Okay, don't kill me. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update. And it's a short chapter, too… shorter than usual. I had problems logging into FF for the last few days. It would've been up sooner. Anyway, hope you enjoy.
Breaker
Chapter 7
We're going down. And you can see it, too. We're going down, and you know that we're doomed. My dear, we're slow dancing in a burning room… don't you think we ought to know by now? Don't you thing we should've learned by now?
~Slow Dancing in a Burning Room- John Mayer
It was getting worse. No, beyond worse…. It was getting unbearable. She couldn't think of how to stop it. Two months ago, this shit started, two months ago, she had managed to avoid it. Avoid him. Avoid the charge of energy she seemed to get when he was around. What was worse was the fact that he seemed to know…
And that pissed her off. Majorly. She didn't want to have to handle it. She wanted to run away. Far away. Right back to her comfy little cottage at the edge of the forest. She wanted to stay there until he was gone.
But, her pride wouldn't allow that. In fact, it insisted that she tough it out (like it usually would). She bared her teeth in annoyance. The poor kid who had been going down the M-Base hallway in the opposite direction saw it, and whimpered. The look was scary- and that was something that she knew all too well. She'd spent years- literally years- cultivating that look. She'd used it more as a KND operative. Not so much now- unless she was interrogating someone, or getting pissed at her siblings, or her own operatives. Something like that.
"With that look, you could kill innocent kittens and puppies." Peppermint and chocolate invaded her senses. She held back a scream. She couldn't hold back the shudder.
She whipped around, and came face to face- or rather, face to chest- with the object of her ire. "What're ye doin' here?" she hissed. "Don't ye have somethin' better to do?"
Turns out, if you even think of the Devil, he'll appear.
"I came to turn in a report." He muttered. Her green eyes widened. "Is it hailing in hell? You? Turn in a report? Without someone having to bug you about it a million times?"
"I can get my work done. Plenty of time to do so now." His tone was stiff. She frowned. Since when did he sound like that.
Not that she was anyone to talk. She'd been covering up her discomfort with bravado for the last few minutes. She backed up a bit, feeling boxed in, even if there was nothing behind her. His own eyes narrowed. "You don't have to do that. I'm not going to attack you again." He snarled.
"I'm not worried about that. You couldn't if you tried." And why in the holy hell was she baiting him? Again? That didn't go so well last time. "I can- and do- take care of myself."
"And don't I know it." Why was he letting her bait him? Did he want to suffer later? He ground his teeth together, and clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white. She noticed. He noticed the flash of fear in her eyes, right before she covered it up with her usual temper.
And he felt like scum all over again. Well, fuck. He looked her dead in the eyes, and saw her blink, then what he had said seemed to sink in. Her eyes flashed, annoyance and anger made themselves known. She glared at him.
"For pity's sake, lad, don't ye think I know that? I don't know what kind of madness possessed ye last time, but ye've never done that before, and I have no reason to think that ye'll be doin' it again."
His own eyes narrowed. In a flash, she was against the wall- once again, his arms trapping her. He leaned down until his face was a breath away from hers, and she felt her breath stop. "Don't. Ever. Think. That. You. Are. Safe, number 86. You're not. You're the least safe. I can't fucking control myself around you. Temper- wise or self-control wise. You are not safe around me."
"And ye just said that ye wouldn't attack me." She hissed.
"I did, and then you baited me. Oh, I know you did, so take that look off of your face. You were baiting me, and you know it."
So he had realized. She frowned, and pushed at him. It was like trying to move a brick wall. "P- er, numbuh 60, did ye forget that we're in the hallway? Get the hell off of me." She snarled, her spine though, tingled with fear. Her senses were alert, and she felt… something that she didn't want to feel.
"Spare me, 86. I can see your eyes. You're scared of me."
"I am no-"
"Yes, you are. And that, Francesca, gives me the power. Damn, you must hate that. Oh, and by the way, the 'madness' that 'possessed' me was my own fault, I knew it was at that time, and I did apologize for it, and yes, it caused one hell of a cluster-fuck, but you were right there with me, and don't forget that, Kochanie."
He let her go, and he walked away.
She stood there, for five full minutes, wondering what the hell had just happened, because he'd never, never done that before. He'd pushed her out of her comfort zone of yelling and screaming and sarcasm, among other things, and he'd put her in a state of total confusion. With that small side of trepidation tingling along her spine.
It was a heady combination. One that she was sure that she didn't like. And he probably knew that. She shivered. Her heart was still pounding in her chest like a jackhammer. Dear god, what was going on, here?
Did she really want the answer to that question?
She snorted. Hell no, she didn't. Because she already knew it, and she could go her whole life ignoring it… hell, she'd already spent half that much time deluding herself that she wasn't in love with him, hadn't she? No, more than half.
She frowned. How long had it been, exactly? She'd been a lonely four year old girl who'd joined the KND to find something akin to family- besides her absent, glory- and- scandal loving mother, her never there, bent-on-destroying-kid kind father, and her (at the time) two-year old and infant brothers.
