S C O R P I O N



The holo-desks of Sector weapon systems melted away. I turned from the room of techies and concealed my face under a crimson hood. Though none would mistake me for another.

She was in the same room as that president's son and I was allowing it. For how long was entirely up to his actions. One more mistake would be his last–that much I was clear on.

The doors opened to me as I strode into another glass hallway passing guards. My thoughts should be on a counter attack. A next phase strategy against the rebels, yet all I could think of were his lips on hers. His life was already worthless to me, but he remained Makayla's companion...

I flicked a throwing knife between my knuckles as I walked. Division members rushed out of my path entirely or pressed fists to chests.

By the time I emerged onto our personal floor she was already lounging on the large L-sofa. I paused on the threshold of the doors before moving silently to stand before her. She took a long drink of what I considered was Junak... Though many liquids could hold that blue glow–

"Scorpion." She drawled over the rim.

"Xavier." I returned cooly, taking my time to stand before her with my hand still spinning a knife.

"I think I should just say it..."

I paused my blade and appraised her more intently. The pile of blonde hair running down one shoulder, the tightly fitted weapons on her hips and legs, the streak of red running over her arm–

"I'm listening." I murmured, not breathing.

"Velron Archeon would like to join the Division." She deadpanned.

I took a moment to check the punch line. There was none. Though it would never be an amusing joke in the first place.

"Excuse me?" I asked low, checking my knife into its sheath for good measure. Makayla scanned my hands and then my torso a moment. Before those sky blue eyes found mine and made my pulse beat faster.

"You heard me."

"That does not mean I understand the meaning." I uttered, moving quickly to close the space between us. Her expression remained calm despite my burning anger below it. I dropped a foot between the space in her legs and levelled her own with a darker look.

"I don't train tourists."

"You trained me." She shot back.

I gave her a quick smirk, "You are the exception. I don't care for spares."

She lost her cool calm and it morphed to that of anxiety. To a look that compromised my leadership.

"They'll kill him in Sector 1 now, Alex."

"My people can do worse." I murmured, without the usual venom to back up the threat.

She saw past it regardless and slipped a hand behind my neck. Our eyes traced each other a moment. That warmth of hers ran along my skin and I grit my teeth.

"Then do what you have to. But he is my last friend from that life." She finished, letting her hand slip away from me and relaxing back into the sofa in resignation. I puffed out a breath through my nose.

"You keep sparing your enemies and they will come back to bite you, Makayla." I told her, before leaning back. It only made her stand from the chair in a swift move and level my face inches away.

"Let them try." She whispered onto my lips, "I have the most lethal woman in Merridian watching my back."

"And your front." I smirked, despite it all.

She grinned and nodded, being sure to scan the rest of me before gripping the edge of my hood and pulling it down.

"There. There she is."

I skipped the games and secured her lips. She sighed, returning the kiss softly. Her hand found the back of my head, then the side of my face. I pulled her hips against me and took hold of her bottom lip. She shook her head between us.

"You haven't answered–"

I took her lip in my teeth and a low sound interrupted those futile words. I inhaled the sweet scent of her as I claimed her lips again.

"I will always protect you." I said, low around her lips. "–Velron needs to prove his worth just like any other to earn a place here."

This made her pause. I scanned her face intently before she sent her fingers through my hair and threw me back against the soft fabric of the sofa. My body heated everywhere all at once. Each of her legs went either side of me.

"That's all I can ask for." She finished, kissing me more deeply. But I took her jaw in my hand and leaned back to gauge her.

"So concerned for his safety..." I drawled, wanting to send a plasma round through his head despite my cool expression. Her smile was almost taunting now but there was something else written on her features. Something unpredictable–

"Let's go somewhere." She blurted.

I raised my eyebrows at her silently.

"We are somewhere." I responded darkly, pulling her hips against me more deliberately. She grinned and slapped my arm.

