Post by Eurydice on Jul 17, 2008 12:03:02 GMT -5
((When little Will is all grown up and sniping folk for a living ^^))
It had been years since he’d seen them; Joanna Parry, Elizabeth Preston, Matthew Howe, Toby Barker, and Jamie Belaqua. He could see them clearly through his scope, see Jamie’s face twinge of jealousy as he watched Jo speaking animatedly with Howe. Observed Elizabeth and Toby gazing proudly at the podium, where Barker stood. Almost all of the people who had plucked him from his miserable life pick pocketing on the streets of London and made him into what he was now. He wanted to run to them, greet them all, hug them all, but he couldn’t. No one could know that he was there, he had a mission. His scope moved to focus on Barker. Standing next to him was the Queen and behind her, Dr. Mattais Scorsby, advisor to the Queen, traitor to his country. Scorsby was careful and subtle in his betrayal, no one had found enough proof to convict him in a court of law but everyone agreed that the threat that Scorsby posed needed to be ended now, permanently, and without there being suspicion that he was removed. This was why he had been called. Will turned away from his scope for the first time, checked to make sure that the ropes and anchors were in place for a quick rappel down the building after he fired his shot. He had chosen his position carefully, knowing that he needed to escape quickly and that Scorsby would be standing behind and to the left of the Queen. He lined up his shot carefully, it would pass through the Queen’s intricate headdress and enter Scorsby’s torso. It wouldn’t be a clean kill, but it would look like an accident. It would look like Scorsby took a bullet intended for the Queen. Not a single person down there knew anything about what was going to happen. Not even the Queen’s bodyguards, who would kill them if they found him. His hands were steady, the rifle moving up and down with the motion of his breath. He sucked in a breath, waited until the scope’s crosshairs did not move at all, and pulled the trigger.
Will couldn’t see the bullet impact. But he saw a huge hole appear in the Queen’s headdress, while the area behind Dr. Scorsby was spattered with blood. Scorsby fell, as the entire crowd exploded into action. Joanna was staring straight at him, eyes narrowed, her hand moving to grasp a concealed pistol and running towards his building. Howe, Jamie, and Elizabeth ran onto the platform, Howe joining Barker and the five other bodyguards who had surrounded the Queen the minute Dr. Scorsby fell. Elizabeth ran to Dr. Scorsby, Jamie close on her heels. The two hunched over him as the Queen and her protectors crossed the stage, blocking Will’s view, the sound of the screaming finally reached him. When they passed, Will saw Elizabeth and Jamie share a glance, from the expressions on their faces, Will knew that Dr. Scorsby was dead. He wanted to stay on the roof, continue to watch his friends, but he couldn’t. He stood, swiftly strapping the rifle to his back, pulled on a pair of heavy gloves and bent to flip a switch on a box to his left. Turning swiftly, he clipped himself into the ropes and swiftly rappelled down the building. It had only been ten seconds since he’d made the shot. He reached the bottom just as the sound of an explosion overrode the screaming.
The explosion was a small one; just enough to cover his scent and disappoint any who climbed to the roof to search for evidence. Will unclipped himself from the ropes and looked around the alley way he found himself in. There was a body near the bottom of the ropes, its legs broken and its face was smashed. Judging by the splatter on the wall in front of him, the face was smashed into the wall of the building. Strapped to the man’s back was an identical rifle to his own. Will ran down partway down the alley and into the building opposite, it was an apartment complex, and the backdoor he had just used to enter was usually locked, but he had made sure the door was open before climbing to the position where he would take the shot. He met no one as he climbed the back stairs into his room. Locking the door, he dumped the rifle and the black hood he was wearing onto the bed. He turned the lights off and moved to the window, watching the alley below him. He could clearly see the decoy body, one story below him and he cracked the window open so that he could hear as well. He stood still and waited.
