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Though it was probably to be expected from the Dragon Country, Merida thought 'Talon' was a stupid name for a city.

Technically, of course, its name wasn't 'Talon'. Its name was a Kumandran word she couldn't for the life of her pronounce. If she couldn't even pronounce Norwegian correctly, a language much more closely related to English, any South-east Asian language she tried to speak would sound like a dumpster fire. But the city's name apparently translated to 'Talon', and thus, 'Talon' it was. Which she considered immensely dorky and stupid.

Although…. 'Inverness' or 'Edinburgh' weren't great names for cities either. Or 'Oslo'. Who the hell looked at a city and called it Oslo?

She concluded that humans simply sucked at naming places.

Though still not a big fan of the name, Merida could get used to the city itself, so different from what she was used to. Even at night, it bustled with people, in the harbour and the floating market, the shops and restaurants and passing by in cars, motorcycles or on foot. Talon did not sleep. It didn't need something as silly as daylight to be full of vibrant lights and sounds, with the smells of food coming from various stands, voices coming from every thinkable direction and someone always standing just a little too close to you. Merida decided the Kumandrans knew how to party. If she hadn't left her habit of drinking the night away and sleeping with strangers in the past, she could've had the time of her life.

Not that she missed that old habit, though, and it wasn't like she was here to have fun. Not yet.

Business came first.

Merida glanced at her phone, at the message providing her with directions displayed there. It seemed she was still moving in the right direction. She took a left turn into an alley, where it was significantly darker than in the main streets. Almost there.

She was curious about this meeting for sure.

When she reached the area she was meant to go to, she'd effectively left the vibrancy from before behind. It was quieter here and darker, no footsteps to be heard, and those people she did still see outside were homeless, loitering problem youths like she herself had been and other folks who'd been let down by society in one way or another. She'd reached a shadier part of town where neither locals nor tourists dared to set foot at this hour. The road had gone from clean and well-maintained to dirty and unkempt, the houses in the narrow streets had grown decrepit and if she looked up at the night sky, she could see a mess of cables and power lines overhead.

It wouldn't have fit most people's definition of beautiful, but Merida appreciated broken things and felt right at home.

In this forgotten neighbourhood, she had an appointment. An intriguing one, she thought to herself, and late. She estimated it was roughly one in the morning. She didn't tire easily, but still hoped the briefing wouldn't take up too much of her time. It would be nice to get some sleep.

She came to a halt in front of what she guessed was a small restaurant, not of the kind a sane person would be visiting at this hour. The neon letters spelling out the place's name didn't glow. The building looked abandoned most of all, dark and shadowy.

Oh, perfect.

Merida checked the message on her phone, noted that it was, indeed, the right location.

Well… She supposed she'd been in worse places. At least in a restaurant, criminal front or not, she might expect something to eat.

Hopefully, it wouldn't be poisoned. It would be a shame if that happened again.

Coming in, she texted the foreign number, letting its owner know she was there. She was fairly certain the person who'd given her her current assignment had never seen her face and didn't want to risk getting ambushed when entering. She went up to the door, found it unlocked, opened it and stepped inside.

The floor creaked as she made her way across it. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness surrounding her. No light burned in the old restaurant, except for a single candle placed on one of the tiny wooden tables. There was a person sitting at that table, seemingly unbothered by the darkness around her. The young woman put her phone away and regarded Merida warily, though with a sharp smile.

"You," she began, slight Kumandran accent showing, "must be the assassin from Norway."

"Scotland, actually," Merida corrected, slowly moving closer to the lady at the table. "I just live and work in Norway these days."

The woman shrugged. "Same difference." She gestured at the rickety chair placed opposite of her. "Why don't you have a seat?"

It smelled like fresh food in this place, Merida realised. Kind of spicy. Not a bad smell. Shit, maybe she really would be given something to eat. Fucking fantastic. Granted, maybe a quarter past midnight wasn't the most conventional time for a hot meal, but she couldn't have cared less. Food was important, damn it-

The lady cleared her throat impatiently. "You seem distracted. Are you here to talk business or not?"

Merida cursed under her breath, shook herself out of her thoughts. "Yeah, right, business. Sorry."

She sat down in the chair the woman had indicated, making herself as comfortable as possible in the old thing. Had it ever been dusted off properly in the past few months? Merida figured that wasn't a question that needed actual answering and forced herself to focus on her companion, the person who'd submitted the assignment Merida had accepted to the Company.

She looked normal enough. Tan skin, long black hair, eyes as dark as the space around them, a mistrustful look inside them. Merida wasn't a fool and scanned her body for weaponry, concealed or not. Her little search paid off; she spotted a bladed weapon, reminding her of a cross between a sword and a kris, a Javanese dagger. Merida wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed when it came to Asian history and culture (or pretty much anything, really), but she knew her weapons well and had always thought kris looked positively badass.

"So," the woman said, "would you care to tell me your name?"

"Merida." The Scot made sure to leave her last name out, just in case. No need to give this lady more information than strictly necessary. So far, she didn't seem like anything Merida couldn't handle, but still. "Yours?"

"Raya," came the reply. No additional information either. Her client seemed to be working with the same principle. Unsurprising. Given the location of their meeting and the secrecy surrounding it, it was clear to Merida she wasn't dealing with a businesswoman, government official or disgruntled housewife. Whoever Raya was, Merida suspected she operated on the wrong side of the law. That left the question of just how much power she had. Enough to hire foreign assassins and pay them a good price, at least.

"Well, Raya," Merida continued, "I think you'll have to give me a little more to work with. You know what I do, but I don't know what you do. And out of the two of us, you're the only one who knows what exactly I'm doing here. It's a little unfair that way, isn't it?"

She paired her comments with a smile, as neutral as a smile could be: not particularly friendly, but not openly hostile either. This smile, Merida knew, had an interesting effect on people. She could read Raya's reaction to it on her face: the woman couldn't for the life of her determine whether she found the killer entertaining, annoying, dangerous, or all of those things at once.

Merida liked it that way.

"You have a point," Raya told her. "I'll tell you everything you need to know. But first, something to eat."

Oh, hell yes. Merida wouldn't say no to food. Especially not now, when it was still unlikely Raya would try to poison her. She probably wouldn't accept anything edible from Raya after the job was done, but now she was still needed, which meant she was relatively safe. Merida watched as her companion called out in Kumandran, words spoken fast and sounding utterly alien to the Scottish listener. She vowed to apologise to Elsa for calling her language incomprehensible so often when, in comparison to this, it wasn't that big a deal.

Merida forgot all about her linguistic troubles, however, when a weak light entered the shadowy old restaurant as the door to the kitchen cracked open. A boy came out of it, carrying two bowls of something, a delighted smile on his face. He looked like the average street kid to Merida and she wondered how he'd gotten involved with the Kumandran underworld. It was, however, a bad idea to stick her nose in business that wasn't her own, which meant she professionally did not give a damn.

It seemed the boy had reached their table within seconds, so fast did he move. Merida was impressed, though his hyperactivity may or may not have been caused by an overdose of energy drinks in his system. Merida had once consumed a large amount of them when she'd needed to stay awake for five days on a job and had experienced a similar (or worse) kind of fast bounciness. Not an experience she'd recommend. The hallucinations and heart palpitations by the end of it hadn't been any fun.

