So, this chapter came WAAAAYYYYYYYY later than I wanted it to, but that's because I was bawls deep in "The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday" by FrickinRaft. YES. I RECOMMEND It. But read it after my story because I want you to come back (I'm just kidding! But theirs is very amazing- I cannot lie~) Alrighty, enjoy chapta 5, yo! ^0^

IQ, Twitch, and Echo all sat together in the cafeteria talking components, wires, motherboards, and power-cells. They were going over formulas on how to emphasize and enhance the use of their equipment when a large group of recruits came bursting in through the doors led by Lion. They were all laughing and talking loudly amongst themselves disrupting the peace. IQ and Echo didn't seem to mind, but Twitch was rather annoyed. Just what was Lion trying to get at by making the recruits rowdy and bringing them in here? "Emma?" Echo asked upon noticing her fierce scowl in Lion's direction. "Hmm?" Twitch responded gruffly keeping her eyes on Lion. "Is everything alright?" The corners of Twitch's mouth kept jerking downwards as she fought herself from frowning.

Lion stood in the service line with the recruits seemingly unaware Twitch was trying to burn a hole in the back of his head. A recruit made a remark to him that caused him to laugh obnoxiously out loud. He picked up his tray off the line and immediately made eye contact with Twitch. "Everything is just fine," she said turning her attention back on the notes she was taking from their conversation. "Hey guys!" Lion called out sitting beside Twitch. IQ and Echo greeted him, Twitch just continued to look at her notes. "What's the matter, Emmanuelle?" Lion asked as sincerely as possible. Twitch paused sitting dead still in her seat. Her eyes slowly slid to the corners of her eyes to glare at him with the same intensity as before. How dare he call her by her real name? He wasn't Gustave Kateb. He could never take his place, she thought to herself. Twitch turned in her seat to face her back towards him. IQ looked down and away trying to hide her smile. It was funny to see Twitch so pissed off. She was like an angry toddler trying their best to be petty. Echo, on the other hand, became uncomfortable; and he decided to get up and leave.

"Hey, did I do something?" Lion asked placing a hand on Twitch's shoulder. She swiftly brushed his hand off and turned around to face him. "Olivier, I'm sorry- but I don't want to talk to you right now." Lion was visibly confused. She couldn't really be that mad at him because of last night, could she? Yeah, she invited him in- but he didn't act on it, even though he wanted to. She wanted him to respect her and Doc's relationship, but he did just that- and now she was angry? What did she want from him? The confusion on Lion's face showed, and Twitch cleared her throat to speak up. "Lion, we're friends- but I need to be away from you. I'm sure you understand why." She turned her back on him once again to tend to her notes. Lion still sat confused. He heard her, he just didn't know how to actually process it. He picked up his tray and walked over to the trash bins, tossing the whole plate and tray away. "Hey! You can't throw the trays away!" the cook called from behind the line. Lion just kept going on his way out. He had bigger things to worry about than a cheap fucking lunch tray...

Music** blared through Lion's headphones as he punched the punching bag that hung in the gym. He was hurt, confused, and angry. He felt stuck inside of himself partially due to his feelings for Twitch and being unable to act on them. The other bits and pieces of how he felt were due to the mixed signals Twitch seemed to be sending him. Did she want him, or didn't she? How could she return his kisses and touch him the way she did in the shower, then tell him they couldn't do it again only to tease him and unlock her door for him? Lion was so confused and fucking conflicted. Why couldn't it have been someone else who helped him? It just had to be his rival's partner. He was Adam in the garden of Eden, but instead of Eve- he was the one being tempted by forbidden fruit. Lion punched the bag with a right hook that sent burning electricity up his arm. He opened and closed his fist, shaking his hand to get the nerves back on track. He looked over at himself in one of the many mirrors that lined the gyms walls.

