The Assassin's Apprentice

Prologue

Widowmaker is a master assassin, feared for her prodigious skills and lack of empathy for her targets. Recently she has been employed into training the newest generation of Talon assassins her fearsome skills. But one of her students is entirely different from the rest. Lena is bubbly, innocent, and completely in love with Widowmaker. Love just so happens to be a big no-no for assassins but Widowmaker finds herself unable to ignore Lena's magnetic charms. What will the future bring for these unlikely two?

Amelie LaCroix was easily Talon's most valuable asset.

And the most feared.

She didn't become the top assassin by pulling her punches, or shots more accurately. She did it by being ruthless, meticulous, and dedicated to the cause. And what cause was that? She couldn't really recall anymore, all the years of blood and bullets and splattered brains crowding her mind until she could no longer tell what had been her motivation for becoming an assassin. Maybe it had had to do with Talon's goal of worldwide cleansing, in wiping away the scum of earth and making the world a better place for the powerless? Or maybe it had something to do with her dead husband? And revenge for him...?

It was hard to tell what she longed to fight for when she did not feel anything anymore. She had locked her emotions away, had forced herself to become cold and calculating, so that she would not become distracted in her missions. So that she wouldn't fail. Even the success of the kill, of a job well done, did not bring her any joy. She had become so detached that often times she was likened as a robot by jealous colleagues as an insult. The insults of course did not bother her. Nothing did anymore.

Not even pain. She'd gotten shot before once or twice, and it wasn't until someone pointed out to her that she was bleeding that she looked down and noticed the bullet hole. Only then did it hurt, but only if she let it.

She almost regretted losing her emotions. Almost. For she knew she should feel regret over this, but she couldn't.

And it was this lack of emotion that made her widely feared, along with her skills. She did not hesitate to make a kill, did not let last minute human compassion get in her way. It hadn't been easy to cut off her emotions like that at first, but then it had become almost second nature, until it was her nature. With no human passions only logic to guide her, she was able to trap her enemies. To lay a web so tightly bound that anyone who strayed into it would be prey for her, whether they were the intended target or not.

And for even those who were her targets, they would never suspect her because she wove twisted and tangled webs that would draw the prey closer to her without them even knowing until she finally struck and they found themselves on the other end of her sniper rifle. It was this technique that earned her her assassin's name, Widowmaker.

That and the fact that she often left her target's spouses widows.

Enemies were scared of her, fearing the day they would fall under the widow's mark, and allies were worried to piss her off, concerned a similar fate awaited them. It was hard for her to end up working with anyone on missions, as they were simply too nervous around her, worried she would snap their neck if they messed up. They were all fools. She didn't care enough to bother snapping their necks. Unless it wasn't an order, she would never take anyone else's life.

Already she had lost track of how many people she had killed, the numbers and missions all turning into a blur. Not that she would really care to remember. One shouldn't remember such unpleasant things. So it was hard to tell which missions it was when Talon requested her to do something else.

"You're taking me off the missions?" Amelie had asked, staring blankly at her supervisor, a balding middle aged man who squirmed uncomfortably in his seat from across the desk. He knew Amelie presented no danger to him- she wouldn't kill without orders- but there was a dark energy around her, a sort of deathly calm that said she could just as easily kill a man as go out for brunch and still her tonal inflection and overall affect would be the same. It was hard to know what she felt, if she even felt anything, the rumors about her supposed emotional cut off not really rumors to him. Despite knowing she couldn't get angry, not really, he still feared upsetting her.

"Yes," he answered at last, willing himself to appear more in control. He was the man in charge here. He could order her to be killed and it would be done in a blink of an eye. She could also kill you in the blink of an eye, his subconscious reminded him, and he tried to avoid that train of thought.

"Am I lacking in any manner?" She asked curiously, her eyes never wavering off of him. He had to pull out a handkerchief to wipe his forehead.

