The rain in Berlin was a relentless, icy shroud that turned the city's neon lights into blurred, bleeding stains on the pavement. "Rubix" leaned against the wall of a narrow alleyway, her breath ragged. Every breath was painful like swallowing broken glass. Her left hand was pressed firmly against her stomach, and she could feel the warm, thick blood seeping through her fingers, staining her clothes.
She had lost too much blood, she was dying, and she knew it.
For ten years, she had been their special fixer, cutting out what she was told were "cancers" of society, always thinking she was making the world a better place. It was only three days ago she realized she had been the one spreading the disease. BLACK IRIS, the organisation she worked for, didn't kill villains, they killed anyone who stood in the way, or those whose deaths were important to the highest bidder.
"Rubix Enough of this! Just give me what I want and I will let you go."
The voice echoed through the alley, bouncing off the damp stone walls.
It was Sasha. Her best friend. The woman she had risked her lives countless times to save. Sasha stood at the entrance of the alley, with a pistol in her hadnd, behind her, the silhouette of a taller man materialized from the fog.
Caspian.
Rubix's heart did a slow, painful roll. Caspian was her handler, her mentor, and for a brief, feverish year, the man she had dated and ironically the man who would end her life. She chuckled sadly coughing up blood in the process. He stepped into the dim light of a buzzing streetlamp, his beige overcoat pristine despite the dirt of the district. He looked less like a killer and more like a professor heading to class.
"You've led us on quite a chase, Rubix," Caspian said, his voice as smooth and cold as a frozen lake. He stopped ten feet away, his eyes scanning her with a clinical, detached pity. "Where is the drive? Give it to me, and I'll make sure you don't suffer. You know I've always had a soft spot for you."
Rubix let out a wet, mocking laugh that ended in a cough. "A soft spot? Is that where you aimed your first shot, Caspian?"
"Business is never personal, Rubix. You of all people should know that," he replied, tilting his head. "The drive. Now. Or Sasha finishes what she started."
Of course the drive, one of the many things this was about. The little device contained files that proves that BLACK IRIS the organization that had raised her into a killer, was nothing like they claimed to be. It has the names of every person who had put a bounty on a world leader, ambassador or anyone of importance. She knew the moment she handed it over, she would be dead. That was sadly the only thing keeping them from finishing her off.
Rubix had stowed the drive away before coming here, she left it in her safe house, it was a tree house. She placed the drive inside, snapped the lock, and reset the wood. If she didn't make it back, the drive would stay buried in the bones of this tree until someone takes it taken down.
Rubix slumped further against the wall, her eyes fluttering as if she were losing consciousness, she bit her tongue to regain consciousness, She rested her head against the brick wall
"It's... it's here Caspian, come get it" she whispered, her voice barely audible over the hum of the rain. She reached into her inner jacket pocket with her right hand, her movements slow and shaky. "I can't... I can't reach it. Come take it. I'm done fighting, but first can you promise me something?"
Caspian's eyes narrowed, searching for a trap, Rubix was never one to hand something on a platter but she looked broken, her skin was the color of ash, and her legs were trembling.
He stepped forward, waving Sasha back with a flick of his hand. He wanted the glory of killing the top ranked assassin of the organisation for himself.
He hesitated before closing the distance, standing directly over her. He reached down, his fingers brushing the lapel of her jacket.
"You were always the best of us and I loved you," he murmured, leaning in close to her ear. "What a waste, what's your final wish?"
"Come closer, Caspian," she breathed. "I need you to…."
As he leaned in, his guard dropped for a fraction of a second, a mistake he had taught her never to make. In one fluid, using the last bit of strength left, Rubix's right hand whipped out. She had been reaching for the dagger hidden in her sleeve, something she had always carried with her.
She plunged the blade upward, aiming for the gap in his ribs, straight for his black heart.
Caspian's eyes went wide as the blade sank deep. But even in his shock, his reflexes were fast. He twisted his body at the last second. The blade missed his heart by an inch, burying itself deep in the muscle of his chest instead.
He roared in pain, a primal, guttural sound.
"You bitch!" Sasha screamed from the shadows. She lunged forward, swinging the butt of her pistol straight towards Rubix's temple.
Rubix ducked, barely. The world moved in slow motion. She felt the wind brought by Sasha's weapon whistle past her ear. She tried to sweep Sasha's legs, but her body finally gave out. The blood loss caught up to her, and her vision flickered to black for a heartbeat. She collapsed on the floor, the dagger still gripped in her hand, stained with Caspian's blood.
Caspian staggered back, clutching his chest. Blood poured between his fingers, drenching his white shirt. The calmness on his face was gone, replaced by a mask of pure, unadulterated rage.
"Kill her," Caspian choked out, his voice trembling with fury. "Kill her now!"
He didn't wait for Sasha. He grabbed the weapon from her with a shaking hand.
Thwip. Thwip.
Two muffled pops. One in the chest. One in the head.
Rubix felt the impact, but she didn't feel the pain. She couldn't feel anything as her body finally gave out. She slumped over onto the wet floor, her cheek pressing against the cold rain water on the ground, she watched the blood from her body mingle with the rain, flowing toward the sewer grate.
The last thing she saw was Caspian, leaning over her, his expression one she didn't understand, and then, one last thought flashed through her mind.
"If I have a second chance, I will take revenge on each and every one of them" and then darkness took over.