"Two shrimp congee, coming right up," the boy announced cheerfully in English resembling Raya's. He set the two bowls down on the table and Merida studied its contents, poking at it with the spoon the boy had also supplied her with. The substance in her bowl was thick, looked kind of like a cross between soup and porridge. Not like anything she'd tried before, but it looked more than edible, smelled great and Merida did like to live on the edge.

She didn't bother waiting for her host to give her permission to eat and dug in straight away. The moment the food entered her mouth, she instantly regretted her decision to take such a big bite. Whatever shrimp congee was supposed to be, it tasted good, but it was also hot. Merida was sure her tongue had been set aflame, tears starting to prick in her eyes. Once she'd swallowed, still feeling the congee's burn in her throat, she cursed under her breath.

"Oh," the boy said. "Maybe I should've warned you. I like my congee to be properly spicy."

"Sensitive western tastebuds, Boun," Raya replied with a smirk. She hadn't touched her own food yet. "Not everyone can handle the spiciness of Kumandran food. "

"Neither can Raya," Boun whispered into Merida's ear conspiratorially, leaning closer. "I go easy on the spices for her. She just doesn't want to admit it."

Raya must've heard, for she shooed Boun away with a frown. "That'll be enough for tonight. Why don't you go back home to your family now while we talk business here? I'll make sure the money to compensate you for your time and the ingredients will get to you."

Boun obeyed, wishing the pair a good meal before leaving the restaurant. Merida was almost sad to see him leave; she'd known the boy for a few minutes, but his sense of humour seemed better than Raya's. Raya was the person paying her, though. Merida took another bite of her congee, more cautious this time, and looked the other woman in the eyes. "I'm in this country to kill someone. You might want to tell me who it is."

"I will. But first I have to ask you how familiar you are with the Kumandran underworld. It's important you have some knowledge to work with."

Merida stopped chewing. "I'm afraid I haven't done my homework in that regard yet," she admitted with her mouth full.

She'd tried, of course, but not before procrastinating as much as she could. The date of her departure to Kumandra had crept ever closer, but she'd chosen to do other important things, like… Eating, and watching true crime videos on YouTube to judge other killers for being goddamn amateurs. Then when she finally had found some motivation to get her research in order, she'd gotten distracted by something silly she couldn't even remember and it had thrown her resolve to get to work into chaos again.

Raya, at least, didn't seem to mind. "Then allow me to fill you in. Organised crime in Kumandra is mostly in the hands of gangs. More specifically, what we call the dragon gangs, the five biggest ones. I won't bore you with details you'll forget before the night is over, but the gang I'm experiencing some… problems with is called…"

The word she said then wasn't anything Merida could comprehend. The murderer gave her a blank stare, not even caring about coming across as dumb. Raya simply sighed.

"Fang. That's what it means in your language. I should probably just give you translated terms, huh?"

"Would be most convenient."

"Fine."

"What kind of trouble are you in with them? Owe them money? Pissed them off in some way?"

"Well…" Raya paused, likely to achieve some sort of dramatic effect. Merida thought she and Elsa would get along. "It's more of a rivalry thing. I lead Heart, the most powerful gang in Kumandra. Fang is the biggest threat to our position."

A leader, huh? Not necessarily what Merida had expected, but she couldn't say she was impressed. She dealt with all kinds of people in her field, from poor underprivileged teenagers to suburban mothers to corrupt Russian officials. Raya wasn't the first gang leader she encountered and wouldn't be the last.

Not the first she'd killed, either, if push came to shove. But that wasn't anything she'd bring up as long as the woman remained on her good side.

"So I'm having a midnight meal with Kumandra's very own Queen of Crime". Merida mock-curtsied where she sat. A little flattery never hurt. "I imagine you want me to kill one of Fang's members. Who is it? Their leader?"

"No."

Merida swore she saw a slight blush appear on Raya's cheeks right there, though it could've been a trick of the light. How strange. It made her all the more curious about the person in charge of Fang and what they meant to the woman in front of her. She smirked.

"Why not? I could pull it off. Can't be too hard."

"Because I want to kill her myself," Raya replied, sounding irritated and glaring at Merida. "Forget about Fang's leader. I want you to deal with the rat."

Merida, who'd gotten used to the spice of her congee at this point, dug in some more. "I'll take the liberty of assuming you're not talking about an actual rat."

Raya shook her head and turned to the small bag she'd placed next to her chair. She produced a photograph and slipped it across the table. Merida took it, studied the person it showed. A woman, black hair tied into a bun, wearing a headband.

"Her name," Raya spat, "is Atitaya. Or at least, I think it is. Could've been a lie like all the rest. She's been working closely with me for months now, but I've found out she's a spy for Fang."

Merida let out a low whistle. "Ouch."

"Ouch, indeed. I can't let it go unpunished and I can't allow her to pass on any more sensitive information to my enemies. She has to die."

"Consider it done." Merida leaned back in her chair. "But I have to ask... Why go through the trouble of hiring me? You could probably grab some teenage dealer off the street and they'd get the job done for less money. Those would be amateurs, of course, but I also don't doubt you have professional assassins running around right here in Kumandra."

"I hardly trust any Kumandran right now," Raya hissed. "Just a select few, but none I'd ask to kill for me. Any Kumandran assassin I can find could be another secret friend of Fang. By hiring you, foreigner, I at least know for sure you won't be bought by them. They can't, because they don't know you're in the country, or that you even exist."

"Fair enough." Merida had made steady progress with her congee; she'd almost emptied her bowl, all of its contents snugly in her stomach. "Well, I assure you I won't let Fang turn me against you if they do find out. Got enough money, and betrayal isn't in my nature. Bit of service for my clients. Either way, I've got my target. Give me a week and this Atitaya of yours will be dead and gone for sure."

"No."

No?

Merida frowned. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"A week is too long. I want the bitch to be a corpse tomorrow."

Tomorrow? Merida did a quick mental calculation. It was between midnight and one in the morning now; she'd have to finish up this chat, get some rest. Then, she'd have what remained of her day and night left to prepare the kill and rest up again before actually commiting the crime and fleeing the scene. It would be a tight schedule. Too tight.

"Raya," she began slowly, "do you have any understanding at all of how an assassination works?"

"Of course I do."

"Because it doesn't sound like you do. Maybe if you do pay a street kid, they'll gun the lady down in the street without thinking, but they won't be subtle and they won't get away with it either. I'm a fucking professional, okay? I need time to study your rat's routines, her connections. I need to pick a time, a place and a method for the murder, get acquaintanced with the area to be able to escape afterwards. Might even have to secure an alibi just in case. I can't do all of that in a day."

"And I don't expect you to." Raya reached for her bag again, taking a small pile of documents out of it and placing it before Merida with a smirk. "That's why I've done the preparing for you."

Merida blinked once, twice, three times, staring at the files in disbelief and with a healthy amount of skepticism. "That's... highly unusual."

"Maybe it is, but like I said, I want the job done faster than would be humanly possible if I let you figure everything out by yourself." Raya tapped on the pile of paper between them with a finger. "This is all the information I've managed to dig up on Atitaya's connections and routines. It also includes suggestions for a time, place and method I recommend you follow. Finally, I've supplied you with a map of the area I'd deem the most suitable for killing her. All you need to do is take in the information, get acquaintanced with the city and follow my instructions to commit the crime."

