LEO
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02/06/2002 - 11am
Phoenix, Arizona
Redhawk Base
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Still a smart ass, obnoxious bitch.

I don't like the way she spoke back to me. I don't appreciate the fact everyone just went along with her plan, either.

Even though it makes sense, I don't want her to get the satisfaction that I secretly agree with her.

It would be quite humbling if she got hurt or fucked up the mission, though.

I haven't let go of that meeting for the past 3 days.

I punch the dummy in the training facility with significantly more force than I usually would. Jed glimpses over at me from where he's practicing his knife combat.

"Do I even want to know why you're beating the shit out of that poor dummy like it's Paolo Ramirez himself?" He laughs, picking up a different set of knives.

I just ignore him at first, uppercutting the dummy. He grins as he comes to a realisation. "Let me guess, you're imagining that dummy is Nova."

"You got that right." I grumble, not looking at him. He shakes his head slightly and chuckles.

He decides now is a great time to say the most frustrating thing I can possibly fucking hear.

"You know, she's really not bad. I don't know why you're so hotheaded about her." He mumbles, seemingly genuinely confused. I stop punching the dummy and steady it for a second.

"She's an arrogant know it all. She's nothing like Richards. I had to work with her back in '99. She's a cunt." I hiss. He raises his hands in defence.

"Hey, I'm just saying. Animosity with your co-captain is probably not a good idea. Despite the past." He shrugs.

"If you defend her again, I'll start pretending this dummy is you instead." I lift my eyebrows.

He snickers in response. "Come on, you wouldn't do that to your old pal." He says, slashing at his own dummy with a combat knife. "You've got to agree, her plan sounds like the most valid option."

"If it goes wrong, it's her fault." I mutter under my breath. Jed just sighs and shakes his head, falling back into silence for a few minutes as he focuses on his own practice.

"I don't mean for this to come across the wrong way, but do you think maybe your whole dispute with her is because you don't like the thought of her replacing Richards?" He asks quietly, as though he's treading barefoot on eggshells.

"Maybe. Although, I hate her regardless. She's got some sort of complex about herself. A superiority. You know me Jed, I do not appreciate feeling inferior. Let alone by that bitch." I vouch.

Jed nods slowly in agreement.

"I know you don't like being made to feel inferior, but hey, at least you're a Captain and not just a regular officer like your poor ol' pal here." He mimics a sad tone, voice laced with sarcasm.

A small chuckle escapes my mouth. "Suppose so. My plan is to just avoid her by all means necessary. I'll speak to her when I absolutely have to."

Jed just shrugs. "Fair enough. I spoke to her for a little while yesterday. She's actually pretty charismatic-"

"Okay Jed. I don't want to hear any more about her for now." I intervene, a warning tone filtering through my words.

His mouth shuts almost immediately and he just nods, resuming his practice.

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2pm

Sitting against a row of cabins and eating lunch, I get lost in thought. Thinking about that mission with Richards. The way the back of his head was blown out.

I've seen all sorts of blood and guts in my career; but when it's somebody you're close to, it's different. I'm in an endless cycle of blaming myself. Covering him was my job; I failed him.

I'm interrupted as I feel the blazing heat of the sun get blocked by a shadow. Looking up, I'm faced by Nova who is looming over me.

"You'll probably get heat-stroke if you sit there." She utters in that Southern accent, folding her arms across her chest and quirking her eyebrows.

"I should've guessed you'd have something to say about this, since you know everything." I speak back, voice dripping in sarcasm as I squint to see her more clearly opposed to just her silhouette.

"You'll be no use on our mission if you're ill." She quips.

"Well, you seem to have everything perfectly under control anyway." I mumble, sarcastic once again. She just scoffs and looks away for a second before glaring back at me.

"What the fuck is your damn issue?" She hisses suddenly, narrowing her eyes.

"You're my damn issue." I snap, getting to my feet so I can tower over her instead. "You came in yesterday, instantly acting like you run this damn squad."

"Hate to burst your bubble, Leo. I do now run this squad along with you. It's something you're just going to have to get damn used to. Do you seriously think it was my decision to come here?" She snarls, keeping her voice low so other officers roaming around don't overhear us.

What?

"What do you mean it wasn't your decision?" I ask, genuine curiosity in my voice as opposed to sarcasm.

"I didn't get a damn say in the matter. I was perfectly settled in the Falcons. Commander Vincent made the decision on my behalf. So, don't think I just advocated myself to fill the void of Richards. I didn't want to fucking come here. Let alone be your partner." She waves a disregarding hand at me, punctuating her words.

I didn't realise any of this. It's not changing my feelings about her, but that's a pretty bad situation to be in. I'd be fucked off if I was just deported from the Hawks.

"Well, that's pretty shit." I shrug. "Still, doesn't change my opinion. You've still got a bad fucking attitude."

"That's just my attitude. I'm not changing it because of your damn hissy fit. It got me pretty fucking far in the Falcons. Maybe, if you took a step outside of your arrogant goddamn head; you'd realise it's not actually a bad attitude to have." She quips before letting out an exasperated sigh, and I watch as her features smooth out slightly.

"Look, the reason I'm speaking to you is because we have a mission in a few days. This hostility, we need to put it aside so it doesn't jeopardise anything. Believe me, our feelings are mutual." She says after a moment.

