It's the end of the week when she finally is allowed to leave the hospital. Given firm instructions to return should she start throwing up or having memory issues, she leaves alone as it is beginning to grow dark. Nobody stops to help her as she ambles past, but she feels many gazes following her.
Of course. She dimly remembers. All of them had seen the fight.
Saw me get my butt handed to me. She thinks bitterly. I should have tried harder. I have to try harder…
"Paige."
The voice makes her freeze, the rough, almost mechanical voice unfamiliar to her. She searches the oddly empty streets to see no one.
"Paige." And yet the voice calls her again. And this time, she turns to see the figure approaching, and her breath escapes her in a small gasp. She doesn't understand how she could have missed the figure in complete white among the dark, but here he approaches, and as he does, she can see the bold T resting on his chest. His gaze is shielded behind a dark helmet that covers his entire head, not giving a clue to his features. She feels her shoulders tensing, and she's rooted to the spot only to watch him approach.
"R-renegade…." What's he doing here? I thought he rarely showed himself, especially this personally…. "You know my name?"
His stance doesn't change from where he had crossed his arms. "You forget that I'm keeping a close eye on the training, including yours."
"Oh." Right.
"Speaking of which, I've seen that your progress is lacking compared to the others in your class, and that you failed the assessment."
She tenses at the word 'failed', and he tilts his head slightly in response. "Or am I wrong?"
She can't meet the gaze that is now burning into her. Instead, she stares at the ground, at her worn sneakers with the laces coming undone. He doesn't call her attention to him again, but after a long pause, he exhales slowly.
"You're through."
In an instant, her head snaps up to see him already turning his back. "Wait, what?"
"You've failed your assessment and you are seriously behind everyone else. I've set a standard for a reason, and you're not up to par. Pack up and go home, Paige. Fighting isn't for you."
Wait, no! Her mind careens into panic mode. What about the mission? I can't fail!
"No!"
He stops. "What?"
"I…" She takes a step back, hesitating. There's no way she can do this.
But she has to try.
"Give me another chance." She approaches the Renegade as he turns back. "I'll prove it to you! I can do this!"
He says nothing, so she continues. "Look, I really need this. Give me time, and I'll catch up with everyone else. I promise!"
"Fine." The flint-like snap of the tone makes her stop, and give room between them again. "Then do it. Should I be notified that you are still not progressing, you will not get a third try. You'll be sent back to Xenon without any argument."
She feels herself stiffen at that. Back to Xenon, where they wouldn't even look at her again….
"Do you understand?"
"Yes." She says it softly, before looking up to him with a facade of stone-like cold and a head held high. "I understand."
He says nothing more, and before she can blink he has disappeared into the shadows again. Once she's certain he's gone, she lets out the breath she had been holding, letting herself slump and relax. She looks back to where he had disappeared, and then looks to the sky with a sigh.
I have a long way to go.