Oh, forgot the disclaimer for Ch.2. Just go back to Ch.1 for all that. :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Behind Closed Doors
Chapter 3: Things Revealed
Sophia sat at the edge of the bed and yawned. The room was dim and she was having trouble keeping her eyes open.
"I guess I'll be heading to bed now." She looked over and smiled at what she could see of Albel.
Before she could stand, he shifted and wrapped his arm around her waist. Without words he pulled her back to the bed, being careful not to scratch her with his claw.
"Stay."
She happily obeyed, laying her head on his shoulder. With his good hand, he swept the hair from her face and kissed her forehead. She smiled as sleep overcame her.
After a few hours, she woke. She kissed her sleeping partner and went to the room she shared with the other girls. She lay down in her own bed, but couldn't go back to sleep. Her head was aching. She was still awake when breakfast time came.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That morning, the team joined at the breakfast table as always. Sophia sat at one end of the table. Fayt to her left and Cliff beside Fayt. Nel sat to her right, then Maria, and finally Albel at the other end. This had been their unspoken agreement on a seating arrangement from the start.
Sophia sat quiet, her head resting in her hand. She picked at the food in front of her; mostly moving it around on the plate.
"Sophia?" Nel asked. "Are you Okay? You don't look so good." Normally she never looked at the girl during breakfast, but she was still trying to figure out what Fayt had been talking about the day before.
"Oh, um…I'm Okay. Just a headache."
Suddenly Fayt slammed his hands on the table and jolted up from his seat. "That's it! I've had enough!" He pointed to Albel. "What'd you do to her?"
Cliff grabbed a hold of Fayt's arm and tried to pull him back into his seat. Fayt twisted his arm free and looked at Sophia. "What's wrong, Sophia. Tell me. What did he do?"
Sophia stood up, knocking the chair over. "I…I don't feel so good." She turned and ran down the hall. She entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
Fayt started to follow but Cliff grabbed him again. "Fayt! Just stop it now."
Albel slowly pushed away from the table. He walked behind were the confused Maria and Nel sat, both frozen in place. When he was in front of Fayt he stopped. "Let a man handle this. Worms like you wouldn't understand," he said across the table. He left the room, following the path Sophia had just taken.
Maria sat there, awestruck, still trying to put it all together. Nel seemed to mirror her.
By the time Fayt had wiggled out of Cliff's hold, Albel was leaving the bathroom and closing the door.
Fayt took off in a full run down the hall. Albel just stood still; waiting…waiting…Fayt was on him. With lightning quick reflexes, Albel grabbed both of Fayt's shoulders and slammed him into the adjacent wall.
Fayt heard a ringing in his head from where he hit the wall, hard. He looked into Albel's eyes. "I know what's been going on," he whispered.
Albel laughed. He leaned in until his hair brushed the younger boy's cheek. Fayt could feel his hot breath as he whispered in his ear. "What's wrong, maggot? Disappointed that she got me first?"
Fayt growled and started to wiggle, trying to free himself.
Albel let go and stepped back. The look on his face taunted Fayt. Both of them knew this moment had been coming, and both were ready to fight. Of course, Albel was always ready to fight, even if there was no reason. But he found this amusing. He had quickly pieced it together. It was obvious that Fayt had known for some time but had been unwilling to face it.
There was no room in the hall way to draw any weapons, so each would have to rely on their hand to hand skills. Albel held up his claw and chuckled. "This should be good."
Cliff ran down the hall, followed by Nel and Maria.
"This has gone too far. The hallway is not the place for a fight," Cliff said. He positioned himself between the two like a referee.
Fayt wasn't ready to give up yet. He once again charged for Albel. Again he hit the wall. This time it was Cliff. Cliff flung his arm out, caught Fayt, and pushed him back.
About that time Sophia made her exit from the bathroom. She looked around. "What's going on?"
Leaning against the wall, Albel crossed his arms and lowered his head. "Seems the worm here found out. I'd say his reaction was not favorable."
Sophia walked over the Fayt. She looked over the arm Cliff was using to keep him from rushing Albel again. "And just what right do you have, Mr. Fayt Robert Liengod?" she puffed angrily.
