call so he can help you fully repair your firewall. The hacker that hacked you… he most likely left a gap in your wall for the Black Lotus to use as a gateway into your files again when they seem fit. Look for two or three of them because they know we’ll be looking for one.”

••

“You didn’t explain yourself back there.” McGary stated as we made our way out of the elevator towards the entrance of the building. He was practically running to keep up as I lengthened my strides.

“I don’t owe you an explanation.” I replied.

I wanted to tell him.

God, did I want to tell him everything… but those were secrets I would take to my grave. Telling him would only get him killed. “I know I don’t know you well, but those words on the screen… Hello, Renge. That meant more to you than you’re willing to let-”

“Don’t say those words out loud in public unless you want to get us both killed.” I whispered quietly to him as we exited into the cooler spring air. Our car was brought around front. All he did was look at me, before nodding silently. I wasn’t sure how to make him understand the depth of the situation, but I think he was starting to.

“If I could tell you, I would.” I whispered quietly, as we both slid into the car. He didn’t hear me.

“So we head to the Walten Art Museum. Either way, the Black Lotus now has that video. They know what gas was used. How will visiting the museum help?”

“It’s not just the gas. If we are hunting these people, I need to feel the scene. I need to know every mannerism each person may have. It’s a race now between the government agency and a group of the most highly trained assassins.” I replied. I could practically see the amount of questions that were itching to give way in McGary’s head, but for now, he held them at bay.

He just nodded to me as he turned the car on.

“It seems as if you have many questions for me, McGary. It’s time I ask a few myself.”

“I have many questions but you’ve answered very few.” He reminded me. I chuckled lightly at that. There was a pause before he said anything. When I glanced over, he was staring at me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing, I just-… you have a very nice laugh.” He replied. I sent him a small smile back, unsure of how to respond to that.

I was never good with things like that. I couldn’t detect emotion as well as others.

“Thank you.” I spoke finally.

“Let me propose something.” He started, as we pulled into the rush hour traffic of New York, “Since it looks like we’ll be here a while.”

As I looked around, I realized just how bad traffic actually was in this city. “Okay.” I replied.

“How about I ask you a question and you answer it truthfully, then you can ask me a question. How does that sound?”

“Okay. Can I go first?” I asked.

“Go for it.”

“How long have you been with the Agency?”

“Since I was 18. I was recruited through the networkings of my father. My turn,” McGary spoke, turning left onto another street as more sky scrapers came into view, “… How did you know about the gap in the firewall? Or that the Black Lotus would use that as a gateway?”

“Getting right into this, are we?” I asked, faking a grin to mask the anxiety that was starting to eat away at me. In seconds, I was able to slow my breathing, but I couldn’t shake this feeling I had as the silence dragged out.

“Rein-”

“I did it.” I replied, finally looking up from the palm of my hands to face him.

“What?” McGary asked, as he slammed on the breaks in the middle of New York City traffic.

“That sequence code for the hack… I created it.”

---

Chapter 11: Walten Institute Of Art

McGary’s POV

“You created it?” I asked in disbelief as we pulled off to the side of the road now. There was only so much bullshit New York drivers could handle on the road before they started pulling out guns.

“Yes. Please don’t ask me how. Please don’t ask me when. Please don’t ask me why. Those are questions I cannot answer for you right now. All you need to know is that the breach will be taken care of.” She replied, bouncing back almost instantly while her anxiety behavior vanished as soon as it had come.

It seemed like that was becoming a regular occurrence. Rein would let down her guard and express emotion but only for a moment. She’d let you have a glimpse into the madness but nothing long enough to try and help because as soon as you reached out, her cold self was back.

“We don’t have time for this.” Rein spoke honestly, and I couldn’t disagree with her. Time really was of the essence, and any minute not hunting this group down, would’ve been a minute wasted.

I pulled the car back onto the road, the first break I could find in traffic, and continued on towards the museum. Rein just sat quietly in the passenger seat, looking out the window as the sun began to set.

~

We headed up the steps of the large double doors just in time to be greeted by the lady at the front entrance… if you could call it a greeting really.

“Woah! I’m sorry but we’re closed for the next few days if you two could do a swift 180° back out that door-”

“I’m Commander McGary, this is-” I paused, cutting the woman off while trying to figure out just what Rein actually was. “This is a specialist we’ve brought on. We’re here to go over the crime scene of incident that took place a few days ago… an incident both me and my team have been so gracious to keep under wraps “ I finished. The ladies eyes grew wide.

“I-I-I- I didn’t mean to-” she started, but I cut her off again.

“Just show us the west wing of the museum. We don’t have time to waste.” Rein eyed me from the side, before stepping in front.

“What my colleague means is, would you please take us to the exact room this happened in?” Rein asked. The lady nodded, smiling softly at Rein as she got up from around the desk to have us follow her.

“You didn’t need to embarrass me like that.” I whispered next to her.

“You embarrassed yourself when you decided to act like an asshole.” She replied. I couldn’t help but smile a little. I had gotten a reaction out of her.

“She started it.” I whined, choosing to push this a little further.

“That doesn’t mean you continue it. I’m sure there’s been thousands of people who had wandered in today, that’s she’s had to shoo away because she doesn’t hold a position powerful enough to put a closed sign outside the doors of the Walten Museum. Sometimes, it’s about perspective. Being able to recognize someone else’s personal problems with your own eyes, is what differentiates a good man from a great one.” Rein replied, and at this point I was positive the receptionist was listening in and silently cheering Rein on.

Before I could say anything, she lead us through another set of doors. Rein’s body tensed up completely, as she suddenly stopped in front of me. “Rein?” I called, but she just put her fingers to her lips in a silencing motion. “Something’s off.” She finally whispered back to me. “You brought the bag in from the car, right?”

“The bag you handed to me back at the base?” I asked her. I could see the wheels turning but I wasn’t sure what she was thinking.

“Yes.” She replied. I nodded, handing her my bag.

“It should be in here.” I replied. She got down to a knee and started to rummage through our forensic tools before she pulled out the bag she had tossed to me back at the station. As she zipped it open, I couldn’t tell what was inside until she pulled out two gas masks.

“You think they’ll be gas in there?” I asked, my eyes growing wide as I took the gas mask she offered me, and put it on.

“Yes.” She replied again.

The receptionists hand went to grip the handle of the second set of doors in front of us, but it was locked. “This is odd.” She spoke quietly to herself.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, suddenly feeling a chill run through me. I now felt that uneasiness Rein felt.

“The door is locked. I didn’t even know this one could lock.” The receptionist explained. “I’m going to go get a janitor to see if he can unlock it.” She added. As she turned around, she jumped back slightly to see both Rein and I in our gas masks. Rein approached her slowly but she backed up until she was on one side of the door.

Rein then passed by her to crouch and take a look at the handle.

“Emily?” Rein called to the receptionist. Apparently, her name tag was visible on her coat.

“Yes?” Emily replied, as she tried desperately to control her breathing.

“That won’t be necessary. This door doesn’t lock to begin with. I’m going to need for you to exit and seal off this wing until either McGary or I come and tell you it’s safe, understood?” She asked, her voice coming out a bit fuzzy from the mask. Emily just nodded, as she practically ran back out the way we came.

Before I could even ask what Rein had in mind, she backed up a bit from the door and turned towards me. In one fluid motion, her right leg back kicked the door in, breaking off pieces of wood as the sound echoed through the halls. You could see the gas start to flow out while she slipped inside. I followed her in soon after but ran into her back as she abruptly stopped once again.

“What the h-” I started, but cut myself off when the gas finally began to clear out. On the wall directly in front of us, the characters:

側面を選ぶ

were written in blood. The red liquid dripped down the walls and all over the floor. We then traced the trail of blood to a woman that was now laying dead in a pool of it.

---

Chapter 12: Genji

Rein’s POV

“Holy shit.” McGary whispered. I just nodded at him. It looked like a slaughtering had taken place in this room with blood splatter all over the walls and paintings.

“Watch where you step.” I reminded him as we slowly made our way to the body. She was a pretty blonde. Her hair was now tinted with blood. The pooling focused mainly around her head and back. There was a long black dagger that was sticking out of her back as she lay on her stomach with her head facing towards the message. It looked like it was staged from the way she was faced, but it couldn’t have been because the blood wasn’t smeared across the floor as if someone had tried to drag her body and oosition it.

“Do you recognize her?” I asked McGary, although I already had some growing suspicions. Judging by her build and height, I had reason to believe she was the one woman I had seen on the security tape footage from the night of the killing. McGary shook his head at me. I reached over and grabbed the bag he had gently set down beside the body.

I pulled out a few gloves and evidence bags before handing half of each to McGary. Once we slipped our gloves on, we immediately got to work.

“You think this is the woman you saw on the tapes.” McGary more of less stated than asked. I nodded silently back to him as I examined the body. There was a slice wound of one of the major arteries, which was most likely why there was so much blood everywhere. Before walking in, I could already tell who had cultivated this crime scene, and my blood boiled at it.

The dead woman didn’t have a shred of I.D. On her, or any phone, or keys. She was dressed in simple leggings and a sweater, which I could see was plain and now completely covered in blood when I turned her over onto her side.

“Hand me your phone.” I directed McGary, outstretching my hand. His pulled it out from his pocket, but when he saw my bloody gloves, he hesitated.

“I am not handing you my phone when your hands look like that.”

I glanced down to see what he was talking about, before I nodded in understanding. “Slip it into an evidence bag then you can give it to me. I should be able to still work it through the plastic slip.”

He nodded back and did it, before handing the bag with the phone in it, to me. I pressed the lock button and slid sideways to open up the camera. I needed a good shot of her face to send in for facial recognition. Finding out her identity could almost definitely lead us to the other men she had operated with.

I could have been wrong though. This could have just been a random person off the street. But something told me it was more than that. This was meant to be personal for both Genji and me. He wouldn’t have done something this extreme if it hadn’t… or at least I would have liked to think he wouldn’t have… that he was still the same Genji I knew.

I took a picture of the cut and the entry wound from the dagger. Judging by sliced artery cut and the projectiles of the blood around her, I’d say she was stabbed first, then cut into. McGary began to walk around carefully as he match projectiles.

“This writing.” He called out. I already knew this was coming, and it wouldn’t have been hard for him to look it up either.

“It means:

Choose A Side

.“ I replied. He glanced at it, then me, confusingly.

“That doesn’t make sense-” he started, but was quickly cut off by the sound of the phone I was holding, as it began to ring. I slipped off my bloody gloves and slid my clean hand into the evidence bag. I was going to hand it to McGary but he just signaled for me to answer it.

“Hello?” I spoke into the line.

“Rein.” Director Campbell greeted back.

“Is everything okay?” I asked. His voice seemed strained.

“Everything is fine. The hack was taken care of by the man you referred. I just- level with me Rein.” Aaron pleaded.

“Okay.” I replied.

“That hack sequence. I didn’t recognize it at first but when that man was fixing the breach, the pattern became clear. You created this code, Rein… for us. Tell me how the Black Lotus now has it.” He asked

“I don’t know.” I lied. There was a long pause on the other end before Aaron sighed and spoke again.

“How is it on your end?” He finally asked.

“We found a body.” I replied.

“Body?”

“I think it’s one of the copycats team members. The female. It looks like a bloody massacre happened in here.” I explained.

“Jesus.” Aaron groaned again. “Send me the pictures from the crime scene, I’ll forward everything to the lab for facial recognition. What’s the plan from here?” He asked.

“I’ve gathered everything I need. Our next stop should still be the Black Market.” I replied. He gave me the okay before hanging up.

“What was that about? McGary asked, as he made his way over to me.

“Just Aaron being concerned. The firewall is back up and 100% patched up. It’s time we start getting ready to go.”

“What? There’s a good amount of this museum that we haven’t combed through.”

“We won’t find any DNA  here that will match the killer, and we aren’t here for that.” I explained to McGary. He stared at me, puzzled.

“Ofcourse we are. We need to find the sick fuck who did this.”

“I already know who did this.” I replied, as I slipped my bloody gloves into another evidence bag, before zipping up the Black bag.

“Who?” Commander McGary asked.

“Genji.” I replied, “The man who did this. He goes by the name of Genji.”

