Breaking All the Rules

Chapter four

Breaking All the Rules

Revelations

~*~~*~~*~

"Hello?" Blaise called as he opened Draco's door. "Anyone in?" he walked along the hallway and put the keys down on the kitchen counter. The medical kit was gone so he must have come home at some point. Draco came out of the bedroom and watched Blaise in contempt.

Draco crossed his arms. "I hate you."

Blaise looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He dismissed his comment like he did all his other comments and turned back to the kitchen. "And what, prey tell, have I done now?" he said as he put one of the bags he was carrying on the table and the other on the floor. He then emptied his pockets of his wallet and various other items.

"She walked in on her husband shagging some other woman."

He stopped and looked directly at Draco. "What?" he asked thoroughly confused. That was not the answer he had thought would come with a welcome like that.

"Ginny, she walked in on Girard shagging some other woman when she went home. After that, she wondered the streets of London apparently waiting for me to come along and... well, save her I guess."

He looked understanding. "I see. So I was right, I presume that is why you hate me then?" he said choosing a stool.

"Yes, you could say that."

Blaise rummaged through the bag on the table. "Could I say how you got this information?" he said as he took out numerous containers of take out food and placed them on the counter.

"You could guess." Draco scrutinized the amount of food coming out of the bag. There would only be one reason why Blaise would order that much.

Blaise got up screwing up the bag and put it in one of the below cupboards. "No, I could say. I can sense her in the house, she's worried and I can feel 'it' in the room," he said raising his hands in disgust. "It's soaking up the walls," he said wincing.

"Feel 'it?' what is 'it?'"

He turned from the crockery cupboard. "The sexual tension," he said returning to it. "I take it you haven't slept with her yet then?" He took out a bowl and set it on the table as he picked up the newspaper.

"No, and I don't intend to."

"Sure, whatever." He dropped the newspaper on the counter and went to sit on the sofa. "So, where is she?"

"Taking a shower."

"Ah, and what will she wear when she exits it?"

"Clothes," he said sardonically raising an eyebrow.

***

"Where are the files for Mr. Thomas?" Leveret came out of his office and clicked his fingers at the secretary outside.

"Pardon sir?" she said jumping.

He sighed in annoyance, he really needed to get better help around here. "The files, woman, the files. Where are they?"

"Oh, they're here Sir." She handed over a small folder full of information on the Thomas case.

He sifted through the piles and paused. "Where's the report from the marker?" Leveret called to her as he turned back.

She bit her bottom lip not wanting to answer but knew she had to anyway. "He hasn't sent one in Sir," she said slowly.

His hands went to his hips. "Why not?"

She continued in a cautious manner. "Because the mark isn't dead yet, Sir."

"And why not?" he squinted evilly.

"Um, I don't know?" she tried.

"Then find out!" he roared and the whole office turned to them. He turned to go back into his office sifting through the file again as she got up to go straight to a nearby fax machine when he called back. "Hold on."

She looked at him through her oval spectacles. "Yes, sir," she gulped.

"This is the wrong file."

***

Draco's eyes went to the food in front of Blaise as he sat on the island in the kitchen. "So how has your day been then, you were gone when I came back."

"Yes I was wasn't I?" he said. "I had something to take care of." He poured the sauce from the container over the food he had spooned onto his plate.

"In what sense," Draco asked from the sofa.

Blaise stopped and wondered at Draco's curiosity. "In the charmed bullets sense," he said shortly. "Do you want some?"

"Yeah, I'll take a little."

"I wish I'd known you had company, I would have brought more."

"There's enough," he said looking at the numerous containers on the counters.

"Not for me there isn't. I'm a growing man my friend. I need the nutrients in this line of work."

"In the form of Chinese food?"

"Any food is good for me, especially since I haven't had a proper meal in years. You can't tell me you don't miss home cooked meals. You may be good but nothing can compare to my servant's meals. They felt so homely."

Draco laughed. "Most people say that about their mother's meals."

"And when was my mother going to cook? I'm sure she didn't even know where, let alone what, a kitchen was." They both laughed at this. It was true, growing up in the houses they did, motherly home cooked meals were not something they came by at all.

"So, who was it?" Draco asked.

"Some man who had been threatening some business or another. I didn't read the file very much. Just the address and the schedule."

"You killed him then," he said noting the food he was piling into a bowl.

Blaise looked at him and smiled a genuine smile. He knew what Draco was looking at. He laughed emptily. "I didn't kill him. I shot at the gas canister outside his house. The explosion," he stated and repeated for good measure. "The explosion and the fire killed him. Ooh," he said picking up the other bag he had on the ground, he threw it to him. "I bought a new gun. I'll have to take it to the charmers to get the right fixtures but I'm sure I can make it work."

He dropped the subject and opened the bag. It looked the same as the old one except for a few minor differences. "I told you I'd buy you a new one. Why did you have to go out again? It's going to be hell for me to borrow this off you if I haven't bought it."

"That's exactly why I did," he smiled wickedly. "You are never coming anywhere near my belongings as long as she is in the picture." He pointed with his eyes to the door behind him.

Draco turned around to see if she was there. He suddenly realised that maybe they shouldn't be talking so openly with her in the other room.

"Fine, I'll just have to get my own then. Why didn't you get me one when you were there? You seem to have more of an eye for them than I do. You know I could pay you back."

"Perhaps. Fine, I suppose I could. I'll have to go back out then." Just then the fax machine beeped. He looked at it from the kitchen as a page filled with writing came out through the bottom. "I'll never understand those things. How do they work?"

"Never mind that. I'll have to go back to the manual to explain that, which, by the way, was not a pleasurable experience as none of it made sense in English. I had to fork up years of French and Spanish lessons to understand it properly." Blaise snorted as he handed Draco the bowl of food. Just then another person came out of the bedroom.

