The Liberal Assassin

"I'll start with the introductions. Titus Crowley. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

The manager's expression transformed into something that resembled prune fingers.

"There's nothing to introduce," he growled.

Those obsidian eyes were so icy that I felt a small sense of respect for Sable who remained unaffected by it. The pop idol merely giggled and patted his head telling him to be nice. The scene before me was too absurd. It was impossible for any negotiations to happen with Sable in the room. With heavy reluctance, I ushered Sable out of the room.

"I need some time to talk to Cass," I told her as I nodded at Nash who was waiting outside for the entire time I was treating Cass' injury. "Please don't take offence, Nash isn't a bad person. He'll tell you what you want to know about us."

"Promise you won't harm Cass?" Puppy like eyes met mine desperately.

The effect was immediate and I felt my insides turn to goo with those pleading eyes. I mentally slapped myself. Come on Titus! It's a trap, we've been through this before. I turned back and looked at the idol who didn't waver and felt my resolve waver a little. In the end, it took a stern glare from Nash for me to muster a smile, opting not to reply her question.

"I won't take him away from you," is all I managed to wheeze out with the blankest poker face before shutting the door in her face. I caught the proud look Nash gave me just before the door closed. That was all the encouragement I needed to face the mammoth task before me.

Of all the things that we prepared for, meeting the enemy's spy wasn't something we'd considered. What's the best course of action now? We don't have any information about him even with Khronos' help. It's like flying blind.

Sighing, I decided to fire in a random direction. If there was something Titus Crowley was an expert in, that would be people manipulation. Nobody else in Luna can read a person better than your truly.

"You know," I told the manager casually, keeping my shoulders slouched a little. "You're not the first person to be manipulated by Arvin."

He grunted with mock amus.e.m.e.nt and rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it."

Making myself comfortable on the empty bed beside, I smiled. The manager stiffened after realising his mistake. "I think I should tell you a story since we are going to be here for a while."

Cass looked like he wanted to retort but bit the words back and opted for ignoring me instead. It's a good sign for me either way. It just meant that he wasn't impossible to break. Hard, yes but not impossible.

"There was a boy who lived for eighteen years but slept for about a good fifty years. This boy grew up without parents and his guardian was someone he never saw."

That definitely got Cass' interest. I can see the question hanging over his head if I got my numbers right. That mocking look questioning my intellect nearly got to me but I had to remember it was part of the plan to get the man interested.

"This boy," I continued with a calm and controlled voice. "He was lonely and got up to mischief one day. He escaped the Academy to see the Slums and met an old man there who treated this boy like a son, teaching him everything he knew and more. Because of this old man, the boy met many people who became the family he didn't have. There was this woman who he thought of as an older sister or perhaps a mother."

Mia's face came to mind and to my horror I couldn't seem to remember what shade of blonde her hair was. Her eyes were blue but it was vague and her voice seemed so unfamiliar in my memory. Was I losing myself for good? My hands shook a little against my will and I crushed the fabric of my trousers, forcing them to still to no avail. The raven-haired man caught onto my distress when the pause dragged on for a little too long. Swallowing painfully, I continued telling the story.

"She disappeared one day and the old man searched everywhere known to man but she was never found. A few months later she was found and the news reported that she was dead. Her body was found somewhere in the wastelands in the Slums. Determined to find the truth about the murderers, the boy donned a mask and started probing in areas that are restricted. He found the truth but lacked the evidence to bring these murderers to justice."

Obsidian eyes never left me the whole time. I didn't expect to be the victim of this emotional tug of war but if Cass was a victim who could relate, the gamble might pay off. If this didn't work, I'll be forced to employ the next method of getting information. The truth serum was one handy drug but it wasn't a drug for controlling the will of another person. I could get the truth but not make him do things for me which could be troublesome. Getting rid of a body was easy, explaining to Sable about the disappearance of her favourite manager was not.

"So the boy wants to take down the great evil from the inside? It's foolish if you ask me. He should just move on with life and pretend he doesn't know anything."

It wasn't quite the conclusion I expected him to arrive at but it was good enough. I could work with condescending, it's better than disbelief.

"Would you be able to do that if someone had Sable r.a.p.ed and killed then dumped in an unknown land to be forgotten?"

The question was simple but it triggered a huge reaction. There was no need for a verbal response. We both knew where his weak spot was, there was no hiding it. If I got the result I wanted, it doesn't matter how I got it. I'll hit from blind spots and in the moment of my enemy's weakness because I'm an assassin. There's no glory in the job and I won't pretend that there is any.

"You can't leave her. If you do, you'll lose her. That's the truth. Is this what you really want? Why didn't Arvin take his only daughter with him into hiding if he knew there was a killer on the loose? Does he care about her at all?"

I waited for a reply, a retort or some form of response but received none. The man had gone back into his shell, true to his stubborn nature.

If the push didn't work, how about the pull? Putting on my human and vulnerable front, I relaxed my posture into one that puts me at a disadvantage and got close to him.

"Sable doesn't consider him her father. She considers you to be more of a father than he will ever be. Doesn't that mean something to you? If you truly cared for her, won't you protect her from her enemies?"

The obsidian eyes flashed with something and a feral grin grew on Cass' face. "I agree. You're the first to go!"