“How do you know that? How do you know him?” McGary pushed.

“He is my brother.” I replied.

---

Chapter 13: Jason Masahiro

Rein’s POV

“Why wasn’t I informed?” McGary asked, breaking the silence. McGary, Aaron, and I were all sitting around a large table in one of the conference rooms. I could feel the tension through as Aaron collected his thoughts.

“It wasn’t of your concern-” he started, but McGary cut him off.

“It was every part my concern! Her brother is a member of the Black Lotus. He just murdered someone.” McGary hissed. I could see the veins in Aaron’s neck begin to pulsate from anger. I don’t think he could recall the last time anyone had cut him off off. McGary saw it too as realization settled in. “Director, I-”

“Save it.” Director replied, his voice cold and slightly frightening. I’d only seen him like this on a number of occasional and I knew it wasn’t entirely McGary’s fault. The case must have been getting to him. “Our one and only mission is to find this group of people. We will not, I repeat, will fucking not pursue the Black Lotus for any reason. Contrary to popular belief, I kinda sorta want you both to live.

“Now as for that body, we will identify her and try and find her partners. Her murder will not be a case we will take on solely due to the fact that that case will never get solved. They won’t find any evidence or DNA at the crime scene besides the murder weapon which will be so incredibly originally crafted, that that, too, will just sit in evidence lock up. A few months later, that weapon will then suspiciously go missing. Every case is the same. Every case has been the same.” Aaron explained.

It was true.

It was all true.

Many people didn’t believe in the Black Lotus because they hadn’t had any reason to. They were notoriously known for their clean crime scenes. Usually nothing more than a few deaths, and always low profile. There is no such thing as a perfect crime, right?

Well there is if you have unlimited recourses and all your men don’t exist in the system. Certain… precautions are taken to assure there is no DNA left at the scene regardless.

Most of the people they targeted were a job. People with large sums of money who knew how to contact them which was much easier said than done. Those kills were always the cleanest because they couldn’t be traced back to either the contractor or the Black Lotus.

Kills that were personal were a little different.

The crime scene was still impeccably clean, but it had Black Lotus written all over it. On the targets body, they usually left and origami Black Lotus flower on the dead body, insuring that this crime would be tied directly to them.

This was the only evidence that was left at the scene, besides the murder weapon.

As for the tattoo… a few years back, before I entered witness protection, there was a man that was found. His body floated up a river in late September. When he was brought to the lab, the DNA under his fingernails matched an unsolved murder case of a Japanese woman in Kyoto. There was quite a few tattoos on his body, but the most prominent one, was a Black Lotus flower. It caught the examiners eye because the ink was so different and strong.

Fast forward a few days later, the body, the morgue, and all it’s files went up in flames. Suspicion grew, but the had nothing to work with. Her DNA was on his fingertips, not the other way around. All the evidence was botched and destroyed after the fire.

“The writing on the wall:

Choose A Side

, what did that mean? If it was written by your brother, does that mean he wants you to join the Black Lotus?“ McGary asked, as he turned to me. My eyes flickered to Aaron and he gave me a slight head shake.

“It means us as a team needs to choose a side,” I lied, “We must decide whether we want to allow the Black Lotus to do what they need to do, or declare war.”

“So killing that woman was not only a declaration of their advances to take down this team of copycats, but also a warning that they have the means to take us down as well… and they will if it comes to that.” Aaron explained.

McGary nodded silently.

“But none of that matters right now because we gotta talk about our next move: the black market.” Aaron continued.

“I’ve set up a contact with a man that should be able to help us.” I replied. “He should be arriving at any moment.”

“Who is he?” McGary asked.

“He’s one of the few people I worked with before witness protection. He was… assigned to watch over me. Protect me.” I explained. “His name is Jason. Jason Masahiro. Everyone just calls him-” I started, but before I could finish, the conference door was busted open.

In walked a instantly recognizable face as this dark skinned beauty made it through the door. Our eyes connected immediately.

“So the baddest bitch is back in town, and a brother don’t get no phone call in this bitch until now? You’ve got me fucked up, Rein.” The man spoke, shaking his head disappointingly before a grin broke out on both our faces. I sprung up from my seat and rushed into his arms. “How’s it going, baby girl?” He asked, hugging me tighter before loosening up his grip.

I pulled away to face him, before turning towards Aaron and McGary who both looked confused. “This is Jason Masahiro.” I introduced.

“Everyone calls me Mushu.” He added, giving them all one of his signature grins.

---

Kid Fury as Mushu! (BTFW IF Y’ALL ARENT LISTENING TO THE READ ON SOUNDCLOUD OR SPOTIFY OR WHATEVER THE FUCK, WHAT THE ABSOLUTE HELL ARE YOU DOING. THAT PODCAST IS SO FUCKIN FUNNY, AND THE TEA. THE FUCKING TEA 🐸☕️ THATS ALL IM SAYING.)

Chapter 14: The Event

McGary’s POV

I could feel my fists clench, then unclench, as I watched Rein hug the man that walked through. I’d never seen her be so comfortable with anyone, until this random guy showed up.

“This is Jason Masahiro.” Rein introduced, as she turned back to us. He wasn’t very tall… at all, or muscular in build.

There was no way he was Rein’s type.

Did Rein have a type?

“Everyone calls me Mushu.” He added, giving a nod and smile to both Director Campbell and I. Almost instantly, Campbell rose to his feet and offered the man a sturdy handshake that practically shook his entire body.

This guy was seriously small. He could only have been a few inches taller than Rein.

“This is the man I was telling you both about.” Rein explained. “He has agreed to work with us, only if he’s granted full immunity and discretion throughout the mission. His… status in the Black market must remain untarnished.”

Director Campbell took a moment to digest the information before eventually nodding. “You have my word.”

I don’t think we had any other option at this point. Time was starting to run out.

“Up here, I am Jason Masahiro, but underground, I’m known as The Dragon.” Mushu explained. Director Campbell’s eyes grew wide at that.

“I’ve hear that name circulate before.” Campbell cut in. “You specialize in the smuggling of illegal products out from Japan to America, right?”

“Yes.” Mushu nodded. “Rein contacted me, explaining that she needed access into the underground networks again. I was happy to oblige.”

“Again?” I asked, glancing back at Rein now.

“I- I did some dealings with a few men a while back. Things went south quickly, and I got out when I could.” She explained.

Everything about that explanation was vague… But that was Rein for you.

“Her name has begun to die out among the chatter, but no man underground forgets a person who crossed them. I can get her in to talk with someone who might now where the gas had came from, but that’s as much as I can do. If anyone found out I was helping out Rein, it may be taken as a declaration for war.” Mushu continued.

“Whom did you wrong, Rein?” Campbell asked, beating me to asking the same question.

“His name is Shan Yu, but they call him The Falcon. He needed my assistance in transporting cargo to China, through Japan, but when I found out that the cargo was women, I cut ties.” Rein replied.

“She also commandeered the shipment and freed the sex slaves that were kept in crates.” Mushu cut in. “That left Shan Yu less than happy.

“Jesus,” Campbell whispered, “Is there a chance he might cross paths with us?”

“Its unlikely, but not impossible.” Mushu replied, “it’s more likely that word will get around. Rein is going to need a very good cover, and even then, her face is memorable. If she can make it through the evening without being identified, you guys’ll have your seller.”

“What’s the plan?” Campbell asked.

“I’m hosting an event. Most of the men that will be there, will be everyone I can think of who’d have access to military grade tear gas. It’ll be an… exhibit of sorts,” Mushu explained. “Rein will come in and mingle with these men… find out everything she can on the seller she’s looking for, then slip out before people get too comfortable with her presence.”

“The goal is that, once I’m in, I can hopefully figure out how much gas was sold with or without the seller present. These people like to talk… a lot. If I can get that information, then we’ll know whether or not to look for an incredibly populated area which would be a perfect place for the next attack. We’ll also, by then, have a lead into the Jane Doe we found in the museum. That information combined should be enough to find this team of copycats.” Rein added.

“Please don’t forget: you aren’t the only ones looking for them. The possibility that there will be another member of the Black Lotus at this event, is highly likely. The odds of them recognizing Rein if they bump into each other is even more likely. I’ll do everything I can to keep her safe,” Mushu continued, as he glanced at both Campbell and I, “But I’ve only run into a few Black Lotus members in my lifetime. Every experience, may I add, has been incredibly painful.”

“You’ve had run ins with members of the Black Lotus?” I asked.

Mushu glanced at Rein for a moment, before nodding. “Only a few in my lifetime. That’s more than many men have had, and lived to tell. If possible, I’d like to avoid any confrontation during this party. Every man I’ve invited will be incredibly armed and deadly. Half of them have hundreds of murders under their belt, that have gone unaccounted for.”

“How have you lived this long?” I asked.

“Yes, I may not look threatening, but this lifestyle is all about who you know. I, for one, am fortunate enough to deal with very dangerous people. I always keep a deal going, to ensure my safety and the products of my clients.” Mushu explained. I nodded at this, as I finally got a sense of how smart this man really was.

“When is this event scheduled for?” Campbell asked.

“Tomorrow night. It’ll be in one of my estate homes. I must have your word that there will be no other agents or police detail there. Rein will be the only one going in.”

“You have my word.” Campbell nodded at Mushu.

“Well I should be heading out then,” Rein spoke, breaking the silence. “It looks like I have an event to prepare for.”

---

Chapter 15: Preperation

Imōto: little sister

Rein’s POV

I stared at myself in the mirror.

I was currently in the hotel suite of The Crosby Street Hotel, standing in front of one of the many large mirrors around the room.

My hands bent behind my back to clasp my bra, before unintentionally sliding across my stomach to my scars. Seeing them clearly through the hotels overhead lamps caused me to shiver. Sometimes they took me by surprise. My mind wandered back to the time I had got the deep gash that ran down the side of my waist. It had now fully healed from that time during training… about 5 years back…

“I cannot drop from that high without making a noise, Genji.” I whispered to my brother. We were both crouched at the edge of a tree branch, a drop of about 15 feet lay below us.

“You can and you must, imōto. Father will be unsatisfied if you do not.” Genji replied. “Here. Watch me.”

Genji positioned himself on his toes, before placing the majority of his weight onto the front portion of his feet and falling gracefully. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he immediately curled forward into a roll before standing, dusting himself off, and walking back towards the base of the tree.

The only sound heard was the faint rusting of the leaves as they were swept across the forest ground by the wind.

“It’s simple.” He called up to me. “I’m right here, imōto.”

I inched towards the edge of the large sturdy branch, and took one last deep breath before shifting my weight. The fall itself sent a surge of adrenaline through me, but it was short lived as soon as my feet touched the forest floor and I pulled my body into a tight roll.

I had forgotten about the training my father had started with me a few days before. He was hoping to get me used to the feeling of me treating my blades like appendages on my body. My knives were now strapped against my body, but prior to jumping, I had forgot to remove the blades I had strapped to the inside of my abdomen.

When I curled my body forward into a roll, the strap twisted and loosened the grip on the incredibly sharp blade, which in return, cut into my side. I let out a cry as I felt blade dig deeper mid roll. Genji rushed to my side almost instantly.

“Shit, Rein.” Genji cursed, as I pulled my shirt up to reveal the deep gash the blade had left. Blood started to run down my side and saturate my tight black pants. “Okay okay you’re okay.” He whispered to me. My fingers d

ug

deep into the dirt of the ground as I tried to control the pain. It wasn’t my first injury I had sustained during training, but it was the first, done from my sheer stupidity. I would be punished for this.

Genji had already unrolled his medical kit as he propped me up against the tree trunk. “Why the fuck didn’t you remove the weapons before jumping- no, scratch that, why the fuck did you have knives strapped to you in the first place?.” Genji hissed. He had already begun to clean the wound.

“Father he-” I began, but hissed when he poured a serum onto the cut.

“Father had you do this?” He asked. I only nodded. “Jesus, Rein. You could have been seriously injured if the blades decided to completely slip out. They should have been holstered to you, not simply strapped.”

I just nodded as he continued to treat the wound. The serum instantly clotted the blood, and that’s when he began to wrap the wound.

