Penance #6 - The Long Dark Night

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Edited By ImpurestCheese

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Hans watched as his prey swung forwards, her hands grabbing the remains of the anchor points that the ladder had been attached to. Shifting slightly he fired down as his foe climbed up the makeshift steps, the bolt slashing past the inside palm of her left hand before bouncing off the wall. Backing away from the edge, he pulled down the stirrup on his crossbow and loaded a bolt, before levelling the weapon at the area where the ladder had been. Waiting for a few seconds he suddenly spun round to his right, just as a needle thing bolt from a hand bow impacted with his flank, the fragile projectile splintering off the additional padding in his jacket.

"You're fast, I will admit." Hans stated, as he fired his own far heavier bolt back towards his attacker before putting the weapon down and removing a large curved dagger a leg mounted sheath, the black blade glinting slightly under the excessive light pollution shining from the city streets around the warehouse. Silently stalking to the shooters location behind a bulk roof mounted air conditioner Hans removed the bolt he had fired from the device, before turning to scan the darkened roof top. "And you know a lot about hiding in the dark. You are a skilled hunter but so am I." He stated as he reluctantly pulled a pair of night vision goggles over his head, the darkness tinting green, as did the figure on the other side of the roof peering desperately into the darkness.

Silently cursing the fact that he'd dropped his crossbow Hans kicked part of the roof, the sound causing the Ghost to look in that direction as he closed in on her position. Reaching halfway he stopped, as the Ghost moved quietly away from the disturbance and towards him, her head pivoting as she tried in vain to find her opponent. Getting ever closer she was unaware of Hans's location until she stopped twenty meters away and suddenly bolted back the way she had come, the sound of her feet pounding against the metal roof joined by the sound of Hans as he chased after her. Darting round the edge of an elevated section the Ghost spun around and fired, the bolt released from the hand bow slamming into the right eyepiece of Hans's goggles as he caught up with her.

"Clever, you must have seen the glow from my goggles." Hans stated as he lunged forward with his dagger, the blade cutting through the drawstring of the hand bow as his foe raised the weapon to block the blow before responding with an open handed punch to the neck. Reeling backwards from the sharp blow, Hans grabbed the Ghost's outstretched arm and pulled her forward with one arm and stabbing the dagger down into her shoulder, the heavy hood she wore reducing the blade's damage, albeit only slightly, with blood still pooling out from the wound. "It was the glint from the goggles wasn't it?" He asked, as the Ghost aimed a kick to his groin, the sudden shock forcing him to release her enough for her to escape, albeit not far enough as Hans recovered swiftly, his knife cutting through the back of the hood but just missing the flesh underneath.

"Your death doesn't have to be tonight you know!" Hans called, as the Ghost staggered round the other side of the elevated section of roof. "The Lord of the Hunt would value your skills, and nurture them until their predatory potential reaches their zenith." He added, as he headed round the opposite way to the Ghost's position, his hands turning the remaining lens of his night vision goggles off. "You would make a fine huntress." He added, as he reached the other side just as the Ghost swung for him, the blow knocking the knife out of his hands. "It's a fair offer!" He grunted as he grabbed the Ghost with both hands and threw her down onto the roof. "What do you say, shall I call off the contract and save your life?"

The Ghost's reply was non-verbal, but rather came in the response of a sharp kick to the shins, followed by an awkward hand-flip to a crouching position. Aiming a kick of his own Hans lashed out, only for the Ghost to slip under the blow and try and rip his belt quiver, the crossbow contained inside spilling all over the roof. With a grunt of anguish, Hans slammed a two handed hammer blow into the Ghost's injured shoulder. Silently, the Ghost retaliated, her teeth wrapping round his wrist in a brutal attempt to turn the table on her opponent, the bite achieving nothing but a knee to the lower abdomen.

"My offer still stands." Hans announced, as he let the Ghost struggle to her feet, her hands clenched round one of the dropped heavy crossbow bolts. Silently she sprung forward, only to be knocked down by a blow, the bolt cutting a swathe of Hans's trousers open as she fell. "So be it, just remember I gave you a way out." Hans sighed ashes placed his boot on her the Ghost's chest, his hand reaching for anything that he could use for a decisive final strike. As he searched, his pinned foe made one last desperate attack, this time with one of her own bolts, the needle thin projectile stabbing into the opening she'd just created, the black tip digging into the flesh. With a roar of pain Hans removed his boot and went to slam it down, his opponent rolling out of the way. As the boot impacted with the ground Hans felt the muscles quiver, and staggered forward as the Ghost got to her feet and aimed a snap kick to his back, the blow sending him crashing to the floor.

