Chapter Text
“What the fuck do you mean your not paying!?” Wilson screamed down his phone at the client who he had just finished a job for. “We agreed you'd pay after, so where's the money?!”
“Now now, this is the first time you've worked for me, kid. Maybe after a few more jobs I can trust you enough to pay you.” The client then laughed.
“You're fucking crazy if you think I'm ever working for you again!” Wilson then hung up and slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. A job actually went well for once, but he still got punished for it. He had a suspicion that there was something up with this guy when he refused to pay anything up front, but Wilson really needed the money so he had to take the risk. The job was tricky too. It took a lot of planning and stalking the target to find the right time to take the shot. Soon enough, he was able to find a time where the target was alone and he was able to move around and shoot them from a couple of rooftops away and easily get out before anyone noticed–
“Ah shit…” Wilson realised something. No money from the job meant he couldn't pay off the clean up crew from the last job, which meant there was no way they'd get rid of this body until Wilson paid them for the last job. He would go and do it himself, but the last time he tried to clean up the scene, police had arrived and Wilson was taken in for questioning. Luckily he was able to cry his way out of it, and they had nothing linking him to the crime as he’d already cleared the evidence linked to him, but it still scared him enough to not want to clean the bodies himself anymore.
Wilson sighed as he turned his phone back on. Thankfully he had a couple of different contracts for cleaners, but it meant he would owe another person money on top of the other cleaner as well as the guy he'd rented the sniper off of. Too many people had been taking advantage of him lately and not paying him, and now he was really struggling to pay people. And no money also meant he couldn't go and buy something to eat either. Maybe he’ll go and steal something from that nearby early morning market again later.
A cold wind suddenly blew through, making Wilson shiver. He looked around the small, abandoned room he was in and sighed at the many gaps in the wall that were big enough to let cold air in. This place had been his main home for some time now. Wilson didn't even have the money for regular meals, let alone a place to live. After a job he had to pay a cleaner, which didn't leave him with much money left. And if he had rented a sniper, or any other weapon that wasn’t his sword or a knife, for the job, that was just more money gone. A couple of weeks with no jobs and then he'd be out of money. And he failed some jobs too, so it wasn't even guaranteed money. Some jobs were just too hard to do on his own. It was rough living on the streets, but he's been doing it since he ran away from home as a child, so he's used to it by now.
“Hello?” Wilson eventually called one of the other contacts. He had to hurry before someone found the body. “I've got a place that needs cleaning… … just one, it was a clean shot so you'll be in and out in no time… … … about that, my client fucked me over and didn't pay me so– wait what? … … No wait! I can pay after my next job I promise! … Hello?” Wilson's pleas went unheard as the person on the other end hung up. Wilson sighed and tried the next contact… and then the next one… and then another one until he finally found someone who agreed to a later payment.
Wilson's eyes then moved to the sniper rifle beside him. He was dreading returning it and saying he couldn't pay yet, but it was that or wait for the guy to find him, which Wilson definitely didn't want. And that guy only worked at night, so he had to get going. Wilson pulled himself up and quickly took off his cropped holographic jacket, stuffing it into his bag and putting on a dark hoodie that he pulled over his head to hide his blond hair. His bodysuit was already a dark colour, so he didn't have to worry about changing out of it. He also grabbed a face mask to cover the bottom half of his face. Wilson then took apart the rifle and hid it in his bag before slinging it over his shoulder.
Half an hour later he was at the place. He double checked no one was around before ducking into the dark alleyway and knocking on the door in the specific rhythm to let the guy know why he was there. The door soon opened and Wilson walked in. He followed a man through two more doors before coming to a dimly lit room with lots of boxes and cupboards. He already knew what was stored in them. He then took off his bag and took out the sniper rifle.
“So… about the payment…” Wilson started, making the man look at him. “You see, my client refused to pay me and–”
“I swear, if you're about to say you can't pay me.” The man's deep voice was loud and made Wilson jump.
“I-I’m sorry, but I– Aah!” Wilson clutched his stomach after the man punched him. He then grabbed Wilson's neck and glared at him. Not hard enough to choke Wilson, but enough that Wilson definitely felt it.
“I need my money, so where is it?”
“I-I’ll pay you after my next job I promise!” Wilson's hands were shaking. He would be lying if he said this guy didn't scare him. He knew how much of a short fuse he had, which is why Wilson always prioritised paying him first.
“... … Fine. I guess you've always been good with paying me in the past.” The man let go of Wilson. “Two weeks, no later. And no renting more weapons until you pay.”
“Don't worry, I'll pay you.” Wilson tried to hide the shakiness in his voice as he spoke, and he didn't realise how much he was sweating until he felt the cold breeze hit him when he got outside. He took a deep breath and left the alleyway. Two weeks… he could get another job by then. An easy one that he could get done quickly. And if not, he could always steal a few valuable things to sell.