"You don't say." I mumble, glowering down at her. "I'm fine leaving this hostility for the sake of the mission, but I'm leaving the plan entirely to you. If it fucks up, that's on you, Nova." I warn. She simply rolls her shoulders, unfolding her arms.

"Fine by me, fucking it up isn't on my agenda." She tells me, voice laced in confidence before someone calls out her name from behind her, Tara Mulvey.

Without another word to me, she spins on her heels and strides off in Mulvey's direction, almost whipping me with her long hair that fans out behind her.

Honestly, the animosity between us just seems like it's going to be our normal relation. We already seem clash once again, and it's only been a few damn days.

The next few months are going to be interesting, if we don't kill each other first.

—

This is the worst fucking idea anybody has had in a long time, and I owe it to Jed.

Somehow, the prick has managed to convince the group to do some sparring. Despite the fact I'm a godforsaken Captain, I agreed. So did Nova.

This isn't exactly the 'team-building' activity I had in mind ahead of a fucking assignment. We've picked our way through the group, and now we're at the 'showdown', as Jed, being the stupid fucker he is, calls it.

And of course, why am I not surprised. The little green-eyed devils-spawn sizes me up on the mat, stepping into the boundaries of the ring and clicking her knuckles in a painful attempt to seem intimidating.

"Oh! Captains up against each other! Should be interesting." Jed whoops, as though he's gearing up to watch a professional cage fight. I don't know if he's trying to get us to cooperate, or despise each other even more.

Whatever it is, it'll probably end up being the latter.

"Run me through the ground rules you've created, Jed." Shields cracks her neck, and I almost laugh. Sure, she's not some midget in height, on the taller side for a woman maybe, but five-foot-nothing compared to me. Her subtle attempts to appear threatening are nothing more than comical.

"Well, with you two, just don't kill each other." He shrugs, rubbing his hands together.

She might have gotten everybody else down, but so have I, and I have no fucking doubt that I'll be able to get her down. We approach each other until there's only a small distance between us, and I look down a fair few inches until I meet her glare.

She's deadly serious about this, chewing on her bottom lip, so I take advantage of it and grin. "Nervous about this or something, Shields?"

She scoffs, raising her fists. "Nervous? About you? Tell me something funny next time, Hendrix."

Jed shouts "Go!", and that's exactly what we do. My right arm swings towards her face, and she narrowly avoids the hit by the skin of her teeth. As tempting as it might be to humble her, I have no intention of seriously injuring her before an assignment.

North would have my head.

She swivels, kicking out her foot to the back of my knee, but it lacks in some force. I grip her elbow, and her free fist flies towards my face.

I move my face, but she gets me right in the collarbone, with much more force than I was expecting. Bitch.

And in a move that I honestly don't see coming, she pummels herself at me, knocking me right to the floor. Not before I grab her tank and drag her down with me.

She lands directly on top of me. Thighs clamped around my waist, both hands either side of my head. Some loose strands of her hair in my face. Not the usual situation I would find myself in this position.

For a brief moment, I don't push her off.

"Giving up?" She drawls, and that gives me the motivation to launch her away. She grunts as I knock her left elbow, clasping both hands around her right arm, and spin us so her back whacks the floor.

I press my knee against her stomach, and wrestle her wrists until they're pinned above her head. Some slick strands of hair plaster against her glistening forehead, obviously a result of the other matches we had before our own, breathing heavy.

Her eyes meet mine, trail down slightly, then back up.

"Distracted, Shields?" I grin. A sly smirk tugs on her lips.

"Just take me out before you have me in a position like this, Leo." She says, quiet enough so nobody else can hear, but loud enough so it's the only thing I can.

I blink, eyes flashing, eyebrows scrunching in complete fucking surprise. And she knees me right in the balls. To my devastation, I go reeling off to the side.

"Balls are off limits!" Jed wails from the edge of the mat.

"I asked for the ground rules, balls being off limits weren't in them." Nova shrugs, turning to face him as I push off of the ground. I launch at her from behind, wrapping both arms around her waist and slamming her chest-first into the floor.

"Rule number one, Shields," I whisper, my voice coiling around the shell of her ear, "don't turn your back on your opponent."

She wrestles, but my full weight on top of her back isn't helping. Jed chants a countdown from the edge, and I smile as he hits 1.

"Unlucky, Shields." He says as I finally get off of her, a sense of complete satisfaction flowing through me. She rolls onto her back before pushing up, and I catch a glimpse of her flushed face. Rosy cheeks, beads of sweat, enhanced, intense eyes.

I debate offering her a hand, but she gets to her feet before I find the chance. Instead, I raise my hand out between us, and she hesitantly takes it.

"Give me a challenge next time." I cock my head and grin, and she squeezes my hand so damn hard my knuckles might fucking crack.

Such dainty hands, such ruthless abilities.

"I was going easy on you." She drawls, and in a way, I believe her. If we both fought with our full strength and skills, one of us would end up dead. I'd like to think it wouldn't be me.

I say nothing as I drop her hand, just hold her gaze and let my eyes talk for me. She does the same, but there's something so difficult to read about her eyes.

Green, yes, but not typical. Not hazel, no hints of brown, just completely green. Completely unusual. Green like the jade stone my Mom used to wear as a necklace. Green like the bottles of beer I have stashed in my cabinet.

Strange.

And once she's had enough of our staring showdown, she spins on her heels and strides off of the mat.