M A K A Y L A

Proximo had long been teasing me of my 'elusive' fighting skill–or lack of.

After everything that had been said and done in the last few days I was just about at the end of my patience with his jabs. He could tell because his smirks grew wider as he lured me to the training floor of the colossal base.

"I have a very eager group of recruits that would love to see what a Sector 1-born can do." He drawled.

I decided to ignore the quip as we walked. "You still didn't tell me where Alex went. It's been hours Proximo. I know your sister is–"

"Your concern is training. Scorpion's concern will soon be no concern at all." He murmured in a darker tone.

I wisely decided to change the subject. "I've seen how she trained me. So I know you never really committed to my training." I accused, eying the side of his face.

He fought a smile and shrugged his muscled arms as we passed another security door.

"What good would breaking a royal's bones do me other than satisfaction?"

I gave him a look of false hurt. "Here I was thinking we got along so well..."

"I do not dislike you, Makayla. Consider that the highest compliment."

I rolled my eyes. "I care whether you live or die too Proximo. Nice to know where we stand."

He grinned now as we entered the fighting hall and the sounds of weapons greeted us. Fists to chests and bows greeted him as we walked. The thoughts still ran in my mind about where Alex had gone in all her armed rage. I would not wish anyone to be on the wrong side of that but the dangers of this city were always excessive. Proximo appeared as if nothing mattered less than the current task of training but I knew his mind and ear was trained on his comm for any change.

"Why don't you get settled in. They have orders to treat you as one of our own." He said suddenly with a trademark look of calm.

I paused and scanned his face. "Is everything–"

"Perfectly fine." He told me emotionless. "I have business to attend to but be sure I will be eagerly listening to feedback." He told me with a darker smile. I did not have a chance to respond because just as quickly he was striding back down the hall to whatever crisis the Division had going on.

As it turned out the style Alex had trained into me differed greatly from the new men and women that drew up to face me in the fighting pit. They drew guards and practiced combinations whereas I worked off the information I could see and used it against them. 

It was exceedingly effective.

By the time the fifth one of them had dropped to the floor I rolled my neck and saw others shaking their heads. Some murmured quietly without meeting my eyes. I sighed and glared at a pair of shirtless men trading glances at me below the raised platform.

"You can just ask me." I interrupted them flatly.

The shorthaired blonde looked up at me startled and tucked muscled arms behind him. "Sorry. We didn't think anyone in Sector 1 received training." He supplied.

I snorted and dropped into a crouch to become more at eye level. "I did not learn much in Sector 1." I agreed, but when he threw me a confused look I went on. "–I learned from someone raised in the outer Sector. She knew a thing or two about hand to hand."

"Would you–can you show me the move to throw over your shoulder after a jab?"

I grinned and waved him up. Others murmured around us watching intently as the man clearly a head taller approached me. His blue eyes matched my own and he hadn't yet broken a sweat. We'd see to that...

"It's not about strength at all. It's leveraging your body–" I straightened my arm and drew a line from my calf all the way to my forearm. "–allowing weight to shift along it like a rod of iron."

His eyes ran along the line of my body I drew and lingered a little longer on the curves of my hips. The skin tight fighting leggings. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and cleared my throat.

"You see?"

A brief smirk graced his lips and he rolled his shoulders. "I've got the idea."

"Then hit me." I answered.

The men here did not need to be told twice. It was not like the rigid social expectations of Sector 1. The idea of hitting a woman in that region earning you arrest and social suicide–here it mattered not what you were–they would act.

He jabbed much faster than I expected for his size but I was already prepared. Instead of the move he was prepared for I snapped quickly to the size and closed into his space to stop his long reach aiding him. My leg twisted between his own and I sent him back instead of over me. He let out a shocked breath and landed on his back as others chuckled behind.

"That wasn't what you–you cheated!" He frowned.

"That's another thing you'll learn about the way Scorpion's inner circle fights... They never play fair."

"What would you know about Scorpion's inner circle?" He grinned in challenge. "Proximo told us you've only been here half a year."

More murmurs and laughter. I smiled slowly at him nodding and offering him my hand.

"True. I can only guess at how Scorpion fights." I drawled. He stepped closer once he was on his feet with a lazy smile and flirtation in his eyes. But I was not about to let another foolish man get himself killed for his own cluelessness. I shoved him back quickly, his grin still in place and shook my head.

"I'm closer to them than you'd know and you'd do well not to overstep, recruit." I said more flatly.