After he was finished, he

packed

up his things and sat down beside me. I opened my eyes to see his pinky held out in front of me. “I won’t tell if you won’t tell.” He proposed. I couldn’t help but break out into a goofy grin, before wrapping my pinky around his.

“Deal.” I replied.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a knock at the door. “It’s Director Campbell.” Aaron called after the second knock.

“One second.” I replied. I slid the dress that was laying on the bed, off, and pulled it on over me. It was a little difficult to pull on because of the open back, but I managed, before opening up the door.

“That dress looks beautiful on you, Rein.” Aaron commented, as he gave me a once over and nodded.

“Thank you… Is it almost time?” I asked, whike I made my way over to the box that was laying by the tv stand.

“Almost.” He replied. “You’re lace in the back is twisted.”

I turned around and tried to reach behind me to pull it back out, but my fingers couldn’t quite make it.

“I got it.” Aaron sighed, as his fingers slipped under and flipped the delicate lace back out. Before he pulled away, his fingers froze slightly. I already knew what we was staring at.

He was quiet for some time before finally saying something. “Will you cover this like one of your scars?”

I sighed, before turning back around to face him.

“You know I can’t do that.” I replied. He just nodded as he understood what I meant.

“If you could… would you?” He asked. After some time, I shook my head.

That concluded the conversation. He reached around and opened the box that was in front of me, to reveal a beautiful diamond necklace. His hands unclasped the back as I moved my hair over more to allow him more room. My eyes glanced back up at the full view mirror to see the long sleeved dress on me. It hugged every nonexistent curve I had.

“Thank you.” I whispered, as he clasped the necklace around my neck.

“Go get em, tiger.” He replied, before turning and leaving. I shifted slightly in the mirror, before turning and pulling back one edge of the lace to reveal what Aaron was looking at earlier…

My Black Lotus tattoo.

Chapter 16: Suit and Tie

McGary’s POV

I fidgeted with the loose string that hung from the hem of my shirt’s sleeve cuff. We had been waiting in the Lobby of the Crosby Street Hotel for what felt like hours, and I was just about ready to die.

Many things had started to eat away at me about the night, but what was most prominent was the thought of Rein going to this event alone.

Something told me she was more than capable of handling whatever the night might throw at her, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of something going wrong tonight.

I was pulled out of my thoughts again by the sound of the hotel elevator dinging again. Aaron glanced up, then quickly rose to his feet. I glanced back at where he was looking at and almost tripped over the glass table by the couches as Rein hesitantly made it down the two steps towards us. She walked surprisingly well in the heels she wore.

“Holy shit.” I whispered, at a loss for words. The dress had hugged every last curve on her body, and I couldn’t help but blatantly stare. It was a simple short black dress with a high neckline, but what drew me in immediately, was the full arm tattoo I could finally see from the dress. The one I had been too curious about when I got a peek of it earlier at the airport.

The tattoo looked like it was the tail of a dragon wrapped around her arm, but I quickly noticed it followed up to her back as she turned slightly to set her jacket down. The open back of the dress with the lace sides almost killed me.

How was it possible for anyone to look this good?

“I-Is something wrong?” She asked seriously as she slipped a few stray strands that had fallen from her updo, out of her face. I had yet to see her hair down, but the updo was a nice change from the tight formal ponytail she usually wore.

“No. He’s just at a loss for words. I think every man in this hotel is right now. You look absolutely stellar.” Director Campbell replied, slapping me lightly upside the head as his way of telling me to get my shit together. “It’s crazy seeing you this grown up.”

“You missed quite a few years.” She noted.

“Yes… but then again, I think you were always a little too grown for your age.” Campbell added.

I knew the feeling was ridiculous to have… but I felt sort of jealous. I was jealous of the fact that there was history here- between Director Campbell and Rein. Every time I wanted to strike a conversation with her, realization would settle in on the fact that I knew practically nothing about her. They only common interest we shared was the case.

“I think I should head out soon so I’m not late.” Rein replied, as she chose not to comment on Aaron’s earlier words.

“Yes ofcourse,” he replied, “Do you have everything you’ll need for tonight?”

She nodded.

“Remember, try not to engage with someone, or get violent. All that will do is potentially blow your cover, bring violence into a small high populated area with incredibly trained killers, and draw out any member of the Black Lotus. Any of these three thing could be the reason you get killed tonight, and that’s something we’re going to try and avoid.”

Rein nodded again in understanding. She slipped the coat she had set down onto the armchair, over her shoulders.

“I called a car for you that should be waiting right around this hotel entrance. We’ll stay here at the hotel and wait for you. We couldn’t bug you, or send in one of our men because that was the terms we agreed to, but if anything happens, you call us.” Director Campbell added, as he flipped the collar out from her jacket. That was the closest thing to affection I’d seen him show with Rein the entire time they’d been in New York together.

Somehow, that was more than enough for her as she stepped back slightly. “See you in a few.” She called to both Aaron and I, before making her way towards the entrance doors. I was still incredibly mesmerized by the amount of leg that was showing from the dress, and how long they looked with the heels she was wearing.

“You’re drooling.” Director Campbell whispered to me, as we both watched her get into her reserved car through the clear door panels.

“It’s hard not to.” I replied almost instantly. “I still feel unsure about sending her off like that alone. Couldn’t we at least had a car parked nearer to the home to make sure she makes it in and out okay?”

“No. A car parked near a potentially illegal house party would look suspicious. A car parked near a potentially illegal house party with a man who doesn’t leave the vehicle at all the entire night, would be incredibly suspicious. Anything we’d do from this point on, would just risk blowing Rein’s cover.” Campbell replied.

“Well why couldn’t I have gone in? I took years of undercover training. I also would have been able to assure Rein’s safety through the night.”

“Mushu wanted only Rein there. He wouldn’t have been able to keep track of two people throughout the party-”

“But I wouldn’t of needed protection.” I interrupted as we made our way into the elevators. Director Campbell slid his key card into the elevator slot, before choosing our floor.

“Not the point, Commander. It wasn’t in our control.” Was all Aaron said before we reached our floor. “Now go into your room and kill time until the event is over. Rein will contact us once she had left the party. She’ll be fine.”

I watched as he slid his card into his door slot and entered his room, before shutting the door swiftly behind him. I did the same with the room next door, but I still couldn’t help this nagging feeling.

I could feel my body fidgeting for a few minutes as I stood in the center of the room, before finally making it towards my suitcase and propping it open.

Buried under a few sweaters and jeans, was a tailored suit and a tie.

---

Chapter 17: The Falcon

Rein’s POV

I pulled into the lit paveway of Mushu’s large estate. The home itself was incredibly impressive… and I expected nothing less from him. He was always one for the limelight and party scene, but when it came down to business, he meant it.

It had taken forever for him to be respected in the black market, but it was hard not to when you saw how intricate his system was. The people he dealt with, and with such precision, always took me by surprise. How he was able to practically guarantee not only privacy, but accuracy and 100% satisfactory.

The car pulled right up to the curve, as a man approached us from the entrance to open my door. Before I could slide out, my drivers stopped me. “Be careful.” He replied, looking me dead in the eye, before letting my arm go. I just nodded slightly. I hadn’t recognized him in any way, but as soon as I entered the vehicle, I could smell ‘government agency’ off of him. I also spotted a military grade weapon from under the seat, along with his hand held on the inside of his coat pocket.

This man’s only job was to make sure I got here unscathed.

The heels I wore made it a bit tricky to maneuver out of the vehicle, but once they hit leveled ground again, I was fine.

I had learned to walk in these retched things as part of my training for a mission we had to pull a few years back with my brother. I was rarely ever involved in missions, and when I was, my feminine side wasn’t exploited. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I was always dressed to look like any other man. This particularly mission required me to act as an escort.

“Hello.” I was greeted at the door by another man that stood behind a pillar. His suit was pressed crisp, yet stretched a tad by his enormous build.

“Hi.” I replied, slipping my coat off and folding it across my arm.

“May I have your name?” The man asked.

“Y-Yes-” I replied. My heart began to pick up again. Was I supposed to say Rein? Is that what Mushu had me down as? Or could I use an alias? Was he checking for names? “It’s…”

“It’s…” the man reiterated, impatiently. “Hurry up, I don’t have all day and a line is forming.”

“It’s-” I started, about to say Rein, but out of nowhere Mushu appeared besides him.

“No worries, Pete, she’s with me.” Mushu cut in.

The man glanced back between Mushu and I, before nodding finally and giving us a “fuck it” shrug. I couldn’t help but smile at how odd we looked. With my heels on, I was literally towering over him as he led me through the main entrance of his home like I was his date.

The music was flowing perfectly while people mingles amongst each other  through the center of the room. A few eyes glanced our way, but Mushu lead me through to a side door before anyone could stop us.

My eyebrows quickly furrowed up in confusion as we entered a second equally large room. A few faces looked familiar enough for me to finally understand. “This is where the real mingling is happening.” I more so stated, than asked. He nodded back at me.

“That room, and the people in that room, are fronts. They don’t know a damn thing about my illegitimate business, or what’s going on in this room.” He explained. My eyes instantly gravitated to the incredible amounts of firearms that were laid out inside large glass encasings. I recognized a few styles, but guns were never my forte.

“Introduce yourself as Rene. Tell ’em what you’re looking for, but don’t say why. I doubt they’ll even ask that, but they’ll refer you to who you need.” Mushu instructed, as he walked me towards the bar at the far end. “All you gotta do is sit here and look pretty. The guys’ll come to you.” I nodded understandingly while taking a seat.

He left shortly after, disappearing back through the crowd of mingling. I didn’t keep my eyes on him for long before turning back to the bartender.

“Something I can get you, love?” He asked.

“Water would be fine.” I replied. He nodded, before turning to busy himself.

It wasn’t long before I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a man in maybe his late 40’s, had taken a seat besides me. I gave him a small smile and he returned it with a larger one.

“What brings a beautiful girl like yourself into these neck of the woods?” He asked. His voice was raspy.

“Just browsing.” I replied, sliding a stray strand of hair behind my ear. His eyes followed the actions religiously.

“Anything particular?” He asked. It took everything in me not to gag as I got a whiff of his breath. He smelled vile.

“Not guns.” I replied. “Something more… lethal. You wouldn’t happen to know where a gal like me could find that, would you?” I placed my small hand on his knee. His body stiffened immediately.

“Lethal, you say?” He asked. He didn’t move to remove my hand.

“Something more impacting. I don’t want to get my hands dirty.” I replied. I gave his knee a squeeze and his breathing hitched.

“I think I know a guy.” He replied heavily. I could practically see the lust crowd over his eyes. Took everything in me not to gag. “I’m not sure on his actual name… but around here, they call him The Falcon.”

I could feel my heart practical stop as my eyes grew large. I retracted my hand quickly, as if it was scorched by his knee. “W-What did you say?” I asked quietly.

“The Falcon.” He replied. His eyebrows furrowed. “You’ve heard of him?”

Before I could reply, I felt another tap on my shoulder. I turned around to find Mushu leaning into me, his eyes riddled with concern. He whispered into my ear, “We have a problem.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“One of your agents is here.” He replied.

---

Chapter 18: The Kiss

Rein’s POV

“What the bloody hell are you doing here?” I hissed.

“I just wanted to make absolutely sure you were okay.” He replied, as he continued to watch me pace through the hall.

I had pulled us both away to the secluded upstairs portion of the house so we could talk privately. I couldn’t believe he had just decided on his own, that this was a good idea.

“Fucking hell, McGary. Do you know how many undercover ops I’ve done?” I asked him, unable to keep the rage out of my voice.

“Do you know how many I’ve done?” He countered.

“That’s not the point. The point is, I don’t need you rushing in gun-ho just because you’re worried about me. You shouldn’t be worried about me.” I shot back. My heels were now starting to get to me from all this pacing.

“Jesus, Rein. Like it or not, we’re partners-”

“Yes, partners who already agreed on the fact that I would be attending this event alone. Communication, McGary, that’s what partners do. Does Aaron even know you’re here?” I asked, cutting him off.

“No.” He answered finally after some time. I could see the regret creep onto his face. My fingers went up to massage my temples.

This night was not going to plan.

“Did you find out anything?” McGary asked.

“Yes. Turns out The Falcon has turned over a new leaf… distributing military grade toxic gas.” I replied. His eyes grew wide.

