Being summoned to the Boss' office the first night after moving to a new location, and then on top of that to a new headquarters entirely, wasn't giving Nikita a good feeling.  She made it through the layers of security surrounding Adonis then stood quietly until he had acknowledged her presence.  Waving her forward to have a seat, Nikita moved quickly to do just that.  Her slender hands rested across her lap as she crossed her legs.  Her usual attire consisted mostly of black.  Black boots, black shirt, black pants, and black jacket, when the weather occasionally called for it, was how anyone would see Nikita on a daily basis.

At times she would get dolled up depending on the mission at hand, but her assignments were typically on the stealthy side of things.  Her need to remain invisible, while collecting whatever intelligence was in question, was complimented by her color choice of clothing.  Her straight brown hair, that was well down past her shoulders, was clasped neatly at the nape of her neck.  Nikita sat there awaiting to be told of the reason for this summoning, but didn't rush the Boss.  After a half hour of going over the details, Adonis had dismissed Nikita to sort out whatever she had needed to get done for the assignment.

Nikita closed the door before leaving the Headquarters heading back to her own newly acquired apartment.  She kept the files safely in the folder she was given, on the front seat of her automobile.  Once she had returned home here in Philly, Nikita went to the garage where she had her  Chrysler C7 convertible stowed away for safe keeping while out of the state, and brought it out to grace the streets of South Philly.  Thankfully the weather was a bit cool to have the top open, otherwise the paperwork might be flying all over the streets of Philly on her way home.

A much needed glass of wine was the first thing Nikita sought once she found sanctuary inside the apartment.  She tossed the folder onto the table then poured a glass of white wine.  The meeting kept replaying over in her mind as the wine flowed from the bottle into the glass slowly.

"I have a job for you to handle.  Something happening across town that needs to be investigated and fast.  Tomorrow I need you to locate Itachi_Uchiha, one of my associates, and take him along with you on this assignment.  He can fill you in on the background while you scope things out at the location provided on the paper.   This is just an information gathering, no force or fire power needed.  Report back to me on the happenings at that address tomorrow night.  That is all."

Nikita put the cork back into the wine bottle then set the bottle down with a slightly forceful thud.  She could follow orders perfectly fine, but a partner? Why?  She didn't even have a chance to utter anything more than a simple "Yes, sir" before she was dismissed and sent off.  She sat down finally at the table to open the folder then took a slow sip of the wine to savor the taste, and also to relax herself.  She had no clue who the hell this Itachi person was, or what he was about.  After Nikita spent a couple hours reading every bit of piece of information there was to read, she finally took herself off to bed to get even a shred of decent sleep.  It was just unsettling going on a mission with some unknown associate, even if the boss seemed to recommend the man.  Unfortunately, sleep didn't come easy that night.

The next morning provided no relief whatsoever once she arrived to the Midas Headquarters in order to pick up this Itachi fella.  She didn't even have a chance to go inside the building because he was waiting outside as if she was late or something.  She approached the man, whom had his head down, hair blowing in the slight breeze and covering his face, then inquired in a somewhat borderline irritated tone of voice.

"Itachi Uchiha I presume?  Come on, we gotta get movin'.  Watch yourself in the car, too."

The way Nikita sounded out the name (Eye tac key You chee hah) was obviously the wrong pronunciation, but frankly she did the best she could from how she remembered Adonis saying it last night.  Apparently it wasn't the right way, or either this just wasn't the man deemed to be her partner.  She turned to head to the car, but didn't hear him following, so she turned back glancing over her shoulder.  He finally raised his head to reveal he was a very young man, but he only nodded in reply.

Nikita had sighed before getting into the car earlier thinking this was gonna be anything but fun times.  She put the car in gear then took off to the destination.  Once they arrived, she killed the engine then retrieved the slip of paper from her pocket.  Nikita glanced at the paper in her hands to verify the correct address one final time. 

