Vicente was just having a bad day. First of all, he had not been contacted for any jobs lately so his days had gotten rather mundane with just constant training; secondly, it seemed as if the gods had closed their ears to his prayers because he was receiving no signs from any of them; and lastly, he was Falcone was trusting him less and less. Vicente didn’t like this; it seemed that no matter what he did, ever since he lost that Leon kid, the one who had the powers to make people young for 24 hours, he had been having a harder and harder time earning the trust of the mob boss.

All because of Megan’s damn involvement. He ought to have taken that loss out on her hide, but, for whatever reason, he had yet to do so. Maybe she was just proving to be that valuable, or maybe he just didn’t have the heart to end her life (considering everything she has gone through).

Grr, he didn’t like thinking of any of this.

He didn’t like to feel weak and whenever it came to Megan, he felt weak. By all rights she should have been dead by now, mainly for knowing as much as she did about his life already. But some guiding force stayed his hand whenever he thought about it. If it were the gods, then they sure has hell had a sick sense of humor.

Grumbling under his breath, Vicente de la Sangre, snarled as he stalked the streets of New York, hands stuffed into the large pockets of his trench coat, fingering the knives that he had hidden in his pockets. He was not on a mission today, he was simply going for a walk. It may have seemed like an odd thing for a 6’1, extremely muscular, assassin to do, but that indeed was what he was going. Long hair tied into a ponytail, mustache combed down, the gruff-looking, mountain of a man stepped with all the determination of a freight train. Nothing was going to get in his path while he was contemplating.

His thoughts still centered on the loss of that child from so many months back, the man growled to passerbys whom came too close to nudging into him. As they turned and spun around him, Vicente didn’t raise his eyes. Too many thoughts, too many people, and all he wanted was one quiet spot in order to get his head straight. He had just come from rectifying of wrongs that had been put against him.

Months ago, the Wayne mob family had kidnapped him and forced him to eat some pretty useless animal parts. Vicente would have been weak with what they gave him, but a change in his powers had augmented what he ate. Unfortunately, the limbs were still useless. That was why, since then, he had been trying to gain new shifts. Just a week he had gathered the last of his new shifts and felt truly dangerous again.

Left arm of an octopus tentacle…

Right forearm of a rare tiger…

And head of a grizzly bear…

They would do until he could get some truly dangerous shifts.

It was just as he rounded the corner of a small, sweet smelling bakery, did he pause. Before him, sneaking some sweet rolls that were on display, was the same goofy young kid with the thick glasses. His clothing looked even more worse for the wear than the last time he met him, showing to Vicente that the kid was still surviving outside of the mob’s influences, but just barely. Oh, if he could finally nab that Leon kid and drag him (kicking and screaming if he had to) directly to Falcone’s doorstep, then Vicente wouldn’t be on sinking ground with him.

It made sense. It would work, it had to work.

Unfortunately he spent just a tad second longer than he should have thinking about this plan. Just as he lifted his gaze back to the boy, he noticed that Leon had turned, a huge chunk of sweet bread in his mouth, and spotted Vicente. Instantly recognition flashed in both his and the boy’s face before he quickly turned and sped off in the opposite direction.

Vicente growled as he shoved a man out of his way and took off after the child that had started to round the corners of another building far off down the street.

“Oh no you don’t, not this time,” the man snarled to himself and began the chase.

Breakfast. The simple joys of life. Sveta was out and about, taking some time for not thinking about stuff. There was a lot of stuff not to think about.

She was still getting used to living in New York City. For many people around the world, this was the Dream. The center of the universe. For people who actually lived here, she realized, it was just like any other city: you love it, you hate it, you live from day to day. For someone like Sveta, who had seen the dark side so many times, it was a constant state of alertness. And, sometimes, excitement.

Today she was shopping, mostly, enjoying a walk on her own, smelling the sweet smells from a bakery...

There was the sound of running feet a few seconds before a small body slammed into her. Shopping bags dropped to the ground as she tried not to fall.

"Hey!..."

Leon was bolting for his life. He recognized the big, scary man so he knew that nothing good would come of it if he stuck around. No, instead he had to run and run as fast and hard as he could since he knew the man was no good. He was evil, he saw him before, months and months ago; he tried to kidnap him! Luckily he had managed to use his powers but he didn’t want to risk another run in. People were smart, even the big muscled, thug ones!