“He’s our seller?” He asked incredulously, and all I could do was nod. “Holy shit, Rein.”

“Do you have your phone on you?” I asked. I had left mine in the pocket of my jacket down by the bar when I abruptly got up to find McGary.

“Yeah. Here.” McGary replied, handing me his phone. I input Mushu’s information before shooting him a text. It read: I’m about to leave the party, but we’ll slip out through the back. Could you handle the jacket I left at the bar?

It was only moments later, when I got a text back:

Handled. Where are you two right now?

I swiped down to reply: Currently upstairs by the back. We’ll head down through these back stairs then slip out from the side entrance.

He replied instantly:

You both need to move. Now. There are guards up that way preparing for our next shipment. If they catch anyone back there, they are instructed to either shoot you, or bring you in.

“Shit.” I whispered, glancing up at McGary.

“What is it?” McGary asked, but we both froze as we heard footsteps approaching us through the entrance of the hallway. I quickly pulled us both back against a door that was slightly concealed, but it was no use. There wasn’t enough space for two people.

We heard a gun cock.

“Who’s there?” The man asked, as his steps grew nearer.

Before I could even think of a plan that could have been remotely better, I pulled McGary down by his neck and connected his lips to mine.

McGary’s POV

My body froze as I felt her lips against mine. I wasn’t sure what exactly had happened, but I reacted almost immediately when her hand slid up into my hair, by pulling her flush against me.

Her teeth probed my bottom lip as she bit it slightly, and when my hands slid to her hips, I heard her release a soft moan.

That was when I switched both our positions and pinned her against the door frame. I had completely lost interest in the man that was approaching us a few minutes ago, when one of her legs wrapped slightly around my hip and I deepened the kiss. I was about to pick her up so she could wrap herself around me completely, but we heard a few coughs from somewhere behind us.

Rein slowly disconnected our lips. Neither of us had been this close to the other before. Her face was flushed slightly, and I was drawn in to how heavily she was breathing now.

“I’m sorry, but you two can’t be here.” The man spoke.

We finally pulled apart from each other, but it took much longer to break our eye contact and look at him.

He was also in a cocktail event attire, but he wore a Bluetooth piece in his ear. We also couldn’t not notice the large gun he had, strapped to his waist.

Then again, most of the men here were armed.

“I’m sorry. We got a bit carried away there.” Rein replied before I could. “See, he just asked for my hand in marriage.” She continued. I looked at her like she’d lost it, but the man’s face just broke into a smile.

“Congratulations!” He replied. “You’re a lucky man, my friend.”

All I could do was nod, and offer him a small smile.

“Well, this area is restricted. Can I trust you both to find your way back to the party?” He asked. His body was way more relaxed now, but nothing- not even an engagement, stopped him from blatantly staring at Rein.

She nodded back to him. “We should be fine, thank you.”

“Sounds good. You two take care.” He replied, before turning around and heading back down the hallway. As soon as he was out of sight, Rein took my hand, and we quickly made our way through to the back stairs.

“S-Should we investigate that further?” I asked, referencing the shady shit that was happening upstairs.

“Not unless you want to die.” She replied simply. I tried to steal glances her way, as we heading out the back, but her face was expressionless.

My lips still tingled from the feeling of hers on mine.

My heart continued to beat sporadically out of my chest.

Did she feel the same thing?

Rein’s POV

Well, fuck.

I sighed slightly, trying to get a hold of my breathing as we finally made it outside. I glanced over at McGary, but when he looked back at me, I looked away, blushing.

What the hell was happening to me?

Just when I thought things couldn’t get more complicated.. . I thought to myself.

Chapter 19: The Falcon pt. 2

Rein’s POV

“Where’s Aaron?” I asked as we made it out to the street.

“He’s still back at the hotel, I believe.” McGary replied. I glanced at him before slightly before my hands moved to massage my temple.

Instead of replying to that, I pulled out his phone and shot a message to Director Campbell. “Get someone here. Now.”

A message came in almost instantly.

“Excuse me? Get someone where? Please tell me you didn’t take your ass somewhere it didn’t belong.” I glanced at the phone that wasn’t mine, puzzlingly for a few moments until I realized that he probably thought this was McGary. Instead of replying, I gave him a call.

Moments later, the phone picked up on the other end. “Hello?” Aaron responded.

“Hey.” I replied. I could hear a quite irritant groan on the other end.

“I’m sorry. I should have kept and eye on him this evening.” Aaron sighed again.

“We’ll talk about that when we reach the hotel. Can you send a car out as soon as possible?” I asked instead.

“Yes. One should be pulling up shortly. See you soon.”

“See you.” I replied, before the line went dead.

~

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Aaron all but yelled as we around the table of one of his conference rooms. “I tell you specifically to stay out of it and let Rein do her job. What do you do? Well you take it upon yourself to save the damsel who, should I fucking remind you, wasn’t in distress!”

I could see McGary sort of cowering in his seat. It looked like he wanted to defend himself against these accusations but the time to speak most definitely wasn’t now.

I had since then lost interest in this scolding, and turned to case files that were laying on the table. My name was called a few moments later.

“Yes?” I asked, glancing up.

“Regardless of how botched last night was, were you able to discover anything?” Aaron asked.

“Yes. Sort of. I struck up a conversation with one of the gentleman there-”

“He was the farthest thing from a gentleman.” McGary cut in with a grumble. Aaron just shot him a look.

“Continue.” Aaron urged.

“This man referred me back to the Falcon as a current main distributor of lethal weapons and poisonous gas.” I explained. Aaron’s fingers didn’t hesitate to gravitate towards his temples. This was his signature stress relieving stance. I had probably just dropped one of the worst surprises I possibly could.

If the situation wasn’t shit before, it definitely was now.

“So our distributor is most likely the man who you’ve pissed off the most in your lifetime?” Aaron asked. I nodded my head in return. “Well fuck, Rein.” He sighed again.

“We do have options.” I replied. Both Aaron and McGary looked back up at me in anticipation. “We still have this unidentifiable body. Let me work this angle to try and figure out who she is and who her partners might be. As for the Falcon situation, I can reach out to Mushu again. He may be able to set up direct contact with him if we are lucky.

“What I cannot guarantee is whether or not Mushu will agree. As far as I know, there is no personal issues between the two, but everyone knew about Jason’s connection with me. Falcon may still hold some resentment so the risk is there with whether or not Mushu is willing to take into account the fact that he could die.”

“Have you reached out to Mushu yet?” McGary asked.

“I reached out last night. He told me he would try to get back to me today. I told him to really think about it before answering.” I replied.

“So what exactly would be happening between Mushu and The Falcon? Would it be just an informative meeting or an actual transaction?” Aaron asked.

“This would most definitely be an actual transaction. In order for The Falcon to buy it, Mushu is going to have to actually do business with him. Once the deal is set up, and the two parties meet, Mushu can reveal to The Falcon why he’s buying this gas. If he says it’s for a certain… job, he could then ask if more have been distributed within this area so he can have a better understanding of whether or not he should wait out before doing his job. The Falcon might then reveal to him just how much he’s sold out of his own interest.

“Regardless of how much someone could make by selling large amount of lethal weapons, they rather not have a frenzy in the news that could potentially get traced back to them. This is why it’ll be in The Falcon’s interest to reveal this information to Mushu, his client.” I explained. Both McGary and Aaron nodded.

“If Mushu is to accept this request, he most likely will not ask us for his protection, will he?” Aaron asked.

“I personally think Mushu would rather die than cooperate anymore with government officials.” I replied. Both McGary and Aaron nodded in agreement. “This is why I told Mushu to think on it. He would have to rely on his men’s abilities to keep him safe. There’s no telling whether the Falcon will be hostile or not during this whole transaction.”

“Well let’s hope that’s a risk he’s willing to take.” McGary replied as we all nodded in agreement.

---

Went on a little hiatus for school but I’m back!

Chapter 20: Visitor In The Night

I’m actually incredibly proud of this chapter. I couldn’t tell if I left y’all with more questions or answers tbh.

Rein’s POV

My eyes flew open as a breeze carried through my apartment. I felt a shift of energy within the room as the shadows began to elongate against my furniture and walls from the exposure of the moon.

I knew who had entered… and it did nothing to calm my racing heart.

My hand slowly slid for the handheld that was underneath my pillow, and as I sat up, I pushed the gun under the covers between me. A gun would make no difference against him, but it showed my heart rate down just to know I had it on me.

“It’s been a while.” Genii whispered, as his body moved slightly within the shadows. It was still too hard to pinpoint exactly where in the room he was. He had always been skilled at this one trick where he could project his voice against objects. What I essentially heard was a voice from… well, everywhere.

His voice alone stirred memories of a past I had tried to desperately to forget. But with it, memories of home followed. I could feel the stinging of my eyes as I remembered my life before. I envisioned my father, and the cherry blossoms as he used to walk me through the gardens of our home during the season of bloom. His voice was low and calming, much different from the tone he took with me as I got older.

“It has.” I replied finally, pulling myself out of the thoughts of the past. It was a bittersweet place I didn’t enjoy dwelling in for too long.

“You look well.” He replied. His tone was inexpressive. I couldn’t tell whether he had meant that last remark or not. “You still go by Rein.” He commented. That last part held far too much emotion for me to decipher.

“Let’s not talk about this now.” I pleaded. Every guard I had had completely collapsed the second I had gotten a whiff of his familiar scent when I was awoken. There wasn’t a man alive who knew me better than the man that stood before me.

“You know why I’m here.” He spoke instead. I longed to see the face I hadn’t seen for years, but I knew he wasn’t ready for that.

“You either want to tell me to come home, or you’re here to tell me to back off.”

“It’s your choice, imōto.” He replied. My eyes began to sting again at the sound of that word. He hadn’t called me that in many many years. My father had forbid it soon after my intense training had begun. Genji always knew what things to pull. “You either come home and take up your position, or you stand aside. It’s up to you. We can take down this false team together, or not. Either way, your cooperation with the U.S. government will not be tolerated. Father had made himself very clear. This is not your country and you owe them no allegiance.”

“I owe them every allegiance.” I spoke, my voice now harsh. This wasn’t a facade I was putting up, this was years of pent up anger now spilling out of me. “You hunted me down like an animal the second I wanted out, Genji.” I didn’t have to see his face to know I had struck something.

“It’s not a choice, imōto ! You don’t get to decide to get out. This is a lifestyle.” Genji countered. You could hear the pain visible in his voice now, but I stood my ground. “That was under father’s orders. You decided to leave in the middle of the night-”

“You know exactly why I left.” I hissed back.

Everything felt still for a few moments after that. Neither of us where sure what to say. We had both left on terrible terms. The last words he spoke was “I’m sorry, imōto .” Before he shot an arrow into me.

He shifted more before he stepped out into the light.

My eyes grew wide at his appearance. His once short and clean hair was now long and pulled back into a tight ponytail. His face had a few new scars I didn’t remember, but what surprised me the most, was how much he aged. He used to look no older than 20, but now he looked almost as old as I remembered my father to look. I was speechless at how big he was now. He body looked as if it was in his prime as his ginormous muscles shifted against his tight black shirt.

He looked like a beast.

I had now, for a few moments, felt the absolute fear that women must of felt before he stabbed her. A shiver ran down my spine.

“What happened to you?” I whispered uneasily.

“I tried to become what you couldn’t.” He replied simply. His soft voice no longer fit his new image. “I couldn’t replace what you were… what you were supposed to be to Takeshi.”

“Father,” I corrected.

“I’m not his son, imōto .” Genji replied.

It didn’t surprise me to hear him say that. Genji was a bastard: conceived by my mother, but with another man. He was illegitimate. Before my mother’s passing, her only request for father was that he take Genji under his wing. He complied… but it looked like these last few years I had missed out on, were different.

“You are my brother, Genji. Your entitlement to this family is as strong, if not stronger, than mine. Don’t listen to what the old man says when he’s had too much to drink.” I replied firmly.

I loved my father… but I saw the way he treated Genji at times. Genji always received the harshest punishments… the longest lectures… the worst cases.