Huh. That would be easy. Maybe even too easy. It sounded too good to be true. And following somebody else's instructions instead of running with her own plan? Merida wasn't sure if she could bring herself to accept that.

"This could be a trap," she said, narrowing her eyes at Raya's meticulous documentation. "Who's to say it's safe for me to play along in your game? Could be you have other plans with me entirely."

She thought about the special assignment in the Port of Oslo months ago, which had turned out to be a plot to lure her and Elsa there to abduct them. Her mind drifted to the elusive Mr. Black, his promise for vengeance. She hadn't heard or seen anything of the man now, months later, and Elsa hadn't been able to find him, but Merida still wondered briefly if this could be part of his plan. That the bastard had contacted Raya, offered her money to help get rid of her, that another elaborate scheme would follow. It seemed far-fetched, especially because they were on the other side of the world, but it also seemed like the exact unexpected action a man like Mr. Black could undertake. She wouldn't rule out the possibility.

"I'm afraid you'll simply have to take my word for it," Raya told her. "My intentions are exactly as I said. And keep in mind, you're completely free to deviate from my ideas and do your own research if it pleases you. But I do expect you to kill Atitaya tomorrow and the easiest way to do so is by sticking to my plan. I just need her dead, one way or another. The thing is... if you don't succeed in killing her tomorrow, if your approach takes longer, I'll need to seriously consider the possibility that Fang got to you somehow. That you're compromised. And if that happens, you know too much."

Merida didn't miss that veiled threat. "You're saying you'll have me killed if that happens."

Raya shrugged apologetically, though Merida had her doubts about the sincerity of the gesture. "I can't have been the only client who's specified as much, am I? You're not a beginner. You know the risks of the job."

"I do." The assassin stood up, taking the pile of documents Raya had drawn up for her. "I don't take kindly to threats, but you won't have to make good on it, anyway. I'm enough of a professional to get this done correctly."

"Oh, I trust you will," Raya said. "Go back to where you're staying, get some rest, read through what I've given you and do what you're paid for."

Merida nodded, turned to leave. "Understood."

"Oh, and Merida?"

The Scot turned back once more. "What?"

