M A K A Y L A 

Proximo was another kind of pissed off.

Gone were the days of hand to hand with newer members. He indiscriminately went through them until first blood. He was brutal by the harshest of standards on a regular day but something was off...

"Stop watching my second and focus."

I snapped my gaze back to the woman with burning gold eyes and a simple sleeveless combat skin. All her weapons discarded in a pile away from us. I moved a blade restlessly between my fingers. But Scorpion was another kind of lethal. Her training returned to her like it had never left. Only exaggerated by the tone shown off in her arms now–

"I already know your tricks, Scorpion." I murmured, feigning disinterest and preparing for the moment she moved.

I leant back as her kick sailed over me and kicked out her other. She rolled away from the fall and hit a point in my arm that almost made me lose the grip on the blade. I slashed for her stomach and she took the power out with a forearm to my own. The weapon did fall this time only to be snatched by her waiting hand.

I did away from tactics and front kicked her chest.

It was the fastest mistake I ever made. Her body was to the side before I could register it and she twisted behind my back to let the metal kiss my neck.

I let a slow breath leave me and raised my hands in slow surrender. She kept it there.

"Come on Makayla..." She murmured in a low threat. "At least make me sweat–"

I smirked ahead before turning slowly in place. Her eyes met mine with the weapon still firmly at my throat. "Drop the weapon, crime lord. Let's go again."

Her answering smile made my body flash hotter. The knife clattered to the floor and she kicked it away without breaking my gaze. We took a few steps back on the training floor. Alex rolled her shoulders once before gesturing me forward.

Before either of us could move a body rolled across the mat between us.

Proximo's stern features walked calmly behind–his mood hadn't lost an inch. His lethality looked to be at its beginning.

"Let's up the stakes!" He shouted full of venom, leading a group of well built men behind him out to the edge. Alex rose out of the fighting stance and crossed her arms eyeing her him in irritation.

"Is there a reason you are interrupting our training with this..." She cut out, glaring down at the male that was breathing heavily with a cut on his lip already.

"Scorpion, I think we are lacking commitment." Proximo spoke, lethally calm. "They are under the illusion that getting onto the personal guard is... simple."

I scanned  the men again and my eyes landed on Dex's smirking face beyond. So this was his trial by fire. Unfortunate that Proximo seemed to be in no mood for any of it–

"Makayla Xavier is a fine fighter I have heard! But I've heard many exaggerations before..." He drawled, tucking his muscled arms behind him tightly with challenge crossing his features. This man was hell bent on back-hand complimenting me one moment and all out war the next. I glared at him and he returned it with a small smile.

Alex paused, assessing the change of tune. She couldn't outright defend me like this–Scorpion would have no issue with it.

She met my eyes as the man got to his feet and flexed his neck between us. 

I shrugged.

Alex smirked and turned into Scorpion once again.

"At least make it interesting!" She mocked, "–There is a reason not many are on my personal guard." She sauntered over to a weapon rack and tossed a short sword carelessly between us. "First blood." She finished without negotiation. 

Proximo's savage grin told me he had gotten just what he wanted–

The man ran for the sword.

I ran for him.

The moment his fingers brushed the handle my boot connected with his nose. He flew off his feet and landed back on his back with blood pouring from it. Alex barked a laugh and Proximo's expression morphed into one without emotion.

"You. You." He grabbed two more by the collar and thrust two more daggers into their hands. "A drop of her blood for the place of personal guard." He stated, throwing them forward.

I tucked my hands behind me with an innocent smile.

"You sure you don't want bigger weapons, Proximo?" I taunted, enjoying his expression darken.

Dex turned his laugh into a cough as they began circling me more carefully. They had been trained for this after all... Too bad it wouldn't matter.

They chose speed. Blades to high angles. I dipped low and chose a target. My body became quick and their muscle slowed them in this game of precision. I twisted behind another swipe and kicked him into the oncoming attack of the other man. He moved his blade in time to avoid something much more lethal. But it nicked his shoulder and the drop of blood made Proximo lose his patience.

He materialised before the remaining man and grabbed his neck before launching him off the fighting platform like a sack of flour.

I waited watching him.

"Proximo..." Alex warned, jumping up and pacing the edge of the platform like a cat waiting for the first twitch. He ignored her and kicked the remaining weapons off the mat.

"You think you can fight real experience?" He drawled, flexing his fingers and scanning my body. Not in the way a man would. In the way a mathematician rapidly calculates and solves problems.

I didn't cast Alex a look as I stepped up to him.

"What's got your panties in a twist today, Proximo." I stated almost bored.

