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dontfeartherieper · 4 years ago

Text

another life

pairing: Agent 47 x Self-Insert OC

content warnings: brief kidnapping, not really anything else

A/N: Hello Hitman tags! How are y’all today? I’m new to posting around these parts, but have lurked for quite some time. I haven’t posted my writing in a very, very long time, but wanted to give it a try again! This is the first part in a longer fic about 47 and my self-insert, Tactus, and takes place during the Whittleton Creek mission of Hitman 2. Thank you for reading, fic is under the cut!

The smell of fresh baked cookies wafted its way to Tactus Ouliette's bathroom, and he paused in washing his face to take a good inhale. They were just about done cooling, he figured! He dried his face, then took the time to re-comb his mustache and goatee, not a hair out of place. His fingers lightly ran through his bangs, the rest of his strawberry blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun. Amber eyes looked himself over in the mirror and he decided to go change his shirt before taking the cookies over to Janus's house. He scampered up to his bedroom to search through his closet for something a bit more conservative, for the sake of the old man's sensibilities.

He briefly looked toward his old binder, still hanging in the closet where he'd left it. It had been a month since he'd last felt the need to wear it, this community had been more accepting than he expected for a small town in Vermont, but Janus was new territory. He hadn't spoken to the old man yet, so would it be better to put it on? Just in case?

Tactus thought it over, then pulled out a light blue button-down instead, turning away from the closet. No, he didn't need it, and besides – he was more comfortable this way.

When he returned to the kitchen to check the cookies, he was surprised to see his brother wasn't already helping himself to a few. After he'd gotten them all packaged up in some Tupperware he went to leave through the front door and found Montage sound asleep on the couch. Aha! He tiptoed over, looking down at his twin with a smile, and brushed some of his dyed purple hair out of the way of his nose. Let him nap for a while, he'd wake him when he came home.

Whittleton Creek was as vibrant as ever as Tactus walked down the steps of his porch. It seemed someone was having a barbecue down the street! Maybe he'd go check it out later? Integrating into the community had been rough at first, but the arrival of a pair of French twins had been the most excitement this neighborhood had seen in quite some time. Nevermind the fact that he and his brother had lived in America for almost twenty years now! Janus was the last neighbor he hadn't properly introduced himself to in the months since their arrival. Ironic, being that he was literally their next door neighbor. In truth, he saw befriending the old man as the last step to fully becoming part of the community.

A group of children ran past Tactus, nearly knocking him over on his way next door, but he managed to make it to the front door without dropping his precious baked goods. He barely even got a chance to knock before the door opened, a rather gruff-looking man answering. His eyes flickered past him briefly, seeing other men standing just beyond, and... did one of them have a gun? He was aware that Janus had caretakers coming and going quite often, and he'd seen someone that could have been family staying over sometimes, but a man with a gun?

“Hi, my name is Tactus, I'm your neighbor?” he said nervously, and the gruff man who'd answered the door noticed where he was looking. “I was just bringing over some cookies so I could introduce myself to Mr. Janus. Is... is everything okay?”

The man who'd opened the door looked him over, then looked behind him to make sure no one else was watching. Without a word, he grabbed the front of Tactus's shirt, yanking him inside and slamming the door behind him. Tactus was forced to the ground, the man holding his arm in a painful lock as another one came over to see what the commotion was.

“Who sent you?” the man asked, ignoring his cries of pain.

“I-I don't know what you're talking about!” Tactus replied, looking up in fear at the second man approaching. “I just live next door! Who are you people?! Where's Mr. Janus, he can tell you- I'm his neighbor!”

The second man shook his head. “You're so fuckin' jumpy, man,” he scolded his apparent coworker, “I know what happened to Cassidy has us all on edge, but... ah, whatever. Take him upstairs and throw him in a closet or something. We'll deal with it later.”

Tactus was hauled to his feet, his wrists zip-tied together, and practically dragged upstairs. Why was this happening? Who were these people around Janus? Nausea welled up in his stomach as he was tossed into a closet in a side room, plunged into darkness when the door closed and locked behind him. This had to be a bad dream or something, right?

While he still didn't know exactly what was going on, Tactus could at least hear some of the guards talking outside the door. Someone named Nolan Cassidy was evidently dead, and that had set them on high alert. Great. So because this random other guy died, they thought Tactus was bringing poison cookies to murder his neighbor with?! He got to his knees and leaned his head against the door with a deep frown, trying to listen for more information. Who was Mr. Janus, really? Why did he have such a heavily armed security detail around him? Maybe he would be reasonable and let Tactus go if he just told them all he was trying to do was be a friendly neighbor! That thought did nothing to calm the pounding of his heart in his chest, however.