Raya gave her a smirk. "Good luck."

~~~~

When Merida woke up in her hotel room, blinking up at the ceiling, she was confused. It took her a moment to register she wasn't in her own bed or Elsa's, but in an unfamiliar one, in a hotel of dubious quality in a foreign country. It was shadowy in the room, the dark red curtains blocking out the light of the early morning sun. The space wasn't the best she'd slept in, she thought to herself; it had an odd smell to it, a little like burnt vegetables. Cracks snaked through the walls and she was almost certain she'd heard mice scurrying through the halls outside. That was to be expected, though. She always picked rundown, questionable places to stay in if she could. People asked far fewer questions there.

Fortunately, Elsa hadn't complained about this habit of hers. Merida turned to look at her sleeping girlfriend, who'd cuddled up to her in her sleep and held her close. It was warm in Kumandra, even in January, but Elsa's touch was nice and cool, so Merida didn't mind at all. She smiled. She didn't mind this bed with its annoyingly hard mattress as long as Elsa was in it with her.

Elsa hugging her also came with an added benefit: Merida couldn't stir too much, couldn't try to get out of bed without waking her. Which was to be avoided at all costs. One did not simply wake a peacefully slumbering girlfriend. Glancing at the digital clock on her nightstand, Merida saw it was roughly eight in the morning. Normally, Elsa would be awake already, but she seemed to be making an exception now.

Good. Merida, careful not to wake her girlfriend, reached for Raya's documentation. Reading wasn't her strong suit: she often couldn't bring up the concentration or patience, going stir-crazy far too fast. She'd grasp at any distraction she could find and get about a page of reading done per hour. But with Elsa holding her and essentially rendering her immobile, reading through Raya's files would be all she could do to keep her mind occupied. Seeing as she had to get the reading done fast, being on a tight schedule, the situation for it this morning was ideal.

She managed to get through the whole thing in about fifteen minutes and concluded Raya had done her homework thoroughly. The files contained all information she'd been promised: connections, routine, a map and a detailed suggested murder plan for Merida to follow. From a purely professional viewpoint, there was nothing she could object to.

And still Merida fucking hated the plan.

"The hell is this supposed to be?" She grumbled to herself, unable to keep quiet about the insanity. "Who the fuck does she think she is? If she thinks I'll go through with this, she's delusional."

She'd spoken louder than she'd thought, for Elsa's eyes fluttered open, their bright blue shine reaching Merida's frustrated gaze. The spy yawned and snuggled closer to her girlfriend, something the Scot had deemed impossible before. The contact calmed her down, though, so she wouldn't dare to complain.

"What are you getting pissed about so early, Mer? We haven't even had breakfast yet," Elsa mumbled against her skin.

"Sorry for waking you," Merida apologised. "It's just the job."

"You don't normally complain about work. What's different now? Didn't your appointment go well?"

Merida thought back to the old restaurant, Raya, Boun. Shrimp congee, criminal talk and murder threats. "No, I... It went well. About as well as it gets when you're dealing with organised crime. It's just... Client wants me to get this murder done tomorrow."

Though Elsa wasn't an assassin herself, she was familiar enough with Merida's line of work to know that was an odd request. Merida felt her stiffen and frown. "Tomorrow? I doubt that's feasible."

Merida sighed. "It gets more complicated than that. These files give me pretty much all information I'd normally gather myself and she's provided me with a plan I could use. If I stick to it, it will be feasible. And it's a solid plan, don't get me wrong, but it also sucks."

"How so?"

Flipping back to the offending documents, Merida began to explain what Raya had written. "So there's this place the target frequents, okay? Basically every wednesday afternoon. It's a maid cafe. Sort of. Not an actual, legit maid cafe. Just an illegal brothel trying to pose as one."

"Huh."

"Yeah. Talon's a nice city, but it does have its dark side. So this is how it goes: the target always takes the girl 'waiting' on her out for a stroll. This is routine, so nobody will bat an eyelash about it. The brothel's owner also happens to exploit a nearby hotel, where the target will take her prostitute. Discrete place. Normally, they do their thing, everyone goes home happy, I suppose..."

"I think I'm starting to understand where your client is going with this plan."

Merida nodded. "She can pull some strings with the brothel owner and get me a very temporary job there. All I'd have to do is wait on the target, take her to the hotel and kill her there. The map is helpful and if I scout the area, I'll be able to escape easily."

Elsa, who seemed fully awake now, frowned. "That plan is much better than some I've seen you come up with by yourself. When do we get to the part where this sucks?"

Seriously? Merida would never deny Elsa possessed more cleverness than her, but she was a little slow here. She'd just woken up, but still. "Did you hear anything of what I just said?"

"Well, yeah," Elsa defended herself, "but I just don't see how..." she fell silent, gave it some more thought. A mischievous smirk slowly but surely began to show on her face, one Merida found both sexy and mildly unsettling. "Hold on. I've figured it out."

"Elsa-"

"The undercover part. The part for which you need to wear a maid outfit. That's the issue."

Merida groaned. "Those things are a fucking disgrace."

"You just think you're too cool for it. You feel like it'll taint the badass reputation you try to maintain."

"Because it does."

Elsa laughed. "Mer, if that's the only way you can realistically get this job done by tomorrow, you'll have to live with it. You're a professional. You should be above these petty inconveniences."

"I'm above many petty inconveniences," Merida grumbled. "Just not this one." She placed the pile of papers back on her nightstand, resisting the urge to simply crumple it all up and throw it away. "There has to be another way for me to get this done. I could use the information I have to come up with something better."

Elsa's grip on her tightened. "Would that be taking unnecessary, dangerous risks?"

"Um..." Merida hesitated, but couldn't lie to her girlfriend, not when she was staring at her so intently. "I suppose Raya did say she'll consider me a compromised asset if the target isn't killed before the deadline she set."

"Which means she'll try to kill you."

"Yeah."

"Then you're absolutely not going to deviate from this plan. Not on my watch."

"But... come on," Merida protested, "I can at least try. And if you help me, anything we come up with will work out. You have magic at your disposal, for God's sake."

Elsa's touch grew colder the moment Merida mentioned magic. The redhead shivered.

"You're forgetting one crucial thing," Elsa said slowly.

Raising her eyebrows, Merida gave her girlfriend a confused look. "Which is?"

"I have zero intention of helping you."

Merida blinked. Stupidly.

"What?"

"You might be here for work, but I'm not. I'm here on vacation. To relax. And if I'm helping you out with your job, that's almost the same as doing my own job. And surely you'll understand that working while on vacation means you practically don't have a proper vacation."

Damn it. Merida thought back to the conversation she'd had with Elsa, a few days before coming to Kumandra. She'd come to visit her girlfriend in her apartment and found her half-asleep, half-awake on the couch, laptop almost slipping off her lap and falling on the floor. Merida had taken Elsa's poor device to a safer spot on the kitchen table and inquired about Elsa's apparent state of sleep-deprivation.

"Just tired," Elsa had mumbled, barely keeping her eyes open. "I've done some... Intensive jobs that took longer than expected and I had to hurry to get the reports done in time. Didn't get sleep. But it's okay. I got it done."

"You know what you need?" Merida had suggested, sitting down next to Elsa and pulling her in for a hug. "A break."

"A break?"

"Yeah. Like, a vacation."

"Vacation." Elsa had raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I have time for that, and... I'd rather save up the money for emergency situations."

Merida had thought that was fair, but was still of the opinion Elsa could use time to relax, time away from all the hectic business of everyday life. She'd thought about her own upcoming business trip to Kumandra and an idea had formed in her mind. She could ask Elsa to accompany her. Not for work, but to chill and enjoy everything the country had to offer in terms of food, culture, history, pleasant temperatures and whatever other activities a tourist or traveller could ask for.

"Why don't you come with me to Kumandra soon?" Merida had asked. "I have a job to do there and you could accompany me. You won't have to do anything besides relaxing. And who knows, if the assignment doesn't take too long, we could add a week or so, rent a car with the money I've earned and go on a little road trip. It could be fun."

Elsa's face had lit up briefly, only for that light to fade away, melting like ice. "That... sounds fantastic, Mer. But... If you're trying to imply you'll pay for all expenses, I don't know how I feel about that."

Merida had shrugged with a grin. "A hotel room is often cheaper when it's for two people and I need to arrange for one regardless. It's no big deal. And once we're there and I'm working, you can decide for yourself how much money you'd like to spend while having the time of your life."

