FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A Killer's Conscience

By Miralage

Editor in Chief: Darth Android

Her long black hair swirled around her face and muzzle, but she ignored it, much as she ignored the wind whipping past her, ruffling her fur and throwing her clothes about.

It was a light breezy day, and yet she still wore the plain secretaries outfit, the thin blue blouse and white skirt, her tail fitted neatly through the hole in the back of it designed just for that purpose, with nothing underneath the skirt but bare, shapely legs. To complete the outfit, she wore a pair of black high-heel shoes, specifically made for species that had paws instead of feet

A large grey suitcase, foil-lined, sat besides her, open, a foam casing empty within it.

The black vixen stood with one foot on the parapet of a medium-sized officer building, looking down on the road below with perfect angle, elbow balanced on her knee, one eye open, staring into the 12x magnification lens of the scope her VSSK Vychlop sniper rifle carried. Hers was a custom-built variant, with the silencer not as muffling, and the round using a different alloy, allowing her to extend the maximum range of the rifle beyond what it was supposed to do.

Without looking, she reached into the case and slid the clip into the rifle, working the bolt, sealing a round in place as she let out all the air in her body, an unnatural stillness overcoming her as her target, a wolf, sitting in the back of a limousine with extreme tinted windows, came into focus.

She flicked a little button on the side of the scope, and the view changed, to one of orange and red objects drifting back and forth, in and out of focus.

Quickly, she memorized the exact way he sat, his exact location, and flicked off the heat tracking system on the scope.

The crosshairs seemed to float along the car, and she let out every last bit of air she held in her lungs, not breathing back in, shifting so that her elbow, at the very point, was the only thing touching her knee. Even the pulse of blood through the veins could throw her shot off at that range.

The retort was quiet, the long silencer on the rifle muffling most of the sound of a bullet being discharged.

It covered the distance in a second, smacking into the windscreen with a smack, creating a small impact crater, before the limousine careened off the side of the road and came to rest flush with the door of a nearby building, a hotel, and the front right door opened while the actual driver took cover, the second man ran to the rear door and threw it open, intending to rush the wolf away from the scene, only to find him already dead.

Little did he know that his bullet-proof glass wasn't perfect.

The black vixen was infamous for her ability to kill anyone, anywhere, and when she found out he was chauffeured around in a limousine with bullet-proof windows, she had set about making her specialized window-popper.

The bullet itself was a 12.7 millimetre projectile, fitted in a fine-grain filled casing. It's entire outer shell made of pure gold. That was her signature. Gold bullets.

Gold itself is an absolutely horrible substance for a projectile, but she didn't just use gold. In the very centre of the bullet was a core, less than half a millimetre in diameter, made of a specialised, homemade titanium alloy that she mixed herself. In the centre of this titanium alloy was a minuscule glass partition, with swirling green liquid encased in it. This green liquid, less than one hundredth of a millilitre worth, was a synthetic neurotoxin, designed to cause respiratory distress and instant heart attacks in its victims.

Needless to say, she was a deadly assassin, one of the best in the world, and secretive. No one knew who she was. Her cover as jewelery consultant and retailer was bulletproof. She actually owned several different shops across the world selling jewels. Enough to make her wealthy, and in turn make several of the store managers rich men themselves.

But money didn't give her the thrill, the sheer rush of blood she felt when she killed someone. It was euphoric. She lived for it.

The bullet, when it hit the windshield, had bent it inwards an infinitesimal amount, the gold bullet flattening against the unyielding glass, creating a small disc of gold plastered to the glass. But the harder, stronger titanium core, had slipped through the minuscule gap created by the cracking of the window, which was an exploitation of the way that particular glass was made, it bent and cracked at the point of impact to absorb any energy from the round, the reason why the bullet's trajectory had to be perfectly flat with the glass itself, or the core wouldn't have penetrated. The core had slid through the interior of the car, unseen, unfelt, until it collided with the wolf's collarbone, piercing the skin and embedding in the tough bone. The glass holding the neurotoxin broke on impact with the bone, releasing into the wolf's bloodstream. Death occurred three seconds later. She didn't like toxins that operated faster than the nerve-conduction velocity, she preferred her targets to know they got hit, to wonder whether they were going to die, before they actually did.

She pulled the rifle back and neatly disassembled it, packing it back into the case and walking confidently back down the stairs into the building.

Niteshade wasn't the most deadly assassin in the world for nothing, and for someone with her level of killings, prime ministers, movie stars, presidents, staying anonymous was her biggest challenge.

The black vixen made it out of the building and into the subway twelve seconds before the building she had perched atop suffered a nasty accident from a ruptured underground gas pipe, incinerating most of the building and the few people in it.

* * *

Niteshade slammed shut the door shut and threw the case onto the bed, knowing she wouldn't make it the few metres to the bathroom or even the few steps to her bed, snatching the 12 inch long dildo off the shelf where she had put it that morning and frenziedly spreading her legs, leaning against the door, ramming 9 inches of the long dildo deep into her needy cunt, giving a soft moan of relief, her black paw wrapped tightly around the base as she started to slam it back and forth inside her, forcing it as deep into her as it would go, mouth hanging open as hot liquids already began to slick her thighs.

Images of the last hour's events passed through her mind, not helped by the forced immobilisation of the sub way car, sitting and fidgeting against the seat like a child who needed to badly use the toilet.

She could still see the neat little hole appear in the windscreen of the limo, and the wolf behind the glass drop as the toxin entered his bloodstream, and she moaned with the exquisite lust it sent shuddering through her body.

Her depths clasped about the dildo as she threw her head back, eyes closed, remembering the shuddering shock-wave of the explosion from the building, tail twitching with agonizing lust as she clawed at her clit, scratching her sensitive flesh, shuddering as the pain and pleasure mingled into a cocktail of ecstasy.

A muted howl echoed from deep in her throat as she arched her back, jerking against the door again and again as she came, her liquids splashing out of her, dripping down onto the linoleum which had seen much of the substance over the weeks she had lived there.

She collapsed flat on her ass against the door, staring at the long dildo, eyes clouded with release as she panted contentedly.

It took a full ten seconds for the tears to start like they always did, for the anger, the rage, the self-disgust, welled to the surface and escaped in a single action of repressed anger, the wet dildo hitting the wall with a thud and dropping to the floor. To her it seemed as if it stared at her accusingly, condemning her lust for death and her inability to escape.

She howled with pain and buried her muzzle in her arms, sobbing.

Niteshade knew she would do it again, and again. She always did. No matter how often she cried herself to sleep, no matter how disgusted she was with herself, no matter how badly the memories of her lustful masturbation over scenes of death seared into her memory, the rush of adrenaline and the feeling of being alive would get the better of her. After all, it was what made her what she was; the best.

* * *

The black vixen sat at the bar, her clothing this time of a girl out on the town. A knee-length black leather skirt and black leather top, with an artful, almost tribal pattern of holes around the shoulders and back. She wore a pair of black long heels, and ruby earrings, a single gold hoop around her right ankle and right wrist.

She sat on the stool easily, legs crossed, her shapely black furred legs revealed by the short skirt she wore, stirring a drink that sat on the polished wood bar with a pink straw. The substance in it, although appearing to be a 'hard' drink, was actually just coke. she was here to get laid, not smashed.

