Claire found the items she needed quickly and headed to check out. The sun started to set when she was still at the park since she hadn't left the house until shortly after getting home from work.
Her shift was from 6:30 AM to 3 PM since the pharmacy she worked at opened at 7 and they needed time to set things up for the day. She usually went to bed pretty early but that was for the best anyway. It was dangerous being a woman alone at night.
She was always a bit uneasy being out after dark but it wasn't like she could avoid it completely. She didn't have anyone who could accompany her so she had to suck it up.
Heading back to her car, Claire didn't notice the man sneaking up behind her with a knife at all. She heard a small 'whump' as the man hit the pavement but was too preoccupied with getting her keys out of the tiny pocket on her jeans to notice that someone had jumped on her would-be assailant to stop the attack.
The jumper dragged the assailant further into the shadows before the lights in her car turned on. She saw nothing and headed home in a better mood now that the delicious smell of chicken filled the car.
===
Six had never been so tired in his life. He hadn't slept in three days since leaving headquarters and trying to keep Claire Conway alive.
The Agency was persistent; he would give them that. He had already been forced to dispose of another agent. The first tried jumping her on her way home from work and this one thought it would be a good idea to attack her in a darkened parking lot.
He was undoubtedly the Agency's best and brightest; he had been there since he was an infant as part of their Numbers program. This way of life was all he had ever known. The idea that anyone less experienced could beat him was ridiculous.
Six's senses were sharper than most humans', honed after many years of training and living on edge in a dog-eat-dog world. He excelled at hand to hand combat too because there were always idiots who wanted to pick fights with you when you were at the top.
He could successfully fend off half a dozen opponents at once without a weapon. Ten with one.
Claire didn't get to die until he said so. He wanted to know more about her lifestyle first and figure out what had gotten someone like her on a hit list.
He knew this couldn't go on indefinitely; at some point the Agency would catch onto what he was doing if they hadn't already. They would try to bring out the big guns and then he might actually be in trouble.
The main problem was that they knew where Claire lived and worked already. It wasn't like Six had any hideouts they could go to.
That wouldn't work anyway because she wasn't aware that he was currently protecting her and he would like to keep it that way. He doubted she would take kindly to having a killer shadow her.
For the time being, he would have to keep fending off whoever they sent. He had stolen several cases' worth of weapons and ammo when he ran from headquarters and was currently keeping them hidden in a shed in Claire's backyard. It didn't seem like she ever went in there but even if she did they were buried under a ton of junk so they wouldn't be easy to find.
But Six couldn't go on like this forever. He was getting by snitching some of her food in the middle of the night but he had to sleep sometime!
He was used to only getting a few hours' worth a night but now he wasn't even managing that much. He had to stay on high alert now that he was on the run protecting someone who was supposed to be dead already.
This was an awful lot of hassle. He wondered why he was even bothering with this multiple times a day. Why should he care if some girl he hadn't officially met died?
After watching her for over a week though…he almost felt like he knew her. Like they were friends. Having friends wasn't how the Agency did things but there were still a few agents back at headquarters who were on good terms with each other.
Six wondered what it would be like to have someone he actually enjoyed talking to. He certainly enjoyed listening to Claire talk to herself, her cat, and her plants. Talking to her would probably be even more pleasant.
That was all he wanted. A chance to talk to her and know a little more about having a normal life. Then he would accept his retraining and go back to the way things were.
Although…at this point he would probably be in a lot more trouble than a simple retraining. He had killed two agents. He doubted they would kill him because he was their most valuable asset but whatever was in store for him when he went back would likely be awful. But where else could he go?
Six stifled a yawn and continued watching Claire from his hiding place. No one would be getting into her house on his watch. He had to try and get some sleep tonight though; it was unlikely they would send another agent so soon after the last one.
Sleeping under a bed wouldn't even be the most uncomfortable place he had slept. He would get a couple of hours in and be good to go for whatever they tried throwing at him tomorrow.