Silas stepped inside and leaned against the glass. The elevator shaft leading up to Raikov’s office was made of glass and would have gave an impressive view of the city had the weather been clear. As it was, the glass was obscured by the wind and blindingly white snow, though it disappeared after a few moments when the glass ended. It Silas’s eyes a few moments to adjust to the soft glow of the overhead lights.

He wearily ran a hand through his black hair and took a deep breath as his face fell into a mask of arrogant confidence. He had caught the eye of the young receptionist while waiting to see Raikov and now that she knew his face, she would only have to remember what he wanted her too, lest she too meet her end today. Silas hoped it wouldn’t come to that but he was prepared to do whatever he had to do to insure that he didn’t implicate himself.

The doors parted soundlessly and he had to refrain from instantly looking to her face. It was only when he was half way across the cavernous atrium did he look her way. It only took that one glance to tell him everything she would remember about him. He stayed his hand when the flush colored her cheeks a deep crimson and a shy smile played over her lips. Instead of reaching for his gun, Silas put his hand in his pant pocket instead. He shot her a warm smile as he placed a hand on the push bar of the entrance. It was only after she flushed deeper and smiled wider in return did he push the door open to brave the storm.

Stinging wind whipped his hair around violently as he quickly moved to his car. Wiping the melting snow from his chin he started the car and slowly made his way through the unbroken whiteness of the covered parking lot. Passing around the side of the immense building he idly wondered how far out Davidenko’s body would be…if he would pass it by. Silas refrained from glancing out into the storm until he heard a tap on his window as he rolled to a halt at a stop light. After a moment of hesitation Silas unlocked the doors and watched as the shivering man stumbled inside.

“Took you long enough, thought I was going to lose some appendages out there.” The man said irritably as he vigorously rubbing his hands together. Silas switched the heat to its max setting and the man nodded gratefully as he pressed his hands to the vents.

“You would think it was thirty below out there, watching you.” Silas commented dryly. “It’s like you’ve never seen a snow storm before, Raven.”

Raven scoffed as he threw his hood back to reveal his face, his hazel eyes darting to Silas, “I grew up in New York, I know what a blizzard is. It’s just that I had to sit on that damned crane for over an hour. Sure as hell felt like thirty below. My hands were shaking so much I didn’t think I would be able to take those two guards.”

“But you did and for that I thank you. Superb marksmanship. And the EMP charge was timed perfectly.” Silas replied in that same dry tone.

Raven shook his head as he scratched the rough stubble on his chin, “I can never tell when you’re serious or when you’re being sarcastic… I wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for that scope you gave me.”

“I’m always serious, especially when I’m being sarcastic…but yes, I figured the thermal would help.” Silas replied as he shook a sodden lock of hair from his eyes.

Raven was quiet for moment while he warmed his hands, but then he looked up with a cocked eyebrow, “You didn’t follow the plan.”

Silas shrugged as he maneuvered the car out of the city, “Either the guards weren’t as intelligent as I suspected or I don’t look as dangerous as I used to. I wasn’t searched and there were half as many guards with Raikov then we suspected. Nor were they as highly trained as we thought. It was easy.”

“A little too easy?” Raven asked suggestively.

“Possibly…or he simply became complacent.” Silas thought for a moment but then shrugged his shoulders again. “It doesn’t matter…it’s done and we got a bonus out of it.”

“What bonus?”

“Alexei Davidenko happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Silas replied quietly.

“Wait a sec, the head of Raikov’s security? I didn’t see him there …”

“It was after I killed Raikov. He walked in and tried to attack me before I threw him out the window.” Silas said without missing a beat. Raven looked dumbfounded for the briefest of moments before donning a distant look of amusement. For a moment, they both looked out the windshield in silence. Finally they made it out of the city to where the snowfall had lessened to a lazy drift. Dusky trees crowded around the winding road, causing the already dim light from the clouded sky to darken even further.

Raven began to fidget in his seat as the silence stretched on past a couple of minutes; finally when he seemed to be able to bear it no more, he muttered “The Director isn’t going to like this.”

“I know…trust me; I took no pleasure in doing it…” Silas replied evenly. He couldn’t seem to get that last glimpse of the terrified man’s face before he crashed through the glass out of his mind. “But he saw my face…there was no way I could have let him live.”

“Don’t think that I was criticizing you, Silas. You did what you had to…I would have done the same if it were me.” Raven replied quickly, his tone suggesting that he regretted saying anything. “It’s just that I know that the Director hates this kind of…unexpected outcome. He’s going to want to saddle blame on someone.”

“Why should you worry about that? You had nothing to do with it…” Silas responded lowly, giving Raven a sideways glance.

“I know.”

“Hmm.” Silas stared straight ahead as he wound through the snow covered hills. They had finally cleared Moscow and it’s outlying suburban neighborhoods and were traveling north through rural Russia. The storm lessened the farther from the city they drove; here the snow lazily drifted from the iron grey sky and there seemed to be little to no wind.

“Raven?” Silas said after a quarter hour of silence elapsed.

“Yeah?’

“Do you know where Berial is supposed to be?”

Raven shot him a quizzical frown, “Supposed to be?”

Silas nodded, “Yeah.”

Raven shrugged, “Last I heard he was in somewhere in Japan. Why?”

Silas hesitated a moment before answering him. He didn’t why, but he felt like that shadow had something to do with his fellow assassin. “Do you know why he was in Japan?”

“Something about taking down a yakuza boss, I think.” Raven’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

Silas sighed, “I saw something strange this morning."