She yawned and looked over at him, and their eyes met, and she blushed and looked away quickly, feeling her neck and cheeks flush with blood, though her black fur hid it. It was just so hard for her to keep from blushing in this kind of situation, the rush of adrenaline, the strong feeling of anticipation knowing that she had caught the eye of the one she was seeking, and now all that she had to do was spring the trap, it was like killing. Just not as intense.

"What's a pretty lady like you doing in a place like this? Surely you're not cruising for drugs are you?" the human asked as he came and leaned on the seat next to her, stirring his drink with a straw, trying to keep his eyes on her face and not her body, though it was quite hard. She scented the air subtly, not smelling any alcohol in his drink.

"I-I'm just out here for the night...I-it's my eighteenth and I was kinda...um...hoping a for a good time...you know?" She mumbled, staring into her drink to avoid meeting his eyes, playing the part of shy vixen to perfection. She wasn't actually eighteen, but she looked it, with her big round eyes and cute pouting expressions she was so good at making.

"What kind of fun were you looking for?" He asked casually, swirling his drink around and then taking a sip.

"Um...partying? You don't know any good spots do you?" She asked hopefully, looking up at him with her big, cute eyes, an expectant expression on her muzzle.

"I'm not a party person..." he murmured, staring into his drink and wincing slightly. "I'm more of a romance than head-splitting music guy." He said apologetically.

"Can you show me?" She asked instantly, eyes wide, hopeful and eager.

"Well if you really want...but I hope you're not expecting anything fancy..." He said, wrong-footed by her sudden forwardness.

"Let's go!" She said, jumping to her feet and leaving half her drink on the counter, putting down money under the cup for the bartender. "Do you have a car?"

"It's out back." He said, wincing again as he led the way.

His 誰多遜car' was more like a racer than anything. He had inherited quite a bit of money from his father when he passed away, and had put most of it into stock shares, and the rest had mainly been for a house and his pride and joy car.

It was a Corvette Lingenfelter, with custom black tribal patterns from front to back, a high racing wing sitting astride the rear of it, proving that this car wasn't just for show.

Next to it was an old Volkswagen, and Niteshade made her way towards it instinctively.

She started when the lights on the other car flashed once, signifying an electronic unlocking, and she stared at him a long moment. "You own this?!" She almost squealed, leaping onto the hood of the car in exuberance, sliding right down it on her fluffy tail until she slid neatly off the end, landing on her feet and smiling widely at him. "That is so cool!" she said, her tone carrying a hint that maybe the bonnet would be getting a bit more sliding action before the night was done.

He held the door open for her, wincing inwardly as he wondered how it would look, with him and this car. He knew it made him look like a pretty boy, and he hated that image, but he loved his car, so it was just something he learned to live with.

Niteshade hopped onto the soft leather seat and settled herself in, winding down the window and resting her elbow on the door, enjoying the night air as the human got in the other side and started the vehicle, unintentionally revving it a bit too hard and making the finely-tuned engine roar with power.

The inside of the car was quite lush, filled with comfort objects, like the plush seat-covers and soft fuzzy console top, perfect for leaning against when bored and not driving. It didn't have a CD player or tape player, as he didn't like the loud, headbanging music, especially not when he was driving. The feel of the finely-tuned engine under him, the smooth motions of the car, that was it took for him to enjoy himself.

The car pulled out smoothly into the alleyway and then out onto the road, until they were quickly on the freeway.

"I'm really thankful for you showing me all this stuff." She said, smiling across at him, leaning a little bit closer and resting a hand on his thigh, making him squirm uncomfortably and almost swerve into the wrong lane, a car honking its horn loudly as he almost grazed it.

He murmured something about not even having shown her anything yet.

"Oh I'm sure it'll be awesome!" she said firmly, smiling at him, and then clambering over closer, sitting astride the compartment between the seats. It was an automatic vehicle, so it didn't have a stick shift, and wouldn't impede his driving. She leaned in close and hugged him warmly, making his eyes go wide as he struggled to keep his attention on the road and not the sexy black vixen's extreme proximity and the way her upper body pressed against his enticingly.

"Already on the way to the romantic little spot and you haven't even told me your name yet..." she purred as he drove onto the hilltop roads, cruising smoothly around the long sweeping corners and wending through the hills. "I'm Niteshade." She said, hugging him warmly and murring.

"And my names Bill...and I'm not complaining about this, but you're very distracting, and I need to focus on the road..." He said, squirming slightly in her clutches.

"Distracting?" She asked with a smile, licking his cheek gently. "Don't you mean sexy?" She purred in his ear, before giving his neck a long, sensuous lick.

"That too," he said distractedly, trying to focus on the road even though it was becoming increasingly more difficult.

"You're all alone in a car with a sexy vixen and you're not even making a move on her...why not?" She asked with a slight pout, licking his ear gently, her hand once more on his thigh.

"I...um...I'm kind of trying not to crash the car off the side of the hill right now..." He said a little nervously, eyes wide as he focused on the area of road the headlights lit up.

Niteshade giggled softly, leaning in close and licking his ear once more, murring ever-so-softly, her paw shifting up higher as her tongue slid from his ear to his neck in a heated way. He shivered a little, eyes wide, turning to look at her, mouth opening as he started to say something when a loud BANG expoded from beneath the car, coupled with a sudden loss of control and responsiveness of the steering wheel, the car jerking to the left, powerful engine giving a loud roar as the human behind the wheel stamped down on the accelerator in surprise, quickly slamming both feet on the brakes when he realised what he did.

With the blown tire the car started to spiral out of control, rotating to the left, counterclockwise, leaving long swirling black lines down the road as it skipped off the side of the road. The rear right tire, under immense pressure from the weight and momentum of the spinning vehicle, blew as well, resulting in a complete loss of control and a long line of sparks in the darkness as the car jumped over a small rise, hitting the soft grass and bogging down completely, one side lifting up, threatening to tip onto side and then the roof, but slowly dropping back onto all four wheels with a muffled whump.

Bill gave a soft groan, aware of a tumbled mess of black canine in his lap, and tried to open his eyes, his head spinning, almost asking if she was okay before his head lolled lifelessly to one side, out like a light.

* * *

It was still night when he awoke again, the vixen having shifted a little, an unknown amount of time having passed. It couldn't have been too long, the dirtied windscreen showing the headlights still shining bright and the engine still rumbling nicely under him. He tried to move, giving a soft sound of pain as his head throbbed, looking around for Niteshade, something, some twinge in the back of his mind telling him to look to one side. He did so, looking out into the darkness at the side of the car, before a black silenced pistol descended on his skull, knocking his head to one side, opening a cut on his lip as he sagged in the seat belts, rapidly losing consciousness again.

He heard something then, the sound of a large slamming concussion, like a door being slammed shut hard, and then two shots from a silenced pistol, and then, as an odd buzzing drowned out his senses, a final shot from the pistol, before the darkness took him again.

* * *

When he awoke again, it was morning, and he was slightly cold, the frigid morning air chilling him slightly, though one side of his body was warm. His eyes opened slowly and he blinked a few times, his own breathing loud in his ears, a throbbing pain in his temple from the strike with the pistol, and that made him wake up all the faster, the memories of the pistol, and who had hit him?