Genji’s lips twitched into a slight smile. For a few moments there, everything felt the same. It felt like the old days. Something yearned inside me to agree. To go back to that. To go back to the days where I could see Genji every day…

…but then my mind wandered back to the horrors I had experienced, and any hopes of going back to the life I once knew, crumbled to ashes.

---

Chapter 21: Visitor In The Night pt. 2

Rein’s POV

“I must be leaving soon.” Genji spoke as he sat against the edge of the bed. His body made the mattress dip substantially, but now in the direct rays of the light, I could see him more clearly. It still surprised me by how different he looked. I couldn’t help but feel as if I had missed out on years I wouldn’t be able to get back.

“Will I see you again?” I asked him as he stood from his place at the corner of the bed. I could see all types of weapons shift with his body.

“Hopefully.” He replied. “I really do want you to consider my offer of coming home.”

“You know I can’t.” I spoke to him honestly. All he did was nod again to me. “I missed you.” I added. He paused, then turned to me.

Before I could understand what was happening, he walked towards me, knelt down, and pulled me into his arms.

My eyes began to blur with tears as I held his large frame tighter against me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had embraced anyone like this before. I was always very hesitant with who I let this close to me, and while I knew Genji would kill me if he was given the order by father, at this moment I couldn’t have cared less.

His arms held me tight against his chest wraps and we stayed like that for what felt like ages. His intense familiar smell of Arctii Fructus intoxicated my senses. “You were our Lotus, yet you always smelt like cherry blossoms.” He commented lightly before finally letting me go. I smiled back up at him.

“I was always a fan of this elegant fragrance.” I admitted.

“It fit you well.” He nodded, before heading back towards the window from which he came. My apartment was on on the 6th floor, yet I wasn’t worried as to how he was getting down. He gave me one more nod before disappearing back into the night.

The loss I had felt from him leaving now was almost as painful as it was 5 years ago.

~

Genji’s POV

I wiped the tears away from my eyes as I stood out on her balcony. I hadn’t meant to get this emotional with her, but seeing her this grown up had done something to me. I’d missed out on so much of her life.

That night… the night she had tried to escape. It all stayed fresh in my mind. It was the longest hunt any member of the Black Lotus had been on… it was a hunt against one of our own.

The last night had started with us hunting her through the vast forest of Aokigahara. She knew this forest far better than my men, which had made it hard for us to track her. We had had many sleepless night through this forest. She had already taken out 2 of our members, which left us with just 3 men.

I had managed to injure her with one of our arrows, I knew that… but she showed no sign of slowing down.

As my men rested on the 5th and final night, I tracked her towards the entrance of a cave. She had hidden her tracks incredibly well, but the wound had now started to leave trails of blood on twigs and leaves. As I entered, I could see the blood on the side of the cave from where she had used the wall to lean against.

All I could do was pray that I hadn’t seriously injured her. I had meant to shoot and miss, but her body lunged into target at the last moment and the arrow wedged into her stomach. She barely even noticed as she darted out of sight and deeper into the forest.

I moved deeper into the cave, following the wall she must have leaned against until I saw the fire going at the very end of the tunnel. She was laying unconscious with her wound bandaged tightly in a pooling of her blood. All her surgical utensils were completely coated in blood and scattered on the floor.

My heart hurt at the sight of her pale skin as she lay unconscious. I knew she would be up soon, but I couldn’t just leave her here with no means of getting out. Instead, I slid my bag off my shoulders and laid some disinfectant sprays down in front of her. I also left her cash, and pain killers, along with anything else that could help her make it out of Japan…

Then I left.

When I made it back to the campsite, I told the remaining men to sleep for the night, and we’d head home in the morning. When I went back to check on her, she was no longer there.

I pulled my motorcycle into the garage before finally picking up the phone that had been ringing for the last 15 minutes.

“Hello?” I spoke into the line.

“Is it done?” The man asked. My body stiffened from his tone.

“No, Takeshi.” I replied. I did everything I could to keep my voice cold and distant. It sounded foreign to me now.

“Do not fail me, son. Bring her to me.” Takeshi spoke before the line went dead.

I wasn’t sure whether it was his illness talking… but that was the first time he had called me son in 11 years.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket before sliding off my bike and headed inside.

~

Rein’s POV

Now fully awake, I already knew I could do nothing to fall asleep again. I debated reading a book, or turning on the news. Before any of those things could happen, I was startled out of thought by the sounds of my phone going off. It took me some time to find it, but I caught the call right before the last ring played.

“Hello?” I called into the line.

“Hello Rein, its me… Mushu.”

---

Chapter 22: Sarah Gardner

Rein’s POV

“Mushu.” I spoke, straightening myself up in bed to lean against my headboard.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get back to you right away.” He replied.

“What I was asking for was a lot.”

“Yes. But what I’ve asked from you has been far greater. You were only in that position with Shan Yu because of me. You were captured because of me… beaten… tortured…” he trailed off, his voice low with sheer pain. I wasn’t sure how to react to that. Mushu was a very… dramatic person, but he rarely ever showed this emotional side of him.

I had never blamed Mushu for asking me to take this job. Neither of us had known that the cargo was going to be women. Shortly after I intercepted the shipment and freed the cargo, Shan Yu had me captured.

I was almost to make it onto my flight shortly after the cargo had been released, but before I could make it into the gates, a gun was held right against my back and I was directed to move forward. I hadn’t been surprised but I knew that if I did decide to disable the man behind me, Shan Yu most likely had another two men ready to take me out. Like most of my clients I worked with, I knew Shan Yu would take extra precautions.

I was lead out and placed into a car before a sack was put over my head. I recognized none of the men yet they all had the same Falcon tattoo on the inside of their arm. The ride itself was a short one, and I tried to map out how many turns we made before the vehicle stopped once more and I was nudged out.

When the sack was removed again, I found  myself in some sort of warehouse, tied to the ceiling and suspended. Shan Yu was standing directly in front of me with the two other men besides him. There wasn’t words exchanged as he approached my hanging body and administered blow after blow on me as if I was a punching bag.

I was able to withstand most of the beating from my intense training and discipline from my father, but then his torture began to escalate. He slit and cut into me, and before he could further that, he received a phone call. It was unexpected from all of us, and I had to try desperately not to laugh from the puzzled faces both of his guards had.

He slipped up and finally made a mistake when he decided to stab the knife into my chest before leaving to take the call. I cried out from the pain, but had to bite my lips to keep from smiling. I hadn’t thought my luck would turn so quickly. As soon as he left, I pulled my upper body up with the rope until I could grab and yank the knife out of me.

The pain I felt as the wound began to spill blood, was excruciating… but the injuries I had obtained over the years had far outdone this flesh wound.

In seconds I had cut myself down and made it out to the back entrance of the warehouse where I took out the two guards that stood at the entrance of the warehouse, before fully escaping. My body had been incredibly beaten up at that point, and the only person I could call was Jason.

“I don’t blame you. Jason.” I replied as reassurance into the phone. Jason had been the one to get me a flight back to Japan. He used one of his private doctors to heal my wounds before smuggling me out of China.

“I know… but the shit between you Shan Yu is my fault. If you need me, you know I’m more than willing to help.” Mushu responded. I was incredibly grateful, yet, Mushu needed to understand the full extent of what I was asking.

“You could very well die.” I explained. “He managed to capture and torture me. I escaped from sheer luck, Mushu. If you do this, I cannot guarantee that you will make it out alive.”

“Who can?” Mushu replied honestly with the humorous tone back in his voice. “I’ll reach out and see what I can do.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” Was all he said before the line went dead.

~

We got a facial recognition?“ I asked Aaron as I entered one of his conference rooms. He had called me in a few hours after my phone call with Mushu. McGary hadn’t arrived yet.

“Yes. It took some time but we have. It looks like she may have had some work done to her face, but she’s Sarah Gardner. Graduated from Cornell University back in 2013 and now worked as a bank teller at Signature Bank here in New York.”

“Isn’t Cornell a prestige college?” I asked Aaron. He nodded back to me.

“I’m also pretty confused as to why she didn’t work at a business branch or a law firm. Who goes from Cornell to Bank Teller?” Aaron replied. We both flipped through the case file and the file on Sarah Gardner.

“If we have a location on her home, I’d like to take a quick visit.” I spoke finally.

“I have a crew there now sending some pictures. They should be sent to this server soon if you want to look through it here, otherwise you can head out if you’d like.” Aaron explained. I just nodded, and continued to check out the rest of this girl’s history.

She seemed incredibly smart, which was why I was confused as to how she thought impersonating the Black Lotus would be even a remotely good idea. As Aaron started pulling up the images, McGary walked through into the conference room.

“How the hell does everyone look this lively?” He grumbled more to himself as he poured more coffee from the pitcher into his cup and took a seat. He was in the closest things to pajamas one could find.

“You do know that’s for everyone, right? You can’t just bring the pitcher in here.” Aaron shot back, most likely annoyed from his unprofessionalism. I’d come to understand that them bickering was just the way their relationship was.

“There’s a grand total of 3 people in this building, not including us. It’s 5:47am for Christ sake.” McGary replied, not having a single care about the major sass he was giving Director Campbell. I hadn’t even noticed the time, but I was surprised Aaron was here even earlier.

This case was starting to do him in.

“Alright, enough. Game faces people. The pictures from Sarah Gardners home was just sent in.” Aaron announced as he pulled up the messages while McGary and I waited in anticipation.

---

Chapter 23: Dead Man

McGary’s POV

I glanced at Rein as we both started to scrutinize over the photos. The home looked like a moderately large loft apartment somewhere upstate. Rein always had this puzzled face when she was looking for something. It was oddly captivating, and I often found myself getting lost in it.

“These photos here look like her with a few college buddies. Three of these guys look as if they could match the description for some of the men we saw on that surveillance video. Now that that’s no longer in our possession, it’s going to make it a lot more difficult to compare the men.” Aaron noted as he circled in on a picture that was propped up on a bookshelf in Sarah’s living room.

“I still have a clear memory of the video.” I replied. “For now, we should be okay. On the tape, I counted five people total including Sarah, yet the group could be bigger. They must have someone who worked inside the Walten or someone who scoped the scene a few weeks prior too. I could run facial between these college buddies here and people who had visited the Walten within the last few weeks… more specifically, this wing of the building.”

“That sounds good. I’ll have the museum send over the tapes immediately.” Aaron nodded. “I’ll put both you and McGary on that for today. It may take a while considering their last exhibition here brought in many people.”

I gave him a slight nod. Before Aaron could continue, McGary abruptly stood.

“Let’s pause this chat for a quick second while I go grab more coffee.” He requested, as he stood with the now empty pitcher, and stumbled out into the vacant halls. I couldn’t help but crack a small grin from how sleep deprived he looked. As soon as he had left, the atmosphere in the room changed.

“I have far too many questions to ask you that a coffee run can cover, so let’s get the important ones out of the way first.” Aaron jumped in with a softer voice.

“Okay.” I nodded to him.

“Where are we with Genji?” Aaron asked. I glanced up from the case at him, before glancing away again.

“He visited me last night.” I replied honestly.

His hands slammed down onto the screen as he shot up from his desk. “He what? When?” He demanded. I had already anticipated this reaction.

“At around 1am. He broke into my apartment.” I explained.

Aaron’s entire body looked stressed now. His hands gripped the edge of the table firmly as he began to work on his breathing. “We’ll up your security right away-”

Before he could finish that, I cut him off with a wave of my hand. “I already Installed a state of the art security system. Regardless of what you set up, Genji will have the means to get by it. I anticipated a visit by him at some point… we left on less than ideal terms 5 years ago. Now that I knew he was in New York, it was inevitable that he would find me.”

“He shot an arrow into you.” Aaron reminded me. I hadn’t explained to him that Genji had also helped me escape that night. If it wasn’t for his supplies, I wouldn’t have been able to get on a flight to the U.S..

“Our relationship is complicated, Aaron. Regardless, I don’t think the Black Lotus wants me dead just yet.”

“Why do you say that?” He asked.

“Genji asked me to come home. He did make it known that the Black Lotus will not tolerate my cooperation with the U.S. government. That will not stop me from helping you, but it’s not a threat to be ignored either. From now on, I would recommend doubling up on your security detail, because using either you or McGary as leverage against me wouldn’t be beneath them.”