No. The safest bet was to run; to run with abandonment. To keep going and let nothing get in his wa—

SLAM!![/b]

“Oomph!!” he gasped as he hurdled against the figure he had just run into. Leon saw stars as he latched onto the person and accidentally began to bring them down to the ground.

>> "Hey!..."

Quickly he regained his head as he looked up…to see a very beautiful woman. Leon, even though he was young, was smitten by her. But he knew that he couldn’t waste time. Instead he quickly stood and grabbed to woman’s arm with his two hands.

“I-I’m sorry. I…I have to go; you have to go!” he pleaded as he tried to tug her arm to run in any direction. On top of that, he didn’t understand why but he felt like his teeth were going to chatter out of his skull. He did his best to pay no attention to it as he tried to get her to run. “Quick! He’s coming!”

****

Vicente snorted like a raging bull as he charged headlong, not looking or caring what was in his path. All he knew was that he needed to bring down this kid and he needed to do it now. Once already the kid had slipped through his fingers and he was not about to let his reputation be ruined again by this kid; he was an assassin, pure and simple. No one got away from him, no one.

He just barely rounded the corner when he spotted the kid pulling on some strangers arm. He barely gave her a passing glance as he growled at the kid.

“Get over here, kid,” he snarled. “I’m not chasing you through the entire city!”

>>“Quick! He’s coming!”

Svetlana barely regained her balance as the boy grabbed her arm and started dragging her down the street.

"Hey!" she pulled back, trying to get away from his touch before he turned out to be a mutant and blew up half the city.
Okay, so maybe it was too late for that.

Whoever scared the lights out of the kid, was catching up.

>>“Get over here, kid. I’m not chasing you through the entire city!”

The man was terrifying. Sveta didn't blame the kid for running away. He obviously did not have good intentions in his heart either.

"Run!" Sveta grabbed onto the kid's arm, and they ran. They turned corners and wevaed though crowds and bumped into people.

How do I always end up like this?...

>> ”Run!”

Vicente cursed under his breath as suddenly the blonde that he had even intention of ignoring, grabbed the boy and forced him to run along with her. Already the assassin was getting far more irritated with this day. This was quickly becoming a task that was proving to be far more bothersome than he would have liked. But, he knew that he couldn’t just let that boy go. He was far too valuable, not only to his boss, but to him in order to get his reputation back.

And, his motivation to grab him had nothing to do with being young again. Yes, the body was younger and far stronger, but at the same time, it made him weak. Vicente didn’t have room in his life for weakness.

This matter, was purely business. Well…mainly…

Leon and the blonde ran ahead and Vicente quickly followed up the chase. He kept them in his eyesight as he followed, growling the whole way since he didn’t like this turn of events. Now he would going to have to create an even bigger mess by slaughtering that young woman when he would have liked to have kept the body count low.

But, such was the problem with his line of work…

Knives bouncing in the sheaths against his waist, the assassin yelled after them.

“Goddamit! Get back here!” he snarled. He would hunt them to the ends of the earth if he had to.

***

Leon panicked as he heard the man behind him and glanced at the woman that was helping him. Could she save him? Could she make all of this go away? He doubted it. As a matter of fact, he was probably condemning her to die just by helping him run. Maybe if he could split down into one of the smaller alleys, she would keep running the other way? Surely the man wouldn’t keep chasing her if he went an opposite direction, right?

They started to approach another alley, to which point Leon pulled to a stop. The man’s thunderous footsteps echoed down behind him. He would be on them in seconds.

“Just run the other way!” Leon told her frantically. “He…he won’t keep chasing you. I-I can lose him in the alley! Please! He’s dangerous!” He said as he turned to bolt down the smaller alley, hoping this woman wouldn't die because of him…

>>“Just run the other way! He…he won’t keep chasing you. I-I can lose him in the alley! Please! He’s dangerous!”

The boy was seriously, honestly terrified of the man, and Sveta did not blame him. Whatever the reason the guy was chasing the boy, he had some serious intentions, judging from the fury in his voice and the way the bust through the crowd. It made Sveta's heart jump to her throat in fear.

She could not get involved in this. All she had to do was let the kid fend for himself and get lost in the alley. But would he make it on his own? The man did not look like he was going to give up the chase.

Effie would have left the boy in a blink. Sveta, however, spent the last crucial moments hesitating...

Vicente growled as he quickly began to close the gap between himself and the blonde and Leon. The massive man barreled forward with everything he had, wanting so much to just wring that little boy’s neck after all the trouble that he had caused him. But, he knew his value was far more than he expected. Vicente wouldn’t hurt him. Maybe break a leg or two to keep him from running again, but that would be the extent of it.

