The music, the lights. It was all amazing. In all my ten years, I'd never been to such a sophisticated party before. And little did I know I was going to be spending a lot of time at them in the following thirteen. Ten years old, and robbed of a childhood. I was tall for my age, as I'd been told plenty of times in the past three years since I'd joined PUA. I was dressed in a satin blue dress, and Hunter was around here somewhere. I sighed. The head of PUA-Ultimate, Hunter and I had dubbed her-had specifically told him to watch out for me, since I was younger than him. She'd told him to stay by my side, so I didn't get lost. But he obviously wasn't there now. I looked for him, and found him by the snack table. I walked over to him.
"We've been here for two minutes and I thought I'd lost you," I said, looking like I was about to cry, something I'd learned from Ultimate. "Ultimate told you to stay by my side, and what do you do? Walk off." My lip quivered, all part of the act. He hugged me, and I dropped my act.
"I'm sorry. I was hungry." I rolled my eyes. Of course he was.
"Apology accepted. Now, what say you to actually starting our first mission?" He sighed.
"Do I have to?" I rolled my eyes again. For an eleven year-old, he was whiny.
"I would assume so." I started walking away, and heard him scramble to catch up. I found it extremely funny, since I was shorter than him.
∞--X--∞
A while later, I saw the person we were here for. I walked towards her, feeling Hunter's presence behind me. I walked up to her, smiling. "Hello." She turned to look at us.
"I never invited kids to this ball." I dropped the smile, looking at her seriously.
"We're Maria Kodak and John Dyson," I stated simply. She sneered.
"No doubt some of Natasha's brats," she said. I was confused for a moment, then remembered that Natasha was Ultimate's first name.
"I don't know a Natasha," I muttered, and she narrowed her eyes at us.
"Yes, Natasha's brats. No doubt about it."
"Listen, lady. We don't know a Natasha, so just take your opinions and keep them to yourself." I sighed as Hunter tried to take over.
"Knock it off, Hunter," I hissed, then froze as I realized I'd just given us away. Hunter threw his hands up in the air.
"Nice going, Raiyne," he muttered.
"How many more of you are there?" The lady asked.
"It doesn't matter. How do you know Natasha?" I asked.
"You two came here without backup?" She laughed. "That is the best thing I've heard. Natasha sent two 'agents', barely out of diapers, without backup." I rolled my eyes.
"Might as well leave, Hunter. Before she scorns us more," I said, turning around and walking toward the door. The limo was there, and I slid into the backseat. Hunter slid in next to me, and I scooted over to the other side of the limo, looking out the window.
"Raiyne." I made a point of not looking over at Hunter, but I watched him in the window reflection. "I'm sorry. I know this was our first mission and you wanted to accomplish it, and I'm sorry for ruining it for you." His face was the epitome of disappointment, and I looked at him.
"It's okay. There's always the next one, right?"
∞--X--∞
"Rai?" Hunter's voice broke through my flashback, and I realized we were standing in a corner. I blinked, looking up at him. He'd matured in the past thirteen years, not only looking amazing, but his personality was more mature.
"Huh?" I asked. His eyebrows furrowed, and his gaze was concerned.
"Are you okay? You're acting...out of it." I was already nodding.
"I'm fine, Hunter. Just...flashed back to our first mission. I'm fine." The corner of his mouth turned up.
"You were so mad at me, I was worried." I smiled. "But then you forgave me so easily, I wondered why. Although you still forgive me so easily." I shrugged.
"How can I not? I mean, I don't even know what I mean." He smiled, kissing my forehead before gesturing toward the room.
"Let's tackle this, eh?" He asked, and I nodded, walking into the room. He twisted his fingers with mine, which I was glad for, because I didn't want to lose him again. So when we encountered Jonah again, I gripped his hand tight enough for my knuckles to turn white.
"Hello, Raiyne," Jonah said, not acknowledging Hunter except for a glare in his direction and a sneer of distaste.