Against all odds, Agent X was ready with his gun pointed at the door. Footsteps clamored in the halls as the soldiers stormed in weapons ready. Casey, fearful for her life, hid under Jared's computer desk; her hands fastened close together, pulling her legs close to her abdomen. Agent X kicked the door hard and fired one shot at the first soldier in the chest. Instantly, he pulled back from being shot at, and returned fire with three shots as he took out three soldier's at pinpoint accuracy. One bullet got him in the left arm, feeling the sting and ignoring the pain. Agent X knew there were only six soldiers remaining and that he could handle them without worry about the Reaper taking him. 

One guard bolted inside the room, Agent X grappled the second soldier's hand, punching him in the face. It wasn't long until Agent X broke the soldier's right arm and turned the gun on him, shooting him in the stomach as he collapsed on the floor screaming in agony. Casey watched in horror as her hands covered her lips.

One by one, each solider fell like a domino effect. Agent X ran up on a table as he slid on it and mowed down five more soldiers as the bullets raptured the flesh of his enemies. All that was left laid out was a river of blood. One soldier, who was left standing, was petrified. He took a knife out. Agent X smirked and dropped his gun on the floor, not taking his eye off his opponent. He gave the hand jester to the soldier to make a move. He got into a fighting stance, balling his fist, and cracked his knuckles. 

"Come on, show me what you got," Agent X said. 

The soldier gritted his teeth, yelling as he charged at Agent X with his knife, swinging his blade out of desperation. Agent X countered his moves as he bested the soldier, breaking his arm in the process, kicking his leg down, and smashing his head against the edge of the table twice as the soldier stumbled on the floor before his fallen Comrades. Agent X turned him around, leaned on top of him, and began pouncing on his face until he became unconscious. Agent L entered the house with other armed soldiers and headed in the room, witnessing the bodies Agent X had orchestrated.

"Always showing off," Agent L said, pointing his gun at him. "It is time to settle this once and for all who is number one." His eyes glared at him."

Agent smirked with confidence. "Well, if you want a front row seat, all you have to do is ask."

"All my life, I had lived in the shadow of being number two. No, I deserve respect; I get to prove to myself, to the agency, that I'm the best." Agent L walked closer. 

"That's what it is all about? You know the Raven agency is playing you. What do you think is gonna happen once you kill me?"

"Let go of me!" Casey said as she was dragged out of the room by a soldier, struggling to get free from his grip.

Agent X's eyes went from confident to rage, knowing that Casey was in his cross hair. "Let her go."

"What's the matter Agent X?  No quick retort?" Agent L looked at Casey and him. "You have gone soft. After three hundred and fifty-two kills, you have fallen for this girl. I never thought I would see this day that you fall for this red hair specimen. What is so special about this girl? He touched her like a doll as she pulled back in disgust. 

Agent X kept his sights on the soldier and Agent L, his arms tensed clutching the gun. He figured taking out the soldier would be easy-peasy, but Agent L would be a different story, since he is a different breed of a killer. Something in his gut was telling him that Agent L will be difficult to take out. A plan had to be implemented that would throw him off his game. His main concern was to get Casey out of harm's way of the men, which would give him enough leeway to exploit an exit strategy.

"What do you want me to do with her?" One soldier asked, holding on to Casey's arms as she squirmed to get free from his hold.

"Take her away and put her in the van? I want to spend some quality time with Agent X."

"You let her go. She has nothing to do with this."

Casey yelled. "Agent X!"

The call of his name evoked an inner rage he had never experienced as he gripped his gun. The intensity of his eyes screamed vengeance. Make no mistake, Agent X was cooking something special for Agent L. For now, he had to play the card he was dealt with. Agent X was more determined to figure out what made Agent L tick. 

"I know you have gone native. The Raven Agency made you what you are. You are a killer with no compassion, no connections. We are brothers kindred in the art of killing. You know what I say is true, brother. Agent  L, rolled up his black shirt sleeve, and showed him the dark Raven tattoo on his right arm with black and white feathers and wings spread. We bear the same mark and swore a sacred oath. "We were born to do one thing to eliminate our mark, no matter the cost. That is the way of the Raven Agency."

