Disclaimer: Still don't own FF8
AN: 3 chapters to go. Sorry about the slower updating just been a bit busy.
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"We think you are finally ready to do this." Megan smiled warmly over dinner. Nadia was excited. She had been helping the Timber resistance for a solid three months. Her mother had vacated the area the same day she had arrived. It was a rough changing of the sorceresses. Timber praised Rinoa having worked with her the last time Galbadia had tried to control Timber. They accepted Nadia only because of Rinoa's recommendation.
Beaming that her parents trusted her enough to do this, she had jumped on the chance. She had SeeD training that put her above many of the other resistance member. They relied on her often for battle planning and late night surveillance of the nearby Galbadian camp. She was no leader, but the current leaders of the six active groups accepted her skills and referred to her.
She was happy to see her father, his friends, and even on some instances some Galbadian SeeDs appeared to help with missions. The Galbadian SeeDs rarely came to help. It was so hard for them to get away unnoticed, but they were loyal to the evicted Headmaster. Her heart went out to the poor man. He had already once been forced from his Garden during the Ultimecia Incident. He had come back to the position when no suitable replacement could be found. He had tried to play President Garland and the Garden to keep the peace.
President Garland had tried to use Headmaster Martine to keep tabs on Nadia. But he fed misleading and downright false reports to the President. This, perhaps, was why he had called on her less and less. She had been embarrassed her original disappearing act had only stayed secret for a month or so. Martine had put two and two together and contacted Squall with the news. She snickered over her mash potatoes realizing how well her father had let her believe he was in the dark. Perhaps he thought she needed to grow and had left her to her devices.
"You think it's funny?" Megan snapped.
"Oh no ma'am!" Nadia gasped, "I was just remembering something funny. Forgive me. I am honored." It had taken long enough for the resistance members to decide she was finally good enough to get their Galbadian spy's information. It was already common knowledge in the resistance that a new sorceress was among them. They had thoroughly abused her illusion skills. She had no set face among them as she was often running messages between the houses, the Galbadian soldiers enforcing the martial law none the wiser.
Tonight she was wearing close cut black hair and blazing red eyes. She was going to do a midnight run to the Galbadian Camp to speak to the informant. "Well Zoe, do your job right and tomorrow I'll cook you pancakes." She gave a jump of excitement. Megan really was a wonderful woman. One of the resistance leaders and a damn good cook, she pondered if she would kill for Megan's cooking.
Sam and Reggie were asleep upstairs. She felt bad for them, often having to either watch her go off on missions without them, or as tonight were so insistent that they go with her Megan slipped something into their food. It was a common occurrence and had turned into a game to them. What had Megan spiked this time to get them to sleep? They were still wondering how she did it without them being able to tell.
Megan's son Richard stared at her across the table. "I want to help the resistance too! It's not fair Zoe and Mom get to do all the work." Nadia really hated her new name. She hadn't got to pick it this time and it was hard not to respond to it without a frown.
Megan sighed. "Dear I told you already you do the best work in town. The Galbadians let the tongues loose near children without thought. You give us the best information."
Her son glared back, "But it's no fun."
Nadia lost her appetite pushing her plate away. She gave a sharp nod to Megan as the shouting match with her son started. The woman waved her away. She already had her weapon. That was the only thing the former man who had her role took with him. Apparently the informant never gave the man who had talked to him reason to carry anything else other than a gun. Nadia always had her magic if anything bad happened.
She stomped upstairs into her room taking one look at Sam and Reggie out cold. They were leaned up against each other. She was positive they would be sore in the morning. She flipped open Ultimecia's book again. Today was the first day she would encounter that matched up with a date in the book. She had been let down when she found the first half of the book filled with nothing but a single date scribbled in the top left corner. Perhaps it was for her to take notes? But then how was she suppose to know what she was suppose to do to ensure Ultimecia was going to do what she had done? Or perhaps just the book was enough to make her do what Ultimecia had said she had done. She shook her head, sometimes even time theory hurt to consider.
