The Hardest Path

A/N: Warnings for this chapter...none. Damn.


The next morning came far too early for Nic's taste, Rhett waking him up with a sharp knock on his door. Opening his eyes a crack and peeking out the window, the boy groaned to see that it was still dark outside, the faintest hint of lighter blue on the horizon telling of the coming sunrise. Grumbling the whole time, Nic rolled out of bed, automatically turning around and making the bed up.

There was another knock on his door and Rhett came in, two towels held under one leanly muscled arm. "Bathroom's across the hall. Shower. You should find everything you need in there, including clothes. Might want to thank Andrei when you come down for breakfast." Passing the towels to Nic, the bodyguard left, intent on completing his own morning routine.

Clutching the towels like a lifeline, Nic trudged across the hallway and entered the bathroom, which was roughly the same size as his bedroom and done completely in a yellow and white theme. Great for summer, but an awful assault on Nic's early-morning vision.

Nic showered quickly, not wanting to linger and miss breakfast. Just as Rhett had predicted, there was clothing waiting for him when he got out of the shower, folded neatly on the lid of the toilet.

As Nic unfolded the stack and dressed, he was shocked to find that while everything else was big on him, the pair of clean underwear Andrei had left for him fit almost perfectly. Frowning, he made a mental note to ask about that when he went downstairs.

Checking his reflection before heading out the door was a habit Nic thought he'd been broken of in the last year. When you were a street kid, no one really seemed to care what you looked like. But now, Nic looked just like any other boy in his loose tee shirt and comfortable jeans with a rip in the knee.

He dragged his fingers through his hair and grimaced when dozens of individual pieces of hair curled up at the ends. "Pixie hair, dammit." Nic stuck his tongue out at his reflection before tossing his used towels into a hamper and strolling out of the bathroom.

Nic was immediately introduced to the wall as Aster walked by, shoving him hard. "Watch yourself, whore," the blonde tossed snidely over his shoulder.

The rage slammed through Nic, and he found himself following Aster downstairs, intent on somehow punishing the man for being so rude. The urge disappeared when he entered the dining room a few steps behind the older male and saw the food laid out, the rest of the group seated.

This time, Andrei waved Nic down and pointed to the empty seat beside himself. Nic took the seat and smiled shyly. "Thank you for the clothes. I really appreciate the loan."

Andrei looked startled for a moment, then responded with a tiny smile of his own. "No problem. I remember what it was like, coming here with nothing. You're just lucky we're close to the same size."

"Oh, I wanted to ask you about the underwear," Nic remembered.

"It would be gross of you to wear mine, so I ran to the store and got you some last night." With a dismissive wave of his hand, Andrei began filling his plate with breakfast.

Remembering Rhett's warning the night before made Nic begin piling food onto his plate as well, ignoring the disgusted looks he was getting from Asteros. The rest of breakfast passed in relative silence, Eurus, Andrei, and Aster all disappearing directly after the meal. Rhett placed one heavy hand on Nic's shoulder and guided him toward the back of the house and outside, where there was a huge yard with a large shed in the corner. The entire yard was enclosed by a tall brick wall, an attempt at privacy, by Nic's guess.

"This is what we do on mornings we don't have missions. We eat and train. You'll only be putting in a half-day here, because you'll be meeting with Laurel in the afternoon to sign your contract and plan out your stay." Rhett headed toward the shed, and naturally, Nic followed.

"What kinds of missions do you get?" Nic asked eagerly. "Like recovering stolen jewels and infiltrating gangs and stuff?"

Rhett smilled and glanced at the boy, pulling open the door of the shed. A bright light immediately came on inside. "Sometimes, yes. Sometimes bodyguard work, sometimes assassinations."

As the two of them entered the shed, Nic's eyes went round and large. Wall to wall, the shed was full of weapons, all neatly stacked and organized meticulously. From swords to guns, to what Nic believed was a flamethrower, there were enough weapons to outfit any high-budget action movie on Earth.

Sets of shelves were set apart from the main stash of weapons, each set with a small colored letter painted onto the wall next to it. Upon the shelves next to the green 'E', there were staffs of several lengths and thicknesses, arranged by a system Nic didn't understand.

The golden 'A' shelves were home to a variety of swords, their polished and gleaming blades and hilts calling to Nic's hands. Before he could reach out, Rhett had pushed him along to the next shelf.

This one was marked with a purple 'A'. Upon it were daggers, throwing stars, assassin's wire, handcuffs, several small guns, gauntlets with lethal-looking claw tips, and a few other things Nic couldn't name off the top of his head.

At Nic's questioning glance, Rhett shrugged as he moved to the last shelf, marked with a deep blue 'R'. "Andrei has issues with making up his mind. He's sort of...a master of the little hidden weapons. That what makes him such a good assassin. No one sees it coming. Ever."

The bodyguard turned to his own shelf, which was stocked with guns. Running his hands over each, Rhett sighed. "I have to clean these soon. I'm sure they could all use it." To Nic's surprise, Rhett didn't select a gun, turning around and gesturing to the room in general.

"Obviously, this is our weapons storage. We call it the Toy Box. We each keep our favorite weapons either in our rooms or on our person at all times. These are just backup weapons, if we need extra or manage to break one of our regulars."

Nic followed Rhett out of the shed, and saw Andrei standing a short distance away. As soon as he saw them, he came closer, inclining his head toward the corner of the yard, where Eurus and Aster were locked in some sort of epic battle.

Aster had a sword in each hand, one black, one silver-looking. Eurus was swinging a long and wicked scythe through the air as if he'd been born with it in his hands. Entranced, Nic watched the fight for a long moment. It seemed like Eurus was just barely keeping his feet, almost tripping, almost falling, more times than Nic could count. But each time he looked like he was spilling to the ground, he would roll into another stance, swing out once again with the scythe. He was constantly in motion, as if the momentum alone was holding him up.

The complete opposite of Eurus, Aster was in control of all parts of himself, ducking and blocking Eurus's blows and returning a flurry of his own, which Eurus blocked just as effectively. There was no unneccessary movement on Aster's part, the same cruelly bored look on his face as always.

Managing to tear his gaze from the sparring men, Nic looked at Andrei. "Why aren't you fighting, too?"

Andrei grimaced, rubbing a small hand over his face. "Because I'm afraid that if I had the excuse, I'd kill Aster." There was no remorse in his eyes, just cold truth. In that moment, Nic caught a glimpse of the assassin inside him. The man who owned the weapons he'd seen. The killer.

And Nic had worn his pajamas.



A/N: Okay, I'm not too terribly happy with this chapter. Maybe I'll take it down and redo it a little later. I'm not sure. For now, here it is. I know I said Liam is coming this chapter, but that didn't work out. Obviously. So, it will hopefully happen next chapter. Whee!

Reviews!


violetstorm: Yeah, there will be trouble in the future. Especially with Aster running around being mean.


Wynja: Lol! Take that, Aster! He's so rude, I swear. But, I'll be posting a side story, about him. He's like that for a reason.


Breet: Ah, yes. I'm glad you like it, and you're still reading it, even though I call you and tell you everything about it, basically. xD Thanks.