Inspired by eagle strike (part 1)

(The Amazon Jungle…)
It had taken them about five days to make the journey, through the dense jungle, at times having to fight to get though the air, which hung heavy and moist. They were surrounded by trees as tall as skyscrapers, light barely got through the vast canopy of leaves. So far they were lucky, their only enemies so far had been the stinging ants, mosquitoes, leeches, and the scorpion that they spotted and killed in time. The poisonous snakes had left them alone, and the rivers they crossed were free of piranhas. So far, the jungle had allowed then to live.
They were traveling light now; the heaviest thing they had was the rifle with sniper scope that they were going to use to kill the man who had made his home in this desolate place, about one hundred miles south away from human life in Peru.
The two knew the man’s name that they were going to kill, as well as they knew each other’s, but they never used then, as part of their training. The younger, female one was named Red. She was an American, although she spoke Spanish, French, Japanese and German fluently. The other one was male, and just a year older. He had chosen the name Hunter. They were dressed in khaki, faces painted green with brown lines.
I In front of them stood a clearing, apparently man made, separated from the wilderness by the thirty or so foot fence. An elegant, very out of place, house stood on the other side of them, patrolled by about a dozen guards. But they were lazy, shuffling around and not paying attention. They were in the middle of the jungle, so they had the assumption they were safe.
The man that they were supposed to kill was bad. He was a drug dealer, exporting massive amounts of cocaine to the U.S. He also was head of a vicious gang in Peru, killing anyone who got in his way. But this wasn’t the reason that Red and Hunter were out here. The reason-or excuse rather- was simple. They were paid.
Red glanced at her watch. It was a quarter to eight. They were told that the man had an appointment around this time and was very punctual. His transportation vehicle – a helicopter stood on the ground before the house. She loaded a single shot; it was all that she would need. Hunter had taken out his field glasses and was scanning the area. He had a feeling as if someone was tapping him. He wondered if was Red, but she was a short distance away, with the gun. And then he saw it.
A huge hairy tarantula was climbing up him, and had settled on his neck. Hunter was frozen to the spot. Not only was the spider deadly, he also secretly had arachnophobia. He stood unnaturally still. Red noticed, and took a step closer to him, so that he was separating her from the fence. She saw the spider. Under other circumstances she would have taken the tip of the gun and brushed the spider off, but their target was coming out of the house, and this was her only chance. If she procrastinated any longer, the target would be safely in the helicopter. She swept up the gun, aimed and fired. The bullet flashed past Hunter, cutting a line in his neck, taking the spider with it. The bullet continued past the fence, and straight into the man’s chest, killing him instantly. The two made a break for it, leaving the guards in confusion. It was hours before they could catch their breath.
“You saved my life.” Hunter said.
Red grinned. “That’s profound, to take and save a life at the same time. Makes you appreciate the power of a bullet, don’t it?”
Hunter would have that scar for the rest of his life, which wasn’t a long time. The life of a personal assassin is very short. They would both likely die, at another time, another place on another mission. But right now it wasn’t important. They had done their job. Cutting though the jungle, they reflected in silence on what happened.