"No–let's take the night off Scorpion." She retorted with unbidden excitement in her tone that was irresistible. I kept my features contemplative. "I want to get lost in the city in some crappy bar with you for one night. Throw away everything else that's going on for once..." She breathed, pressing her forehead to mine.

"You'd need someone that knew the Underworld well..." I sighed, with faux resignation, "–someone that could really take care of their girl around such Sectors..." She moved on top of me and angled my face towards her with that grin still in place as I went on, "–someone powerful, beautiful... I suppose Velron would be a good choice." I quipped, taking my hands off her and laying them against the back of the sofa.

Her laughter was muffled into my shoulder as she lost the ability to take me seriously.

Good. Velron was a joke either way.

"And you–call me adorable... really Alex."

"I'm sure he'd take good care of you in Sector 52." I shrugged, with a dark smirk, "–for all of five minutes."

"I survived an hour without you." She reminded me with an accusatory look.

"But it was much less fun without me."

"I can't say organ snatchers were a good time." She glared.

I brushed her cheek with my thumb and caught her eyes. "I know a place."

That excitement was back in a flash. I returned her grin genuinely. "Am I going as Scorpion or a civilian tonight?"

"Civilian." She said, nonchalant. "If things get... interesting. I can show you just how different this Xavier is from the one you found."

I chuckled shaking my head and drawing up my hands against her face. "Everything I love is still here." I murmured, watching the smile reach those aqua blue eyes.

I was just as eager to get lost in those eyes tonight. To hell with Hades. To hell with Dazz. To hell with my title. I was just a woman enjoying the company of the only other person in the city worth the next breath. Getting lost from the world with her was the best thing I'd heard all week.

And I knew just the place.



* * * * *



"I thought I said bar." Makayla drawled staring ahead.

A citizen hit my shoulder down the crowded street. I glared at their back briefly considering becoming a more prominent version of myself.

A hand grabbed my jaw and a set of sky blue eyes met mine. Half her face was painted in neon purples and shadow. I smirked at her nondescript clothing that matched my own.

"You know I like those cargos... Fitting quite well in the right places–"

She shoved me back and I hit a rather large gentlemen behind me. My grin was still in place as he growled and placed a hand on his gun holster in warning. I raised my hands in innocence under the hood and apologised.

"Fuckin' tourists." He muttered, returning to the sidewalk.

I blinked before turning back to her.

"Can you stop making this disguise so damn difficult to maintain?" I growled low.

She was wearing an amused smirk however. Her hands went on her hips and my eyes along with them. "Alex, stop acting like you're some kind of name in this city." She uttered, making my eyes burn and my fist tighten. Oh you play such dangerous games...

"We're just here to grab a drink like everyone else." She quipped, turning back to the building lit up in purples and blues with a darker interior. A few smoked and chatted outside oblivious, yet catching sight of her all the same.

She didn't even let me have a damn fusion pistol on me. I didn't tell her about the various hidden blades but... no gun.

"Come on dearest, harmless girl. You're buying!" She called over a shoulder.

I watched the intricate blonde plait down the back of her head as the metal entrance slid open to her and cloaked us in shadow and dim lighting. We descended the familiar stairs and her curiosity was gaining as she took in the holo frames on the walls.

"How long has this place been running?" She asked in awe, seeing a musician play a first generation guitar with actual metal strings. They had much more genuine sound than the nano instruments used now.

"It survived both civil wars and the time before your dearest father took power."

She scanned every holo image of musicians as we drew closer to a louder sound muffled behind doors. They still held onto the old ways. It's why we'd come here–why I wanted her to experience it as it should be.

The double doors slid open to her at the bottom and the music hit us like a distant memory. A younger me. A more innocent one... One that liked the sound of guitars and raw singers under spotlights. Makayla's hand slipped back and found mine as she tugged me through the gathered crowds.

"This is amazing." She said over the infectious music.