1129 Rose Alley, east of Third Street

Her first impression yesterday morning upon receiving the information was a soft scoffing sound.  How ironic to be going to a street named after her favorite flower.  It seemed as if she couldn't outrun the memories just yet because at every twist and turn since meeting Adonis that day in the cemetery, Nikita was constantly reminded of Daniel.  She almost, at one point last night, had thought her bossman was playing matchmaker with her and another associate simply because the man was surprisingly a romantic himself. 

Nikita thought she'd be able to bury the past with one final goodbye in the cemetery that day, but nothing had gone according to plan.  She almost made a snorting sound at the thought.  She now found herself paired up with someone she'd never met before today, who apparently worked for the Midas organization, too.  Quite frankly when you meet someone they actually would speak.  Her new designated partner for this assignment was almost a mute because all he did was nod at the initial greeting.  This just wasn't gonna work too well she thought. 

She crumpled the paper into a ball before shoving it inside a pocket then opened the car door, not bothering to give the other person in her car a second glance.  Nikita was comfortable to work alone these days, well to be honest for the past few years now.  Being ordered in a very polite and friendly way, yet one that brooked no arguments, well Nikita was not a happy camper at the moment.  She stood outside the car waiting for the other passenger to get out as well.  He didn't talk much that one, but it was perfectly fine since she didn't care to have idle chit chat right now anyways.  She was solely focused on the mission.

Adonis had become a ball of energy ever since getting a new assignment and setting out on his own little operation. Itachi didn't understand much about it. All he knew was it involved an airport and the moving of narcotics. Neither of these things really interested Itachi so he didn't pay it much mind, but it meant that he had less time on his hands to deal with him or give him work. Itachi was fine with this as it meant that he could get himself more settled in. Amy had begun to help him find a place that he could stay in on his own instead of living out of hotels. Itachi greatly appreciated the little bit of down time as it was a change of pace from the constant work that he was going through. He still managed to stay busy with training and continued to frequent the Bordello but yet didn't take part in any of the activities there. Amy had kidded around with him being like the security of the place and Lexi looked like she was ready to take her seriously and offer him a job.

Itachi assured them both that his protection or any protection of the place he was doing was all on his own and had nothing to do with the arrangement they already had in place with Adonis or the crew. It was one of these day when he was frequenting the Bordello that he received a message from Adonis. There was a new job for him to partake in. This one was with a partner that wasn't Adonis.

Itachi wasn't shocked at all. He knew that with his new position that being in the field would become more of a rarity for his employer. If anything he was surprised that this was his first mission with someone else in the crew other than his employer anyway. The information he received about his partner was the typical kind of information that he could rely on from Adonis. Simple and not very detailed. His partner would be a woman, named Nikita, Adonis had thought they were similar in some respects. That was pretty much the end of the description. Itachi was told that she would be picking him up and he was to assist her in gathering information on a potential problem.

Itachi was to be the one with the knowledge on the people, even though he had the barest bits of information on them and the only thing he did know, were that they were some small time gang and Adonis had killed one of their members when he tried to muscle in on the Bordello. Amy filled him in a bit more after he informed her about having an upcoming job dealing with the shakedown attempt and asking her for more information. Itachi was surprised that Adonis would take such small time problems so serious, but if he had learned anything from his former life it was, if you let a small problem fester long enough it could become a big problem and really cause some damage. In a way Itachi was glad that Adonis had this kind foresight to finish up this potential problem. Plus, even though he wouldn't admit it, he was worried about them coming back to the Bordello, since this is where it all started to begin with.

Itachi geared up properly on the day of the assignment and awaited outside of the new HQ to be picked up by his partner. Since it was a non combat mission, he decided to not wear armor of any sort or the extra protection that would cause him to stand out. Instead, he went with his normal high collar black shirt, and black pants along with his customized sandals. He kept his normal weapons pouch clipped on the back of his waist and a small pouch of throwing knives or kunai taped to his thigh.

Itachi made sure to get there early. He liked to always arrive to missions early when he can, it was a habit he carried over from his past life. He waited for about 20 minutes before Nikita arrived. She didn't seem too keen on working with him if her attitude and demeanor was anything to go by. She even called his name incorrectly, which Itachi chose to ignore. He'd been called worse in his lifetime so that didn't bother him all that much. Itachi lifted his head and gave her a nod before entering her car.