(London, England)
“You know, back home I would have killed for a balcony like this.” Red said to Hunter. It was a gray rainy day in London, and Red was curled up on the sofa on the balcony, listening to the rain fall, and stroking their caregiver Annabeth’s cat, Sparky.
Hunter sat next to her. “Really?”
“Yeah. In the summer though, I would sit on the fire escape, and that’s as close as I got to have a balcony.”
Hunter laughed. “I can see you doing that too.”
“A lot of people do that in the summer in my old neighborhood.” Red replied. She sighed a bit. “I hate it here.”
“What do you hate about it?”
“Everything.”
“Don’t be too specific.”
Red laughed. “Alright, I’d be okay with living in London if Annabeth wasn’t here. She always gets on my nerves.”
“Were you allowed to complain so much in the CIA?”
“Why do you think I’m doing this instead?” she replied, jokingly.
“Good point.” They laughed. “You know I always wonder how you got the job in the first place.”
“What, the CIA or becoming an assassin?”
“The CIA.” Hunter replied.
“Oh. Well, think about it, would you suspect a fifteen year old girl of being capable of doing anything?”
“Before I knew you, no.”
“Aw, that’s sweet. But that’s one of the reasons I got the job. As you know from experience, no one pays attention to teenagers until it’s too late.”
“Do you miss your partner?”
“Lee? Not really, now that I think about it. I guess I’ve gotten used to being an assassin. But we did have some fun times though. I’m telling you, being an undercover CIA agent gave me a real adrenaline rush sometimes.”
“So why did you quit?”
“I guess I got bored with it.” Red replied. I wish my reason was only that simple. The real reason for Red leaving the CIA wasn’t because of boredom or something menial like that. It was because of something Red hated to admit, even to herself – it was because she was afraid. But it was also good in a way – it gave her distance from what she did. When Red killed, she felt no remorse. Not only because she was getting paid, but because her heart wasn’t in it. When she was stalking a target, about to kill him/her in some carefully thought out and swift way, something inside her – something like instinct- took over her, and she just did what she had to do. “What caused you become an assassin?”
“Too many spy movies as a kid.” Hunter joked.
Red laughed. “That’s the other reason I’m here. No seriously though, why?”
“It’s the ultimate thrill Red. Traveling all over the world, getting paid to kill, and then leaving the authorities speechless. Sure, I once wanted to join MI6, the CIA, but it wasn’t for me.” He looked off into space, absentmindedly scratching Sparky behind the ears. “I’ve always had a dislike for cops… and besides, you can’t play by your own rules. You always have to do what your boss says, there’s always some rule holding you back from doing what you need to do to get the job done.” Hunter too, had a different reason for becoming an assassin. As a child, his father too was an assassin, killed by the CIA. Hunter, at the time was applying for MI6, but as soon as he found out the truth, he shredded the application and a few years later, was a personal assassin.
“I once said that to you Hunter and you know what you told me?”
“What?” he asked, trying to remember the conversation.
“You said, and I quote exactly, ‘Life is full of rules, some are just unwritten.’”
Hunter laughed a bit. “Do I always sound so profound?”
“Do you really want an answer?” Red replied, smirking.
“Now I know another reason you became an assassin – rudeness to you elder and your partner. As far as I know, that’s a no-no in the CIA.”
“Shut up.” Red said, but she was laughing. “You aren’t that much older than I am.”
“A year can make all the difference in one’s life, young one.”
“I’ll write that one down.”


“Where are you going now?” Annabeth asked Red, who was tying her shoelaces. “Did you finish your chores?”
“Evidently, otherwise I wouldn’t be getting ready to go out.” Red replied, in a sarcastic voice.
“Now don’t you sass me, young lady.” Annabeth scolded.
Red rolled her eyes, grabbed her keys and a jacket, and opened the door.
“Don’t slam the door behind you.” Annabeth said. Red spitefully did exactly the opposite.
Meanwhile, a young man, in his twenties, was walking back to his house. This was no ordinary man however. He carried a gun in one pocket and a badge in another. He was on vacation, but was always on the lookout for the girl with red streaks in her black hair….his partner, Akane. He hadn’t seen her since their last case together…He remembered it like it was yesterday, their last case…It had happened in Tokyo, they were chasing yakuza. And the death threat…He couldn’t forget that…At the time, Akane and he didn’t think anything of it, because of the fact that it happened all the time. But this guy, he was different. They weren’t expecting it either, the attack. One minute they were just going over their next case in their local coffee shop, and the next thing they knew, they were chased all over D.C., getting shot at. That was the last time I saw her…
Red was still pissed off. Annabeth always manages to put me into a bad mood…She accidentally bumped into this man. “Sorry.” she muttered, in her American accent.
“Its okay.” he replied, stunned. He watched the girl as she continued to walk down the street. Something about her was familiar. He followed her.
Red realized that she was being followed. She had recognized the Lee immediately, and wondered if he recognized her. She no longer had the red streaks in her hair, and her dark brown eyes were now green, but she still had a feeling he knew who she was.How could he not, after all we’ve been through? She wanted to run, but she knew that that would set off the alarm bells. She would just play it cool, and walk through the crowd normally.
“Excuse me, but what time is it?” Lee said, catching up with her.
“I don’t have a watch. Sorry. ” Red replied, in a British accent, walking away.
“Have I seen you somewhere before?” Lee asked her, hoping that the way she would respond would give something away.
He had no such luck. “You might have. I frequent this area a lot.” Red replied, in innocent, naive voice.
“How old are you?”
“Why are you asking all these questions?” Red asked, starting to get annoyed.
Lee reached into his pocket and showed her a badge.
Red raised her eyebrows, not impressed. “How do I know that’s real? What if you’re just some rapist with a fake badge trying to get me to come with you so you can tie me up and throw me in some car?”
Lee sighed, flustered. This girl was definitely not Akane. Akane didn’t have an overactive imagination, and couldn’t be so naïve, not even if she tried. “If I was a rapist, I would have already grabbed you. Look, I work for the CIA okay? I just want to ask you some questions.”
Red considered her options. She could tell that she had Lee almost fooled, but if she refused, then he would know that she had something to hide. However, on the other hand, she knew questions could also be deadly. She had to craft a tightly woven lie. Any gaps and it gives everything away. Lee had taught her that, and Red found it ironic, how she was using what she had learned from him, against him. “Okay. Ask away.”



