── ULTRAVIOLENCE
The Dark. Chapter Two

CASSIOPEIA loved the dark. She found areas calmer when there was little to no light. She found it comforting to escape within the shadows and lay down to fall asleep at night when your surroundings look the same regardless if your eyes were opened or closed.

She loved the feeling of being engulfed by darkness during nightfall and preferred the moon rather than the sun.

So just about the only good thing about her life was that she could control the very shadows she loved so much.

And as she stood within a small, cramped room, shadows danced along the walls. The walls were close, dimensions small, yet a desk managed to squeeze in the middle, soldiers surrounding it. Cas clutched to her gun, fingers wrapping around the grip. As she stood beside Warner rather than against the wall like the rest of the soldiers, she sent glances to who lined the perimeter.

Aaron sat at the desk beside her, sitting within the center of the room. The little amount of light within the room illuminated him in particular, lighting his face. Cas sent him a dirty look, reaching behind her and attaching her weapon to the spot in her vest. She let out a breath, placing her hands within her pockets.

She waited a moment, closed her eyes, then took in a deep breath, the smells of damp paper and mist filling her nostrils. She scrunched her nose, cringing at the scent, then opened eyes just in time to see Juliette enter the room.

Cassiopeia's heart sank at the sight. The girl wore rags and her hair was matted. Her hands were pinned behind her back as Adam tossed her to the ground.

The girl gritted her teeth, scowling at the blond at the desk.

"Hello, Love." Warner said, smoothly, smiling down at the girl on the floor. Adam released his grip on Juliette's wrist then retreated to the wall behind him.

Cas sent him a soft smile, then refocused on the girl at the floor. Juliette glanced to her just in time to meet her eyes, then refocused on Warner as he stood from his chair. He made his way slowly around the desk, standing directly before Juliette. His hands clutched the table top behind him leaning gently behind the desk.

Juliette lunged forward from her spot on the ground, Cas waving a hand and forming a wall of darkness before her. Dancing shadows created a barrier between Juliette and Aaron, a frightened expression appearing upon Juliette's face.

"Don't bother." Cas muttered. "He's a stubborn bastard- you'll only waste your breath."

The girl earned a look from Aaron, then watched as the blonde crouched down. He looked into Juliette's eyes, pure fury looking back at him.

"What do you want?" Juliette hissed.

Cas retreated the barrier, the darkness dissolving away in the form of black mist. She watched as an unsettling smile formed upon Aaron's lips. "I want to help." He said gently.

Juliette stayed quiet. For just a moment, hope replaced the anger. Cas grew envious. She wished she could feel something beside the anger that bubbled in her chest- besides the fury she gathered from years of suffering.

But she had learned that wasn't an option for her.

"What's the catch?" Juliette asked. The hope in her expression fizzled away, the familiar damaged look replacing it.

"There is no catch, Love." Aaron says simple. He's crouched down before the girl, elbows resting upon his knees. He wears a smile upon his lips.

If Cas didn't know any better she'd think he wasn't a monster.

"I'm just here to help." Aaron insists. "All I ask is for your help in return."

Cas lets out a sigh, her jaw tightening. She grows bitter at the thought she'd been broken and beaten through out the years just for Warner to find a new 'Weapon'

She watched as Juliette's eyes furrow. Cas then watches as her mouth moves, but her words fall on deaf ears. Cassiopeia stands beside the desk silently, allowing the conversation to pass but paying no attention to it as they spoke.

She payed enough attention to know if she had to stop an act of violence, but otherwise found her eyes traveling through the room she was within. With the conversation mumbled in the background, her eyes jump from person to person.

Her eyes first jump to Adam, then quickly landing on the boy beside him. He pays no attention to the exchange between Juliette and Aaron, instead looking down at his pants.

He clutches tightly to the weapon in his hand, but his eyes focus on the article of clothing. His brows furrow and after a moment he reaches behind him to mount his weapon to his vest. With free hands he zips up his pants.

His cheeks flush.

After another moment he leans over to Adam, Cas reading his lips with each word he spoke. "Dude," he says, "my fly's been down this whole time."

It goes unnoticed by Cas, but a soft smile forms on her lips at the words. The gesture is unfamiliar, the girl not even realizing she'd done it. Nor does she ever realize, for after a moment of silence, Aaron speaks loud and clear. His voice bounces loudly off the small walls, booming through the room and regaining Cas's attention.

