` I don’t Ara. It’s not your priority. You’re a damn good field agent but I’m not about to risk my top Terminator on this mission. End of discussion.`

`Henry, you have to let me go with Luce. I think something bad is going to happen. What if the P.G.B. finds out about the operation?`

`Don’t worry your pretty little head, Ara.`

`Look. Henry, you’re my friend and my boss but if you don’t assign me as Lucifer’s partner you are going to lose a damn good friend and your best agent. And don’t tell me, I’m not the best, Henry. No one has ever beaten my scores.` I placed my hands on his desk and stared him down.

`God, Ara. Luce asked me not to send you because it’s a volatile sitiuation. You’re not giving me a choice though, are you?`

`No, I’m not. Agent Bri is on operation 81A and that’s that.`

Intuition is a funny thing.

Operation 81A. What a tragedy. No, no more memories. Not tonight. Tonight, I have to find Lucifer… Before he finds me.

***

It wasn’t like this before. I used to be happy and I used to have faith in people. Of course, interaction with people changed that.

Luce and me… We go back. Way back. I met him at my seventeenth birthday party. A few days later I found out he was sent by the Agency to recruit me for my skills. The Agency is an organization that is dedicated to keeping the world safe, and they will do anything to ensure innocent people don’t die or at least that’s what I was led to believe.

I was all for it. I became the best damn agent the Agency ever saw. Sure, a small-town girl like me… You’re probably thinking I sat behind a desk or something. Think again. I excelled in all areas of my training but two things stood out. I had stealth and I could take out a guy four times my size. You know, I never thought I’d thank my parents for the Tae-Kwan-Do lessons but man, have those come in handy. Now, to understand me and my life you have to know three things. I’ve only ever truly loved one person. I’ve assassinated two hundred and thirteen people for the Agency and there are about seven people that want me dead and won’t quit til I am dead. I lost my innocence a long time ago.

I see the world for what it is. It’s cruel and unfair so I made my own justice… Well, at least I did once I realized I could.

***

I looked at myself in the mirror. I hadn’t slept in days but you couldn’t even tell. My eyes looked like ice and my hair flared out at the back like little black knives. My pants were made of leather just like my top and it felt like a second skin. God, it felt so good to be back in uniform. Yea, right. It’s almost like I can still feel the blood on my clothes.

I was dressed to kill, literally.

***

"Don't move. We're here. Now, Rafael is the next guinea pig. Hopefully this will be the last one you leave on your blood trail.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Arabelle smiled up at Lucifer, “This will be quick. Hopefully I won’t be seeing you anytime soon.” Arabelle started to walk away.

"Ara! Try not to get too excited when they come for you. And remember, at the end of the day, they don’t even accept you as human. Don’t let your guard down."

Ara looked back at him. He looked so innocent and worried standing in the back corner of the alleyway. The snow drifted down from the rooftops and Ara thought to herself that he couldn't possibly be more perfect. Actually worried about her safety..."I'll be fine, Luce. Remember, this is the kinda thing I was made for. And I promise I won't show off too much."

"I’m being serious, the Russians are devious. You shouldn’t underestimate them. They play dirty, especially the noviates. They don't wanna die before they get a chance to be somebody. You have killed four of them already, sooner or later they might band up against you. I am going to climb the fire escape and watch from the rooftop over by where Rafael is interrogating that poor woman. If anything and I mean ANYTHING looks wrong to me, I'm sniping him and we're calling this mission aborted, got it?"

Ara just shook her head and kept walking. She knew she wouldn't mess up. She had been doing field ops for almost seven years now, way too much experience under her belt to slip up and let the bad guy catch her unawares with a hidden blade or a lucky shot. She was already thinking of how she was going to do this. Snapping his neck wouldn't catch anyone's eye; that was too basic. She didn't want to go over the top though. She decided that cutting his air off would be good enough after a little bit of a demonstration of her capabilities.

She walked down the narrow laneway and thought to herself what it would be like for her in Moscow if she was just on vacation, like any other normal American. She would be exploring the tourist attractions instead of walking down the alleyways of the ghetto… but that life wasn’t for her. She knew that and she accepted it.

She could feel someone watching her and prayed that it was Rafael. The whole plan was based on her ability to provoke him into a fight...and entice the viewers into a private audience. She had to get admitted into their base, figure out why they suddenly changed their secrecy policy. Why all of a sudden they were letting women join their ranks.

The P.G.B.. had the most moronic name of any terrorist organization she had ever heard of:Правда Гонка Бога. In short, The True Race of God, that’s what they called themselves. They prided themselves on being made up of only men...and being some of the most deadly assassins in the world. They demanded the world be ruled by one united power controlled by the people. Yet they hated governments and the idea of them, which is why they’d been systematically trying to bring down the world’s power houses for decades. For the most part they hired themselves out to other organizations for murder purposes. In return, those organizations owed them a favour...The P.G.B. had a lot of debt they had yet to collect and now they were slowly collecting. They were up to something, the agency just didn’t know what, and it was Arabelle’s job to find out.

