.07 | The Deal

There was a collective silence as the freakishly big tiger slunk its way into the the tent where all the back alley deals went down. Her feline ever-glowing eyes swiveled around the room as she caught each scent and heartbeat within a fraction of a second after entering the tent.

Her brilliant eyes were fixed first upon Killian, her master, who sat behind a large steel desk with his leather boots propped up on the desktop. He immediately kicked them down and stood with a giddy smile as Merida's mutant form entered the tent.

As those hate filled pupils stared her down, Killian made a noise in the back of his throat that was more like a grunt as his hungry eyes narrowed at her tiger form with a mild form of distaste.

He loved to hate her.

Yet he hated to love her.

Revulsion mixed with some sick twisted obsession was what his eyes were giving away right now. However, she paid no mind because she had a job to do right now. One that she was familiar with.

Merida's tiger form continued to slink around the room the long way as Killian had always taught her to do in a meeting. It was mostly to be more intimidating and give off an air of suspense. Killian just loved to create a show, no matter the occasion.

She padded around the room, her orange and black striped fur rippling in the overhead lights strung up at the top of the tent, revealing taut feline muscles that dared onlookers to come and try a swing at her. 

Merida found her eyes now hyper focused on the grunts in the back of the room with loaded weapons.

They weren't Killian's hired hands.

They belonged to Diego.

Her intimidating gaze met Diego's and she was plagued with a sense of unease as his face was much smoother than she had originally thought it would be. She hadn't a clue what she thought Diego would look like, but it surely wasn't the person that was standing before Killian's desk.

He was young looking, brown skinned with a closely cropped haircut. He had an array of tattoos present along his neckline that peeked out of the tight knit navy-blue shirt he wore. His upper arms were littered in an assortment of colored tattoos from skulls and crossbones to spanish symbols that went beyond her education level.

His left ear was pierced with a shiny cushion pin diamond that was no doubt wrought from Africa as a blood diamond.

He had a five 'clock shadow and a small slit in his right eyebrow, but other than that his skin and demeanor seemed very soft. She couldn't put her finger on why that bothered her, but his outer appearance didn't quite fit the wholesome aura he gave off.

She slunk around him quietly, her paws thundering against the ground inside the tent as she sniffed his black jeans. He kept his hands behind his back the entire time, standing very still as Merida took a few sniffs of his person. Killian gleamed with delight from his desk and his eyes caught sight of Diego's men stiffening slightly at the intimidating tiger that had now entered the room.

"I'd keep reeeeal still if I were you."

Killian's voice was a cackle as if he wanted Diego to make a wrong move so that he could watch Merida maul him to death. Killian's sick smile spread upon his ashen face creating a mixture of fear and madness. Diego never moved an inch, nor did his goons.

"Don't have to tell me twice, Killian. My grandpop had a lion for a pet until the wildlife brigade took him away." Diego responded coolly while staying still as Merida prowled over to his goons to check for anything that smelled out of place.

Her ears flattened slightly as the shorter of the two goons smelled of fear and tobacco.

"What happened?" Killian asked boredley while Merida worked the room with her highly efficient wire detecting feline nose.

"He ate a man that tried to hurt my grandpop." Diego smirked while Killian grinned in delight now that the story took a grisly turn.

Death and chaos always delighted Killian.

When she was done, she made her way to the front of the desk where Killian had already made his way around and was now leaning against the steel desk. He was drumming his fingertips upon the steel desk with an unsteady nervousness that she hadn't seen in a while. He was giddy and high off this deal with Diego.

His maddening grin only proved her theory.

Killian's right hand swung around quickly and landed upon the top of her head with a grace that shocked even her. Killian used his ice-cold hands to stroke her fur from the top of her her head to the nape of her neck. The dead cold feeling from his fingers made the strong muscles underneath her orange and black fur twitch, but it wasn't anything Killian would feel.

Only she could feel the way his touch made even her inner beast squirm.

He continued to pet her head like a lap cat and the room grew fairly tense as Diego eyed her for a moment with mild curiosity. His eyes locked back with Killian's and before he could say anything Killian beat him to the punch.