Minutes ticked by, Tactus straining to hear anything more from the room. One of the guards had left, and he wasn't sure how many were still there. Then, suddenly, he heard a sound almost like someone choking – followed by a soft thud. What was going on out there?! He didn't have to wonder for long. The door to the closet was suddenly pulled open, causing him to fall face first into an extremely nice pair of black dress shoes.

The owner of the shoes looked... puzzled, to say the least. Tactus turned his gaze upward to see a bald man in a finely-tailored suit staring down at him with the most piercing blue eyes he'd ever seen. He was dragging the unconscious body of the remaining guard that had been watching over the closet door! Maybe this guy was here to save him?! Tactus was about to speak when the man hurriedly shoved him back in the closet, dragging the unconscious guard along with.

“Hey, wait a min-” he tried to say, but a gloved hand covered his mouth promptly, and the mystery man shut the closet door behind him. Tactus couldn't help a bit of an embarrassed flush with the way the guy was pinning him down and keeping his mouth covered, starting to struggle when he heard someone else enter the room. The mystery man put a finger to his own lips in a shushing motion.

After a tense few moments, the door to the room opened and closed again. Tactus let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when the mystery man pulled his hand away, looking down at him with a blank expression. “Who are you?” Tactus asked, “Are you with the police...?”

The man shook his head slowly. “No.” He didn't look like he was going to be all too forthcoming with information. Standing up, he turned to leave, and Tactus sat up in a panic.

“You can't just leave me here!” he said, holding up his bound wrists. “I didn't do anything, I just brought some damn cookies over and they suddenly threw me in here talking about being 'compromised' and-”

Again, his mouth was covered, the mystery man shushing him firmly. “Stay here. I'll come back.” With that, he left as quickly as he'd arrived, leaving Tactus alone with an unconscious guard and a whole lot of questions. He quietly shoved the guard as far back against the wall as he could out of discomfort being near him. At least it was a spacious closet...

It felt like ages passed until the mystery man returned. Tactus honestly thought he might have been forgotten, and when the door opened he let out a startled squeak. “Oh, it's you!” he chirped, getting onto his knees and looking up at the man in the suit. “A-Are you going to get me out of here, now?”

The man in the suit grabbed him by the wrists, pulling him to his feet. “Yes, but you have to follow my instructions exactly.” He pushed Tactus to the side, moving past him to the guard, and began removing his clothes.

“What are you doing?!”

“I need a disguise.”

Tactus watched in fascination as he exchanged his suit for the guard's clothes, even taking his gun and slinging it onto his back. When he was finished, he turned back to the frightened captive, and nodded toward the closet door. “I'll take you outside. Don't speak, just walk with me. You said... you're his neighbor?”

Nodding, he motioned in the direction of his home. “Yes. My house is the one to the right of this one.” He swallowed hard as the mystery man grabbed his shoulders to begin leading him out. Somehow no one seemed to question his identity, one man asking where he was taking the prisoner, but satisfied with the answer that Janus had ordered him disposed of. The thought alone made his blood run cold, and he stumbled over himself as he was taken outside into the garden. They exited through the back gate into the wetlands behind the house, and only then did the mystery man finally stop and cut the zip tie from his wrists. Tactus let out a sigh of relief, thanking him for his help.

The man simply nodded, and escorted him back to his home. “So... who are you?” Tactus asked, unlocking his back door. “That was pretty amazing, what you did... are you with the government or something?”

“Or something,” the man responded, glancing back toward Janus's house. He ushered Tactus inside when the door was open, closing and locking it behind them. “Your neighbor was not who you thought he was.”

Tactus huffed in frustration, rubbing the marks on his wrists. “Understatement of the century! But still... thank you for getting me out of there. I'd call the police, but they wouldn't believe me... and even if they did, they're useless.” He glanced toward the living room, hearing the tell-tale soft snoring of his twin brother. Still napping on the couch, right where he'd left him. “So what's your name, stranger?”

There was a tentative pause before he received a response. “Tobias.” The man looked out a window, seeing movement at Janus's house – and hearing yelling. “Your neighbor was a man with a lot of enemies... and they just found his corpse in his bathroom.” He pulled away from the window, looking back at Tactus with a frown. “Poisoning, it sounds like.”

