The Collab...

Chapter 1

by Agent Havoc

Night fell on the city and with daylight gone, so was Lester's confidence in the city. He was a buisinessman and a politician...And the rough life of the city bothered him much. The noises of city life, people screaming at each other,pollution, the smell of cars that ejected fumes that were necessarily bad for them... And It was worst at night because everybody knew that the chaotic elements of the city all came out at night: muggers, gangs, car thieves, brawls...

Lester liked none of those things but he knew that he'd only have to endure all of this for a little while now, because he was working as a low-level executive for the Ministry, and It was a known fact that the Ministry rewarded its loyal employees very well. And he knew that he was a very hard worker and as loyal as there is. Loyalty has its rewards and so does hard work. What goes around comes around...

But the favor his employers asked of him was one he didn't like at all; going into the rougher parts of the city into a crummy bar that has a very bad reputation to meet with this "professional hunter"...Still Lester had only hesitated a second before accepting this small assignment because he was ready to do anything for the Ministry, just to get his reward and to be noticed.

As he was crossing the street, Lester was to filled up with negative thoughts of this part of town that he only realised at the last minute that a care had braked and stopped at less than a foot from him.

" Watch both sides of the streets before crossing you bum!" screemed the angry driver at Lester from his car. Lester, who's heart was beating at an increasing rate looked at the driver and felt a nauseous feeling come over him... He waved at the man in the car and started to run towards the other side of the street. When he got to the other sidewalk, Lester was panting heavily... For some reason, he feared for his life tonight. It may have been paranoia that took over him and he really hoped It was nothing more than that...paranoia...

As he caught his breath, the low-level executive looked up and saw a sign that made him freeze in fear for a moment; The Pit. The name of the bar called "The Pit" was flashing in a red light.

This was where Lester was to meet "The professional" for his employers. He felt his heart squeezre in his chest. "The Pit" was where all the scum of the city met, bikers, drug dealers, gangs, hit men and worst of all, bounty hunters. He had to keep in mind that bounty hunters detested being called that, that the term "professional hunter" was much preferred by these people who hunted other people for a living. Lester took all of his courage and entered the bar...Praying that he would live through this experience and be rewarded by the company

As Lester entered the bar, he saw that there weren't all that many patrons in It.The lighting in the bar was dim and his eyes had to get used to it. The floor was sticky because of alcohol that had probably been spilled there and that hadn't been cleaned up. Around one table, there were 9 bikers sitting and drinking beer, talking in a very loud tone and laughing out loud. These weren't the people he was looking for. A little further was a kid, no more than 14 years old, who was throwing up next to his table. Two other kids, presumably friends to the one throwing up, were playing pool as they were pointing and laughing at the one who was without any doubt not feeling too well. And at the last moment Lester noticed the people he was supposed to meet. A man who was sitting around a table with a young woman , both of them sipping on glasses of red wine. The young woman looked at Lester for a brief moment and whispered into her companion's ears and started to laugh. The man looked up to Lester and his look simply chilled the Ministry's employee, almost stopping his heart for on the spot. The infamous cold glare of the legendary bounty hunter Darian Ashley had been put on him. Lester cleared his throat, tried not to look too terrified and walked towards Darian's table.

Anika Jansen hated this bar. It lacked class and It lacked nice people. It's not that she liked bars that only let rich people come in because she thought that those were snobby and she hated the atmosphere that ruled those bars. But The Pit lacked class , It was as simple as that... No gentlemen were present here, ever. And as far as she knew, a gentleman could be poor and be dressed in rags, yet, still have an enormous amount of class. And once again, there were no gentlemen here... Right now, there was only a gang of annoying drunken bikers in one corner of the bar and three drunken children who were without any doubt still learning to drink, including one who was puking his guts out.

Big, big fun she thought. She sipped on her glass of wine.

She looked at the partner who was sitting next to her and she smiled. Now this man had class.

He was 6 feet tall and slim, yet had very developped muscles. Of course, she was imagining his muscles because at the moment, he was fully dressed. The man wore a black jacket, black tie, black pants and a white shirt. He had icy blue eyes and a stare that could scare anybody into a heart attack, but not her of course, they had known each other for so long. He wore his short brown hair short and a long scar went through his right cheek, giving him even more charm. Without any doubt, Darian Ashley. the man sitting next to her, her partner and her friend was the second classiest man she had ever met in her eventful life. Of course, Anika Jansen, the young woman in question, was rather pretty herself. Sporting long blonde hair and those sparkling purple eyes, any man who liked women would fall under her charm. She had a body to kill but did not flaunt It at all. She wore a black jacket, a black skirt that went to the knees and a white shirt under her jacket.