"You see this kitty, Diego? I want you to get a good look at her." His voice went from a sing song like tone to a threat as Diego looked at Merida's tiger form. His eyes bounced from her to Killian again and he nodded once, very curtly in understanding.

"If you try and screw me this tiger will be the last thing you see before she rips your head from your shoulders. Got it?"

Diego nodded, "Understood, boss."

The word boss made Killian snicker. Diego was stroking Killian's ego in all the right ways.

His ominous threat and clipped tone flipped on a dime as Killian ceased petting Merida. She relaxed and her muscles uncoiled from themselves. Her initial reaction was to clean her paw and start wiping her head and clean off the unease he left behind, but she fought that primal instinct as she sat upon her haunches and faced Diego with a cold dead stare of intimidation.

Echoes of the breaking down of equipment carried into the tent as the circus crew got the last bits ready and packed up. Her flickered to another sound for a moment, her ear twitching as her senses became hypersensitive to her surroundings.

For a split second, Diego's eyes cut to Merida as Killian twirled around and made his way back around to the other side of the steel desk. Her animal instincts saw a level of compassion in the hardened criminal's eyes that waivered in and out so quickly it made her second guess if she had seen it at all.

Why would an elusive criminal like Diego show a fragment of compassion or softening towards a mutant shapeshifter?

Her fur bristled slightly, but she stayed silent in her confusion and weariness. There was something in the air that mixed with the tense moment inside the tent. Her left ear flickered to the right again briefly as she willed her senses to listen intently to everything happening outside of the tent.

The two goons behind Diego were stark still, but the feline caught the bead of sweat that rolled down the shorter one's temple and to his cheek, finally dripping from his jawline and down to the floor. Her eyes narrowed at the scene, but she realized they were all wearing layers of clothing inside a musty and non-ventilated tent, so it was safe to assume everyone in the room was hot.

Not to mention the tension made everyone's body temperature escalate. Even her own. She relaxed again, but she found it odd that everything she was sensing and seeing tonight was having her on edge. Even more pressing was the fact that Merida stayed silent despite the nudge in the back of her brain that something about this entire ordeal was amiss.

And that familiar smell...

"I've heard much about the playground you got going on." Diego commented with respect in his dark coco colored eyes as Killian plopped down in a plush and over the top elaborate chair behind the steel desk. He propped his boots back up and folded his hands over his chest.

Killian smiled as Diego continued to stroke the Ringmaster's ego.

"You have?" Killian ebbed out with a raised brow as Diego nodded curtly with a smirk of his own upon his lips. He cocked his head to the side as he took a step forward, but this proved to be a mistake where Merida was concerned.

Her feline form stood up immediately, her right paw taking a powerful and threatening step forward in Diego's direction. He paused in his movements.

Killian merely smiled with anticipation at the scene that unfolded.

"Back down." Killian bit out to Merida after a moment, to which Merida returned to her seated position, but her gaping mouth hung open slightly so that Diego could witness the sparkling white teeth that graced her. She twitched her mouth and made a small grunt which signaled a small warning to Diego not to try anything funny.

The beast inside her was reacting on instinct. To attack Killian would attack the circus. To attack the circus would be attacking Ansem and Fran, who were innocent victims in the web of the circus act Killian put on for the public. It would also put her own livelihood at risk as well.

She was in a catch twenty-two when it came to protecting Killian in these back-alley deals, and though there were parts of her that knew it was wrong, she felt indebted to Killian in a sick and twisted way.

He was her meal ticket. Her only home. Without Killian, Merida had no idea where she would go or what would become of her. She had no money to her name. No home. No safe haven for a mutant beast such as herself.

Diego smirked at her before taking another couple steps towards the desk. His gait was arrogant, all-encompassing as if he knew he ruled the roost of his own dealings. He was a Kingpin in his own right. He was very much in charge and the way in which he walked proved that.

Even though he came seeking a deal with Killian, he still felt very much in charge of the situation. She wondered if Killian saw that, or he missed it behind that inflated ego of his manic mind.

"It takes a lot to get my interest, Killian."

Killian smirked, cocking his head to the side and removing his boots from the desk with a swiftness that made Merida's ear twitch in response to the sound. She stayed still as Killian leaned like a giddy child on his elbows upon the desk, stretching across to Diego with a knowing smirk.