He looked down, and saw the vixen half-in his lap, looking up at him, shivering slightly, eyes narrowed on his face, aware that he was awake, her black tail swishing back and forth as she perked an ear. "Good morning." She said, and Bill noticed, in a split-second of realisation, that she was holding a silenced pistol in one paw.

"Um...morning." He murmured, swaying just slightly against the seat belt, eyes half-closed, flicking down to look at the gun clasped in the dainty paw, and then back to the vixen's eyes.

"Don't worry about my little friend down there...He might have saved your life." She said, jerking her head towards the outside of the car. His gaze followed, and he repressed a shudder as he caught sight of a body besides the car, a single bullet wound in the chest of the corpse, a bloody smear around the affected area. "Y-you did that?"

She tilted her head and gave him an innocent smile, that lit up her features, lending her a sweet air, for all the fact that she was carrying a silenced pistol. "No silly..." She said, reaching up a paw and stroking the side of his face affectionately. "My little friend down here did that, I just lent a hand."

He gulped a little, looking down at the gun in her paw, noticing the way her tail flicked back and forth erratically, her eyes playful but never leaving him, and he realised he was stuck in a bad position, trapped in a car with a gun toting black vixen.

"um..." He searched for the right words that would seem inoffensive and calm, and failed, staring blankly at her, unable to stop his eyes sliding down to the gun held in the dainty black paw.

"Oh don't tell me you're worried about my little friend down there..." The vixen said in a sweet tone, smiling at him, her white teeth, pointy and sharp-looking, revealed. "Didn't your father ever tell you that guns don't kill people? Guns protect people from other people with smaller guns..." She said, a soft murr in her voice as her free paw slid to the crotch of his pants and squeezed lightly.

He gasped a little, shivering, unsure what to do. He was trapped in a car with a vixen who was rapidly turning into what he would call a psychopath, and she was coming onto him rather strongly. He tensed up a little as she squeezed again, and the vixen cooed softly to him. "Just relax. You're safe now. The bad man with the gun is dead. Look, you can see him just out there." She pointed out unnecessarily.

The human gulped audibly as the vixen slid closer, sitting astride his lap, straddling him, her arms moving around his neck, gun still clasped firmly in one dainty paw. "Are you getting excited?" She asked, arching her back and leaning against him, pressing his face between her small breasts, a soft murr in her throat.

Bill pulled back from her, laying his hand on her chest and pushing just a little to force her away from him a bit. "What do you want?" he asked, looking up at her, both her arms still around his neck, the cold hard steel of the gun pressing noticeable against his flesh.

"I want you." she said with a soft murr, leaning in close and giving him a slow, lingering kiss that, despite the circumstances, took his breath away, leaving the human panting softly as she pulled back. "Don't you want me too?" She asked in a seductive tone, starting to slowly unbutton her top.

He gulped, looking up at her, and shook his head, pushing her away again, making the vixen pout softly and shake her head a little. "I know you want me...you just need convincing." She said, kissing again, long and slow, murring softly against his mouth.

"No." he said, firmly, pressing her away once more and undoing his seat belt, though he couldn't take it off completely as she was sitting on the bottom strap, one of the black vixens eyebrows raising slowly and a slight tilt coming to her head, an ear perking.

"No?" She asked, her eyes narrowing on his as both her ears perked slowly, her tail flicking slowly back and forth in the space allowed it under the steering wheel.

"No." he repeated firmly, giving a slight swallow, aware that although his voice carried a little authority with it, it also carried a nervous note of fear.

"Oh..." She said, looking miffed, staring down at him with her arms still around his neck, straddling his lap, looking suddenly awkward as she slid off his lap and away from him, the seat belt whirring as it slid up into it protective casing, the vixen sitting in the passenger seat and staring out the window a little nonchalantly, gun in her lap.

"...Why?" He asked, looking about, the question encompassing everything, from the car, with its punctured tire, to the dead man lying outside on the grass with a bullet in his chest, to the way the vixen had come onto him so strongly moments before.

She didn't answer, staring out the window into the gathering light that came just before dawn, giving her head a little shake.

"So you're not even gonna answer me, huh?" he asked, glaring at her, forgetting for the moment that she had the gun and that she had already killed a man the night previously.

It was then that he heard the sound he had least expected to hear. A little, muffled sob.

His eyes widened a little, and he sat there for a few moments, unsure what to do, completely taken by surprise, blinking a few times and giving his head the slightest shake, going to say something, but then not, settling back into an uneasy silence that was only broken a few seconds later by the sound of another muffled sob, the vixen obviously trying to keep the sounds suppressed.

After another few minutes of the pregnant silence, he couldn't take it, and slid over the glove compartment and next to her on the seat, tentatively pulling her against his chest.

She fought him off for the merest of seconds and then wrapped her arms about him, sobbing into his chest, the gun pressed uncomfortably against his back, right over his right kidney.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking down at her, and her tear-streaked face looked up at him, her head giving a slight shake as she pulled her form tight against his.

"No...Shhh." She said firmly, shushing him as she held herself close. "I don't want to die alone..." She murmured.

"What? Who said anything about dying?" He asked, looking down at her, perplexed, eyes narrowed.

"I did..." She said, sitting up a little bit, the gun sliding down to rest against his left thigh, the cold barrel uncomfortably close to his crotch.

"Well...I say...no one has to die!" He said suddenly, snatching for the gun.

His sudden move must have surprised the vixen so much that she didn't react in time, the gun wrenched from her paw as she stared at him forlornly.

Bill smiled triumphantly, unable to feel but a little happy about having gained the upper hand. He scooted back a little, and the vixen didn't follow, his hands deftly releasing the clip and pulling back the slide to release the round in the chamber, sliding the round back into the guns clip and then tossing the weapon out the window, into the long grass where it would be nigh impossible to find quickly.

"See, no one has to d-" CRACK! his words were cut off as the windshield splintered under an impact, a high-velocity round sliding cleanly through the car before lodging in the rear seat, leaving a neat hole surrounded by broke safety-glass.

Bill immediately dived down against the glove compartment, eyes wide, staring at the hole in the glass as a soft curse made its way from between his lips, pulling the vixen down with him who seemed to be in a kind of trance, staring at a point somewhere between the electric window switch and the drivers side seat. "What the hell?!" He asked of her, staring at her as another bullet hit the window.

"They're employing a sniper to keep us pinned while someone else comes up to one of the windows and shoots us." She said, deadly calm, and seemingly uncaring.

"Why?!" He asked, staring at her in exasperation.

"Because I'm the worlds leading assassin." She said with an offhand shrug.

"You're the what?" He asked, stunned, eyes wide.

"Worlds best assassin. Well, I don't claim that, everyone else does." She said with a shrug, voice not even changing tone or volume as a bullet smashed into the engine block of the car.

"Then why are they shooting at you!" He asked, ducking down with his hands over his hand as if that would stop a bullet from killing him.

"Because the worlds best assassin makes enemies." She said with another shrug.

"Why are you the worlds best assassins?!" he asked of her, giving her a withering look.

"Because I like what I do...I like to kill people, see them take their last breath...I love the feeling of power it gives me, the sense that I hold in my paws the power over life and death....the power of a god." She said, with something like relish in her tone.

