IV. Frozen, not stirred

As a fan fiction writer, I am resurrected. Or something like that. It feels like I'm starting over so there might be a bit of relapse and lots of crappy moments. It'll pass… I hope. *0_o

Under normal circumstances, one would say that the dashing man with the red hair, crisp white shirt and tasteful dark jeans had been stood up by his date well after his fourth cocktail.

But Caine begged to differ. Alcohol took his time with his system and so he was confident that Kirihara Misaki would appear through the stained glass doors of the restaurant.

After all, she was the one who made the call. And that very well explained the two to three policemen dressed as civilians pretending to be customers. Caine even felt sorry for the blonde dude who was probably coerced into playing the role of the date. He looked like someone in drag, but as far as this city was concerned, anybody can take anybody on a date.

That was why he was so confident that she will come to him.

He scanned the card in front of him and ordered a Bloody Mary, vowing it would be his last. That was when she came in.

Caine knew from the start that Kirihara would not be like other girls he took out, not that there had been anyone serious after he had met her. However, there was something about this tsundere character that was both dangerous and alluring…

Easy, Caine. You're fishing for a lead, not fulfilling a job order for the syndicate.

He could not afford to kill Kirihara this early, by mistake, need or intention. Research and instinct were telling him so.

"Ms. Kirihara, glad you could make it," he said in impeccable English.

She looked taken aback and didn't even bother taking his proffered hand. "I'm sorry I'm late. Something…came up."

"Of course," Caine pulled out a chair for her, waited for the lady to sit down before signaling for a waiter. "Before anything else-"

"You look lovely tonight."

That made her blush, and an awkward one at that. Caine glared. He recognized that voice and it was the last person he wanted to see.

"I believe that as her date, that was supposed to be my line," Caine stood up. "You are as rude as ever," he faced the speaker and through gritted teeth, whispered, "November 11."

Without missing a beat, November 11 gave a small bow to Caine then Kirihara. "Then my apologies-"

"Seph, you know Mr. Simon?"

"We go way back, Misaki," November 11 replied, "although it has been years since I last saw him. Fancy meeting you here with a woman of such caliber." He motioned slightly to indicate that he knew about the gun holstered to Kirihara's leg under the flouncy dress she was wearing.

Caine shrugged, grinning. "Aren't I always? You know my type."

November 11 laughed. "Ah, best not to talk of past girlfriends or the like in front of your date. But perhaps that was why she left you…"

He had not finished his sentence when Caine planted a blow to his jaw. It wasn't enough to draw blood or bruise but it caught him off guard…as well as the attention of everyone in the restaurant.

Caine was too stunned to retort. He was a contractor; why would he get upset over something that had not happened in the first place? Upset? Was that how it was? It was only logical to stop the British buffoon from revealing his identity to a woman of the law and her "concealed" team.

Male pride stopped him from apologizing. It was enough to make anyone's blood boil, and in this case, November 11 seemed like a pretty good candidate.

"Stop," November 11 said, clutching at his chest and while beads of sweat started to roll down his temple. Caine suddenly clutched at his own chest as a familiar tingling and cold feeling swept inside of him.

Moments later, both of them were on their knees, gasping and trying very hard to use their contractor abilities for defense and offense.

"Are you alright?" Kirihara, phone in hand, looking very alarmed at the turn of events.

"Just an asthma attack…"

"Both of you? At the same time?" She asked, bewildered.

November 11 managed a grin. "That's how close we are, right, Seph?" Patting the other's back weakly.

Caine fought the urge to go all out and kill him on the spot. The best he could do was grab at the other's purple tie. "So…damn…close."

"Let me call an ambulance." But as soon as Kirihara had stood up, the man from the other table whom Caine had identified to be Saito Yusuke, tackled her down as the stained glass door and windows shattered to reveal a huge pimped-up Land Rover.

People screamed. There were warning shots from an armalite held by a masked man. Some goon probably thought it was a high profile assault and hefted a grenade launcher.

"Nobody move! Hand over Bakuto's wife and no one gets hurt!"

A woman seated at the far end of the restaurant gave a little screech and was immediately surrounded by her four body guards. Kirihara also stood up and pointed her hand gun at the lead. "You're under arrest for attempted kidnapping of high profile personnel. Lower your weapons and surrender; you've nowhere to run, enforcements will have you surrounded in a matter of seconds."

The men laughed. The lead shot at someone's leg randomly. Misaki's face tensed.

"Attempted? Seconds? You under estimate me," The lead began, and the next moment he had her hands pinned to her back and her hand gun in his hand. He pointed it at her temple. "Is this the best the law has to offer?"