"Kent." He says, standing up from his crouch. "Take her to the tank." He says. "We'll leave for the sector soon."

✧.*

✧.*

WEAPONS used to be heavy. They used to weigh down Cassiopeia and cause her pain, but as years went by, it became the new normal. She grew used to the extra luggage and she grew just as unbothered by the weapons as she did many other things.

Like the scars that littered her body.

And while she never tolerated Aaron, she got used to him. She got used to his remarks and his violence. His anger. And as her and the blonde stood within an elevator, then air suffocating, she hardly noticed the arrogance in his stance.

She held her hands within her pockets, leaning her back against the wall of the elevator as she waited in silence. Beside her, Aaron messed with the cuffs of his shirt, his posture perfect in comparison to hers.

They both waited to reach the floor Aaron's room laid on. Cas didn't see the point of her walking him up there, he was a grown man- completely capable of taking a stroll on his own, yet Anderson seemed to think she needed eyes on his son at all costs.

That even meant leaving Adam to figure things out with Juliette on his own, taking her to her room. Cassiopeia felt bad for the kid, knowing very well he had to have a load of emotions tugging at his heart. She knew he had known the girl when he was younger and jumped to the case of helping her out, but she knew it couldn't be easy.

Nothing ever was.

"Why'd you do it?" Cas finally asked, the silence shattering into a million pieces.

"Do what?" Aaron asked.

"Why'd you take the girl?"

"I have my reasons." He said as the elevator opened. He strolled out, Cassiopeia following close behind. She clenched her jaw and squeezed her first.

"I'm tired of your games, Aaron." She hissed. "Why'd you take the girl?"

"I took Juliette to use her as a weapon."

"Isn't that what I'm for?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Her pace was steady behind the blonde, almost running into him as he abruptly stopped. He stopped and laughed. He fucking laughed.

"Of course not, Love."

Cas looked the man in the eye, fury filling her expression. She wanted to smack the look off of his face.

"My father has plans for you but it's certainly not the same plans I have for Juliette. She's a weapon for war. She's mass destruction at the finest."

"So he keeps me around for shits and giggle? I don't think so."

"You're here for much more than 'shits and giggles' Cassiopeia, I assure you."

Cas rolled her eyes, disregarding the fact her swore- which he never did. "So tell me what it is."

"I'm not telling you anything that isn't your concern."

"You asshole!" She shouted. The words echoed through the halls as she tossed aside the weapon that was in her hands. She slapped the blonde before she could stop herself. "You are such a dick! You made my life miserable! The least you could fucking do is-"

She's against the wall with a gun to her stomach before she can even process what had happened. Aaron has his hand against her shoulder, his other clutching to the weapon he threatened her with.

"You're just like your father." She spat. "A dick of a man with insecurity and anger issues."

He pulled the trigger.

"I'm many things but my father isn't one of them."

Cas didn't flinch at the 'Bang' that echoed out and was rather disappointed to find out he was no longer pointing the gun at her when he had pulled the trigger.

She watched as a hand built of shadows and wisps appeared behind the blond and tugged him back by his jacket. He turned around and shot the hand, the figure fading away at the gesture.

Aaron spun around to see was gone.

"Just go." Cas said. She was now at the other end of the hall where the light had gone out. She loved the dark. And she loved jumping from shadow to shadow, teleporting to the dark to escape a situation.

Or to run head first in to one.

Aaron glared at her. "If you were anyone else, you'd be dead by now." He hissed.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, sliding the gun away in his pocket. Then he spun on his heels and Cas watched as he retreated to his room.

She flipped him off as the door closed, then watched as shadows of hands appeared beside her and matched the gesture.

"Damn you must really not like him." A voice said. "That's what- five middle fingers?"

Cas changed her gaze to the elevator door, a boy leaning against the wall beside it. He smiled softly, ignoring the unamused expression on her face.

Cas then realized it was the the boy from earlier.

Her eyes flickered down, wondering if he had fixed his pants.

"What are you doing up here?" She asked.

"I heard a gun shot." He said. He stiffened, placing his hand on his forehead and saluting. "And as a guard it was my duty to make sure Warner wasn't shot."

"Trust me" she said, "I thought about it." She pointed at the bullet hole in the wall as she passed him. "And I tried." she lied. "Too bad I missed."

And with that, she left through the elevator, leaving the boy to retreat the weapon she'd tossed aside just moments before.

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