A few minutes down the road, Wilson walked past a small bakery. He stopped and looked through the window. It was closed, but he could still see leftover food in the displays. Usually places like these would clear them out at the end of the day, but apparently this one didn't. Wilson looked to his right to see an alleyway that probably led to the back of the store. Even though he didn't get paid, he still did a good job taking out the target. The job itself was a success, so he was allowed to have something to eat. And it's not like anyone was going to eat that stuff anyway, it’ll probably just be thrown away in the morning. He snuck around and came to stop outside the back door. He then brushed his fingers through his hair to find the hairpin he always kept there. With one last look to make sure no one was watching, Wilson quickly picked the lock. The door seemed old, so it didn't take long for Wilson to get in.
Once the door was open, Wilson used his phone light to look for any cameras before stepping inside. It didn't look like there were any in the back room, but he quickly spotted one in the main area that was slowly moving back and forth. Wilson looked at the food display he had seen from the window and mentally mapped out a route from his current position. When the camera moved back, he quickly moved towards the display and grabbed a croissant that was near the edge before darting back to where he was. He then left the building, making sure to close the door behind him, and headed a few blocks away to another alleyway before sitting down on the floor. Wilson pulled his mask down and took a bite of the croissant. It was obvious that it had been sitting there all night, but it wasn't the worst. Wilson's not used to eating fancy stuff anyway, so he didn't mind it.
After his quick meal, Wilson stood up and immediately pressed a hand to his stomach. He could tell a bruise was forming from when he got punched earlier. The adrenaline from his fear was starting to wear off and he could now feel a dull pain when he moved. Not wanting to stick around any longer, Wilson quickly made his way back to his safe place. The room was on the second floor of a building that required Wilson to climb up onto a bin and jump forward to grab a half broken ladder that was located in the alleyway beside it to get inside. Even though it was hard to get into when he was injured, like now with that bruise forming, it did make him feel a little safer knowing that it was a bit awkward to get into.
Once he was inside, Wilson retreated to the corner of the room where there was a table. He crawled under it and curled up on the floor, using his arm as a pillow. He took one last glance at the blocked off entrance and was about to close his eyes when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Wilson groaned and pulled it out to see who was calling him at this time. He immediately sat up when he saw the caller id. The underground app he uses to get his hitman jobs uses a very specific and hidden network to allow people to contact each other without being discovered. The app can only be accessed when a usb is connected to the device which makes it impossible for any random person to stumble across it, and even though it can be accessed through any kind of device, you still need to get the USB from someone first. Every call though the app used the same caller ID, which is the one that's calling Wilson right now.
“Hello?”
“Ah, hello. I didn't think you'd answer at this time.” The voice sounded really deep. “I heard you offer hitman services?”
“That's right! Professional hitman at your service!”
“Perfect. I have a job for you if you're willing to take it. I need someone, or rather something, taken care of. A robot gang leader known as ID-10T.”
“A robot? I'm not a disposal company you know!”
“So you don't want the job?”
“No no no I'll take it!” Even if the job is a little different, Wilson was even more desperate for the money after the last job. And it's a robot, so there will be no bodies to clean up after.
“Good. The place is located in a section of an underground lab right outside of the city that's been abandoned for years. I'll be willing to pay in full upfront, this job is–”
“You'll pay everything up front!?” Wilson let his excitement out. “Thank you so much! I'll get to it right away!”
“Wait, I didn't even–”
Wilson hung up with a smile on his face. Finally, someone who was taking him seriously. He just had to wait for the client to officially send over the details. But for now, he needed to sleep. The sun was starting to rise and he needed to rest before tonight so he could go and scope out this place. He would like to wait for the money to come through first so he can pay off the weapons guys, but Wilson would have to wait until night anyway so he might as well just sleep so he has enough energy to scope out that place tonight.
—
Wilson stretched out as he woke up. He could see the night sky through the holes in the wall, which told him it was time to get up. The cold winds and noise from outside kept waking him up, so it took forever to properly fall asleep. He checked his phone to see that it was finally almost midnight, so he spent the next half an hour getting ready and double checking the details that the client had now sent over. The client also wasn't lying about paying fully upfront, as there was now a nice sum of money in Wilson's account. It was more than he'd usually ask for for a job, so this must mean a lot to the client to want to pay Wilson this much upfront.
Wilson looked outside to see that the streets were empty, so he hid his bag under the floorboards, put his signature holographic cropped jacket on, and headed towards the location, grabbing his sword on the way out. It's not like he could use any ranged weapons even if he wanted to anyway, so he might as well bring his sword. The hour-long walk made him think about how he wished his roller skates hadn't broken a couple jobs ago. They were an old pair he had found in a bin, so he knew they were going to break eventually, it just sucked that he didn't have the money to repair them right now. They made moving around in the shadows a lot quicker.
Eventually, Wilson came to a stop outside the supposedly underground lab. The outside looked like a normal building, but all of the windows were blocked off so he couldn't see inside. Wilson walked around until he found a door that was weirdly already unlocked. He took a peek inside and immediately saw a staircase leading down into darkness. After looking around to make sure there was nothing else, Wilson slowly made his way down the stairs. He didn't plan on actually completing the job tonight, but he didn't really have a choice as there was nothing useful to be found on the outside. The only way he'd be able to get information was to go inside. And if that meant running into this so-called robot gang leader, then Wilson would just have to deal with it right then and there.