"But... What about Anna?" Elsa had sputtered, trying to hide the fact she found this offer rather enticing.

"Anna won't want to get inbetween you and a well-deserved vacation. Besides, she'll probably love having your apartment all to herself. I know I'd be delighted if I were her."

"Hm... But what if-"

"Elsa," Merida had said, "you're looking for an excuse to decline because you don't feel like you deserve a trip like this. But you do, and you're finding it increasingly difficult to find reasons not to go. I won't force you, of course, but this is a good idea and you know that. Just let your loving girlfriend treat you to a vacation. Okay?"

Miraculously, she'd managed to convince Elsa to come. Anna had been very supportive of the idea of her sister taking time off and she'd indeed been delighted to learn she'd have the apartment for herself. Elsa had told her to behave and stay safe, which the girl had promised to do, and then there had been nothing but a flight separating Merida and Elsa from faraway Kumandra, where they now lay in their hotel bed.

And now Elsa didn't want to make herself useful. Which was... Valid. Technically. But Merida couldn't resist whining about it.

"Look, I know what I said," she began with a sigh. "I don't want to break any promises I made you, I won't force you to do anything and I swear I won't ask much of you. Come on, just consider it, okay? I'll do pretty much everything myself, but it would be so helpful if you could just assist me a little with your intelligence and magic. Please?"

Elsa made a non-commital noise, released Merida and sat up in bed. "No, no and no. You have a perfectly easy plan you can carry out that doesn't need to involve me in any way. You don't need my help. I'm not sacrificing relaxation time because you feel your reputation is in danger. Do I need to remind you that literally nobody but me has to know about this?"

That was true, but Merida would know it, and the experience would haunt her for the rest of her life. She decided to try a different route, giving Elsa the most seductive smirk she could manage this morning. "If you do choose to help, I could treat you right."

Her girlfriend didn't miss a beat and sent her a seductive smirk of her own as she manoeuvred her way out of the sheets. "Or you could do that regardless of whether I help you or not. I know you want to. You can't resist me."

Damn it, she knows me too well.

"I can totally resist you."

"Nope." Elsa had gotten out of bed now, moving to the chair she'd placed her clothes on the night before, neatly folded. "You couldn't do it if you tried."

Merida sat up straighter in bed herself, frowning and blinking at her girlfriend in confusion. "Oh, whatever. But, uh... What are you going to do?"

"You'll see." Elsa rummaged through the pockets of her jeans until she found her wallet. Opening it, she pulled out what Merida recognised as a twenty kroner coin, small and copper-coloured. Elsa made her way back to bed with the coin in her hand, sat down cross-legged and faced Merida.

The Scot stared her down, eyes drifting to the coin Elsa clutched in her left fist. "So... What exactly was the point of fetching that?"

"I know you'll find it unfair if I choose not to help you, regardless of whether it's justified or not," Elsa explained. "Don't get me wrong, I still don't believe you truly need my aid, but you did offer to take me here and that was sweet of you. So the least I can do to repay you is-"

"Saying yes to helping?"

"I was going to say 'give you a fair chance'. How about we let fate decide on what I'll do? We'll flip a coin. Heads, I'm helping you. Tails, you fix your own mess. Does that sound like a plan?"

"I still think it's easier if you just say-"

"Merida. Take it or leave it. This is my final offer. If you don't accept, it's a default no."

"Oh, fine, whatever," Merida grumbled. "Flip that coin. It's better than nothing."

Elsa didn't need to be told twice. Wearing a look of dire concentration, she flipped the coin. It landed on the mattress and Elsa soon removed her hand from it so they could see the result. Merida hoped for the best.

The coin had landed on heads.

Victory!

Merida smirked triumphantly at her girlfriend. "It seems like I win."

"Hm." Elsa looked at the coin with an unimpressed, almost bored expression before giving Merida a promising smile. "Maybe you did." She moved closer to the Scot, eyes resting on her girlfriend's lips for a mischievous second to long. Merida understood what would happen and allowed herself to be pulled into the kiss.

She wasn't entirely sure what motivated this transition, but kissing Elsa was the kind of thing that rendered all unrelated thoughts null. Running her thumb over Elsa's cheek, she enjoyed the softness of her skin, the sweetness of her lips and the sensation she always felt upon being graced with Elsa's touch. It wasn't a particularly passionate kiss, more of a lazy morning kiss, but Merida found it perfect regardless. There were worse ways to start a day and this made up for the annoyance she'd felt upon reading through Raya's files.

She felt Elsa's smile growing throughout their kiss and, when the spy pulled away, Merida gave her a curious look. "What's got you smiling all of a sudden? I mean, I know I'm a great kisser, but still."

"Oh, I know you are," Elsa confirmed, amused. "I'm just thinking about how you actually didn't win at all."

Merida stared at her girlfriend dumbfounded. "What do you mean? I did win."

Elsa gestured at the coin, which still lay on their mattress half-hidden under covers that had shifted while they kissed. Merida shoved those covers aside unceremoniously to study the little object, already fearing the worst. To her horror, she no longer saw the face of the Norwegian king gazing at her. Instead, there was the image of a viking ship.

Tails.

"That's not fair," Merida protested. "You distracted me with your seductive kisses and tampered with the outcome of this stupid game. It's cheating."

Elsa simply shrugged. "Can you prove it?"

"I saw it was heads. We both did."

"Do you have evidence to back that claim up?"

"Well, no..."

"And did you see me flip it a second time?"

In all honesty, Merida had not. She'd been too busy mentally celebrating her victory, getting lost in a kiss and fantasizing about getting Elsa out of her pajamas. Which, in hindsight, hadn't been the smartest choice. But who could've foreseen this devilish betrayal?

"I didn't see it, but I know you did it."

"But you can't prove it." Elsa grinned. "So I suppose we'll have to go with the outcome you see before you. You'll have to work alone."

Elsa was relentless and Merida did something she wasn't used to doing.

She gave up.

"Fine, then," she said, rolling her eyes. "Point taken. I'll get the job done using Raya's method and I won't need your help. You go do whatever vacationing you want to do."

Elsa gave her a pleased look. "See? I knew you'd come around. Thank you."

Merida grumbled, placing the files back on her nightstand. "Don't mention it." She pulled Elsa closer gently, looking her in the eyes. "But you can't tease me without following through with more."

Elsa didn't falter, lightly pushing Merida down on the bed with an amused expression. "I'll be happy to," she said, then pulled the Scot in for another kiss.

~~

The fake maid cafe, Merida decided, was an interesting place. Not in a good way.

After choosing to follow Raya's instructions, she'd scouted the area and seen it briefly, though she hadn't studied it in detail. Too risky; if she was going to be working there the next day, she couldn't afford to be seen skulking about, not if she didn't want to be considered suspicious. There was no reason to give her target or anyone else a reason to suspect her intentions were less than pure. So she'd spent her day scouting the area in general, doing her best to blend in as well as she could as she examined the route she'd take to the shady hotel and its surroundings.

The blueprints with the layout of the hotel had been included in Raya's files, which meant she didn't need to look in there either. Murders weren't predictable, anyway. She'd simply have to improvise once inside, making use of her knowledge of the area and indexation of possible escape routes. She checked for cameras everywhere she suspected she could be seen, noted where the least people wandered about, and chose a place to hide a bag of regular, touristy clothes; wandering about town in a potentially bloodied maid outfit would attract unwanted attention, which meant she'd need a quick change as soon as possible.

After doing the necessary legwork and making every preparation she wanted, she's called Raya and informed her of her decision to follow the plan as it had been written down. Raya was happy to hear it, promised to pull strings and went off the radar. An hour later, Merida had gotten another call from the woman and learnt about her cover story. She was expected to show up the next day, at the start of the afternoon.

Merida stuck to that schedule. She arrived at the maid cafe, was 'welcomed' by its boss and learnt Raya had played her part as desired. With an innocent smile, Merida confirmed everything the brothel owner had heard: that she was a poor Scottish backpacker looking to make money in whatever way possible and that she'd ended up with connections in Raya's gang in her quest to do so. She'd come to the hidden brothel on Raya's recommendation to work for about two weeks, to earn enough to travel further into Kumandra.

It was a flimsy story, but Raya's name commanded enough respect to warrant no further questions. Merida encountered no problems when taking up her 'job' in the place. With a healthy amount of repulsion, she changed in the bathroom, donning the maid outfit she'd been given and already hating every second. Jesus fucking Christ. The only good thing was that the outfit didn't come with heels, but as for the rest... Did anyone actually like to wear an outfit such as this one? She didn't even glance into the mirror to take a look at herself. The sight was too embarassing. She wanted to preserve her dignity and not have such a horrid image burned into her mind forever. She wanted to banish it from her brain as soon as she could.