My body was anything but. I was all adrenaline and no calm. I'd seen him move, I'd seen him fight and I'd seen what he was capable of. This wasn't something you won but only delayed. I knew all of this but to hell with not at least making him regret it for a few seconds.

He turned his tattoed head to the side.

"Dex!" He barked.

The blonde rushed to his side and cast a wary look between us.

"First blood and you are on the team." He spoke slowly, turning to my surprised face. "You didn't really think you were ready to fight me did you Makay–"

"No, but I sure as shit will." Alex interrupted, coming to my side and levelling him with a calm amusement. "She won't be able to step in for you this time..."

It hit the nerve she was looking to hit. Whatever had sent him into this anger today only worsened as he levelled her with a glare that promised there would be more than one drop of blood. I faced Dex and he faced me. We were but unsure opponents to the rage of the lethal titans beside us.

Proximo snapped his knuckles against each other and met Alex's calm face.

"Prepared to see why I train your agents?"

"I don't usually talk this much when I sit someone back in their place." She returned.

His answered growl told me that she had played him better than he realised as he rushed to begin a duel I never thought I'd witness.

 * * * * * 

I wanted nothing more than to trace every movement of the crime lord fighting her second but Dex reminded me that we were not the only ones fighting to blood draw tonight.

He was all brute force as I expected. But improved.

Proximo must have had a hand in it–but whatever drove him now was beyond me. I dodged two mean swings for my head and torso before skipping behind him and landing a kick to his back that sent him into Proximo himself–I winced.

Proximo didn't even acknowledge him as he turned him in the other direction and threw him away with an iron built arm under his combat shirt.

It gave me precious seconds to take in the spectacle–along with a far larger crowd than had been here seconds before... Apparently word travels quickly when these two engage. Even the god damn techies were betting with credit bars–

I dodged Dex again before taking a harsh punch to the stomach.

He winked. I growled.

My stance shifted. My focus closed in. The training hall faded, the noise, the murmurs, the bodies all fell away as I honed myself on my target. I was back in the coldest winter Naxos had to offer and he was the only threat. Alex's whisper was in my head.

You think I'm here? She chuckled. My blade is already there. Stop thinking only of my weapon. Use your environment, my body, my mind... everything is a weapon, Makayla.

I saw the slight weight dominance in his left ankle. An old injury. A preference for his balance.

I let him land two jabs against my forearms, letting him commit his momentum before letting the third jab fly and punishing that weak leg. He went down onto one knee instantly and the whispers hissed around us–but they meant nothing.

I threw my weight at his body and took him off his feet entirely. My legs wrapped around his neck in a choke hold and I used the seconds of his struggle to glance at Alex.

They were something else entirely. It wasn't just aggression. And I could see why people stopped their work in any part of this base to witness it. There was no blood that I could see. Just sheer speed and technical ability. He feigned she read it, the fists would meet, block, twist, find a new angle–Alex moved in styles I hadn't seen before and she had not taught...

"We're not–done yet–blondie–" Dex panted, wedging his forearm between my legs and using his strength to pull me up entirely before slamming me back to the hard mats. The breath left me in a groan.

Alex glanced at me, only for it to cost her. Proximo made sure it cost her.

She took a fist to the jaw before slipping away and sending off a fresh wave of rapid attacks for his head. I rolled out before Dex could break my nose with his boot. I watched him from a crouch breathing heavy and he did the same.

"You know it's nothing personal right? I still dig you, Makayla–"

I rolled my eyes, dodging a quick jab and sending an elbow into his stomach. He coughed heavily and I had a moment to consider something. If I ended this. If he lost, he wouldn't get a place on the inside. It was better to have someone you could trust on Alex's six–rather than another grey faced killer I couldn't trust as far as I could throw–

I threw a block up and accepted a kick to my stomach that threw me back on the mats. The groan was entirely real. Perhaps I was an idiot for letting it happen at all.

He was on top of me now. A grapple someone with less weight could never throw off. His punches were not pulled. I felt the force sing against my jaw then my head. Stars flew across me in blue and white. Please just knock me out before the blood comes–

Then his weight was off me entirely.

I opened my eyes and Alex stood over me with an impatient look.

"Give him the win and he earns nothing." She stated simply, before slipping to the side and letting Proximo's anger fuelling swipe swing past.

He snarled before swiping up the discarded short sword from the last unfortunate fighter. My throat dried up at the sight. What the hell was he thinking?

"Someone get our leader a weapon!" He spat to the crowds.

The room quietened before a similar sword spun across the mat. Alex eyed it then tilted her head at her second. "I think we need to talk..." She began.

Dex was already on his feet and eying a position on the personal guard once more. But at a simple hand raise from Scorpion and he paused. 

"Don't give in now." He growled, changing his stance and spinning the sword around his hand easily. Even with my experience... I wouldn't want to fight him.

