Scar hopped out of the van after it came to a stop in front of a bar in a shady neighbourhood. The side door slid open and sunny’s crew sauntered out while chatting merrily with each other. Sunny stepped out last; the pondering look on his face giving away his emotional state.

He had a nagging feeling in his gut, something about Scar just didn’t seem right to him. Like all the men he had taken jobs for, this man seemed to be the bearer of many secrets and had an air of danger about him but if it was only that he wouldn’t be so on edge, what truly had him concerned was the feeling in his gut which was telling him he was missing a large piece of the puzzle. He was sure there was something going on which he wasn’t aware of and that, in and of itself, was very worrying to Sunny.

Sunny watched Scar as he stepped away from the crowd and made a call; he saw the frown appear on Scar’s face as the phone went to voicemail.

‘Trouble in paradise, perhaps?’

Sunny entertained the thought of the serious looking Scar having problems with his girlfriend with a small smile on his face before he turned to more serious matters. He looked to his crew who were heading into the bar while passing around idle banter, leaving him outside to deal with their employer which was just as well seeing as he handled mission acquisitions so why not payment too, right?

He waited as Scar continued to try to get a hold of whoever he was calling again and again but to no avail, Sunny could see the unease etched on his face as he stuffed the phone into his pocket and turned to face him.

“The money has already been wired to your account but there is a bit to discuss about the dramatic exit you made. That was not a part of the mission objective”

Sunny smiled at Scar disarmingly and stretched his hand out in a helpless manner

“There were some unforeseen issues, nothing we couldn’t handle though. I apologize if we haven’t performed to your liking”

Scar looked at Sunny disapprovingly; his silent stare spoke volumes about how he felt the mission was handled. The scalding look of disappointment he was giving Sunny caused cold sweats to drip down his back but Sunny was wise enough to know when not to speak.

“With that being said, do you have it?”

Sunny pressed a button on his watch and a small memory card popped out of a slot with an almost inaudible pop, he pulled it out and handed it to Scar who scrutinized it in the palm of his hand.

“All that information stored in such a small device, humanity has come a long way”

‘There really isn’t a need for small talk’ Sunny mused internally

“Well, if our business is concluded then I should really be on my way”

Sunny made to walk past Scar but was forced to stop as Scar placed his hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Sunny looked at him inquisitively, confused about the sudden physical contact. A look of unease came upon Scar’s face as he hesitated; it seemed as if he was wrestling with himself about something before he finally opened his mouth to speak.

“The boss……wants to have a word with you. I’ve no doubt it is to discuss the mission”

That made Sunny pause. For one, he thought Scar was the boss, seeing as he had an aura of authority about him. His eyes searched the area but there was no one else around save for the two of them and a couple of homeless men and a woman but he doubted ‘the boss’ would disguise himself as a hobo to get the drop on him.

“He’s not here yet but he should be arriving shortly”

“I hope this doesn’t take too long. Knowing my team, they’re probably in there drinking and causing unnecessary trou-”

A loud thud followed by the screeching of metal and shattering of glass sent Sunny and Scar tumbling forward as a gust of wind knocked them down to the ground. Sunny was the first to get back to his feet, combat knife in hand in preparation for a fight while Scar was grumbling as he took his time to stand.

Sunny’s eyes widened as he spun around to face the demolished vehicle. He wasn’t surprised to see the twisted and deformed van though, what surprised him was the sight of the naked and bloodied man who was laying atop the roof of the van. The man blinked and glanced around before he placed his hand on a part of the van which was restricting his left hand, the metal screeched as it bent under his strength as he pushed it away from his body.

Sunny took an involuntary step back as the new arrival extracted his self from the debris and began walking toward them; the man regarded Sunny for a moment which gave him the feeling that he was being watched by a dangerous predator. As the man came to a stop in front of them, his predatory gaze finally left Sunny as he turned to address Scar.

“Was the mission a success?”

The man’s voice was surprising to say the least, it was deep but the refined way in which he spoke was not at all what Sunny was expecting.

“More or less” Scar replied and poked his chin in Sunny’s direction “This is Sunny, the de facto leader of the group you hired”

Sunny shrivelled as he was once again under the scrutiny of the man and his predatory gaze. If he thought that the look he got before was enough to make him shiver then the look he was getting now was enough to scare a new stripe into his underwear.

His steel grey eyes seemed to bore into Sunny’s soul, finding and examining each dark secret he held close before disregarding them. The world seemed to have suddenly gone quiet as Sunny tried his best to supress the fear he felt from showing on his face.