The dreaded workday began.

Raya had kept track of Atitaya's visits here and deduced she tended to come by around two in the afternoon. She'd thus arranged for Merida to start her workday at half past two, so she could focus on the target and the target alone. And sure enough, after half an hour of learning what was expected of her and getting a feel for the rather shady place she now briefly worked at, her target waltzed right in.

Merida recognized her right away. Atitaya's hairstyle was the exact same as it had been in the photograph she'd had been given: she wore her hair in a bun and paired it with a headband, giving her a characteristic look. If she was notorious here, in this neighbourhood, this city or Kumandra as a whole, she didn't bother to hide it and announced it with pride. She strode across the checkered floor beneath the dim lights of the maid brothel and took her seat alone at a table for two.

Merida grabbed this opportunity with both hands.

Before one of her 'coworkers' could snatch Atitaya away from her, she pounced, approaching the woman's table with a sweet smile. Merida wasn't a great actress, but undercover work, no matter how short, did require acting. She decided to profile herself as being harmless and slightly air-headed, essentially as Rapunzel. She'd spent enough time with her therapist to be able to emulate her behaviour and mannerisms. Not that she liked doing so, for it went against every single one of her instincts, but desperate times called for desperate measures and she supposed she simply had to be open to getting out of her comfort zone.

Atitaya gave her a smug little grin and a once-over, which made Merida all the more pleased she'd soon get to slit the woman's throat. Shooting would attract too much attention, so she'd hid a blade in her outfit for a subtle kill. Still, Merida refrained from showing outward hostility and never let her smile slip. Soon. For now, she had to play Raya's game.

"What can I get you, ma'am?" she asked in English. Atitaya would understand she wasn't Kumandran based on her looks and there was no reason for her to pretend she spoke a language of which she'd hardly been able to master basic words. Come to think of it, there was a chance her target was into foreign girls specifically. Raya hadn't said so, but Merida wouldn't exclude that as an extra reason the gang leader may have gone through the trouble of hiring her instead of a Kumandran killer willing to get the job done quick and cheap.

Atitaya gave Merida her order. Merida obliged with a smile, doing everyrhing that was expected of her, following her 'employer's' instructions to the letter. She wouldn't give the brothel's owner any reason to suspect foul play, even if Raya's recommendation-slash-order to give her a job had been a clear enough hint.

She wouldn't give Atitaya a reason to think of her as anything but a regular foreign hooker, either; she served food and drinks, chatted with the woman about basic pleasantries and added in the occasional flirty comment here and there, which didn't feel as natural as it used to. Her flirty comments were reserved for Elsa alone these days, not for random women, especially not ones she planned on killing. But the situation called for it and apparently she hadn't lost her touch, for Atitaya seemed to enjoy her company. Excellent.

The fact that she was wearing a maid outfit was one Merida conveniently banished to the back of her mind. That was not something to think about. Not when she had a job to do, a woman to kill. And yet, she couldn't prevent a part of her soul from lamenting her lost dignity.

If possible, she would have sped up the process of eating, drinking and chatting and would have dragged Atitaya to the hotel straight away. She couldn't escape that process, though; she'd been told it was an integral part of the customer's experience and that there was no need to hurry unless the customer wished for as much. They'd go to the hotel at Atitaya's command, not Merida's; and if her luck took a turn for the worse, if Atitaya found her unworthy of being taken to the hotel, she'd have blown her chance.

Atitaya, however, needed about half an hour to deem Merida worthy. Which was certainly not something Merida would complain about, for it meant she was doing her job smoothly. Still, she couldn't help but wonder what it was that had convinced the woman she was worth sleeping with. Looks? Conversational skills? Personality? Or nothing at all? Would her target have picked just anyone, meaning all of her effort served precisely no purpose?

This was why Merida preferred straight-forward kills that required little to no undercover work. She didn't want to think about her targets, their thoughts and motivations and convictions. Doing so wasn't even inconvenient, but plain annoying. Merida liked to use what little free space lay unused in her restless brain for things that actually mattered. Things such as... Such as...

Anyway.

"Come on," Atitaya said, ogling her like a piece of meat. "Let's get out of here."

Merida wanted to wipe the smirk off her face, but couldn't do so yet. Just a little longer. With a smile, she complied, following her target to the brothel's back door. Her boss gave her a quick nod of approval. Merida resisted the urge to show him her middle finger.

"They haven't really showed me the way to the hotel yet," Merida confessed to Atitaya, which wasn't a lie. She'd only received vague instructions. That she'd scouted the entire route yesterday wasn't worth mentioning. "But I've heard you're a regular. I'm sure you can lead us to our destination flawlessly."

Maybe that last bit laid it on a little too thick, but Atitaya fell for it just right. "Oh, trust me, I can. And we'll hurry up, too. I can't wait to get you out of that dress."

Merida couldn't wait to get out of the dress either, but not in front of her target. Her hidden blade ached to be used. Unfortunately, she couldn't afford to be too hasty. She had to be patient and wait 'til they'd reached the hotel room for a proper kill. She took a subtle, deep breath. She could do this. She could wait, keep herself from carving Atitaya's heart out where they stood. She just wanted this whole thing to be over soon. There was nothing better than the prospect of getting this job done and moving on, both in the literal and figurative sense.

They wandered through the streets, Merida being led by Atitaya, or rather, giving the traitor the illusion of leading and being in charge. They moved through narrow and crowded streets alike, passing neon signs, market stands with vendors selling clothes, seedy restaurants with smoking men and scantily-clad women in outdoor dining areas. Merida felt out of place in her maid outfit, felt stared at even if that was unjustified. There was so much to look at in these busy streets, she couldn't imagine she was the strangest sight. Uncomfortable as she was, everything rolled along beautifully.

Until Atitaya received a phone call.

Merida found it beyond impressive the woman managed to hear her flip phone's ringtone over the noise of the city and its dwellers around them. Staring at her pocket in annoyance, Merida's target fished her phone out. "Excuse me for a second," she told Merida with a frown as she studied the caller ID, subtly kept out of Merida's view. "I need to take this call."

Damn it. This development delayed Merida's plans, and not only that, it posed a risk, too. Who was on the phone? Why call now? Coincidence? Or was Merida's cover blown? She didn't want to assume the worst, but she had to be prepared for such a scenario. Shit. Stay calm. She had to stay calm. She couldn't give Atitaya a reason to be alarmed in any way. If this phone call was perfectly normal, there was no reason for Merida to get nervous and potentially raise suspicion.

This phone call meant nothing. Only that Merida had to stay in that damned dress for longer.

Atitaya picked up her phone and, with a hand gesture implying Merida shouldn't leave her spot, left the main street with the road close by for what it was and ducked into a somewhat quieter alley. Probably to hear her conversation partner's voice better, maybe to prevent a savvy, quick-fingered thief from snatching it out of her hands. Or she simply didn't want Merida listening in. The Scot's cover story of her being a backpacker meant she'd been travelling around and Atitaya couldn't be sure of how much Kumandran she'd learned on her travels.

(Nothing, in fact. A simple 'hello' was already undoable.)

That said, Merida didn't intend to give Atitaya the privacy she so desired, nor did she wish to follow her order. Even if she couldn't understand a single word said, she could still listen to the conversation's tone and keep an eye on her target's body language to get a sense of what the chat was about. She inched closer to the alley, careful to stay out of Atitaya's direct line of sight. From the corner of eye, she saw a sleazy man ogling her, looking like he debated approaching her or not. If Atitaya questioned her closer proximity, she could use that man as an excuse somehow, she was sure.

This was fine. The plan was still going strong. There was absolutely nothing to worry about.

That didn't mean Atitaya's expression wasn't mildly concerning, though.

The woman had paced around restlessly all throughout her call, speaking in rapid Kumandran as if firing words from a machine gun. Her annoyed look had slowly morphed into a shocked one, only to then turn fearful. Why? What could possibly scare a woman currently betraying one of Kumandra's most influential criminals?