After what felt like forever, Wilson came to a closed door at the bottom of the staircase. He pushed it open and immediately got blinded by a bright light. Wasn't this place supposed to be abandoned? Why was there still power and working lights? The place seemed clear, and there were no security systems to be seen, so Wilson walked in. He held his sword tight as he walked around and looked at all of the broken down equipment.
“Did I get the right place?” Wilson mumbled as he checked the details of the job on his phone again. If there's supposed to be a robot gang leader here, then surely there would be obvious gang related things here, considering how hidden the place is. But it just looked like a normal abandoned place. The only strange thing was the electricity and this weird shadow that suddenly covered Wilson.
“What the– Aaaaaah!” Wilson jumped back when he turned around and saw what was causing the shadow. In front of him stood a large robot almost twice his size. Wilson lifted his sword and held it up in front of him before taking a deep breath. He wasn't expecting the robot to be this big.
“Eh?” Wilson froze as the robot shot multiple bullets at him, all of them missing and one of them cutting his sword in half.
“Nice knife.” The robot mocked him in a monotone robotic voice.
“Hey! You can't just sneak up on me! Where the fuck did you even come from?” Wilson spun around to look for any secret passages that the robot may have come from. He looked back when he heard the robot sigh.
“I've been here the whole time, but you just walked past me.”
“W-wait… I did? No way, you're so tall and big, there's no way I wouldn't have seen you.” Wilson was so confused. Was he that distracted by looking around that he missed the target?
“I was waiting to do my cool entrance, but you just ignored me.”
Wilson took a step back. Something didn't feel right. It was like this robot was waiting for him. His hands tightened on his now broken sword. With no way to fight, maybe it would be better if he left. But the client already paid him so much money, he couldn't let them down. The last thing he wanted to do was fail someone.
You're not allowed to fail.
“S-stop it…” Wilson finally spoke. “Stop trying to make me feel bad, it won't work.” He'd gotten over feeling any kind of remorse for killing people years ago. He then pointed his broken sword at the robot, and it was now that he noticed his hand was slightly shaking. And honestly, the more he thought about it, the more he didn't know how he would take down this massive robot… was it too late to run? To back away and think of an actual plan? It wouldn’t count as failing if he came back later, right?
“You know, for a hitman, you're not really doing much.”
“W-wha– shut up! I'm a very skilled and professional– aah!?” Wilson stopped when he felt something hit his neck. He lifted his hand and pulled out a small dart from his neck. The needle on the end made his heart race. “W-what… what is… …that… …” Wilson immediately felt dizzy and fell to the floor. He soon heard footsteps, but he didn't have the energy to open his eyes or even attempt to get away.
“That was easy.”
“Was it meant to knock him out that quickly?”
“I was expecting a fight, but I guess the medicine affects people differently.”
Wilson heard a voice… no, two voices as the footsteps got closer. But he was finding it hard to focus as the voices were getting muffled, and Wilson was quickly becoming increasingly tired from whatever was in that dart. It wasn't long before the fuzzy feeling in his head took over and he completely passed out.
—
.
.
.
…Cold….
It was really cold. Wilson rolled onto his side. He had a really weird dream that he had gone to this underground lab to take down a robot, and then someone– Wilson's eyes snapped open. He was met with the site of a grey brick wall that didn't feel familiar at all. His eyes then shifted to his hand that was laying in front of his face. A metal cuff was locked securely around his wrist and a chain was connecting it to the other cuff that was secured to the side of this bed he was laying on.
‘What the fuck!?’ Panic started to set in as Wilson immediately sat up. He shuffled himself backwards until he was fully in the corner of the room where the bed was pushed into. Because of the short length of the chain, the cuff had started to dig into his wrist. But Wilson didn't care about that right now as he was trying to piece together what had happened. Was that job a trap? No, there's no way. Wilson got this job directly through the network just like any other job. The robot probably had people protecting it. That made more sense. But what didn't make sense was why he was in a room that looked like a prison, and why was he cuffed to the bed? Could he be at a police station? The police might have been tipped off about the job, or maybe it actually was a trap. Wilson's been in a cell before and it does look similar to wherever he is now. But if his theory of the robot having security is right, then he could be anywhere right now
‘What if I get tortured…’ The thought kept circling in Wilson's head. Police don't cuff you to the bed when you're locked in a cell. So what if the gang that the robot is linked to actually kidnapped him?
As if someone was watching him, the door clicked open and startled Wilson. A tall man walked in with piercing purple eyes and blond hair with black roots. And was that purple on the ends of his hair? There was also a big scar going across his face too. Whatever caused that must've hurt. There was a second scar as well, he just noticed. It was hidden under the guy’s hair. Wilson instinctively tried to move back, even though he was already completely against the wall.
“Good to see you're finally awake, Yu Q. Wilson.”