A/N: Another Eminem/Rihanna duet fic for these two. Part of the Love the Way You Lie verse. Kinda.

Warnings: Borderline abusive pre-relationship, err... so I don't condone it. Butt-kicking.

Status: Completed on its own. I can always add more chapters in the future.

Other: Title and lyrics belong to Eminem ft. Rihanna - The Monster (Aftermath/Interscope)

The Monster

She was thrown so far off the mat that she landed on a completely separate one ten feet away and howled when she fell on her shoulder hard. This boy… no, commander couldn't be human. Not with how easily he grabbed her flying kick and tossed her like a rag doll. Hiding a whimper, unfocused brown eyes saw the bright spotlights of the Moonbase gym dance around. Experience on the field told her that she was experiencing extreme disorientation. Solution: reorient herself and run.

But giving up wasn't an option. Not when the stakes were so high. With great effort, she managed to roll her already sore body over until she fell onto on her stomach, which earned another gasp of pain, and struggled to get up on bruised arms.

That was when a shoe stepped onto her back ever so gently, it was obviously an insult, and pushed her back down onto the mat. Teeth grinding together, there was no energy left for her to try and get back up at this rate.

He knew this.

Her battle partner leaned forward, adding more weight down on his boot until he heard her whimper in pain. And then, just as the pressure was almost too much for her, the weight disappeared, and in its place she found a warm palm rest against the bruised mark. Fingers curled around the creases of her training shirt almost in apology.

Almost.

"No one lasted very long as my battle partner," he murmured. She could feel Numbuh 274's limpid blue eyes rove over her prone form. Having absolute power over an opponent must be his ultimate high because his words were elated and rumbling with pleasure. "Are you going to be the next one I break?"

"We'll… find out, won't we?" Cheek pressed against the rough blue mat, she growled out her defiance to one of his sneakers. That was the only part of him she could see while pinned, but it was just enough. She hated anything that was a part of him indiscriminately.

His shoes disappeared and the world shifted when she was turned onto her back again. Now she had a first class seating to the insipid smile of his handsome face that got closer when he knelt down. There was hardly a scratch on him aside from the busted lip. She was proud of that regardless.

Almost as if he could read her thoughts, 274 lewdly licked the dry blood of his split lip and brushed a knuckle against a similar mark on her temple, which was already blooming in an ugly blue and purple. She flinched from the stinging pain that came with it and that made him smile.

I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.

An important event called the Battle Partner Lottery came once a month and would continue every month afterwards until everyone was partnered up for mandatory training. After the rest of the sectors flailed and ran the two times Moonbase had been attacked by the more competent teenagers and Sector V saving the day by barely the skin of their teeth, the big kids upstairs had enough. Something had to be done.

Except the Battle Partner Lottery was quickly becoming something of a farce when it came to someone like their beloved Supreme Leader. Word on Moonbase when she first arrived was that Numbuh 274 was a different person when you fought him. Notorious for never pulling his punches when he engaged the battlefield, why would he do the same while training?

That made him a dangerous enemy, but also a vicious battle partner for the weak-hearted. Six months since the Battle Partner Lottery started Numbuh 274 always ended up back in queue for a new randomized partner. Because of that whispers began to spread like wildfire egged on by his horrified ex-partners. They can't keep up/there's no breaks/he scares them/he's relentless… sometimes these whispers blended into something almost inhuman until everyone on Moonbase was certain that he changes his partners for the worst.

They go in eager like the children they are, bouncing and boasting that they're the battle partner of Numbuh 274 himself and then leave fearful and demanding a transfer to someone else.

And that was what they were: rumors. Ask anyone on Global Command and they'd sing romantic sonnets in 274's name. He was friendly, helpful, a guiding force that kept the Kids Next Door alive and thriving. His ex-partners were just bitter, they'd say, because they weren't strong enough/fast enough/smart enough to keep up with their beloved Supreme Leader.

If that wasn't enough for you, then meet him and see for yourself, they'd say. You would be dazzled by his boyish smile and his smooth dulcet voice that spoke of power and protection. Why would you fear someone who looked and acted like he cared about you?

Because he was good at what he did. He was dangerous in his charisma. Beware.