Merida didn't like this one bit, but waited patiently. If she offed Atitaya now, the person at the other end of the line would know of her death. She needed a more secluded place, or better yet, for her target to end her call and just come along to the hotel, no questions asked. Why couldn't this be a simple hit and run?

Atitaya hung up the phone and immediately turned to Merida, who stiffened. The murderer noticed her target's eyes were wide as saucers as she studied her, as if seeing her for the first time. Atitaya no longer looked intent on undressing her, but on putting as much distance between them as possible. Merida understood what had happened. Her cover had been blown.

But how?

Atitaya turned around, broke out into a run. And she was fast.

Shit.

Merida knew better than to yell at her stop, for the command wouldn't be obeyed. Instead, she cursed and gave chase right away, pushing herself to try and match her target's speed. Though she was in shape, she couldn't catch up straight away (curse these short legs). She sped further into the alley, racing after Atitaya, almost crashing into a wall when rounding a corner in her pursuit. She may have scouted the area, but not necessarily this part of it and there was no way of knowing where else they could end up.

But no matter what she did, she couldn't let her target get away. Anything but that.

Merida's lungs slowly but surely began to burn as her feet slammed on the asphalt, chasing Atitaya through narrow back alleys, past run-down apartment buildings covered in graffiti, parked cars and motorcycles and the occasional dealer or street kid. Those people who dared to be out in these shadiest parts of a seedy neighbourhood, fortunately, did not pay attention to the two women racing past. Merida could almost forget she still wore the damned maid outfit.

Does this bitch ever tire?

Atitaya threw a bike she passed down, probably hoping to slow Merida down by putting an obstacle on her path, but the redhead wouldn't be fooled. Her reflexes kicked in, she jumped over the vehicle and resumed the chase, keeping Atitaya in her line of sight, inching closer to her target in spite of the aching in her leg muscles.

She cursed herself for not bringing her gun; she could've shot Atitaya already if she had. But she hadn't accounted for this deviation in the plan. She had only a knife, which she considered throwing, but the risk was too great. If she missed, a real possibility (she knew how to throw knives properly, but had neglected to practice the ability as much as she could have), she'd lose her only weapon and waste valuable time picking it back up, time Atitaya could use to make a quick escape.

This should've been an easy job. It should have been. But that phone call had complicated matters, that bloody phone call... Who had called, anyway? Who had the knowledge to blow her cover? Who had seen through Raya's scheme and how in the hell had they managed to do so successfully?

Another realisation began to dawn on her. Atitaya hadn't tried to attack her, even though she would certainly have the skills to do so. Her target had simply run away and hadn't once tried to call for help. Why was that? They'd passed enough sketchy Kumandrans, maybe even allies of Fang, that she could've sicced on her maid outfit-clad assailant. But she hadn't. She ran, just ran, almost as if leading Merida on...

Could this be a trap?

Merida hated not having all the information she needed.

Atitaya was close now; several breakneck-speed minutes of running had taken its toll on her and Merida noticed her slowing down, could hear her heavy breathing, imagined a frantic look in her eyes and little sweat drops dramatically running down her forehead as was the case for her. So close, so close to getting this job done! Merida reached for Atitaya's clothes with her left hand, tried to grab her knife with the right one (so close so close) and-

Tripped over a bag of trash some blithering fool had left lying about.

Merida cursed as she slammed into the ground, narrowly breaking her fall with her hands. Hissing as her skin burned, she scrambled to her feet. Damn it, she'd gotten too cocky, allowed herself to think the murder had practically been handled and let her guard down. This put her target at a major advantage.

Really should've brought the gun.

She saw Atitaya run on, glancing back for a split second to check if she was still down. Disoriented but ready for more, Merida broke into a stumbling run once again, but had to conclude she wouldn't be able to keep this up; the distance between her and Atitaya was considerable now and if she didn't close it real soon, the woman would make use of her knowledge of her city and escape into some dark corner or become anonymous in a mass of tourists and locals. Already she seemed to be making for a building, run-down and seemingly empty, likely intending to shake Merida off there. A secret passage?

Merida wouldn't find out. Atitaya abruptly stopped in her tracks. Why? The assassin could only watch while the woman struggled to move forward. It was a strange sight to behold, Atitaya yelling in Kumandran, waving her arms about as she tried to take steps again, only to find she could not. It was as if her feet were frozen to the asphalt.

Hold on.

One glance at Atitaya's feet taught Merida the woman's feet were actually frozen to the ground.

While her mind tried to comprehend the implications of this, her adrenaline-powered body shifted into instinctive murder mode. Pouncing like a hawk on a mouse in a field, she took her chance, rushed to Atitaya and used her knife to slit her target's throat. Slicing straight through the carotid arteries, she watched blood gush out of the woman, heard her gurgle while Merida kept her arms from flailing. Within a minute, the blood loss would kill her. It wasn't a murder as clean as Merida liked them (though murder always was messy), but a successful killing all the same.

"Oh, god," Elsa commented, looking disgusted. "I've seen you shoot people before, but this is on a whole different level. I could've done without seeing it."

Merida blinked, turning to look at her girlfriend while Atitaya's life slipped away. Elsa, though a little tense from having just witnessed an arguably brutal murder, looked perfectly relaxed in her casual clothes, sporting sunglasses and holding what appeared to be a cup of bubble tea. Saying she looked out of place here would've been an understatement.

"Look, it's not that I don't really appreciate the help, because I'm sure you saved my ass just now," Merida said, incredulous, "but what in the everliving fuck are you doing here?"

Elsa shrugged. "If you truly want to get a feel for a city, every part of it is worth exploring. Even shady neighbourhoods like this one. You know I can defend myself just fine. So I'm only sightseeing, really."

"And that just happens to bring you to the exact place I'm trying to murder a person in?"

"I thought I'd keep an eye on you, just in case. I wouldn't want you to get hurt. And I don't know if you've considered this yourself, but I was thinking a plan concocted by your client might indicate a trap."

Merida had indeed thought about that, though she still wasn't sure what exactly had just happened here. She focused her attention on matters she did understand, namely Elsa.

"Have you ever been this protective of me while I worked before...?" she wondered aloud. Then, a new realisation dawned on her. She narrowed her eyes. "Wait a minute. Would I be wrong if I claimed part of your reason for being here now is that you wanted to see me in this horrid outfit?"

Elsa gave her an awkward but amused smile. "You got me there."

Oh, lovely. Merida cursed herself for telling Elsa about the situation in the first place. Should've kept the info to herself, would've spared her this embarassment. On the other hand, if Elsa hadn't been here, she likely wouldn't have been able to succeed in killing Atitaya. If her girlfriend seeing her in an atrocious maid costume was the price to pay for a job well done, Merida supposed she could live with it.

"Oh, whatever," she said, blushing. "Let's just forget about all of this as soon as possible, okay? Thanks. And, uh... We should probably get out of here. We're not supposed to be caught here with a corpse."

"Too late," replied a voice from above. "You're already caught. And how intriguing you are. A tourist with bubble tea and ice powers, helping out an assassin in a maid costume. Not something I see every day."

Rub it in, won't you? Merida thought to herself before looking up, alarmed, trying to pinpoint who the accented voice belonged to. When she found the speaker high up on the roof of the building Atitaya had tried to enter, she grew even warier. The woman's features were sharp, hair styled with a side-shave cut, and she looked down on Elsa and Merida almost condescendingly, with a haughty, princess-like sense of authority hanging around her. She looked damned intimidating, an effect boosted by the cat-like creature the size of a tiger circling around her legs.

Merida gave the woman the only reply she found appropriate in this situation.

"Whoever you are, fuck off!"

The woman did not, however, fuck off, which was to be expected, but mildly disappointing regardless. Instead, the scary bitch chuckled, as if Merida was a five-year-old who'd cracked what she imagined to be a very funny joke. "I don't intend to. You've just killed one of my best henchmen, you little pest. Do you think I'll let you get away with that? If you do, you can think again."

"I don't tend to do a lot of thinking," Merida answered. "It gets in the way of being alive. So are you Fang's leader?"

She didn't expect the woman to continue their conversation, but she did, giving Elsa and Merida a nod. "Namaari. Remember that name, because you'll have it on your mind when you soon lie dead in my city's streets. But I don't need you to tell me who or what you are."