She flipped to the second half of the book reread the important spells first. She had only had to use a few spells, the rest were too dangerous to practice. Though she was itching to try the force exercises Ultimecia had outlined. She was almost certain she would grow as a sorceress when she mastered all the things that had been written. The only thing about the book that left her completely confused was the final page. 'Finesse not strength' was written at the very bottom, she didn't know what it was supposed to mean.
She popped open the window and looked down. She grinned. The guard was off somewhere else during his cycle of so that gave her plenty of time to get out of Timber. Hanging herself out of the window she looked up. Thankfully, unlike the Forest Snakes Leader's house, the roof shingles were in reach. She grasped them pulling herself up. Her knees scrapped against the roofing, she paused for a moment thinking if a short jean skirt had been a good idea. Hanging herself back over the roof she reached down to shut the window.
She inched back to the middle of the roof thanking the architect that the slant on it was small. Her snickers stood firm as she began to conjure. She was going to make this quick as she wanted to surprise her informant. The previous lesion could never get to the meeting point early enough surprise him, but Nadia was going to do it. She wanted to show whoever was leaking information to them that she was serious and together they would save Timber from the Galbadian oppression.
Taking a deep breath she readied herself. Shooting across the roof she threw herself into the air. Wanting to scream but resisting the urge lest she be fired she bit her bottom lip. She looked down at the roof coming up to meet her and quickly conjured a tunnel of wind centered on an ice plate. Her fall was hampered by the wind. Her feet touched down on the frozen plate with a soft thud. Seeing that it held firm conjured another a foot away. She stepped to that one and found it firm as well. She was happy that her idea had worked. She had planned to cross the roof tops, but this would have been faster and less painful. She was glad she hadn't failed or she would have been a dazed and confused pile of person on the house below.
She began to conjure a little frozen pathway littering the open air. Her brisk walk quickly turned into a mad run conjuring the pieces of ice to run on. The ice plates shriveled up into small puddles of water, turning into pockets of humidity as she ran by. She wanted to share her invention with the whole town, but she couldn't. She could brag about its using and application later but she had to keep quiet and get out of Timber. She wasn't sure how long her informant had had to wait for the man to get there, not that that mattered. She would be different.
Nadia seriously was reconsidering her choice. She was standing on the small dock at the pond blushing. She had gotten to the point and found no one there, the Galbadian Camp not too far off in the distance. Finding this the perfect time to practice some enhancement spells she willed them into existence. Her hearing had given her a headache. All the snoring and idle chatter from the encampment was almost unbearable. Her sight had been hard to control at first. It was a focus bloated image and she found her own focus suffering from lack of distractions.
That had all been rather painless compared to the view she was imparted with. Her eyes had finally settled on a tent with a vulgar display. She could see and hear a pair of soldiers having sex. She wondered if this is what people meant by being unable to tear themselves away from the sight of a train wreck. She knew it was wrong to watch, but she couldn't help it. Something in her mind was screaming 'wait for the good part'!
She couldn't believe how rough the man was being. However the woman seemed to be enjoying herself. She didn't understand why no one else was coming to her rescue. She sounded like she was in trouble the way she was screaming. Perhaps this was a nightly occurrence? She was somewhat glad Headmaster Martine hadn't marked her down as soldier material. She most certainly didn't want to fall in love with a man like that. She was sure if she slept with that man she would be black and blue come morning.
She ignored her body rising to the situation. She had no need for sexual pleasure, having forgotten the only night she had had sex. She felt she wasn't missing much. The fact that the man done with the woman who had passed out was coming out of his tent distressed her. Was this the informant? Banishing her enhancement spells she panicked. She dashed off the dock seeing the figure start to head towards the pond. There were a thicket of trees nearby and she headed towards those. She was irritated with herself. She was here on a mission! Why was she hiding in the trees from a man just because he was a lusty lover?
She held back the urge to cry and lay crotched trying to regain her confidence. She could just pop out of the trees and play off being late like the man before her had.
"You know- you pant like a bitch in heat." The man said. She looked beside her and nearly screamed when she saw who it was.
"Coop!" She gasped scrambling away from him on the floor.
