"Jesus fuck, Locus, do you ever lay off?" he muttered as he adjusted the scopes, listening to his partner wax on and on to that new 'general' about the importance of discipline. And he thinks I talk too much.

"What was that, Felix?"

Oh shit.

Vanessa was standing behind him, arms crossed in the way he told her looked cute. He had told he a lot of things, though. "Captain," he said, spinning around and putting on his sexiest under-the-helmet grin. "To what do I owe this honest…pleasure?"

She squirmed a little at that. Good. "You…" She coughed and tried again. He grinned widely. God, she was so fucking easy. "You said something about Locus. That's the name of their new mercenary, right?"

Well, shit. No dodging this one. Time to channel some Shakespeare. He sighed and tilted his head forward a little. "Yeah," he muttered, careful to keep his tone an ambiguous mixture that could be interpreted as scared, or defeated, or angry.

She completely fell for it. "You…you know him?" she asked carefully.

He sighed and turned away slightly. All the best lies have a basis in truth. "Yeah," he said again, a little more quietly this time.

Vanessa stepped forward and touched his hand. Perfect. Those late nights and smuggled beers were paying off. Nothing grabbed a woman's trust quite like tricking them into believing they were special. "He was a friend?" she offered.

Felix's laughter at that was genuine. "Friend?" he snorted. "No." He looked back at the scopes he had been adjusting. That work was honest; if they wanted the rebels and feds to keep killing each other, they had to have functioning equipment. Basis in truth. "He was my partner," Felix supplied after what he thought was the appropriate amount of time to make Vanessa think he was gathering himself.

He pulled away. Locus thought Felix was a loose cannon, an unpredictable creature with no respect for precision or discipline. Locus was wrong. Like, okay, Locus was wrong a lot, but especially about Felix.

Every word was calculated. Every movement precise. Every pause measured. Locus could play soldier all he wanted, but he would never be as good as Felix. Because Felix could use anything as a weapon, and his words were perhaps the deadliest in his arsenal. Not that Mr.-Stop-Talking-I'm-A-Heartless-Machine would ever understand that.

"He," Felix said, letting his voice break a little. Oh yeah, Vanessa was just eating it up. Because only she could see the rough mercenary for what he truly was, only she could see that under all the jokes and bravado, he had a heart of gold. Because she was special. Felix had to admit, even he didn't expect this part of the job to be so much fun. "Locus and I…we fought in the Great War together."

Vanessa stepped forward again, trying to offer her touch as a comfort. "Felix…"

"No, no, it's good," he murmured. He faced her, returning her touch. Locus determined the leader of the Feds by killing anyone he didn't like. And yeah, okay, so maybe he was stealthy about it. But still. Kind of a brutish method. Felix had a more…subtle approach. Vanessa would be a general soon enough. She had to trust him completely.

"We worked so well together. You should have seen us, Vanessa!" He leaned back, as though fondly remembering his partnership. "No one stood a chance. I mean, I never really liked the guy personally, but damn, we made a hell of a team." He paused and looked at his feet. "And then…the war ended. And I guess we were just sort of…lost. I mean, being soldiers? That's something we were good at." Felix shook his head, as though he hated himself for being good at killing. Couldn't that be farther from the truth.

"Felix," Vanessa said softly, pulling closer. "Being a soldier is nothing to be ashamed of."

"Right." He shrugged and sighed. "We decided to go the merc route, but I guess I was too picky about which jobs I took for his liking. He was only in it for the money." Again, also true. Felix didn't like to take jobs with too many moral constrictions. Or, well, any constrictions. Too boring. "So we parted ways. Didn't think I'd ever see him again."

Vanessa gave a soft 'hmm,' a sound of sympathy at understanding his predicament. "Do you think the Feds know? Who he is?" She paused, then added hastily, "Because they know who you are, they know you're working for us. Do you think…?"

"That they hired him specifically for me?" Felix replied sourly. "Yes. Yes, I do." He pulled his arm away from her. "In fact, it was probably a fucking incentive for him! The fucking asshole has never been able to let the whole 'soldier' act drop. And he hated that he needed me, even though we worked well together! You know why he's doing this, Vanessa?" He turned on the smaller woman. "He wants to kill me. He's got this fucking idea in his head that if he kills me, he will prove once and for all that he is the 'better' soldier. I mean, what the fuck, right? He's fucking insane!"

Woah. Okay, there, Felix, reel it in. He sighed and turned away from Vanessa, who looked shaken at his sudden outburst. "Sorry," he muttered, and this time his embarrassment wasn't entirely faked. Maybe he got a little too close to the truth on that one.

Because it was true. Locus needed Felix, and Locus hated that fact. He was afraid of what would happen if Felix ever turned on him. Because Felix was, unquestionably, a better killer.

Yeah. That was it.

"Well, he's wrong," Felix whispered. "I'm the better fighter."

When Vanessa continued in her studious silence, Felix stole a glance at her. "You'll stay," she said simply.

Ooookaaaay, he hadn't been expecting that response. "What?"

"You'll stay," she repeated. Her voice wasn't quite plain confidence. It couldn't be. Every time the woman spoke, she sounded like someone just told her that her puppy died. But this was as close to simple confidence as Felix had ever heard from her. Confidence, and trust. Bingo. "You'll stay, because you have something to prove." She gave a small smile. "Guess this is your war after all, Felix."

He listened to the private channel he and Locus kept open between each other. Not that Locus ever actually listened. The man was in the middle of a long-winded spiel about 'orders' or some bullshit. Not that Felix actually minded. Let Locus keep believing he was a solider. Let him keep following his narrow ideology, his fixation on rules and order and discipline. It kept Felix on top, allowed Felix to manipulate him as easily as any one of these clueless chums on this godforsaken planet. Besides, maybe Vanessa was right. Maybe Locus needed a reminder.

"Yeah," Felix said, turning to Vanessa and grinning. "I guess it is."