The ride to the location was one in silence. It was borderline tense but only if you focused on it. This, Nikita woman, radiated an aura of not wanting to be bothered. She wasn't much of a team player which Itachi found to be interesting. He wondered why Adonis would think the two of them would make a good team. He didn't know Itachi was from a place the stressed the importance of teamwork, so that couldn't have been it. He was also curious as to why this woman was so against working with him. Lost in his thoughts, Itachi barely was able to recognize the fact that they had arrived. His partner wasted no time exiting the car. She then looked back in on him like she waiting on him.

Itachi quickly snapped back to the present and exited the car himself. He looked at the building that they were supposed to be inspecting. It was a high rising building, more than likely an apartment building. Itachi wondered what kind of business they could be conducting or how they could be holding a meeting there, but he assumed that this would be a long term surveillance kind of mission. Itachi then looked around at surrounding buildings. He took in their entire surroundings, noting what streets would be best to escape on and which ones had easy access points and which on had good hiding spots in case things got hairy.

Itachi's eyes finally came back and settled on the building next door to the one they were supposed to be watching. He kept his eyes on the roof for a minute and then looked back down to the woman he had been sent here to do this mission with.

"I assume we've been sent here to observe the building in question. If such is the case then it would be best to do that from an elevated position. This building neighboring the target building should suffice. It'll keep us hidden from the ground level and unless someone knows to be on the lookout we shouldn't be suspected up there at all. Unless you have a better strategy?" Itachi asked as he looked over to the woman for the first time.

The scowl on her face showed her displeasure as Nikita waited for him to get outta the car finally.  For heaven's sake, this assignment was borderline a babysitting scenario.  What the hell was Adonis thinking? That thought kept rolling through Nikita's mind.  She had him pegged as a smart cookie, but this new development was giving her pause to think that anymore.  Sending her out into the field with someone so young was ludicrous.  Nikita needed a partner that would be able to back her up, not someone SHE would have to go and rescue, should anything go awry, on top of completing the mission.

She had the folder tucked into a small briefcase she'd brought along for the journey, so Nikita opened the door, pulled the seat forward just enough, retrieved the item before shutting the door with a little added force.  She instantly regretted the action because she truly cherished her automobile.  Nikita paused then to inhale deeply before opening her brown eyes to focus on her...partner.  He was busy glancing around as if they were on a sightseeing expedition, or so she thought until he spoke.  His deep voice surprised her a bit, but she hid that fact quite well. She didn't miss how flat and monotone his voice was however, and concluded he wasn't that thrilled to be paired up with her either.  She walked round to the front of the car to hear the rest of what he suggested.

"Well the information I was given indicates there is a vacant room on the 8th floor that would be ideal for the surveillance we need to get done. Being on the rooftop doesn't sound like such a smart idea with the weather as quirky as it is.  The clouds rolling in, and no roof over our heads wouldn't be a good combination.  All we need is a spot to find the said targets."

Her gaze shifted up to the building he was suggesting as their stakeout position, briefly wondering if he even knew what he was talking about, then turned back to find him just staring blankly at her.  She just had an uneasy feeling that this young man would venture off on his own just to throw a wrench in everything.  Nikita blew out a breath in frustration before meeting his unaffected gaze.

"Look Adonis wants you to come along with me, so might wanna take heed of that little fact.  It was his information suggesting we lay low in one of the apartments to observe.  I can acknowledge not every piece of information can have complete merit, but let's give it a looksee before we go off on some tangent climbing another building to the rooftop on a cloudy day.  Well...?"

Itachi blinked blankly at the woman that was in front of him. He had multiple questions in his mind but he figured that it wouldn't be appropriate to ask them all out loud. She apparently had a wealth of information about the targets and the building they were supposed to be observing. That was new, considering Adonis and details didn't seem to get along that well. At least, that was from his experiences with the man. Secondly she also would seem to get along with Adonis as well, seeing as she had all these details and possibly more, and was yet to share any of them with him. Third, he had to wonder about this woman's professionalism. Cloudy weather? Really? Or maybe his dedication to his mission was just much more than the normal dedication here. He wouldn't question her too much on that then.