Bill stared at the vixen for a few long moments, eyes narrowed. "Niteshade..." he said, using her name for the first time. "What makes you a better assassin than those guys shooting at us?" he asked, trying to keep calm as another bullet slammed into the car.

"Because I kill better." She replied.

"Prove it." He murmured. "I don't believe you."

She sighed with exasperation as the quick thud of boots came from somewhere nearby, the sound of someone making the final dash towards the car to thrust a gun through the window and riddle them both with bullet.

"You want me to prove I can kill better?" She asked, seeming offended, and then whirling and hooking her foot in the handle of the door, unlatching it, and then slamming it with her feet, sending it smashing open against the hip of the soldier who had just reached the side of the car. Barely a moment later, she was outside the car, the assassins' gun pushed to the side and upwards by the force of the door hitting him, and he didn't have any time to bring it to bear as the vixen grabbed his Kevlar vest and whirled him to face forwards, the 7.62MM bullet from the snipers rifle slamming into his chest, a small spot of blood escaping his mouth as he gave a convulsive cough, starting to double over. Niteshade nonchalantly took his gun from his slackening hand, lifting it to head height and sliding behind him, pulling it against him so that the the rear grip and the clip slot were forced around his neck, and then twisting viciously. The mans neck broke with a loud crack, and his body went limp, the vixen leaning over and disentangling the straps of the gun from the dead assassin's body and lifting it to shoulder sight, muzzle flush against the weapons stock as she stared down into its scope. "Got you fucker..." She murmured, eyes narrowing as she caught sight of her target, the sniper, his muzzle flash giving him away as she took a neat step to one side before he fired, the bullet swishing past low. Perhaps due to nervousness, the sniper missed, the next bullet he fired whistling high past one of her ears as the world seemed to slow down for the vixen.

A long exhalation was the only sign that she was about to fire, and the sniper tried desperately to bring his gun back down from the recoil and fire again, when Niteshade fired, the bullet lashing out from the muzzle and kicking up a gout of grass in front of the sniper.

The sniper, wisely, decided to move, slipping into a standing position and bolting for cover, sliding around a tree just as another bullet from the rifle smashed into the tree he slid behind.

Niteshade gave a slight shake of her head, frowning, staring down at the weapon, turning it over and staring at it even as she started moving, growling softly to herself. The gun she was using was a G36K, a gun she had experience with, and she knew she would have nailed that sniper if the gun had been properly sighted. She bolted for cover as well, sliding into hiding just as the sniper swept out from behind the tree and draw a bead on her last position, eyes staring down the scope.

Meanwhile, back in the care, Bill kicked open the door of the car and was about to slide out and search for the pistol he had thrown when a bullet slid clean through the door, the humans eyes wide as he dropped back from the now open door, sticking low.

The sniper steadied his breathing and slipped the clip from his rifle, loading another. He was using a PSG1, stolen from the police armoury, firing the nato 7.62 round. And he was a very good shot, but the prey he was hunting was good and he was nervous now, not knowing where she was.

He slid the clip home in the rifle and raising it to his shoulder once more, both eyes open, one searching through the scope, the other looking for movement. He was pissed, having lost his spotter, and he felt vulnerable now, knowing that the vixen was armed.

It was a delicate balance for him, whether to stick in the one spot and wait for her, or move and risk getting a bullet for his troubles, but he decided to move, looking about for a few moments and then frowning as he picked the most likely spot to give him good coverage of the area.

A five metre dash had him behind cover, a tree, and then another, and another, and yet, no gunfire came, making him even more nervous. By the time he made it to the position, he was jittery, breathing harder than he should have been and staring around at the field before him, dropping into a crouch and staring into the optical scope, looking around nervously. "Where are you bitch?" He murmured, seeing a flash of movement, and taking the shot, the bullet smashing into the door of the car and a piece of shrapnel flying out and careening into Bill's shoulder, making his groan and sit up, clutching at it, in pain. The sniper sighted on his head, steadying his aim on the pained human.

"I'm right behind you. You lose." Came the soft, feminine, calm voice.

The sniper whirled, trying to bring his rifle to bear, the bullet from the gun taking him in the right kneecap, an anguished yell coming from him as he tried valiantly to bring her into his sights.

Niteshade took a step forwards, gun lowering a little as she lashed out with her left foot, kicking the barrel of the rifle back the way it had come before she spun a full hundred and eighty degrees, right heel lashing out and catching him in the jaw, breaking it with a loud crack. As he started to turn back towards her, a tooth spilling from between his lips, she slammed the butt of the assault rifle into his nose, breaking it as well, the

bleeding and injured sniper falling back onto the leaves beneath him with a slight groan, eyes barely open.

The vixen took a step forwards, careful to step right on his knee where he had been shot, making him roar in pain as she lifted the rifle, giving him a cold smile down the length of deadly weapon. "Don't blame the vixen honey, blame yourself." She said, smiling warmly now, and the snipers eyes widened, the vixen looking positively delighted as a single gunshot rang out into the gathering dawn.

* * *

"Here, teenagers like cars and big guns, have a big gun." The vixen said, tossing the G36K heavily into his lap, making him give a soft 'oof' and hold his shoulder all the more firmly, turfing the gun off his lap and onto the floor, staring up at her. The vixen was grinning wide, pointed teeth revealed, seemingly pleased with herself.

"What are you so happy about?" He asked, with slight concern, as the vixen reached over and yanked out the piece of shrapnel in his shoulder without any warning, making him give a loud yell of pain.

"I told you, I like killing people." She said, smiling and sliding around to the passenger side of the car, stepping over the body there and sliding into the seat, happily inspecting her shiny new sniper rifle, working the bolt with a smile on her vulpine muzzle.

"Why?" He asked, head tilting just a little as he winced, working his shoulder around.

"I already told you. It feels good." She said flippantly, sliding the clip in and out of the weapon and then placing it on the dashboard. "Wanna see what I did to the other guy?!" She asked eagerly, smiling at him.

"Um...sure..." He replied, the hesitation in his voice unnoticed by her.

She happily led him over to the body, smiling at him, grabbing his hand like a schoolgirl and pointing out where she had shot him, the exact way she had kicked him, and the look on his face just before she put a bullet between his eyes, the black vixen standing and staring at the body as if transfixed, murring softly in her throat.

"I want to do it. Right now." She murmured, turning to look at him, tail swishing slowly.

"Huh?" He asked, confused, looking at her with a slightly sickened expression.

"Let's fuck!" She said, taking two quick steps, her dainty paws coming up to his shoulders and pressing him back against the tree as her muzzle found his mouth in a deep, heated, passionate kiss, her body pressed tight to his own.

Bill tried to put up some resistance, but it was impossible to speak around the heated kiss, her paws holding him firmly yet gently to the tree as the murring vixen slowly removed her muzzle, looking up at him, smiling seductively as her tongue slid out to lick sensually against his throat. "No, don't talk." She whispered, shushing him as he opened his mouth to speak, her paws quickly working at her clothes and shrugging out of them, the black vixen taking a step backwards to reveal to him her entire body, making him gulp softly.

The combination of her naked body so enticingly on display, as well as the steamy kiss from before, had a profound effect on him, a noticeable bulge in his pants as he looked her up and down, gulping loudly.

