As the sun beamed above, Agent X walked across the street, gazing at his surroundings of parked vehicles as he sighed, feeling the weight of time pressing on him. He strode three blocks, passing brick buildings. Walking up five concrete steps, Agent X approached one yellow house with a red door. A white round camera hung on the side of the wall. He knocked on the door. 

"Hello."

Agent X looked at the camera. "I'm looking for Hugo."

"I'm afraid he is not around."

Agent X sighed. "Cypher sent me." 

A chain was removed from the door. A middle aged man in a purple silk robe with gray hair horn-rimmed glasses opened the door wide as he looked at the emotionless face of the assassin. "Come inside." The man closed the door behind Agent X locking the door with three deadbolts and a gold chain.

"What's your name?"

Agent X glanced at the man. "X."

Hugo's eyebrows raised. "That's an odd name. Can I get you anything? Tea? Coffee?"

Agent X glanced at him from the side, walking in the hallway. "No, coffee makes me jumpy."

Agent X and Hugo walked into a den with three black shelfs full of books with a table and black chrome laptop resting on a table. Hugo paced forward over to the end of the counter and poured himself a warm cup of coffee in a white mug and added a small amount of cream as he stirred it on a silver spoon as it made clicking noise.

"Cypher had to be desperate to send you my way. How is the old man holding up these days?"

Agent X sighed. "He's dead."

Hugo took his spectacles off and rubbed the fog from the lens with a cloth." It was a matter of time until they found him. The Raven Agency had been around the sector. I've been tracking their movement for sometime now." Hugo went to his chair by the computer monitor and showed a map of five red dots in specific locations.

Hugo points at the dots."These are the locations of the areas where they have been stealing chemicals from warehouses."

Agent X rubbed his chin."Sounds like they are getting more ingredients for the Zala drug." 

Hugo tuned to Agent X. "Zala drug? I thought that was disbanded ten years ago? There were unethical experiments performed on soldiers. Cypher provided me with Intel two weeks ago." Hugo pulled up videos of a young man and woman injected in the neck with a syringe and started to convulse and have seizures as their eyes widened white foam came out of their mouths.

Hugo shook his head. "It's terrible what they did. To think they would sink so low."

Agent X crossed his arms and frowned. "Yeah, I was one of them." Agent X rolled up his sleeve from his shirt and showed the dark tattoo mark Raven from his forearm. "Is there any way to uncover my identity?"

Hugo adjusted his glasses. "That will take time with a fee."

Agent X sighed. "I don't have money on me. I've come a long way to get answers to what the Raven Agency did to me." Agent X clenched his hand staring at Hugo.

 Hugo sighed. I see what I can dig up. You will pay me later. He clicked on the touchpad from the laptop.

Agent X walked out of the room. "I'm out. I'll keep in touch."

As Agent X got close to the door, he peered through the window, seeing a black van pull up on the curb. He ran back to Hugo. "We need to get out here."

Hugo turned around. "What do you mean?"

Hugo jumped off the chair. "What the hell?" 

An agent, dressed in black tactical gear, busted through the window, as he rolled on the floor. He stood up facing Agent X and Hugo with a frown on his face when he balled both his fist and gritted his teeth. More agents entered the room surrounding the room with weapons.

 Agent X walked in front of Hugo. "Stay close."

The agent lifted his hand signaling the others to disengage."Agent X."

Agent X got in a fighting stance. "Who might you be?"

The man smirked. "You don't remember me? So it's true then, Deshed erased your memories." He took out a knife. 

Agent X squinted his eyes as he gripped his fists with one foot stepping forward." Who are you?"

"The names Dax. Before this day is done, you will be dead."

"Oh, this is bad. I don't want to die here. "Hugo turned and glanced at all the armed men.

"Relax, we are gonna get out of this." Agent X kept his eye on the man with the knife.

"I should have switched to decaf." Hugo eyes dotted left to right.

"Are you ready to die?" The man inched closer with his knife. 

"You first."

