Waking up, Qin Rong felt strange, like he was there but not. He struggled to open his eyes but only found himself staring into a misty void. Where was he? Thinking back, he realized the truth fairly quick.
He died.
Trying to recall how, he looked back on how his last day had started. It all began in that damn taxi, didn't it.
***
"Where to, sir?" The taxi driver asked, looking back at the man in his back seat. It was a Asian guy, a rare sight in country K. He was pretty like the few he'd seen on TV but less soft. He looked cold as ice.
Staring down at his phone, Qin Rong was still trying to find a signal. Country K had terrible reception at times and his data plan could only manage so much interference. Still, he had places to be so he just handed the driver a piece of paper, acting like he couldn't understand him. The older man bought it, muttering something about 'dumb tourists' and the like. Qin Rong couldn't help but agree. Tourist were dumb.
They trusted the word of folks clearly out for their money, went to the publicly advertised places rather than the local joints that served way better food for a better price and went to events that even locals never went to cause it was too much of a hassle. They clogged up streets and made life so much harder since they rarely knew how to travel without their eyes glued to google maps.
(AN: Bask in my inner New Yorker pet peeves.)
Luckily, Qin Rong was by no means, a tourist. He wasn't local but he knew the streets of country K better than those born an raised in its borders. This day, he had business to get to. And the first part was to get to his meeting place, on time.
Trouble was, everything that could go wrong, did. His flight got delayed several times, his bags got mixed up with some other peoples and it took him over an hour to get a taxi. He didn't even understand why. Country K was not a summer getaway for anyone. Who the fuck was coming here!?
Huffing, the young man looked around, checking his mental map to make sure he was on the right path to the meeting spot. His client had wanted him to go to some ritzy hotel. That was pretty normal. Most of his clients were super rich and had their secretaries or whatever pass the mission on in person. Folks were smarter now and phones could be tapped.
Looking around, however, he noticed he was not where he should be. In fact, his driver seemed to have driven him into a bad neighborhood. From the darkened alleyways, he could spot a few eager faces, waiting for fresh meat.
Keeping his head down, Qin Rong looked up to see the driver leering at him from the mirror. He was on the phone, talking to someone about 'picking up another one' and 'how much he could get off an Asian'.
Qin Rong quietly sighed, more annoyed than anything. He really didn't have time for this! He was already running late and he didn't want to have to deal with this. Still, it'd be for the best to take care of things now rather than let this slime ball continue. He quietly undid his seat belt, watching the man continue to watch the road.
Pretending to stretch his body, he reached into his shirt for a weapon. The driver was too distracted by the brief flash of skin his action provided to notice wire pulled from his clothes. Before he could notice, Qin Rong wrapped the wire around his neck and pulled, pinning him to the head rest.
As expected, the driver tried to fight him off, using his fingers to claw at his neck and try and free himself. With the car now driving without any direction, the young man quickly pulled back, the fine wire slicing the man's neck and leaving him to bleed out.
Not waiting for the car to crash, Qin Rong kicked open the car door and rolled onto the street. Soon after he recovered, he heard a loud crash. He didn't have to look to know what it was. Still, it was best to make sure.
Looking over the scene, the car was wrapped around a phone pole and slowly catching flame. Their eager and wary eyes watching him drifted away, now seeing him as not worth the trouble. With the unspoken treaty in place, Qin Rong strolled down the street eager to get to his appointment.
"Ugh.. I hate this..." He grumbled, striding down the street.
***
When he finally did arrive at his destination, the sun had just began to set. Obviously, he could have caught another cab rather than walking but he didn't have anymore money to use. He was low on funds and if he had the cash, he wouldn't have needed this job in the first place.
"God, please make it a interesting job or I might just go and get a normal job." He grumbled, walking in to the 5 star hotel. As one could expect, a 20-something dressed in shorts and a slightly singed Hawaiian shirt did catch some stares but a single cold glare at those bastards got them to mind their damn business.
"Tch." He walked to the desk, not expecting the receptionist to address him at all. "Hey, I need to-"
"I'm sorry, sir, but are you lost?" Before the receptionist could open her mouth, another man interrupted her. The man was well dressed, as was everyone and his tagged named him the manager. "If you'd like, I can direct you to the right hotel."
"This is K City hotel, right?" He asked, his eyes on the receptionist rather than the manager. She looked a bit troubled, probably unsure if she should answer or not.