(A week later…)
Hunter knocked on Red’s bedroom door.
“Come in.” he heard her say. He opened her bedroom door, and found her lying on her bed, doing something on her laptop.
“We have a new target.” he said, sitting on the edge of her bed.
“It’s about time. Where are we going?”
“Tokyo.” Hunter replied.
“Yakuza, huh?”
“Well, we’re going to Tokyo. What do you think?”
“Assumptions can be deadly.” Red replied. “You of all people should know that.”
Hunter shrugged off her comment, which had a hint of sarcasm. “What are you doing?”
“I’m writing a love letter to you. It’s supposed to be a secret.” Red teased.
“Very funny.”
“No really,” Red said, opening a Word document. “Do you want to see?” she asked, typing.
“You aren’t serious.”
Red sat up to show him. Hunter read it aloud.
“My dearest Hunter,” he started. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think you’re hot and I love you. Love, Red.” He laughed. “You’re very articulate in your writing, I see.”
“Give me a break. It’s the best I could come up with in two seconds okay?”
Hunter laughed.
“This is what I’m really working on, though.” Red said. “I managed to hack into the CIA’s computers, and now I’m looking through recent assignments.”
“So you’re checking if Lee was assigned to find you here?”
“Yep. I doubt it though, but I want to check, just to be safe.”
“You mean you want to check, just in case you have an excuse for not living here with Annabeth.” Hunter joked.
Red laughed. “No comment on that one.”


(Tokyo, Japan)
“What’s wrong?” Hunter asked. He could tell that Red was anxious, which was unusual for her. She shook her head, and bit on her thumbnail. They were waiting in Ueno Park, a perfect place where they could blend in as ordinary tourists.
In the meantime, Red tried to relax. Many people came here to get away from the hustle of Tokyo, but not even the fresh air, sound of running water, or the shade of the cherry blossom trees could do anything to calm Red’s nerves.
A shadow fell over the two. “Konnichiwa.” they heard a deep voice say.
“Konnichiwa.” they replied.
“I didn’t know you would be children…” he said, trailing off.
Yeah, we get that a lot. Red was uneasy. She didn’t like working for yakuza, not after her experience with them. They’re the reason I’m doing this in the first place.
“What is our assignment?” she asked, in Japanese.
“In here.” he replied, handing her a guidebook. “My name is Yamato.”
Red shuddered as she took the so-called guidebook from Yamato. She had seen the missing fingertip. However, she knew that this man was a rookie with dealing with assassins. One, he had requested to meet them in person. Although the location was perfect, since they blended in well, it would seem out of place to a local to see yakuza dealing with tourists. Usually, Red and Hunter would have a “drop point” where they would pick up the information from either a different individual or it would be concealed in a place which ordinary people would overlook. Sometimes, the “drop point” would be in cyberspace. One person would set up an E-mail account, type the information in an e-mail and save it as a draft, and then Red and Hunter would be able to view it. The second thing he did was give them his name. In this business, as Red knew so well, your real identity must be hidden at all costs.
“Are there any special instructions?” Hunter asked. He also wondered about why they were meeting face to face.
“No,” Yamato responded, “It’s all in there. I should be going now.”
At least he knows when to make an exit. Hunter thought. There was a policeman eyeing them warily.The cop’s probably wondering what yakuza would want with us.
Yamato left, and so did Red and Hunter, but in opposite directions.

