By the time Ace had caught up with Alex she was half way down the street. He reached out a hand to comfort her but she ducked out of his way.
"Don't touch me." She spat. Ace backed off slightly but ran in front of her to block her path.
"Move Ace.."
"No, I need to see if you're okay" He reached for her again but she flinched.
"Just move for fuck sake"
"You took a mighty hit, your jaw could be broken!"
"God Ace just stop treating me like a kid!"
"Then stop acting like one!" He planted his hands on her shoulders immobilising her. Her body shook in his hands but she knew she wouldn't be able to get out of his hold. "Just get in the fucking car…" Ace drawled.
Alex released herself from his grip. Sliding heavily into the passenger seat next to Ace. They drove without a word being shared. Alex's eyes stared without seeing. Watching the scenery flash past in a distorted trail. She was ridged and unmoving. Ace gripped the steering wheel till his knuckles threatened to rip through the skin. His eyes fixed to the incoming tarmac as he smashed the speed limit. Alex always loved when they did this but now she wouldn't even look at him. Ace forced his eyes onto the road but at times they would dare to flick towards her.
Alex watched her house pass by, she wondered which Cobra spot they would eventually pull up in front of but right now she didn't even care. The adrenaline in her was fleeting and being replaced by pain.
Finally the car slowed and Alex drank in the view. It was Ace's. No one ever went to Ace's. Even she had only been here once. They had sat in the back yard and drank beers with Eyeball. But even as Ace's most trusted two they'd never actually been inside.
Ace jumped out of the driver seat. He flung open Alex's car door carelessly but didn't wait for her to get out, he just ran to front door and battled with the locks.
Alex was cautious for once in her life. By the time she reached the front door Ace was inside already. She poked her head round the door and stepped inside. It was exactly how she had expected Ace's place to look.
The house echoed the remains of a family life. The typical wooden cased TV sat facing a faded brown sofa. Family photos were no where to be seen and the wallpaper was starting to peel. Dirty clothes were scattered around the whole house and the odd plate could be spotted. It was typical of a boy his age. Ace lived alone, everyone knew that but they don't know what happened to his family. The Ace they know now is the same one that walked into their lives years ago. Everyone had wondered about Aces past. But well, he didn't tell and they never asked.
"Sit" Ace instructed. Alex did as she was told. Her teeth still gritted together as Ace stooped to her level. He grabbed her chin and once again she cringed. "Stay, still" he reprimanded.
Alex didn't have the strength to argue anymore. The pain in her jaw was radiating across her body. She didn't know how bad it looked, she imagined there was blood as she felt a warm trickle along her cheek.
Ace grasped her chin and tilted it towards him like he had done after they left the diner. Alex clenched her teeth harder as the pain shot through her.
Frisk had done a real number on her. It looked worse than it had after they left the bar. Her cheek was cut up and a bruise was starting to form that spread from her cheek bone to under her jaw line. The blood made it look worse as it dribbled down her face. He watched the the drops fall transfixed by them.
"How bad is it?" Alex asked breaking their silence. Ace's Eyes flipped towards her and after a beat he responded.
"Not too bad but I don't think any thing is broken but we should get you to a hospital to che-"
"No way they'll start asking questions and the police will get involved, it'll be fine it barely hurts" Alex tried to smile but the action caused even more pain making her eyes crease.
"Liar" he smirked. The ends of Alex's lips finally curled into a half smile and any unpleasantness between them was forgotten. Ace was still crouched next to her, he ruffled her hair then jumped up and headed towards the kitchen ignoring Alex's cries of annoyance.
He returned moments later with a bowl of warm water and a dish cloth. Alex raised and eyebrow at the rag "It's clean! I swear" Ace declared so Alex just faded into submission as Ace cleaned the blood.
They didn't speak again for a while. One out of pain and one concentration. No one spoke until the bowl of water turned from clear to a murky red.
"You don't have to do that you know" Alex voiced.
"Should of told me before and saved me the trouble" Ace quipped. The both laughed but for once Alex wanted to be real with him.
"Shut up.." she joked "But you know what I mean, you don't have to take care of me like you do"
Ace cleaned the last drop of blood off her skin and placed the dirty towel next to the now cool bowl of water.
"I know" he started "But maybe I like looking after you Lex"
Ace cleared up the mess and Alex headed for the bathroom. She finally saw the extent of her injuries for the first time. "Urgh" she sighed under her breath as she lightly traced her swollen cheek. She saw that some of the blood had clumped the strands of her hair into a mess. She undid her hair tie and grabbed a comb tugging her usual dark messy curls into slightly tamer waves. "At least I have no one to impress" she thought to herself retying her hair into her long ponytail.
"I wonder what happened to the guys?" Alex queried, knowing that Ace would have a plan. He always did. Him and Eyeball planned for every eventuality but they never shared them with the other cobras. Didn't want to seem less superior I guess.
"Well" Ace began "After the guys are done ripping Frisk to shreds they'll probably go to junk yard"
"So we're going there now?"
"No. They won't be done yet. They need mor time to make sure Frisk is never going fucking walk again"
"I could have handled it myself I-"
"Sure"
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"Because although you don't feel like it you're a skinny, sixteen year old girl. You may be a Cobra and you may be tough but you can't handle a knife wheedling, mentalist, three years older than you"
"I can handle you can't I?" she retorted. They both smirked and Ace wrapped and arm round her and led her to the sofa.
"I'm more pissed I wasn't there to beat him myself" Ace grumbled.
"You almost choked him to death, I think you did enough"
"I guess, we'll meet the guys in an hour or so we can get the most of the graphic details" Ace laughed darkly. Alex just shook her head, repositioning to make herself more confortable next to Ace.
They didn't speak after that, they began watching a crappy film to pass the time, but within minutes Ace heard the rhythmical sound of deep breathing as Alex had fallen asleep. Her head had relaxed onto his shoulder. He couldn't help but smile as he watched her. She was precious to him, but he'd never realised how much he cared for her before now. There were new feelings he couldn't explain that he'd never felt before, but before he could unravel them his eyes fluttered shut as he drifted off next to her.