He looked up at the building they were supposed to be keeping an eye on. He looked around it to see if he could envision the layout of it in his minds eye. He then looked back to the woman and couldn't help himself.

"Nikita-san, is cloudy weather really enough to stop you from properly completing this assignment? Why would we need to get closer to the target building if we can observe and extract the same amount of data and information from a safe distance?" Itachi asked in his same even tone. 

He was trying to make it clear that he was not mocking her but instead just asking a question out of curiosity. Seeing the look of irritation on this woman's face not fading he moved to cut her off before she could offer a rebuttal.

"Adonis-san.... No, Leader-sama has tried his best to give you the proper tools and information to carry out this task, but he couldn't account for my own skills and abilities. There are ways to keep an eye on the occupants in the building without getting too close ourselves. The roof on that building would be the best way to keep an eye on the street level without drawing suspicion, and at the same time keep an eye on the occupants inside the building too. While I'm watching the happenings of the inside you can be taking note or memorizing if anyone of note arrives outside the building and what kinda of cars they arrived in, in case we need to tail or later pursue them for one reason or another." Itachi suggested.

He then took a moment to think if he left anything out or missed a step in explaining himself, but then decided he hadn't.

"If this doesn't sound feasible to you then we are more than welcome to try it your way. I just offer up a safer suggestion that takes into account both our abilities and also provides an extra layer of safety, where we're less likely to get tangled up or blindsided by some trap. And should we get into a situation, we'll certainly have more room to maneuver on the top of the roof than we would inside an apartment building." Itachi stated like it was a common fact.

He then stood there and remained silent to see how the woman would respond.

Nikita stared in bewilderment at Itachi.  For one thing, if Adonis didn't take into account this associate's skills then what the hell did he send him along, moreso tag along with her in the first place?  She was a more by-the-book kinda gal, and the information had suggested the empty room in the apartment building, yet this plan as Itachi explained into a little more detail didn't sound extremely dreadful either.  She almost made a scoffing sound for the umpteenth time this morning already because she just wasn't in a mood to admit out loud this youngster could possibly have a decent plan.

She also couldn't fathom how Itachi was in any way capable of giving assistance should they find theirselves in any dilemma, albeit in the open area rooftop or inside a building.  Her brown eyes shifted upwards towards the rooftop once more before sighing softly, but not in defeat. Nikita didn't enjoy working with partners, especially people she didn't know a thing about, but the mission came first right now.  

"What's with this san and sama stuff anyways?

Before he had a chance to answer, sounds of footsteps approaching alerted them both to a stranger's presence lurking near the trunk of her convertible, moving closer then sliding one hand gently across the top of the convertible cover.

"Hey lady!  Whatchu doin' over here in this neighborhood with a fancy ride like this?  Did you pick this beaut up at Big Tom's place a couple streets over?"

Nikita stood there glaring at the man's intrusive nature then relaxed her features somewhat, and adjusted her tone to sound sweet and innocent. She set the briefcase on the hood of the car then turned towards Itachi with a smile as she asked loud enough the stranger was able to hear her.

"Isn't that the place we got it from doll?"

She didn't really give Itachi much time to reply with anything but a nod before Nikita turned to the stranger shrugging her shoulders with a slight forgetful expression, hoping to play up the part of just being a typical female not knowing jackshit about cars and whatnot.  The stranger seemed to be all smiles in return wanting to know how much she paid for it, how long she'd had it, etc.  Once he shut the hell up, Nikita clasped her hands togetherwhile keeping her bright smile.  She leaned in just a tad to be all conspiratoral-like as she asked.

"Any idea where I can park this gorgeous thing here?  I'd hate to leave it out on the street in this neighborhood ya know.  I just got it and everythingg."

