Absolutely unacceptable.

Dolled up from head to toe in her silver agent suit with bright pink hair in the usual exotic spirals, Echinda made it a point have her attire impeccable while on assignment.. even if the conditions were not what was to be expected. If Kou kept dispatching her on these security jobs that had little to no real action, Echidna would have to give him a little taste of her wrath once again. Her associates from Fate had been rather generous to her over the past year, despite the trouble she posed for them when she worked with Mikado. They had given her a chance at redemption and it was something she didn't want to squander even if they were imbeciles.

'Your mind's wandering, focus on the task.' Coming back to reality, her phone let off a pattern of vibrations to which she quickly answered.

"Yes, he's right here.. He's not leaving my sight. Just make sure you're paying attention over on your end," Echidna stated quite sternly. In no way was she in charge but it never stopped from taking the role. Things always ran more smoothly with her professional input, at least from her point of view. From where she was positioned on stage inside the atrium, a conference had been set up for yet another well-off older man. Kou tended to ramble in his briefings and in-turn, Echidna tended to doze so his name failed her. Being a workaholic, she couldn't quite help catching a power nap when possible and just listened up for key terms like salary or payrate. Tucking her phone back inbetween the cleavage she flaunted, she walked over to her boss for the day as he was going through notes on his touchscreen.

"Excuse me, sir? Nothing out of the ordinary in the immediate area and you have exactly 7 minutes until the doors open."

The wrinkled man nodded, looking up from the podium as he finally had his speech together and situated. "Ahh, alright.. Thank you again for coming on such short notice, I've heard you're the best so I'm relieved you could be here," he replied with a smile, pushing his glasses up abit.

A sly grin washed over the pink-haired woman's face, bowing her head slightly at the compliment. "Oh, quite the charmer. I just get the job done, by any means." Nodding her head, she made her way back to her post but not before turning back to him with a questioning stare.

"If this isn't overstepping my boundaries, who have you pissed off that you need this much protection from?" Taking note at the number of other guards when she had arrived earlier had piqued her interest quite a bit. She watched the man chuckle lightly, fixing his glasses once again before speaking.

"Just a precaution, my dear. I'm having a lot of investors come here and you can never be too careful." His reasoning seemed authentic enough. If he was as loaded as Kou promised, Echidna could understand the paranoia with having so many people on the job. As long as it didn't interfere with her pay, she could honestly care less.

"I'll let you get back to it then. Good luck," Offering a small smile and flipping a lock of stray hair from her shoulder, she retreated back to position.

"You too, my dear.." His tone being was a little less warming than when their conversation had started and it was as if something eerie lingered in his words. It would be something that, usually, Echidna would catch on to immediately but her mind was elsewhere at the present time. As she ran through her schedule while playing the waiting game before the conference began, nothing about this one job had her senses on alert. After a few hundred monotonous security details, the body tends to fall into a habit.

'I should check in after this.. I can't leave those idiots to themselves for too long. Poor Dom,' she thought to herself. A yawn made its way from her
mouth which she dismissed quickly. 'Capoeira class after this and then I can rest. Hopefully this won't drag.' As time passed and the doors opened, an accumulation of people filed in and filled the seats of the bulky atrium. Her eyes scanned the crowd instinctively, looking for anything or anybody that could be deemed dangerous. Once the last few people settled in their seats, Echidna's brow furrowed at something she only had a quick glance at then seemingly melded into the mass.

'Was that a damn cactu-' She winced as the senior citizen began his speech, the audio bouncing throughout the hall.

"Welcome and thank you for taking time out of your day to hear the ramblings of this aging man." A few laughs were heard as Echidna proceeded with a mental eyeroll before disconnecting entirely. There was still her class she needed to worry about, what she was going to end up hastily throwing together for dinner, that nail appointment which musn't be missed again for any reason..

The conference began and ended without much of a hitch. With her full attention on the attendees, there wasn't much of a thought to the nonsense the old man was going on about. It hadn't been what Echidna was here for and listening to tiresome speeches wasn't on her subconscious list of priorties. The man was charming for what it was, having his audience enamored with every word and his suit showed that he some semblance of class or atleast a stylist who was good at their job. Reconstruction or rebirth as he liked to label it was the main pitch and people were eating it up like crows on a dead carcass.

About halfway through the presentation, the lights were dimmed so the man could continue with a technology demonstration. Staying on guard, Echidna cut her attention on the light show to a minimum regardless of how interesting it may have been. Machinations of any sort were never a hobby of hers anyway which in turn made this job and staying attentive a lot easier. Echidna's light blue eyes soon honed in on a guard that appeared to be investigating someone or something in an adjacent hall and withdrew completely as the speech went on. When the lights returned, she noticed that the old man had seemingly finished with his notes and continued on.