(In an internet café)
When Red and Hunter had opened the guidebook, all they found was a CD and the directions to the internet café they were sitting in.
“I wonder what this is all about…” Red said, putting the CD in the drive. She and Hunter each put on a pair of headphones. Expecting only a text document, the two were surprised to see that there was actually a clip of something. Clicking on it, Red quipped, “Damn, I forgot the popcorn.”
Hunter laughed, but suddenly stopped. The two winced as they heard a high pitched sound. Red turned down the volume. The clip was dark and grainy; all you could make out was the silhouette of the person.
“This is not your usual assassination,” the male voice said. “So you’re going to need to pay close attention, as this can be only viewed once.”
Red and Hunter shared a skeptical look, and the man continued.
“I am the Kumicho. This assassination deals with more than one person, so you’re not going to have much time. Your first target is named Daiki Tanaka. This is his location.” A picture of a map was shown, and Hunter wrote down the directions. “You have four hours. After you are done, wait in front of the New Tokyo International Airport. Someone should be there to meet you. Sayonara, for now.”
Red rolled her eyes a bit and clicked on the text document. “Sayonara, for now?” Are you kidding me? Red and Hunter read the information, with a hint of boredom. This was nothing new to them, except they had more restricted time limit.
“He’s deadly allergic to peanuts.” Hunter said. “That gives me a great idea.”
Red looked at him, and then she understood. “You’re so smart, Hunter.” she joked.
“I know.” he replied, and Red laughed.


(Daiki Tanaka apartment…)
Mr. Tanaka entered his apartment. He had a long day, and he was tired. He entered his kitchen, and poured himself a glass of water. Drinking it, he noted that it had a salty taste. He poured another glass and tasted it again. There was definitely something funny about this. Then he starting having the sensation of something stuck in his throat. He starting having trouble breathing, and then he realized he was having an allergic reaction to something. He looked for his EpiPen, which he usually kept on the kitchen counter, but it was missing. He tried to make it over to the phone to call for help, but the phone line was plugged out. After a few more minutes, he fell to the floor, lifeless.
Hunter, not hearing anything, signaled to Red that everything was all clear. She walked into the kitchen, and felt for a pulse.
“Anything?” Hunter asked.
Red shook her head, and plugged in the phone line. She didn’t want anything to look overly suspicious. They walked outside the apartment, closing the door behind them.
Outside, as Hunter hailed a taxi, Red threw the EpiPen in the garbage.


(C.I.A. Headquarters)
“Welcome back Lee.”
Lee rolled his eyes a bit and laughed. “I have a case, don’t I Chief?”
The man nodded. He liked Lee. He was a good agent, and always had a sense of humor. Handing Lee a file folder, he said, “This is one that should keep you busy for a while.”
“Hey,” Lee said, half joking as he took the folder, “It’s what I signed up for.”


(New Tokyo International Airport)
Red and Hunter waited outside the airport.
“It would be nice if he told us who we were waiting for.” Hunter said.
Red looked around, and noticed a woman studying them intently. “I think I know.”
The woman was Japanese, wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase. She walked over to the two.
“Konnichiwa,” she said. “I was unsure that you were the children that I was supposed to be looking for.” Handing them both tickets, she said, “Your flight leaves in an hour. When you get to the airport, call this number and someone will tell you what to do.” She gave Hunter a piece of paper with the number, which he put in his pocket.
“Is that all?” Red asked, looking at her ticket for the destination. The lady nodded, and walked away, disappearing into the crowd.
“How rude of her,” Red joked, “leaving without even saying ‘Sayonara’. Anyway, my dear Hunter, are you ready to go to France? I hear it’s very romantic there.”
Hunter laughed at her teasing. “What would you know about that?”
“I’m a girl,” she said, winking, “so I would know a little something. C’mon, let’s go.”


(Daiki Tanaka apartment…)
Lee looked around the crime scene. He figured the man was poisoned, because there was no forced entry into the apartment. Also, there was no sign that the man was shot, stabbed or hurt in any physical manner. Although he would have to wait for an autopsy to confirm his theory, Lee still looked around the crime scene. This is weird…if Mr. Tanaka was poisoned…what did he eat? Then it hit him – the water pitcher! There had to be something in the water that he drank…but what?
“Can I see the glass that Mr. Tanaka was drinking out of?” Lee asked one of the CSI’s. He nodded, and handed Lee a pair of latex gloves. Lee picked up the glass, and looked inside, and saw that there was something in the water.What could this be?

((end of part one...read part two!))