“Wait- what?” Tactus's eyes widened, his face going pale. “Y-You can't be serious... p-poisoning? But-”

“You will be blamed for it,” Tobias continued, “Cookies, right? You escaped before the body was discovered. Someone is likely on their way over here now to eliminate you.”

Tactus felt like the room was spinning, holding his head with both hands. “S-Slow down, what are you talking about?! I didn't have anything to do with it-! Why would anyone want... you can't be serious!” He put a hand over his mouth, hearing his brother begin to stir in the living room. If anything were to happen to him... he'd never forgive himself. But this was all just a misunderstanding!

Tobias glanced at a family picture on the wall, then toward the living room. “There is no time to slow down. You and your brother are in danger.” He moved quickly to the front door, making sure that it was locked, then turned to see Tactus's twin sitting up on the couch.

Montage yawned, rubbing his eyes, only to jump suddenly when he saw the stranger in his home. “Merde! What's going on?! Who are you!”

Before Tactus could respond, Tobias pulled out a wallet, flashing them both an identification card neither of them recognized. “My name is Tobias Rieper, and I'm with the CIA.” He put the wallet away with a nod toward their neighbor's house. “Your neighbor, Janus, was a former KGB agent I'd been keeping tabs on, with suspected ties to a terrorist organization. Your brother has unfortunately been accused of murdering him with poison. I realize this is a lot to take in, but if you two want to remain alive, you must come with me.”

The twins were stunned into silence. Tactus's panic overwhelmed him, and he quickly ran to the bathroom to vomit, while Montage shakily got to his feet. “You're serious?” he asked, and the look on Tobias's face told him he was deathly serious. “F... Fuck... are we... are we going into witness protection, or s-something? How do I even know you're telling us the t-truth?”

“Right now, we need to get you away from here and safe. It's only a matter of time until they realize where your brother is and come looking for him.” He motioned to the stairs. “You can pack some essentials, but then we have to go. If you don't believe me, you're welcome to look out your back window.”

Montage swallowed hard, moving to the back window of their home and peering out through the blinds. His eyes widened as he saw what appeared to be men with guns in Janus's back yard, one of which was making his way toward their home. He quickly backed away, scrambling to collect his brother from the bathroom. “Tactus! Tactus, we have to go!” he called, putting his hands on his twin's shoulders. “Please, mon frère, we have to go! You can be sick later!”

After he'd had a moment to catch his breath, Tactus stood and followed his brother upstairs. They packed what few things they could into a duffel bag, then returned to Tobias, who was waiting for them in the living room.

“I'll take you to a hotel and call my superiors from there,” the agent said, “Walk with me and act natural. My car isn't far.”

The brothers nodded and followed him out their front door. Tactus locked it behind them, hoping it would be safe until they could get this all sorted out. Tobias took them down the street, where a sleek black car was parked discreetly on the side of the road. They both hesitated to climb inside, looking at each other nervously.

A voice from behind startled them suddenly. “Hey, where are you three going?” a man called, dressed quite similarly to the disguise Tobias was still wearing. “No one's supposed to leave, there's been an emergency.” When he didn't get a response from the three of them, he started getting irritated. “Did you hear me? And who are those two? What's going on here?!”

Tactus panicked, scrambling into the car and pulling Montage after him. Tobias wasted no time in getting in and slamming on the gas, and soon enough, they were tearing down the street. A loud popping noise startled the twins, and Tactus realized it had been the sound of a gunshot, the bullet hitting the car with a metallic clang. “Oh, god, he shot at us?!” Montage gasped out, looking out the rear window at the diminishing shape of the man who'd caught them. “He shot at us! Like- with a gun!”

“What else would you use to shoot at someone?!” Tactus snapped, then sank down in his seat, his hands over his face. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... I- I'm going to be sick again.”

Throughout it all, Tobias was supernaturally calm. He didn't speak unless spoken to, and even then, his answers were short and not very helpful. He'd been assigned to keep an eye on Janus, got wind of one of his body guards being murdered, and snuck into Janus's home after seeing a mysterious figure climbing in through a window. The twins were in no state to question it, still trying to recover from the shock of being shot at. Soon enough the car fell into complete silence as Tactus and Montage simply tried to process what had just happened.

By the time they finally stopped at a hotel, the sun was going down. Tobias told them to stay in the car while he made a call. When they were alone, Montage finally reached over to pull his brother into a tight hug.

