Fate: Bonds Beyond Humanity

She was trying to see anything suspicious but the men inside were just chatting and moving some boxes around the containers. One was talking on what he was going to do in the weekend, other was telling his friend that his son took his first steps, the other-

"Illya." Her father snapped her out of her trance. "Don't bother using magecraft to identify the vampire, the smarter ones are great actors." He points at the scope. "This is the only tool you can trust in this operation. The alternative is to kill everyone else in the warehouse."

Illya almost choked at the way her father spoke, it was almost as if the lives of those below were worthless… no, it wasn't that. It was worse, they were acceptable losses as far as he is concerned, if she didn't find the vampire he was going to move and kill everyone if needed.

"What-" She almost couldn't speak. "What did the vampire do?"

Kiritsugu's posture changed, he didn't want to tell her for some reason. After a minute deliberating the man lets out a sigh and looks at her, his eyes still cold. "This vampire is responsible for some traffic, traffic of people. They are good for blood and money for them and their allies."

Illya blood frozen at the information. 'Traffic of people'... she started trembling and just thought of such an event… it is easy to just think of such things when it is far away but now.

She placed her eye on the scope once again, Illya was determined to find the vampire. It took a few minutes and even then she watched the movements of the individual for another few until before she was sure it was the one she was looking for.

"It looks like a human male, blond hair, slim with a sharp face." She described while making the scope go in normal mode so she can see the details.

"Which floor?" Kiritsugu asked.

"Second."

The being was pale, maybe even paler than Illya, his body was not of a fighter but with a vampire that was no guarantee. The most skilled ones could transform their form, the most powerful could break a building with their bare hands, as far as the duo was concerned that one may be one of those.

"Do you have a shot?" The question came suddenly, Kiritsugu was not wasting time.

Illya had the shot but she froze again. 'What if he isn't the vampire?' The question pops on her head and she starts to tremble again.

Kiritsugu watches all that for a while, he says nothing and just uses his spy glasses to watch the target. The older man knew that was the vampire, he had already scouted the place and got ready for the eventuality that Illya couldn't go through.

He would give his daughter one more chance. "If you don't take the shot, people will die." The girl looks at him again but he doesn't look back. "Even if he is not the target he is still a criminal, his death will probably save another ten lives."

"But- You said-" Kiritsugu cuts her off.

"They are being controlled, yes. I didn't lie, they are being controlled by money and ambition, the oldest tools of man. Even magic can't be as compelling as the promise of a better life." Kiritsugu finally looks at her. "On the Clocktower, you will be in a nest of vipers, those there are cruel, dangerous and more ambitious than any of the men here. If you are not ready for that you will have a fate worse than death… on the other hand, it's safe to say that none on the Clocktower did as much damage as that vampire did and still does every day."

That was all the absolute truth, investigations in the target confirmed it, the vampire had lived for at least three centuries and had started to work in such jobs way back when slavery was common pratice. All the monster did was to keep going when most of the world stopped.

The trembling had receded, in Kiritsugu's mind that was good. "You can't hesitate Illya, if you do someone else may die, even if it's not you."

That did the trick, the girl aimed, took a deep breath to calm her heart and took the shot.

The bullet had been blessed by a truly faithful priest and therefore had a high level of holy power. With such a bullet there was no need for a perfect shot. Illya still hits the vampire in the head.

Kiritsugu acted fast, he threw the gun on the ground while holding his daughter in a hug. The cold and cruel mercenary was gone, replaced by the concerned father. "It 's okay." He said in a whisper while his daughter started to cry. "It's okay Illya, you did it. The vampire is dead, you saved lots of people today, their gang is going to fall apart without leadership and soon they all will be arrested."

His words confronted her and he started to escort her out of the rooftop. She was having difficulties walking so he started to prepare to carry her.

While he moved he placed a hand on his left pocket, there was a cellphone there on silent ready to send a message. Once he pressed 'sent' Kiritsugu changed all his focus on taking care of Illya.

Meanwhile panic was starting to spread in the warehouse. "BOSS IS DEAD!"

"WHO KILLED HIM?" "THE SHOT CAME FROM OUTSIDE!"

Before the criminals could organize themselves or kill each other the door opened with a loud impact, a group armed and equipped almost like an elite force entered guns blazing.

They had helmets and masks that cover their faces, they also had glasses to protect the eyes, bullet proof vests, rifles, machine guns, pistols and knives on their legs or belts. All of them were dressed in black, almost like apparitions who came from hell.

They moved in coordination, even if there were just ten of them their synch was enough that when taking a shot there was another following up with a third watching their backs. The thirty-four criminals in the warehouse stood no chance with just pistols and the odd shotgun.

The new group neutralized those on the lower floors easily and then approached the second one with cirurgical precision. When there were only five men left standing they moved to surrender, it was refused with bullets, killing all that owned the warehouse previously.

The victors then started to open the containers, there were indeed people inside them, young men and women of all ages and nationalities. They were taking out with care but their saviors hadn't said anything yet and that was starting to scare some.

The leader of the group approached and started to take out the helmet and mask. She was a woman with short dark hair and sharp eyes, she was pretty but age was starting to show on her face, that or the stress of the life she had chosen to live.

The woman then gave a practiced smile, it was fake but it still worked on the victims. "Hello," she spoke in english, but when many didn't react she repeated in other languages. "hello…"

It didn't take long to find that some spoke english, hebrew, russian and others,this made it a little difficult for communication and she raised an open hand. With the signal another two took out their helmets, they looked like unsuspicious men but they started to speak in turns in different languages.

They separated those that spoke different languages, joining them together with those that did and it even helped to find some that knew each other. In total there were at least fifty people there and the woman started a pich.