"Who are you!" He hissed his eyes dark. She was terrified now. She had never seen him so cold and fierce. She was completely in over her head. She knew she couldn't bring herself to cast in defense against him. She rolled onto her hands and knees trying to get back on her feet. He pulled her back by a leg. She couldn't, shouldn't, wouldn't scream, or the camp would be on her. One man she could maybe handle, she had gotten stronger. It was just a matter of getting away from him without hurting him.
"I asked you a question." He snarled hauling her up by her hips. She tried to pull herself away from him with a tree. He grasped her arms and locked them behind her back. She whined when his vice grip locked her hands together painfully. With his free hand he worked her athame from her hostler. She heard his intake of breath and screamed a mental prayer to Hyne when his grip slipped.
She dashed forward humiliation wracking her body as she realized, if this wasn't her informant she just blew it for the resistance. Perhaps there was a reason the man before her never came early. He had kept the informant waiting to make sure it was the right person. "Nadia?" Came Cooper's strangled voice.
She stopped only for a moment, mentally kicking herself. She had just acknowledged it was her. She started running again even though she knew she wouldn't get away. Cooper was faster, stronger, and a Class A Elite SeeD for a reason. Remembering this she wondered if the woman he had been screwing senseless was Natalia.
She felt Cooper's arms closer around her. She didn't struggle this time feeling far too defeated. "I thought you were gone." He sighed into her ear. She didn't like his tone, it didn't sound sane. His arms closed tight around her. She vaguely remembered the memory on this beach. He always seemed to hurt her with his hugs.
"You're hurting me Coop." She insisted trying to regain control of the situation. He's grip slacken only enough for her to wiggle around. She turned to face him putting her arms around his neck. "My name is Zoe now, you can't say my name so carelessly. I'm a wanted witch." She said trying to stay calm. Her heart was beating rapidly threatening to break through her chest. She dared to look straight into Cooper's eyes and found they were gentle now.
"I'm sorry. I won't do it again. We're alone so we're okay. Natalia is sleeping." He said his eyes darting back and forth taking the sight of her in. "What have you done to yourself?" Realizing he meant her features she focused in on her ring and tapped into the first illusion. She didn't dare count how many illusions she had achieved into her ring. He seemed unfazed by her change. "Oh much better now."
She was going to ask him a question but he stopped her. He had his lips pressed against hers. She tried to pull away but his arms tightened again. Her mind was trying to flip through solutions to this situatation. The only one she could come up with without hurting him was to remind him why he was out in the middle of the night. The moment he pulled away she spoke. "Coop the plans. What is the army going to do to root out the resistance? How can we cripple them?"
He ignored her questions. "Kiss me, please." He begged in a husky voice. Nadia felt her body shiver under his verbal sway. Perhaps she should, if she gave him what he wanted he was more liable to talk. She reached up and met him with force. She tried to keep her focus channeling her fear and desperation into kissing him. He groaned in response his arm letting go of her waist.
She gave a squeak when he pulled her closer to him by pulling on her back pockets. Numbly she noted he wasn't wearing a shirt. His skin was hot to the touch and she could feel his erection poking her. "Coop, the plans please." She begged between kisses. He ignored her again her fear redoubling. He was working down her shirt. She promised the moment she got back into Timber she was tearing the loose knit shirt to pieces. She stumbled back trying to pull her shirt back up but Cooper didn't let her.
"Why didn't you tell me you were back? You know how much you mean to me." He panted burying his face into her neck his hands working on her bra. She threw her promise to the wind and reached for his mind with her power. She willed him to stop just as she had willed Gregorik into training her. A resounding 'no' shouted back at her the force of it sending her senses reeling. She had never met anyone she had used her power on that could fight back so hard mentally.
"I'm sorry." Was all she could manage still trying to regain feeling to her hands so she could wrap them around his neck. His mental rebuke has hurt immensely and now she was mad. She found herself on the floor him on top of her pushing up her skirt. "Are you really going to do this?" She questioned annoyed.
