HITMAN: Aftermath

Hunter and Hunted

A/N: This chapter is short, because it takes place in the same area. Definitely not because I couldn't think of ways to make this longer.

"Black-bone chicken rice noodle! Made with only the freshest ingredients!"

"Whole fried squid! Only six yuans!"

"Crispy pancake! Hot and crispy pancake!"

Agent 47 pushed, shoved, and sidled his way through the mass crowd. The smell of fried foods, sweet and savory treats, and steam salivated the mouths of passersby. Everyone except hitman, after a kill nonetheless.

"47, you cannot leave the area, yet," Clera abruptly said.

"Why?" 47 asked

"Another anonymous tip: Overwatch has deployed three agents after you. Two are among the crowd you are standing in at this very moment, asking everyone about your presence. The other is in one of the buildings, commanding everything. You need to eliminate all three before we extract."

Looking around, he marked them in mind off in the distance. A Caucasian man in sunglasses and an orange coat. A brunette woman, hair just above her neck, also in sunglasses and thin orange coat.

Though every building and food stand in Lijiang lit up the streets, a few dark areas dotted the city. The hitman walked past a fenced off the alleyway. Looking through it, the silhouette of a transmission tower stood in the night sky.

The hitman walked over to the male agent, first. He hid in the crowd and turned away when he looked over the group he hid in.

"Nothing, yet, Hanzo. How's the view from the safety of the temple?" the agent said through the overlapping voices of the locals and tourists.

The agent spoke in an earpiece, walking past food stands of all types.

"Hey, have you seen a bald man? Did he have a tattoo on the back of his head?" he asked a food vendor.

The vendor shook his head, and the agent moved away.

Seeing no use in following him, the hitman went over to the female agent.

"Mm, thanks for the food, I really loved it!" she told a vendor. "Have you seen a bald man recently? He has a barcode tattoo on the back of his head."

The vendor shook his head. "Oh, well thanks anyways," the agent said, leaving a tip.

She walked away before talking into her earpiece. "Yeah, I got nothing. Skyler, maybe you should act nicer, then people would listen to you."

On the street, a bicycle flew past. A horde of balloons followed, their strings held by the rider. "Balloons! Balloons! Fish, dragons, and more!"

The woman then ran across the street. The hitman followed her over to another bicycle balloon seller. The man was walking his bike along, holding a dozen deflated balloons.

"Sir, do you need some help?" she asked.

"Yes, please! The place I usually get my helium from is closed. I'm heading over to another place, but my bike's tire popped," he said.

"Sir, you can have a break. I'll go fetch your helium for you. Stay here for now," she told him.

Agent 47 ran back near the fenced off area. He turned to a homeless man, sitting against the wall.

"If someone asks you if have seen a bald man with a tattoo on the back of his head, tell them that you saw him jump over into the electrical pylons." The hitman dropped a stack of 200,000 yuan on the man's lap. He eagerly nodded, putting the stack away.