Heads nodded in the crowds and drinks flowed. Some were seated with front row tables for the more affluent or aggressive. Though no one boasted wealth in Sector 50. They were all still on the city grind and here for some respite.

She turned back to me shrouded in shadow and brought her lips near me, "Can we get closer?"

"I could get you on the damn stage if you let me be myself in here." I retorted with a cool look.

She shook her head with a chuckle, "Buy me a drink like a good girlfriend would."

"We are more to each other than that, Xavier." I told her over the music with a dark look.

She shrugged with an innocent look. I sighed through my nose and made a path through the onlookers. It was so damn time consuming to have to wait for a drink. How did anyone get through a night like this?

Makayla was lost to the music however and stared at the man ripping through chords and singing powerfully. I smiled at that expression. The same one that looked almost lost when I had her dumped on the floor of my fusion craft. Or took her to a sky garden.

A cold bottle finally hit my hands and I frowned.

"Look like you could use a drink!" A man with a shaven head and tattoos down the side–good god they were a copy of Proximo's–a very poor imitation of Proximo's head tattoos.

Do not laugh. Do not.

"It's so hard to get good service around here!" I called back with a look that was dangerously close to breaking. The longer I took him in the longer it was like looking at a cheap knock off of my second. Proximo would have a field day–

He edged closer and dropped an elbow onto the bar close to me. It was at this moment that Makayla's eyes checked behind her and landed on me. Then on the gentlemen leaning in that was so close to losing his life. I saw her burst out laughing despite it being lost to the music around us before she turned back to enjoy the show ahead.

"You out by yourself?" He questioned, taking a deeper sip.

I took a measured breath before tilting my head at him and dropping my hood. His drunken gaze ran over me a moment then a moment longer... There was no recognition in them. I rolled my eyes and decided to play by Makayla's rules tonight.

"Those tattoos are just... amazing." I answered instead over the music with a sly smile.

His face lit up in satisfaction. He took another drink and pointed to the edges.

"I'm in good with the Division."

"Is that right?" I drawled.

The music finally concluded and the crowds clapped around us eager for his next set. I watched Makayla turn with a smile firmly in place. She took in the man beside me before she took her place at my other side and my arm slipped around her waist automatically. He took her in and his grin widened. My insides froze over and I was getting less entertained by the second.

"Those tattoos!" She blurted, before laughing hard against me. The man frowned with irritation while I nudged Makayla's side. I sighed and levelled him with a glare.

"Forgive her–she's just... drunk." I said lamely.

"Yeah? Well I wouldn't be insulting the wrong people–never know how close to the Division they are girl." He retorted in his best impression of a growl.

Makayla lost what was left of her composure and cackled into my shoulder. I pinched the bridge of my nose ready to break his if he made the wrong decision.

"Look–we are very sorry–let's just forget it–"

He spat at my shoes.

I flexed my jaw and Makayla sobered beside me.

"No."

I glanced down at her.

"Not even–"

"No."

He glared between us before muttering about booze and taking both drinks with him into the crowds.

"The last person that did that had their brain exit their head."

"It's a good thing you would never hurt anyone then and are just here to enjoy our night." She purred into my ear. I smiled at her brushed her cheek with my knuckle before nodding towards the next musician starting up.

"Come on. I want to show you why I used to come here so much."

"I already know." She said, impressed.

We shifted through the crowds to get a better look at the man setting up his guitar.

"The first gen instruments sound amazing." She gushed, scanning the strings and wooden frame of it. "I can't believe they're still useable."

"I had one in our old base of operations before it was blown sky high."

She turned to me in the sea of bodies with shock. "So you can play?" She demanded.

The room hushed as the music started. I placed my finger over her lips in response and nodded to the player under the light. She leant against me and kept our fingers tangled in the crowd. Lost to the music that filled the room. Just a another two people enjoying the simple art of sound and forgetting what we were outside.

"You're damn right I can play." I whispered into her ear, catching the side of her grin as she kept her eyes ahead on the musician.