Five minutes later, he saw silhouettes enter the alleyway. He counted ten figures, three of them out in front with the other seven in back. The three front figures were advancing slowly, cautiously, weapons drawn. The figures in the back were covering them, watching the windows, the rooftops, and the street behind them. Will continued to stand still, he hadn’t moved since taking his position by the window. The three figures below him reached the body, laying at the foot of the ropes and Will recognized them. Jo and Howe, took up positions covering either end of the alley, while Elizabeth knelt down to examine the body. They were silent, tense, ready for action. Again, Will felt the desperate urge to run out and hug them all. After a few seconds of examining the body, Elizabeth stood, Howe and Jo joined her and she spoke, “It looks like he lost control rappelling down the building and landed hard. Both legs broke when he hit the ground, and it looks like he fell forward into the wall,” she indicated the blood spatter on the wall.
Jo nodded and moved to look at the body, Elizabeth moved to cover Jo’s portion of the alley. Jo bent down and extricated the rifle from the corpse. She worked the bolt and as she pulled it back, a spent shell casing flew out and clattered on the floor of the alleyway. She looked over at the seven men, still waiting at the end of the alleyway and nodded. They swiftly moved in, grabbed the body and retreated out of the alleyway. Elizabeth and Howe turned to follow but Jo remained, the rifle still clutched in her hand. She looked around the alleyway one last time and, for the first time, looked up at the window where Will was standing. He didn’t move, the room was dark, and what little light that was coming into the room from the window fell in the opposite direction, he was confidant that she couldn’t see him at all, and if she did, the most she could possibly see was a silhouette. His stillness was interrupted by a slight shudder; confidant or not, it looked as though she was staring straight at him. Eventually, she turned to leave, looking down the alleyway as Elizabeth called her name. She took a few steps towards the end of the alleyway, looked directly back at Will with a frown, and turned her back on him as she walked out.
Will let out a long breath and tried to release his conflicting emotions. Having Jo look at him again brought up all manner of nostalgic feelings, but he couldn’t be seen. He turned away from the window and stripped all of his clothing off and it joined the hood and rifle on the bed. He moved towards the closet, pulled out a nice pair of black dress pants, shoes, jacket, bowtie, and a white shirt. He dressed himself as quickly as he could but the unfamiliar clothing took too long to put on. Reaching into the closet again, he pulled out a cello case. He lugged it to the bed and opened it up; the cello inside was a convincing fake, but it opened up, allowing him to place the rifle and his old clothing inside of it. He shut the cello and the cello case, took a look at himself in the mirror before grabbing the cello case and leaving the building.
It had been years since he’d seen them; Joanna Parry, Elizabeth Preston, Matthew Howe, Toby Barker, and Jamie Belaqua. He could see them clearly through his scope, see Jamie’s face twinge of jealousy as he watched Jo speaking animatedly with Howe. Observed Elizabeth and Toby gazing proudly at the podium, where Barker stood. Almost all of the people who had plucked him from his miserable life pick pocketing on the streets of London and made him into what he was now. He wanted to run to them, greet them all, hug them all, but he couldn’t. No one could know that he was there, he had a mission. His scope moved to focus on Barker. Standing next to him was the Queen and behind her, Dr. Mattais Scorsby, advisor to the Queen, traitor to his country. Scorsby was careful and subtle in his betrayal, no one had found enough proof to convict him in a court of law but everyone agreed that the threat that Scorsby posed needed to be ended now, permanently, and without there being suspicion that he was removed. This was why he had been called. Will turned away from his scope for the first time, checked to make sure that the ropes and anchors were in place for a quick rappel down the building after he fired his shot. He had chosen his position carefully, knowing that he needed to escape quickly and that Scorsby would be standing behind and to the left of the Queen. He lined up his shot carefully, it would pass through the Queen’s intricate headdress and enter Scorsby’s torso. It wouldn’t be a clean kill, but it would look like an accident. It would look like Scorsby took a bullet intended for the Queen. Not a single person down there knew anything about what was going to happen. Not even the Queen’s bodyguards, who would kill them if they found him. His hands were steady, the rifle moving up and down with the motion of his breath. He sucked in a breath, waited until the scope’s crosshairs did not move at all, and pulled the trigger.