Nikita gave a slight pout then gave a cursory glance to the car then back to the man's gaze.  He was all too cheerful as he suggested in the parking garage for the apartments right across the street.  Both apartments were own by the same person, so either garge would be fine he told her.  

"Ooh thank you very much."

Nikita glanced to Itachi to get back into the car, collected the briefcase, opened the door and placing it back in the car then got in front seat. She cranked it up, put it into drive then made off at a slow and steady crawl to the second apartment building, where they would be setting up for the stakeout.  She grabbed the briefcase from the backseat once more then closed the driver side door with a gentle push.  Nikita could tell Itachi was itching to blurt out some kind of comment in regards to her little display back there.  They were both standing outisde facing each other on opposite sides of the convertible.

"Fine.  We will scope out the rooftop, but if the view isn't adequate we will be relocating to the abandoned apartment suite.  Let's go."

Finally ready to be on the move, Nikita went to the rear of the car to retrieve the duffel bag from the trunk, not bothering to wait just then for his response.  Shutting the trunk as quiet as possible, so not to draw any unwanted attention to their presence from any onlookers, Nikita nodded in Itachi's direction to let it be known she was ready.  She paused once she got past the front of the car since he had yet to move from his place beside the passenger car door.

Itachi was completely lost if he was being honest with himself. It was his belief that if a lesser man was in his position at this time, their head would be spinning right now, due to the quickness the woman next to him changed her attitude. One minute she was seemingly combative and standoffish with him, then the next, another gentleman comes over and begins to speak with them about the car she had drove. Then all of a sudden, the woman started acting a bit...Weird.

It was like a switch was flipped. She begun to act extremely girly all of a sudden toward the new stranger who entered into the equation. Itachi couldn't really help the way his mind raced on the best ways to deal with this person and who this person could be. He also wondered why he could be approaching them. Was he just some random passerby who frequented the neighborhood, or was he one of the people stationed there to keep an eye on who might be hanging around this gang's supposed hangout? Either way, Itachi apparently wouldn't be dealing with the man in any capacity, as it seemed Nikita fully had the situation all under control.

She did leave him confused by her approach of using him to be some kind of friend or lover to her and then all of a sudden being all friendly and cordial with the stranger. Itachi had seen many acts of deceit in his lifetime, and he had to admit this was a pretty good one. Not to mention it averted any violence or altering of anyone's mental faculties. If he were more of a smiling man he would allow the smile to show on his face. Instead he only allowed his lip to twitch slightly, where it was unseen, but he was certainly impressed by this woman's methods. Maybe he was wrong about her in his initial thoughts after all. It would be pleasant to have thought wrong of someone in this instance.

Before he knew it she had diffused the situation and turned to him, agreeing with his plan to use the roof as the place to set up their reconnaissance. That came as a relief as he was expecting more resistance, but was glad she would allow his plan to be the one to be used. She had all this gear with her that he honestly wondered what it could be used for, but he refrained from asking her about it for the time being. Itachi quickly scanned over the building with his eyes, like he was looking for something exact. He spent a few seconds just standing there looking it over. After he seemingly finished he raised two fingers right in front of his chest and closed his eyes. He stood still, just holding his hand with two fingers up for a few seconds before a cawing sound was heard.

A crow began to circle the duo up in the air above there heads. It continued to do so until Itachi moved his head to look up at the bird. Once the bird saw Itachi looking at it, it then flew down to land in front of Itachi on the ground. The bird cocked it's head to the side looking at Itachi and Nikita in almost confusion.

"I need you to keep an eye out on this building while we climb it. Scout the perimeter and give me two sounds if you see anything noteworthy, understand?" Itachi said to the bird.

The bird seemed to have nodded, but if one was watching closely enough, you would've seen that the bird pecked at its chest quickly to make it look like a nod.

"Good, now go." Itachi ordered.

The bird then took off from the ground, and began to follow Itachi's orders circling the building they soon planned to climb. It did about 6 or 7 loops around the building, before returning to Itachi and landing in front of him. It wildly seemed to shake its head and caw only once, before cocking its head to the side again and looking to Itachi before staring at Nikita. Itachi nodded and then turned to Nikita.

