The Winds of Change - Part 4

This part is short, boring, and unedited. With that glowing testimonial, here is part 4.

Part 4

He had no idea how long he had been there. If felt like hours, but he suspected it was much less. Regardless, it had not been long enough. His mind was still clouded with doubt and uncertainty.

The meeting with Vitaly had set him off. He had always prided himself on his ability to remain calm and collected in even the most stressful situations. In his profession, such an attitude was not only beneficial, but essential. Emotions needed to be restrained at all times. He knew he had failed to do that.

Nathan’s professional relationship with Artyom had always been tenuous. It was mutually beneficial, albeit heavily skewed in Artyom’s favor, but it had never been good.  Yet it was the situation with Vitaly that had finally pushed it to the point of breaking. He knew he was being manipulated, and he didn’t like it.

He knew he should be used to it. Someone His life had not been his own since he was 15. He had always found ways to convince himself that he was still free. It was one of the main reasons he had created the rules. In some small way they gave him comfort. They were the ever-present source of freedom and control over his actions.

More importantly, the rules were a safeguard. They kept him from crossing the line that there was no coming back from. They prevented him from committing acts that would tear away what little humanity he still had. Ultimately, he knew they were meaningless. A killer with a code was still a killer. Even though he knew this well, he needed the comfort and reassurance that they provided him.

Nathan looked down at the collection of papers in his lap. He picked up one of the photos that showed a smiling Tony Stark standing on stage at some unknown event. It seemed hard to believe that such a normal looking man was the superhero known as Iron Man.

He would be easy to kill. He was in town for a business conference. He wouldn’t be expecting trouble. There would be no armor, no fight. He could kill him and be gone without ever arousing the slightest bit of suspicion.

It would be simple. Nathan knew he could do it. It would be no different than any other job he had done. He would be famous; the man who killed Iron Man.

He didn’t want to be famous; at least not for that reason. There was a time in his life that he desired fame. He was popular and he reveled in it and always dreamed of more. He found little joy in being renowned as a simple killer, though.

Long ago Nathan had accepted that he was a killer. He knew there was no point in trying to deny it. That alone should have made the choice easy. He wondered if he was putting undue stress on himself if the answer was that simple.

With a sigh Nathan shoved the papers back in the envelope. He turned on the headlights of the car and quickly put it into gear. Forcefully, he pressed the accelerator, causing the car to lurch into motion. He knew what he had to do and he needed to do it quickly, before he changed his mind.