R_S: Sooo I dunno about you guys, but this is the chapter I have been waiting for. So much excitement haha.

Chapter 16

Claimed

The day the boys became aware of the truth of Squid's words to Katrina, they were all in the Wreck Room as a unified group. X-Ray had long forgiven her and gotten over his little snit. She was leaning quietly against the wall just behind them as they played some betting card game that she could not quite figure out the rules to. Kat felt the boy's presence before she heard him, his footsteps lost in the chaotic buzz that hummed throughout the room. His shadow was the first thing she saw.

"So, Bambi… you thought about it anymore?" The F-Tent boy was back, leaning on his palms on the table she sat at. She looked up at him warily as her tent watch with uncertainty.

"S'twice now," he continued, "and only gettin' worse. You need a third run-in, or do ya get the picture? I ain't gonna force nothin' on you, but even you gotta know there's no other choice."

"What are you goin' on about, Ranger?" X-Ray asked carefully, though not without respect. Ranger had been relatively new when Kat came to Camp Green Lake, but in only her short time there, he had taken over as leader of F-Tent in the wake of its old leader's release. Over the course of his rise, his manner had relaxed and become one of quiet control. It was a far cry from his forward flirtations her first week.

Ranger responded to the head of D-Tent with equal respect, as was expected in their hierarchy. "Bambi and I have been havin' a frank discussion about her safety here." He turned back to her. "You gotta belong to someone or this'll never stop."

"She belongs to D-Tent, so I suggest you stop harassin' her." Squid threw down his cards and rounded on him, voice a menacing growl.

"Squid…" X-Ray warned, but the boy only continued to stare down the other leader. Ranger looked past him at Kat, meeting her gaze.

"They won't stop 'til somebody's claimed you, whether your tent's got your back or not. Really think about my offer, darlin'." With a final, respectful nod to X-Ray, he moved away. Kat let out a breath she had not realized she was holding.

"What's he been talkin' to you about, Bambi?" Zigzag asked, his tone serious as he leaned in close enough that she could smell him under the dirt and soap.

She shrugged, picking at a loose threat on the edge of her jumpsuit. "Just about what's been going on with the guys around here, what he thinks might make me safer. He wants to come to a business agreement, I guess." Squid snorted in response, an ugly scowl marring his face

Armpit looked at her with a doubtful expression. "So what, he says he can look out for you if you're his girlfriend?"

"Like, some homie needs to mark you as his to make more guys back off?" Magnet clarified. She nodded, offering a weak smile.

"I think the phrase he used was 'be somebody's bitch,' but yeah, basically… I guess the point stands. I agree to fool around with him and no one else will try to force me to or whatever…" That earned disapproving head shakes from the boys. Squid cursed beneath his breath. Without preamble, he grabbed her wrist and started dragging her out of the Wreck Room.

"Wha- hey!" Her shocked protests fell on deaf ears. Behind her, she heard Zigzag's voice initiating a conversation about Ranger's offer.

"I don't like him callin' our lady a bitch none, but I ain't sure he doesn't have a point…" They were out in the not quite darkening late afternoon air before she could hear their responses. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she noted that she should start dinner soon.

"Squid-" she stumbled after him, "Squid, slow down!" He did slightly and loosened his grip, despite the fact that it was not hurting her. Nonetheless, he stared steadfastly ahead as he dragged her forward.

"Where are we going?" She asked. He gave no response, but she quickly found herself getting pulled into D-Tent, answering her question. He all but threw her over to his cot to sit down, and she bounced gently on the top. She perched on the edge uncertainly as he rooted through his things.

"What are you doing?" She continued to question but still no answer. He pulled out some strips of twine and cheap leather, one of the strange things he saved. He kept a few bits of such things tied around his wrist, knotted on until he decided to cut them off. Grabbing Kat's arm, he started wrapping them around her thin wrist the same way but on the opposite side. He tied the ends with seemingly medical precision before he slid his hand down, holding her own for just a moment before dropping it. His gaze was on the ground as she inspected his handiwork.