She'd needed solidarity. She'd found it in a best friend (and honorary sister), and… well, him. At the time, as a four-year-old, she only thought of him as a really nice (which honestly wasn't the norm for her) six-year-old- with the prettiest silver eyes that she'd ever seen.
It wasn't until she, herself was six that she realized that she felt more for the boy than friendship… She let out a self- deprecating laugh as she recalled the memory.
While most girls at the age of six only daydreamed those absolutely corny fantasies of white knight in shining armor, slaying dragons for their 'one- true-love', and the like, while the normal girls were dreaming of the day that they would fall in love, she'd actually realized that she was in love.
And that, she remembered, had scared the ever living shit out of her. She hadn't seen him as her white knight on a white horse in shining armor (besides the fact that she liked the black knights and the rogues in the first place), she 'd seen him as he was.
A little boy who had a better family life than she (even with a military dad that was deployed at the time) could have ever hoped to have, someone who actually took the time to get to know her. She had loved him with all of the emotion that her six-year-old heart had to give, and then, that terrible fight happened….
She couldn't even remember what it had been about…. But it had ended their friendship. It had broken her heart
He should really invest in a self- check system for his own mouth. Every time he saw numbuh 86, he ended up pissed off and pulling his foot out. He sighed. He wondered if she had the same notions as he. Though, this time, she had started the fight-no, argument…
Argument that had ended up with him pinning her against the wall and nearly attacking her- again. Why was dealing with her so frustrating? He could deal with any other girl in the world… but her…. Dear god, he just couldn't see an end to it.
The look on his face was the first thing that his father commented on when he walked into the shop. "Patton, if you look at that poor Harley like that for any longer than you have been, it might become a piece of twisted, melting metal that's unfit to ride." His voice was dry as he observed his son.
"Sorry." He grunted.
Dimitri sighed, understanding on his face as he sat next to his son. "Ah."
"What?"
"You got into it again, with Francesca, didn't you?"
Patton glared, and immediately went back to working on the bike.
"Don't want to talk about it, yet, do you, son?"
"No. I really don't." Patton grumbled. Dimitri just nodded, his expression turning into a thoughtful one. "You know, Patton, you can't ever move on if you don't deal with what's already happened in the past." He stated.
Patton looked up at his father. Did he know something that he didn't? well, that was a stupid question. Of course he did.
Fanny sighed again. She seemed to be doing a lot of that, lately. She also seemed to be drinking more tea than usual lately. The redhead sighed as she turned on her computer and immediately put it on her playlist.
She grinned. It had every genre that she could possibly like- though not as much rap- and that was simply because she didn't like rap as much as some other people did. That is not to say that she didn't have any, just… like five songs that she could stand.
As she cleaned her house, she thought long and hard about her serious thing about getting numbuh 60 mad.
Did she really like baiting him that much? She growled at the stupidity of that statement. Why on earth would she like baiting him? Baiting him was like baiting a hungry wolf.
"You okay, Fan-Fan?" she turned around to see Rowena frowning at her, struggling to gauge her mood. Fanny gave the younger, purple eyed girl a wan grin. "I'm fine, Rowie. Just trying to figure out why I'm doing stupid things."
"Did you get into another argument with numbuh 60 or something?" the smaller Fulbright girl cocked her head to the side, confusion on her face.
Fanny looked away, ashamed of herself.
"She started it this time." Paddy came through to the kitchen.
Fanny groaned again. "Dear Dagda, stop it…"
"Cén fáth go mbeadh liom a dhéanamh nuair a bhfuil sé chomh spraoi a fheiceáil do imoibriú?(1)" Paddy murmured. His bright, teal gaze settled on his older sister, a thoughtful look on his face. "Thairis sin, ní mór duit duine éigin a dhéanamh, dar leat ciontach faoi (2)..."
"Is dóigh liom cheana nó sí ciontach go leor gan do chabhair. saoire dom a bheith(3)." She muttered. Her brother shrugged, then smirked.
"Whatever you say, big sister." He drawled, then exited the kitchen.
"If you don't like fighting with him so much, why don't you just apologize? You can do it over the phone, you know…" Rowena frowned.
Fanny snorted. "Eh, how much do ye apologize to Joey?"
The smaller girl glared. Her amethyst eyes sparkling with annoyance. "He is the one who starts it. Besides, you told me to let him do it the way he wants." She grinned evilly. "It's not going well for him. He'll be admitting it soon. And I'll be right there to tell him 'I told you so'."
"Unless he blames it on you."
"As much of a jerk as he is, most wouldn't put it past him. But, he's never blamed me for his mistakes before, so I haven't got a reason to think that he'll do it this time."
"You say that now…." Muttered Fanny.
Rowena shrugged, and resumed eating.
Fanny sighed and finished making her tea. She went to her room, and shut the door. She put her back to the wood and sighed. What possessed her to start a fight with him?
Oh, right. The thrill. She was beginning to think that she was a masochist…. She made a face as she sipped her tea again.
Okay, it's a bit shorter than usual… and for that, I am sorry. But I hope you enjoyed what there was of this chapter. Here are your translations…
(1) Why would I do when it's so fun to see your reaction
(2) Besides, you need someone to make you feel guilty about
(3) I already feel guilty enough without your help. leave me be
