Warning: WOMEN ARE REFERRED TO AND CALLED SOME UNFLATTERING THINGS IN THIS CHAPTER. THERE IS ALSO A FIGHT.

However, it only gets worse.

Mara's resolve is strong, and both Paige and Zed know that. Yet both watch, when they walk just slightly behind her, as her shoulders hunch and tense when someone calls out to her, or she hears the whispers in the crowd.

Zed and Paige fall into a reluctance of a friendship, where they planned a routine where someone would stay back and walk her back to the apartment, while the other would run ahead and make sure their pathway is clear of any signs or pictures of their dear friend.

"It's not fair!" Paige hisses one night to him while Mara is in the shower. "She works hard and this is what she gets in return."

"I know, Paige."

"And nobody's doing anything about it!"

"Well...we are."

"But is that enough?" She stops pacing and flops down on Mara's bed.

Zed says nothing, and Paige sighs as she covers her eyes for a moment.

"How does Beck not say anything?"

"Maybe he hasn't noticed."

"He's had to! They're not being quiet about it."

"You'd be surprised at how much he actually picks up."

"Whatever." She groans as she turns away. Neither say a word for a long moment, before Paige whispers. "This can't go on."

"I know."

"Ignore them." Mara hisses, almost on a schedule as this time, two men call out to her.

"Hey, you free tonight?" One's voice echoes. "I'd like to see what Beck sees that's worth giving bogus marks!"

"Screw off!" Paige stops only for a moment to call back. They laugh as she turns back, and when it fades the second says:

"So I have to know. Do you give yourself just to Beck, or is it the Renegade, too?"

"I said screw off!" Mara grabs her wrist in a death grip before she can lunge. Paige glances back to see her shake her head.

Don't engage.

"So you know what he looks like under his mask?" One of the two nears her, and Mara's grip tightens. After an expectant pause, Mara shakes her head, keeping her gaze glued to the ground.

"No?" The man sounds...disappointed. "That's a shame. You'd think he_"

Her grip goes slack when his nose cracks under a forward thrust by Paige's fist. He falls on his butt, and stares up at her in shock as the blood spurts down his face. Then, he lunges at her with a roar, and though she tries to prepare, the blow to the left side of her head throws her off. She stumbles, but latches onto the first limb she finds, and grins when her intended target screams. She throws him to the ground, and swings down after she kneels.

However, he's quicker. He grabs a chunk of her hair and pulls, causing her to scream. The grip releases when she blindly slams her fist down. This time, she doesn't relent. He goes limp but she keeps hitting and hitting, all blows melding into one blur_

Two arms wrap around her waist and pull her up. "ENOUGH!"

SHe stumbles when the grip roughly pushes her away from the scene, and she realizes the screaming chaos that had crowded her ears fell into a hushed silence. She turns to see others staring at her with wide eyes and pale face. Some cover their mouths, but all stare.

What's….what…?

The rough grip takes her by the wrist and pulls her out of the crowd and up the steps of a building. When the grip releases, she turns back as the door slams closed and the dark of Beck's uniform is all she can see.

"What was that!?" He explodes in that moment, his voice echoing off the walls as he towers over her. She says nothing, and he doesn't wait around anyways; he waves her off with a disgusted sound from deep in his throat. He rounds the desk with a deep sigh, before turning back to her and pointing to the chair.

"Sit."

She doesn't hesitate to obey, and sits down in the chair as he says: "Beating someone senseless is not acceptable!"

When she doesn't speak or lift her head, he exhales deeply.

"I'm going to have to report you to the Renegade." He sits down himself. "You could at least provide me with a statement to defend yourself with...I…" He sighs for the third time. "I shouldn't have to tell you this_"

He starts when her fists slam on the desk.

"YOU! You've done nothing to help Mara and I!"

"What_"

"Do you realize that almost every night for two weeks now, Zed and I have had to make sure she isn't alone or that nothing has left any notes calling her….calling her things! Or that she's been crying every night because you haven't said anything!"

"What are you talking about?" He finally edges a full sentence in.

She pauses to stop and stare at him. "You really don't know?"

"Know what?" His anger is quickly shattering to shards of worry and fear. "What's going on?"

"People…" Paige takes a shaky breath. "Because Mara has been doing so well, others have been saying that she's been sleeping with you and the Renegade…"

Beck stares with wide eyes at a spot on his desk. "I...didn't know that."

Paige nods. "She had told me to wait for it to fade, and I waited for you to do something, but when neither of these two things happened, I took matters into my own hands."

He finally sighs before nodding as he stands. "Very well. I'll make sure to include that in the report."

"What will that do?"

"Probably not much, but whatever punishment you get may be lighter…" He finally looks to her, pausing mid-word as his brow furrows. "...What happened to your eye?"

"My eye?" What's wrong…?

Her hand travels to the left side of her face and her fingertips brush her cheek and lower eyelid. Gasping at the touch, she hurries to recover by covering the spot with her hair again.

"Paige…?"

"Can I go?" She can't look to him, but instead to where her hand grips her arm.

He sighs, "You may go. Make sure to get….yourself looked at."

She stands without responding, and hurries out of the office without another word.