Summary/Disclaimer: Time for another chapter of The Lioness and the Wolf. Enjoy the 1200-Word chapter. I don't own AGK, Takahiro, Square Enix and a few others do.

(Empire)

Jace sighed and allowed Leone to drag him inside. The woman had already started to sober up, whatever healing factor Lionel had given the woman had already advanced her healing to another level. It made Jace curious just how powerful the woman could be if she was given more time to grow.

Most of the people around them ignored the duo. There were plenty of unorthodox soldiers within the former army, it made sense for a few of them to look out of place.

It still surprised Jace how many people had been put into the army. Esdeath was someone he thought would send billions running at the sheer thought of facing her, not simply dealing with things like her intelligence.

"Leone, this way…" Jace stated while tugging the woman in a certain direction while he sighed and hummed.

Leone giggled even as the alcohol slowly left her body. Jace felt her almost collapse into him while he sighed and shook his head. He couldn't understand what this woman was at times, but he was stuck with her.

"Excuse me, would one of you happen to know where General Najenda would be?" Jace questioned a passing soldier while making sure Leone didn't smash into the wall.

'This woman killed Honest, yet she's giggling like a kid and almost collapsing into everything around her.' Jace thought to himself while he cracked his neck.

The soldier didn't answer. It wasn't like he could be surprised at this. Najenda was a military officer and if she had the same mind as he did… Something he knew had been succeeded when he thought about it.

"Yeah, we're here to see the boss." Leone slurred before her eyes opened and narrowed. "Where's the boss, small fry? I know she wouldn't leave someone who wasn't herself in charge." Leone said while she straightened up, letting go of Jace for a second.

Jace hummed and looked around with interest before he felt one of Leone's hands wrap around his chest and pull him into her side.

"Leone, I doubt that will…" Jace said before the woman started to drag him forward. "Never mind. I'll just wait till we talk to her, or until something kills us." Jace said, muttering the last bit under his breath.

Leone ignored the statement even if she heard it. Jace was left to ponder their strategy on stopping Matias or whatever he called himself now. The man would not the less of a few ships and a handful of easily replaceable soldiers slow down his plans. Jace almost wished they had killed him when they found him. It was something that he regretted every day.

Leone dragged him past dozens of soldiers who could only balk at this, curious as to what the woman was doing here. He was quite willing to hope that things were going to get better, this was NOT the impression he hoped to make upon the general.

Then again? He didn't know what he thought that first impression would be with Leone here by his side. Leone dragged him past dozens of soldiers who stood dumbfounded by this. Some of them might have known who Leone was but to most of them? They were otherwise flabbergasted of who this woman was with her friend.

"Boss!?" Leone shouted, looking around for the woman who had run Night Raid for years.

"Wait, I know that voice… Leone!?" They heard as out from the rows of dozens of rebellion soldiers stepped Najenda.

The former rebel commander looked at them with interest. Leone waved at her with amusement, a giant smile crossing her face as she looked at the woman who used to lead the team that had dismantled the empire. It was something that Jace would never get used to, he believed.

Jace finally managed to untangle himself from Leone's side, almost stumbling to the ground while he sighed and gave a salute. Najenda turned to look at the man as Jace was given an elbow from Leone.

"I thought you died, you refused medical aid and you had several bullet holes in your stomach," Najenda said, ignoring Jace for a moment.

"Yeah, well my new partner had new ideas about me kicking the bucket so soon." Leone stated, grabbing Jace by the arm. "This is Colonel Jace. He used to be part of the rebel army before we uh… Won and stuff." Leone said while Jace nodded with amusement.

"Yes, part of the army that helped storm the capital, we uh… Have an issue with that, though." Jace said, scratching the back of his neck a moment later.

"Yeah, turns out an imperial general escaped and decided to take over where Honest started," Leone said which Jace nodded at.

"Yeah, that would be general Matias, I don't know if that's his name at the moment," Jace said while cracking his neck. "The man probably gave himself 20 promotions, so he'd feel more in charge. Matias dropped off the map about a few months after the capital fell and he'd start causing issues." Jace said, turning to Leone who swung back and forth on her toes with amusement at this.

Jace could only roll his eyes with the same manner of amusement. It wasn't like he hated Leone's company; he just wasn't used to it enough for her to not feel weird around the woman.

"Yeah, and he needed a partner which is why he got me," Leone said which got a not from Jace as he nodded at the officer.

"Yes, I needed a good hunter and fighter and most of us were all busy…" Jace stated while leaning on Leone's arm. "Which led to me using whatever favors or connections I had to save her. I couldn't exactly try something else; I had no idea who was still available, and I didn't think Leone deserved to die after saving an entire country from corruption." Jace said as Leone grinned, her fangs emerging from her mouth.

Najenda hummed and nodded to allow the duo to follow after her. She beckoned them back towards another room as the duo slowly walked with her.

"You know there's going to be a LOT of work to do if we're going to stop Matias, right?" Jace questioned Leone who shrugged.

Jace rolled his eyes, knowing this was going to be a long partnership. It wasn't something he truly minded, not as long as he got the ability to stop Matias before he caused far more danger and harm to the world.

Jace sighed and smirked slowly, curious what happened next. He knew something was coming up soon hopefully.

Author Notes

Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out that the next chapter will be in 2-10 months. The next chapter will also be longer and will show more bonding and both Jace and Leone talking to Najenda along with them filling her in on what happened and such. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: Next chapter will be 900-3500 words or such at the moment. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!