Dangerously Sane:
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A bit of history here and calm before it all kicks off!
I'll try to update this weekly, sooner if I can, but between work and college it is quite difficult! Not to worry though, like with this chapter, I have progressively wrote it other the past few days.
Leave a review if you like this! Thanks :D
Chapter Five:
The ceiling had approximately three small, thin cracks in it and towards the edge the paint was starting to fade. She could see very small specks of dust on the shade, which covered the bulb and the creaks that the heater made filled the silence in the room. Anya closed her eyes, her breathing starting to shallow as she allowed her mind to go where she dreaded. It's how she could cope with everyday life. She had tried to push back the memories, deny them but they came back twice as much. One...Two...Three...Four...Five...
"Do you know how long you would spend in jail?" Waller asked, leaning back against the chair in a cool, collected manner.
Anya gazed back at her, with an uninterested look. She didn't care, what she needed was done. Jail was nothing. Just a place to sleep and fight. "With or without parole?" She asked, raising her eyebrows and clicking her tongue.
"Is this a joke to you?" Waller asked, leaning forward and placing her palms on the desk, as she gazed at the file history of Anya. "I could've sent out a kill order for you. You'd fight - obviously - but one way or another, you would be dead."
"But you didn't." Anya sighed heavily, looking at her bruised hands and trying to ignore the sharp aches in her arms and back. It was a struggle getting to this office in the first place. She went through six of the men, Waller had sent before they successfully apprehended her. Anya absent-mindedly twirled a strand of her hair around her fingers, trying to analyse the situation. "If you wanted me dead, I would be. If you wanted me in jail, I wouldn't be sitting here chatting about it - I'd be in a solitary cell waiting for the band wagon to whisk me off. But I'm here..."
"Carry on."
"You want something? And you're a woman with power, so whatever you want you would get, no matter who is in your way. You don't give a shit." Anya observed, a horrible feeling in her stomach. "You either want me to give you information, but I know Jack all... So, you could be wanting to offer me a job of sorts... I work for you or I rot in jail." She deducted, noting that Waller had not made any subtle or obvious signs of a reaction.
Waller slid over a piece of paper to Anya. "Your reputation doesn't deceive you. You sign this, you work for the government. We'll provide you with a flat, food, all the comforts somebody needs. You get a call, you get a timeline and you get a job. That's the deal."
She shook her head in response. "Anyone would throw me in jail-"
"-Yet you have skills we could use."
"I killed people." Anya stated, slamming her hand down on the table.
"They were on our kill-list." Waller calmly replied. "You didn't go on a rampage, murdering random individuals. You targeted those who killed your parents and killed them. You found out it wasn't the whole story, so you took down their entire empire."
"Well, when you say it like that..." Anya slyly commented, glancing down at the paper. She wouldn't be free, but what was free? She choose the path is life, which she had taken. She had no regrets. Picking up the pen, she glanced up at Waller, who still remained impossible to read. "Fuck it..."
Anya opened her eyes with a start, trying to figure out if she was hallucinating or not. The ringing was still filling out the silence and she groaned, reaching over to the bedside cabinet and clutching the phone she got handed earlier. She looked at the screen to see Rick's name. Sitting up, she hesitated picking up the phone, he was next door.
"Hello?" She said, scooting herself towards the edge of the bed.
"It's me." Rick said, in a low voice.
Anya rolled her eyes, deciding to tease him a bit for fun. The hotel room had the standard TV Channels and she couldn't switch her mind off long enough to watch anything. "I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet..." She bit her lip to stop herself from sniggering, listening intently for his reaction.
Rick sighed, pausing for a moment, before reluctantly replying. "To go over everything."
"Well, what'd ya know? You're not as socially inept as I thought." She replied, shaking her head and looking towards the wall as if she was looking at him. "Why are you ringing? You're next door, you could have just knocked-"
"- I couldn't just knock or let myself in. What if you weren't..."
"Weren't what?" She questioned, standing up and going up on the balls of her feet, to stretch out."I don't wander around naked."
"I wouldn't complain if you did." He muttered, before inhaling sharply and clearing his throat. "What I meant was June was asking if you want to come in for some food."
Anya smirked, feeling herself blush slightly. She straightened up, realising that she was blushing and instantly moved around, to stop herself acting in a ridiculous manner. "You were clear enough the first time. See you in five." She told him, hanging up the phone and throwing it down on the bed.
Mind over matter, Anya. Be smart. She reminded herself. There was nothing wrong with flirting, she did that plenty enough, but there were some times and places where it shouldn't happen. This is one of them. Enough bullshit...Food. Within two minutes, she had her shoes on and was dressed in a casual manner, jeans and black vest top, with her wavy hair hanging loose by her shoulders. She tucked the key in her pocket before closing her door and literally taking ten steps, before knocking twice on the door.
Within a moment, Rick opened the door, looking equally casual and exhausted. "I thought you'd got lost." He commented, stepping aside to let her in.
"Well, your directions ain't clear." She responded, smirking lightly at him and walking in. The room was identical to hers, apart from there being a double bed. In this room there was two single beds, one of which June was sitting on, eating a sandwich absent-mindedly and looking beyond exhausted. She sat down on an old chair, which accompanied a desk and smiled over at her.