One hit, two hit, every successive bit of contact was countered with a smugness that only sought to infuriate her more. He was immune to her acupuncture tactics which was designed to work on the soft bellies of the nonathletic adults and lazy teenagers. There was just not enough force to do more than bruise the flesh of his strong stomach. It was not enough to faze him let alone incapacitate.

He was tough and fast. What he couldn't dodge from her destabilizing touch, he made up for it in raw power, using her momentum against her by grabbing a hold whenever she drew close and never letting go like a well-trained police dog.

And when he did, it was because he was playing with her. That pissed her off even more which made her attacks sloppy and desperate. He knew this because his grin grew with each dodge but, eventually, he had enough of her fancy spy moves.

Grabbing her left arm hard, she shouted in alarm when he twisted her around until she exposed her vulnerable back to him and kept it there by the unnatural angle he trapped her arm in. He pushed her arm in warning until she had no choice but remain deathly still and welcome him into her personal space again whether she liked it or not.

He had to be human. She could feel the strong thrum of his chest pressed against her back. Then again, she supposed animals could do the same thing. Animals and even monsters.

A hot breath bled into her damp golden hair and caused her to shiver. "Concede." She can feel his lips quirk up into another smirk against her ear. Why he enjoyed messing with her like this she did not know. Could not know. He was the older one. Maybe something else drove him to intimacy. Maybe he just never had any real friends and he was touch starved for affection.

She'd go on theorizing, but sympathy was extremely hard when the person in question was one pressure point away from breaking your arm.

He roughly grabbed her hair with his free hand and forced her head back into a hard tilt which caused her to gasp in pain. She was taking too long to answer. "Concede." This time it was an order.

"Never."

He stole her next breath by pulling her hair until she was practically breathing into his neck from an unnatural angle, but she would not relent. Every moment spent with him meant he couldn't rough up another operative again. This was like another mission, another failure and she was under the microscope again of the enemy. He was going to learn first hand that withstanding physical interrogation was the bread and butter of KND espionage.

Or maybe he did know and he was enjoying this.

The hand in her hair lessened and those rough fingers ran through her tangled strands with a gentleness you expected from the Supreme Leader. "Good girl," he pressed his lips against the side of her temple and let out silent puffs of air. He was laughing. "Expected nothing less…" he squeezed into her arm again, causing her to stand on her tiptoes to relieve the pressure. "…from an espionage agent." A quiet cry of pain left her lips when he nudged her arm again. Where he learned this technique she wanted to know… and use it against him.

She would last longer than the others, he probably could already tell.

He finally released her and watched as she fell boneless onto the mat with a soft grunt. And when he pounced on what he believed was the final victory, Rachel flipped onto her back and kicked him hard in the stomach. Stumbling back in surprise, he watched her with something akin to excitement as she curled her legs toward her chest before she kicked up into a standing position…

…and roundhouse kicked him right in the jaw.

That was where it all began, really. Orders from the top downsized the espionage division on Earth in order to reinforce security on Moonbase. Veteran operatives were needed more than ever because Sector V couldn't play the sung heroes all the time.

Numbuh 86 had been joyous that her superior was finishing the paperwork necessary for the permanent transfer to Global Command. Some of this paperwork included an entry for Numbuh 362's number into the Battle Partner Lottery queue for she knew no one on base that she was comfortable partnering with. Fanny had already partnered with Numbuh 60 months ago.

Why not leave it to chance? Fanny almost dropped her entire lunch tray in horror when Rachel made note of this just as they sat down.

"Please, Numbuh 362, for the love of Rainbow Monkeys everywhere find a partner!" Rachel jumped in alarm. Fanny had grabbed her spork with both hands and her green eyes began to waver in unshed tears. "Do it before ye end up with Numbuh 274!"

She was so loud, almost half the cafeteria paused and the other half instantly made a break for it lest their Supreme Leader himself overheard her. Rumors were already well set into the urban legend that came with living in such a large base of operations. Overactive imaginations of a bunch of children can make the rumors seem like Numbuh 274 had supersonic hearing or something.

How ridiculous.

