Chapter III: Reunion
With his mouth agape, L.X. instinctively reached to his side to draw a pistol that wasn’t there. It had been months since he had carried a firearm but his habit of quick drawing had become muscle memory. Meetings between the two men usually began with gunfire and ended in an elaborate escape. Not this time. This time L.X. was in the lion’s den. The lion that he believed to had successfully killed a year and a half ago. The lion that once bore his mighty claws against him had just saved him in a street fight. “Feeling edgy, L.X.?” Aldo said with a chuckle. L.X. was frozen with his shooting hand at his side. “Please sit. We have much to talk about,” Aldo said whilst gesturing to a wooden chair. Still standing, L.X. opened his mouth to speak, “Tokyo 2021.” “Like I said, we have a lot to talk about. Now please, would you sit down?” Aldo asked. L.X. was beginning to go into shock. The tension that had been lifted from his shoulders dropped back on him with a force tenfold. He reached for the chair to sit, but his hand grabbed air. The room began spinning and L.X. struggled to stand. He opened his lips and let out a sound similar to that of gasp then promptly passed out onto the floor.
His consciousness faded in and out. He could hear the faint sound of a woman speaking Arabic. He desperately tried to awake from this haze but he couldn’t shake it. His vision was blurred but he could see well enough to make out a few objects. It looked like he was in a hospital room. He managed to turn his head to the left and saw a man wearing what looked like a doctor’s coat. He reached his arm out to the man then blacked out again.
L.X. lay sleeping on his hospital bed in an ill lit room. Aldo sat next to L.X.’s bed with a blank look on his face. In his hand he held L.X.’s folder. Aldo peered down at the folder with a cocky smile. “It has been quite some time, L.X.” Aldo said to himself. He opened the folder and began rapidly flipping through documents; he knew exactly what he was looking for. His eyes scanned the titles of the documents until he found it. Tokyo. He pulled the sheet of paper out and tossed the folder on the floor. Most of the print on the paper had been blacked out. “Tokyo 2021. Agent Aaron. Shipyard. Aldo Armani. Status: Incapacitated,” Aldo read from the paper. His left hand subconsciously reached to the scar on his chest. “It was a cold night,” L.X. said looking over at Aldo. “Raining too,” Aldo said still looking at the paper.
L.X. adjusted his body so that he was sitting upright in his bed. “An IV, really? I bet there’s poison in here. Maybe truth serum” L.X. said. “Neither,” Aldo replied with a serious tone. “Well you’ve got the folder. You know that it means I am out of the game now. If you’re going to kill me, just make it clean,” said L.X. “I would not have brought you into my sanctuary, had my private doctor treat you, and have my own niece give you a haircut and a shave if I had planned to kill you.” L.X. ran his hand across his freshly shaven face and over his newly buzz cut hair. “I need you alive and well,” Aldo continued. “What for?” L.X. questioned. “Tomorrow. I will tell you tomorrow. Now you rest,” Aldo said while getting up from the chair. “No! Tell me now!” L.X. shouted. Aldo stood at the foot of L.X.’s bed with a smirk on his face. He put his hands up to his mouth and whistled loudly. The doorknob twisted and from behind the door two men emerged. The same suited men from the train.
