The Badass Tango.

All Britt could think about was how she could really go for a cigarette right about now. Bored, she flipped the small tablet on and scanned through the werewolf's file again. "Svetlana Kozlovski, What mouth full." She said, grinning to herself. However, as her fingers slid against the thermotouch screen and turned the page, the smile faded. "Chernobyl. Dear God…" She read on. Same words she'd read over and over for the passed few nights, and they always managed to stun her.

"Well, Miss Kozlovski, your troubles will soon be over." It was about then that she thought it was time to check her scope. Looking throughout the thermoscope, she could only see in shades of green, blue, and red, but it was enough to confirm her target was still there. Tonight was the night she'd put a bullet through the werwolf and bag and tag her for pay. It would be bittersweet to see her go. Britt found her rather interesting and, not to mention, gorgeous, but a beast was a beast no matter what form it took.

Eyes back to her screen, she studied the still shot of the Russian beauty. Red headed, green eyes, good figure. Her finger tips bushed over the smooth screen to turn the page and there was the beast. Dark, big, hairy, and full of teeth. Britt shook her head. " Monster." she growled. From what she'd gathered on the Russian… this was no shot in the dark. It would come as no surprise to the werewolf that someone was watching her. No. Britt wasn't so neive to think she was a ghost in the dark out here. Werewolves were tricky. She'd learned to hunt them. The trick was not to care if they knew you were there. This, however, was only her second assassin wolf to hunt.

She had everything laid out in her small 'encampment' to take down the animal. Knives, bullets, even a club to smack it with if things got desperate, however, most of Britt's kills were from distance, at least when dealing with wolves. They were damn dangerous and not something to be taken lightly. Britt hated them with a passion but respected them enough to keep a distance. Leaning back over, she checked her scope again. " Oh, Fuck… " she growled, not seeing a heat trace in sight. Carefully, she reached for the pistol that was strapped to her thigh. Never too careful.

Loosing a target was a terrible thing. However, finding a way to disappear from someone of GHOST was something to be commended on. Later…

She sat in complete darkness with her legs stretched out and her hands pillowed beneath her head. The only light came from the waning crescent moon above since she didn’t need artificial or nature-made form of light to help her see. Being a werewolf did have its perks; such as night vision. It was almost like being out in the daytime only dimmer and with less activity to surveillance. There was the occasional nocturnal animal that would scurry somewhere near her, but Lana knew what it was before coming within reach of her.

There was one scent however that had yet to come any closer to her. The same scent that had been following her around for weeks without approaching her and upon the third day of being subjected to the human aroma, Lana had gotten curious enough to really search out its owner. The little human was almost as good as Lana was at keeping herself well concealed. Except the werewolf had the advantage of being faster and better able to blend with her surroundings.

Flynn had even been kind enough to supply her with a dossier on the woman after Lana had managed to obtain a few general basics. A quick snapshot of the human’s profile supplied her with a name to begin with and from their an information tech at Umbra had searched for a total of 80 hours until he had given her a complete work of the woman’s entire history. A personal vendetta against werewolves; grew up in the southern states of the former USofA; easy on the eyes, if her profile picture was anything to go by.

Taking her cue from the shift of movement from above her, Lana took a chance and quickly darted from her resting place. She made a wide, half-circle arc around the area until she was coming down on her stalker from an angle. Not directly behind her but from the side; her footsteps light against the ground so she may remain silent. Creeping ever forward toward the woman’s camp with the darkness of night as her cloak of invisibility and the glowing amber eyes of her inner animal as her guide through such darkness.

Moving forward, through her concealment and into her stalker’s personal space, Lana reached one hand around and cupped it over the woman’s mouth while at the same time bringing her backwards so she was trapped against Lana’s own body. “Surprise.” The word a soft whisper against the human’s ear; with an evident smile heard in the tone of her voice.

“You’ve been following me for a while now,” her Russian accented voice cooed softly against the shell of the human female’s ear. Lana was holding her in such a way that most would deem the embrace to be intimate; one arm curled firmly around Amee’s midsection as a hand cupped over her mouth to prevent any noise from escaping. “By now, any other werewolf would have killed you.” In her words rang a truth that the human seemed to comprehend on her own as she didn’t struggle any against the hold that Lana had on her. Of course there was the tension of muscles present yet she remained as still as stone.

As she began to drag the woman backwards, Lana felt the press of a gun against her abdomen. “You think those measly little bullets would stop me from snapping you like a twig?” Her voice changed, going an octave deeper as she posed the question. The werewolf could rip Amee apart before the second bullet even left her weapon. Lana was pretty sure she knew that too. “You’re a brave little thing, I’ll give you credit for that,” she was chuckling now as she removed her hand from Amee’s mouth.