"You like to see me naked, don't you?" She almost purred, stepped in close again and pressing her form tight to his own, her small breasts warm and soft against his chest as their hard nipples pressed against him, causing a lump to materialise in his throat, making it hard to talk.

"Y-yes...." He managed to say, and Niteshade murred a little louder, tail sweeping back and forth as she got down on her knees in front of him, slowly unbuttoning his pants, looking up at him with a cute, innocent expression as he paws deftly slid his clothes down.

He gasped loudly as her paw found his semi-hard length, giving a slow stroke from his balls to the tip of his length, her muzzle leaning in closer, breaking eye contact to gaze hungrily at his length, her tongue flicking out to caress the head slowly.

The vixen murred even louder at the taste of him, leaning closer and pressing her muzzle against his length, giving it a long, slow lick from base to top and then taking it into her muzzle, suckling at it for a few seconds, only gently, causing it to harden into her mouth and throb lightly in time with the human's heartbeat.

Very quickly, she began to taste hints of his pre as it spilled onto her tongue, the dexterous pink muscle coiling around the tip as far as she could make it, before unwrapping slowly, sensually, grinding against the sensitive head of the length within her maw as it moved, the vixen pressing down further, eyes closed as she kissed and suckled at the cock, more heatedly and more passionate than the deepest french kiss, one of her paws cupping his balls and the other holding his length still, her muzzle lips just barely touching her index finger and thumb as her tongue worked.

The paw on his shaft slowly moved away, and Niteshade pressed downwards, ears flat back against her head and eyes lidded as she opened her mouth further, teeth gleaming in the growing light as she slid down the length until her muzzle met his base, pausing a moment to smile up at him, giving him a single, gentle suck that made him gasp loudly.

She murred louder, enjoying the power she held over him, tongue lightly bobbing the length in her maw, wriggling along the underside as she pressed her muzzle closed and draw back, creating an intense vacuum in around his length, his cock popping free with an audible sound as she lapped at the tip, smiling.

The human was given no reprieve as the vixen pressed her muzzle over him again, suckling and licking lightly, eyes closed and ears perked as she started to bob her muzzle, accentuating the motion with a slight side-to-side movement of her head, murring.

Niteshade murred all the louder as she heard the human gasp again, his length starting to throb noticeably within her muzzle, spurring her to bob her head faster, suckling at his cock with powerful rippling motions, one paw holding him tight to her muzzle and the other paw massaging his balls, feeling them swell with imminent orgasm. She smiled around the cock, pressing down all the more firmly, sliding down him until he was hilt deep in her muzzle, length pulsing.

She almost gagged as the back of her throat was filled with his creamy seed, pulling him back a little as streams of his creamy cum spilled from the corners of her mouth, her muzzle partly open to accept his gift as the human gave a long groan, spilling his heated essence onto the vixens tongue and into her rapidly swallowing throat, a soft murr coming from her as she delighted in that taste of him.

The vixen pulled back then, swallowing one last time and licking at her licks, little lines of his cum showing in the black fur of her muzzle as she murred softly, licking up his body until her tongue was once more lapping at his throat, grinding her hips against his lustfully. "I need you." She whispered, wrapping a paw around his wet cock and stroking it up and down, eliciting a gasp from him as her paw worked against his over sensitive flesh.

Once more, her tongue descended on his length, laving over the head and cleaning him of his own cum, straightening him out and drawing him into that suckling maw once more, his length swelling once more after mere moments of this treatment. The black vixen smiled at that, giving him one last lick before she pulled free, taking a step backwards and turning away, slowly bending over, her black tail lifting to reveal to him her dripping sex, a paw sliding between her own legs and slowly stroking over it, causing a whine to break from her muzzle. "Do you want this?" She asked, looking over shoulder at him, a pouty smile playing at the edges of her muzzle, a single finger stroking along herself before slipping inside, her eyes closing as she ground down onto it, beginning to pant softly. "I need something in me..."

He didn't need to be told twice, all rational thought swept aside as the need to take the sexy black vixen in front of him took over. He stalked over to her, grabbing her tail and pressing it out of the way as the head of his length found her sex, the vixen wiggling her hips a little and cooing happily, her soft pink folds, dripping with her inner moisture, lightly caressing against the head of his length.

The vixen, however, was growing impatient, and didn't wait for him to sink into her, and rather pushed backwards, giving a lustful growl as the tip of his length spread her open and delved within, her tail twitching and stomach muscles giving a slight spasm that was half relief, half lustful contraction, her body pressing backwards until he was sunk as deep into her body as he could get, his hard length pulsing in time with her reflexive convulsions around him, one paw holding herself firmly up while the other rubbed at her clit furiously.

"God! I need you to take me!" She barked over her shoulder at him, making him give the slightest wince and then wrap his arms about her chest, hands coming up to massage and fondle at her firm breasts as he drew back, sliding his throbbing length from within her body only to delve it back deep into her body with a soft groan, the vixen's mouth hanging open as she pressed back against him, her eyes closed happily.

"Harder..." She murmured,tail flicking against her back as she pressed back against him desperately, pinching at her clit with feral lust, feeling her body stretching to accommodate the length with each thrust, her hot, lubricating liquids forced out around it to moisten her fingertips as she gave a lustful murr.

Bill acquiesced to her request, sliding his hands from her breasts, her hard nipples swaying slightly in the air as he pressing his form more firmly over her own, his chest pressed to her back, her tail trapped in between as his hands grabbed her hips, pulling her back against him as he started to thrust harder and deeper, giving a soft pant of pleasure with every convulsion of her delightful body around his cock.

The vulpine female growled softly, teeth bared as she strained against him, feeling her orgasm start to spiral up from within her body as he claws dug deep into the ground beneath her, the claws on the paw playing with herself sliding against her as well, causing a delicious start of pain to course through her. The thought continued, the pain, the pain that she had caused the people as she had killed them. Her eyes closed, and she remembered, quite vividly, the moment just before the assassin lying on the ground nearby had died, that look in his eyes, the delightful moment when he knew that he was dead.

A loud snarl echoed throughout the area as Niteshade pressed back against him, teeth bared fully, tail twitching, her depths convulsing around the length buried in her body, her liquids forced out around it, dripping from her body as she arched her back, muscles tensed, her body the perfect picture of feral lust as she came hard.

With the feel of her wonderfully soft and firm depths convulsing around him, he couldn't help but cum, grabbing her hips hard and pulling her back against him, burying his length deep into her shuddering depths as his cock throbbed and shot its hot, creamy load deep into her body.

Niteshade let out a long, happy murr of contention, slowly collapsing forwards, feeling the warmth of the seed deep in her body as the male behind her lost contact with her body, his length sliding free, her sensitive hearing registering his panting breath as she stayed, eyes half closed as she remained with her rear in the air and chest on the ground, her wet, glistening cunt visible, dripping with mutual liquids as she tried to get her breath back.

Bill waited a few minutes before trying to speak, sitting against a tree as he turned his head to look at her, the vixen having slid onto her side, slowly rubbing at the sensitive lips of her cunt with a fingertip, gathering the mixed liquids and sampling them, murring softly. "....Why?"

