Walking down the dimly lit street, Leo could not help the grin that slowly made its way onto his face. His hand moved into his tie as he loosened it, his mind full of various thoughts as he made his way home.

The talk with the boss went suspiciously well, he did not make any attempt to convince him to stay after he had handed the contract. The thought of what if burned in the back of his mind, threatening to sour his mood yet he chose not to overthink it, since the boss gave his OK then it should be alright.

His steps were brisk as he couldn't wait to get home and tell Maria the good news. Perhaps he should grab some flowers on the way? Maybe a bottle of wine to celebrate? She had always complained about him not being romantic enough.

"Yeah, she'd definitely love wine and flowers, maybe some of her favorite chocolate as well?"

Thinking about that, he quickly made a small detour to buy the presents. Even though it was already quite late, he still knew of a couple of shops that remained open.

A few minutes later, Leo was once again back on his way home. The few people that passed by him on the street shot him a few curious glances as well as a couple of smiles.

He did not pay them any heed as he quickened his pace. Maria had always nagged about his job with the 'family', she had always voiced her concern whenever he went on a job.

Yet Leo had no choice, he was the best assassin the 'family' had, they took care of him since he was a child, trained him, fed him, he couldn't just leave. One did not simply walk away from that life, and he had never thought of leaving it.

It all changed when he met Maria, she was his beacon of light. He had met her on a mission that went wrong, where she had saved his life. Ever since then, their paths intertwined and he knew that faith had dealt them a dangerous hand.

He had brought up the possibility of retiring to the boss who surprisingly agreed with the condition that Leo would go for one final job.

It was an impossible target, and Leo was sure that the boss only brought it out to make him give up, yet tempted by the promise of a normal life with Maria, Leo had decided to go for it.

Thinking back at it, it was without a doubt his most dangerous mission, he had rubbed noses with death on numerous occasions yet was never quite as close as this last one.

Nonetheless, he had survived! And today was the day he had once again brought the subject of retiring to the boss who had finally given his OK.

Taking a deep breath, Leo's smile widened even more. The weather tonight was perfect, he had his flowers, the wine, chocolate, and the best part was the news!

Walking past the street corner, Leo's eyes glanced over to a black mini-van parked opposite his house. Using the flower bouquet to hide his face from the van he continued walking past his house as if nothing happened.

Reaching another corner that led into a dark alley, he hid behind the wall as the bottle of wine, flower bouquet, and chocolate pack slipped from his hands onto the ground with a quiet thud.

His right hand calmly reached into his belt as he pulled out his silenced 9mm Beretta. His smile was long gone, as his face morphed into an extremely chilling expression.

With steady but quiet steps, Leo walked out of the alley and crouched behind one of the cars as he calmly observed the black van in front of him.

"Boss, I did not expect it from you..." He muttered under his breath, his stoic expression breaking for a second before he regained his composure.

Leo was not a naive person, once he saw the van he instantly knew that they were here for him.

Taking a deep breath, he suddenly stood up and walked towards the van, from the right side. His steps were silent as he stopped by the right window and pointed his gun. The two men watching his house did not see him coming before it was too late.

*Pew*

*Pew*

Two bullets were all it took for Leo to end their lives. Looking at his house across the street, Leo knew that the cleaning team was already waiting for him, yet he had no choice but to go face them.

As he calmly crossed the street, his heart grew heavy with every step he took. His right hand tightly gripped his pistol until his knuckles turned white, Maria's smiling face flashed by his eyes.

Coming to a stop next to the front door, Leo took another deep breath as he glanced at his gun, 13 rounds left. His left hand reached into his back pocket bringing the house keys out.

*Clang*

The sound of the door unlocking seemed extremely loud in the eerily quiet neighborhood, as the knob twisted and the door slowly started opening, a barrage of bullets flew from the inside shredding the wooden door.

The bullets continued until the door collapsed completely with a loud thud showing the empty street.

Four men dressed in black with masks on stood in the wide hallway with their guns still pointing at the entrance, one turned to look at his friend and pointed at the empty doorway with his head.

With a silent nod, one of the assassins cautiously stepped closer towards the entrance.

*Pew*

It was then that the muffled sound of a bullet cutting through the air and hitting the assassin in the face broke the tension as Leo's figure quickly dashed from the side and fired three more rounds consecutively.

*THUD*

The sound of the bodies hitting the ground echoed through the dimly lit house, the street light outside illuminating the hallway that was now painted red.

Leo calmly walked inside, as he carefully avoided the dead bodies on the ground. His eyes glanced over at the kitchen in front of him, and the stairs to his left before he ultimately decided to walk towards the kitchen.

As soon as he stepped inside another round of bullets were fired at him. With a swift motion, he jumped towards the ground and rolled behind the counter as the bullets kept firing causing plates and glass to shatter.

Grabbing one of the broken glass shards, Leo cautiously moved it from behind the counter as he looked at its reflection.

"Three, one in the middle, one behind the table, and one in the corner."

As the bullets continued, Leo kept his head low and was calmly counting.

"Six, five, four, three, two, one... Now!"

As he reached the end of his countdown, the bullets came to a sudden halt as the sound of the assassins' reloading filled the kitchen.

Taking a deep breath, Leo stood up abruptly and fired three shots at his assailants which all accurately hit their target as three more dead bodies collapsed on the floor.

Adjusting his suit, Leo then calmly stepped out of the kitchen and stopped at the foot of the stairs, yet before he took another step his eyes suddenly glanced back at the closed bathroom door behind him.

*Pew*

*Pew*

Two more bullets penetrated through the bathroom door as the sound of another body hitting the ground with a loud thud was heard. Satisfied, Leo then turned his attention back at the stairs.

As he was about to climb up, a body was suddenly hurled at him. Leo's mind instantly blanked as he saw the shiny blond hair. He had no time to think as Maria's dead body collapsed in front of him.

Leo stared at her hollow eyes with an empty expression, he collapsed to his knees as his hand gently moved to brush her now cold cheek.

*Bam*

The sound of something falling down the stairs broke the silence, as Leo glanced at the grenade next to him. His eyes were devoid of any sort of emotion as his head fell over Maria's dead body.

*BOOM*

The sound of the grenade exploding was the last thing Leo heard before everything went dark.