"So he's a disciplined fighter. That's a good thing, Fanny," Rachel stressed slowly and pried her fingers away from the red head's death-like grip. "I just know I'm going to get soft up here on Moonbase. I'm just not built to look down at Earth from the opposite end of the transmission screen! I have to be down there in the dirt doing spy work. And if our Supreme Leader can keep me from going mad, I'd be honored to be picked as his battle partner."

"You say that now, Numbuh 362, but you watch," Numbuh 5 coolly slipped into their table and idly enjoyed a sucker, overhearing their conversation. "All that time out of contact with Global Command the last year or so is gonna bite you right on the butt. Even Numbuh 5 don't wanna dance with 274. He's hardcore. Ask 60 over there how his butt's still recovering from the beat down 274's given him months ago."

Numbuh 60 turned in his seat when someone mentioned his name and he stood up. "You talking to me?!" Almost forgetting that Patton hardly had an inside voice, Rachel winced. "Numbuh 274's ruthless. Back on base we tell our cadets stories about him to get them moving their lazy keesters! He got me right on the tail, he did. I was in the ER for two weeks. Luckier than Numbuh 32 at least. He needed a butt transplant afterwards!"

Fanny shivered. "Aye… an' he's no gentleman to the girls either. Poor Numbuh 47. She was never the same afterwards. I dunna even want to talk about what happened to me."

Rachel lowered her spork and looked at the meatball sandwich on her plate. If she was unlucky enough to get picked, she might not want to fatten up on this kind of food so close to training. "Is he really that brutal to his battle partners?"

"Hafta be when yer the best operative evar," Fanny was literally trembling in her seat. "When you fight with Numbuh 274, he really means it."

Patton nodded and smacked his fist hard against his palm. "He's hard. Nintendo Hard. And he's made a lot of people cry too. That's why nobody wants to spar with him and those who willingly come back for more are crazy anyways! Like Numbuh 1."

"Oooh yeah, Numbuh 1 loves Nintendo Hard, baby," Abby grinned, "but even Numbuh 1 knows that he should only train with 274 on his best day. As a permanent battle partner? Yeah right! His girlfriend would beat usblack and blue if she saw her little Nigie covered in battle scars every month."

And when they announced this month's lottery later in the day, everyone gasped and backed away from Numbuh 362 when she saw her number paired up with 274's on the jumbo screen. She thought she heard Numbuh 5 in the background whistle in sympathy before hightailing it.

"362."

She immediately whirled around to find her Supreme Leader hovering just behind her, thoughtfully rubbing his chin as he concentrated on the monitor. She just didn't understand. He was just oozing friendliness. Not boogeyman.

Chad cemented her impression of him by looking down and smiling at her so boyishly it stole her breath away. "Looks like we're partners." He emphasized the last word so intimately, Rachel had to quickly look around and hope no one was within hearing range.

"I… yes," she instantly composed herself and saluted him. "I'll do my best to make sure you are at peak condition, sir!"

"We'll see." Perhaps she was just imagining the darkening of his eyes and the sudden sharpness of his smile. It might just be because Numbuh 86 and 60 scared her with stories about how ruthless he was.

He was their leader. He would never intentionally hurt them.

Their first spar was a one-sided affair, but it was hardly as bad as the rumors made it out to be. She knew she was going to feel some of her bruises in the morning, but she fought in worse conditions with much more dangerous opponents.

And when she somehow managed to get him on his back best two out of three, Chad smiled up at her from his place on the floor.

"You're good," he said and she should have seen this beforehand. He wasn't even breathing irregularly from the hour long session. "How about we raise the stakes a bit?"

Looking back, she should have sensed the deception a mile away. A lesson to be learned: never let a handsome smile ruin your sense of vigilance. She was going to learn this the hard way.

Chest heaving, Rachel offered a hand to him which he took, but didn't use to lift himself up. Instead, she felt his thumb brush against the light callouses of her fingers, a relic of her days as a traceuse swinging over railings and jumping over walls. She turned pink and it had nothing to do with exertion. "Sir?"

"Everyone's too scared to spar with me regularly," he brushed a bit of stray blond hair from his limpid blue eyes. It was so charming, she was immediately disarmed by that action alone. No wonder Numbuh 10 gushed about him everyday in the rec room. "I figured hey, maybe if we make a game out of this you're not gonna run off as quickly as the last one."

