„Get the money in the bag!" Everett shouted, holding up a pistol at the cashier, his hand gripping the weapon so hard his knuckles turned white. „Hurry the fuck up!"

„Okay!" the cashier yelled, taking the bag from where Ev dropped it, Rory anxiously tapping her foot to the floor as she kept an eye on the outside. She was already sweating profusely out of anxiety, her eyes wide as they snapped towards her love and the gun held in his hand.

She couldn't believe they were really doing this.

„Ro, watch the door!" Ev called out, snapping her out of her thoughts.

„I am!" she snapped back, even though she wasn't.

Using their moment of not keeping their attention on the cashier 100%, the worker reached to the shelf behind him and grabbed the closest thing he could reach, which happened to be a big, Jack Daniel's whiskey. Seeing the movement from the corner of his eyes, Everett snapped his head, ready to shout at him when the worker – his name tag said Jimmy – chucked the glass full of whiskey at Everett.

It was almost like watching the whole thing in slow motion: the way the masked teenager held his arm up to try and block the heavy bottle, the angered look on Jimmy's face, and the sound of an alarm going off.

Everything went to shit.

„Fuck!" Ev let out, the glass breaking on his right arm, shielding his eyes from both the alcohol and glass shards.

The pieces of the bottle cut through his arm, blood spilling next to the whiskey on the floor, shards of glass shattering to million pieces as they scattered around the white tiles.

Acting quickly, Rory picked up a gallon of water, her anger and adrenaline letting her hold up the whole thing above her head, throwing with full force at the man standing behind the counter, hitting his chest. Jimmy let out a choked out yelp, coughing furiously as the air got knocked out from his lungs while the small girl jumped to the counter, grabbing the half-stuffed bag and reaching for Ev's good arm, jumping over the puddle of glass and blood. She failed to notice the way Jimmy reached for the gun under the counter.

He cursed behind her continuously as she darted towards the car they came with, the speed of light almost being nothing compared to her. Throwing the bag of money on the backseat, she jumped through the pulled-down window of his car, the keys still in the ignition.

„C'mon!" Rory yelled at him, the boy still trying to shake off the alcohol from himself, it drenching his shirt and pants.

Everett ripped the door open, threw himself in the seat next to her, and quickly started up the car. She turned in her seat, wild blue eyes scanning the road behind them, her ears picking up on the faint sounds of police sirens in the distance.

Shitshitshit.

With a loud screech, Ev wheeled the car onto the road, pushing down the gas pedal so hard Rory jumped in her seat, her head banging against the doorframe. The adrenaline pumping through her veins made it hurt a lot less, her focus snapping towards the boy's bleeding arm.

„Holy fuck," she breathed, eyes widening at the sight of blood. There was a lot of blood, dripping all over his car at this point. „Are you okay?!"

„Do I look okay?" he snapped at her, voice coarse from both the botched robbery and the fear of getting caught by the police.

This was all a mistake.

He should've come alone.

„Don't act like I threw a whiskey at your ass!" Rory yelled back, not being in the mood to tolerate his tone. He was quick to snap at her sometimes, and this was one of those times, too.

She liked to pretend that nothing ever could reach her, that she was untouchable by all means, queen of shit. Her facade was unbreakable, laughing all of the teachers in the face when they sent her to the office for breaking the dress code or talking back at the teacher, lashing out at anyone that dared to say a bad word about her family or Ev. One time she almost got expelled for beating a bitch up in the toilet, her ass getting what she deserved for bad-mouthing her and gossiping about the overdose of her mother.

But one person had so much power over her, that he would crush her carefully built-up walls in no time. Hitting the bad tone with her, her eyes already started to well up, not being quite sure how to not let him kill her personality.

She loved him more than her own life, willing to sacrifice everything for him. And most of the time, he seemed like he would do the same thing for her. But since he started abusing drugs, her needs got in the backseat, drugs and money being the ones to drive him.

She couldn't stop the few tears to stream down her face, clenching her jaw so hard that she heard something pop in her ear. She tried to stop the stubborn tears, but it seemed to be impossible.

Her light sniffling caught the attention of the boy driving, his head snapping towards her.

„Rory, baby," he tried to reach for her hand, but she pulled it away, wiping the tears off with the sleeve of her oversized jumper.

„Just shut up and drive," she ordered coldly, staring ahead of the road with a cold look, the summer breeze blowing her hair in her face, before whipping it away.

°•○●⸸●○•°

„Wellsy!"

She turned on her heel, coming face to face with her favorite Scottish man, an immediate smile appearing on her face at the sight of him.

„MacTavish!" she boomed with the same enthusiasm, matching his energy in an instant despite wanting nothing more than a good sleep. „You ballsy motherfucker!"

A laugh erupted from him, and even though she wanted to be mad at him, she just smiled along with him, shaking her head at his stupidity.

„It was your idea first, woman," he pointed it out, earning a sharp look from her. „You got bigger balls than all of us here."

„That's probably true," Rora shrugged her shoulders, but nonetheless, she raised her fist and punched his shoulder, a surprised yelp leaving his lips.

„What was that for?" he smoothed a hand over the spot she hit him, taking a step back from her. Maybe she was small, but she got one hell of a punch.

„For being stupid," she narrowed her eyes at him. „Don't do that again."

„You worried about me," Soap realized, and by the annoyed look on her face, he knew he was right. „Wellsy having feelings! That's a first!"

„Do you want me to punch you again?" she took a menacing step closer to him, his smile immediately faltering.

„I'll pass."

„Is this what Ghost feels like when I'm around?" she wondered aloud, slightly understanding more of his grumpy mood or just simply lack of words. Soap was the annoying little brother she never asked for.