Finally, after what felt like years, the man spoke

“The explosions, your handiwork I take it”

Sunny felt compelled to nod under the gaze of the man, he had a feeling that he already knew the answer to the question anyway and he was asking as nothing more than a formality. The man nodded at Sunny’s affirmation and smiled

“Thank you for your honesty”

Before Sunny could reply he was grabbed by his throat and hoisted into the air in an impressive display of strength. Sunny’s first instinct was to retaliate, he stabbed at the hand that was wrapped around his throat in an effort to get him to let go but it seemed to do nothing as his attacker didn’t so much as flinch.

The pressure around Sunny’s throat increased and his vision started to blur, dark spots around his peripherals grew and for a moment he thought that he would die. He closed his eyes in acceptance, the life he lived was a violent one, and to him it was only fair that he met a similarly violent end.

Suddenly, the pressure vanished and he found himself on the ground, sputtering and gasping for breath. He brought his hand up to his throat and touched it tenderly, using his other hand to drag himself away from the strange man.

“Be very thankful I have further use of you and your team’s services”

The barely contained fury in his voice added fuel to the already burning fear in Sunny’s chest, his body was trembling and his breathing refused to return to normal no matter how many deep breaths he took. The ease with which the man lifted him and the previous scene with the van already told of his strength; additionally, his unflinching attitude when he got stabbed showed Sunny he was not a match for him, at least, not in a fair fight.

“Could you find something for me to wear please, Scar? Natalie should have something inside I can use I believe”

Scar nodded and looked down at Sunny before walking off, leaving the two of them alone. The man stooped down in front of Sunny as he rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“You must understand lad, when you’re hired to do a job you must always make sure you perform to a certain degree to keep your employer happy. Especially when you’re to be paid after the job is completed”

He looked down at his hand silently and shook his head

“Just be glad I bothered to examine your team’s track record. If I were unaware of your team’s normally satisfactory performance I’d have killed you for botching the job”

Sunny stared at him in silence, glaring at him as he rubbed his throat. He still felt like his throat was being crushed in a vice.

“My name is Victor Carlisle, you may have heard of me or the organization which I represent?”

The miniscule amount of hostility Sunny felt drained away as the name rung in his head like an emergency bell, the name Victor Carlisle was one which carried a lot of weight in the underworld. Allegedly, the name was associated with several high profile cases dealing with espionage and assassinations which were all left unsolved due to a lack of evidence. It was even said he had a few high ranking government officials in his pocket.

“It seems you know who I am. Good, that makes this easier. I’ve never been one to beat around the bush so I’ll cut to the chase, would you be interested in working for me?”

Sunny looked at Victor incredulously, noting the small smirk at the corner of his lips. There were two voices in his head counselling him; one was telling him to accept and live a lavish life in comfort while the other was shouting ‘fuck you’ with vehemence. Amusement danced in Victor’s eyes as he watched Sunny agonise over the decision.

“It’s not a hard choice to make, Eren. Don’t you want to be able to keep supporting that orphanage in Long bay? I bet those children would be real sad if, say, their home was to be torn down”

Anger surged in Sunny’s eyes at the underlying threat in Victor’s statement; the people at the orphanage were his family, they were the very reason he did what he did. Sunny ground his teeth in frustration as he hatefully stared at Victor, barely restraining himself from cursing him and his ancestors.

“I accept”

The bitterness and anger in his voice showcased the helplessness he was feeling; said helplessness simply served as fuel to the burning fire that was his rage.

“I’m relieved, if you hadn’t then the strings I pulled to repair and remodel the orphanage would have been wasted. In fact, the repairs should be happenig as we speak. No need to worry, the children and their caretaker have been relocated to a secure location. I’ll arrange to have you visit them should you wish”

Surprise was etched across Sunny’s face at Victor’s statement, the little bit of hope he had for salvaging the situation hung onto it; picking apart the sentence and praying he hadn’t misinterpreted it wrong.

“So……you’re not going to destroy it?”

Sunny prodded further into the situation in hopes that his old home would be left standing for hopefully, another twelve years. Victor seemed to pick up on his anxious behaviour and tilted his head slightly to the side in confusion, he had no idea that his tactic in dealing with Sunny would have been so…..effective. He briefly entertained taking this approach more often, he chuckled at the thought before dismissing it, as effective a tactic as it was, he knew there were other ways to achieve the same result.

“Are you perhaps feeling a bit lightheaded? I believe I was speaking at a volume which was easily within the range of human hearing”

Before Sunny could reply to the seemingly derogatory comment, Scar came back with clothes in hand and a woman following him with a look of barely restrained fury on her face. Despite her short stature, her eyes and confident stride showed all who looked upon her that she was self-assured and capable. Scar came to a stop a few feet aware from Victor’s naked form while the woman continued past him.