It only seemed to encourage him. He brought his hands high and waved me forward, slowly letting his eyes linger in places that would get him killed quickly. I let out a puff through my nose and decided to cut the shit. 

"The name's Dex." He winked.

Someone in the crowd wolf whistled and more chuckling lifted in the air. I was about to smack the sense out of him when a large hand ripped him off his feet and dumped him onto the training mat in a sprawl. Proximo stared him down in a lethal quiet and the crowd fell deathly silent.

"Well, Dex. You will be the example of the day it appears." He growled low. Dex tried to scramble to his feet but Proximo simply pressed a boot down on his chest. He cast a bored look down to the rest of them. "GET IN LINE!" He suddenly roared.

They practically fell over each other to get into a straight formation before the platform. He turned his dark tattooed face to me slowly. "Scorpion wishes to see you, Miss Xavier. I suggest you move before I make you join in." He remarked as calmly as discussing clothing choices.

I smiled slowly before dropping into a dramatic bow with a fist on my chest and making his eye glint in amusement. I noticed a skinny boy join the line–very young... I thought before hopping off the dark platform and rushing down the hallway of other fighters. I was not interrupted all the way up to her quarters. I had not expected her to return so soon but Proximo did not seem to let on any emotion that suggested his sister had just perished.

The doors slid open to me.

She wasn't immediately obvious to me in the room. It was dark and silent. It felt empty. Then I noticed the shadow on the long sofa with strange blue glowing lights.

"Alex?" I asked, unsure.

There was a beat of silence before the shadow tilted in my direction as if woken from a dream.

"Makayla." Her voice returned in more of a husky manner than its usual clearness. 

I moved quickly to her side but hesitated. "I can't see anything..."

"Probably best for now."

My heart stuttered. I brushed my fingers lightly against her neck and heard her sigh. "What happened?" I whispered.

"You may have been right about the dangers of my fusion cycle." She murmured in irony.

This time I couldn't resist. I lit a glow on my wrist hollow and held it to her face. I sucked in a sharp breath when I saw the damage. The black and blue patchwork of bruising heavy across her forehead and cheekbones like she had gone through a building. One of her eyes was starkly blood shot between the burning gold–

She caught my wrist and turned off the light before I could finish analysing.

"You need to be in the medical wing–not here what are you doing here?" I demanded in a higher voice making her wince and lower her head.

"I forgot how loud you get in these situations–"

"Alex." I hissed, quieter now. "I'm going to call someone."

"You are someone." She answered, pulling at the glowing blue circles at her temples. I slapped her hand away and decided it was better we knew what her vitals were–however chaotic. She sighed and leant back heavily into the chair again.

"Tell me what you need." I probed, watching her shadow with building anxiety.

"Alcohol."

"I'm getting the nitrogen packs." I answered instead. She didn't respond as I went for the medical cabinet in the bathroom and pulled out a pile of supplies.

"If you get a concussion from this I swear to god..." I muttered, coming out with the supplies. "Don't fall asleep." I snapped, "I need to make sure you stay conscious."

"That should be easy for you." She drawled with humour in her voice.

"You wouldn't find this funny if it were me, Alex." I snapped, pushing her hood back so I could see her head more clearly. I lit my wrist again and tried not to gasp at the markings.

"I would never let it be you." She said as if it were as simple.

"What happened to the fusion cycle?" I asked distracting myself as I poured the coolant onto bandages and watched the vitals reading on her wrist. 

"It's history. I no longer own the fastest vehicle on the roads–or skies."

"Good." I murmured, brushing as lightly as I can across her skin.

"I'm glad I got to take you out on it at least once." She said quietly.

"Can't say I agree with you." I muttered, watching the small wince of pain on her features. "Tell me you are finished with hunting down traitors for now."

"She was expecting us. She slipped away." She sighed under my hands. "But all is not lost..."

I tilted my head waiting until I remembered Proximo's earlier request.

"You have Velron here." I realised. My hands stilled on her.

She rose under me and pushed my hands away to take my jaw in her hands. I could only just make out the darkened spots on her face. But the rest of her was hidden to the darkness. Somehow she still wasn't unnerving to me. She was still Alex below the hoods, the title and the damage. I traced my fingers over her hair and ran them to the back of her neck.

"I do not want to be the one to threaten and interrogate him, Makayla. I want you to get what we need from him on your own terms. Even if I despise any notion of you in a room with–"

"I'll do it." I interrupted. "And you don't need to worry about anything. I want to do this for you. I don't want your enemies to keep hurting you like this. I need to do this." I finished quietly. 