The second she said his name out loud, his gaze somehow managed to find hers in an instant, despite being multiple feet away, impossible for him to hear her. He, Graves and Alejandro were pushing a woman, Valeria towards a metal container, its only purpose right now being an interrogation room, isolating her from everything.

She was informed that El Sin Hombre, the one that ruled Las Almas and the one they tried to hunt down was her, and she struggled to understand it. But knowing that a woman that stood behind all the cartel business and seemed to be everywhere, knowing even the people's shadow, somehow made her feel a sense of respect.

She possessed power, and it was clear from the way she carried herself. Even though they captured her, she held her head high, a stone-cold impression permanently taking over her sharp features.

„We should probably go," Rora called to Soap, her eyes following the others.

„This will be interesting," Soap clapped his hands together, making his way towards the others, her following closely.

All of them gathered around the rather small container, Graves pushing the cartel queen on a fold-chair, placed in the middle. She rather looked unimpressed by the whole ordeal, her dark gaze flickering from Graves to Alejandro.

„Alright," Graves spoke up first, standing just behind her shoulder, looking at Alejandro. „How do you two know each other?"

„Know is a strong word," Alejandro declared, his voice cutting through the air like a sharp knife. Even though Rora stood in the back, parallel to Ghost who, per usual, stood next to the door, his back leaning against the wall.

Valeria spoke Spanish in such a way it made Rora angrier for not understanding a single word, especially as she watched Alejandro lash out, spitting Spanish curses her way, launching forward. It was almost amusing till she watched his fists curl at his side, her shoulders tensed, ready to interfere if needed.

But luckily, Soap and Rudy jumped from the side to hold back Alejandro, his booming voice bouncing off the metal walls. Despite the very obviously pissed-off Colonel, Valeria's lips curved in an ever so slight smirk, keeping her eyes on him. The very few words she understood weren't so nice, it made her cringe.

Oh, they definitely knew each other.

„Calm down, Commander," Rudy tried his best to contain Alejandro's temper, but by the way he shoved Rudy off of him, it didn't seem to work.

„Yeah?!" Alejandro took a few steps back, hooking his thumbs under his vest, cocking his head to the side. Rora watched him with careful eyes, she didn't need him to spill blood right now. „Vamos. Tell them."

„I don't take orders anymore," Valeria spoke up in English this time, her face hard as stone until she let her eyes wander over the others gathered around her. Her eyes lingered on Rora a little, before they snapped to Soap, a scowl pulling at her features. „Even the dogs in Las Almas know not to bark at me."

Alejandro let out a dry chuckle, not one bit of amusement behind his voice as he said some words more to himself than to them.

„She's ex-military. We served together," he declared, having enough of her not answering his questions.

„Different squads, same unit," the woman sitting in front of them backed his words up, leaning back in her seat, and casually placing her elbow on the back. She lunged in front of them like they were discussing the weather next to a coffee, and it confused Rora. „You were the wild ones, huh... "los vaqueros". My squad was clean clut senores y senoras..."

„Until the raid on the son of La Arana. Do you remember?"

„I remember perfectly," Valeria answered, her voice just as cold as ice.

Feeling the need to fidget with something, she pulled out one of her smaller throwing knives, balancing it on her palm before she threw it in the air, the blade landing perfectly back in her hand. It was smaller than her usual ones, a lot more lighter, too, the cold metal feeling like silk to her skin.

She and Everett liked to play who could hit their target more times with knives. At that time, they didn't have professional throwing knives, they mostly managed with random knives they found around the kitchen, their past stupidity pulling a small smile on her lips.

Only if she could go back to talk some sense into that little, love-sick girl...

Her fidgeting with the knife distracted Ghost's attention from the interrogation, his careful eyes watching as she flipped the knife between her fingers like second nature, movements so fluid it looked like she was shifting water between her delicate fingers.

It was hard not to think about their conversation on the hill, finally not only hearing, but listening to her.

„You know," Rora's gaze stared into nothing, pain sparkling in her eyes as she looked at the stars to distract herself. „I hated you from the start."

He may have been heartless to state it, but he didn't care. Not many people were fancying him, and he disliked most people on Earth. Her adding to the list that didn't like him wasn't that big of a difference.

„But now I don't think I do anymore," her voice was barely above a whisper, the words drifting in the wind, catching him off-guard.

His head turned to face her, his eyes watching as the stars got lost in her eyes, not really blaming them. She had very captivating eyes, and every time he looked into them, it was like she always gave a piece of her soul in return. He wasn't attracted, he doubted he could ever be attracted to anybody. But it was just a fact that whoever glanced into those crystal-like eyes, they would get lost in the mixture of beauty and pain looking back in seconds.

Like she felt his gaze on her, she turned her head to him, the two of them staring at each other soundlessly. A faint smile played on her lips, a slight pink blush appearing on her cheeks, the scar on her left cheek being almost invisible in the dim light.

„You look so much like him," she breathed, the pain in her voice radiating toward him like it was radioactive. It was odd, he never saw her sad before. „My ex-boyfriend. That was the reason I hated you."

He nodded, not really knowing what he should say to that. She didn't even know what he looked like, but maybe it was the physique, or the mask, he didn't know. But he would probably hate the people that looked like the ones he lost, too. It would've been too painful to look at them.

„But you're not that bad, I guess," she shrugged her shoulder, the sadness disappearing from her voice, the Rora he got to know so far returning, her signature smirk appearing on her lips. „You're just cold. But I can warm up to anyone."

Little did she know that she already started to warm up to his cold heart.

i love valeria sm

also, i made a playlist for this story i used while writing, just asking if anybody is interested in it, or you guys good just vibin on ur own