Chapter Text
A woman walked the streets of the city.
She was tall and pretty with flowing black hair and deep brown eyes. One might think she was walking home from work or maybe a date. Most would think she had a nice evening, from the way she hummed a little song as she walked along the street.
They all wouldn’t suspect she had just left a man to die but Kristin had always been good at seeming unassuming.
Thomas Woodford had been the owner of a big restaurant in the city. He was rich, like most of her targets. He was also an asshole, like most of her targets. He had run all of the smaller family owned restaurants around him straight out of business, sometimes with bribery and sometimes copying their signature dishes.
He’d even driven some of the owners to suicide with how badly he crumbled restaurants that had been around for generations.
He had also been awfully slimy on their first date, seeing as he called her doll. It was part of the job, to act like she’d never heard any of his lines before.
Then, it was the simple matter of wanting to see where he lived, adding in a little quiver of her lips when he said no.
Then, it was a matter of offering to make him some tea while he bragged to her about another restaurant shutting down. Of course, he was so busy worrying about himself he didn’t notice the bits of powder she slipped in it.
From there, the police would eventually find him lifeless at the table. She’d already thrown the cup out and erased all the texts they’d had together.
Maybe he should’ve wondered why she wore gloves at the very end of summer.
Eh, not really her problem now. Her paycheck had come in, which meant a good couple of months of rent and food for her!
She used to be disgusted at herself, having nightmares of blood on her hands and being tossed in a dark, dank cell. That was when she was eighteen, out of foster care with no hope of a future until The Agency found her.
She wasn’t sure when but she started to grow numb when she realized they were all the same. Men and women, all her targets lied and tore others down.
She got to her little apartment, climbing the rusty stairs up to the door that always creaked when it’s opened.
She opened it up and went straight to the bathroom, splashing some water on her face. She didn’t really feel like a shower tonight.
Instead she went to the only other room she had and changed into her pajamas.
She tucked herself into her bed, ignoring the squeaks of its springs.
Then, just as she was about to go to sleep, the blissful silence was interrupted by the harsh ringing of her phone.
“Oh for fucks sake has he never heard of sleep?” She muttered to herself as she looked down at who was calling her. She already knew, there was only one person who called this late at night.
“Hey Dream,”
“Hey, Kristin. I’ll assume it went well?”
“Do you even need to ask?”
“For practical purposes yes but you are one of our best,”
“Well, I do try,” Kristin said, holding back a yawn. “But you don’t call just to check up on little old me,”
“Alright, you’ve got a new assignment ready. Your latest target is Phil Craft, owner of Crafting Tech Incorporated. You ever heard of it?”
“No, I’m not exactly one to keep up with businesses,”
“Right, it’s an up and coming manufacturing business that’s already made a major splash in the market with its PCS. He apparently built the first model straight in his garage,”
“Hm, sounds impressive. What’s he done? Copied someone else’s work? Cut employee checks?”
“Nope, by all accounts he’s made an active effort to run an ethical company. All his PCS are made here in the country and their salaries are some of the best in the business right now. Even donates to multiple charities and shit,”
“Well, isn’t he a swell guy?” Kristin said with a roll of her eyes. She was sure he was hiding something, everyone was.
“Yeah, that’s kinda the problem. People are leaving other companies now to work at his and apparently the big boys are worried he’ll cause some industry shakeups. So, that’s where you come in to preemptively take care of the problem,”
“Alright, good deadline and pay?”
“Yeah, it should be an easy enough job. It’s not like it’s urgent or anything. We’ll just do the usual if you’re profile on Bumble is clear,”
“Relax, I’m a professional,”
“Alright great, you can start tomorrow,”
With that, Dream hung up.
“Could’ve said good night,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
Now, she could thankfully go to sleep and get right back to work tomorrow.
+
The next morning, she looked at his profile while she brushed her teeth. She didn’t know how exactly The Agency guaranteed they would see each other’s profiles but she’d learned not to question it too much.
“Oh man,” she muttered when he saw his picture.
He was sitting on a balcony in front of a sunset, blonde hair cut short and a nervous smile. His eyes were blue and bright like gemstones. The photo look genuine, not like the others she’d seen where they always had their shirts off.
Unfortunately, he was exactly her type.
Well, a lot of em had been kinda her type but this one was hitting all the right buttons.
She scrolled down further, looking at his interests and such.
He liked playing games, studying crows, his family, volunteering, cooking, and “having a fun time, mate,”.
He seemed nice, too nice. He reminded her of a chameleon that had disguised itself in order to bring people in.
Even if this wasn’t an assignment, she might’ve swiped right anyways.