"This would never be possible without all of your support. To know that there are people that share my vision even after a few choice incidents is amazing. On behalf of myself and all of the Mikado Corporation, I thank you. Have an amazing night and please get home safe."

One shot. It would end this madness before it even began and she could disperse before anyone even realized what had transpired. It was all very simple. This was her fault, leaving Kou to run analysis on clients was idiotic at the least. 'Just the warm-up I needed.' Any fatigued feelings she had earlier in the evening were shut out when Echidna realized just what kind of night this was going to end up being. A devilish grin stayed plastered on her lips, keeping wary of her fellow escort associates as they led the upscale mob out of the building and out of future harm's way.

Mikado Senior, she assumed, adjusted his tie and let out a small groan when he raised his head from its slightly awkward position to the side. "This can surely be worked out some other way, don't you think my dear?" Turning to face his former employee, he was met by the barrel of a full auto Jackal pistol with the safety clearly off. His smirk was nothing but sinister, fixing his frames before lifting his hands in submission. "Not one for manners I see," he said simply.

"It was never in my repertoire, no. It's cute that you honestly thought walking out of here unscathed was in your future plans." Echidna kept her finger trained on the trigger but she wanted to get him talking. Why bring Mikado back now of all times? What was the end game? They had something big cooking so the more information she wrestled out of him now, the better. Her peripheral vision never failing, a small gleam from the far side of the atrium made itself known, then dissipated with one of the guards in tow without a sound.

"My dear dear Echidna.. Here I was fully prepared to reinstate your position at Mikado as well as supply you with the information that you've sought after for how many years now? Alas, it looks like someone needs a little vacation time. Boys.."

An abrupt whistle pierced the air and no sooner were they surrounded by Mikado Special Force lackeys somersaulting in from the rafters. That split second was all Mikado needed to knock the gun from Echidna's grip, a sentiment met by a swift kick to the old man's precious bits. A pained yelp was all that he could muster as he fell to his knees, his body making nice with the hard floor. Meekly satisfied, Echidna pivoted towards the group of leather bound circus rejects. She flipped her pink locks and cut eyes at the group inching their way to her.

"Ch! You idiots want me?" Her hips began to rock back and forth before the woman's figure as a whole got lower to the ground. The ginga is second nature for Echidna, letting her go into an almost trance-like state. Methodically moving from left to right with a simple click, click, click emanating from the designer stilettoes, her smile reached from ear to ear.

"A small taste should suffice," in a whisper only she could hear. The first victim foolishly sprung forward with inhuman speed just as the woman leapt into a handstand, whirling her legs around and using the current attacker's momentum against him, sending his body flying while his face becoming permanently embedded in a support beam off the side of the stage.

The quick disposal of their comrade shook the MSF's conviction towards the ensuing fight but failure of the mission meant a lot worse if and when they returned to headquarters. Realizing that it may be beneficial to work in tandem, the group darted at Echidna just as she was getting back into her original stance. 'Lambs to the slaughter.' A hard elbow hit to the sternum of the first one, a roundhouse sending the second flying while she flipped back a few paces to avoid the other two's blows. They were practically falling over each other and were each rewarded a heel on the back of their skulls, cracking a few teeth when the hard material of the stage floor met them.

Muffled groans were soundly ignored by Echidna as she stepped down the length of MSF bodies under her feet, pulling a small pink compact mirror out of the crevice in her chest. The altercation was less enjoyable then she had originally planned but it beat the tiresome sham of a conference from earlier. Beginning to powder her nose, the screaming body of a MSF flew past her and crashed into the pitiful pile of S&M lackeys at her feet. She blew a kiss before shutting her portable mirror and returning it back into its place under her breast. "We're not splitting the profit, by the way," she declared, flicking her hair out of the way before crossing her arms.

"Not what I'm here for," Volt bit back with a pointed tone. Leaning on a pillar beside a MSF conveniently taking a pain induced nap, he sent a glare across the stage. His apparel never strayed from the usual; distressed jeans, leather gloves, steel-toed boots and of course that cactuar jacket with nothing underneath. Clicking a few of his lip rings with his tongue out of habit, he approached Echidna with a dry look.

"Sorry I wasn't your typical damsel, you know better than that." Her focus was entirely on the musclebound man now, silently questioning why he had made an appearence when he was all too familiar with how she has handled herself in worse situations than this.