Namaari addressed Merida specifically now, narrowing her eyes. "One of my spies saw you enter a restaurant Raya was in and relayed the information to me. I had them keep an eye out for you, and when I heard they saw you pass by looking like that with Atitaya, I understood her cover was blown. That Raya must've found out about who she truly worked for and hired you to deal with the problem."

"You called Atitaya and told her I was up to no good," Merida concluded. "So she ran. But not to get help, because she never called out for it. I'll wager she was trying to lead me here, to you, so you could ambush and kill me."

"And it almost worked." Namaari stroked the head of her disturbing cat, focusing on Elsa now. "But I didn't account for you showing up to ruin that plan."

Elsa snapped her fingers, creating a few snowflakes that danced through the air around her. Merida recognised this as an effort to show Namaari she wasn't to be messed with. "Forgive me for not regretting that. Or don't. I don't care what you think of me. I just want to advise you against trying to kill us now. As you've observed, I've got magic at my disposal, and we're both trained killers. You won't win this."

Elsa wasn't a trained killer, just a trained spy, but Merida wasn't stupid enough to go ahead and point that out. The more dangerous Namaari believed Elsa to be, the less likely she was to attack. Not that the Scot suspected they couldn't handle this gang leader and her animal; Namaari could've easily shot them, but hadn't done so yet, meaning it was unlikely she carried a gun. To get to Elsa and Merida, then, she'd have to engage them in close combat. No matter how skilled Namaari was at that, she'd be no match for Merida and Elsa both.

Namaari chuckled darkly. "I agree, I won't. But I'll notify everyone under my command of your presence in this city and order them to kill on sight. Anyone in these streets may be an enemy looking to attack you. You'll never see them coming, won't have time to ready your defenses. So how will you deal with that? You'll never leave Talon alive."

"We'll see about that," Merida replied, glaring. If she'd had her gun with her, she wouldn't have wasted a single word on this woman, would simply have put a bullet in her head. But life was unfair. Namaari was smart enough to have positioned herself on the roof, out of reach, up too high for Merida to successfully throw her knife to end her.

"Try me, then," Namaari said with a taunting grin, taking out her phone. She nodded at her cat. "In Fang, we're fond of our cats, Kumandran Serlots. So let's enter a cat-and-mouse-game, mice. One the cat will win. We'll follow you all throughout Kumandra if we have to. You better run while you still can."

"I don't want to humour her," Merida whispered to Elsa, "and as much as I want to kill her, we should run. I gotta get changed into clothes less bloody than these, we grab our stuff at the hotel, collect the money and go. That sound like a deal to you?"

Elsa nodded. "Deal."

And while Namaari made the call that would endanger their lives terribly, they ran.

~~

For what it was worth, Namaari certainly gave Elsa and Merida a run for their money. They managed to get Merida changed into regular clothes without trouble, but still stood out: two Europeans with red and platinum blonde hair, rushing too much to be considered normal tourists, didn't blend in well. The pair chose to stick to back-alleys as much as possible, but couldn't avoid every assailant; damned Fang thugs seemed to be hiding in every nook and cranny of Talon.

Merida mostly looked out, trying to steer clear of unnecessary killings, and told Elsa whenever she saw a member of Fang, allowing her girlfriend to use her magic to incapacitate them. It was too late only once, when a particularly zealous thug tried to catch Elsa off-guard; Merida ended that one quick, giving the man a fast death with some swift knife work. It covered her in blood again, which she found rather annoying. Fortunately, the hotel staff didn't dare ask questions; Merida did choose her shady hotels on the promise of such discretion.

While Elsa gathered the few belongings they'd brought, Merida contacted Raya to let her know the job was done. Raya, pleased, said they'd meet up as soon as possible, for she'd pay Merida in cash. They agreed on a safe place, close to neither Merida and Elsa's hotel nor the restaurant they'd spoken in before; those places could be compromised. After hearing about the situation with Atitaya and Namaari, Raya wouldn't take any risks.

Without running into too much trouble, Merida and Elsa found their way to a small parking lot tucked away in the concrete jungle that was Talon. Raya stood there by a car that might've been hers, unaccompanied, holding a briefcase. Merida didn't doubt she had a goon of her own surveying the situation, keeping her safe from harm; the briefcase looked worn and old, but it didn't take a genius to figure out it might hold valuables within its confines. And surely Raya had no shortage of enemies who might want to see her dead.

"Here we are," Merida said, approaching the woman with Elsa in tow. "Job's all done. Didn't go according to plan, but it worked out in the end. Always does for me, I suppose."

Raya nodded. "Atitaya's dead. Boun verified it for me. But it seems Namaari discovered I hired you to kill her. We weren't discreet enough when we met in that restaurant."

"Let it be a lesson for the next time," Merida replied. "Not my fault she has spies everywhere. I didn't even know what Fang members look like or what Fang was in the first place before I came here. Can't blame me for being spotted and followed."

"I won't. What matters to me most is that you did what I'm paying you for." Raya handed Merida the briefcase, lowering her voice. "10.000 in US dollars. I don't know how much it is once you convert it to Norwegian kroner, but that's for you to figure out. This is what I promised you."

Merida placed the briefcase on the hood of Raya's car and opened it for a second, just to quickly check if the woman spoke the truth. What she found in the briefcase was an ungodly amount of wads of paper, with a single stack of a hundred $100 bills hidden among it. She nodded in approval.

"Looks good," she announced. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Likewise." Raya crossed her arms. "But you should probably get out of Kumandra as soon as possible. Namaari.... Fang is relentless. They've made a target out of you and won't rest until you're dead, or at least gone. Even if you leave Talon, your safety isn't guaranteed. The gangs of Kumandra have eyes and ears everywhere."

"I suppose fleeing the country while we still can would be the safest option," Merida agreed. "Kind of promised my girlfriend a vacation here, though, and I can't deny I was looking forward to that myself as well."

Raya shrugged. "Don't let me tell you what you should or shouldn't do. With Atitaya killed, you're no longer working for me. I only shared my thoughts with you. Do with that as you please."

Merida looked at Elsa. "Well, you've heard it. Either we go home and be safe, or we go through with the plan as we made it. We can still rent a car and go on that road trip. It just won't be as safe as we expected it to be."

"That's an understatement," Elsa said, adjusting the sunglasses she hadn't taken off. "It'll be downright dangerous."

"So you want to go home?"

Elsa smirked. "I never said that. It'll be dangerous, yes. But haven't we dealt with bigger threats? We're competent and a good team, we know that. We can handle this. Why should we let Namaari scare us into not enjoying the vacation we deserve?"

Merida gave her girlfriend a big smile. "I love you, you know. So much."

Raya threw her hands up in defeat. "Go off, crazy white people. Go off. If you want, we can keep in touch. I'll keep you updated on the situation with Fang. And if you want a sightseeing recommendation, all you need to do is ask."

"Will do," Merida said. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Raya said. "You got my job done in spite of the complications. I'd rather keep you on my good side. And who knows, I might have another job for you at some point."

"You can always ask, though I won't do it for free, and I certainly won't do it now." Merida looked at Elsa. "Because we're on vacation now. No working while on vacation, right, Els?"

"Look at you, finally understanding that," Elsa replied with a smug little smile.

"Enjoy it to the fullest, then, you two," Raya said, getting into her car. "And try not to get killed. 'Till next time, okay?"

With those words, Raya drove off and left, leaving Merida and Elsa in the parking lot with a briefcase containing enough cash to spend months in Kumandra if they wanted to.

"Try not to get killed," Merida repeated, amused. "Yeah, we can do that. How many times do you think we'll be attacked between here and the car rental at the airport?"

"Probably too often," Elsa said, taking Merida's hand. "Depends on how soon Fang finds us, how long we stay in one place and how we travel there. Public transport can be safer or pose more of a risk, really."

Fair point. These things could always go both ways.

"Are you sure about this? We can still decide to leave and just relax at home," Merida said, just to be sure. She preferred a trip through Kumandra, dangerous or not, but she wouldn't want Elsa to go along with it for her sake alone.

It seemed, however, that her girlfriend had meant her words. She squeezed Merida's hand softly. "I'm sure. It's worth it, don't you think?"

Yes, it would be worth it. Of course it would be. This would be an adventure. Merida loved adventures, and adventures with Elsa even more.

She grinned.

"Then let's leave this all behind and go on the trip of a lifetime, m'lady."