“Might as well start now,” she said as she started typing out a message.
“Hiiiiii!!! I saw your profile and you seem like such a neat guy!”
She looked at the message, her thumb hovering over the send button. She didn’t understand why she was suddenly deciding to analyze these messages now when she normally just sent them without much thought.
She supposed it was because it was early.
She sent the message and put her phone down on the counter as she finished brushing her teeth. As she wiped her mouth with a towel, she heard a buzz from her phone.
“Eager aren’t you?” She said as she picked up her phone and walked back into her bedroom. She sat down on the bed as she opened the message.
“Hey Mate, thanks for the compliment! You look neat too!”
“Do you call everyone Mate lol”
“Yeah, it’s just a habit I have lol”
Well, he was adorable.
Wait no, she shouldn’t think like that.
“Fucking focus, this guy is gonna die soon,” she said, getting up to make some coffee as she typed out her next message.
“It’s a cute habit! Anyways, you wanna go out sometime this week?”
“Sure, I’m free this afternoon if nothing pops up. I’m thinking here??? My boys said it was cheap”
She glanced at the address, which was a fairly cheap pasta place a couple blocks down.
“That’s a great spot but I’m more curious about the boys??? Do you have roommates???”
She could see the three dots pop up on screen, then disappear, then pop up again. He sure was taking an awfully long time.
She heard the ding of the coffee maker and she poured it into a mug, inhaling the scent of the heavenly caffeine.
“Those are my sons lol. I’ll have to tell you more about them at the date”
“Awww, can’t wait to hear more about them <3”
“Can’t wait to hear more about you too! Is 6:30 a good time?”
“Yeah!”
“Can’t wait to see you there mate!”
She finished off the coffee and closed the app, taking another look at the picture.
“Why’d you have to be polite too?” She said with a sigh, swiping up to go to her home screen. “Honestly, you’re almost making me feel bad,”
The key word being almost. Some of that had to be an act, it just had to be. No one was that rich and that nice.
She did feel a niggling of something she hadn’t felt in a long time when he mentioned being a father.
The feeling was guilt.
She stomped it out in her mind, cutting off its branches before they could grow to her heart.
+
It was an easy enough walk there, even in the pumps she had decided to wear. The sun was setting but it hadn’t gotten far enough into autumn to be that cold.
Phil had offered to pick her up but she’d decline. The less people knew where she lived, the better.
The pasta place was small and simple. The wooden tables lit with a candle in the center and waiters bustling about between aisles. It wasn’t gaudy like other places she had been, no chandelier on the ceiling or fancy wine at every table.
Yes, this was a nice pick.
She walked up to a small bench outside the entrance, sitting down and tapping her fingers on the arm of it. She’d arrived a couple of minutes early so he should be here soon. She took her phone out of her purse, ready to text and ask where he was.
Then, she felt a small tap on her shoulder.
“Hey, you’re Kristin right?”
She looked up and here he was.
He really did have nice eyes.
“Yup, that’s me,” she said with a friendly smile and Phil let out a sigh of relief.
“Good, was worried I got the wrong person,” he said as
He sat down beside her. “Nice to meet you in person,”
“Nice to meet you too,” she said, taking his hand and shaking it. “Nice hat!”
He reached up to touch it with an embarrassed laugh, pushing the brim up off his face.
“It’s kinda like a lucky charm,”
“Oh? You’re hoping this will work out?”
“Yeah, doesn’t everyone want that?”
“Yes, but I’m really hoping this one will work out,”
His face went a bit red at that and she let out a giggle. Good, she just needed to do her usual of laying on the charm.
“We’ll just have to see what happens. I’m excited to get to know you!” he said and with that the buzzer went off that let them know a table was ready.
The two got up and walked into the restaurant. The blast of hot air felt good against Kristin’s skin and she took off her jacket to reveal the cute dark purple dress underneath. It stretched right past her knees and was casual enough for a first date.
She looked over to see Phil looking at her before he turned away with a red face.
“Sorry Mate-it’s just that-well you look quite nice,”
“Well,” Kristin looked at him over, a light green button up and blue jeans. The bucket hat shouldn’t look good but it shockingly worked with his blonde hair. “I must say, you look quite nice yourself,”
“Oh, thanks mate,” Phil said with a smile. “Really, you’re too nice,”
With that, the two were led to a table by a waiter and they took a seat.
Kristin flipped to the wine page, eyeing the different kinds of it.
She could do what she had done back in Chicago when the man liked alcohol a bit too much. Even she had felt bad and had tried to warn him but he’d stumbled out of the bar and right towards a bridge.