Her shirt had been easy to stretch around her shoulder and down her arms. This had hampered her hope to choke him to death in anger. She was trying to figure out a way to get around or out of her shirt so she had free use of her arms again. Thinking of her weapon she tried reaching out for it. It was too far away and exciting it into a flame would only burn down the thicket and kill them both. "What do you mean?" He asked nonchalantly as he worked her underwear down.
How did he not find anything wrong with this? She steeled herself reaching out with her mind again. This time she impressed him to stop harder. He fought the command again lashing back at her with his determination. She gagged under the pressure. So fierce was his loneliness and determination to have her again now that she had returned it made her cry. She couldn't bring herself to fight anymore Ultimecia's words ringing in her ears. Chance and granted him such strength and mental vitality that someone as weak willed as her couldn't fight him. She let his loneliness and passion drown her resistance. She closed her eyes when she noticed him wiggling out of his pants.
She didn't want this at all. Trying to focus away from what Cooper was doing to her she thought of Irvine. Another lost cause in her life as he had admitted to hiding in Trabia upon his 'death'. He had worked from Trabia Garden trying to find out information like Sam had. However, his work was done through insider contacts of people he trusted. He had found out enough to prepare Timber a mere month before the order went out to take it by force. During this time he had started a relationship with Selphie again. She had dumped Nida in a heartbeat after Irvine said he would never cheat on her again.
He had admitted that Nadia had been his inspiration. He had lusted after her pretty figure, but held back because of her connections with Squall and Rinoa. He looked back on his love life finding the only real relationship he had was with Selphie. He had wanted it back. She had wondered if it was because the urge to settle down and have a life had finally bit him. She had asked him if he would still be her knight for she could think of no one better. He had agreed, but only when she stopped loving him as he knew she did and started calling him brother.
She wanted Irvine right now. She wanted his warmth, his comfort, and his soft voice telling her everything was okay. She wanted Cooper to be done with his stupid act. She tried to squash down the pleasure he was giving her, but failed. She tried to break her mind away from again thinking of how pointless the need to mate was. Though thinking about it she did wonder if some day she would want children. What they would look like. She also tried to imagine a man who could put up with her and the fact that she was a sorceress. If she could ever have children she would want them to look fair like she really did. Little blonde haired blue eyes children with sharp smiles and endless laughter.
She also wanted her children to look like her father and grandfather. She wasn't going to lie, the Loire men were handsome and she fancied having a son as handsome as them. Too bad she was barren, she wondered how thankful her mother was for her. Squall and Laguna must have been ecstatic to find out their line would continue regardless of sorceress fact. They always showered her in gifts and love more than Rinoa did. Not that she doubted the limits of her mother's love. It was just that the distance left a rift in how much she could love her daughter.
"I love you." Cooper whispered as he lay beside her. Nadia frowned, her body felt like jelly and dirt.
"Can you tell me about the army's plans now?" She muttered her voice sounding hallow even to her. She turned to him seeing the pain and hurt. She was unable to feel sympathy for him. He gave a weak nod his face as hard and cold as when he had found her. How he could still delivery the information looking at her she wasn't sure, but she applauded the asshole. It took a real monster to be able to rape her then stare at her as she fixed herself back up. He even told her the next time he would see her to delivery information again.
She conjured a portal now that she had been to where she wanted to be. She didn't even wave him good-bye slipping through and back into her bedroom. She went straight for Ultimecia's book and glanced at the page. She stared intently at the page for a moment feeling the mess between her legs. She gave a sigh and reached for a pen. Just under the date she wrote quickly and short. 'Raped'
Turning to the next page she saw the date was several weeks away. She tried not to think about what she would have to face then.
"We have to get out of here Zoe." Sam hissed waving frantically at her. Nadia fumed, she hated the pressure going on missions with Sam and Reggie entailed. They were setting up focus points in a ware house at the edge of town. They had information that the Galbadian army had been storing their food there. It was heavily guarded to ensure its safety, which left the resistant little room to attack it. Nadia had come up with the idea to portal in during the night when no one was watching it and setup focus points. They would be in and out before the army would notice and she could reach with her mind from afar and set fire to the place.
"We got trouble." Reggie's voice echoed from the first floor. Nadia rushed to the edge of the loft and saw Reggie fighting off two g-soldiers. She spun back to Sam raising her arm in the air.