Diego pressed on, "But you have definitely caught it."

"I think the two of us could do business together, like partners. Forgive me if I don't say friends, but I don't believe in friends. Only business partners." Diego flashed his teeth and she could see the silver-gleam of a filling in his mouth before her eyes returned to the two goons in the back who still hadn't moved an inch in their stance.

"Don't apologize, Diego. In our business we don't have friends. We have partners. And our army."

Killian snickered with an unhinged nerve to his tone as he continued, "However, I did a friend. Once." He stretched out did for a very long time. He then frowned as he thought about whomever this unknown person was.

Diego just stared at Killian before raising a curious brow, "What happened?"

"I killed him." Killian bust out in a guffaw like laugh, clutching his chest and stomach as the laugh riddled his entire being. He slapped his knee and when his face retuned to Diego he masked over from deadly fun to business.

Killian's eyes fell flat once again, and he narrowed his brows as business returned to the forefront of the Killian's mind.

Diego smirked at Killian's madness, nonplussed by the rate of change with his personality.

"You scratch my back and I scratch your back kinda' thing is what you're lookin' for?" Killian asked with a no-nonsense look to his deadly eyes. Diego merely nodded, returning the serious look to Killian despite the room growing much stuffier.

"No offense, Diego. But, I'm not the kind of guy that likes to have his back scratched by that of the male persuasion." Killian giggled, but continued, "However, I think we could both help each other in terms of business."

Killian reached his hand across the desk and offered his pale white hand over to Diego.

"Let's do business, Di-e-gooo." He cackled absurdly and Diego swiftly took his hand, shaking it in a firm grasp before releasing his hand and stuffing his hands in his black pants pockets with a gleam of success in his eyes.

"You passed the initial greeting. Typically, I either shake hands or I just shoot the prospective partner, but you got lucky Diego 'ole boy." Killian relaxed visibly, standing up now and walking around the desk to lean on it, staring down Diego with the eye of a man that just landed the best catch of the day.

Nothing Killian said was untrue. If Killian didn't do business with someone, he shot them dead. No hesitation. No blinking. He would take the gang banger out as quickly as one would swat a fly.

Alonzo would dispose of the body and the circus would travel on to another region. Merida herself had been the cause of a few deaths, her tiger's maw all bloodied as muscle and tissue dripped down with the droplets of blood. They weren't her most proud moments, but the beast was conditioned to protect Killian and she had reacted.

She had deaths on her hand. Red in her name. These were things Merida couldn't go back and change. These were times that Merida wondered if she maybe deserved to be where she was because of how dangerous she could be. Taking a life, no matter how much of a criminal they had been, was something that added to the hollowness of her still beating heart.

Part of her was relieved tonight that she wouldn't have to do such a thing. Diego was another big criminal, and she was sure his day of death of being brought to justice would come, but today wouldn't be that day. 

And Merida's paws would stay clean tonight.

Diego radiated a certain smell that twitched at her nose. It was relief and fear. Funny that a hardened criminal who supposedly was a legend in his own right would radiate something like relief and fear.

"I knew I would like you, Killian." Diego responded to Killian with a growing grin upon his face.

"Whatchya' need, Deee-a-go?" Killian loved dragging his name out and Merida had to fight the urge to growl at Killian's annoyance. 

"Heavy artillery," Diego paused for a dramatic effect as Killian smirked.

"What kind of heavy artillery?"

"The cop killing kind." Diego deadpanned with a severity that made Merida bristle with unease.

"Ohh naughty naughty." Killian crooned out as he mulled this over, using his right index finger to tap on his chiseled chin. In the light, Killian's face was ethereal and white, like an angel's, but the hardness to his eyes revealed the true nature to such an alabaster skin tone.

"When do you need the shipment?"

"At your soonest convenience, boss." Diego answered curtly.

Killian smirked and nodded his head towards the tent flap, "Come, let's blow this joint." A manic laugh followed as he waltzed out to the flap and held it open for Diego to walk though. His goons looked at him for a moment and Diego nodded his head as a command letting them know all was okay.