"Tranquiliser on the arrow head." He groaned, as he went to push himself up off the ground, only for his weakened arm muscles to collapse under his own weight. "Like I said, you'd make a good...huntress." He groaned before resting his head on the rooftop, his eyes watching as the Ghost limped back into the shadows until the lids became too heavy and he fell asleep.

**

Detective Clarissa Loach walked down the stairs to the morgue where Ifan was watching Doctor Landau remove a scalpel from the neck of the dead body, the blade covered in congealed blood.

"The Commissioner told me that you were down here." She said, as Landau placed the scalpel into an evidence bag resting on the table next to him. "What happened?"

"An ambulance was found abandoned in the early hours of the morning." Ifan replied, as Doctor Landau walked over to the next body, the man's face supporting a nasty electrical burn. "Two paramedics and the driver were murdered, sometime earlier, Doc thinks that it may have been as early as yesterday evening. There was a fourth man riding in the ambulance too."

"How could you know that?" Clarissa asked, as Trisha filled out an evidence inventory form for the bagged scalpel before removing a label from a large roll and sticking it to the bag.

"Because I put him in it Clarissa." Ifan answered, his calm face a mask covering the anger beneath it. "We were idiots thinking that the Circle of Sin was physically capable of overpowering their victims. Maybe when they started Beckett and Logan could have just about overpowered their victims, but considering their age, it's more likely that they had a pair of more able bodied hands working for them."

"The Soldier of Faith that Father Dominguez mentioned in the interview?" Clarissa asked, as Landau checked the labelling and paper work of the evidence bags. "I read the transcript while Larkin was talking to those two about the attack yesterday." She added, as Landau hobbled over to them.

"There was no way for you to know that this injured man was a killer." Clarissa told him. "And you got a good look at him as well as some photographs. That means there is plenty of evidence for a BOLO." She added, as she placed a bandaged hand on his shoulder. "We may not catch them today but he know knows that we're looking for him, and that limits where he can hide."

"What happened to your hand?" Trisha asked, as she walked past, her hands full of evidence bags.

"I broke a wine glass." Clarissa answered as she shot the ME's Assistant an annoyed look, before glancing briefly at her hand. "Considering what else is going on it's not a worry, I sterilized the wound and removed the shards sticking out of it so it should be fine." She added, before taking her hand off his shoulder. "At least I hope so."

**

El Aquila took a puff from his e-cigarette as he sat by the pool watching one of his men drown in the very water his feet were dipped in. In hindsight his order for the former bodyguard to terminate Hans when he returned to the maisonette, regardless of whether he had killed the Ghost or not, have been a rash one.

"So I assume you had a bad evening?” Aquila stated as he breathed a puff of blueberry scented smoke out of his nose. "I had a pretty good one." He added as Hans dropped the man he had been holding and stalked around the pool towards where his employer was sitting.

"Tell why I don't kill you?" Hans hissed as he pulled a dagger from his leg sheath and held it to his throat.

"She can answer that." Aquila stated as he pointed a finger to a woman wearing a roman dress, a compound bow and quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder, standing silently in the atrium staring out at the pool. "Your Master was very interested when I told him about what was going on in the city. Interested enough to send her to access the situation."

"You..." Hans snarled as he released El Aquila. "You will pay for bringing Toxetes here, just to bring me to heel."

"I'm just protecting my interests." El Aquila purred. "I am hours away from completing a deal that will flood this city with undetectable narcotics, did you honestly think I'd let some reject from the Dark Ages ruin all that? I have planned my take over down to the smallest detail, so do your job and kill the Ghost when I tell you! And remember, should you fail again," He stated in a cold voice, "it won't be me you'll have to answer to!"

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@cbishop: Final part of Arc 1, as promised

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#4  Edited By FicOPedia

This info has been moved. Happy reading! :)