Shame he fell off but he shouldn’t have bragged about his ability to drink any amount. It was no wonder his wife had wanted him gone.
“Oh, this wine looks good,” she said, pointing at a dark red one. Phil squinted at the menu.
“Yeah it does. You should try it!”
“You don’t want to?”
“Nah, it’s probably gonna be raining when our date ends. Don’t wanna drive you home while I’m tipsy,”
“Drive me home?”
“Yeah? If it’s raining, I don’t want you to get wet,”
“You’re too sweet Phil. I’d almost think you wanted something out of me,”
“No, no, no!” Phil said with a flustered wave of his hands which made Kristin burst into a fit of giggles.
“Sorry, I was just teasing!” She said, causing Phil to let out a laugh.
“Don’t scare me like that Mate! I thought I was being a creep!”
They both laughed and it felt oddly nice to Kristin.
Normally, she used soft cute laughs at her date’s jokes. They were fake but she’d learned how to master the art of fakery.
This man had made her laugh loud and hard. She didn’t have to fake it.
They continued to talk after they ordered drinks, Kristin getting a small glass of wine and Phil getting a glass of water.
They talked about work and how that was going. Well, not her actual work but Kristin had a second job as a waitress at a restaurant. The Agency owned it as a nice and neat cover up so her hours were pretty lenient. Phil asked how the food was there and Kristin supposed it tasted pretty good. Phil’s job was busy but he was having fun and felt he could use some of his profits to help the community. He did start talking about techno jargon that Kristin didn’t really understand but she didn’t mind listening. He seemed excited when he talked about the possibilities of his company and it was infectious.
The time seemed to fly by and before Kristin knew it their food was delivered. Kristin had ordered the cheesy Chicken Parmesan and Phil had ordered a simple spaghetti and meatballs.
“To a good date so far?” Phil said as he raised his glass.
“Heck yeah!” Kristin said and they clinked glasses together.
Kristin took a bite of the Parmesan, grinning at the delicious taste in her mouth.
“So, you said you had kids?”
“Yup, three boys and they are little shits at times,” Phil said, his eyes lighting up as he started to talk about them. “But they’re good kids. Deserve the world, really,”
“What are they like?”
From there, it was off to the races. Before, even when they were talking about Phil’s much loved hobby of map-making, the conversation had been fairly equally balanced.
Now, the balance had shifted to Phil eagerly and proudly talking about his kids while showing her photos on his phone.
By the end of it, she felt like she’d met them with how much she’d learned.
The first one he had adopted was Technoblade or Techno as he preferred to be called. He was the bookworm of the bunch, quiet and snarky. He was a good writer, always pushing himself to be better than anyone else. He was also, in Phil’s own words, “soft to his brothers but do not tell him I said that. He may not show it but he also got in his first fight when Wilbur was getting picked on at school,”.
Wilbur was the second one he adopted and the same age as Techno. Wilbur was the emotional one, very much a softie. He was a great singer and wanted to start a band on his own. He was kind and polite if not a bit odd at times. He tended to suddenly research strange topics and knew a lot of weird little fun facts. He teased his brothers a lot but couldn’t stand to see them genuinely sad, especially Tommy.
Tommy was the youngest and Kristin got the feeling he was the baby of the family. Loud and slightly rude at times, he apparently had a heart of gold underneath his temper. He was extremely funny, one of the funniest kids Phil had ever met. He liked video-editing and had even made a short movie with them a while back. He wanted to go to college for it one day and liked to randomly film them when he went out but there was no guarantee in anyone’s second year of high school. He was a bright kid and Phil couldn’t wait to see what he’d become when he was Techno and Wilbur’s age.
By the end of it, Kristin had learned so much about them. However, she also learned something else.
Phil truly adored his kids. She could tell just from how much he bragged about them.
She looked down to take another bite but realized her food was already gone. She looked over to see Phil’s plate was also empty.
Phil stopped talking and looked at his plate with a sheepish chuckle.
“Sorry, I was rambling a bit,”
“It’s alright. It’s nice to see you care,”
“Yeah, I just figured I should let you know about them. They’ll be a big part of your life too,”
“O-oh?”
Great, now she was the one blushing.
“I had a good time tonigt with a nice woman,” Phil said, causing her to gently smile. “Unless you didn’t have a good time?”
“Oh no, this has been a great time,”
Phil got up with a stretch and she followed, both of them walking to the front of the restaurant in order to pay.
Normally, she just let the other pay but she did want to show she had a great time.
“Wanna split in half?”
“No, you don’t have to. I can afford it,”
“You sure? I can-”
“Yes, I’m sure,” Phil said as he paid. “Maybe you’ll pay next time if you want to,”
“You’re assuming there’s a next time?”