He slowly walked over to the mirror, his eyes locked with his reflection's. The music in his ears got inside of his head as he over-thunk all of the recent events. He thought about what Twitch had told him in the cafeteria. If only he hadn't acted on his lustful nature. If he had just minded himself and continued to live his life instead of coveting Twitch, their friendship wouldn't be falling apart like it was now. It was his fault. It was his fault... Lion swiftly turned to grab one of the folding chairs that leaned against the wall. He held it by the back rest, and lifted it high above his head. He yelled as he flung it forward loudly shattering the mirror. He moved over to the dumbbell rack and picked up the heaviest one. He sent the dumbbell crashing through the next mirror with another yell. His breathing was rapid and heavy. The veins in his arms were tense and throbbing as they rose from under his skin. His heart felt like it was in his throat. Lion walked back over to the dumbbell rack again; not to send another one through a mirror, but to push the entire rack over. He walked around the mess to another one of the mirrors and began to punch at his reflection over and over. His chest felt so heavy when he took a deep breath to yell at himself again.

He continued to punch until he lost feeling in his hands. The mirror, as well as his hands, was completely covered in blood and broken glass. There were multiple lacerations in Lion's skin as small and big shards of glass alike intruded into the layers of his flesh. He looked past his red, mangled hands to the floor that collected the drops of his blood. He was crying now. His deep breaths burned his throat that was raw from all of his yelling as he sobbed. When he looked back up in the mirror, the small group of his teammates caught his eyes. They were all standing just inside of the door that led into the gym. Their eyes were wide with fright as they looked at the bit of destruction Lion had caused to the gym, and the major destruction he had caused to himself. His teammates being there normally wouldn't bother him, but who other than Twitch would be in front of the group of course? The way she stood there looking worried as if she really gave a damn about him pissed him off further. He just wanted her to fuck off along with her weak ass partner. Lion wiped his nose and started towards the gym doors. Everyone stepped to the side to allow him to pass. "Lion," Twitch said reaching out a hand to place on his arm. He jerked his arm away and shoved the gym doors open to walk out of them. It had become clear the reality of their relationship. He loved and respected her, and she wanted him to hold Doc's place while he was gone. He had decided that she would never use him again. Whether he had to ruin the relationship or not.

The air around Hereford was still tonight. Everyone who witnessed Lion in the gym were somewhat shaken by his pain. No one could have ever seen something that severe coming from him. A lot of words and blows had been shared between him and Doc, but Lion never seemed like someone who would go that deep off the end. It was scary in a way. Whenever an operator lost their cool- they put the team at risk because of their inability to control their emotions. They had lost many recruits in that way. The little group that had found him after his episode had assessed the damage when he left. There was blood and glass everywhere. The dumbbell rack wasn't light at all, and the fact that he could push the whole thing over while it still held the weights was very telling of the strength he had when enraged. Hopefully, this wouldn't turn into a massacre like most cases of rage in the military. There were too many cases published on how emotional instability could go very wrong, especially for soldiers who were grouped together. IQ had made a suggestion about telling Six, but Twitch had asked her not to. Lion could have possibly gotten dismissed from Rainbow due to the risk he could have been. Twitch wanted anything but that. "And you don't think we should tell Six? What if he put a target on our backs because we were the first to discover him?" IQ had asked her. Twitch assured her that they would be fine. Although Lion wasn't the humanitarian Doc was, he would never hurt anyone he worked with. But, deep down inside, it was more of a hope that he wouldn't instead of a guarantee.

Twitch couldn't sleep. She tried not to be, but she was worried about Lion. She tried to convince herself she didn't know why he was so distraught, but she knew deep down inside of her that he was conflicted with how he felt about her. Twitch sighed as she sat up in her bed. That was only half truth. He was confused about how she felt about him as well, and she knew that to some degree she may have been leading him on to some extent. She didn't mean to. She was just trying to... What was she trying to do? She was devoted to Doc like she said, but at the same time, Lion was... He was there. He was everywhere all the time while Doc was away. She could talk to Lion. See him. Touch him. Hold him... She swallowed hard as she turned to sit on the edge of her bed. Her heart fluttered inside of her chest as she thought about him. He had been having that effect on her a lot lately. Twitch had tried so hard to push past those feelings she got inside of her. She had gotten so desperate to correct herself that she thought if she couldn't hold those feelings back, she'd just have to push Lion away. After all, he was trying his best to control himself too- and his efforts were just as good as hers.