“Natalie? There was no need to come outside; I was just about to com-”

The fist that landed squarely on his jaw cut his words off as he was knocked to the ground, a pained groan came out of his mouth as he pushed himself back up. His right hand caressed the spot where Natalie’s fist connected as he regarded her with a look of surprise.

“Have you gotten stronger? I really felt that one”

Natalie frowned as she rubbed her fist with her other hand, glaring balefully at Victor as he stared back at her. The two glared at each other before finally, a smile broke out across Victor’s face which caused her to scoff before turning away with a small smile of her own.

“Is that anyway to say hello? To think, I gave my all to you and you punch me the first chance you get; and here I thought I heard a certain someone say they were ready for chil-”

“For the love of God, would you shut up already?! I missed you, you fucking asshole! If Scar hadn’t told me you were outside I would’ve started pulling my hair out in stress!!”

Sunny flinched as the woman shouted at Victor who seemed to be taking it all in stride, smiling fondly as she prattled on and on. Sunny didn’t find the situation so endearing, to him it was just awkward, and right now he was little more than an unwilling observer in what seemed like a lover’s quarrel.

Natalie was still in the middle of her rant when Victor walked up to her and tilted her chin upward, his lips met hers and for a moment, everything went quiet. Her arms snaked around his neck as she tip toed and kissed him back passionately, the atmosphere seemed to turn pink as they two appeared too at ease in each other’s embrace to care about their surroundings.

Sunny and Scar stood in awkward silence as they tried not to look at the couple who had forgotten they were in public. Scar cleared his throat to garner their attention but Victor simply shooed him away before ignoring him.

“Sir, I believe you should be getting dressed. People are beginning to stare”

That seemed to do the trick as Natalie pulled away and turned around, suddenly very aware of Victor’s nakedness. Victor chuckled and took the clothes from Scar’s hand; he slid on the underwear and pants before he walked over to Natalie and hugged her from behind.

She scoffed but made no move to pull away from him as he placed a few kisses in her neck and behind her ear.

“I missed you too, Nat”

“Not enough to look for me as soon as you get home apparently”

Victor laughed at Natalie’s statement, not failing to notice the slight smirk on her face.

“I had business to take care of first. Speaking of which, I believe we have ourselves a deal, right?”

Sunny was unprepared for the focus to turn back to him, nodding mechanically as he was still feeling the residual awkwardness from the display of affection before. Victor smiled and turned his gaze to Scar, giving him a nod before he began walking towards the bar.

“Take care of your new employee, Scar. Show him the ropes, teach him the rules and take him to the base after you get him some new clothes. Actually, get the rest of his team some new clothes too”

Scar grunted in affirmation, hesitating just a bit before asking the next question

“Should……Should I take them to see Cheng?”

Victor’s steps slowed to a stop at the question, a sigh escaped his lips as he ran a hand through his hair. The atmosphere was suddenly tense and the air seemed to have turned very flammable, it was like they were suddenly at a funeral.

After several seconds of silence, he decided to speak up, if only to get the identity of the man who caused such tension at the mere mention of his name.

“Who’s Cheng?”

No one answered; in fact, no one seemed to have heard his question at all so he asked again

“Who’s Ch-”

“I was hoping to avoid him for a little longer but if you think they need to see Cheng then take them. Just make sure he doesn’t go overboard, get physical if you need to. I can’t bear to look at him right now”

Victor’s voice cut through the air like a knife, his words were so sharp and clipped Sunny felt chills as he heard them. The hostility behind that one sentence was enough to make his heart race and apparently he wasn’t the only one that felt it, Scar and Natalie were also looking uneasy.

Without another word, Victor walked into the bar with Natalie leaving Scar and Sunny alone in the now empty street. The howling wind was the only noise which could be heard as they stood in silence, both stuck in their thoughts.

“So listen”

Sunny started hesitantly, breaking the silence which had descended upon them

“I don’t know about you but I’m not so sure I wanna be bothering someone who can rattle his cage like that so how about we just skip the visit to this ‘Cheng’ guy and not tell anyone about it. Sound good to you?”

The hopeful tone in Sunny’s voice did little to persuade Scar as he shook his head in reply

“You’ll have to meet him eventually, it’s better to get it out of the way now. I’m sure Cheng’s going to be too upset to try anything tonight”

Scar looked up into the sky and rubbed his chin in thought

“It’s almost morning so he should be too weak to kill you anyway”

Sunny’s face paled at the casual mention of his possible death, he opened his mouth to protest but Scar had already grabbed him by the arm and began pulling him along. Sunny had to jog a little to match his pace.

“I just hope he won’t be too out of it to realise it’s me and not boss”

The shudder Sunny felt transmit from Scar’s hand to his arm did little to inspire confidence, with a pounding heart and uncertainty clouding his mind, he allowed himself to be dragged forward while wondering how he ended up in a situation like this.