"There. That should take care of Ranger n' anyone else botherin' you 'bout all that." Kat fingered the materials careful, glancing up at him.

"So what's this mean… you claimed me?" She asked softly. He shrugged, looking uncomfortable.

"It don't mean anythin' real, just somethin' to get some of the other guys to back off."

"They're gonna pick fights with you for this n' stare at you-"

His face contorted with annoyance as he cut her off. "Whatever, man, the guys got my back. I just end up fightin' 'em anyway when they bother you." Without another word, he stormed out of the tent, leaving her sitting there alone to ponder the meaning of a scrap of twine.

For the rest of the day, Kat's new decoration had a polarizing effect on the population of Camp Green Lake. D-Tent, either because Squid had told them or because they knew him well enough to figure it out, mostly nodded approvingly or snorted in amusement at her new adornment, without accusations about their newfound relationship or any other details. Zigzag tried to pull at it once or twice, but she kept her arm away. They seemed to know that it was merely a figurehead to ward off potential suitors. Unfortunately, so did some of the aforementioned suitors. While a large number of boys were deferential to her new, noninvasive brand, others seemed to find it laughable. Ranger took one look at it during dinner and literally laughed, shaking his head. He looked like he might have spoken to her about it, but knowing her own lack of aptitude when it came to deception, she scurried from the dining hall as quickly as possible. Squid must have noticed the issues as well, for he caught up to her in the tent almost immediately after she ducked into it to sit on her cot. His tall form towered in front of her, just in reach.

"You gotta stop runnin' outta dinner without us," He said in lieu of a greeting, "X is gonna stop bein' so nice about it." Katrina mentally derided his liberal use of the term 'nice,' but she said nothing. Noticing her silence, he leaned against a support bar at the entrance to her private tent area.

"I saw Ranger lookin' at you back there. He bother you again?" She kept her eyes down, hands playing with the materials looped loosely around her wrist. In less than a day it had become her favorite nervous habit, like a child who hangs onto a safety blanket.

She shook her head. "No." She answered honestly, because as of yet, he had not.

"So… have guys been leavin' you alone?" She continued to fiddle with the strips and gave a noncommittal shrug.

"Some, not all… it's definitely less, though."

"Good… that's good. I don't… shit, I just don't like the way they bother you. It ain't right."

"It's ok… not your fault."

"Don't mean it bothers me any less." That was such a Squid thing to say, she noted. He was full of some great martyr-like guilt for all the sins racked against her. She felt bad, but also… she liked it. She like the way he looked at her, the way she felt when he was near. It was something she had been vaguely aware of in the back of her mind for a long time. The realization of it all fully sinking in did not jar her in the way Kat would have thought.

She paused for a moment before stretching, chin tilted up, and she kissed him without preamble. He moved into it for a moment before gently pushing her away, shaking his head. His voice was throaty when he spoke.

"I told you, y'don't owe me anything for this. Ya don't gotta do that." She stared him in the eye.

"I know. I did it because I wanted to."

"Bambi, I'm not gonna look out for you just for-"

"I know, Squid. I know. You've always looked out for me, since day one. That'd be an awfully long con to bide time and wait for payment. It's sweet, and I feel safe with you. I like being around you and talking to you… I like you, Squid." He stared down at her, mind whirring, but Kat could not tell what was going on behind his eyes. After a long moment of silence, she realized he was not going to say anything. Squid was never good with words or emotions. She looked back up at him with the big, innocent eyes that earned her a nickname.

"You don't have to say anything. If you don't want to, we can just go back and pretend this never happened. But if you want, if you like me too… you can kiss me again." She held her breath for a moment, waiting stock still for his response. Then, slowly, he dropped onto the cot beside her and leaned back down.