He walked out first, followed by his two men. Killian followed and didn't bother holding the flap open for her as she prowled out. The night air had shifted dramatically from the time she had entered the tent to now. It was a bit damper, cooler even, but the air smelled dramatically different. She raised her nose to the air silently, taking it in as Diego stood a few feet from Killian, his men to the right and left of him but a few feet away as well.

Merida stood some feet away from Killian and to the left. Her tail started to flicker with nervous anticipation. Killian took a step to Diego and held out his hand while speaking with a giddy manner, "I got what you need, Dee-a-gooo. Moving a shipment this quickly will come with a steep price, but I have the best artillery for your needs, and you won't be disappointed."

He even bowed a little for dramatics as Diego took a step forward to shake Killian's hand. The deal was finalized.

"I never mind paying for quality product. I'll make sure word gets back to the right people. You'll be sure to see an influx of business. All it takes is the right word of mouth, mine specifically." Diego flashed those pearly whites again to Killian.

It was in that moment that Merida smelled the scent coming from downwind. Unknown footsteps were carrying to her sensitive ears and she twitched them nervously. Her tail flickered back and forth as the footsteps were heavy, more than one, and the scents in the air started to blend together in rapid formation.

There were more people here than just Killian's hired men. There were people on the outskirts of the circus. She flared her nostrils as the pieces of what was happening started to come together. Her mind started to work in overtime as the smells and scents that accumulated in the air hit her, coupled with the footsteps and sounds she thought of one thing and one thing only in that fatal moment.

Ambush

They hadn't been there when Merida walked to the tent earlier. These were new scents, no, threatening scents.

Without hesitation she reacted in the only way she knew how; a tiger's roar that was so deafening and loud that everyone for a brief second paused in their movements.

Killian tensed so harshly she could see his shoulder muscles coil beneath his Ringermaster's suit.

Her teeth bared and her tail flickered with a threatening gait. Killian knew immediately what was happening and without hesitating he gripped Diego's hand that he had been shaking and yanked him close to his chest with surprising strength.

Diego didn't see the knife that Killian had brandished in his free hand that slid down from the underside of his coat sleeves. It slid down silently, and without giving time for Diego to react Killian had already plunged the knife into the abdomen of the criminal.

"Looks like we won't be scratching each other's backs after all." Killian whispered with a cackle. The next moments Merida would recall as pure chaos.

The twins had been lying in wait as they always did during a deal, and they revealed themselves by kicking down the side of a very tall wooden crate that they had been hiding inside of. The crate side fell to the ground, revealing a cloud of dust that lingered in the air. Their fingers were already pulling the trigger of their trained rifles upon the two men that had been behind Diego.

They fell to the ground soundlessly as a gaping wound in each one's forehead trickled out a small trail of blood.

Diego stumbled back, holding his abdomen and hellfire rained down upon the entire circus camp.

A silver cannister was tossed from the enemy six feet from her and Killian. He held Diego up to his person like a shield, locking eyes upon Merida as a harrowing look of anger morphed upon Killian's face. He was betrayed. The circus was under attack and his empire was on the edge of collapsing if they didn't get the hell out of there.

The last thing she remembered seeing was a flurry of bodies arriving from the north, looking like trained agents as their guns were held high and their dark uniforms blended with the cover of the night. However, a blue and white blur caught her attention, but she didn't get a chance to get a  good look at it because of what happened next.

"Get the others!" Killian shouted to her in an enraged snarl.

Not a moment after he snarled at her, the silver cannister, which Merida would later find out was a concussion grenade, exploded near them all. The flash from the concussion sent her world into a veil of blinding white light with ringing ears as the circus started to collapse around.

Author's Note:

Forgive me for leaving this on a cliffhanger but the next chapter will be just as long, if not longer, and I AM SO EXCITED TO WRITE IT!!

Action scenes are my favorite to write hehe ;)

I truly feel soo sorry for Merida being put into a position that she has had to kill people for that POS Killian in the past
x.x

Hopefully you all are enjoying the writing of Killian despite him being the big baddie.

I hate to love him and love to hate him.

Will Diego aka Agent Juarez die?
Will Merida escape?
Will Ansem and Fran be okay?

Will Merida FINALLY be rescued by Steve?!

We will find out in the next chapter!!!