Sorry, kind of a short chapter.
Warning: strong language up ahead. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own The 100. That's all Jason Rothenberg and Kass Morgan. But I do own Micah, and Martin.
Faya Gada | 4
Micah grudgingly took Kane's advice and went back to her room to collect her shower caddie.
When her father had kicked her out, she high-tailed it to the barracks as there was a nicely-made bunk waiting for her. Early the next morning, news had already spread that a girl had slept in the guard barracks. Micah was the second woman to join the Guard, ever, and the first in nearly fifteen years. In that time, it had become custom for the newer guards to eat, shit, and sleep together. No one thought a girl like Micah would've passed initiation, nor that she would last very long in the field. But she proved them wrong.
Which led to the problem that there were no pre-existing rules regarding mixed genders staying in the bunks together. And Micah was the only female in her troupe versus eleven other guys. One could easily imagine how this was problematic.
Once this news traveled to Callie Cartwig, a well-known liaison officer [1], she was not having it. Micah may have been strong, but she was still young and outnumbered. And based on her first conversation with Micah, it seemed that she forgot that fact a lot.
"Miss Pike, you're a woman. That's spelling trouble."
"They're just a bunch of guys. They know I'm clearly not interested."
"Well sadly, those balloons hanging off your chest do enough talking for the both of you. Grab your stuff."
And she was moved, forcefully, into Callie's apartment [2]. At first, Micah didn't care all that much. She had been a newly homeless woman and Callie offered her home to her for free; not to mention it was the nicest place she had ever stayed in. She of course helped with the upkeep and food (as Callie seemed to always have some laying around the kitchenette).
Though at one point, Micah became a little uncomfortable. While the older woman had been so kind and patient with her, she was tired of being treated like a little girl. Callie was fantastic, but she still saw Micah—a twenty year old woman—as a naïve teenager with raging hormones because unfortunately the mask Micah often wore around the halls of the Ark went down as soon as she got home.
So Callie saw what others didn't get to. A sensitive girl with an antagonistic temperament. She felt that the whole world was out to get her pretty much all the time, and only ever saw her failings. Such negativity really bothered her roommate, who tried to pull Micah from her slump time and time again. But she knew her help was not at all appreciated, so she stopped.
"What are you doing back so early?"
Micah forgot that today was Callie's day off. But she didn't stop her trek toward the small bathroom. "Ask your boyfriend."
Callie groaned. She knew that as Kane's sort-of student, Micah was bound to figure out something had occurred between her roommate and tutor. "Not my boyfriend."
"Don't give two shits. I'm gonna take a shower."
Micah didn't understand why she had to get all dolled up for some jerk that had disrupted her training session. In fact, the last thing she wanted was to get pretty for an immature pervert. But she had to admit, the shower was much needed for both her hygiene and attitude. Callie noticed and appreciated this, but began to ask questions when she saw the un-brushed hair get plaited into a thick braid.
"Spending your time off by going on a date—" Callie inquired, leaning against the door.
"Like how you secretly meet the councilor on your days off?" Before Callie could deny the claim, Micah stood up and threw on the guard-issued jacket. "Stop prying and I'll stop antagonizing you about it." She checked to make sure her radio and key card were with her before walking out the door. "Don't wait up."
The medical wing was abuzz with chatter as the medical staff ran around, herding people back toward the door. It was difficult getting around to patients and Jackson knew Abby would not be pleased. This was not the way a health facility was supposed to be ran.
"Ladies, I apologize for sounding like someone who had their windpipe abused. I tried to get the upper hand," the gravelly voice paused, feigning innocence, "…but I was weak."
"And don't forget it," a voice interjected.
Micah tried not to appear so threatening in her walk, but she was failing miserably. Though she wore her mask, one could practically see the irritation rolling off her as she marched to the back of the infirmary.
What Martin had intended to be a way of getting sympathy from his visitors was almost broken as he fought an eye-roll. But he kept the humble expression on his face as he turned to the girl he owed his voice to.
"Huh. Spoken like someone who uses their power to oppress those without," he growled. He could see the disposition of his people changing to become more defensive at his words. He knew he could spin this so that he is the victim. Factory station was notorious for finding things to riot about.
"Sure sounds like you're healing up nicely," she fired back, smirking. She got a glare back.
The walk there, Micah thought of the different ways she could approach this so-called 'apology' she's supposed to be giving. She knew that a simple, 'I'm sorry,' wasn't going to get shit done. This was sort of a good thing as she probably wasn't going to be able to deliver the words; she would be lying if she did.
No, she was going to play him up as the victim he desperately wanted to be. But a victim whose assailant was his own self. Kane had said she would need this man on her side. And whatever the Mighty Kane wanted, he got.
"I guess you're not here to—I don't know—apologize?" He may have been trying to sound resentful, which he was, but his voice was barely above a whisper.
"Yes, I am sorry," she started. But when she saw the smirk begin to form on his face, she continued her thought. "…that the Guard failed to convey what kind of military regime we like to keep." She witnessed the smugness wash away from his face as she brought her arms to fold behind herself. Her plan to sweeten him almost felt impossible now that she was facing him; she would surely end up chewing his ass up. Hopefully she could do so while still winning her point man back.
"Normally, new recruits start with moderate session of physical training, which is up to the Commander—whom in this case was not in attendance—before commencing with two months of Guard prep. The point is to observe each initiate for their strengths, weaknesses, etcetera as well as prepare their minds for the coming challenges ahead. Had I realized you already had a lot of these 'combat experiences'," she refrained from calling his fights 'civic disturbances', "under your belt, I'd have had you sit the first session out to not waste your time.
"But Mr. Martin you may speak of having no power, but what you failed to realize was that by taking it upon yourself to fix your boredom, you seized power. Power over that other cadet who was clearly weaker than you. And I know that in the moment, it felt pretty damn good. But mixing that kind of power with a weaker person who—say—isn't training to be in the Guard or will have had a firearm on hand is a very dangerous thing. You may claim that we oppress the lesser half, but what you did was no different."
"So you're saying I deserved this beating?"
With the ten pairs of eyes watching, he was trying to trap her but she knew that. She had actually seen this coming.
"I'm saying my job was—is to assess my troupe's attributes and use that to make fine guards out of them. You're strong, that's evident. But your attitude could use a little adjustment."
At this, she could hear talk around her. They were calling her a self-entitled guard, a hypocrite. Little did they know in her mind she was agreeing with them without shame.
"So what do you say? Will you be joining us tomorrow morning with your attitude 'right'?"
She wasn't able to read his icy blue eyes. They seemed to be trying to stab right into her, but were also drawn to what she was saying.
"Only if I get to fuck you up, like you did me." He wanted the words to cut her, but she didn't seem all that fazed.
Every pair of eyes seemed to set themselves on her, waiting to see how she would respond.
"Stick around long enough and you just might get to."
And just like she had anticipated, he took the bait.
The challenge was set and Kane would get his play-maker.
Footnotes:
1 – I don't actually know what Callie is an officer of, but I'm going to say she runs in public relations/communications.
2 – Technically, I view all of the living quarters on the Ark as 'apartments'. So that's what I'll call them.