Moments of silence between her and Darian happened very often. While she knew thae man had a heart of gold. she knew that he rarely opened It to anyone and any word that he had ever told her had been graved in her mind profoundly. She cherished each and everyone of those moments with him but was patient with the man when he didn't talk. She was used to It and accepted him as he was.

Anika took a sip from her glass of wine and saw a man entering the bar, who was looking around nervously. He was dressed in an expensive three-piece suit and carried a briefcase with him. His greenish hair was well combeb and it was appearent that this guy had money and a good job. Him being here was a contrast to everything else that was in the bar. Throwing nervous looks around, Anika felt from her seat that this guy was going to have a nervous breakdown because of fear any minute now. She approached Darain's ear and started to whisper

" I think your friend is here Darian... You better call him to this table before he dies of a heart attack."

She giggled a little bit and saw Darian lift his head a little bit, looking at the man who had just entered. Anika kept herself from laughing as she recognised the icy cold stare that had chilled so many hearts before and could only sympathise with the stranger. As her looks returned to the stranger, she saw that he was approaching their table...

"E...E...Ex..Excuse me..." the man managed to say" Are you by any ch-chance D-D-Dariann A-A-Asley?

"Sit down mister Lester!" answered Darian in a cold a feelingless tone

Immediately, Lester pulled a chair and sat down.

"Relax, said Anika in a much more cheerful tone, you're our messenger ... We're not going to kill you...Or let anybody hurt you for that matter... You hear too many stories about Bounty Hunters, we're not the bad guys you all make us to be... Of course, besides for Tony " The Tiger", who really is a psycho, but Darian and I have nothing to do with him. Do you have a cigarette?"

Lester shook his head nervously

"But I thought you people hated to be called Bounty Hunters..." he stammered.

Anika reached for a pack of cigarettes in her jacket and a lighter. She looked at Lester for a moment.

" Now you did It, you just called us bounty hunters...I'm going to have to kill you on the spot." she said, restraining herself from laughing

Lester's heart skipped another beat

"Wait, don't I'm sorry, I..." he said closing his eyes

"It was a joke!, she said laughing with innocent joy on he face,You are so gullible! Here have a cigarette." Anika had her hand extended towards Lester with a cigarette in It. She was smiling with a sincere childlike smile.

"But...You just asked me If I had any... I thought you wanted a cigarette from me..."

"Oh stop It will you?' she said "Smoke this cigarette, you'll be a little less nervous...I asked you If you had any so that you could smoke one..."

Lester took the cigarette from Anika's hand and put It in his mouth, as she lit with her lighter.

" Let's get on to buisiness now Mister Lester, said Darian "What could be so important that the Ministry had to practically kidnap Anika and I to bring us to this place?"

" I really don't know Mr. Ashley..." ,answered Lester as took a drag off his cigarette , "All the details are in this briefcase as well as half of your payment. I have been told that you know the code to open It because I don't."

Lester lifted the briefcase and passed It on to Darian.

Darian took It from the executive's hands and opened It. A thick file on a girl named Cisia was in the briefcase as well as a large sum of money. Darian flipped through the file and realised right away that this file was not complete, that the Ministry was hiding alot of facts from him.

"You may take your leave Mister Lester, said Darian, Tell your employer at the Ministry that I will be accepting this assignment and tell then that I will keep in touch with them."

Lester nodded nervously stood up and left the bar like a speeding bullet.

"You're welcome for the cigarette!" shouted Anika after the leaving Lester.

"What a wuss.."she mumbled afterwards with a smile.

"Anika, I believe this girl Cisia will be needing our help, said Darian coldly as he flipped through the file, take your things, we're off for another hunt ... But once we get to Cisia, we'll be protecting her, not turning her over to the Ministry.I'll explain on the way. There is no way I'm working for the morally defficient on this assignment and I believe It is our duty to help those in need."

Anika looked at Darian in a puzzled way. "But you just took their file and their money, saying that you accepted their assignment..."

"We all have to make a living don't we?" Answered Darian, smiling back at her.

Anika smiled at her partner and they both stood up and headed for the bar's exit... Yet another adventure awaited the both of them. What else would they need to survive in such adventures anyway? They had money, they both had their handguns and they had each other...