"You're compromised. I want to know why." She retorted simply.

Proximo snorted and nodded at Dex urging him to continue. Dex threw me a confused glance before shrugging and stepping up once more. I sighed through my nose and discretely nodded to him. If he caught where my mind was he didn't let on. I played the part well, as well as I could before letting a straight jab sail through the air into my mouth.

The skin split easily from the force and I staggered a step.

He halted instantly and drew out of his stance to come close to me with a less lethal look.

"I'm sorry Makayla..."

I shook him off and managed a small smirk that tasted of iron.

"Anything to get those two off each other." I answered, glancing at the death match.

We turned and took in what was left of Proximo's rage. It was unlike his cool lethality and it made mistakes. It seemed the crowd of Division agents around us sensed it too and grew animated watching the way their leader brutally capitalised.

I had seen her do it once before.

The type of psychology she employed in her fighting. Increase your speed and she will double it. Get emotional and she will meet you with nothing but lethal, cold indifference. Their swords spun and parried. The titanium sang in the air unbreakable. Every use of his body was countered or calculated. She knew his aggression as she had when they fought once before with poisoned blades. It still sent my heart into my throat.

They were both death in its purest form.

It was in a heated moment of clashes that Proximo tried to force his strength over her skill–she used it. She expected it.

The moment his shoulder hit hers against their blades she carried the metal like an extension of her arm and released their parry to send it across his hand. The blood splashed quick on the mat and she completed it with the smash of the hilt against his wound.

The sword dropped to the mat and she levelled it at his neck.

"Enough." She stated simply.

He was breathing in raggedly. His gaze no longer calm steel but enraged fire.

"Are you that scared–"

She practically rolled her eyes and flung the sword to the ground turning her back. The crowd parted for her as the underworld's leader made an exit. "We need to talk." She said over a shoulder.

Proximo stared at her back. Then he slowly turned to us. 

His eyes flickered over Dex then to my cut lip. 

"You start tomorrow. Do not be late." He growled at Dex.

Then his towering form and glare disappeared after Scorpion beyond the crowd of Division agents chatting animated. Dex was silent a moment before a breath left him and his shoulders relaxed. He rushed me and I was half expecting another fight before he scooped me up in his arms with a loud shout.

"Personal guard! You hear that?!" He roared.

"Put me down moron, before Scorpion changes it!" I hissed, as he laughed setting me on my feet. My face ached. The crowd was already diffusing but I let out a breathless laugh despite it all. "You have no idea what you've just gotten yourself into."

"Do you have any idea how well they pay personal guards, Makayla?" He drawled, throwing his arm over my shoulder. I snorted and evened my breathing before shaking my head under him.

"Credits are no use when you are dead."

He sobered and leant back until he sat back on the mat and leaned on his arms. "Man–the way Scorpion fights..." He blew out another breath wistfully.

I nodded, watching their backs as they entered a lift at the edge of the cavernous hall in some form of argument. It must be his sister. Or that... woman of the night. Mixing business with pleasure as Alex said. But Proximo was a professional. Since when does that compromise him?

"You have no idea." I muttered.

He tilted his head from his position on the floor. It almost reminded me of a dog. I chuckled again and took a place opposite him on the mat.

"You've got to be something." He mused with a glint in his eyes. "The way she kicked me off you at the first sign of trouble..." 

The lift disappeared and I met his curious look with a smirk.

"Dex, all you need to know is that we understand each other. She has my back and I have hers. This personal guard detail doesn't give you a free ticket... Especially in Proximo's eyes."

"Oh, I know that." He said with a grin. "Did you see him? Ready to bury Scorpion himself. No one has a free ticket in his eyes."

"Then why do you want it so badly?" I frowned.

He rolled his neck a moment and stared at the ceiling.

"You don't know much of outer city life do you?"

I wisely remained silent. I knew of the glass sky towers in Sector 1 and impressing continental partners. He took my silence as confirmation.

"With the influence, training and credits they give you... I'd be mad not to chase it." He finished, meeting my eyes again. "Don't think I don't know the kind of training you have..." He added, narrowing his eyes. "You didn't fight like I know you could have."

I avoided his stare and instead dabbed the blood leaving my lip.

"We fought. I lost. Leave it at that."

"Why?" He pressed, pushing off his arms and staring me down.

"Because if you don't believe it Scorpion won't. And I'm not willing to lie for you." I finished, rolling to my feet. I offered him my hand.

He eyed it a moment before nodding and grasping my hand to get to his feet.

"To friends in high places." He smirked, offering me his other hand.

I clasped it and met his forearm in a Merridian custom with a similar smirk.

"To friends in low places."