"Indeed, it is, sir." The manager replied, his tone tight and restrained so as not to snap at the rude young man. "So as I said, if you're lost I can-"
"Then I'm right where I need to be." He replied, cocking a hip. He really didn't have time for this. He was already late as it was.
The two stared at one another, the manager clearly feigning understanding and Qin Rong blatantly annoyed. Like an entitled teen, he leaned on the counter and address the receptionist, who nervous say between them.
"You mind calling up a Mr Coyote?" He asked, ignoring the fuming manager. "He's expecting me."
Having had enough of this farce, the manager stood up straight, opening his mouth to demand the young man leave or else he'd call security.
Before the first threat could be spoken, a voice rang out.
"Imp, is that you?!" All three people turned to the new faces, each showing a different expression.
The receptionist was awestruck, her heart racing and her face red at the sight of this gorgeous men. Surely, they must be some kind of movie star or model!
The manager was pale faced and panicked, feeling his life was over. This man was THE Mr Stark, one of their VIPS. He came to only the best hotels and his endorsement propelled a business into stardom or tore them down until there was nothing left.
And he'd disrespected a possible friend of his.
Qin Rong on the other hand looked pissed off. Stepping forward, Qin Rong grabbed the second man by the collar and glared up at him.
"What the hell, Coyote!" He snarled, looking livid. "Don't use that name in front of others!" He scolded, earning only a confident smirk from the man. Coyote, an american with a cocky attitude, showed no shame as he swatted Qin Rong's hand away.
"No need to get all pissy, Imp." He retorted, moving past him. "Boss man pays for discretion. I doubt anyone will think anything of your little moniker." He finished with a smirk.
Without a word, Qin Rong flipped him the bird and walked behind him, letting the asshole lead him to their room. All the while, Mr Stark spoke to the manager and receptionist. Whatever was said seemed to get them to let the matter go and go on about their business.
Soon all three of them stood in the elevator, the faint music being the only reprieve from the deafening silence. Mr stark was looking down at his phone, probably letting the others know he'd finally arrived while Coyote just smirked to himself, probably daydreaming about something stupid.
All the while, Qin Rong stewed in his own misery, cursing these men and all their ancestors.
Why were they so damn tall!? He inwardly raged as he stood between them, his head only reaching on of the men's shoulders. As expected by his codename, Imp, he was generally smaller than most men. It was fine at home since most of his coworkers were women whose height was about the same as his but as soon as he left, he was surrounded by god damn giants.
If I ever get another chance at life, I'd better be taller than I am now! He thought, scowling deeply.
From what little he'd been told, he'd figured he'd be working with 2 people he'd met before. Coyote was one, a westerner who loved to make fun of him due to his height but quickly shut his mouth when a blade was pressed against his balls.
They'd worked together twice before and each time, Qin Rong wanted to kill him. He was loud and annoying but too damn good at his job to just kill him outright. His strength made up for all of Qin Rong's weaknesses.
They were, after all, mercenaries so a wide variety of skill sets was needed for any given mission. Whether it was assassinations, retrieval or sabotage, Qin Rong had had his hand in something bloody. The amount of blood on his hands could fill most lakes.
All this is a short (not short) cute (absolutely not cute!) oriental man of only 27 years of age.
Arriving on their floor, Qin Rong was curious as to who his second partner would be. Would it be Salamander, the weapons expert? Or maybe it was Cobra, the poison master what still owed him $20?
Yet what greeted them was a face that might topple countries if it wasn't for everything that ever left her lips.
"Well well well, look what Coyote found." The beautiful redhead teased, cocking a brow. He clothes were high class, the very opposite of Qin Rong's hoodie and jeans. Her waist and hips curved in just the right way, encouraging men of all ages to embrace her and hold her tight. "Our long lost Imp."
Qin Rong, however, saw through all the charm and beauty and knew her to be a major, unrelenting bitch. She was also a well known hacker, codename: Phish, for her skills at breaking into systems like one logs into their computer. As her fingers danced over a keyboard, the world opened up before her, revealing all their secrets.
"...Fish, I see you haven't…" He looked her up and down, his face showing distaste. She still was too… much for him to deal with so she was definitely not his type. "Changed. Still can't get a date? Or even a fuck buddy?"
"Fuck you!" She snapped, stomping her foot. It was a well known fact that despite her looks, she rarely kept up a relationship for long enough to tell anyone about it. The last time they worked together, she'd mentioned that she had just began dating someone after 2 previous breakups.
The time before that, it was only a couple weeks.
