xxand with the black banners raised
xxand the crooked smiles fade
xxformer heroes who quit too late
xxwho just want to fill up the trophy case
He wasnāt enough of an idiot to follow Markusā trail exactly. That could raise attention they didnāt need. Instead, he made his own way to the tattoo studio and hung around until he saw Markus leaving, looking a little disgruntled. He was starting to think that heād just been paranoid, that the events of the past few days had gotten to him. And then he saw them. A group of figures, hanging closely behind Markus. Lucian began to tail them. And when they started to get too closeā¦ Lucian struck. The first one was on the ground before heād even realised heād been stabbed. The second managed to begin to throw a punch, but Lucian easily dodged, his knife plunging into his stomach. The next managed to draw a gun, managed to fire off a shot, but it missed Luc, who knocked the gun out of his hand and slashed the man across the face, before slamming the man back into the wall. āYou tell me what you know, or you die,ā he hissed, the knife against the manās jugular. He could see the man swallow, see the man try to decide which he valued more- his employer or his life.
āTheyāve been watching you. Watching both of your apartments, any time you leave weāve been ordered to tail you and try and attack you. Capture is preferable but if you put up too much of a fight or draw too much attention, weāre just to kill you. Please, donāt, I never-ā
āWhoās employing you?ā Lucian asked, pressing his knife a little harder to get the manās attention and stop the pleading. Again, Lucian could see him trying to make that decision all over again. And again, he gave Luc what he wanted, telling Lucian the name heād already been expecting. āGood.ā And then in a swift movement, he plunged the knife in the other hand into the manās gut, stepping away and turning to Markus. āAre you okay?ā He asked, but didnāt wait for an answer before he started cleaning up the mess. This was an easy clean up, easy to pass off as a fight gone wrong. He wiped down the knives with his sleeves, kicking it across the ground to make it look like it had been dropped, before pressing one of the gruntsā handās against it, doing the same with the other. He never liked leaving his knives behind, but sometimes, it was necessary to cover his tracks. Once he was happy, he straightened back up.
āListen to me. We only have a matter of time before they realise weāre not being followed. I have somewhere we can stay until we get a concrete plan in place. Iāll send you the address. Go home, get enough clothes and supplies for a few days, bring our laptops, anything else you think we might need. We probably only have a few hours. Iāll meet you there.ā
Luc turned and left again, heading back to his own apartment. He knew it was a risk, knew they could be waiting for him. So he was cautious when he got back to his apartment and it was empty. He shoved some clothes into a bag with a few more weapons, as well as supplies for making their suits. He didnāt know how long theyād be gone, but he wasnāt coming back here if he could avoid it.
His bag packed, he left the apartment, keeping his head down, sending the address to Markus as he walked. Heād been renting out this apartment for a while, just to have in case things went south. He paid cash, and in return, the landlord kept a fake name and details on record. It was in a rougher part of town, but it did the job. As he got in, though, he suddenly realised that it wasā¦ considerably smaller than both his and Markusā apartments, only really meant for one person at a time, and not really furnished for comfort. It wasnāt ideal, but it would do for a few days. It would have to.