Reaching down Lana plucked the firearm from the human’s possession and tossed it into the darkness. Somewhere within the gloom they both could hear it land, but with Amee’s miniscule human vision she wouldn’t be able to locate it on her own. “So let’s cut the bull and get down to business. Who sent you?” As the question was posed, Lana took possession of Amee's right wrist and spun the woman around so they were face to face now.

Most people would kill to be in the position Amee found herself. Hugged up tight against a gorgeous Russian, who wouldn't love it? Amee was less thrilled. Her mind was far from intimacy as they held one another in the darkness. Lana spoke truth into her ear. Then again, by now, Amee might of already killed her target. It didn't matter, this was a fail. There was no way she'd get another shot at killing her… and Lana had broken her silent contract. Never exchange words with a target. That's when they became real people. That's when it became murder.

Threats were something Amee usually rolled her eyes at. Threats from a werewolf generally irritated her, and this was no different. Then again, there was a different air about her that Amee, regrettably, liked. Fingers let their grip loose from her mouth and Amee could breathe again. She felt the tug of her weapon and the human released it with no fight. There was no point. It was tossed aside.

"Hollow point." She said, nodded in the direction that her weapon went. "Hollow point bullets… would leave a nasty, nasty hole. At close range, I'm not sure even you could heal fast enough." She didn't care about defending herself, nor did she want an argument.

She was very quiet for the next few moments as they stood in the darkness. The animal was in control, and Amee didn't fight it, yet. She needed to calculate her options. As long as they were talking, she could still think her way out. "I'll shoot straight with you. My name is Agent Britt, Amee in the real world. I have a certain set of skills and knowledgeI work for an organization that hires me out to terminate public nuisances and hazards. Your number came up Miss Kozlovski." Her eyes studied the werewolf's for a moment. There was something so human about her it made Amee sigh. Killing her would be a shame.

“Healing? No, you misunderstand. I would still have enough time to kill you before I die.” If she had gone down, Lana would have made damn sure she hadn’t gone alone. No deed went unpunished and for the simple fact that Amee was only human, that still gave the werewolf the upper hand; even if she was been bleeding profusely from a gaping hole in her middle and moments away from death’s door. “You seem to severely underestimate the power that I have. That is either very brave…or very stupid.” Lana was putting her money on stupid.

“I know who you are, Miss Britt,” she chimed in as she released Amee’s wrist. “However true your story MIGHT be, I have a sever distrust of everyone, so take no offense when I say your story is utter bullshit. I have an entire dossier on you.” She started to move forward, into Amee’s personal space until the woman had to start retreating backwards. “Why would such an organization send out some weak, little human like you to do a job like that? Hmm? No, I don’t think you’re telling the truth.”

Leaning forward some, she took a whiff of Amee’s scent. It was a delicate fragrance, even though the woman in front of her was anything but. “You had a live in partner once, didn’t you?” She started to stalk around the human in a tight circle. Lana’s shoulder brushing Amee’s as she turned to walk behind her. “Tell me, what happened to him…or was it her? Your background never specified. Only that they had vanished.” The werewolf was taunting her now.

Threats would get them no where, and Amee was tired of making them. It was a pointless, endless cycle that only prolonged the impending death of one. She was a trained agent, she knew a demeaning tone when she heard one. Brave or stupid, obviously, the animal thought the latter. Her hands were bound, she had no escape plan, but she would not go out being insulted.

"You misunderstand me… I don't' underestimate you. I just don't give a fuck." Hearing the sound of her own name surprised her a bit, but why should it? If Britt could get background information on the werewolf, there was certain to be info on her out there somewhere. People had resources. Oddly though, she'd mostly told the werewolf the truth. " I told you… I have a certain set of skills that get the job done. I find it utterly insulting that you underestimate me. Very rude."

She wouldn't fight it now. Let the wolf talk, Amee was calculating a plan. It seemed to her that the redheaded monster wasn't intent on killing her. In the human's experiences, werewolves did not mess around. Minutes had passed and prolonged her life. As the animal leaned in, Amee stood up straighter, tense, but not crumbling in fear. She didn't move as her hands were released and the other female walked circles around her. Things seemed to be going pleasantly, tense, but civil, and then the Russian struck a nerve.

Teeth grit together as Amee's blood pressure rose. Her heart pounded in her chest and ears as her breathing picked up. "That's all that matters. They vanished." Fight or flight. This was the real question. Should she risk it all and provoke a werewolf? Was it really worth it? In her mind… yes. "But that's really none of your fucking business. Why don't you tell me about the Chernobyl disaster first. I guess it's truth what they say, it did turn people into monsters.

