Path of the Hunters - NSFW

The dog's eyes rolled. "Being a Laroche isn't cause for dramatics," she grumbled.

Amile shook her head weakly. "...Non...I don't believe you... I can't..." Her tone was far from convincing, even to herself.

"You want more proof? I got the kill orders, signed by both elders; the recipt from the hotel Emile and Collete went to; you name it."

Amile stayed silent for a moment, absolutely dumbfounded. She then looked up into her cousin's face. "If what you say is true... where do I go from 'here?..."

"'Ow about six feet under?"

Everyone looked toward the red fox, who now had a gun in his hand, pointed at the wolf girl's head. "It was a nice story, I'll give you that. Even better when I relay it to Elder Jean-Claude. Of course, I will do some... editing."

Amile just looked up at him, tears of terror in her eyes. "...Why?"

"Let us face facts, you 'had a nice run. Just think of the fame I will gain as the man who killed Emile the rebel, Aurélie the Laroche deserter, and as an added bonus, Amile, a Laroche in disguise."

"No..."

"Au revior."

Before he could pull the trigger, a shot pierced his skull, right between the eyes, and the fox fell backward, dead. With a flourish, Cross stowed away his still-smoking blaster.

"Take your damn time, why don't ya?" Nova mused.

Aurélie lifted a brow. "It is almost amusing... 'E though 'e would 'ave been able to take me on..." Then she turned to Nova, her smirk back in place. "And now that that is over, there is some business I would like to take care of."

For the first time since in the entire ordeal, Nova turned to face the dog, a smirk on his own features. "And what would that be, Madmoiselle?"

"Two things. Finish off a bottle of Chardonnay and get a bit of work done." She was twirling the blade between her fingers again. She'd done quite a bit of hunting without any of the pay.

"I heard that. It's about time we got paid for our sweat."

"You mean our sweat," Cross interjected. "We've been the ones taking out hordes of agents, while you slept like a baby!"

"Excuse me, Cross, but in case you missed it, I cleaned up the mess you all left behind, and I'm gonna be doin' more cleanin' later! Do you have any idea how exhaustin' it is, focusin' on buryin' hundreds of dead bodies in a five-mile raduis!? Even with Sunny's help, I was completely wiped out from it! To top it all off, I had to rush here to the airport, and beat you here before you did anything incredibly stupid!" Nova took a deep breath, recomposing himself from his tyraid. "Anything else you wanna bitch about?" he said cooly.

Cross blinked, thrown off guard. "Uh... Nope. I'm done."

Aurélie laughed. "Well, thank you for that much. They all would 'ave been very difficult to explain."

"No problem," Nova said, smiling at the dog. "I had no intention of just talking the whole day, anyway."

Then, they heard a whistle, and three familiar faces came walking into the area. Sol, Mani, and Elesis stopped in front of Cross, all with satisfied grins on their faces.

"Commander Cross," Sol spoke up. "Our report: we have successfully neutralized all enemy units, and all signs of conflict have been safely and discreetly disposed of. Awaiting your next command, sir!"

She lifted a brow. "As I said before, Cross, they are very efficient."

"Lots of experience," Cross said, then turned to Amile, who was still in shock over the whole ordeal. "Did you hear that, Amile? Your army is gone. There's nobody to boss around, or to turn you in. What do you wanna do?"

Amile looked up at them, and let the words sink in. She truly was defeated. There was no way she could return as a Baudoin, now.

"...I fold."

Cross smiled, and turned back to his team. "Primary target has been neutralized. Mission accomplished. Stand by for debreifing."

Aurélie started to walk off, blade still spinning. "Now that this is over... Au revoir."

Amile looked toward the dog, getting to her feet. "Attendez. Don't you want to be paid for your work?"

She looked back. "Pardon?"

She pulled a slip of paper from her vest pocket. "This check is payment for bringing Emile Baudoin to me: seventy-two million American dollars."

Elesis whistled. "That's alot of money."

"I'll say," Sol agreed, a grin on his face. "A cool twelve million for each of us."

Twenty-four million in two days? Aurélie was beginning to like this city. "Très bien."

Nova smirked at Aurélie. "You're makin' out like a bandit, huh?"

"I'll take care of that," Cross said, walking up to Amile. "Write it out to Orion Military Contracts, Inc. I'll deposit it at the credit union, and wire Aurélie's share to her."

Amile had already finished writing out the check. "Done. Enjoy."

Cross was ready to take it, when Nova snatched it away from him. "Not so fast! You're not losing this check the way you lost the last one. I'll take care of it."

Cross sighed. "You're not gonna let me live that down, are you?"

"Not for a while, no."

"...Fine." The echidna turned back to the team. "You all did a great job today. No different than any other day. This debreifing is concluded. You're all free to go about your business. Dismissed."

Elesis sighed and stretched. "Finally! Now I can get some quality sack time."

"In a few ways, oui." Aurélie smiled wickedly at Nova, and continued walking towards the exit.

Nova smirked at the dog, then turned to Amile. "Sorry, cuz, but I'm a bit busy today. Look, get a hotel room, take some time to get your head on straight, and I'll come see you later, okay?"

Amile looked into his eyes, smiled. Looking in the mirror wasn't so bad, anymore. "Bonne."

With a nod, he turned to leave as well, but stopped again. "Oh, and uh, about the fox..."

"Don't worry," Elesis said, moving over to the dead fox, and throwing his corpse over her shoulder. "We got this covered."

"Thanks. See ya guys around." With one last wave, he walked off toward the exit, following the dog.

Aurélie paused, letting him catch up. "You surprise me."

"How's that?" he asked when he caught up.

"You knew she was part-Laroche. And you knew Cross and I were there. You 'ad timing and... flair. You surprised Cross as well, I think."

"I did say she was like a sister to me. I did a lot of research on her, and the Baudoin family's dark secrets.

"I know the way Cross thinks, thanks to years of working together. I knew he'd bring you to intercept her here, and he isn't as covert as he thinks he is.

"And I just went out there, and did me, no different than out in the field... except for talkin' my way out of it. That was extra."

She kissed his cheek. "La."

He smiled. "So, how do you wanna do this? Cash in first?"

She smiled. "Of course."