They used to have a leak. Someone who was part of P.G.B. would send them vital information. They had an agent in the lower ranks a few months ago but just like Rafael was about to die... so did he.

“Красивая леди, where do you think you are going?” a boorish looking man of about 6’3 steadily approached her from behind. “I bet you haven’t even seen half the sights of this beautiful city and I bet I can show you a good time, no?”

Ara turned around slowly looking him up and down. He was fairly large, broad shoulders and large hands. He was eyeing her like some piece of meat. “осветите и темнота.” That was it. She had uttered the words that would set everything into motion. Light and darkness. I am the light, you are the darkness. I will brighten your day. A few choice words from the initiation ceremony, all she needed to say in order to get what she wanted.

“What did you say, сука? I don’t think you understand what that means. Have you ever experienced pain, сука? You are going to know it now.” Rafael began to come towards her and for effect she let him grab her arm. He pulled close and she twisted herself so her back was to his chest. He tried to put a strangle hold on her but she had already anticipated it and had ducked to the right. She lifted her hands up and brought his head forward as she positioned her foot firmly between his legs. She lifted him off the ground and dug her elbow into his waist making him gasp. She threw him to floor and laughed backing up.

“Really? I think you are the one to feel the pain. Don’t test me, you’re in for a world of it as it is, monsieur.” As the last words escaped her mouth she started to run. He was back on his feet and she ran up his chest and jumped over him twirling in the air as she grabbed his head. She landed one knee on the ground, her other leg firmly planted to the floor. Her hands were above her left shoulder, holding his head between her hands. Well, looks like I ended up snapping his neck anyways, she thought to herself.

Slow clapping came from her right. Clap...clap...clap...

“I see that you do not like to toy overly much with you prey, that is a valuable trait in this trade.”

Ara slowly stood up, tossing the dead body of number one-oh-seven to the floor. “My mother always told me not to keep people waiting. Are you the next in line or have I sparked interest yet? I hate to be kept waiting myself.”

“You seem quite sure of yourself for someone so young,” a man who looked to be about forty-seven years old approached her from her left side. His hair was greying slightly by his ears and he had crow’s feet yet for all that he looked like a harmless young grandfather, glittering green eyes over top a warm smile. “I wonder why that is. Are you convinced you are the best? I can assure I have seen better but then again I haven’t seen one this good in a long while. You’ve been hunting down the new guns. I suppose this means you know who I am?”

“I know where you come from. The interest isn’t deep enough to research the who’s in depth. Look I’m not into the cat and mouse game. I was never very good at pretending to be a mouse. So I have one question for you, have I proved my worth to you people yet?”

“Very straight-forward I see. Well, I can tell you that yes, you have sparked our interest. It’s why I came to meet you personally. My name is Edmund Cartier. You may or may not have heard of me. If you know anything about your business at all though, I can assure you that you have. My father, Michel Cartier, founded this organization in 1923 after he decided that the world affairs were being sorely abused and the leading powers were misusing their powers. I hope that you at least know something about our history?”

“I know that you have the assassins in high demand and that you guys seem to be paid the most. It was enough to spark my interest. I also know that your father was the CO-founder and the other founder was Sergei Dvorak, your father’s long time business partner. I also know that in no point in history were women even considered worthy of joining your ranks and that you are the largest organization of trained assassins in the world today.”

“So you do your research after all. I think that this alley way is too open,” Edmund began to walk towards the main street. “What do you say to a business date? We can discuss possibilities over coffee?”

“Possibilities? Don’t you mean how much I’ll be making and who you will be sending me out to target? I’m no fool, Edmund. I’m in this for two things. Money and power. I believe your organization the best qualified to give me what I crave. Either I continue to kill your noviates or you tell me I’m in.” She was being bold, she thought to herself. His compliments had given her a boost of confidence and it was creeping into her speech. She could entice him or she could be signing her death certificate with every word she uttered. She didn’t know which it would be but she knew her sharp tongue was sparking his interest more than her skills ever could. She had to remember that women weren’t considered human by these men. They were property, toys and a means to an end. She could use that to her benefit if she could just rein in her attitude.

“I like your fire, child. What is your name? Come, come. I think you already know you have made your way into our ranks. I hardly ever leave the office especially for some chit of a girl who thinks the world is owed to them. Maybe coffee was too formal? Come with me to the brother’s household. We shall settle you in quite comfortably.”

She walked over to him, feeling Lucifer’s eyes on her the entire way.

“Desiree. That’s it. No last name, no family ties. Just plain, old Desiree.”