Will couldn’t see the bullet impact. But he saw a huge hole appear in the Queen’s headdress, while the area behind Dr. Scorsby was spattered with blood. Scorsby fell, as the entire crowd exploded into action. Joanna was staring straight at him, eyes narrowed, her hand moving to grasp a concealed pistol and running towards his building. Howe, Jamie, and Elizabeth ran onto the platform, Howe joining Barker and the five other bodyguards who had surrounded the Queen the minute Dr. Scorsby fell. Elizabeth ran to Dr. Scorsby, Jamie close on her heels. The two hunched over him as the Queen and her protectors crossed the stage, blocking Will’s view, the sound of the screaming finally reached him. When they passed, Will saw Elizabeth and Jamie share a glance, from the expressions on their faces, Will knew that Dr. Scorsby was dead. He wanted to stay on the roof, continue to watch his friends, but he couldn’t. He stood, swiftly strapping the rifle to his back, pulled on a pair of heavy gloves and bent to flip a switch on a box to his left. Turning swiftly, he clipped himself into the ropes and swiftly rappelled down the building. It had only been ten seconds since he’d made the shot. He reached the bottom just as the sound of an explosion overrode the screaming.
The explosion was a small one; just enough to cover his scent and disappoint any who climbed to the roof to search for evidence. Will unclipped himself from the ropes and looked around the alley way he found himself in. There was a body near the bottom of the ropes, its legs broken and its face was smashed. Judging by the splatter on the wall in front of him, the face was smashed into the wall of the building. Strapped to the man’s back was an identical rifle to his own. Will ran down partway down the alley and into the building opposite, it was an apartment complex, and the backdoor he had just used to enter was usually locked, but he had made sure the door was open before climbing to the position where he would take the shot. He met no one as he climbed the back stairs into his room. Locking the door, he dumped the rifle and the black hood he was wearing onto the bed. He turned the lights off and moved to the window, watching the alley below him. He could clearly see the decoy body, one story below him and he cracked the window open so that he could hear as well. He stood still and waited.
Five minutes later, he saw silhouettes enter the alleyway. He counted ten figures, three of them out in front with the other seven in back. The three front figures were advancing slowly, cautiously, weapons drawn. The figures in the back were covering them, watching the windows, the rooftops, and the street behind them. Will continued to stand still, he hadn’t moved since taking his position by the window. The three figures below him reached the body, laying at the foot of the ropes and Will recognized them. Jo and Howe, took up positions covering either end of the alley, while Elizabeth knelt down to examine the body. They were silent, tense, ready for action. Again, Will felt the desperate urge to run out and hug them all. After a few seconds of examining the body, Elizabeth stood, Howe and Jo joined her and she spoke, “It looks like he lost control rappelling down the building and landed hard. Both legs broke when he hit the ground, and it looks like he fell forward into the wall,” she indicated the blood spatter on the wall.
Jo nodded and moved to look at the body, Elizabeth moved to cover Jo’s portion of the alley. Jo bent down and extricated the rifle from the corpse. She worked the bolt and as she pulled it back, a spent shell casing flew out and clattered on the floor of the alleyway. She looked over at the seven men, still waiting at the end of the alleyway and nodded. They swiftly moved in, grabbed the body and retreated out of the alleyway. Elizabeth and Howe turned to follow but Jo remained, the rifle still clutched in her hand. She looked around the alleyway one last time and, for the first time, looked up at the window where Will was standing. He didn’t move, the room was dark, and what little light that was coming into the room from the window fell in the opposite direction, he was confidant that she couldn’t see him at all, and if she did, the most she could possibly see was a silhouette. His stillness was interrupted by a slight shudder; confidant or not, it looked as though she was staring straight at him. Eventually, she turned to leave, looking down the alleyway as Elizabeth called her name. She took a few steps towards the end of the alleyway, looked directly back at Will with a frown, and turned her back on him as she walked out.
Will let out a long breath and tried to release his conflicting emotions. Having Jo look at him again brought up all manner of nostalgic feelings, but he couldn’t be seen. He turned away from the window and stripped all of his clothing off and it joined the hood and rifle on the bed. He moved towards the closet, pulled out a nice pair of black dress pants, shoes, jacket, bowtie, and a white shirt. He dressed himself as quickly as he could but the unfamiliar clothing took too long to put on. Reaching into the closet again, he pulled out a cello case. He lugged it to the bed and opened it up; the cello inside was a convincing fake, but it opened up, allowing him to place the rifle and his old clothing inside of it. He shut the cello and the cello case, took a look at himself in the mirror before grabbing the cello case and leaving the building.