Chapter 8: Poker

Roi's Pov:

I was on another mission like any other day. This one called for me to take out an Administration member. This was a mission that required everyone. The first group mission of the year. I was on Liam's lap and he was kissing up and down my neck which didn't help for my concentration. But that's all he does lately. He kisses the same spot on my neck and then keeps me in his arms. I thought on this mission he was going to look at other girls or even flirt a little but nope. Liam stuck close by me and he didn't dare look at anyone else but me. I couldn't even get him to detach himself from my side.

"Check." I said. I watched as the dealer turned over a card and I nodded my head. Everyone else tapped out which left me and our target. I know he knows it's me. I know he has eyes on me as we speak. I know he's notified them all that we're here. But what he doesn't know is that I'm going to take all of his chips and then we had to get rid of him and get the fuck out of here at the same time.

Liam's hands rubbed my waist and I readjusted myself and then continued playing. The game was intense and we had attracted a small crowd. He turned over his cards.

"Straight Flush." He said with a smirk on his face but if he was keeping track of the cards then he should know he lost.

"Royal." I said and the whole room gasped. It rarely happened in the games I've played but I was extremely lucky tonight. Liam kissed my back and let me stand up. He hugged me and gave me a kiss as I did a fake girlie cheer for myself. Then I collected all of his chips into my bucket and Liam and I walked away. We met up with Anna, Ned, and Lyle and went to walk away. Anna and I went to the bathroom and Lyle stayed with Ned and Liam.

We took out our duffle bags and changed our clothes. We went from sexy casino gowns to bad ass bitches in 2.5 seconds. Anna and I had on our black long sleeved jumpsuits with our combat boots on. I had a gun clipped to my thigh along with two knife holders going down my left leg. Then I had a utility belt around my waist with mini explosives. They weren't powerful enough to bring the building down but maybe to do a bit of damage to the appropriate target.

"We move in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6,-" We put on our bandanas and left them around our necks. "3,2…BANG!" Anna and I ran out of the bathroom and left our duffle bags in the appropriate places. We went towards the commotion and we were in the middle of the war.

"Everyone vacate the premises!" Someone yelled and me and Anna looked at each other before we duck and rolled through the middle of the floor. I fought against the crowd and Anna took out the head guard which gave our boys some help in holding down the formation. I ran towards danger on purpose and ripped out my gun. I fell back as one of them tried to grab me and ducked. He crashed into the door and I used that as my cue to keep running. I ran all the way into the hotel and caught the elevator. By now they had gotten word that I was on the run and most of the attention was on me since I was uncontained.

"Hey!" I bolted as soon as the elevators doors opened. Needleman Anna's target was on my ass. This wasn't supposed to happen but shit I was just going to have to do my job and take him out. We might not get my target but fuck it! We had to get someone. Working for Needleman was the worst. He treated us like real shit and is known throughout our small circle as discriminatory. We had Sandra Teleone. One of his own creations. She's known for standing up against the administration and it's racism against clone's of color. It was so big it made it to the media. She was one of the marks that administration could never erase from time or history. Her operations were eventually shut down and everyone who went "Rogue" with her was terminated. She was used as an example of what happened to us if we disobeyed but right about now she was my biggest inspiration. A lot of us started to come out and almost every month I meet a new ex-administered clone and I'm finding out that there are a lot of us that have made it out.

I took a right and ran down the stairs. Once I gained distance Needleman came at me. I toppled over and fell but swiftly got up and kicked him in the face. I made a move for him to strut his stuff. He made a move for my stomach but I moved out of the way and punched him in the face. His head snapped back in a sickening crack and he fell backwards and off the side of the railing. As he dropped to the next few rungs I saw a few more administrative swat come.

It was about 10 to one and so far I was doing alright besides a few hits. I tossed one over my shoulder and I was grabbed by one of the guards and lifted. I used this to my advantage and kicked one in the face. It was when I felt a shot to the arm that I knew they were closing in on me. I hissed and the pain was excruciating. I felt my mouth salivate and my vision was going in and out. I shook off the sleepiness and threw my first little bomb. It erupted on contact with the floor and I knew my job was done. The landing fell and on impact everyone was knocked out. As soon as I came to enough, I hobbled out of there and used this time to keep running This is where I ran into my target. Sykes Senior. I took out my gun but he shot me first and I felt my vision go in and out again.

I decided to run. I needed to gain space to observe. Then I could attack. I ran through the halls and this man was on my ass as if he was Sykes Junior. He shot me again and I felt myself limping. This time I was seeing red and after several moments at a standstill that's all I saw and what happened next was a bit of a blur.

Anna's Pov:

Everything was almost in shambles. I hadn't seen Needleman or Sykes Senior and everywhere I looked Roi wasn't around. Nothing was going as we planned it. I saw Liam and I crept up next to him.

"Get anything from her?" I whispered.

"None. She isn't responding"

"Liam we have to go. The police are closing in on us." Ned pointed out.

"But we can't find Roi!" I exclaimed.

"I know but it's too risky." Liam wanted to protest. I was waiting for him to.

"Ned's right. We have to go Anna."

"But-"

"We have to go." He stood up and shoved me towards Ned who picked me up over his shoulder. There was a loud bang coming from the stairwell. The whole floor shook and we looked at eachother.

"Ignore it. Let's go." Liam said.

"But that could be Roi!" I shouted.

"Let's go. Roi will understand." Ned snapped. The two whisked me out into the chaotic lobby and we ran to the van.

"Where's Roi!?" Lyle shouted.

"No time for that. Step on it." Ned sat me on his lap.

"What? You've lost it man."

"Just step on it!" Liam yelled and Lyle just did as he was told. We couldn't hold on any longer. I don't cry, I've never cried. But today was my first. Ned cradled the back of my head as I let a few tears out.

"She'll be fine Anna." He comforted me.

"We just gave her to the ops!" I cried.

"We don't know that. Just try to relax Anna." I looked over to Liam who seemed to be as equally worried as I am. He stared out of the window of the van. His back tense and his arms crossed over his chest. "She needed to be with him." I thought to myself.

Roi deserved to be happy and safe and whether she knew it or not she was like that with Liam.