"The building is clear. We should be able to access the roof through the top door with no problem Nikita-san." Itachi announced before he paused as if remembering something.

"Oh, I see you're of Asian decent, but seeing as you're not familiar with honorifics, I take it you're not Japanese, or at least not originally from there. The honorific, san, is one of basic respect. It's the way one refers to another where I'm from respectfully, like Mr. or Ms. around these parts. The honorific, sama, is one that you use to refer to someone with greater status than you such as a leader or a master. There are other variations but to save us from going into a full on lesson about it, that should just about sum up the basics." Itachi informed her and then turned back to the crow.

Itachi pointed up to the roof.

"Meet us up there. Go." Itachi ordered simply before turning back to Nikita. "I'll lead the way up."

As soon as he made his first step toward the building, the crow took off heading up to the roof.  He had no idea what she thought of him now, he even asked himself why he even cared, maybe part of it was because he wanted to keep his abilities for the most part, truly hidden. Maybe she just thought he was crazy for thinking he could talk to a crow? He was fine with that, he'd seen it back in his own home, people more often than not, feared what they didn't understand, feared what wasn't considered normal to them. That fear caused a lot of foolish things to happen. Antagonizing a country's greatest defense, a savior, instead of praising it and cherishing it. He had seen firsthand, people's fear cause them to do very ridiculous things.

He held the door open for Nikita to enter after him. Whatever her thoughts about him were, she was at least willing to see the job through still. Once she took the door from him, he then proceeded to lead the way to the top floor, where they searched and finally found the door leading out to the roof.

They made it with no incidents, and Itachi went over to the ledge. He made sure that the crow was there and ready to go. Itachi reached into his pouch that was on the back of his hip, and pulled out a few seeds to feed to the bird. After making sure the bird had eaten some of the seeds and brushing the rest off his hands, he turned back to Nikita. He blinked to see her ruffling through her duffel bag.

"I've been meaning to ask, Nikita-san, what exactly is it inside the bag and the briefcase that's so important you had to bring it along?" Itachi asked.

'Great.'  She thought.  Nikita watched in silence as he carried on with what appeared to be an interactive conversation with ...a crow.  At first she wasn't quite sure what to expect from this young man, and for a brief moment she sent a silent cursing to her boss for pairing her up with a looney toon like this.  It is what it is though she now thought, so might as well get this assignment over with, and report back to the boss with the findings of this troublesome group they're gonna be observing today.

Just when the conversation had stopped, he turned towards Nikita as if suddenly remembering she was there too, watching all of it going on then explained the san and sama meanings.  It wasn't a great secret of her heritage descendants, just not a lot of information regarding her parents, but he was in fact correct that she wasn't Japanese.  Nikita did find the honorifics he described to be a bit interesting, and appreciated the explanations then found herself to explain about her heritage for some reason, perhaps to make conversation.

"My father was Polish and Irish while my mother was Vietnamese; however, I am entirely American."

Nikita didn't really expand much on the subject, and grew quiet, especially since she didn't remember much about her parents in the first place.  She kept a firm grip on each of the items she carried as they made it to the rooftop without anything going wrong, or anyone stopping them again.  Nikita didn't bothering answering Itachi's question regarding the duffel bag, and just had given him an arched eyebrow for even asking. It made her wonder how many assignments this young man had even ever been on then if he had to ask.  Once they made it through the rooftop door, he walked over to the ledge, and for a moment she thought he was just surveying the area until the crow reappeared.

With a deep sigh, Nikita glanced around seeing where best to set up that wouldn't attract any attention, and be out of sight from any and every possible mishap waiting to happen.  One never knew how a mission would turn out, so being prepared from the get-go was imperative for her. She didn't believe there would be anyone lurking about on the rooftop, nor on the surrounding buildings, so the fact there wasn't a shed or any kind of storage building up here wasn't ideal.  They would for the most part be out in the open without any protection from attack, but she's been in worse situations, and alone as well.