"Get out of here I'll back up Reggie." She snapped. A portal appeared behind Sam. Her friend frowned for a moment before nodding firmly. He spun on his feet and dashed through the portal. Satisfied with Sam's safety she backed up changing her appearance again to throw off the soldiers. Her blonde bob exploded into a long mane of red hair and her hazel eyes flashed gold paying tribute to Ultimecia. Taking a running start she barreled over the railing.
Just as she cushioned her fall in a flurry of wind the front door slammed open. The noise was attracting too much attention. Five more g-soldiers shuffled in followed by Cooper. She groaned. She really was sick of seeing him. "Kill the Resistance!" The lead soldier shouted raising his gun.
"I don't think so." She snapped sliding her right foot behind her. Following the guide lines Ultimecia set for her she willed an invisible wall to form. Cooper noticed her change in posture and dashed to the right, but not in time. The wall of force took them all by surprise throwing the five g-soldiers right back out of the doors. Cooper rocketed off sideways into a wall. She willed the doors to slam shut and tagged a spell to the building keeping the doors and windows closed. She could hear the soldiers shouting and slamming into the door on the outside.
Content with the focus she required for the spell she turned to Reggie. He was still occupied with his two soldiers. Nadia frowned she would have to dispatch them fast before Cooper could come after her. She was terrified of him after he had hurt her, but she knew she needed to put up with it. He was the informant and she was the information seeker. She was the best person for the job and while he had hurt her through rape he would never cause her physical harm again.
She reached with her mind to one of the soldiers. 'Sleep' She pressed upon him and he toppled over. Content with the sound of a snore she focused her will again. 'Sleep' She commanded the soldier. He swayed for a moment on his feet, but only for a moment. He shook his head and blocked a strike from Reggie's sword. She knew commands would work on him though it would require too much effort. Cooper was already on his feet a dagger in hand.
He had his stony gaze set on her. She really didn't like it. Raising her hand she conjured a portal several feet away from Reggie. It was a very short portal, it would be closing up just after she ran through it. "Reggie!" She screamed signaling him. Her partner didn't bother blocking the soldier as he tried to run him through. He danced out around the weapon breaking towards the portal. She followed suit very afraid of what Cooper would be forced to do to her if she was capture. She knew he was helping the resistance. Keeping face in front of his fellow soldiers superseded that.
Reggie disappeared into the portal. Nadia was going to go barreling into it in a moment, but a sharp pain lanced around her chest. She felt her forward motion stilled and looked down. "A whip?" She shrieked. The portal winked out causing her to shriek louder.
"Sorry, I don't share my secrets with the likes of you." Cooper spat flicking his wrist. The whip loosened around Nadia and he pulled it back with another flick. His dagger was still in his other hand.
"Excellent job Dunlay!" The soldier laughed. He paced up to Nadia his sword drawn. "We could take her in for questioning but," the soldier grinned raising his sword to Nadia's neck, "we should just kill her. She must be that mysterious witch the others keep talking about.
"Disarm her." Cooper said sharply his eyes dark and calculating. Nadia hated those eyes, she was seeing far too much of them in their current situation. She really did want to turn back the clock to her time at Galbadia Garden where things were less complicated and the world wasn't on the verge of war. The soldier did as he was told and took her dagger from its hostler. "Give me her weapon." She watched as Cooper handled her dagger for a moment. He seemed to be testing the weight. The soldier was busy leering at her.
She saw Cooper glance at the sleeping solider on the floor. What was he doing? "Think we should kill her?" The soldier questioned. She watched in shock as Cooper reached his right hand to take the soldier's helm and his left brought her dagger across his neck. His blood shot out right across her face blinding her. She staggered back whimpering. She needed to get out of there now before Cooper lost it and killed her too.
"Nadia," She could hear him whisper grabbing her hands. He placed her dagger hilt in one palm. "Calm down. You have to do something for me." She wiped the blood out of her eyes quickly trying to see again. He was looking at her with his gentle eyes again. "You have to do it fast or people won't believe it. Throw me into a wall like you did a moment ago. Do it hard so it makes noise outside. Then get out of here as fast as you can. Please."