She sauntered over to him on her paws and knees, taking his flaccid cock into her paw and lowering her muzzle to suckle it clean, smiling up at him, eyes bright and happy. "You ask too many questions..." was her only response.

"I'm serious." He murmured, brow furrowed as he looked down at her.

"So am I..." She said with a soft sigh, shaking her head and sitting back, curling her tail about herself. "...You do realise we're not going to make it back to civilisation alive, right?"

The human blinked, staring at her with wide eyes. "But...you just killed the people who were after you..." He said with a shake of his head.

She chuckled softly, tapping him in the nose with a fingertip. "That's not the only ones they will have sent, silly." she said, sliding in close and pressing her black furred body against his bare skin, snuggling up against him.

"There's more?!" He asked with alarm, eyes wide, but she shushed him, putting a finger against his lips, quieting him.

"Don't worry..." She murmured, licking his chin gently. "I don't want to spend my last few hours alone...or in panic..."

"How many more will they send?" He asked, looking down at her, his heart throbbing in his throat.

"As many as they need." She said, somehow calm, murring softly as she laid her head on his shoulder, smiling up at him.

"What's to stop us running?" he asked hesitantly.

"Well...They probably have someone waiting on the roads out of here with a good sniper rifle and an elevated position..." She murmured, and then shrugged. "We're not getting out of this hun, get used to that and lets just enjoy it while it lasts."

He shook his head. "No....we're getting out of this." He said firmly, looking down at her. "We have the sniper rifle...and the G36K..."

"You know guns?" She asked curiously, looking up at him, ears perking as she shifted to lie between his legs, her head resting on his belly, so she could look up at him properly, tail swishing back and forth through the leaves.

"A few..." He admitted, with a nod. "Father was in the army, he insisted on looking up guns and porn, I went back through his history on his Internet Explorer looking for porn, found the gun pages, forgot about the porn." He said with a shrug.

The black vixen chuckled, laying a paw on one knee and stroking at it gently. "So you want to take on the assassins by yourself?" She asked, smiling wanly.

"No...I want you to help me." He said firmly.

"And why would I do that?" She asked, ears perking, staring at him upside-down.

"Because you like killing people...and you're the best assassin there is. And you want to prove it." He said with a shrug, smirking at her. "And that's not a challenge to prove me wrong..." He murmured, and then blinked as he realised just how comfortable he was around her now. She was apparently an assassin, he had just watched her kill two men, and now here he was snuggled up to her completely content.

"You want me to help you kill these assassins? I can do that...But no matter what I do, it's pointless. They have a bounty on my head and know what I look like now, it'll just be a mater of time before I get taken out..." The way she spoke it was obvious she already knew what it was all about. She had been in far too many wide-scale bounty hunts to know that the hunted never gets away. Not in the end. Not unless...

He shook his head again, sighing softly. "If you had a terminal disease...would you just kill yourself?" He asked gently, head cocked to one side as he looked down at her.

She murred softly, thoughtfully. "No...I wouldn't..." She murmured after a few moments.

"Why?" he asked, seriously, raising a brow.

"Because there are new cures found all the time..." She said, blinking up at him. "Obviously..."

"Well why don't we just find a cure to your disease?" He asked, with a shrug.

She murred up at him softly. "I was just thinking the same thing..."

* * *

"There...Next to that tree...About...I dunno, 3 o'clock." he murmured, a little shakily. He was lying in the undergrowth, having crawled there, as per Niteshade's instructions, holding the G36K and staring down the scope like a spotter with a pair of binoculars.

"I see him..." She murmured, giving him a nod, sliding up besides him and aiming her high powered rifle at the assassin's face. "Now i want you to please see if you can find any others about...I'd rather not get shot at if I can help it..."

He nodded grimly, looking about through the scope of the rifle, frowning a little. It had taken them all of the day to sneak through the forest to where they were now, abandoning everything except their clothes and the guns, the car staying where it was, riddled with bullet holes, i severe bone of contention for Bill. And now they were near the edge of the city,but there was a sniper between them and freedom. And it raised another awkward question...what to do with the guns when they reached the city?

Bill pushed these and other thoughts out of his mind, sighting on the ridge line nearby and humming softly to himself, eyes narrowed. "I see another one." he said, eyes wide. "He's up on the ridge line to the left, about halfway along, next to the rock...they're not very well camouflaged, are they?"

"They didn't expect us to have good guns..." She murmured, shaking her head just slightly. "You think you can nail one of them?" She asked with a smirk at him. "Or do you expect the lady to do all the work?"

He smiled at her, shaking his head a little. "Okay....I'll try and get the one on the ridge on my side, and you try to get the one on yours."

"Sounds like a plan, on three." She murmured, steadying her breathing and taking aim. "One...Two....THREE!"

The retort from the PSG1 was almost deafening, causing the ears to ring after the initial discharge, and the sound of the G36K joined it, loud in its own rights, but not as loud as the sniper rifle by far.

Bills first shot missed, but Niteshade's didn't. Her target took the round right above his ear, his head caving inwards and bloody material cascading from the newly formed hole as the solid round escaped the other side of his head, his body falling limp as he died instantly.

The second sniper, up on the other ridge line, didn't come even remotely close to being hit, the bullet bouncing off a rock some twenty metres forwards of his position, making him jerk in surprise at both the impact and the sound of the gunshots reaching him. Another round, fired from the G36K, impacted nearby, but not close enough to worry him. He slid his gun around, almost starting to take aim as a bullet slammed into the scope of his rifle and was deflected by the thick optical glass at the end, not harming the sniper in any way but ruining his rifle.

Niteshade cursed a little, working the bolt of the rifle, sliding another bullet home as Bill continued to fire round after round of carefully aimed, and yet completely inaccurate rounds towards the target.

It took the sniper less than a second after his scope was gone to know he was in trouble, sliding behind a nearby rock and taking careful aim at the muzzle flashes, the powerful rifle sending a bullet slamming into the ground right between the two.

Bill yelped and jumped back a little bit, stunned by how close he had come to being hit, while Niteshade just steadied her aim and fired.

The sniper had been about to fire again, already having worked the bolt to slide another round into the weapon, when the bullet sheered clean through his right eye and slid through his skull, exiting out the back in a spray of blood and gore.

The black vixen smiled, tossing the rifle to the ground and standing up. "C'mon, we should be clear now, we can't carry the guns any further at any rate." She said brightly.

He stood up, and dropped the rifle, and then something exploded nearby, with shocking force, sending him backwards off his feet as his ears started ringing all the wind knocked from him. The human moved into a crouched position, wobbling slightly, his own breathing impossibly loud in his ears as bullets tore up the area all around him. Instinctively, he took up the rifle, dropping back down as he spied Niteshade lying on her back, unconscious.

The G36K was lifted to shoulder height, shakily, and he returned fire, before the weapon ran dry and he was forced to drop it. At the cessation of return fire, the gunfire from the enemy slowed a little, and then petered out completely, leaving just the heavy ringing in the humans ears.

A shape materialised out of the smoke from the explosion, gun held at shoulder height, eyes staring down the length of the gun.

The man holding the gun approached slowly, keeping his eyes trained on the area where he had seen the two shapes. His grenade had done a real number, and he could see a gun lying in the undergrowth, and smiled a little.