“I’m hoping there’ll be a next time,”
“Good, I was hoping that too,”
They walked over to the door but stopped when they noticed the rain pouring outside.
“Did you bring an umbrella?” Phil asked as Kristin put on her coat.
“Nope,”
“Well shit,” he opened the door, holding a hand out to her. “Ready to run mate?”
She walked towards him, looking at his outstretched hand.
Then, she took it with a grin.
“Let’s go!”
They both ran outside into the rain, Phil leading her along. She could feel the drops soaking into her coat and her shoes got soaked after they ran through a puddle.
She didn’t care honestly.
She let out a whoop of excitement, feeling free and high on pure euphoria.
Maybe she was just starved of true social interaction after all this time of her faking compliments and giggles. After all this time of being fake, it felt so good to be real.
Far too soon, they got to Phil’s car. It was a black one with a couple of those decorative magnets stuck on if for decoration.
They were both soaking wet but they were both smiling despite shivering in the cold.
“Jeez, you run fast,” Phil said as he leaned against the door while Kristin just stood at the door.
Oh right, that probably wasn’t normal to be able to run so well in pumps.
“Can you unlock the car please?” She said. The car beeped and Kristin quickly opened the door as Phil went over to the other side.
They both got in, Phil starting up the car and Kristin fiddling with dials to turn on some hot air. She figured it out quickly enough, holding her hands up to the vent.
“Where do you live mate?”
He handed her his phone and she typed in the address in the map app. She gave the phone back and Phi’s eyebrows rose right up to his forehead.
“What? It’s not that bad of a neighborhood!”
“Didn’t three people get shot there last week?”
“…Well, things happen!”
“You probably shouldn’t be walking through it at night Mate,”
“Relax, I can handle myself,” Kristin said, giving him a gentle punch on the arm.
She had handled herself before actually. There were far more dangerous situations to be in than her neighborhood.
“Just let me know if you’re in trouble or something. I’m willing to pick you up,”
“Aren’t you worried you’d get robbed?”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it,”
“If, not when,”
“Ah right,”
As Phil drove to her house, Kristin watched the raindrops slide down the window. The street lights reflected in them, making them look bloody red against the clear glass.
She subtly pulled her purse to her lap, fiddling with the straps.
As fun as this had been, she still had a job.
She took a deep breath as they pulled up to her house.
“Whelp, this is your stop,” he said and unlocked the door. “I had a nice night and hopefully we can do this again sometime,”
She looked over at him, feeling her hands grow sweaty.
She wrapped a hand around the handle of a dagger in her purse.
“Kristin, you alright? You look kinda pale,”
She could end things, right here and now. Lean over to kiss him on the cheek and then slit his throat.
Why was she nervous now? Why couldn’t she move?
She felt a hand touch her shoulder and Phil looked at her with concern in his eyes.
She leaned closer, tightly gripping the knife.
Then, she let out a shaky breath and turned away to get out of the car.
“Thanks for the date,” she said and she shut the door, running into the apartment complex before he could ask any more questions.
She ran up the stairs and right into her apartment, slamming the door shut and locking it tight.
She leaned against it, slowly sliding down to the floor.
Her hands were shaking. It felt like her first kill all over again.
“Why?” She said, shaky and uncertain.
Then, it hit her.
Of course, there was a purely logical explanation for why she hadn’t stabbed him. He must’ve told his kids where he was going, they’d get suspicious if he suddenly didn’t come home. Then, the police would go to the restaurant and then someone might’ve seen them drive off.
She stood up and ran her hands over her dress.
“Yes, that was a completely rational and not emotional decision I made,” she said as she walked over to the bathroom. She turned on the sink, splashing some water on her face.
Sure, she still felt fluttering in her stomach but that was surely just nerves.
“Right, freaking focus,” she said to her reflection. “You are ruthless. You are heartless. You don’t need anyone and you’ll get him next time,”
With a confident nod to herself, she turned on the shower water.
It wasn’t like she actually had feelings for this guy after only one date. That was ridiculous.
Yes, utterly ridiculous even if she couldn’t get his face out of her head.
+
Meanwhile, Techno sat on the couch in the living room.
He barely flinched as the door slammed open and looked up to see a soaked Phil with a huge smile on his face.
Techno looked at Phil with raised eyebrows.
“So, I’ll assume the date went decently well?”
“Decently well?” Phil said with an excited whoop. “Mate, it was fucking fantastic!”
Techno sighed and rolled his eyes.
Great, now he owed Wilbur and Tommy ten bucks each.