Nikita placed the duffel bag near the ledge then crouched down to open the briefcase.  The weather was calm thankfully, despite the cloudy skies, so she didn't need to worry about the winds carrying off any paperwork.  She wondered briefly to just let him read the information himself, or make some attempt at conversation.  Nikita chose the latter.

"It seems the men working for Jacob Kingsley, Sr., head of the Kingsmen, didn't take kindly to the fact their employer was killed by Mr. Adonis sometime back.  His son, Jacob Kingsley, Jr., street name J.J., had some sort of plan to get back at Adonis some time ago, but failed misearbly when he met up with our boss.  Mr. Adonis mentioned you were present at the time, and something about a cue stick used for interrogation purposes gone wrong."

She looked up from the paper to arch an eyebrow in curiosity at the young man near her with interest about this story, but continued on with the rest.

"Now there are some rumblings being heard about retaliation for both father and son's deaths. Talks about his crew taking things into their own hands to get revenge for the deaths,  'Hitting Joey where it hurts' was something said in passing.  We were sent to scout out this meeting to take place today at this location, take notice of how many people attend, any notable or familiar faces.  Not that I'd know anyone here in Philly, so not sure how that'll be much help."

Laughing softly in an almost sarcastic tone, Nikita held a smirk on her face as she put the papers back into the briefcase, closing it then setting it near the duffel bag.  She propped an elbow onto the ledge taking a glance down to the street, seeing the front of the apartment building next door, as well as down into the small alleyway between the buildings.

"Too bad you can't send your lil' birdie friend there to go eavesdrop later on this meeting.  Anyways, that's about the..."

Nikita stopped mid-sentence when she noticed a couple cars rolling to a stop across the street from the apartment building. She opened the duffel bag, retrieved the custom-made monoscope then focused on the men below, getting a good look at each one.  Eight men in total got out of both cars, but only six of the men came down the alleyway below where Itachi and Nikita were located.  Two of the men were arguing rambunctiously.

"I told yas that Joey guy was no good.  Can't trust people."

"Mannnn I told ya already!  Petey was there he saw it all!  How that Adonis fella thought he was the shit by shoving a cue stick down J.J.'s throat.  Petey was in the bar, but ran once all the chaos began, came straight to us and warned us about what was going on.  Don't you pay attention to nothin'?"

One of the other men that was silent leaned over to the ones talking, said something quietly which shut the men up completely before all six men went inside.  The remaining two men were scanning the streets left and right then after about five minutes headed inside themselves having concluded no danger was lurking about.

"Guess these are the right thugs to be watching."

Nikita rested against the ledge only for a minute then began scanning the apartment windows waiting to see which one lit up with any lights or movements from inside.

Itachi listened to her intently as she gave the rundown and the details of the mission and what exactly they were there for. He was relieved that she had done that, even if she didn't seem to want to talk all that much. He didn't mind being silent and focusing solely on the job at hand, but she still had somewhat of an attitude that he was more of a bother than an actual help or asset to this assignment. The feeling wasn't new to Itachi but it wasn't one he was trying to get used to here either. He also made a note about how she spoke about her ethnic background briefly. To be honest, hailing from a very small part of Japan, he had a lot to learn about the world outside it as a whole. He was learning about America as he was in it, and traveled across it, but most of it was self taught.

He took notes of names and organizations that she went over pertaining to this job, which actually had a link and a connection with a previous job. Itachi's eyes widened slightly when she mentioned a father and son duo murdered by Adonis was what had sparked this smaller organization into action. Some pieces of intel got crossed up, but that was a normality when it came to dealing in information from sources or sometimes even gathering intel on your own.

It would seem that Adonis had killed the leader of this gang, along with his son and now they were out to make an even bigger impact in the form of retaliation. This certainly was not good news. Itachi had begun to somewhat tune Nikita out as she continued to go on, but he heard her make a comment about sending his bird to listen in on this meeting. That was a good idea and one that he had planned on using already, but he was sure she was being snide. As he begun to compliment her plan, he heard loud voices coming in from street level, and seen Nikita take out some kind of device out of her bag that she held up to her eye. Itachi again turned to the crow that was still awaiting orders on the ledge of the roof. He pointed to the building across from them and the bird looked to where he was pointing before turning back to him.