A gunshot rang out, and the assassin dropped, the bullet having passed clean through his chest. As blood started to dribble from the corner of the dead assassins mouth, Bill swayed a bit and succumbed to unconsciousness.

* * *

Bill awoke to a pounding headache, trying to focus his eyes and failing woefully, wondering where he was, the alarm clock on the bedstand, an old analogue, ringing shrilly in his ear, grating against his senses until he slapped it off onto the floor.

He rolled over slowly, blinking a few times, vision blurry and doubled as he almost retched, catching himself just in time. Propped up on the nightstand besides him, in neat black writing against a plain white background was the note:

I have gone to find the cure. Don't wait up. Niteshade.

* * *

Niteshade gave a soft, panting whine and tried to move, her limbs shaking, immobilised, his tail quivering as she tried to at least gain some kind of movement from it, her narrowed eyes and bared teeth her only real indicator of the blood lust she felt for the man in front of her.

His name was John Smith, a generic name to be sure, but he was the one who had authorised her bounty, and he was the one who now had her at gunpoint. Several gunpoints in fact, at least twenty. Black-clad soldiers training their laser-sights on her body, ready to kill her if she so much as moved.

But moving was her one problem. There was a man in front of her, Asian in appearance, with a sword on his back and pins on his wrist, used for the rare form of martial arts that was descended from ninjitsu, made famous in the movie 'Kiss of the Dragon'.

She had been moving across the room to kill her target when she had felt the slight pressure behind her shoulder blades, and then the immobilisation set in, her body freezing of its own accord, not moving no matter how she struggled.

A soft, vicious growl came from her again, directed towards the man who was currently standing staring out the window as if nothing had happened, even though having twenty men burst from the doorways around the room meant he had expected her.

"Well Niteshade. I see you found me...or did I find you?" he asked conversationally, turning back towards her, head tilted thoughtfully before a dismissive shrug came from his shoulder. "It matters not, all that matters is that i was expecting this. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist coming after me...And i have a business proposition for you."

The vixen shook her head. "I'm not offering Niteshade, I'm ordering." Came the soft, silky tone, a smile coming to the cold face. "I have an offer you can't refuse."

* * *

Bill wondered why he was still in Niteshade's apartment. She was an assassin, she had ruthlessly killed men in front of him...She had even admitted to liking killing the people, enjoying it. And yet here he was, still in her bed when he could have left at any time he wanted.

And there he remained, waiting for her.

* * *

Niteshade didn't return to her apartment straight away. She slipped off to her 'armory' first. She owed it to him to kill him quickly. That much she knew.

She pulled out a silenced pistol with a specialised round in it, designed to kill instantly with its neurotoxin. When she used a gun with this type of bullet in it, she was out to kill. This wasn't for sexual pleasure, for leisure, or money. This was when she wanted someone dead. And quickly.

When she reached the apartment, she entered without knocking, without making a sound, slipping into the room with the sleeping occupant, eyes cold and hard, pistol clutched tightly in one black paw. She moved to stand besides the bed, flicking off the alarm clock and standing over the only person in the room, watching them sleep.

"I'm sorry...I don't want to do this, but I've been given a choice. Either you die, or we both die...I guess the fact that I don't know you that well just makes it easier..." With a soft sigh she raised the pistol and put two rounds in the chest of the sleeping figure, who twitched once and then went still, a bloodstain starting to form from his body as she drew her knife. She didn't care about making a mess, she wasn't going to be using the apartment after all.

* * *

Niteshade came to the meeting point right on time. It was an old storage facility, abandoned now, the soft brown dirt underfoot still covered in the tracks of the trucks that had carried grain to the silo's that lined the side of the area. Behind her, to one side, were several large sheds, used as storage for vehicles, now standing open and empty, littered with dessicated crates.

The black limousine that carried John rolled slowly to a stop near her, carefully far enough away that a pistol wouldn't be able to cause much damage or be fired very accurately. The front door opened, and so did another, facing away from the vixen, and two men carrying shiny black M8's stalked around to her side of the vehicle, keeping her covered with their weapons as the door between them opened to admit the exit of John.

The vixen stood simply on the dirt ground, in the open, nothing in her hands bar a cane, and a bowling ball bag, a bandage around one ankle.

"My, my, my. I hope you didn't get that injury killing your good friend Bill." John said in a soft tone as he stepped out of the long vehicle, Two men with high-powered assault rifles flanking him, his Asian protector, sword and all, just behind him, watching her carefully.

"I tripped coming down the stairs." The vixen said coldly, hefting the bag towards the three, where it hit the ground with a dull thud and a soft sound of what could only be a human head inside it rattling around. "All the targets I could ever want?" She asked, eyes narrowed. "And police immunity?"

The human nodded slowly, smiling. "Shall we clinch the deal then?" He asked, smiling a little, motioning for his Asian cohort to open the bag, which he did immediately, pulling out the battered human skull, bruised and broken. "Jeeze Niteshade, did you have to be so rough?" John asked, shaking his head.

"I got sick of seeing his face." The vixen said with a shrug, moving forwards, closer, eyes narrowed on John, hobbling slightly.

"Let her." John said as the two men raised their guns, and then grudgingly lowered them as the vixen came up close, murring softly.

"How shall we clinch the deal?" She asked, head tilted just slightly, an ear perked. "Killing people, especially people I know, really gets me hot under the collar." She murmured softly, leaning forwards and planting a kiss on the surprised humans mouth, pressing it deeper, their tongue meeting, the vixen closing her eyes as she drew back with a nip, drawing a little blood and murring at the taste.

Up on one of the silo's, a sniper positioned there to make sure the deal went according to plan gave a soft gasp of surprise and then coughed slightly as the blade drawn against his throat cut deep into his jugular, his blood spilling free to paint red the white surface beneath him. A black-gloved hand reached down, picking up the snipers rifle, before the new owner settled into the position that had just been vacated, staring down the length of the gun.

Niteshade tilted her head a little, as if listening to something only she could hear, and smiled wanly. "Well...I should get going. I trust I'll have more targets soon?" She asked, smiling a little as she lifted her free paw in a salute. The sniper on the silo saw the salute, and aimed the crosshairs on John's chest, ready for the final signal, the signal to fire.

"Oh I'm sure you will." John said with a nod. "But why go anywhere my pretty, come back with me in my Limousine and you can finish that kiss you started..."

The black vixen shook her head. "No sorry, you have an important meeting to attend, you all do." She said calmly.

"A meeting?" John asked with slight confusion, raising a brow.

Niteshade slid closer, smiling at him, her gleaming white teeth revealed as she murmured in his ears. "A meeting...With the fishes!"

She leaped backwards, no longer hobbling, sliding around John and unleashing a long side-kick at the soldier on the left, smacking into his helmet and knocking him sideways a little, her paw grabbing the cane and twisting it, so that the long blade hidden within it sprang free, sliding out and swiping across the first guards throat before he could react, his blood spurting from the clean wound that appeared across his adam's apple.

As the vixen turned towards the second gun-wielding guard, a load retort echoed from atop the silo nearby, a .408 round narrowing the distance between it and it's target very, very quickly.