"No, not because you are lacking." There was no way this woman was lacking, in either skills or looks. She had long supple limbs, sculpted to perfection by many hours of vigorous training. Her figure was like an hourglass, curves almost impossible to hide not that she tried to, instead wearing an insanely skin tight body suit with the front unzipped just a bit too much to be modest, revealing the start of a wonderful cleavage. Her face too was a work of art, full lips, high cheekbones, and gorgeously formed eyebrows set over mesmerizing eyes. Those orbs had the power to draw anyone in, they were like those you could just drown in. It was a shame they were cold, barring entry, scaring away people instead.

It was a real waste, because paired with her French accent and long purple black hair, she was the stuff of fantasizes. He could just imagine her showing up in a French maid outfit and...ehem, seemed like he was getting a bit distracted there. The man cleared his throat and continued speaking, Amelie having waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts. It seemed people had to do that a lot about her. She wondered if it had to do with her intimidating presence.

"Instead, it is because you are too valuable to us. You've become a number one target for over a dozen companies, keyed in as the crucial wheel that runs Talon's projects. Especially given the Florida fiasco." He opened up his drawer and slid some papers over to her. The assassin took them and read over the words printed there quickly. She did not like what she was reading one bit. It appeared that because of her successful take down of not one but three druglords in Florida, effectively ruining the drug trade there for decades to come, she had started a chain reaction that made several drug gangs connected to the bigger ones, actively seek for her. Somehow they connected the murders to her and there was no way she could transverse the underworld safely now.

But how had they known it was her? She was always so careful. Was she getting old? Losing touch? She had been in the game for ten years at this point, and most assassins reached their expiration date by year five, either due to their own carelessness or the company letting them go.

The man gave her some time to digest before he continued. "With that many targets on your back, on top of the other usual rewards for your head from other agencies, and the government, we figured it would be best if you were to do something else for a while. Take a step back from the shadows you thrive in and take on a different job, a different sort of persona."

"You are retiring me? Is it because of a sloppy little mistake? I admit I do not usually make mistakes, and that perhaps I am getting a bit too old-"

"Nonsense, my dear Amelie," the man rushed to get out. "Like I stated previously you are an invaluable asset to Talon and we have no reason to let you go. The only reason that the gangs found out it was you was because of an information leak that was not anywhere close to being your fault. While we don't know who it is, as they left no trace behind, we do know that we cannot continue letting them target you because of how important you are to us and have thus decided we need you off the field and somewhere safer. But do not worry. We have our best men working on finding this mysterious hacker so that you can continue this job."

Amelie nodded her head minutely. "So then what would you have me do?" It was a relief to hear she wasn't losing this job. It was all that she had come to know. It was her life now whether she liked it or not.

"The superiors decided we needed to invest in more assassin's if we are to ever truly get rid of all the evil in this world. Therefore they asked me to hand that torch down to you." The man smiled at her, hoping she would like the idea.

"You want me...to train youngsters in the way of killing?" It almost sounded like the assassin was amused. So maybe she did have some emotion when she was off the field.

"Yes. The pay would still be good, maybe not as good as hit missions, but you would be safer, hidden away in a specially designed facility to house the new assassin apprenticeship program. Plus, there's a flood of new perks that comes with the job offer. So, what do you say Amelie? Will you do it? Will you head the next generation of assassins to come?" The man could tell he was sweating again, but he didn't dare break eye contact with the female assassin, hoping she would take this offer. It was a great one. And if she didn't take it, there wasn't much alternative to give her, other than to send her on a paid vacation somewhere warm. Undoubtedly she would hate that option. The woman loved working.

Amelie placed the papers in her hand back down onto the table. Working as a teacher...for future assassins. That did not sound half as bad. It would be amusing to have a small army of underlings working for her. To shape them up to her image.

"I suppose I can take the offer," she said slowly, watching her supervisor's face break out into a smile.

"They couldn't ask for a better instructor than you."

A/N: Got a new series planned out. It was only a matter of time before I made one for this pair. Love their dynamic.

I could use some OC's for the next chapter however, so if anyone has some suggestions feel free to leave them.