“We're in Russia, everything's a little strange here.” Raven smirked slightly, but it faded he looked out at the snowfall. “God, I hate snow.”

“Should be used to it, being from New York.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it…give me the fucking desert any day. Bullets, explosions and all.” Raven muttered. He cleared his throat and continued, “Any way, you were saying something…?”

“Yes, right…when I was walking to my car this morning, I noticed something watching me.”

“Something, not someone, watching you?” Raven repeated, his eyebrows arching.

“Yes, something.” Silas answered. “It was still pretty dark, but I could see something there.”

“How far away was it?”

Silas tried to picture the street in his mind, “It couldn’t have been more than fifty yards.”

“You think it was Berial?”

Silas frowned, “I can’t…really explain why I think so...it’s just a feeling I suppose.”

Raven slowly scratched the stubble on his chin before answering, “If it was Berial, what’s he doing in Russia?”

Silas shrugged as he guided the SUV along a tight turn, “I couldn’t tell you.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Silas. There are dozens of possibilities on what or who it could have been. ” Raven pointed out after a long break in conversation.

“You’re right... it could have been anyone, some homeless person or even a police officer for that matter. There was just something about it that made me uneasy. Like whoever it was knew who I was… and what.” Silas replied as he stared ahead to the snowy road flanked by dark trees on either side. Raven’s brow furrowed as he looked away, not able to reply to Silas’s ominous musings.

“There’s our ride home.” Silas announced some twenty minutes later, pointing to the large cargo jet readying for departure. Silas drove onto the isolated airstrip and stopped behind the jet to wait for them to lower ramp. Silas let out a deep sigh as the ramp began to lower. He was ready to leave Russia and be home. This assignment had taken a lot out of him, the weeks he has been gone had beaten him down.

It was more of a mental exhaustion that ailed him, between the lack of sleep, the searing pain this morning, and the strange figure in the shadows his mind was a whirlwind. He drove the car up the ramp, parked and killed the engine. He then got out and secured the SUV to the floor to prevent it from rolling. He signaled to the pilots when he was finished that everything was set for takeoff.

“If all goes well, we should be back in the States in just over twelve hours.” Silas told Raven as got back in the car.

Raven nodded absently as he leaned back in his seat, “Good. I’ve had enough of Russia to last me the rest of the year.”

Silas chuckled in agreement as put his head against the rest and closed eyes, muttering to Raven to wake him in a few hours. The familiar pressure of takeoff was the last thing Silas felt as he succumbed to exhaustion.

Silas opened his eyes to unfamiliar surroundings, tall pine trees towered over him, their highest branches obscured by a thick fog. He lifted his head to see that was he lying flat on his back in a bed of pine needles. He pushed himself up on both elbows and surveyed the forest pressing in on him. He looked down at himself, he was wearing his usual clothes. He got to his feet, instinctively putting his hand to the small of his back to grab one his guns. There was nothing there, not even an empty holster.

Silas knew this should have bothered him but he just could bring himself to worry about. Nothing could harm him here, he felt. He dropped his hand to his side and breathed in the sharp, clean smell of pine. This place was dreary and lonely, but it held a sort of peaceful beauty to it. As he started to wander through the woods; he realized that he had no idea where to go…and that that thought didn’t bother him at all. Soon enough he came to a game trail and then began to meander along it. Mist began to gather around him as he wound deeper into the dusky pines.

He then heard a soft foot fall behind to him. Silas stopped, and stood with his back straight. He closed his eyes and listened. He heard the rhythmic rush of lungs drawing breath, the slow beat of a heart, and each footfall scrape across the ground. There was something tantalizingly familiar about the way it sounded; it was only a few feet away when Silas turned to confront it.

“Atticus?” Silas asked of the mist. A great black dog looked up at him with intelligent yellow eyes and started wagging his tail enthusiastically. Silas kneeled and scratched the dog behind its ears while Atticus tried to lick his face. Silas laughed and wiped his face with the sleeve of his coat as he pushed the dog away with his other arm. He patted the dogs cheek before he stood, brushing the loose hairs from his clothes.

The hairs on the back of Silas’s neck stood up with the intrusive feeling of being watched. He glanced around the dark forest, but could see nothing amongst the empty trees and swirling mist. It was good to see his friend again, but something had shifted in the feeling of this place. All of the sudden Silas didn’t feel so safe.

The sky had darkened as if it was twilight and the mist on the ground grew thicker. Atticus’s ears swiveled around just as Silas looked up. They had both heard it at the same time, footfalls coming from the path behind them. Atticus turned swiftly around and put himself between what was coming and Silas. Then he started growling. It was low menacing warning that radiated from deep inside his chest. Silas listened to the footfalls, but could discern nothing more, not breathing nor a heartbeat.

Atticus’s growls turned into full-fledged snarls as the mist darkened in front of them. Suddenly a gust of wind parted the mist and the man revealed smiled a familiar smile. Atticus launched himself at Berial, intent of ripping his throat out, faster than Silas ever though him capable of.

But to his horror, Berial backhanded the dog a split second before his jaws touched his jugular. Atticus flew into a tree trunk with a pained whine, and was still. Silas, abandoning all reason, rushed Berial with all of his speed and strength. Berial brought his other arm up and rammed a shining blade into Silas’s chest. Silas’s momentum carried him all the way to the hilt where he was inches away from Berial; an unfamiliar smile that ran thick with malice darkening the face he knew so well. He slowly pulled the blade from Silas’s chest, and let Silas fall to his knees as warmth spread across his chest. Berial brought the blade up again and the blade flashed towards Silas’s neck.