“I'm so sorry!” he choked out, “You were in danger, and I- I had no idea! I was just asleep while you were trapped in that house, and...”

“Shh... it's okay.” Tactus hugged him in return, stroking his hair gently. “It's not your fault. I know you would have come looking for me if you were awake, and... then we both probably would have been in that closet, eh?”

Montage pulled back, sniffling and rubbing at his eyes. “Mhm... but... this Tobias guy... does this seem on the up and up to you?” he looked out the window with a frown, seeing him standing a few paces away and speaking on a cell phone. “It's weird, right? A CIA agent just happened to be keeping an eye on our neighbor the day he dies... and you said he knocked some guy out and stole his clothes? What kind of government suit does that?”

Tactus didn't have a good answer for that. He'd been just going along with everything because he felt he didn't have a choice – being faced with armed men coming to his house to potentially kill him would do that. But now that he had a moment of calm to think, it did strike him as strange. “He showed us his credentials, though,” he said, “M-Maybe we should ask to speak to his superior? I bet they'd be able to provide more information.”

It seemed he wouldn't even have to ask, Tobias returning to the car with his phone in hand. He sat down in the driver's seat again, holding the phone up, and a woman's voice came over the speaker.

“Hello. I apologize, but Agent Rieper did not tell me your names,” she began, sounding a little exasperated. “My name is Agent Burnside, and I am his commanding officer. He has informed me of the situation surrounding Janus and your suspicion in his murder – however, he assures me that you were indisposed at the time of Janus's death. Of course, that won't convince his associates of your innocence.”

Tactus looked relieved to hear from someone else, leaning forward a bit to speak into the phone. “His... associates? You mean those guys in the house with him?”

“Them, and some other, more powerful people that he was in partnership with,” Agent Burnside responded, “Men who operate outside the law. Who won't hesitate to track you down and kill you for what they think you did to Janus. You have unfortunately become the target of people who will spare no expense for revenge.” She paused to let him process that information, then continued. “Agent Rieper will watch over you for now. He is the most familiar with Janus's network of allies, and frankly our most qualified agent to take care of you. If he is with you, you will be safe.”

Montage didn't look convinced, slamming his hand down on the car door. “This is crazy! You expect us to just listen to you? You could be anyone!”

“But they really did try to kill us, frère!” Tactus whimpered, “These people are trying to help!”

Agent Burnside waited a moment, then interjected. “You are right to be suspicious. It is highly unusual, and difficult to believe. I assure you, however, Agent Rieper can verify our identities for you quite easily.” As she spoke, Tobias opened his wallet again, showing them both what appeared to be an official CIA badge. When they'd both had a chance to look, he put it away again. “I will contact you again once I have made arrangements for your transport to a safe location. Until then, I ask that you trust Agent Rieper, and cooperate with him and the local authorities.”

Tobias ended the call, then got out of the car again. He opened the door for Tactus while Montage got out on the other side, motioning toward the hotel. “I'll get us rooms,” he said quietly, “Please come with me. I'd rather not let you out of my sight... just in case.” The hotel was a fair bit more expensive than what Tactus had been expecting, and much to his and Montage's dismay, only one room was available, rather than two. At least it was a room with two beds, but the idea of spending the night with a stranger... their discomfort was obvious.

Regardless, they followed Tobias up to their room, and as soon as he could, Tactus flopped down on one of the beds. He stared up at the ceiling, having had so many anxiety-ridden thoughts that when he finally had the chance to slow down, his mind simply blanked. Montage sat down on the bed next to him, watching Tobias with distrust. “...I guess my bro and I can share a bed,” he said, “This is... really awkward, you know. We don't even know you.”

“I understand.” Tobias sat in a chair in the room's breakfast nook, looking down at his watch. “I would offer to sleep in my car, but that puts me too far away from you in case of emergency.”

Montage's frown deepened. “Do you think they might have followed us or something...?” Tobias simply nodded. “Well... if anything happens, I guess it's better to have you here.”

Tactus pushed himself up, then headed for the room's bathroom. “I'm tired,” he said softly, letting his hair out of its bun. “I'm going to get ready for bed...” He paused in the doorway, looking back at Tobias. “And... thank you again for saving me, Tob... er, Agent Rieper.”

The agent nodded, his expression as blank as ever. “You're welcome.”

#agent 47 #hitman #selfship /#uhhhhhhhhh whats a good tag for my writing #dontfeartherieper originals

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