Oh, so the human had some backbone. Good, because she would need it. Lana circled back around until the two women were once again face to face. She was pretty, for a human and she didn’t smell half bad either. But she had a loud mouth and unattractive attitude about her that Lana found slightly repulsive. “So, I’m insulting you now? You’ve been following me for weeks and have the balls to act affronted when I finally confront you about it?” Lana laughed out loud at this; the sound disturbing the quiet night so sleeping birds took flight from the trees.

“You think Chernobyl did this to me?” She leaned in closer until their noses nearly touched and Lana’s eyes started to morph from green into a werewolf’s golden yellow. “Sweetheart I was born this way. Monsters aren’t created. The only thing Chernobyl did was teach me how to survive.” She was walking forward now, pushing the human to retreat less Lana knock her down. “But if you really want to see how monstrous I can be, then all you have to do is ask.”

Her voice had gotten deeper; taken on a slight growl beneath her words. Lana didn’t like to kill outside a contract; felt that a life, even a human one, was a precious thing to waste. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t have some fun, right? Just rough the human up a little and leave her living just enough to get somewhere that could heal her. They were in Elyria after all and the Elves could put to right whatever it was that Lana tore up.

"Why now then, Huh? You knew I was watching me, why didn't you kill me weeks ago when you found out? I'm only a human in your world. What's one more kill? Svetlana." The Russian's name slid so easily off her tongue, like cream. It was sweet and rich, but too much could kill you before you knew what happened. Amee was unsure as of why she'd made any effort to remain quiet. Out here, in the woods, no one would even hear her scream.

A sick smile crept over her lips as the wolf explained her condition. Heredity. Interesting. Amee had pegged the Chernobyl fiasco as the key to the Russian outbreak in animals, but this was a piece of the puzzle she didn't have. She'd always thought it had triggered something within them, a sleeping gene, but her theory was disproven. How very helpful. GHOST would want the small piece of information.

"You're wrong. Monsters are created. I know, I've seen it. They are the things that go bump in the night and drag you off into the darkness… and all you can do is hear the muffled screams of someone you care about. I don't need proof of your beast, I've seen it and the path of death it leaves behind."

Her gun was gone. Options were limited. Animal was getting testy… there was not a whole lot of hoops to jump through any more. Agent Britt had spent her whole adult life surviving one step at a time. Following a plan was not a rule, but a suggestion. She'd survived on wit and luck… and it seemed that hesitation would be the death of her. She should of shot the redhead a week ago when she had the chance.

Turning her palms up, she held out her arms to each side of her and took a step back from the wolf. She had no more tricks or shots to take, she was done. There was fight in the human, but only a fool pokes a slumbering beast. There was no real way to go down swinging in this fight, Britt was the underdog and would stay that way. Hands out to give the 'i surrender', she looked into the golden eyes of the animal. " If you are going to do it… get on with it."

“Perhaps I enjoy playing with my food before I eat it.” She smiled now though it didn’t reach into her eyes. It was slyer than it was comforting. It also grew as Amee went into her rant about monsters and creation versus birth. “Such a naïve little human you are. You just don’t get it do you?” When she finally had the brunette back into a tree, Lana stepped up close enough for their chests to touch.

The werewolf grabbed a zip tie cuff from the utility belt at her waist and would use it to bind Amee’s wrists together around the tree. “All of your monsters, they were born monsters. Evil isn’t created. No one wakes up one day and decides that they’re going to start killing people. It’s in their DNA.” She wasn’t admitting to being evil, but Lana definitely wasn’t a saint.

If she managed to get the human secure, Lana would step away and start to search around her encampment. Any weapons she found that could fit into her pockets or on her belt she took. Food she left because it was easier for Lana to hunt for her supper than it was for her to carry it. Wasted room. “Don’t worry, Miss Britt. I’m not going to kill you…tonight. You’ve actually been vastly entertaining which is a major change out here in the wilderness.”

“But unfortunately for you, I have a job to do. Which does not include standing here having girl chat with you.” She left Amee with enough supplies to make it to wherever she needed to go. Food, a map and a knife; if she wanted her gun she would have to wait until morning when the sun came up to search for it. As for Lana, she would leave the human there, certain that she was smart enough to free herself from her bindings. “Perhaps one day we will meet again.”

Winking a golden eye, Lana saluted the human hunter before she disappeared into the night. Nary a sound giving away which direction she was heading, only that once she was out of the immediate area of Amee’s camp, the nighttime noises resumed; crickets and other nocturnal animals coming back to life now that the werewolf had left.

[exit Lana]