Out of the Mouth of Babes

First Name: Vega

Last Name: ???

Age: 25

Gender: F

Wanted for: Grand larceny, arson, false impersonation, terrorism, tax evasion

Subject is known to be highly unpredictable. She leads an organization that’s said to number in the thousands who do her bidding without question. She is a threat to the safety of this world. She must be eliminated at all costs.

I run through Vega’s file in my head again as she makes her way across the street to where I’m standing. I feel my mind racing a mile a minute, trying to plan out my next course of action. I can’t make a scene., t There are too many civilians present.

But I can’t just make a break for it, either, especially with her so rapidly closing the distance between us. And to make matters worse, my brother is here. He should be done checking out by now; - so if I don’t hurry, Vega might make contact with him.The last thing I want is for her to put a name and face to any of my loved ones.

Mind made up, I square my shoulders and prepare to dash into the store to at least get Adler out, but —

"Bwah!"

I look down and see that my little brother has rammed straight into me. Panic starts to settle in as he gathers his bearings and allows his gaze to drift to the person behind me.

“Well hello there, stranger!”

I can feel my shoulders stiffen at the sound of her voice. I don’t want to turn around. I don’t want to acknowledge her. But my brother is looking up at me, confused.

“Kuya, who’s that?”

Now it’s Vega’s turn to sound confused. “Kuya? I thought your name was Altair?”

“It is,” Adler helpfully supplies without waiting for me to respond, “‘ Kuya’ just means ‘big brother’ in Filipino.”

“Oh, I see. So that would make you his younger brother!”

I can’t keep putting it off. I turn around to finally properly address Vega.

“Hey Vega, out doing errands again? You must be in a rush.

“Nah, I always have time to talk to a friend!”

“Friend?” I hear Adler ask before tugging on the end of my shirt with a bit too much force. “You made a new friend?! That’s great! And here I thought Cobalt and Pastor Micah were your only friends!”

I can feel my face start to heat up in embarrassment.

“Th-that’s not true! I have other friends besides those guys!”

“Like who? Lola Rosario? I don’t think she really counts, she’s practically family.”

“No, not just her! Like, uh-“

It’s true, I do have other friends, albeit not very many. The problem is they’re scattered across the globe, so I can only see them every so often. Plus, I can only tell my family so much about my work. Among those that I include within my social circle, Cobalt, Pastor Micah, and Aquino are really the only ones stationed close to my home town. But if I tried to come up with excuses, that would just make me look more desperate and pathetic. As I struggle to come up with a reply, Vega cuts into the conversation for me.

“I’m sure your older brother has tons of other friends! He’s probably just too shy to introduce all of them to his family!”

I really don’t know how I should feel about someone I’m targeting trying to defend me like this...Especially since we’re scheduled to have a duel later. Is this her way of sizing me up? No, focus! I need to extract Adler from this situation. Vega’s file describes her as being highly unpredictable, so I need to be prepared for anything. I force on a smile.

“Well, we have places to be. We can just catch up later!”

Vega, for whatever reason, seems to brighten up suddenly.

“Oh, right! I did promise to take you out later today!”

Oh, shoot. Wrong move. Now Adler’s looking at me with an alarmed expression. Despite his age, even he understands what the expression “take you out” can mean.

“Kuya, this girl’s…taking you out?”

I nod dumbly, unable to immediately think up an excuse on the spot.

“…And do Mom and Dad know?”

Of course I wouldn’t tell them! I don’t want them to worry needlessly…is what I want to say. But Vega interrupts me before I can think of anything to say next.

“O-oh, parents, huh? Yeah, I don’t think I brought it up with mine, either, ha ha…”

Weird, to my knowledge. Vega’s parents aren’t involved in her criminal activities. So why would it matter if they knew who she was about to take out next?

Adler looks between the two of us, still clearly confused.

“Huh, well, you’re both consenting adults, so I guess it’s okay.”

Consenting adults? Where did he learn that term? But I suppose it’s true, we both did agree to this duel. So we’ll both just have to face it like proper adults.

“Woah, you’re brother’s got quite the vocabulary,” Vega says, echoing my thoughts.

“Kuya’s right, though. We do have to get going. I promised my friends I’d show them my new topper, and they’re probably already waiting for me!”

As we say our surprisingly civil good-byes and go our separate ways, my brother beckons me to lean in close and whisper in my ear.

“I didn’t think she’d be your type.”

He doesn’t elaborate, which leaves me feeling perplexed. Type of what? Target? Considering my age gap with Adler, I feel too embarrassed to ask for clarification, so I decide to let it go for now and focus on my mission.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

The cafe is small and unassuming. It’s dimly lit when I enter, with soft jazz music playing in the background. There’s no one inside except for a few members of the staff. I’ve been in this situation before, and honestly, I’m glad. The less civilians present, the better.

I scan the room until I spot her. She’s seated at a table lit by an aromatic candle. Normally, she’s dressed in baggy t-shirts and pants, but today, she has on a sharp, black suit. Her normally messy hair is smoothed down, though a few stray hairs still stick out.

So she’s the type of villain that likes to dress for the occasion, huh? Well, she’s not the only one. I myself decided to come in dressed in the suit that I usually reserve for missions.

Vega notices me before I even call out to her and her eyes seem to widen. It’s hard to tell with how dimly lit the cafe is, but I could have sworn she was blushing. But why would she be blushing?

“Oh, Altair! You’re here!”

“Well, we did agree on 6 pm, on the dot, right?”

“Ah ha ha, yeah…Sorry, I’m a little bit nervous. I’ve never been on a date before so….”

I nod. “Oh, don’t worry about it. I also haven’t —“