"Yeah, sorry, I'm not that desperate." He retorted, walking past her. They were about the same height but her heels made her just a bit over his head.
"You!" She screeched, glaring at the back of his head as he entered the hotel room.
Children, behave yourselves. You are supposed to be professionals, not bickering infants.
"I was behaving myself." Coyote interjected, shamelessly raising his hand like a teachers pet. Mr Stark silently stared back before the man's hand went down. "Sorry."
"Now about your mission." Mr Stark started, walking around the large table moved to the center of the room. It had a single paper roll on it. It unfurled to reveal the blueprints of a large facility. He turned out the lights, letting the single table lamp illuminate the room. His eyes remained hidden behind his glasses as he spoke. "It's simply this: You are to enter this facility, kill the target and retrieve the item. Any questions?"
"Are we doing this one at a time or all at once?" Coyote asked, noticing that the expected position of the target and the item were very far apart. Doing it one at a time would be time consuming and make them more likely to get caught.
"Your choice, "Mr Stark replied, not looking up. "but I would suggest doing so at the same time." Qin Rong frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.
"So we'd be splitting our forces." He stated, thinking it over. "Will just the three of us be enough?" He was worried that this might be hard to pull off alone. Usually they'd at least have a B team to distract the guards or at least take some of them out so entering wasn't an issue. A facility of this size was bound to have a lot of guards.
"The client wishes for discretion so any more than this would raise alarms." Mr Stark explained.
"Fine, then I'll kill the target and Imp with go for the package." Coyote said, raising a hand. Qin Rong had no issue with this. While he was good at both thief and assassination, Coyote was only good at killing so he might as well take the hard job.
"And Phish?" He asked, watching the silent woman raise a dainty finger.
"I'll be on standby." She said, pointing to some place a distance away from the facility. "While you guys are inside, I'll toy with the cameras to make sure your aren't noticed."
"Who will cover our escape?"
"I will." The beauty spoke up again, smirking. "I've got some sniper training since we met last."
"All that between binge eating Ben & Jerry's?" Qin Rong muttered, a faint smile on his face. As expected, Phish exploded.
"Fuck off, you midget!"
"Children!" Mr Stark snapped, his voice cold and commanding. "Behave. Any other questions?"
"When are we heading out?"
"Tomorrow night." He replied, adjusting his glasses. "Be done by morning."
"Got it!" Three voices echoed, their tone professional and confident.
***
The mission was supposed to be simple. Get in, take out the target, retrieve the package and get out.
Yet how often does one's plans actually go so smoothly?
***
The next evening, the mission had started and they'd already hit a hurdle.
It was raining.
The facility they were breaking into was in the middle of a dirt field, making it easy to spot anyone coming. It was why they chose to go at night as opposed to daytime. There was more cover.
Yet the rain complicated things since all the mud and water would slow them down. Not to mention that them entering the place wet was bound to leave traces of them.
"Should we postpone the mission?" Coyote asked, looking out from their hiding spot meters away. He was surveying the area around the facility. Due to the rain, there were less guards outside but the the weather all so made it hard to tell what other security measures might be in place.
"If we did that, we might miss our chance." Qin Rong pointed out, securing his equipment. Since he was just stealing, he didn't feel the need to carry a lot. Just a standard army knife should be enough. "We don't know when the target and the package will be in the same place again."
"Plus our client wants this done tonight so we have to go forward." Phish pointed out, her voice crisp and clear through their earpieces. As a hacker, Phish was close enough to get into the facility's network but nowhere near the action. Once both Coyote and Qin Rong's objectives were complete, she was to take up a sniper to cover them.
But again, the rain complicated things.
"We are professionals." Qin Rong proclaimed, decked out in his weather gear. "We'll get the job done."
***
Entering the facility was, as expected difficult. Qin Rong had no clue how Coyote got in but he had to sneak in through the vents on the roof. Which meant he had to scale the side of the build.
In the rain.
Without being seen.
Had he mentioned that the facility was seven stories high? No? Well it was indeed, that high. Several times, he had to dodge the floodlights surveying the area, losing him some distance, making the whole task so much harder.
When he finally did get to the top, 20 minutes had passed and he had been informed by the jovial Coyote that he was already on his way in. He'd even asked if Qin Rong had gotten in yet.
"...Just do your damn job." He snapped, hoping to be heard over the rain pelting down on him. Coyote snickered and Qin Rong just muted him as he snuck in through the vents.
