[ Just snap her neck. Human beings learn best those lessons which are taught through pain. There's no other way she'll back off. But a second voice, cool and modulated, almost like Pai's, intrudes: Contractors don't always kill. They sometimes end their mark's lives by leaving them alive: with a pulse but psychologically decimated. Through sweetness. Through manipulations. Through traps. But neither option appeals to him. ]
[ There's always a third route. ]
[ He takes a moment to acknowledge that this has become The Sum Of All Clichés, and makes his choice in a half-second. Shuts his eyes, shuts them tight and pulls her against him, hugging her hard. ]
no subject
[ There's always a third route. ]
[ He takes a moment to acknowledge that this has become The Sum Of All Clichés, and makes his choice in a half-second. Shuts his eyes, shuts them tight and pulls her against him, hugging her hard. ]
[ The message is clear. Shut up. ]