"I don't care about the Raven Agency and you can screw the sacred oath that you believe in. As far as I know, we are not brothers, never will be."

"Do you really think the agency would let you roam free to have a normal life. It doesn't work that way. We are not meant to have that life. No room for love or children. We are tasked to kill our targets. That is all we live for."

"Do you ever stop and think that the agency is using us? We are expendable. I may not remember my former life, but I know when I see a shady organization when I see one."

"You're wrong? Deshed wouldn't betray me or the others. I should have been there on that mission with you on that day. Everything turned into a disaster."

"What happened? I need to know."

"The time for talk is over. It is time to end this," Agent L said, pointing his gun at Agent X's head. 

For what it was worth, Agent X was working Agent L, like a canary on a sting, from the banter by getting some spoonful of information. He sensed his jealous nature toward him from his body language and eyes. The fact that Agent X betrayed the Raven Agency set him off. Despite the fact they erased his memory, tried to kill him, and destroyed all information in some cover up conspiracy that runs deep within the murky waters of the Raven Agency. Whatever happened to him, on one of his missions, was shrouded in mystery. Seeing Agent X, as a methodical skilled assassin, made Agent L more green to the gill. Agent X was not gonna go down without a fight. Not from a neurotic unhinged assassin who claimed to be second best. One of them will walk out alive. 

The air in the room grew stale between the two of them. No amount of reasoning would convince Agent L on his task to not kill Agent X. "Any last words? Before I put you out of your misery?"

"Yes, I have one."

Agent L waited for his response. 

"Yeah, you should always bet on red," Agent X said, kicking the gun out Agent L's hand as it discharged, landing on the floor six feet from their reach.

Agent L swung with a right and left hook punch. Agent X blocked and countered the punch. They both locked arms until Agent X pushed him into the kitchen, bumping against the counter knocking plates of food. Agent L took a cup mug, sitting on the counter, smashed it against Agent X's face, and kicked him in the stomach. Agent X stepped back, took off his sweater and wrapped around both hands as a defense. Agent L reached for a kitchen blade and circled him, trying to look for a moment to strike.

"I will enjoy killing you," Agent L said. "And I will be number one!"

"I can't say the feeling is mutual," Agent X replied. 

"I will deliver your head to prove to Deshed that the deed was done."

"You're just all talk."

The moment, Agent L came out with his blade, Agent X caught his hand with the sweater and flipped him over, and placed him in a headlock. Agent L tapped him in the arm gasping for air. He pushed Agent X hard against the wall. Agent X pulled together until he passed out.

"You were not gonna win that fight."

Agent X picked up a gun and went to Jared to check and to see if he had a pulse. He was relieved. Then he left the house to rescue Casey, who was bound by a black cable ties from her hands and feet with a  white gag over her mouth and held captive by two soldiers in the black van. Agent X knocked on the door to draw them out. One soldier left the van to investigate when he got shot twice as he went face first on the pavement. The second soldier got nervous and yanked out his gun to see who was out there, leaning close to the van, checking side by side with caution. Agent X dropped from the top of the van behind the soldier. The soldier stuck his head out when he felt a sharp blow to the back of the head knocking him out.

Agent X opened the back van door and took the gag off Casey's lips. "Did they hurt you?" Agent X cut the black ties that bound her wrist and feet. 

"We are getting out of here."

"What about Jared? We can't just leave him." Casey jumped down from the back of the van.

"We have to go now. Jared can take care of himself."

"I'm not leaving until Jared is safe."

"If we stay here, more agents will come for us."

Casey stood still.

"If we stay here, we die. I can't have your death on my conscience."

Sirens were blaring down the street. Agent X and Casey got in the van and drove off not sticking around for the police, which they won't be able to explain the finer details of the events that unfolded in Jared's home without implicating themselves.

"Trust me on this, Jared will be fine," Agent X said, picking up speed on the road and not looking back.