Twitch stood from her bed and walked over to her dresser to put on her athletic wear. Maybe if she could fatigue her body with a jog then she'd be able to rest. It was worth a shot. She needed to gain some composure over herself before attending the day with her teammates. She slipped her jogging shoes on after rolling her socks up her feet. She then put her hair up in a ponytail, grabbed her headphones, and then her gym bag. She flipped the light switch and started on her way to the track. Her footsteps echoed throughout the dead halls of the base as she trotted down the stairwell. Hereford at this time of night was so lifeless and dead. She envied the peace the base had as she wished for her own peace inside of her mind. If only she could vent to someone. She had considered talking to IQ about her issues. IQ was trustworthy. She was Twitch's best friend after all, but her shame about feeling the way she did about Lion kept her quiet. Twitch paused as she rested her hand on the lock bar of the door that led out of base. The question she had been pondering for so long came back to the front of her mind. Exactly how did she feel about Lion? Twitch shook the question out of hear head and exited the building. She had enough time to think about it at the track.

It was 5:45 in the morning, and the chilly England air was crisp as it ran over Twitch's skin. She had completely underestimated the weather by choosing a thin, mid-sleeve, crop top over her jacket. The track lie just ahead waiting for Twitch. She began to place her headphones in her ears when she noticed a figure on one of the benches that sat along one of the stretches. The lights that surrounded the track didn't provide much light as most of the bulbs were completely dead or dying. She continued forward silently hoping that this wasn't who she expected. The broadness of the silhouette suggested so, but the height wasn't close enough. Twitch's pace began to slow down, but she kept walking up behind them. The soft crunching of the grass that sat in the middle of the dirt track seemed louder than it should have been as she eased her way towards them. The shoulders of the person slouched as they suddenly sat upright. Twitch's breath hitched in her throat as she froze mid-step. It was him. What is he doing out here so late? Twitch asked in her mind. Usually he would have been back inside around three a.m., sometimes even four, but never was he out until almost six.

I have to get out of here, but where would I go? Twitch panicked. This was a very open area, and she would have to run at least 73 kilometers per hour (45 mph) to make it back to base before he could turn around and see her. Seeing no other way around it, Twitch continued on. Her heartbeat was rapid- her breathing was shallow. This could go any way, and the uncertainty shook her to her core. She was so close to him now, but he didn't move at all. Didn't he hear her coming? Did he not care? Twitch was so close. She was about two arm lengths away when he stood suddenly. Twitch froze again looking up at the man who she had inadvertently hurt. The world stood still as she waited for him do something. Anything. He turned his head as if to look over his shoulder before turning his full body around. He looked down his nose at her. Although her tried to make his expression appear blank, his eyes projected hurt. Twitch swallowed hard bringing a fist to her chest. Should she say something? Was he waiting for her to? Was he going to?

Tears pooled in Twitch's eyes. They continued to swell until they collapsed in on themselves streaming down her cheeks. Why was she crying? Maybe it was the guilt she had tried blocking out finally breaking through to her. The fingers that clenched together in the fist that rest against her chest quivered. She wanted to reach out and pull him to her. Lion took a deep breath and made his way around the bench. He's coming towards me, Twitch panicked. He had come so close to her then- he walked right past her. He didn't say a single word or even give her a second glance. Twitch's mouth fell open and her bottom quivered as the tears kept falling. Fix it. Now, she commanded herself. Twitch sniffled and turned around to face Lion who grew further and further away with each step. GO! Twitch began a speed-walk to catch up with Lion. He was walking so fast. She felt like the harder she tried to reach him the more she fell behind. Her vision was blurry with stinging tears. The light grew dimmer and dimmer as they walked away from the track. Twitch reached out hoping to catch him in time. Her fingers grazed over the familiar fabric of Lion's hoodie, and she lunged forward to grab onto him. Her other hand came up to rest on his back.