"Well hello there. I heard you had taken a sudden residence, how are you feeling?"

"A little shaken but I'm fine." Ginny sat down next to Draco. The bag that had sat there before was picked up and pushed behind the sofa creating a clatter.

Blaise sighed and winced at the same time. Draco smirked at him. "I'll buy you a new one."

"You better bloody well had. Honestly it's like keeping a toddler." He went back to the counter in the kitchen that stood next to the sofa. "Would you like something to eat, Ginevra wasn't it?"

"Yes and no, no thank you."

"Have you got anyone to owl that can help you through this? Friends, family..." He noted the look on her face. "Anyone at all?"

"I only had Girard. Foolish isn't it?"

"No not really. One would think that they could trust their spouse with everything they have. At least that's what they vow to Merlin, the Wizengamot and to the Gods." Blaise drank from his bottle of beer. "I'm glad that I don't plan on tying the knot any time soon. Thank and curse the Gods for my job." Draco watched his friend as he went through all the well known rituals. After he had 'crossed out' a mark he would always go out and stuff himself on food. It was a trait, as was Draco's way of just focusing on anything else in his own way. It was all you could do to not go crazy. That was part of the reason Blaise owned the contracts for a chain of restaurants in London.

Killing people was a job after all, not a lifestyle. Especially to the weak willed man, if you focused on the fact that you assassinate people for a living, it could drive anyone to the point of insanity. It had happened before to others they knew, that was why they had kept a close friendship in order to focus their lives somewhat. Blaise always commented in the same way, that he never directly did anything. He merely set off a chain of events that he couldn't tie himself to for the guilt to weigh him down. Draco in his own way did the same.

Denying it completely was just a waste of time and energy and the fastest route to ruin.

"So, what do you do for a living?" Ginny asked Blaise as he spooned another helping of food onto his plate. "It must be something that involves moving around if you eat like that."

Blaise looked down. "You could say that, I do move around a lot." He thought for a while. "All over the world actually."

"So what do you do?" she asked intrigued.

"I cause people to stop moving," he said darkly and pointedly looked directly at her. His eyes portrayed no emotion.

"Pardon?"

"What he means is," Draco stressed for her to draw her attention and to partly get her to leave Blaise alone. He never did like to talk about these things after what he had done. Doing what he did was one thing but being an empath with it was another. He, unlike all other markers like him, was able to feel the pain of those he killed. After some training he had been able to put up his barriers but Draco knew that he suffered more than any of them put together. "We are part of an organization which deals in the transport of..."

"Goods." Draco looked at him. "I transport valuable items. Sometimes they go to local museums sometimes they go to places abroad. They are extremely important to our clients. Like a life, one might say. Priceless to keep them protected, but it costs dearly if they are destroyed whilst I transport them. I get paid either way though."

Draco smirked at his friend's obvious hidden meaning. "I do something similar, but with the more unknown items in the world. Rare and hidden from sight but valuable if they are transported nonetheless." Blaise smiled at him.

"So if they're broken, you don't have to pay for the damage?" Ginny asked inquisitively.

The smile left Blaise's face. "We pay in our own way, don't worry," Blaise said saddened as he cleared his plate.

"Oh," Ginny said intrigued as he got up and took his plate to the sink.

"Well, who wants ice-cream?"

"You're not serious? You just ate a whole restaurant."

"Growing man my friend growing man. So?"

Ginny stood up. "I fancy something sweet. Let me get my coat."

Draco watched the both of them as they headed to the door. "You're not coming?" Blaise asked. Draco got up and walked to his bedroom as another beep from the fax machine rang in the room. Blaise, interested, took another look at what came through on the paper. He hadn't paid attention before but was enraptured in it as he stared at the picture on the top page.

"Um, Ginevra could we meet you outside? There is something I need to speak to him about. You wouldn't mind would you?"

"No," she said smiling. "Not at all. You've both done so much for me already." She turned and walked out of the apartment and headed to the stairs to walk down. She figured if they had to talk then she had better take the longest route to avoid having to wait for them for too long.

"Draco, get out here now!"

"What?" he came out rapidly looking for danger. "What's happened, where did she go?"

"Never mind her, she's safe for now. Look at this."

"For now, what do you mean?"

"Just read this and you'll see." There were two pages. One of which Blaise had kept. He handed him the one full of writing.

Marker,

It seems there has been a slight misunderstanding in your charge. As you know of the incapability of the workers here I feel I have no need to explain. I will trust this gets to you before you do something stupid. Enclosed is a picture of your mark, we regret this misunderstanding.

Office of Leveret's unLTD and associates.

Below was a series of addresses and a schedule for three months that he recognized to be the same schedule he had memorized. The address was Thomas' address as was the other's for his homes that he would have stayed in from his itinerary.

"What's the problem?" he asked perplexed.

"Do you remember the name of the mark?"

"Yeah, Girard Thomas."

"No, that is the name of the client." He said thrusting the other page in his hand at him. "Not the name of the mark."

"So, I don't have to kill him then?" he said taking the paper and looking at him.

"No, worse." He gestured with his eyes to the paper. Draco looked down.

"Oh gods."

"Exactly."

He read the paper from beginning to end twice before settling on the picture of the mark. The damn secretaries had gotten it wrong. Mr. G Thomas was indeed the client they had to kill for. The mark however was a different story.

Reason for termination: Witness, liability.

His stomach turned as he carried on down the page. He sighed as he leaned against the counter putting the paper next to him on the surface. Curses flew out of his mind as he glanced over every word under the segment that said 'Personal Details.'

Name: Mrs. G Thomas.

Relation to client: Wife.