Their mouths met hesitantly in a clumsy mesh; both were out of practice. His lips were dry and chapped, but then again, Kat was certain hers were too. It was sweet and chaste, with closed mouths and eyes. He brought up a hand to cradle her jaw and sunk slowly onto the mattress beside her. She turned her body towards his, sliding her hand across his shoulders to the top of his back to hold him. The hand on her cheek slid further back into her hair, while his other wrapped around to hold the small of her back. Tentatively, her lips parted to grant him access, giving him permission to deepen the kiss as her free hand found its way against the planes of his chest. His tongue slid gently across the fullness of her bottom lip, and she carefully returned in kind. After a few moments of continued intimacy, the pair slowly pulled away. She looked at him with big, uncertain eyes as he stared back at her, his own hooded.

He leaned in gently and placed a kiss to her forehead. "No one'll bother you, I promise. I take care of what's mine." Under any other circumstances, she might have laughed at his melodrama, but Camp Green Lake had a way of making you take things more seriously. She nodded and bit her lip, watching for his reaction. Slowly, a victorious smirk bloomed across his features. She giggled and offered a girlish smile. Something about it made his expression darken, eyes drifting down to the bow of her lips, before he attacked them once more. He moved closer gripping her against him as the kiss deepened. She could feel his pulse pick-up, breath growing heavy in need. With gentle put firm hands, she pushed him back, turning her head away. The sound of their lips separating was audible.

"Too much- Squid, too much." He jerked away from her, eyes down.

"Shit, Bams, I'm sorry." A small smile found its way to her lips- his shortening of her nickname was oddly endearing. But he did not notice as he stood, moving away from her and running a hand over his hair. His back was to her, but she could see the tension in his shoulders.

"Squid…" she called gently, enormous eyes blinking innocently. He cursed under his breath and delivered a swift kick to the corner of a cot.

"Squid," she tried again, "it's ok-"

"No, it ain't ok. I'm supposed to be lookin' out for you, promised I would 5 fucking seconds ago, and instead I'm goin' n' scarin' you like you haven't had enough of that here."

She shook her head and knew he felt it, even if he could not see it. "I'm not scared of you, Squid. I started it… I wanted it. I… I think maybe it could be different with you." He shrugged noncommittally.

"Still don't feel right, like I'm takin' advantage." Kat stood and padded over to him, reaching softly for his hand. He let her take it in an uncharacteristic show of softness, slowly turning to look at her. She looked almost happy, he realized, better than he had ever seen her look, except in pictures. It made her so much more beautiful.

"I like kissing you. I wanna do it again." She said simply. Squid was not a feelings guy, she knew that. Talking about how he was not a bad guy would only piss him off; he did not see himself that way, and they were not in a place where she could share deep and meaningful confidences with him. But kissing, that was something they could communicate through. She leaned up, and he met her halfway, still holding her hand and never touching her except for the innocent kiss. It left her smiling softly again, a ghost of what he knew she could express but the most one could expect in a place like Camp Green Lake.

A whooping holler came from outside the front of the tent, and he leapt away from her. It happened so fast her hand was still stretched halfway out toward him by the time their eyes met. He had the decency to look guilty, wincing at the hurt look in her eye. He cursed again.

"Look, Bambi, I ain't a PDA kinda guy, y'know?"

She shrugged, looking down. "No, it's fine. I guess you're probably not allowed to touch me, anyway." He looked noticeably confused by that.

"Huh?"

"I mean, I probably belong to X-Ray, right? Either I'm his or I'm nobody's." Squid scowled, moving back over to her.

"Is that what you think of us? After everythin', you really think we're just like them?"

"No…" she shook her head slowly, "but I mean… I don't know what to think." He reached out, gently tugging at the loops on her wrist.

"If that was a thing, you think you'd be wearin' this right now?"

She smiled softly, "No, I guess not."

He kissed her again.

"So… I mean, if you don't wanna tell them, though, I do get it. You're a little too tough for this kind of thing, right?"

He shrugged with a lopsided smirk. "I ain't gonna do no wedding announcement, darlin'. But I don't care if they see us none."

Kat could not contain her smile at that and captured his lips with her own for another, deeper kiss.

End of Chapter

R_S: Fiiiinally =)