She nodded slowly and dropped her hands. "Lie with me."

She dropped back against the cushions and I carefully tucked myself into the crook of her neck and listened to her breathing slowly. But it wasn't as even as it should be. I ran my hand slowly along the line of her neck down the centre of her chest before resting my palm over her heart.

"I promise I am not dead." She murmured.

"You're giving it your best shot." I answered, feeling the heat in my eyes. "You have so many resources yet you don't use them."

She stilled under me. "Dazz is my responsibility."

"She is the Division's responsibility." I told her steady. "You cannot move mountains alone forever, Alex."

"You're right. Which is why Proximo is joining me next time."

"What if I asked you not to go. What if you left Proximo's sister to him and let your men track her down?" I asked her in the shadows, listening to the rise and fall of her chest.

"You don't want me to finish this?" She asked slowly.

I moved my palm from her heart to her neck. I felt her shiver under me and she turned to press her lips against the top of my head.

"No I don't. I want you here."

"I can do that."

I stilled in surprise but relaxed when she secured her arm around me more tightly. I kissed the bare skin of her neck slowly and breathed in the scent of her. "Don't fall asleep." I warned. She chuckled. "I don't care if I need to tip a jug of water over you, Alex."

"I believe you. Or preferably we could have a shower..." She mused, in a low voice.

Heat flashed through me and I tensed despite it. She felt it and chuckled darkly.

"You're not scared of me now, are you Miss Xavier?" She drawled in that husky tone.

I swallowed and tried to think of something witty in retort but she drew my jaw back up and angled my face to hers in the dark like she could read every line of me.

"Interesting."

"I'm not!" I blurted, making her laugh darkly. 

"I do look quite monstrous." She admitted, leaning away from me. But I closed the space faster and whispered directly onto her mouth.

"I don't care about your looks Scorpion. They're a nice bonus but they mean little to me."

"Is that why you are practically jumping out of your bones at my touch?" She quipped.

I sighed deeply before pushing her back into the cushions. "I will keep you awake and look out for your vitals all night but I will not start initiating something with you in this state–it's completely immoral–"

She cut my rant off with a laugh that ended in her grunting in pain.

"This is exactly what I mean." I growled, glancing at the heart rate and various other lines moving on her wrist. "In fact, I'm taking this." I announced, undoing her wrist holo.

"You are taking the Underworld leader's private comm. Of course you are." She finished.

"No one is contacting you tonight."

"Sounds good to me." She mumbled, falling back into the pillows.

"Alex. Seriously you've got to stay conscious, the damage to your head–"

She pressed her fingers to my lips and tried to draw me into her arms. I puffed out a breath in irritation and tore myself out of her hold. She grumbled a complaint before I marched into the bathroom and filled a jug to the brim with ice-cold water. She was still dozing off when I tipped it over her hood. Her explosive swearing was enough to make me grin. Until she swiped the jug out of my hands and launched the rest over me with a growl.

I squeaked in a high pitch tone before she threw the jug down and threw me over her shoulder. 

"You've just lost your choice." Was all she said before marching us into the bathroom. She stepped us under the shower wrapping us in much warmer water.

"Alex, seriously you've got to take it easy!" I said over the heavy falling water.

She dropped me slowly to my feet before sitting herself down on the cool stone and setting her arms over her knees as water crashed over her. I watched her for a moment. Seeing the beautiful woman painted black and blue and just needing peace. Her clothes soaked through but she didn't care. She still wore her Vanguard that looked damaged.

I knelt before her. She met my eyes beneath the bruising.

I took an uneven breath and placed my hands against the armour. Slowly unclipping and loosening it before pulling it off her. I left the skin tight combat shirt over her torso. I took away the guns. Then I took away her blood red cloak. Until she was nothing more than a woman being drenched in a shower again.

She wordlessly lifted her palm to me and I met it with my own under the streaming water that rained between us. Our fingers linked and we watched them for a moment as steam billowed around us.

"I'm going to make you safe." I told her. "One of these days you won't owe this city a thing and we'll leave this all behind."

She raised those golden eyes to me slowly. Turning our hands so she could press her lips to my knuckles. She let her lips graze lines along my hand lost to the running water and feel of my skin.  

"Once this is all over. I will hold you to it and I will love you for it." She told me in burning promise.