"Kou got tipped off that this was Mikado. Dumbass should've known before he sent you out." Volt's commanding red eyes traveled over the area then made their way back to the less than happy woman infront of him.

"No matter, these subordinates were just moving punching bags. Not even worth the trip, big guy." She poked Volt's lean chestand let a half smile grace her glossed lips, her eyes fixed on his own.

"Good to know," he put simply. "Loyalties were brought up so I decided to make the trip myself." Without missing a beat.

".. ch!" she muttered, turning her head to hide any sign of resentment. Her surprise was shattered with logical thinking. If the situation had been flipped, the only solution would've been to send a tail. It didn't make it sting any less. "Allying myself with these fools again? Unlikely."

"Never doubted it," he backpedaled a bit, noticing the hint of strain in her voice. Echidna would go to her grave with denial but Volt knew her better than anyone, a fact that would haunt her until the end. His expression softened, if at all possible, which served tp wrench her gut a little more.

"Whatever, I'll meet yo-"

The shot rang out faster then she could react. Blood. The red substance splattered on her crisp, silver suit and her eyes widened at the sight infront of her. Volt always had a high threshold for pain but bullets had an extra special way of pissing him off. When he turned to lock eyes with the shooter, two more bullet wounds riddled his torso which only served to anger him further but nevertheless made him wince. A handgun thought to be forgotten and now held by Mikado Sr. began to shake following his entire body as the bleach-haired, increasingly menacing man made his way towards him.

"Idiot!" Echidna shifted all of her body weight into a last-ditch push against Volt, another bullet whizzing past before he hit the ground. She kicked the gun from the old man's grip and pressed a jagged heel through his wrist, pinning it to the floor. He let out a pained grunt but it fell on deaf ears. It was typical to fear the tower of a man named Volt but to disregard a woman's wrath was a grave mistake and never made twice.

"And I repeat.. Did you really think walking out of here unscathed was in your future plans?" Her stone gaze was met with an unexpected chuckle. His fear seemed to subside, either knowing of the fate that followed or delirious from his ensuing blood loss.

"We're just getting started, my de-" A hard right jab and the villain was silenced for good, a loud crack resounding throughout the atrium.

"I was on my way to do that, you know." Volt's voice was strained, coughing up spots of blood into his glove. He was sitting in a tiny pool of his own blood as Echidna cast a bitter gaze down at him.

"You don't have to be the tough guy every damn time." Echidna began removing the jacket of her suit and began ripping fabrics for make-shift bandages. "Take that horrid jacket off," she muttered.

Volt did as she said and sat in silent compliance as his current caretaker wrapped each wound gingerly so to stop the bleeding. Echidna draped his jacket over her shoulders then maneuvered herself under his arm and slowly helped him up to his feet while hiding concerned eyes. They inched towards the entrance without saying much else to each other before a small groan from Volt broke the thick silence.

"Are you alright?" Echidna asked.

"I'm fine. Still pissed." It was a lie, of course. In the same vein of Volt knowing Echidna, Echidna could read him like a book without a second thought. She had stopped for a second to let him get his bearings and then proceeded once again on the seemingly endless journey outside.

Relief washed over the bleach blond as he finally found the least painful position inside of the vehicle while Echidna quickly started it up. Her eyes darted over at him every few minutes on the way to the hospital, checking on his stability. Volt remained relatively still but turned his head toward her and cracked a smile after catching one of the worried inspections.

"It looks good on you," he murmured. The cactuar jacket that enveloped her body would never be a piece of clothing she would choose to wear but Echidna figured it'd be easier to keep track of with it on while she walked him out. A smirk crept through her lips before she looked back at him.

"You still owe me a new suit, Dolt.. and don't bleed on my seats."

"Yeah, yeah." Volt sighed as he closed his eyes for the remainder of the ride, not even replying, for once, to her 'pet' name for him. Coming to the conclusion that he was going to be fine, Echidna's attention went primarily back to making it to the hospital in one piece while ignoring speed limits and lights. The nagging uncertainty of what was going to happen next weighed on her but Volt was ok. That's all that mattered to her right now, even if he irritated her to no end.

Kou would later receive an update on the situation eclipsed by a curse ridden call from an unsettled, pink-haired madwoman.

This could serve as a one-shot or more if I ever get an idea where to go with it. It's been sitting here for awhile and I felt the need to rewrite it so my eyes could stop bleeding from the mess that I threw together before. Hopefully someone will enjoy~ xoxo.