“So essentially our lives are still in jeopardy.” Aaron clarified.

“Yes.”

“Wonderful.” He groaned, sliding his hands through his hair. “How about Mushu?”

“Mushu has agreed to help me. He is currently setting something up with The Falcon.” I replied.

“Well at least one thing didn’t go to shit.” Aaron sighed.

“It could, however. Shan Yu doesn’t forget easily. This could most definitely go to shit.” I reminded him. All I did was deepen his frown lines as he placed his head into his hands. “I think it’s about time you get some real sleep.” I had to wonder how late he stayed here for. His clothes were now wrinkly as his tie hung loosely around his neck.

He stayed like that, with his head in his hands, for a few seconds. I almost thought he had fallen asleep, yet after a moment, he pulled his head up again. “I think it’s about time as well.” Was all he said. For the first time in quite a while, I really took in his appearance. He had started to develop bags underneath his eyes.

I hadn’t thought about it till now… but the demons I had brought up with returning must have been a lot for him as well. Some days, I had forgot about the sacrifices he had made to keep me safe. He had given up so much for a person he had just met.

I honestly owed him my life.

These past 5 years have brought us closer, but there are some things… some secrets, that could only die with me. I could tell he knew when I was still lying to him, but he also understood why. Through the losses he had experienced because of knowing me, he’s learnt the value of secrets.

A man who knows too much is a dead man.

---

Chapter 24: Fondest Memory

McGary’s POV

“Which tape is this one?” I asked Rein as she casted another one from her phone to the tv monitor.

“This is a week before the attack.” She replied.

We had only been going at this for a few hours, but it already felt like eons. I was currently draped over the spinning chair, drawing a dandelion on a napkin with a soy sauce packet I had found. For the first few minutes, I tried to help Rein out, but she quickly took over completely. She moved far faster than I could’ve at surveying the footage, so we just sort of fell into these roles.

“Hey Rein?” I called.

“Yes?” She answered.

“How many more tapes are there?”

She glanced down at her phone as she counted the links from the email Director Campbell forwarded to us. “7 more videos. One for each day up until the day of the attack.”

She didn’t even fully finish her sentence before I let out a groan. We had that many tapes left?

Rein glanced over at me and offered me a small as she witnessed the gravity defying position I had this spinning chair in. My dandelion was coming along smoothly though so I dared not move.

“McGary?” Rein asked after some time. I was so surprised she called my name, I almost tipped the chair over from how fast my head whipped to her.

“Yes Rein?”

“Tell me something about you.”

I glanced over at her and she was still analyzing the tapes, but her body language had changed slightly. She wasn’t looking at me, but I could feel her attention on me. “What would you like to know?” I asked.

“Anything. Everything. Do you have any siblings?” She asked. I pushed the wheels of the chair back onto the ground before spinning to look at her back.

“I do actually. I have a younger half sister.” I replied. This caught her attention for a brief moment as her eyes turned from the screen to face me.

“Do you get to see her?” She asked. These questions weren’t the most personal, but I was just taken back that Rein was showing any interest in my life. I had this goofy grin I just couldn’t shake off.

“Usually once a month if I fly out. They live in Arizona so it’s not too often when I’m working a case.” I explained. She nodded slightly as her eyes continued to scan the screen.

There was a little gap between her next question, and I almost thought the questions were over, but I realized she was just casting a different tape. As soon as this one was rolling, she asked another question. “Do you like it here?”

I moved to answer- but I caught myself before anything came out. This was a question I hadn’t anticipated…

Did I like it here?

That was ridiculous right? That I’d even question it… I mean, I worked for the U.S. government for Christ sakes. This was most people’s dream job…

Wasn’t it?

I thought back to how little I had gotten to see my family this past year. Honestly, it had become less than once a month. The craziest part was, I had the time.

I just chose not to.

This job made you secluded. Even when I wasn’t working, I always had this mindset that I was. I would think about taking a trip out to see my family, but then I’d stop myself due to some bullshit work excuse.

I think in reality, the things I’d seen on the job were things I didn’t want to take with me. I felt corrupt when I visited such a pure thing like my sister. I didn’t want her exposed to anything I’d experienced.

Rein waited patiently for me to answer.

It took some time before I finally did.

“I’m not sure,” I answered honestly. All she did was nod. Before she could ask another, I decided to ask a few of my own. “Tell me about yourself, Rein. Tell me about your most fond memory growing up.” All I did was pray to god she had one, otherwise this conversation was about to go south very fast.

She took a little pause before replying. “It was of me and my father and my mother back home in Japan. I was very young at the time. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was around the age of 11, but I didn’t know. All I knew was that some days, she didn’t feel good, and some days she did.” She glanced back at me again from the screen and chuckled slightly. She must have seen my sympathetic/horrified face because she added quickly “It starts off sad, but it gets better. I promise.”

All I could do at this point was take her word for it.

“My parents were still stuck in a period that most Japanese people were… it was something we called “old Japan.” A few times a year, there was festivals held where we celebrated the life of the samurai’s, and the sacredness of the Bushido, otherwise known as the samurai code. This was my first time attending one of these. It was my last outing with both my parents before my mother started to get really sick. The day was spent with laughter and good food. I had never seen my father smile so much… The way he looked at my mother with such adoration…“ she trailed off.

This was probably one of the most bittersweet memories I had ever heard, but as I looked at Rein, I surprisingly felt the happiness she did.

Knowing this was her most fondest memory made my heart feel like it was shattering. The more she spoke of her life, the more I wanted to be apart of it.

I just wasn’t sure how.

“Got it!” She called out suddenly, causing me to jump slightly from my thoughts, and completely tip the chair I had, balancing on its wheels.

“What?” I asked, or more so groaned, as pain shot through the arm I had clumsily fallen on.

“We got him.” She announced. I was flattered by the “we” part, considering I hadn’t done jack shit for the past few hours…

Rein threw a copy of the framed picture we had received from the forensics team and placed it side by side with a screen shot from the surveillance video, and sure enough, the man scoping the art museum and the man in the photo were an exact match.

---

Chapter 25: Surveillance

Rein’s POV

“His name is Sam Wilson.” Aaron announced, as he pulled the entire case up on the big screen. McGary and I were now sitting in another conference room.

I didn’t recognize the man on the screen, but it looked as if McGary might of. “Doesn’t he look familiar to you guys?” He asked. Both Aaron and I glanced at Sam’s picture in thought. Eventually, both of us shook our heads. I think McGary sometimes forgot that I had been living deep in the forests of Montana for half a decade.

“Oh!” He exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “He’s Sam Wilson… like, the Sam Wilson… of Wilson Firms.”

“Holy shit you’re right.” Aaron replied, as he pulled up the website of Wilson’s Firms. Sure enough, Sam’s picture beside the words “Let us represent you, and guarantee you receive what you’re entitled to!” On the top of the home page.

I stood up, and tapped the image of the lawyers list, before enlarging one that particularly caught my eye. “Well I’ll be damned.” Aaron whispered to himself as I enlarged the image some more on the big screen. “That’s the other college buddy in the photo, right? Derek Manning…” he trailed off reading the name that was printed under the painting.

“Can you run face configuration again, but this time, focus on the employees at the Walten Institute.” I requested. Something felt off… very off.

A few more files were pulled up and a list of the employees were given. None of them were Derek though.

“Can you pull up all the information you can on Derek Manning?” I requested. I knew that last name, but I couldn’t remember from where. I had seen it though. I had seen it somewhere.

“Derek Manning, married to-”

“Emily Manning… Emily. She worked front desk when McGary and I first entered the institution. She was the one who brought us to the West Wing of the museum. Her name tag said Emily, but her desk plate had her full name.” I explained. McGary’s eyes grew wide but before he could say anything, Aaron confirmed by pulling a photo of both Derek and Emily at their engagement part about a year ago. She had the same smile she offered me when I had first met her.

“That definitely cannot be a coincidence.” Aaron spoke. “We now have both Sarah Gardner, Sam Wilson, and Derek Manning connected to the museum and the attack.

“Why would two lawyers and a bank teller attack an art institution with lethal gas?” McGary asked as Aaron pulled all three accomplices photos up side by side.

No one could answer that as the question was left to hang in the air. I could feel the gears turning, but it felt as if there was something missing to the equation.

Aaron continued to pull up any other information he could on these three, but for the most part, the lives they lived prior to this attack, was a boring one. This just made it all the more difficult.

“Can you pull up all three of their bank accounts?” I asked. Aaron had them up on the screen moments later. A few of my suspicions were proven as the receipt for a wire transfer appeared on all three of their accounts about a week and a half ago. Each of them were wired $56,000. Aaron clicked on the all too familiar routing number as he attempted to run a trace on it. As expected, the number lead to a front for a disclosed Swiss bank overseas.

But Aaron didn’t have to run the trace because I already knew who this number belonged to.

“I need to check something. I’ll be back.” I spoke quietly, before excusing myself from the conference room. Things were starting to come together, and it wasn’t looking good. I slipped into another conference room and pulled open the laptop that was sitting on the edge of the table. As I pulled up the database, I set my phone down on the table and started the countdown from 60 seconds. Immediately, I began to hack the government network. It only took moments to recognize the patch that was made from the breach, and once I was through, I established a connection. I only had 30 seconds before the patch would go into affect and lock me out.

|Genji? I typed into the hacked server.

A reply came almost Instantly.

|What is it,

imōto?

|

Do you remember that painting father acquired when he took us to that art show back in Kyoto? It was the cherry blossom painting from that famous Japanese artist.

|Yes. What about it?

|Do we still have it? I asked.

|Father sold it about a month back-

Before Genji could finish his sentence, the laptop system went black, then red. A “Breach Detected” sign began to flash on the screen. Moments later, the conference room was swarmed with U.S. military men, all with guns pointed directly at me. I slowly raised my arms up.

“What the bloody hell is going on?” Aaron demanded as he fought his way into the crowded room.

“A breach has been detected. The source is from that laptop right there.” One of the guards replied.

“What is this, Rein?” Aaron asked. For a brief moment, pain flashed in his eyes.

“I had to reach out to Genji. There was no other way to get ahold of him, but to trace the original breach in the network.” I explained. “Do you remember the day I first saw the surveillance footage of the attack? One of the men had stolen that painting I recognized. I first told you it was a fake, believing that it was. For as long as I could remember, the original painting was hanging in the entrance of my home in Japan.”

Aaron nodded, as he signaled for the men to at least lower their weapons. “Genji just confirmed that that painting was sold by my father a month ago. The painting that was stolen in that attack wasn’t a replica, it was real.

“At the beginning of this case, I dismissed the thought that this could have been an art heist. Right now, I’m not so sure I was right.”

---

Chapter 26: Homecoming

This is what happens when you give your friend your phone for 10 minutes. He posts an unfinished chapter 🙃 sorry to everyone who only read a part of this.

Rein’s POV

“Was that picture worth a lot?” McGary asked. We were now all back to our original seats in the main conference room.

“It’s easily in the millions.” I replied.

My mind wandered back to the first time we had seen the painting in the gallery during our visits to the arts in Kyoto…

My mother and I had been completely infatuated by how beautiful it was. It didn’t take my father a second to inquire about the piece, and purchase it for my mother and I. “You really do not have to.” My mother whined, as the owner of the gallery told my father the price. He just smiled, and handed the man his card.

“It makes you happy, my love. Whatever makes you happy, makes me happy.” My father replied. All my mother could do was blush as she leaned against his side. They had begun to package the painting, but my father intercepted before they could finish. “Make I have the back scribed?” He asked the older gentleman. The owner nodded to my father.

“I would like the words “For my beautiful wife, daughter, and son. May this painting leave you smiling the way it has today. May 28th, 2004. Takeshi “ My father spoke as the man prepared the appropriate Japanese characters.

“Shouldn’t you have used the card with a different alias?” My mother asked. I could only faintly remember this conversation since Genji and I had been

playing

around the gallery together.

“The funds can only travel through this card. It’s okay, I’m only purchasing a painting. Besides, This is a small gallery in Kyoto. Not many people pass through.” My mother hesitated, then nodded eventually. “Genji?” My father called, stopping both Genji’s and I’s goofing around.