She thanked Hyne that she had learned to control her spams. He was holding her hands still and she wasn't shaking. She was proud of herself for that small show of strength. His orders finally filtered through. "I'm not going to throw you hard enough to knock you out… the build is going to catch fire and I don't want you to die… so be ready to run." She said not giving him time to consider her words. She focused her mind quickly and pushed. She watched Cooper fly across the room like a rag doll.
She mentally cheered that her aim was true and instead of running him into a walls he threw him at the doors dropping the shields. He crash through, which she hadn't expected. Knowing the soldiers would pour through she didn't wait and conjured a short portal. Throwing herself through even as it collapsed she escaped.
Sam and Reggie caught her in their arms. "Almost done." She muttered throwing her mind out. She was now across town and it took a moment to find the warehouse. She could see the fluttering of the minds of the soldiers. She felt for the small crystals they had placed in lighting solution. She willed a speck of fire in all of them. The light fires started and reaching into the mind dagger she channeled it's angry and fury into making the flames grow. 'Take vengeance for your death.' She cried to the fire spirits. They roared. Content with the mental lights rushing away from the flames Nadia retracted back to her body.
"Whose blood is that?" Sam asked off handedly. Nadia recalled how Cooper had killed a comrade for her. She felt so sick.
"Oh here we go." Reggie said as Nadia curled forward and threw up. She screamed between heaves the memory of the murder shaking her. How would she be able to face Cooper next time she needed information. Coping with him raping her had been one thing. She could blame that on the lust and loneliness she had felt. Watching him kill a man in front of her was another. She didn't understand the driving force in that.
Megan slammed open the door. She had a small injection gun in her hand, not entirely unusual as Megan worked as a doctor during the day. Sam held Nadia still long enough for Megan to inject her. Reggie caught her as she slumped to the ground.
Nadia flipped through the pages of her book again. She had filled out several pages now. The first one was when Cooper had raped her. The next page was dedicated to the warehouse fire and Cooper's murder. Irvine's name was down on the next page as he had asked Selphie to marry him that day. The fourth page had several notes but the only one she could assume meant anything was that Cooper refused to give any more information to the resistance if Nadia wasn't the one receiving it. She couldn't wiggle her way out of her duty now. The page she was staring at now would mark the first time she would meet with Cooper since had kill that man.
She gave a sigh realizing she had no way around it. The resistance would be choked by Galbadian influence. She conjured a portal to the thickets and slipped through. Cooper was already there in his sweats, face hard. She was wearing a raven black ponytail and Ultimecia's trademark gold eyes. She really liked them. "Nadia." Cooper sighed pacing over to her. He took her into a hug. She frowned, he was still sweaty.
"Can you please not touch me? You're sweaty." She said sounding more annoyed then she was. She really disliked his way of dealing with Natalia. Fucking her senseless until she was too tired to do more than sleep? That was a bit cruel. She wondered if Natalia even cared for Cooper or was using him as an outlet.
He let her go silently stepping back to give her distance. She forced a smile getting down to business. "Got anything new for me?"
"I knew it." A voice broke out. They both turned to the voice Nadia already reaching out her mind. Cooper had a dagger out, where he had it hidden she didn't want to know.
"Natalia… you don't want to get on my bad side." He shot back. Nadia was building up her energy just in case Natalia had a strong mind. She was shaking her head clearly distressed with what she saw.
"And you call yourself a Son of Galbadia? You are betraying your country!" She snapped. Nadia could see tears forming in her eyes. Perhaps she truly trusted Cooper. She, unlike Cooper though, was unarmed. She was barely dressed on top of that. She looked tired and weak, she didn't even want to think about how much Cooper had done.
"I am a Son of Galbadia! I do everything I do for the country's safety. You know as well as I do Galbadia should not be extending herself trying to force her will on others. Where do you stand?" He shot back taking a step towards her. Nadia flung out the order seeing Natalia tense up. 'Be still!'
