Agent 13 (Book 1)

Chapter 10

Thirteen's POV

I throw the final knife into the hood of the fourth SUV and duck back into the car.

"Step on it," I order Jason, seriously I have no desire to be anywhere near these cars when they go up in smoke.

He obeys without complaint and speeds the car up even faster. The deafening sound of an explosion sounds loud and clear behind us.

"There's still one more," Cody says.

"Thank you captain obvious."

Cody opens his mouth to retort, but gets cut off as the remaining SUV rams into the side of our vehicle yet again. Lovely. I feel myself fall backward into the back seat as the car begins to spin out of control.

"JASON!" I yell out. He better get this car under control quick.

"I'm TRYING!" he shouts back at me.

"TRY HARDER!" Cody pipes up.

The car is rammed into yet again effectively stopping us from spinning and giving Jason back control of the car. Immediately he swerves away and back down the road. I turn in my seat and look out the rear window. Just great it's him.

The sound of shattering glass followed closely by gunshots pierce the silence as the rear window shatters.

"Duck!" Chase yells out us as bullets soar over our heads.

"Man you really pissed him off," Devin mutters

"Not helping," I grumble.

"Maybe it would help if we knew what you did," Cody growls.

"Nope, that won't help either." Cody lets out a groan of frustration from the front seat.

"Well then what can you tell us? Cause so far guess what we know? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

"And that bothers you?" he makes a noise in the back of his throat that sounds like a cross between a growl and a choke. I'm beginning to believe that he's getting more pissed off than the guy behind us.

I let out a sigh "His name is Victor." All eyes except Jason's turn towards me, "He use to be a friend, and one-day things went bad...really bad. That's all I wish to say on the matter."

"That still answers none of our questions." Cody points out.

"Actually it answers all of them," I respond just before a loud popping noise similar to an explosion fills the car followed closely by the screeching of metal.

"What the hell is that?" Devin asks.

"The sound of a popped tire," Chase replies. A second sound exactly like the first sounds again and the car suddenly stops.

"Jason," I growl lowly.

"It's not me."

"Crap," I mutter before climbing over Chase and opening the car door. I turn to everyone, "Stay in the car." I order before stepping out and onto the deserted street. He stands there in front of me leaning against his car with a smug smirk on his face.

"Trinaest, što kazeš da riješiti ovo kao agenti, bez oruzja." (Thirteen, what do you say we settle this as agents, no weapons.) I stare at him before reaching down into my boots and removing my knives, never taking my eyes off him as he tosses his weapons away from him. I take the gun out of the small of my back and then I unstrap the dagger from my side. I toss them into his weapons, cause let's face it only one of us is making it out breathing.

"Nikad jedan povratak iz izazov." (Never one to back out of a challenge.) he smirks at me.

"Pogotovo kada znam da cu pobijediti." (Especially when I know I'll win.) I say confidently. He smiles sadistically back at me and takes the first swing.

I dodge and swing my arm out while bringing my leg up at the same time, his eyes are focused on my arm and he dodges that but my leg continues to swing up and hit him in the nose causing his head to snap back and blood to pour everywhere. Lovely. He bends over clutching at his nose in pain and I swing my leg out again knocking him off his feet.

"Come on at least make this a challenge for me Victor." He swings at me and I knock him down again, "I'm beginning to think you've gotten worse since the last time we saw each other. Looks like you're still at the bottom of the class." I taunt trying to piss him off. I look over at the guys in the car and they're just watching, at least they're learning when not to get involved.

I watch him as he struggles to stand...or rather pretends to struggle, I stare at him cautiously.

"Thirteen!" Devin's panicked voice splits through the air, my eyes snap towards him only to see him pointing frantically behind me. I whirl around and catch the guy's hands before the knife goes into my back, my leg comes up weakening his hold on the knife. I swing my arms down a plunge the knife into his chest. I shove his body backward as a piercing pain erupts in my side.

"Thirteen!"

I collapse to the floor in a sitting position, the blood seeping through my fingers as I clutch my left side in pain. Fantastic, hit me in my already injured side will you.

Victor stands in front of me with that same smug smirk on his face as before. The bloody knife glinting under the sunlight. "I thought you were better than this Thirteen." His knee collides with my head and I fall backward. I struggle to get to my feet as my vision becomes blurry, his foot slams into my side hard.

"I am better than sick wanna-be-agents like yourself." I mock, yeah I am already aware I am not in any position to be doing that. He kicks me again, and I hear the sound of a car door open. Idiots stay in the car.

I'm pulled by my hair to my feet and pressed against his chest, my arms restrained as the knife is pressed into my neck. "Stay where you are or I'll slit her throat." He orders the boys, I snort.

"You're going to kill me either way, so boys keep moving."

"Garrett kaze Pozdrav." (Garrett says hello) He whispers in my ear. My body tenses and the pain in my side seems to fade until it's nonexistent as adrenaline floods my veins. He has no idea what he just did.