The man lunged forward with his knife, aiming for Agent X's chest and stomach. He slashed at Agent X's arm, drawing blood as he countered the blade, slugging the guy's face with a lighting jab. This was followed by a roundhouse kick in the face that made the man fall back. Dax grunted, clenching his teeth as he charged again with the blade. Agent X dodged the attack, punched him in the face, and took his right arm, twisting it. Agent X flipped him on the floor forcing the sharp edge of the blade against his neck. All the armed men pointed their guns at Agent X fingers on the trigger. Dax signaled the men with his hand to hold their position. 

Agent X pressed the blade close to the man's neck."Give me one good reason why I shouldn't bleed you out?"

Dax smiled as droplets of blood leaked from his neck. "Because you and I have the same enemy. I can help you get to Deshed. "

Agent X frowned. "Why?" Agent X pressed the blade firm against his neck.

Dax sighed. "Deshed has someone important to me. If I didn't follow through with killing you, he would die."

Agent X pulled back the knife off the guy's neck. Hugo scratched his head.

 
Agent X reached for the man's hand. Dax reached back as Agent X pulled him up off the floor. 

"I will help you save your son if you help me take down Dashed and his cronies."

The soldiers pointed their weapons at Hugo, Agent X, and the man. 

"Stand down." Dax signaled.

"We have orders to eliminate you," one soldier said pointing his gun.

Dax scoffed with a frown."Who's orders?"

"Alicia," the soldier said.

Dax gritted his teeth as his eyebrows furrowed."This is treason."

Hugo raised his hands. "Any bright ideas?"

Hugo closed his eyes. Agent X ran forward, pushed the semi-automatic forward as it discharged at the ceiling  He stabbed one soldier in the face and slashed his throat and as he fell on the floor gushing with blood. Dax fired his hand gun at two soldiers' legs while he walked up to them making two shots to their head exposing a pool of blood. Bullets ricochet off the wall as he rolled to the side taking out his hand gun taking out five soldiers with head and chest shots. One soldier was left standing as he pulled back. The soldier ran as Dax pulled out his gun and shot him in the back. 

Hugo cringed as he closed his eyes. Agent X tapped Hugo's shoulder. "You can open your eyes now."

The soldier clawed on the floor, moaning in pain as turned his, seeing Dax strode toward his direction. The man pulled the trigger as he shot him twice in the head. He walked back to Agent X and Hugo. "We should go. I'll take you where you need to go." Dax walked out of the room.

Agent X glanced at Hugo as he stopped walking. "What's wrong?"

Hugo rubbed his head as his eyes squinted. "Nothing, let's get out of here."

Dax turned the key to start the car as Agent X and Hugo entered the vehicle. As they drove off, a car pulled on the curb near the house. A woman stepped out. She entered the home as her shoes creaked on shards of glass, seeing a tattered room filled with a trail of bodies. She picked her cell phone. 

Deshed walked outside his mansion when he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. "Yes."

"They are all dead."

Deshed frowned as his hand clamped into a fist. "Did you find the data?"

Alicia looked around by the desk. "No trace. Wait, I think I see something."

"What is it?"

"It's a USB drive." 

 A cold metallic steel pressed against Alicia's head. Hang up the phone. Hands up, turn around slowly."

"I should have known it was you. You've gone soft falling for Agent X. What was it about him? Was he good in the sack?"

Casey clenched her teeth."Something you wouldn't understand."

Alicia smirked. "Oh, I do." Alicia spun away from the gunfire, punching Casey in the face as she forced the gun up in the air.

Casey kicked Alicia in the stomach and forced her against the wall. Alicia head butted Casey, knocked the gun out her hand as it hit the floor, and threw her against the table. Casey moaned, crawling on the floor. Alicia walked toward her and kicked her in the ribs. 

Alicia went over to pick up the gun on the floor. Casey charged against Alicia into the hallway. Casey pulled Alicia by the hair and banged her head against the table several times. She gripped Alicia's neck as she twisted it, collapsing on the floor.