As expected, for such a large building, the vents were large enough for him to fit. He was small so even if a regular adult would find it cramped, he had plenty of space. Plus all the water made it easy to slide through.
He was sliding down a vent when he heard a voice.
"You in yet, Imp?" Phish asked through his earpiece, clearly impatient. "Coyote is already tracking the target down."
"Seven stories. In the rain." He whisper-yelled at her. He couldn't afford for his voice to echo.
"And you call yourself a professional." She snorted. Qin Rong said nothing, landing softly at the bottom of the shaft. "Oh hey, head up, I see some heat signatures."
"Below me?" He asked, thinking there might be guards nearby.
"No. In front of you." She said, sounding confused. The sound of rapid typing echoed through the earpiece before she shouted. "Oh, shit, get out of there now!"
With practiced ease, Qin Rong found an exit point and slipped out just as the vent was filled with flames. Had he hesitated a second more, he'd have burned alive. Despite the near death experience, Qin Ron was more confused than scared.
"Flames? Seriously!?" He said, wanting to face palm so bad. "Who puts flamethrowers in a vent!?"
"Why are you asking me?" Phish retorted, clearly annoyed at all the chatter. "Just get moving, Imp."
"Kay~" He sighed, stretching to get ready. In front of him was a long corridor. There was cameras around but the light was flashing pink, so he knew Phish had them under her control. "Where am I now?"
"Fifth floor, hallway… 8." She replied, more clicking sounding over their connection. "The package is 2 floors below you, room number 1342-k."
"Got it, I'll take the elevator." He ran down the hall, careful to keep an ear out for guards.
"Or you could take the stairs, since it's closer."
"That'll take too long." He whispered back, looking around the corner and spotting two guards with their backs to him. Quietly, he ran up at them, sliding his knife from its sheath and stabbing one of the men in the back. As the other pulled out his gun, Qin Rong shoved the man forward, using him as a shield.
A single gunshot rang out before Qin Rong managed to slit their throats. The bullet had lodged itself into the first guard, knocking the breath from him. He took a minute to make sure reinforcements weren't coming before hiding the bodies.
Despite it being a quick fight, Qin Rong was impatient. He'd fallen behind and if he failed the secure the package before the target was taken out, escape would be difficult.
Hence his rush to the stairs when he noticed that the elevator was card key activated.
This was just not his day!
When he did manage to find the room he needed, the package was in the center of a large empty room on a small platform. It was in a small red box, just as described in the mission statement. Cocking a brow, Qin Rong took out a spray bottle and let it out around the room. As expected, a laser grid. Probably actual lasers too, if this day was going to get any worse.
"No time to waste." He muttered, stretching his muscles. There was quite a distance from the door to the platform. Taking a run start, the young man leapt into the grid, his body twisting and flipping through the beams with ease.
It was because of this, his agility and flexibility that his moniker was imp, much to his chagrin. While he hated the name, his skilled allowed him to survive in his field for as long as he did.
He reached the platform, using a glass cutter to carve out a space for him to snatch the package. Much to his surprise, it was a plain silver bracelet. Not at all what he was expecting.
As soon as e touched the cool metal, he heard a voice, not of Phish or himself but a child's voice. Small and weak, pleading.
'I want to go home…'
The voice whispered in his ear, distracting him for just a moment. In that moment, his hand slipped and the bracelet slipped from his fingers.
The world went red as the alarms blared on. Qin Rong, snapped from his daze, grabbed the bracelet, slipping it onto his wrist for safekeeping, and ran out, heading back to the roof where they were to be extracted.
He'd muted Coyote, so he had no clue where the man was. He could only hope he'd taken out the target. Trip to the roof was difficult, with Qin Rong having to fight off several guards with guns barehanded. His knife couldn't do much against men in bullet proof vests.
After a long haul to the roof, Qin Rong found himself alone on the roof, the rain pelting down on him. He was bleeding from a wound he'd sustained from the fight before and leaned against a nearby wall. He felt a bit safer, knowing Phish should have her sniper rifle out to cover them.
"H-hey, Phish, what's the ETA on our extraction?" He panted out, waiting for a reply. When he received nothing but silence, he tried again. "Hey? Phish, are you there? What's the ETA on-"
"Sorry."
That was the last thing he heard before a gunshot sounded, before pain exploded through him. Before the rain covered up his cry of pain.
He didn't even get a chance to turn around before another shot rang out, bringing with it, only darkness.
He'd died, stabbed in the back by his partners.
Yet his last thought was about how he'd never get to see how his favorite drama would end.