Lion broke free from her hold to turn and face her. She was rubbing her eyes in the manner of a small child crying after being punished. He had tried to get away from her at the track because seeing her so distressed hurt him, and now here she was in front of him rubbing it in his face. How long did she have to torment him..? Twitch lowered her hands and looked up to catch his eyes. She swallowed hard and sniffled. Her nose and cheeks red from the crying and sting of the cool air. Lion couldn't stand it. Yes, he was angry with her, but she was still his weakness. "Well?" Lion said flatly in an attempt to hide his true feelings. Twitch's heart ached from the tone he spoke to her in, but she understood. She opened her mouth to speak but her throat was strained and tense from her crying. She could feel herself close to crying again. You're ruining it, she told herself. Seeing no other way she could get across how badly she felt, Twitch stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. Her chest trembled with heavy sobs as she held onto him tight. Lion just stood there looking down at the top of her head. He didn't want to forgive her so easily, but he owed so much to her still. She didn't have to give him as much of her time as she did. Forgetting about all of the emotional confusion she had caused him, Lion slid his arms around her. He rested his face on the top of her head and squeezed her lightly as she bawled. They stood there wrapped in each other's arms even long after Twitch had calmed down. It was now, in this moment, that all had been forgiven...

Twitch held in her hands a pair of Debakey forceps*. She was pulling out the shards of glass that remained in Lion's hands. The task was extremely tedious and daunting considering that his hands had already begin to heal around the shards. Lion had found Doc's scalpels, and had brung one to her. Twitch had suggested that they use a shot or two of Novocaine so he wouldn't have to endure the pain of the extra slicing. "Nothing could hurt as bad as the way they went in paired with the swelling. I'll be fine, I promise," Lion had assured her. But Twitch being Twitch was afraid of hurting him, so she insisted on only doing the pieces that hadn't been healed over yet. Lion could do the rest since he got himself into this mess, Twitch reasoned. She carefully opened one of the slashes in his knuckles and reached in with the forceps. He took a sharp intake of air as she gripped the shard in the forceps's teeth. "There, there- it's not that bad. You've been doing good so far," Twitch joked as she dropped the piece of glass to pick up another piece. "I had better get two suckers since I have to do the harder part myself," Lion threw back at her. Twitch giggled placing the forceps down and checking over his hands. "You don't even have that much to do, so you only get one this time. Sorry~"

Lion put on a fake pout earning a giggle from Twitch. He pointed towards the scalpel that rested in it's sterilized pack on the counter. "Nurse, if you will," he said. "Yes, Doctor," Twitch chirped back at him fetching the scalpel. "Thank you kindly." Lion hopped off of the examination table and sat in the chair directly beside it. He opened the package and gripped the scalpel firmly in his right hand resting the left on the table. Twitch sat in the rolling chair Doc used for check ups, and rolled closer to watch him. "Are you sure you don't want anything to numb it?" she asked watching him slide the tip of the scalpel into one of the deeper cuts in between his thumb and index finger. He slowly moved it back and forth, bringing it upwards in a circular motion to make sure he was cutting skin and not pushing the glass in further. "After taking bullets, this is just scraping my knee on the playground." He placed the scalpel down on the protective paper strip that covered the examination table and pointed at the forceps. Twitch passed them to Lion, and he gently inserted them into the slit. There was a small clink as the tweezers gripped the shard of glass. Lion took a deep breath in as he removed the shard from his layers of skin. "Merde," Twitch gasped as he pulled out a shard about a third of an inch long. "Yeah, no kidding."

Twitch watched in silence as he continued to cut his skin open and remove the pieces of glass. The areas that had already been cleared out were already puffy and red, and the fresher openings were now beginning to show their signs of irritation and healing. Lion had already finished with his left hand, and he was now starting on his right- going at it as easily as he had his left. Twitch was thoroughly impressed. Ambidextrous people were hard to come by, and what more of an interesting way to show his ambidexterity than operating on himself? He was so quick and gentle. It only took him about ten minutes to clear his right hand of all the glass. Twitch stood up and got the extra bandages Doc had put out before he left again. There were more than enough this time around due to Thermite testing his new charges. Twitch sat back in her seat and began to wrap Lion's hands. She smiled to herself as she wrapped one his palms and weaved the bandages through his fingers. Lion noticed and raised an eyebrow. His curiosity got the best of him when she silently giggled. "Alright, I give in. What are you thinking about?" Twitch stopped wrapping his hand and turned behind her to get scissors. She cut the bandages and placed two of the securing straps on top.