Natalia instantly locked up fear in her eyes. She looked at Nadia eyes narrowing. "You are consorting with a sorceress? Do you know what they do!" She was furious. Nadia could see that and could even feel Natalia fighting the order. She felt her mind working and she worried.
"Stop her she's going to scream!" Nadia gasped suppressing Natalia's urge. Cooper was on her instantly his hands on her mouth. He twisted behind her placing a clean silver blade on her neck. "Don't kill her Coop please! I can take the memory away."
He glared back at her. "Shut up. I will deal with this." He jerked hard on Natalia's chin. The woman's head snapped back her eyes wide in fear. "You should have kept your mouth shut sweetie. You know what I can do and you should have sided with me. You and I both know you aren't walking away from this one Natie." Nadia wanted to cry seeing this cruel monster.
"Coop." She whined again. She could see the tears beading up in Natalia's eyes. "Please don't." He looked sharply up at her his eyes so hard and cold. He frowned at her for a moment and his eyes relaxed. Nadia gave a sigh thankful he was backing down.
"I'm sorry. I can't." He said softly and with a swift motion slit Natalia's throat. She closed her eyes feeling the splatter on her face. Why was it she ended up with people's blood on her? She didn't like this, Cooper was insane and she was alone with him again. She willed herself to open her eyes. Cooper still had his soft gentle eyes focus on her, dropping Natalia's still slightly squirming body.
The beautiful girl hit the ground with a thud her white teddy stained with her blood. She gave a gargled moan and died. Cooper seemed unfazed by this and dropped his dagger to the ground. "I'll kill anyone it takes to keep you safe. I hope you understand that." He said softly reaching to her. She stepped back.
"Would you kill my father? My mother? Would you kill Sam and Reggie to keep me safe?" She didn't want to be near this man. She didn't even want to mentally touch him, because she knew what she would find. She knew he did love her, too much in fact. Feeling his love suffocated her. He loved her so much he had already killed two people for her, and unable to control himself had even raped her.
"No, never, they would never hurt you I know this." He said distress clouding his features. She bit her lip, was he telling the truth? She didn't know Natalia enough to know if she would have run and told anyone. Perhaps he was, either way there was a problem.
"What is going to happen now? People will notice Natalia is missing even if we got rid of the body." It was true and it was something she was now worried about. All the soldiers had died in fights, Natalia was dead on the outskirts of her camp. Questions would be raised and trouble would follow. She had to get back and let the resistance know now.
"Well I was hoping that I could come with you. If I disappear and they find her body fingers will be pointed at me. She and I don't get along. People know we're just fuck buddies. They can assume what they want, but you will be home free. Just take me with you please." He said his hands hesitantly resting on her arms.
She gave a sigh. It was all she could do. If he got out of hand she was sure the combine efforts of Sam and Reggie could keep him under control. "I guess I have no choice." He grinned his grip on her tightening. He bent down kissing her passionately. She welcomed him knowing there was no point in fighting him. He pulled away Natalia's blood smeared on his face. Nadia wanted to throw up thankful she couldn't see it on her face.
"Just a moment I have to get some things." He started to run off.
"Wipe the blood off your face!" She snapped. He grinned sheepishly back at her. He reached down and ripped some of Natalia's teddy off to wipe his face. She didn't understand how he could so relax with this, but she knew it helped the image of a struggle. She could stand it the sight of Natalia's empty eyes fixed in fear and pain.
She leaned against a tree facing away from the corpse waiting for Cooper. She had half a mind to portal out before he returned and leave him to his madness, but she needed him to disappear. She couldn't let her failure to handle the situation ruin Timber's chances to defeat the Galbadian army.
"Nadie?" Cooper's voice called out. He was just playing needy brat now. She knew he could hear her breathing. She waved her hand conjuring a portal stepping out from behind the tree. He was in his normal clothing that he had worn during her SeeD exam. A duffel bag was tucked under his arm. "I made sure to be seen leaving in a rush. I'm sure everything will be okay." He smiled proudly.
She shrugged. "Come on let's go." She was going to be in so much trouble come morning. Megan was going to wake up and bean her in the head with a pan. She was almost certain of it.