All I see is red as the heel of my foot slams down on his and my head swings backward into his nose. He cries out and staggers back a few steps. My knee comes up into his face, knocking him onto his back and I kick the knife out of his grasp. He pulls himself up onto his knees, as I put him into a headlock and slam my knee into his back shoving him forwards as he gasps for air.

I'm sure I look like a wild animal with fury shinning in my eyes plain as day. I am the best agent in the agency for a reason after all. I turn to the man on the floor in front of me.

"I ja reci zbogom." (And I say good bye) I say as I place my hands on either side of his head and snap his neck.

My full attention turns back the boys who are looking at me in shock and fear. Good. The pain in my side starts coming back as the adrenaline fades away. I look over at Victor's car.

"Let's go." I gesture towards his car "There's a hotel about sixteen miles outside of the city, we'll stay there for a little while." I head over to the car and open the passenger door "don't forget to grab the bag from the back." I say before hopping in and closing the door.

***

No one has said a word to me since I killed Victor three days ago, but in my opinion fine by me. The hotel room only has two bedrooms with two full beds in each, so naturally, the boys took the beds and I took the couch...not like I actually sleep all that much anyway.

Luckily the wound in my side didn't do any extensive damage other than causing me to almost pass out so I just stitched it up like the last one. Though it still freaking hurts.

I sit out on the balcony and stare up at the few stars visible in the night sky. My knees are tucked into my chest and my arms wrapped around them. For once in a long time, I actually feel calm, almost at peace even. My mind wanders to that day, the day I lost everything. The sliding of the balcony door breaks me out of my thoughts. I don't even have to turn around to tell who it is, the way he walks pretty much tells me who it is.

"Come to ask me what I know about the mission finally? I knew it would get to you of all people." I mutter as I turn to face Cody.

"No, actually I wasn't." he takes a seat in the lounge chair next to me. "You ok?" he finally asks.

"I'm not dead so...yeah." He lets out an exasperated sigh before mumbling to himself something along the lines of 'why do I even try'. Beats me. He stares at me for what seems like forever.

"I don't know." I finally answer truthfully, my voice slightly softer this time. He continues to stare with an unknown emotion in his eyes before finally speaking.

"What did he mean when he asked about your wrist?" he asks in a cautious sort of way as if he's afraid I'll blow up at him. I stay silent as I grab the right sleeve of my pajama robe and pull it up to reveal a scar that starts at the back of my thumb and runs down a couple inches past my wrist. His sharp intake of breath is clearly audible.

"I was on a mission, a year ago maybe," I start "I was stopping a European bomber overseas, Victor. We were well matched but I was winning and he threw a knife at me, I reached up and caught it...I wasn't paying any attention to the sword, he swung at me until the last minute...I didn't dodge fast enough and, he got me good." I pause slightly and glance at him out of the corner of my eye, he seems deep in thought.

"Why haven't I ever seen it?"

"There's this amazing thing called make up." I say sarcastically, "I couldn't move my wrist for...a couple months actually, and even now it still hurts when I move it certain ways." I finish.

"Well then I think you should sue the agency for not doing a good enough job patching you up." He says with a small smile on his face, he's obviously trying to lighten the mood.

I shake my head slightly "I, uh...never went to the agency to have it taken care of." He gives me an incredulous look "They actually don't even know I have it."

"Why?"

"I don't trust them." He looks at me strangely.

"Then why the hell do you work for them?"

"I trust Zero, and I work for Zero, not anyone else."

"What is wrong with you and trust?" I shrug as a response even though I have an answer...and a damn good one at that.

"I'm sorry." I glance at him only to find that he now thinks his hands are the most interesting thing in the world.

"What?" I ask.

"I'm sorry." He says again slightly louder this time. "I'm sorry for making assumptions about you and well...being down right mean. It wasn't my place."

"Yeah I'm sorry too." I mumble quietly.

"For what, other than being a complete biatch to me, I'm getting the feeling that, that's not what you're saying sorry for." A teasing smile plays across his lips.

I roll my eyes. "For coming in on your team." I say and watch a look of confusion pass across his face.

"That wasn't your choice, Zero-"

"Zero let me pick which team I was going to be working with and I said yours." I cut him off.

"Why would you pick ours if you could've picked another team that would've, bowed down to your every command?" he questions.

"Because you guys kind of reminded me of what it was like to be on a team, with people who you care about. I would watch the surveillance videos of you guys and you all seemed so close, and I don't know I just thought that if I was going to be on any team it would be a closely knit one." That's one of the two reasons.

"What do you mean we reminded you?"

"I was on a team once same as you." my voice takes on a sharper edge.

"What happened to them?"

"There are many things I will tell you, but that is not one of them." I'll tell the truth no matter what but when it comes to my old team...I will just keep lying.