She didn't wait for a response. She turned to the door that led to her room. "I'm going to lie down." She entered the room and slammed the door behind her.
Albel left his perch and went to the door leading outside. He didn't look at anyone on his way. With his head down he stopped. "I wouldn't mess with her when she's angry. She can get reallyviolent at times."
He laughed lightly as he left; leaving the four in the hall with a lot of questions.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Would someone fill me in on what just happened?" Maria asked.
Cliff rested his head in his hand and sighed. "Right now I need to get Mr. Irrational to calm down. Why don't you two check on Sophia? See it she's Okay." Cliff literally pulled Fayt down the hall and into their room, closing the door behind them.
Once inside he sat Fayt firmly on one bed before sitting across from him on the other.
"I'm not a child anymore. You don't have to treat me like one."
Cliff grunted. "I'm treating you as I see fit. Right now you're acting like a child, so that's how I'm going to treat you."
Fayt rested his arms on his legs and hung his head.
"Look, Fayt. Either you can deal with this or sulk about it. But let me remind you that we are in the middle of something important. We need all the help we can get and making everyone mad isn't going to get us that far."
Fayt moaned. "Your right. It's just…"
"What? Just what? From what I saw you passed up your chance with Sophia a while back."
Fayt looked up at him. "It's like I said before, it's not like that. I've known Sophia since she was born and she's like my little sister." He paused, turning that over in his mind. She was like a sister but was that where it ended?
"I just don't think it's good for her to be with him."
Cliff sighed. "So, what you're saying is that you are just protective over her. Well, as much as I almost hate to say it myself, I don't think he's that bad for her."
"Huh?" Fayt lifted his head in surprise at Cliff's words.
Cliff shook his head. "Haven't you seen her fight lately? I mean, the girl can just about hold her own. I don't know about you, but I haven't been teaching her anything. Its obvious now who has. And with how things are right now, that's probably the best thing for her."
Fayt had to agree that lately, fighting was about all they did. No one needed to be in this situation who couldn't fight. He had trained (somewhat) in the simulator, Nel was a soldier, and Maria had learned to fight from Cliff and Mirage. Sophia was the only one in the group with no prior training of any kind.
"I still don't like it, but I'll deal with it for now."
"Maybe you'll change your mind when it's over?"
Fayt doubted that.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cliff left him in the room and walked back to the table. He didn't get the chance to finish his breakfast and he was still hungry. He was glad that the table hadn't been cleared yet. He figured the waitress had been frightened earlier. Everyone here seemed a little on edge knowing that Albel the Wicked was in their town.
It wasn't long after he sat down before Nel and Maria joined him.
"How is she?" he asked between bites.
Maria pulled out her small First Aid Auto-responder. "I ran a quick diagnostic on her. The FA is a basic model. It only checks for signs of a virus or bacteria. So far as we can tell, she's still adjusting to all the new foods she eaten lately."
"She's resting now," Nel added. She crossed her arms and looked at Cliff. "Now, want to fill us in?"
Cliff told the two about the story Fayt had told him at the bar and what they had both seen the day before. "Then, last night, the boy sneaks out of the room. I wake up and he's not there. When I went to check on him, I found him at Albel's door. He must have heard something. He was all but running in the hall to get away."
Nel rested her chin in her hand, as if contemplating the issue. She had never cared much for Albel. In fact, her feelings were on the edge of hate, but laced with a deep rooted respect. It was hard for her to picture Albel with anyone; least of all Sophia.
"So, what'd he have to say for himself?" Maria inquired.
"Says he's just protective. You know, the whole 'she's like a sister' thing."
The three sat in silence while they finished breakfast.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Albel lingered at the northern exit of Peterny. He was interested in this new turn of events. He felt a rivalry between himself and the boy. This could prove to be very interesting indeed.
He looked forward to taking on Fayt one on one, but he was smart enough to know that now wasn't the time. He'd seen 4D space. He knew the threat had to be eliminated first. Once that was over, the real fun would begin. He smirked.
Meanwhile, he had no plans to change his actions. As much as he wanted to see Fayt fall, he had to figure out what to do about Sophia first.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mwahahahaha. I'll leave it there for now. I'm cruel huh?
Chapter 4 will probably conclude this…that is if I can keep Fayt under control.
