Rest in pieces...

After five minutes of talking and laughing with Tex, we finally reached the café. Much to our surprise, it was pretty desolate, other than the odd marine and crew member, there wasn't anyone there.

We looked at eachother and shrugged. Even Omega were surprised, as he appeared in front of us and gave a look around.

I took my recon helmet off and clamped it to my thigh, walked to the serving area and picked up a tray.

There wasn't anything special on today, so I sighed and got myself some macaroni and cheese. However the macaroni was always dry and I could have sworn the cheese was four hundred years old, as it was stale and smelled awful.

I approached the coffee machine and made myself a cappuccino, the usual.

Tex had another bacon sandwich, which made me smirk slightly, and some orange juice. "Quite unusual..." I thought.

We found a table that hadn't been occupied, however, it wasn't exactly a hard task to complete.

We sat there quietly eating our food for two minutes, when Tex suddenly spoke up.

"So, how old are you Monty?" She inquired.

I swallowed the food I had in my mouth and opened my mouth to speak.

"23" I returned.

"Wow, you're quite young, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I joined the project when I was 17" I told her, her face gleaming with fascination.

"How'd you manage that?" She asked, giving me her undivided attention.

I could tell she wanted to know, because she had stopped eating and drinking completely.

"Let me tell you from the beginning, so you might wanna get comfortable..."

She relocated herself from the other side of the table, to the seat next to me.

She then sat down, placed her helmet and sidearm on the table and rested her chin on her hand.

"Ready?" I asked her. "Yup" She replied with a nod.

"Okay, when I was 13 my mum married a guy by the name of Gary, everything was well at home and he would treat me and Alaska or Maddie in this case, to fish and chips every Friday, we loved him like a father and he was the best thing that happened to our family.

About a year later he started to develop a drinking problem. Said drinking problem led him to have severe violent outbursts, which got progressively worse everytime he got drunk.

It eventually got to the point where he would beat our mum black and blue, for doing the stupidest little thing. Everytime he did, me and Maddie used to hide in the basement of our house.

One day, after two years of being a severe alcoholic, he got himself so wasted, he beat our mum to the point that he knocked her out. He then found us hiding in the basement, grabbed Maddie by the hair and started to hit her. That day, something inside of me snapped, all fear that I had of him in that moment of time was lost, and instead, replaced by absolute hatred.

He raised his fist to punch her and I grabbed it. While his brain was too busy trying to process what had just happened, I took the opportunity to kick him in the balls and punch him in his face, allowing Maddie to get away.

I ordered her to wake up mum and run away. I remember her running up a few steps and looking at me, I still remember those fear-filled eyes from watching me pound the man that brought us together and tore us apart.

I persisted to beat Gary like he abused our mum and my sister. Punching him in the face and chest, causing blood to pour out of his mouth. I had never felt so angry at a person, when he beat our mum I felt so helpless, but as soon as he touched Maddie, I lost it. She was my closest family member and I would die for her.

After relentless pounding, Gary stopped breathing. He was dead. I stood I up and stared at his lifeless corpse. I had slayed the monster that terrorized our family for years.

While he lay in a pool of his own blood, I spat on his dead body and walked away. I climbed the basement stairs to find Maddie and mum staring at me for guidance. I could feel the desperation in their eyes.

I told them to pack some clothes, food and a few items of sentimental value. As I decided it was about time we got out of the house. After we had packed our things. I went to look at Gary's dead body one last time. His eyes were cold and lifeless, the blood around his mouth had dried and his skin had turned grey.

"Rest in pieces, motherfucker" I said through gritted teeth. It was the last thing I ever said to him, before we left the house and ran into the city, where we would live for the next year.

After one year of living in the city of New Mombasa. We were doing okay for ourselves. Mum had got herself a job as a waitress and we were living in a three bedroom apartment. Little did we know though, the police had found Gary's dead body and we were being hunted for murder.

One day, after coming back from school, me and Maddie came home to two NMPD officers, who took me and her into custody. Mum was still at work and had no idea of the situation.

We were taken to the station and questioned about the night of his death, we told the investigator about Gary's severe drinking problem and I admitted to losing it and killing him.

The investigator then exited the room and another man walked in, this man wore glasses, a sleek suit and had a deep Texan accent. He gave me and Maddie two options, we could both serve five years in medium security prison, or we could join his cause in the military and become elite soldiers. Faced with the option of not seeing my sister for five years I took the second option and she did the same.

We were then escorted out of the police station and into a limousine. The limousine took us back to our flat and Mum was standing there behind two suitcases. She had tears in her eyes and she was standing in between two officers.

We were let out of the car and Maddie ran towards Mum and hugged her, she was then handed her suitcase, and escorted back to the limousine. I walked over to mum and she held both my hands and spoke in a very sad tone. "Whatever happens, promise me that you'll keep yourself and Madeleine safe?"

"I promise" I replied. Not only did I promise my mum that day, but I also promised myself. I turned around and picked up my suitcase, walked to the limo and entered the vehicle. That was the last time I saw my mother.

The limo took us to a spaceport and that's when I saw The Mother of Invention for the very first time.

And that is how I joined the Project Freelancer."

I looked at Tex and she had tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry" She said in between sniffles. My life story had brought her to tears.

I extended my arms and she came closer and hugged me.

"Don't be, that was six years ago" I said with a smile, still trying to comfort her.

She didn't say anything and just held me tighter.

We sat there quietly. I was surprised how comfortable she was around me to be doing this sort of thing.

She released the hug and she looked into my eyes. Her blue eyes shining against my hazel ones.

She slowly wrapped her arms around my neck, pulled me closer and kissed me. Her lips clashed against mine in a fury of emotion.

After a minute, she broke the kiss and wiped her face of any tears. We both stood up, put our dishes away and left the cafeteria, not a single word spoken between us.

I can't believe I just kissed Tex...

A.N: I like this chapter, lots of feels... Anyway, from now on I will start placing the name of the chapter at the beginning of each one. Looks nicer.

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Reviews are welcomed, I must know what I'm doing wrong ;).

Have a good one.

- Hydra