Tug. Tug. Tug.

"Eh?"

Two grown men were tugging at the cuffs of the kidnapper's pants.

"Would you mind taking everyone out? We asthmatics need a bit of air."

Both men stood up, the red-haired guy more shakily than the blonde, but he managed to tackle the kidnapper by the waist when he feigned for support. Taking advantage of the confusion, the blonde whisked Kirihara away and flung her the retrieved hand gun.

The two men then made a run for it in different directions, grabbing and flinging pitchers, goblets and even wine bottles as they went. With the unexpected moves by these two gentlemen, no one couldn't quite figure out why they were suddenly pierced by icicles or scalded by boiling liquids.

The lead was wiser and grabbed the grenade launcher in a fluid motion despite the fact that a moment ago he was at the opposite side of the room.

Click. Boom!

Bodies were flung and ears were deafened. Sirens and warning calls blasted from all sides, not to mention the dust and rubble that now almost covered everything. Some shadows at the back were hurrying someone out only to be stopped by other shadows only to be stopped by the police who had finally arrived.

The Land Rover roared to life. The rest who evaded the cops jumped in and barely hanging on to evade capture. The icing on top of tonight's cake was the slow pitter patter of impending rain.

"Misaki-"

Kirihara looked at the person who suddenly held her hand as she passed by, checking for clues and casualties. Guilt washed over her and it was evident in her face.

"Don't think that every time we meet it has to be like this," Caine said from the floor. He looked very harried and he was beginning to pale too.

"It's," Kirihara began, "it's my fault. Why I was late, this attack, everything. I chose this place because it was the same as my mission: protect the shipping magnate's wife while she did a business deal. We expected something, but not as big as this." She bowed. "I am very sorry."

Caine couldn't help but laugh. "Then why push through with the date when you knew you were going to be working?"

Kirihara reddened but before she had a chance to answer, her partners called her attention. When she turned back to Caine, he was gone.

"The guy who gets the most dates can forego the Gapo mission. Best offer, what do you say?"

A version of Caine, five or so years younger, looked up languidly from the armchair where he was draped over while reading a book. "Eh?"

His companion plucked the book right out of his hands and perched himself on the armchair. "There aren't any pictures," the dashing blonde said, turning it this way and that, flipping the pages and causing a bookmark to fall out. "Oops."

Caine snatched the book back and straightened out his suit. "I know it's damned hot out in the tropics but it wouldn't be that bad. We've seen worse," Caine remarked.

The blonde shrugged. "I'm just saying that the most charming man will get a break."

Caine glared daggers at him through the red hair that had fallen into his eyes. For a contractor, this guy was definitely weird…and annoying. It had been his first impression when he got into M-16.

"What are you reading anyway?"

"Shakespeare," he replied, tucking the book under his arm and haphazardly waving goodbye to end the discussion. "The Two Gentlemen of Verona."

There was a laugh that really wasn't a laugh. "Oh, what's it about?"

Caine spared the guy a glance. "It's about two idiots, some women and something called love."

"Can you really make it home in your condition?" November 11 said, sitting next to Caine in a shadowed alley as the drizzle fell steadily. He threw back his head, exhaled a big puff of smoke and hacked like he wanted to spit out his guts.

Caine closed his eyes. "Isn't April looking for you? This rain…ugh."

"You remember Gapo, don't you?" November 11 said, finishing his cigarette and tossing the butt out onto the street.

"How can I forget? That's where I found Yoni…and where your bet backfired," Caine replied. "Never could understand why I got stuck with you there, though, not after you practically charmed every woman in the building who didn't know you were a contractor. Unless you got stood up each and every time."

November 11 shrugged. "What stuck to me was what you said before pushing me off the plane. You said something like not wanting to waste your time chasing after many when you've already found someone you want to protect and follow to the ends of the earth." He looked right into Caine's green eyes. "I thought that was the stupidest thing I have ever heard from a contractor."

November 11 held out his arm, the sleeve rolled back. "Come on, you know you need it."

Caine stared back with disgust. "What the hell…"

The blonde was adamant. "How much do you need anyway? It doesn't look like you don't have any on you or else I wouldn't be doing this."

"I will die first," Caine growled, "before I drink your blood, November 11."

Twenty-seven missions together and he still hadn't changed.

"I don't know if I taste that bad but I probably shouldn't be around when you take matters into your own hands, huh?"

Caine gave a lopsided grin and stood up. "My regards to April and a finger to Decade when you see him."

"Sure thing," November 11 started walking away, "September."