Disclaimer: Weiss Kreuz belongs to Koyasu Takehito and others

beta'd by Sybil Rowan

Even this underground parking lot wasn't free from the tinny echo of pre-recorded Christmas carols. Their rhythm was fiercely out of sync with the faint pulse of its over-bright fluorescents. That wasn't why Manx was frowning.

Christmas was always a bad time. Bad at her day job, when so many men seemed to think they were entitled to a free grope as a Christmas bonus. Bad for Weiss. Their day job swamped them, and targets started breaking pattern.

So did Weiss. Each one was disturbed by Christmas. The elder had their memories, but the youngest wanted something which Christmas tried to promise. The ninety nine per cent commercial hype was bad enough, but the remaining one per cent was the real trouble.

She stood in the corner of the garage nearest the right parking space. A dozen large, gaudily wrapped packages were piled beside her. She hoped she looked like a woman waiting for a taxi or a husband.

While she was there, a few car owners passed. If they saw her at all, they took no notice of her. And if they'd tried, they wouldn't have been able to distinguish much beneath the layers of winter wrapping.

At last the right people appeared. There was the loving mother, and all three children, delighted at this evening shopping trip. They were young children, and very cute. Manx could see why Omi would want to protect them. Why he'd told their father, who was by no means the darkest of Weiss' dark beasts, that if he reformed he would be allowed to live.

The father himself looked amazingly relaxed for someone who'd had Balinese' wire round his neck the night before last. He was listening carefully to his youngest's babble, and Manx had a sudden impulse just to let him pass. But Omi...

She stepped out of the shadows and called out to him, "Jun, you two-timing bastard!" She raised her hand. The gun was so small none of the family would be sure what it was until too late.

Now there were four Weiss, Omi was no longer absolutely essential.

All the bullets hit the target. They were too light to be relied upon to pierce the skull, she emptied the whole clip into the neck. The blood sprayed out, onto every member of his family. The youngest one stood staring at his father's body as it fell. He looked so like Omi just then. His mother began to scream.

Schuuichi wouldn't stand for disobedience. He was angry enough when she'd told him the first try had failed. The man who'd made Omi kill his own dog as a test would kill Omi. Manx didn't know if he'd do it himself or have another Weiss do it. Or her. She was Schuuichi's most obedient servant, it might be her.

Manx took three steps back. When she was sure no one could catch up with her, she walked fast toward the handy emergency exit. Before she stepped through she saw the elder boy manage to focus on her. He tried to chase her, but his legs were still too shaky for him to walk properly.

Outside. Dark, cold, and no one watching. Down to the subway. Now even more safely hidden in the crowd of tired commuters.

But if the target was killed by a discarded mistress before Weiss could try again, Persia couldn't complain.

Manx got onto the train, one more homeward bound passenger in a long line of them. She stood out because she wasn't carrying anything. Perhaps she should stop off and get Omi another present. A present where the red was only cheap, dyed paper, and less likely to be destroyed soon...

But that would be sentimental. Manx told herself she didn't do sentiment.

FIN