So, his target choosing to run down an alley, Vicente bolted after, but noticed that the blonde herself was not moving out of the way. While he didn’t like to cause a scene when he was working, he simply was in no mood to even pretend to be polite today.

A snarl on his lips, Vicente ran and shoved into the interfering woman as harshly and solidly as he could. He had no doubt that she would be floored (probably even luckier if he didn’t break her collar bone), but such was the risk when standing in the way of a locomotive.

“Out of the way!!” he growled at her as he did not pause a single step in the chase.

Turning the sharp corner, he dashed after the boy whom he could see rounding another corner in the alleys up ahead. Teeth bared, he continued on, jumping over fallen trashcans, ignoring puddles, and swiping away trash, clothing, or slime that dared to hang in his immediately vicinity. It was evident that he was not going to stop, not until he got what he was after.

He dashed around the same corner he saw Leon run through and paused for only a second; it was a maze. The alleys connected and ran off in a variety of directions that it seemed impossible to continue the hunt! But, as he took the first few steps, he saw a fleeting shadow the height of the boy. That would be his breadcrumbs.

And so the chase went on, moving between alleys, dashing into openings, and following any shadow or disturbances in the environment that the boy left behind. He was already getting tired, Vicente could hear it in his labored breathing, and see it in the staggering that his footsteps left behind. As a matter-of-fact...

He smirked as he sped through and opposing alley way…

****

Leon’s face was tear stained and his lung hurt to keep breathing. But he knew that he couldn’t stop. If he stopped, then the giant man would catch him! He couldn’t let that happen! He was no going to go back to those horrible gangsters that used him to keep their bosses young. The isolation, the loneliness, it was too much! The very thought alone just spurred him on keep going!

He turned another alley, skidded for a second and saw daylight. The crowd ahead was massive, thick, and just enough for Leon to get lost in. Like a lighthouse of hope, he ran after that break of daylight.

20 feet…

15 feet…

10 feet…

5 feet…

THUMP![/b]

He winced as he felt himself strike something hard and yet living. Dazed, he tried to move onto his feet and look up but all he saw was this mass of blackness as a man’s hand completely filled his vision and clamped over his eyes and nose. Leon flailed, struggling as he caught the scent of some alcohol(tequila) and cigar smoke wafting off the clothing. He knew instantly who this was and tried to struggle all the harder.

“No! NO!” he screamed, evening as he was lifted off the ground by his face.

“Shut up, kid,” Vicente snarled as he began to carry him back to the alley. “I’ve HAD[/b] it with you and all the bull that you have put me through! You’re going to Falcone! Now, take it easy or I will break your knees!”[/color]

Momentarily, Leon stopped fighting. Whimpering, sniffling, he ceased his struggles in hopes that the man would stop covering his eyes and leaving him in darkness. He hated the dark. Still breathing heavily, defiantly, he slowly ceased all movement and just shook while he remained in the man’s grasp.

Slowly, it seemed, that Vicente relinquished his grip on the boy, just so that he could shift his grip to his shirt. As he did so, Vicente slowly lowered him down, careful to keep the boy from spitting on him again by hold his own shirt up to his mouth. Speaking through the collar of his black shirt, he nodded back toward the alley.

“Move along. Now,” he said through the muffle of clothing.

Leon, quiet as ever, sniffled but nodded as he began to turn around. But, just before he was fully turned, he moved, fast, and suddenly clamped his mouth down onto Vicente’s wrist biting with all his strength.

“ARRRGH!!!” he shouted and gripped tighter to the boy’s shirt. Blood poured from the bite, but as he looked down at the wound he saw not only was it wet with blood…but saliva.

Eyes widened for a moment as he locked gazes with Leon. But, before he could say anything, an agonizing pain ripped throughout his entire body. Powered up saliva coursed throughout his system, seeping into every cell, into his skin, bone, muscles, blood, nerves, everything seemed caught on fire as Vicente reeled backward, screaming to the top of his lungs.

Leon, ripping his shirt to get away from the man’s grip, stepped back as he momentarily watched the transformation taking place. Age gave way to youth as, slowly, the man in front of him became a victim of time moving backwards. Turning his back, he ran off, turning into the alleys and hoping the blonde was okay. Maybe he would check on her, maybe not. For now, he needed to keep running and leave behind the sounds of popping bones, smoothing flesh, and the youthful boil of blood…