"Oh, I'm just thinking about when you wrapped my ankle for me." Twitch stood to put everything away. Lion flexed his fingers as he watched her move around the room. "How come?" he asked. Twitch leaned against the counter after putting everything away and shrugged. "I guess because... Well, it was sweet." There was a silence as Lion watched her reflect on it. He stood after a few moments and walked over to her. He took one of her hands in his and squeezed it lightly. Twitch looked up to see hurt on his face once again. "Twitch," he began. He looked down at his feet before continuing. "I'm sorry for freaking out the way I did and scaring you." He looked back up at her and took a deep breath. "I was honestly afraid that I had lost you." Twitch perked up at that last statement. "I meant to say, 'your friendship'. Emma, you mean a lot to me- and I feel like I've been making things hard for you." Twitch shook her head. She stood to come face-to-face with him, and lifted a hand to rest it on his cheek. "Olivier, you will never lose me as a friend. Like I said, I'm so happy you've stayed with me through this time. It means a lot to me." Lion's jaw clenched as he looked down at Twitch. The way she looked up at him with those beautiful green eyes and slightly curved corners of her mouth in a smile did something. He felt that urge rising up from within him to pull her face to his. To forget his promises and drop all his morals to take her.

"Emma, we should probably get going," Lion said after a few moments. Twitch widened her smile a bit before taking her hand from his face. "You're right. It's nearly seven. We should probably get some sleep, ouais?" Lion nodded turning to get the door. Twitch stepped out and he followed behind. Twitch grabbed her gym bag that sat beside the exit to the medic's building and threw it across her shoulders. She opened the doors and shivered as the air enveloped her in chill. "Here," Lion said taking off his hoodie and taking Twitch's bag. "Oh, I couldn't-" Twitch started to say when Lion shushed her. "Nonsense. Raise your arms," he instructed as he put her bag on the ground. Twitch complied and Lion slipped his hoodie onto her. The sleeves were a bit too long and kept sliding down her arms as she lifted them. Lion chuckled to himself as he handed her gym bag back to her. "Merci beaucoup," Twitch said holding onto the shoulder strap. They started back on their way back to base talking about various things, and sometimes walking in silence. Upon reaching Twitch's floor, Lion walked her to her door. Twitch placed a hand on the door handle and hesitated. She wanted to ask him if he would sit a while, just so she could have more of his company- but she didn't want to cause anymore difficulty; so she stepped inside, thanked him, and said goodnight. With a subtle nod of his head, he started on his way up to his room.

Twitch closed her door behind her and walked over to her bed. She threw herself down on her mattress and hugged her pillow tight. There was a certain fragrance in the air that caught her attention. It was rugged and... warm. I'm steal wearing his hoodie! Twitch realized. She sat up to take it to him, but her legs wouldn't let her move. Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to spend one night in it... Twitch lay back down and hugged her pillow once again. The scent of his cologne was intoxicating, and it dared to keep her awake. Her mind quickly conjured up thoughts about Lion in his daily life. She had remembered how minimal and clean his apartment was. Her face began to feel warm as she blushed thinking about things he could do to dirty it up, and if he ever did do them. Emma, stop it. You're not 18 anymore, she thought to correct her behavior. She was right. She was an adult with high responsibility now. It was juvenile, and very disrespectful of her to think about a teammate in that way. But wearing Lion's hoodie and smelling his smell didn't help. She tried her best to get her mind to behave, but her thoughts kept drifting back to Lion. Maybe, she'd hold onto his hoodie for just a day longer..

Y'ALL I PANICKED. This chapter just kept having point after point while I was writing it. I wasn't sure if I'd ever come up for an ending to this MF'er! Whew~! Mature rating should hopefully kick in next chapter. Y'all are gonna be tickled at what Lion does *u* Thanks for reading~!

**I was listening to an artist called Ghostemane who does like angry screamy trap music while I wrote the gym scene. The song that was playing when Lion completely lost his poop is "Hack/Slash". I'm sorry if that's not the kind of music you listen to, I just thought it helped set the mood :c

*These are basically just long ass tweezers lmao. I wanted to up my terminology after reading Raft's story, so there's your little piece of medical knowledge for the day. You basically qualify for an M.D. as a surgeon now c;