“Yes, father?” Genji asked.

“There is a koi fish pond around back. Why don’t you both go play while we wait for the inscription.” Genji nodded, as he took my hand and lead me out through the entrance…

“What are you thinking, Rein?” Aaron asked me as I was pulled out of my thoughts.

“I’m… in not sure yet.” I answered honestly. “But that routing number, the one that’s essentially a front for a foreign account? I recognized it.” Both McGary and Aaron were now looking at me.

“What do you mean?” Aaron asked.

“You know that job I was telling you about… the one where I was working for Shan Yuh. That was the routing number that had transferred the funds from his account to the account that was shared within my family.”

“So this means that these people were hired by Shan Yu?” McGary asked.

“Either that, or they were able to transfer the funds from his account. If that was the case, I highly doubt any of them would be alive now.” I replied. “If he did hire them though… the only plausible explanation was that they were hired to steal that painting.”

“Why would they go through this much trouble for a painting?” Aaron asked.

“I don’t think it was the painting they wanted.” I replied honestly. “That painting was originally purchased through a smaller seller over a decade ago. Along with the approved stamping of the original seller, my father got a message inscribed onto the back. This message was a simple one for Genji, my mother, and I. To an average person, this inscription means nothing, but to someone who may have known the true identity of my father, this inscription can shed light to some very privated information. My father is a very public figure… back home, the Black Lotus are as much a myth as they are here.” I explained.

“So the purchase for the painting… it was made through a private account?” Aaron asked. I nodded.

“I remembered my mother asking my father why he didn’t use one of his electronic payment methods that was linked to one of our off shore accounts. At the time, my father had thought nothing of it seeing as it was just a painting for our home. Art has that aspect to it, art in the art community is treated as a chain of custody for the federal investigators. The origins of the painting and it’s holders at the time are usually well documented.”

“So essentially, what do you think Shan Yu wants with this information?” McGary asked.

“I’m not sure… but that painting directly links my father to his personal records, and his private undisclosed estate. If Shan Yu can get ahold of the record of payment from this painting, it won’t take long for him to know the location of the head of the Black Lotus. That information alone can be worth a significant amount on the black market. Let’s not forget that Shan Yu now has a personal vendetta with the Black Lotus from what happened half a decade ago.” I reminded them. I could see Aaron’s face visibly pale.

He understood the real extent of this threat.

The Black Lotus belonged in the shadows, whether he’d care to admit it or not. Any exposure could create something of equivalent to a blood bath. The U.S. government had looked the other way with their cases, just as they did with most of the black market dealings. If word got out that the Black Lotus was real above ground, there would be legitimate chaos….

…it would also put a direct target on my head.

“So what’s the plan?” Aaron asked finally.

“I don’t think there’s going to be another attack if my hunch checks out. What your team will need to do is hunt down Sam Wilson and Derek Manning. Hopefully you’ll get to them before Shan Yu’s men do.”

“What about you?” McGary asked.

“I need to warn my father.” I replied, standing up from the conference room chair with such abruptness, it rolled back considerably. “I think I have to go home.”

---

Chapter 27: Reunions

Rein’s POV

My hands gripped the side of my Black case tighter as I made my way out through Kyoto’s transit and into warmth of the sun.

Everything felt so different from the city life I had grown accustomed to, yet as the sound of the light chatter from the cab drivers, and the authentic attire the older women wore came into view, a large wave of nostalgia came over me. With the nostalgia, came the memories of the conversation I had had to McGary and Aaron before I left…

“Why are you heading back?” Aaron asked. He had looked completely taken back by now.

And I didn’t blame him.

The state my body was in when I flew into the states… This reaction was the most understandable.

Worry was completely etched into his face.

“I cannot allow my father to be left unprotected. If Genji is in the states, this means that most of the Black Lotus isn’t back home. They ar

e

likely working overseas on different jobs. If Shan Yu knows the location of my father, he will not hesitate to kill him. And along with not particularly wanting my father to die, the death of the head of the Black Lotus would inflict more problems upon us than you could imagine.“ I explained.

Both McGary and Aaron’s faces were stoic with thought. They knew that this was a decision I had to make… but my acceptance back into the Black Lotus family after I had left, was not guaranteed. If there was a time to visit my father though, it would have been now… when most of the Black Lotus members were not home. My survival rate was much higher.

“You’re coming back… right?” McGary asked, as we both sat in the government vehicle outside the base. Aaron had organized for me to fly in with one of their private planes in attempt to protect the fact that I had entered Japan from the Black Lotus for as long as we could.

“I cannot promise that.” I spoke quietly.

It was true though… I couldn’t.

A small part of me was ready. It was tired of the constant paranoia. Tired of running. Tired of fighting so hard to erase my past.

As I glanced at McGary, I wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t imagine it would hurt this much to say goodbye.

But it did.

It hurt immensely.

“I’m heading home partially due to you.” I added finally. His eyes grew wide at that.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“You made me realize a lot about my life. Since I entered witness protection, The flashbacks to my childhood have been littered with pain and grief. It was as if I had completely

suppressed

the good memories. I hadn’t remembered the last time I thought of my mother, until I spoke with you.“ I replied honestly. His eyes were now watching me intensely. I unhooked my seatbelt and unlocked the door, before finally pulling myself out. McGary was at my side moments later before we faced each other once more.

“Can I hug you?” He asked hesitantly. Instead of replying, I set the back

case

down beside me and

hesitantly

pulled him into my arms. I was still very rigid, but for once, I let a few guards down. “Try not to get yourself killed.” He whispered against the side of my head.

“You as well.” I whispered back. Before I could let myself get too wrapped up into it, I pulled away.

I noticed

Aaron was

now

standing at the entrance to the building.

I gave McGary one more nod, before picking up my case and walking towards Aaron. I glanced back once when I made it to the entrance, and McGary offered me a small smile

from the spot he was in before by the car

. I gave him one back, before disappearing behind the tinted glass doors

of the building.

I slid my case into the passenger seat of the rental car Aaron had set me up with, before throwing the gear into drive, and pulling out of transit station of Kyoto.

The drive to my father’s estate was a long one. It was in a very secluded remote area that my father’s father had first built many years ago. My family had always valued their privacy, and because of what we did, privacy was something we would kill for.

As I approached the familiar outdoor gates, I was immediately met by the barrel of a gun pointed directly at me. I rolled down my window and raised my hands. “State your purpose.” The man in uniform barked in Japanese to me. His eyes furrowed slightly as he continued to stare at me. At any moment now, he would recognize me. I didn’t give him the chance to.

“I’m here to see my father.” I replied. At those words, his eyes grew wide.

“Oh my god.” He spoke now in English.

“Hello, Naoko.” I smiled slightly. It had been some time since I had last seen him. He had enlisted into the army shortly before I left, but it looked as if his required time was served. He was now much larger than he was when he had first started working for my father. He had also aged considerably.

“Your father will be delighted to know you have returned.” Naoko replied. It was now my turn to be surprised.

“He will?” I asked hesitantly.

I wasn’t sure how my father would have felt about my return. I half expected him to execute me on the spot for my betrayal.

Naoko lowered the barrel of his gun. “I’ll open up the gate for you. Pull your vehicle around to the front of the state and I’ll take you to him.”

I did what he told me as the large iron gates were propelled open. Once they were, the view of the estate was exposed. The large temple stood at the front of the property, surrounded by trees and authentic Japanese gardens. The place looked less lively than I originally remembered.

Naoko led me through the front entrance, and I made a mental note to count every guard that was currently on the premises. I was at an alarmingly low number. “Wait here while I request a meeting with your father. I must see if he is well enough.” My eyes grew large at that.

Well enough?

Before I could ask, Naoko had disappeared into a tunnel of passageways.

It was only moments later, when another guard approached me. “Your father has honored and accepted your request. Follow me, please.” This man requested. I hadn’t recognized him, but he must have been new to believe I didn’t know where my father’s own chambers were within a home I grew up in. “Naoko has asked me to warn you though, your father’s health is… critical.”

“Critical?” I asked almost instantly, but he did not reply. Instead, he slowed down then stopped outside of the door to my father’s room. He motioned for me to enter.

I gently slid it open and lowered my head as I entered the incredibly poorly lit room. It smelt musky and old inside. I made sure to keep my head low, but I could hear a medical machine beeping, accompanying the sound of a oxygen stabilizer. I reached a respectable distance between me and what looked to be a frail man hooked up to numerous machines.

There was a few strained coughs, before I heard a faint yet familiar voice speak out to me. The same voice I had heard that day back at the government building when our servers were first hacked.

“Hello, Renge.” The man greeted, as he cleared his throat again. My eyes slowly trailed up to see a man I barely recognized.

“Hello, father.” I replied.

---

Chapter 28: Transfer of Power

Rein’s POV

“It has been some time, my child.” He whispered, as he beckoned me closer. I struggled to fight back the tears that had flooded my eyes as I took in his appearance.

He had lost a drastic amount of weight since I had last seen him. His body was basically a skeleton now. There were tubes that were hooked up from his body to large machines that looked as if they were doing everything for him.

“Oh my god.” I finally whispered, as I dropped down to my knees at his bed side. The tears were now streaming down my face. “What happened to you?” I finally croaked out. His hand reached out to the side of my face, as he gently wiped the tears from my eyes. His hands were cold to touch.

“My body has grown weak. My organs have start to shut down, my Renge. Please do not cry. It breaks my heart enough to have you see me like this. If you cry, I don’t know if I can survive this meeting.” My father whispered. I rubbed the tears away from my eyes. “I’m so happy you’ve come home.”

“I wasn’t so sure you would be.” I replied honestly. “The way I left-”

“Is in the past.” He finished. “And I’m far too old to be dwelling in the past, my child. All that matters is that you are here now.”

“I am sorry father, but I am here because of the past. I think it is starting to catch up with me.” I replied. My father’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. “It was the job that I took shortly before I left Japan… It was a job with Shan Yu.”

“You accepted a job for Shan Yu?” My father asked now. His voice had quickly turned into the overprotective one I had known too well.

“I had taken it originally with Genji. It was a simple movement of cargo… but the job didn’t go over too well.” I explained.

“What happened?” My father demanded.

“The cargo was women.” I explained. “He was in the human trafficking business. Once I found out, I set the women free.” My father’s eyes grew wide but he remained calm.

“Shan Yu is not a man to cross.” My father reminded me. “His debt is every much as sacred as ours.” I nodded solemnly.

“There was an… attack in New York. A painting was stolen from the Walten Institute of Art. It was the same painting you had bought from that art gallery here in Kyoto many years ago.”

“Stolen?” My father asked.

“I’m not sure how, but I worked the case and Shan Yu was involved. That painting was one of the very few personal purchases you’d ever made. If he has the painting, and the original seller, he can potentially have access to all your private records.”

“You came here to warn me.” My father stated. His emotions were unreadable as always.

“I came here to tell you that you need to leave. There aren’t nearly enough guards here to protect you from him, father.” I replied.

“My child, look at me.” He ordered.

My eyes shifted up off the floor.

“I cannot leave this place. These machines aren’t meant to be transported. The second I’m unhooked from them, I will die. If I’m going to die, there is no better place to do so, then the place I raised my family in.”

I couldn’t help myself at this point as tears streamed down my face.

“I can’t loose you.” I croaked out. His eyes softened at that.

“Who said you will?” He asked. “I’m never going to leave you, Renge. It’s just time for me to go home. To be with your mother.” My body shook from the sobs as he held his hand against me.

“What am I going to do? What is the Black Lotus going to do?” I asked, completely hysterical now. I couldn’t remember the last time I had cried like this.

“They’ll continue on with your leadership.” He replied simply. I glanced up again in shock.

“You want me to take over?” I asked, completely taken back. “If anyone is to lead, it should be Genji. You cannot ask something like that of me.”

My father took another pause as he cleared his throat once more.

“You always thought I was hard on Genji. You thought I didn’t want him as my son, and the truth is… I didn’t. When I looked at Genji, I was reminded of the man your mother had first fallen in love with. I was reminded of the man that was killed during the war. The man your mother gave her full heart to. When I looked at you, Renge, all I saw was your mother. When I was with you, I was reminded of her kindred spirit. Of how beautiful her laugh was, and how carefree she lead her life. I was incapable of showing Genji the same love out of my own jealousy. But hear me when I say this, I would not pass the business to Genji because of his willingness to follow.