"Hi." June muttered, blinking rapidly, showing her exhaustion. Anya nodded at her, helping herself to a drumstick which was on a plate. June sighed heavily, frowning. "I don't want to be rude, you've just got here and we haven't really had a chance to talk...but..."
"You look exhausted. I'm not offended, honestly." Anya replied, bringing her knees up, so her feet were resting on the chair. She placed a hand over her mouth, chewing. "Quick Q - They gonna be able to, Y'know, exorcise you?"
"Jesus Christ!" Rick muttered, sitting down opposite Anya, darting her a serious look, to which she just shrugged in return.
June smiled weakly at her. "Never heard it that way before... I'm going to, just, lie down for a bit. You two carry on..." She muttered, leaning back and rolling over to her side.
Anya watched as June sighed heavily, before rolling over giving them her back. She took another bite, the both of them eating in silence, an almost empathetic atmosphere in the air. Anya couldn't even imagine how June felt, having to be cautious of what was in her and how her life had changed within an instant. Finishing her chicken, she grabbed a napkin wiping her mouth and sighing softly. She was starting to feel very tired, the events of the day being more than enough for her.
"Regarding earlier..." Rick muttered, wiping his hands also on an napkin. He shifted on the chair and moved a bit closer, so that they could speak in a lower voice without disturbing June.
"Um?"
"Things were said in a slightly judgemental manner...that you don't agree with."
She raised her eyebrows at him, stretching out her legs and resting her feet on the edge of his chair. "Is that a Colonel's way of apologising?" He shrugged in response, retaliating by resting his feet on the edge of her chair.
He looked at her for a moment, before finally speaking. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah."
"Do you like what you do?"
Anya paused for a moment, cracking her fingers. It was a question she tried to avoid. There was no moral yes or no answer. "I don't really feel anything...Well, I try not to. It sounds insensitive but uh, it's better than the alternative."
"Is that your way of saying no?" He asked, with a small smile on his face.
"Touché." She whispered, looking over to June who was now softly snoring. She felt Rick's hand on her foot and looked up at him. "This is a weird situation - You have a foot fetish?"
He rolled his eyes, holding out a small bottle of vodka from the mini-bar. She leaned forward taking the bottle and unscrewing the lid, taking a gulp of the strong liquid. She winced slightly, widening her eyes as she felt the burn in the back of her throat. Rick inhaled sharply, taking a swig from his own small bottle as well. "Statistically speaking, close environments and pressure makes a team work better."
She raised her eyebrows at him in a teasing way, taking another gulp from the small bottle, starting to feel the slight buzz of the alcohol. "So... We have a tough Colonel, who follows the rules and isn't afraid to get bruised and battered...yet...he reads Lewis Carroll in his spare time?"
"Everyone has a past time - Assassins and Colonels alike."He replied, finishing of his small bottle, reaching over to grab another one and passing it to her. Anya didn't have to think twice before accepting it. "Dunno when the next time we can drink will be."
Anya nodded, her mouth becoming acquainted with the taste of vodka and the sting of the drink becoming normal. This was the part she liked. Drinking without worries, without pain. Forgetting. She remembered what he had just said, a small buzzing sound starting in her ear. "I don't know if that's what I'm classified as." She admitted.
He shook his head, taking another gulp simultaneously with her, leaning forward. "You're on our side."
"Says who? Who gets to dictate what side is what? Who the good guys are and who the bad guys are?" She questioned, taking two quick gulps of the vodka. Tilting her head back, she sighed softly closing her eyes, before bringing her head back up to look at him.
"You just, I guess, follow what you believe in and fight for that."
There was a few seconds of silence in the room, except for the sound of June sleeping, before Anya sniggered lightly. "That shit got serious quick."
"Quick Q-" Rick begun to say, a sly smirk on his face. "How come you've never worked in teams before?"
"My flaws outweigh my positive aspects." Anya replied with a pout.
"That's not-"
"Waller's exact words? Yup." She finished the last of the vodka, the warm feeling engulfing her. "I should be behind bars, but my skill set can be put to better use." She removed her feet from his chair, crossing her legs. "Of course there's a catch... She tells me the targets, time limit and how the job should be done. So I do it. I get immunity from jail...I think. I dunno what the hell I'm saying. It sounds like monopoly. But you - Mr. Hunny Bunny, know fine well what, why and how." She concluded.
"Was that supposed to make sense?" He questioned and she just smirked in response, closing her eyes momentarily. "You put yourself down too much. You're a much better person than you out make. Make out."
"Uh oh..." She commented, standing up, before the conversation went down the road she didn't want it to go. Even if there was a basic element of trust with Rick, her past was something she didn't want to go in depth about. She spent every day trying to convince herself that it's all fine and that she was a relatively decent person. "Somebody's getting their words all mixed up. And it's all bullshit. Soon as this whole thing is done, we ain't ever gonna see each other again." She walked over towards the door, banging her hip by the handle. Hissing quietly in pain, she turned around to see Rick standing by her, a little too close for comfort. From the look in his eyes, despite how stoic he could be, she could tell that he knew he hit a sore spot.
"What makes you think we wouldn't?"
"What makes you think we would?" She retaliated, to which he just shook his head. "Goodnight Colonel." She told him, opening the door and closing it silently behind her. She waited until she was back into her room, before kicking off her shoes and falling back onto the mattress. It wouldn't be the worst thing...To see him again. I guess. Anya thought, closing her eyes, feeling herself drift off to sleep.
