Hidden and Silent (SpyxFamily)

Ch. 10: Part Two

        It was dark when Twilight got home and asked Franky to look into Donovan Dempewolfe and his family members. Anya was in bed, Yor was in the kitchen, and Demetrius was sprawled on the sofa reading one of Anya's comic books. Demetrius didn't give Twilight the chance to speak to him about Donovan and said he already knew.

Sometimes it was unsettling to have two telepaths in the house.

When Twilight explained to Yor, they discussed how to proceed. Twilight couldn't visit Demetria again until Donovan did, for fear Twilight's visits would be revealed, and he needed more options.

The next day, as he got ready to drive Anya and Demetrius to school, he couldn't help looking at the phone, waiting anxiously for Franky to call back.

"We're gonna be late." Demetrius drew Twilight's attention back to the kids and they shuffled out of the complex and into the car. Twilight dropped them off at the school and parked somewhere out of the way. He'd rather drive Anya to school than let her take the bus after Yor's account of yesterday. Loid was prepared for an attack on him as well as he took a turn keeping vigilance on the roof.

Perched beside a window jutting out from the shingles, he checked for his pistol inside his jacket again as if it could suddenly disappear when he needed it. With all the trouble the Forgers had seen lately, he wanted it in his hands twenty-four seven, but that was impractical. He held up his binoculars instead and scanned his surroundings, ignoring the harsh glint the morning sunlight seemed to give everything.

The students had filed into the school not too long ago and over the next few minutes a rare straggler would speed for the school doors, panting heavily. Each time, Twilight would whip his attention to them before realizing it was a child. Twilight wasn't nervous, just hyper aware.

He was on the roof for hours, occasionally shifting positions and he raised his binoculars to once more look down below at the quiet school grounds. Yor had said her attacker was perched in a tree and he paid them special attention. He was wary of everywhere else, too, thinking the next person must be smart enough to find a better hiding spot. If whoever was trying to kill the Forgers made another attempt, he would be ready.

And he was.

He heard it first. Soft movement carefully quieted but not quiet enough for Twilight's trained ears. There was more than one. They weren't below, they weren't in a tree or dark crevice, but near, and padding along the opposite edge of the roof. They had arrived almost the instant he'd changed positions. Twilight kept still, discreetly pulling the silenced pistol from his jacket. Where had they been hiding? Could they have been on the top floor and climbed out through a window? How did they get there without him noticing?

They were coming closer and approached the peak of the roof that hid Twilight from their sights. Closer. Very subtle noises of footsteps and cloth brushing against cloth was Twilight's signal and he spun, shooting at two very surprised heads that ducked behind the ridge. He heard their safeties click off as he practically teleported to the next window and traveled silently up the roof. Before the agents saw him, he shot the man dead, a bullet burrowing into his large forehead and the body tumbled over the roof.

Crap! Twilight thought.

He abruptly dropped, sliding partway down the roof to dodge the woman's aim. Her bullet missed and Twilight had his gun at her right shoulder before she could shoot another.

Pew!

"Aaaggh!" Her gun dropped to skitter down the shingles and she clutched at her shoulder. Twilight's hands were already putting his pistol away and he jumped, slamming his knee into her stomach. She coughed, nearly puking, and might have slipped and fell to her death if she didn't grab the ridge of a window. Without losing a second, Twilight quickly came to straddle the ridge and put her throat in a chokehold. He kept it tight, preventing her hand from slipping between her neck and his arm.

"Who are you?!" Twilight hissed, containing his volume. "Why are you trying to kill us?!" The woman's hands initially grabbed at his arms, struggling, and Twilight's legs tightly contracted to adhere him to the roof. There was no way he was letting her go without answers. Or at all. "Who hired you?!"

"I'll say nothing." She strained and drew her knee up to withdraw a knife from her boot. Lightning fast, Twilight risked releasing one arm on the chokehold to forcefully knock it out of her hand before she could plunge it into his arm. He then wrenched her right hand off his arm and twisted the bad shoulder upwards.

"Gggnnh!" She growled deep in her throat.

"Tell me!"

With no hand left to keep Twilight from choking her out, her good arm returned to grasping at his. Half-lying on the ridge, her leg suddenly came flying up and her flexibility would have allowed a hit at his head if he didn't dodge. He did so sharply and used the momentum to swing her body over the left side of the window's roof. Her head was now held partially to his side and he leaned slightly away to balance out the weight. He yanked on her arm again.

"Ggnnh!"

"Tell me!"

For a brief second it seemed she would elbow him again, but she had no grip of her own on the roof. Without a hand to grab at Twilight's arm, she hung just by her neck. It was instinctive to reclaim the grasp on his arm though, and let go again to follow through. The hit was weaker and she immediately sought to lessen the constriction on her throat by clasping and digging her nails into his arm. She couldn't slacken his grip.

Again, he twisted her shoulder.

"Ggnnh!"

"Tell me!"

She was stuck. Her next elbow strike was even weaker than the last and her feet struggled to find purchase on the steeply slanted roof. Twilight wasn't letting go. She could elbow him as many times as she wanted and he would keep her in a chokehold until she talked. There was little air getting through her throat, she was injured, and Twilight was stronger. She wasn't getting out of this and she knew it.

Crack. Instead of words, the sound of something else came from her mouth. Something breaking. Her jaw bit down and a moment later, her body convulsed as foam spilled from her lips.

"No!" Twilight exclaimed, but there was nothing he could do. Veins pulsed on her tensed neck, blue rivulets delivering poison throughout her body and she groaned terribly at the pain through gritted teeth. Blood spit through them at her weak, oxygen deprived coughs and it went on for several minutes before the light faded from her eyes. Any answers she might have had was torn out of reach as she fell still with death.

She was dead.

She was dead and Twilight growled, draping her body over the peak, panting lightly as if he'd jogged up a flight of stairs. He took a couple breaths and ran a hand through his hair. She wasn't supposed to freakin die! He was so close to getting some answers!

He didn't find anything on her person and got up to see where the other agent landed below. The corpse had been damaged by the impact and blood flowed from more than the bullet wound.

Twilight swore. He had more clean-up to do than he expected. At least no one had seen the dead body yet. He needed to act fast.

He glanced back to the woman, already searching for answers.

She had killed herself. A hire wouldn't do that for a job. Who did they work for? Was this Donovan's doing? Was there someone else? Why would she sacrifice her life? What kind of information had she had?

Twilight double checked that his pistol was secure and took another quick look at the ground for the two stray ones.

He wondered what Yor usually did with the bodies she left in her wake.