"I need you to scout out that building using the windows. There'll be a gathering of men in one of those rooms. I need you to get as close as you can without being detected and listen to what you can. Now go." Itachi again ordered.

The bird obeyed seeing as, it took flight as soon as Itachi shooed it away. Itachi then turned to Nikita to notice that she was still observing the street level with her eye device. Itachi eyes flashed red briefly, but he made sure Nikita's attention was diverted before he did it. He was able to quickly see that there was no one giving off energy from the level of the street anymore meaning the people must have went inside. His observation was proved true as Nikita put down her device and turned to look at the building across from them as well.

"You're idea was genius, Nikita-san. I sent the crow to the building we're observing to find out where the meeting is being held, and also to listen into the meeting and tell us what is being discussed." Itachi informed.

He knew she must really find him odd, if not a stronger adjective, but he figured he should explain to her a bit about his methods, so she didn't see him as a complete loon.

"I know what you must think. Let me tell you this though, animals of all kinds, are a lot more intelligent than we as humans, give them credit for. I've first hand seen many animals outsmart not only each other but humans as well. Did you know back in ancient times, Egyptians and others used to use Falcons and Eagles to scout ahead for them, when they couldn't see upcoming terrain themselves. Also I'm sure you've heard of carrier pigeons as well." Itachi said. 

"These particular birds that I use aren't your normal variety of birds. They're smarter and more importantly, trained to do certain things and handle certain situations, that you wouldn't expect a normal bird, or even a normal animal to handle. He won't be able to tell us word for word exactly what they're saying in there, but he will be able to tell us if they mean harm or have bad intentions. I believe that should be enough for us to bring back to leader-sama right?" Itachi asked.

Talk about boring times.  This mission she was on might as well been a solo mission, for as much talking the two people on the rooftop managed to struggle out.  Nikita thought he did more amicable talks with the black crow than he did to her, but to be honest she wasn't that irritated with the silence.  It was just unusual to have such a quiet stakeout with a partner.  Speak of the feathered friend, the crow flew back to land on the ledge in front of Itachi for a few minutes as if giving an update.  From the looks of things, she wasn't entirely too sure though, but it appeared as if the men were indeed up to no good.  Itachi sent the crow back off for another attempt to gain more information.

The time dragged on by with extreme slowness, so Nikita took advantage of the time at one point to use the scope to I.D. of the license plates on both vehicles.  They were probably fakes, but they'd cross that road when it came to it.  About a hour and a half had passed since the crow left for a second time before three of the men came barreling out of the side door of the apartment building.  Their cautious glances around the alleyway obviously made them feel secure enough, thinking there were no eavesdroppers, so they could continue their discussion from the meeting.

"You did good though Petey.  Comin' straight away to us an' all that.  Now ole Joey boy is gonna get his...realllll soooon."  

Eddie practically rubbed his hands together in excitement at his words.

"Eddie you sure about that though?  That Adonis fella is pretty well guarded.  You ain't seen his bodyguards!"  

Petey countered then turned to get Leo's reaction to Eddie's words as well.

"Whatcha thinkin' Leo?  Think Eddie has a point?"

Leo shrugged in reply then turned his head to spit, the splattering sound of his chewing tobacco juices hitting the dumpster was about the only sounds he bothered making.

Their voices suddenly began to fade as they walked off towards the cars.  Within about twenty minutes, the remaining five men had exited the building then headed to the cars as well.  Nikita tucked the scope back into the duffel bag, a little sad in a way that no action had taken place this day, but who knows the day is still not over.  She kept her tone low until the men had gotten inside the automobiles, all the doors noisily shut as if they didn't have a care in the world to worry about in this neighborhood, then addressed Itachi.

"Alright.  Let's go.  I need to let Adonis know these guys are in fact planning something soon, so he can be on the lookout."