“You were always the one who defied me. When you didn’t agree with something, you were willing to cut ties. The money meant nothing to you. That is the direction I want the Black Lotus to go in. The missions we take need to reflect our honor, not our pride. There is no one more suitable, and more capable to lead.”

“I have killed two members of the Black Lotus. That in itself is a treasonous act. I have disappeared for the last five years, father. Even if I decided to lead, who would follow?” I asked him.

“I have already passed the business on to you. The year you left, I wrote up my will. You and Genji inherit everything, and you have inherited both my political title, and my illegitimate business.” My father replied.

I was completely speechless at that.

“I don’t know how to lead.” I whispered to him. He smiled down at me.

“But you do know how to love. Before I made you broken, you had a capacity to. Do not let the terrors you have experienced, dictate who you are. Keep your morals. Have a code, and stand by it.”

“My own Bushido.” I smiled.

“Your own Bushido.” He agreed. We shared the same memory… the memory of when he used to take me to the samurai festivals. One of the last beautiful memories we had as a family.

“Time is no longer On our side my Renge… my Black Lotus. I will handle things here, but you must go before Shan Yu arrives. I will disband a farewell message to the rest of the family, and from then on, you will become the new head of the Black Lotus. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that you will make me proud.” He finished, as his hand lifted once more to wipe away the stray tears. “It’s now time for you to leave me, but understand, I will never leave you.” He whispered once more before he dismissed me.

The meeting was now over.

“Goodbye father.” I whispered, bowing once as I fought back more tears. Realization that this would be the last time I would see him, set in.

“Goodbye, my Renge.” He replied, before I left the room.

---

Chapter 29: Do You Think About Me Now And Then?

Just incase the chapters got a little jumbled up since I had to republish a chapter, just refresh your library and it should be okay! Message me with any questions you guys might have

✨

Rein’s POV

I stared out into the dark quiet night through the comfort of the window seat I had acquired on this plane. It was honestly the only moderately okay thing that had happened today.

Naoko had informed me that my father sent out a message to all the staff and guards, letting them know that they had the option of leaving if they so wished.

Apparently no one had left.

I didn’t want to think about what could be happening there now, or what may have already happened. My eyes were already swollen from the tears I couldn’t help but shed as I once again had to leave behind my family. My stomach churned from the agony of not being able to help my father when he needed help the most.

He had gotten rid of all ties between the Black Lotus and our home… all the papers he couldn’t send to another estate we owned in Tokyo, Naoko sent with me. The Black Lotus was still every much a myth as it was before.

I held my black case closer to myself as I shifted in my seat once more, preparing myself for this long plane ride.

My mind couldn’t help but travel back to the conversation I had had with Aaron shortly before I left the states.

“So this is it, huh.” Aaron more or less stated, as he stood outside the exit doors to the plane he had arranged for me to fly in. “Something tells me this’ll be the last time I see you for a while.”

“That something could very well be right.” I replied honestly. “Whatever happens in Kyoto… I just want you to know that you’ve been the best of these 5 years. I know just how much you gave up when my case was placed on your desk many years ago… and to look at you now… still devoted as the first time I saw you…”

“I will always care, Rein.” He answered simply, but his eyes grew soft at my words. There was much we didn’t speak of, like his divorce for instance… but silent words were exchanged here to know we both understood each other. I needed him to know I was grateful.

“I might disappear for a bit if this goes over well.” I continued. Aaron nodded in understanding.

“I can handle you disappearing for a bit,” he replied, “but listen to me closely when I say this Rein. You’ve opened yourself up to someone who won’t be able to handle you disappearing like that. McGary is most likely still standing by his car waiting for me to come out and let him now you made out okay. Regardless of how this blows over, you cannot leave that unfinished.” Aaron added.

I wasn’t even sure how to respond.

All I knew was that my heart beat had accelerated when he told me McGary was most likely still outside waiting.

Instead of responding, I pulled Aaron into a hug and whispered into his ear, “I’ll handle what’s outside if you handle a certain someone we left in Montana.” When I pulled away shortly after, I could see he was blushing intensely.

“Goodbye, Rein.” He replied as I picked up my case and pushed open the door that led outside.

“Goodbye, Director.” I called back over my shoulder, before walking towards the plane.

McGary’s POV

I slid my keys into the lock of my apartment and pushed the door open. I tried to release the stress from the day, but seeing both Derek Manning and Sam Wilson dead in their own apartments, was something I wasn’t prepared for. It’s something none of my team was… I just couldn’t thank the lord enough that their deaths were execution style, and not some torturous mess like the one he found at the Walten with Sarah Gardner.

The hardest part was informing Derek’s wife Emily, that her husband had been killed. She was visiting her mother when she got the news.

Though we had only been partners for a few weeks, not having Rein beside me felt almost foreign to me.

The fact that she hadn’t reached out in any way, began to scare the living shit out of me. Was she still alive? Did she make it to her father in time? I did everything I could not to worry, but that proved to be a challenge when I’ve now seen exactly what both the Black Lotus, and The Falcon, are capable of.

As I entered my apartment, I was immediately welcomed by the a cold gust of wind that swept in through the living room and kitchen from the open living room window. Instantly, my weapon was drawn. “Who’s here?” I called out to the poorly lit room. I debated switching the lights on, but before I could go for them, a voice replied.

“Be careful with that thing.” Rein said as she walked out into the lit area of my living room from the shadows.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” I hissed, flowering my gun. “I could have shot you!”

“But you didn’t.” She shrugged simply. We stared at each other for just a moment before a large smile broke out on both our faces. I couldn’t help the excitement that built up in my stomach by just seeing her…

Seeing her here right in front of me, not dead.

“You made it.” I finally whispered. It came out with more emotion then I had planned for.

“I know. I’m surprised as well.” She replied honestly.

“Your father?” I asked hesitantly. Pain flashed across her face as she finally shook her head no.

“The situation was more complicated than I originally thought. He had fallen ill a few years ago. When I arrived, he was already on his death bed. The machines weren’t transportable-” she replied, as her voice broke slightly.

“I’m so sorry, Rein.” I whispered, drawing nearer to her. Being this close finally revealed the red and inflamed eyes I couldn’t see earlier. It looked as if she had been crying the entire way back.

“Did you find Sam and Derek?” She asked, changing the subject.

“Not alive.” I replied simply. She just nodded her head. It looked like she was intensely pondering something as she continued to stare anywhere but at me.

“Rein?” I called out to catch her attention, but before I could say or do anything else, she closed whatever distance was left between us and connected her lips to mine.

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Last chapter is up next!

Chapter 30: She’ll Bring Honor To Us All

McGary’s POV

There was no hesitation this time as both my hands wrapped around her. She was a bit stif from the weapons holstered to her sides and legs, but that didn’t stop me from pulling her into me. She tasted like sweet mint as I coaxed my tongue on her bottom lip until she opened up and let me explore her. A soft moan erupted from both our lips while one of my hands wandered up into her hair and began to press her lips harder against mine.

All she could do was lean into me as I pinned her against the kitchen counter. Her smaller yet course hands had tangled themselves in my own hair.

This had to be it. This had to be what content felt like.

More deep moans erupted from me as she tugged my hair slightly before reluctantly pulling away. I lingered just a bit longer, not wanting this incredible sensation to end, but alas it did.

As she glanced up at me with proximity we both hadn’t experienced since the cocktail event at Mushu’s, all I could do was smile back down at her beautiful eyes. “I’m sorry it took me so long to do that.”

“Again.” I stated. “Do that again. Technically we’ve already done that once.” Her face got rosy in color from my comment. “ I just… I wanted to say thank you-“

“That was a thank you kiss?” I ask surprised. “Because if it was, just send me a new list of things I can do for you.”

“No no,” she continued, laughing at my comment, “that was an “I like you” kiss. I wanted to also thank you for everything you’ve done and helped me with. I’m not the greatest when it come to portraying my emotions, but you make me feel a lot of things at once and it’s confusing in a good way.“ She responded.

“You’re welcome.” I said in sincerity as my hand moved forward and pushed back some of her hair behind her ear. This was still all too surreal for me.

“But I can’t stay long.” She added. “I have to return to Kyoto soon.”

“You’re going back?” I asked. That took me by surprise.

“I have to. There’s some things I’ll need to work out there.” She replied. I could see this was eating away at her, so I nodded.

“That’s okay… will I see you again?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yes. I’ll be back after a few months.” She replied. There was a solemn silence that hung in the air as I took into account the fact that she was going to disappear for a while.

“I’ll wait then.” I answered finally. She gave me a sad smile.

“That means more than you can imagine.” She replied as she stood on the tip of her toes to place one more soft kiss on my lips, before pulling away. “I’ve got to go now.” She whispered a hairs length away from me.

“Okay.” I whispered back. I watched her as she pulled away completely and made it towards my open window. Before she could climb on to the edge, I grabbed her arm and pulled her into me for one more kiss. “I’m sorry,” I whispered when I finally let her go, “I’m finally coming to terms with the fact that I can openly do this… and now you’re going…” I trailed off.

“It’s okay.” She whispered, before finally slipping out of my grasps and climbing out into the edge of the windowsill. “I’ll catch you later, McGary.” She smiled, as sadness flickered across her face.

“See you around, Rein.” I replied, offering one last sad smile back.

Rein’s POV

I pulled myself up onto the top ledge of the balcony before jumping onto the fire escape that scaled the side of the building. Once I made it onto the roof, I was welcomed by Genji and 3 more members of the Black Lotus. Each one bowed to me as I stood beside Genji at the edge of the building, looking out into the city.

“You spoke with lover boy?” He asked me.

“Yes.” I replied, giving him a look.

“What did you tell him?”

“That I was going back to Kyoto.”

“Good. You need to disappear for a while.” He nodded, before we both turned towards the three other members.

“What’s the first order of business, boss?” Yao asked. He was the shortest of the three men, but he was built strong.

“We’re going to tear apart Shan Yu’s business from here in New York… Words out he’s started a new cargo business out from New York’s shipping ports. Then I’m going to put a dagger through his good eye.” All three men remained silent as they gave me a firm nod, but Genji turned to me slightly.

“There is a quote that stems from the words of Confucius… when embarking on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. Are you prepared for that, Rein?” He asked. I could see the concern run through his eyes… but the anger that was coursing through my veins overlooked it.

“He killed our father, Genji. I’m ready to go to those extremes. The only question left is, are you?” I asked.

“If this is what you wish for, consider it done.” Genji replied. I gave him a nod, before crouching and opening up my black case Genji had laid down for me. I pulled out the documents Naoko had given me.

“Holy shit.” Genji whispered as he caught sight of what was underneath the files. I closed the case before he could see anything else. There were enclosed documents in this case about our mother that he wasn’t ready to face yet. Things I hadn’t been completely honest about…

“First, we need to locate two more members of the Black Lotus. Father had a debt to settle. It was one request I promised I would honor.” I explained, as I turned and handed the file to Genji before he passed it on.

“What did these men do?” Genji asked, turning back to me.

“I think they killed our mother.” I replied.

•

•

To be continued…

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Guys 😭😭😭😭 it’s overrrrrrrrrr….

For now ofcourse (;

I just want to thank everybody that picked up this story. Thank you so much for all the reads and comments. Y’all are just fureal the greatest ❤❤❤

I have posted yet another story to keep things rolling with the fairytale retellings. If you guys recall, a while back I started writing a Cinderella retelling, but I pulled the story because I wasn’t happy with it.

Well guess who revised the shit out of it 💁🏾

The first chapter has now been posted with this chapter, so here’s the synopsis for you… go ahead and check it out if it interests you (:

“The greatest risk any of us will take is to be seen as we are.”

                                                -Cinderella, Cinderella

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Jail time, community service, and… Dance lessons?

For 19 year old Alex, she did not foresee herself getting arrested for illegal street racing- or maybe she did, considering she’d been racing cars since the age of 15.

What she didn’t foresee was having to choose between jail time, and community service at a prestige ballet academy…

And what she most definitely didn’t foresee was falling in love with the CEO’s son.