Bill cursed out loud and worked the bolt on the rifle, which fed another round into the chamber, his first shot having missed, slamming into the dirt some five metres behind the Asian man who was even now drawing his Tai-Chi sword. He almost growled to himself as he aimed up the Asian man again. He had told Niteshade that he could handle a rifle, at least, handle one at this range. But this wasn't a rifle, this thing he held now was a cannon.

He didn't know what type of rifle it was, but it was big, and bulky, and the recoil on it made it feel as though his shoulder was wrenched out of its socket, and he was almost afraid to fire again, for fear of personal safety.

But fire he did, and this time, the round from the CheyTac M100 Intervention sniper rifle found its target. Originally designed, as a system, to be fired on targets up to two thousand metres away, at the current range, the .480 round made very quick work of its victim.

Niteshade had swept forwards with her cane-sword, a loud metallic ringing humming through the air as her blade contacted the vertically held weapon of the guard, when she heard the retort of the rifle and then felt the rush of wind as the bullet slid past her.

The Asian man, who had had his weapon raised above head height, ready to bring it down on the vixens head, screamed out loud, a long, blood-curdling yell as the sniper round sheared through his shoulder, shattering the ball joint in passing before slamming out of the soft flesh and into the ground, leaving a spray of blood in its path.

Niteshade whirled on her heel, bringing her thin sword up and blocking the one-armed blow from the rapidly weakening, but still dangerous man of Asian descent, slipping backwards and launching a kick at the weapon of the guard which pressed the barrel upwards, so he couldn't fire on her from close range.

The Asian man came forwards again, arm hanging limply, sword gleaming as he tried to slice her head from her neck, and she growled softly, dropping her sword, ducking under the blow and grabbing his broken arm by the wrist, twisting and yanking, trying to disarm him through sheer pain.

As a result of her vicious twist, she actually ended up disarming the man, literally, wrenching his arm from his body with a sick sound of snapping tendons and ripping flesh. She pirouetted and swung the severed limb hard, coming about in a full three hundred and sixty degree attack that sent the bloodies, red-spraying limb into its owners face with a loud, meaty smack.

Niteshade let go of the limb as it connected, and the Asian man dropped his sword, the vixen nimbly snatching it from mid-air as the man was lifted off his feet slightly from the force of her blow and sent backwards, severed limb spraying blood into the soft sand.

She stepped forwards, and sliced upwards, a loud metallic ringing echoing again as she forced the barrel of the M8 upwards once more, her eyes narrowing as she revered the motion, under the lifted weapon, the blade slicing cleanly, easily through the soft flesh of the guards stomach, his hands automatically falling to his stomach and his spilling intestines, pressing the side of the gun against them as the sword returned.

The vixen growled softly as she thrust with the sword, putting it right through the guards adams apple, and then drawing it out, watching him start to slip sideways, whirling and slicing once more, the blade scything through the guards back as he fell.

John spluttered slightly, standing silently to one side, blinking, mouth open, trying to fathom what had just happened.

It took him a full two seconds to draw his weapon, a gold-plated desert eagle, from his hip, and aim it at the black vixen, who was panting softly, clutching the sword.

But those two seconds were enough for Bill to take aim, and the rifle blared once more, bucking against his already sore shoulder as it discharged another round.

The sidearm seemed to vanish, flecks of gold plating whipping through the air and a very sore hand being shaken as the .480 round slammed into it, the vixen turning on him with a slight growl.

"Did you know I already had a contract on you?" She asked, stepping forwards, eyes narrowed. "I've had a contract on you for so long..It was one of my first accepted contracts, and now, I'm here to collect!"

John turned, and started to run, but was caught after merely a second, the blade held by the vixen scything through his ankle, dropping him instantly to his knees, a howl of pain echoing from his mouth as his blood spurted out onto the sand.

Niteshade moved closer, a feral smile on her muzzle as she looked down at him, eyes gleaming. "There's a little bit of wel known advice I have learned about situation such as these." She said, her smile widening, her gleaming white teeth revealed as she leaned closer, the blade sliding around to his front, point-down. "It's: Don't lose your head..."

The blade plunged backwards, hard, cutting a deep gash through his left chest and out the back of his shoulder-blade, before it was withdrawn with a vicious twist, the vixen whirling and slicing as hard as she could, a long, neat line appearing on his neck before his head slid to the ground, a delayed burst of blood spilling from his severed neck like a fountain.

She stood over the body, chest heaving, muzzle and front flecked with blood, exalting in her victory, her eyes glowing with that peculiar satisfaction only bloodlust could bring, until bill appeared at her side, puffing softly, his new rifle slung over his back. "It's over?" He asked, staring down at the headless corpse which was still bleeding sluggishly.

"It's over." She affirmed, stepping over the body and retrieving the head, carrying it over to the bowling bag she had bought along, and throwing it inside, zipping it shut and then inspecting the area around, giving the bodies a long, appraising look, her breathing a little faster, before she looked up at him hungrily.

"Who's head is that?" He asked suddenly, pointing to the object in question, the one that had originally resides in the bowling bag.

"No one important" She said with a shrug. It had actually been one of her friends, had been, not any more, considering his entire building had been torched by a loose gas main.

"So what now?" Bill asked of her, slinging the gun more firmly on his shoulder, and looking about.

"I'm going to go home, change my identity, and then slip over to Maui for a while, until things cool down, then I'm going to go back to business as usual." She said with a calm shrug "...You're welcome to join me, if you'd like..."

"...I'd like that." He said with a nod, and a smile. All in all, it wasn't such a bad offer, though, she could be scary at times, but he felt there was real potential for a relationship there, if he could stop her killing everything in sight that is.

* * *

"So...just why didn't you take John's offer?" Bill asked, rolling over onto his stomach and looking at her.

"He was an asshole." Niteshade replied flippantly, flicking through to another page of her womans magazine,.

They were both on the beaches of Maui, under a set of palm trees, the gentle sound of crashing waves and seagulls drifting lazily through the air calming and soothing as the hot sun beat down on them.

"Is that all?" He asked, genuinely curious. It had only been a day since they had arrived, and he was insanely curious as to her motives.

The vixen slid shut her book and rolled to face him, propped on a single black paw. "I dunno...It's just...when I'm around you, I'm not as....vicious." she admitted.

"Not as vicious?" He asked, eyes wide. If she wasn't too vicious around him, then what would she be like away from him?

"Not nearly as much...And I feel the insane urge to protect you. Maybe you appeal to my motherly instincts?" She offered, one of her black ears perked.

"Motherly? Is that what you call what we did last night with those strawberries?" he asked, a sly smirk on his face.

"Quiet you!" She said, throwing her womans magazine at him, leaning back and smiling as she closed her eyes. He might have been a human, he might not be able to fire a gun accurately enough for her precision standards, but he was hers, and damned if she was going to let that go.

She heard the creak of the chair Bill was lying on, and then soft footsteps on the sand between the two chairs, before his weight settled down next to hers, his arms wrapping about her. She murred ever so softly as she snuggled up to him, smiling, eyes still closed, resting her head on his chest, content.

Niteshade didn't need the killing, the death, the bloodlust. She didn't need the feeling of killing someone, that instant right before they died, that wonderful, uplifting moment when she saw someones life flash before their eyes. She didn't need any of that, not when she was in his arms, and if that wasn't love, what was?

She could be happy and calm so long as she was in his arms, the arms of the one she loved.