Rachel tilted her head and wondered if this was his way of saying he was lonely. That was what she would do if their roles were reversed. There were very few people on base she was familiar with. Her old friends were back in their treehouse on Earth, probably blissfully uncaring that she had gone underground the last year.

She reaffirmed her hold on him. "I won't run," she promised with that famous conviction that earned her many classified missions back in the day.

He offered her his pinky, the most ultimate of all promises to be made in the KND. "Swear on it?"

She should have seen this coming, this manipulation. He was far better at disguising his true intentions, even more so than her, the spy prodigy. And when you were dealing with an operative who was notoriously whispered to be the best in the KND, they were just as much as a liability as they were an ally.

This Numbuh 274 was dangerous. Even more so because he knew this.

Not realizing the implications of this promise, she blindly gave him her pinky and intertwined it with his. "I swear." Blind. She was absolutely blind to the real 274 within. The one who was ruthless and manipulative and pulled all the strings in order to get what he wanted was beneath that friendly surface just waiting to pop out and pull her under.

He knew she abided by the KND honor code. This was him exploiting it to its fullest.

The first term of their promise happened when he suddenly tossed her onto her back. Before she could even catch her breath, he was on her so fast she barely blinked. Fear suddenly gripped her when strong fingers pressed hard into her stomach through her training shirt. This was nothing like the spar they had before. This one was serious.

Something changed in 274. His eyes were dark and lilting along with his smile which was no longer friendly. It was twisted and playful and she felt true fear for the first time because it was directed at her and her only.

"You know, you look kind of pretty when you're afraid," he noted casually and pressed harder each time she took a breath. Realizing his intention, she held her breath as long as she could. There was a sinking feeling in her gut that he enjoyed that kind of power over someone. "First term of the game: betting pool. Every time we spar…" he eased up a bit with a quicksilver smile and she could finally take a few shuddering gasps of air. "…we bet. Last one standing wins. It can be any bet of course. You can even bet in breaking the KND promise, but I doubt it. You don't seem the type to lack a spine."

In a burst of anger, she clipped away the offending arm with hand snap and was rewarded with a hand to the throat instead. She cried out when he squeezed, not enough to hurt, but enough to scare her into thinking he would.

He tutted and spoke as if they were having a tea party instead of threatening to choke her to death. "Very quick, Numbuh 362. I like that. Maybe you'll be different from the others. Crybabies, all of them. That's what you get when you train child soldiers. I'm just the perfect one."

She could barely wrap her fingers around his wrist and tried defending again, struggling under his grip. His grin only grew the more she glared up at him, refusing to listen to him. When it came to this 274, doing the right thing seemed to be the wrong one.

"You're not even shedding a tear," His eyes glittered with interest. "You have no idea how happy this makes me. Even Numbuh 1 flipped out the first time. He thought I was joking around. Probably still thinks so," he practically climbed on top of her now, heightening the illusion that he was really going to hurt her. "Not you. You look a little smarter than him. Do you think I'm playing around? Or do you think I'm some kind of Nintendo hardcore boogeyman like the others?"

So he does have supersonic hearing.

She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't from the pressure against her throat. The fingers retreated from their grip, but only just. Instead they brushed against the throbbing pulse of her throat as if drawing each of her heavy breathing to memory from touch alone. "I don't know what to believe," she finally gasped out. It was like he had two personalities. Which one was the real one she couldn't get a read from and reading people was part of being a KND spy.

That scared her.

"A smart answer no matter what teachers say," and just like that, he was Supreme Leader Numbuh 274 again. Her fear was slowly subsiding when he tenderly massaged against the bruised sides of her throat to soothe the ache away. Whatever she did seemed to appease him.

Just like that, she was already conditioned to follow his lead.

"And just think, you're doing a great service to the Kids Next Door offering yourself up like this. We can play as much as we want and never have to worry about our kids crying again. Isn't that right, Numbuh 362?"

Our kids. Somehow he can make his intentions seem absolutely disgusting and endearing at the same time. Her chest fluttered at the idea while the rest of her body burned from the rough treatment. She hadn't dealt with something so dangerous… ever.

He finally got up and left her on the mat. "See you next month, Rachel."

And you think I'm crazy, well that's not fair.