Traitors

I can't decide what hurts more: my thigh, my wrist, or my feelings. All this time, I believed Gabe cared about me and the other rebels, but it seems like he is willing to throw anyone under the bus just to keep himself safe. Sure, he's the so called leader of us, but Fierce and Hunter are also in charge. Although, they don't take a stand and show themselves as leaders, but we know they are. They started this together and should all have a say in what needs to be done and when, not just Gabe. At least I'm not the only one outraged by his little confession. Fierce is just as furious as I am, but I didn't expect him to tackle Gabe. We did a number on him and he's finished dealing with us. He throws Fierce off of him pinching his nose to stop the bleeding.

"You two," he shouts "were made for each other. Traitors to your government and traitors to your own." He looks at Fierce. "Come back when you get your act together." I catch his gaze on me. "Both of you." He storms out slamming the door.

The noise echoes through the room and then falls silent. I sit back on the bed and hold my wrist in my hand. He twisted it well enough for me to feel a pop. It's not broken, it just hurts. Fierce shifts to a more comfortable position in the chair. I circle my wrist before I feel a crack. I grunt feeling a quick sting of pain, but it slowly fades.

The door opens slightly with a knock. A slightly short woman in scrubs and stethoscope around her neck enters with a clipboard. Her hair is fairly short and curly. Her eyes match Fierce's, a golden hazel colour. She smiles exposing her dimples. She extends her hand to me and I grip it lightly.

"Hi Phoenix," her voice is soft and gentle, "I'm Maeve Fierce, Logan's sister." My mouth slowly falls open. I do know he has an older brother who works for his father, but he never mentioned a sister. "I take it you didn't know about me." She turns to Fierce. "Nice to know you talk about me all the time." She giggles hitting his arm.

"Forgive me," I say quickly, "it's very nice to meet you, Maeve." She whips around still giggling.

"Oh please, honey!" She squeals. "Call me Mae." She takes a seat at the edge of my bed flipping through the sheets on the clipboard which was hanging on the edge of my bed. "Okay Phoenix, let's see what we got going on." She studies the contents with a serious look before setting it down next to her and giving me a hard look. "You're going to be just fine." She smiles sweetly. "We successfully removed the bullet from your thigh. It didn't reach the bone so you were lucky there. We patched up the muscle tissue and sewed you right back up." She pats my shin. "Now, walking will be a little difficult the first few days because the tissue is new and needs to get used to your actions. But after that, you'll be good as new. Just do some exercises and remember to stretch before you do anything," she pauses and turns to Fierce, "athletic." She turns back to me and smiles. "I say you've got maybe another day or so before I can release you, so just sit tight. Maybe have someone bring you a change of clothes?" I nod in agreement. "Do you have any questions?" I shake my head slowly. "Okay, well," she rises and shakes my hand again, "it's nice to finally meet you." She makes a face. "I'm thinking I shouldn't have said that." She leans closer to me. "Is he making a face? Did I screw up?" I look over at Fierce who is shaking his head in his hands.

"I think you're in trouble." I giggle. She glances back and laughs with me.

"Oh look!" She slides away. "The door! I think I'll show myself out now." She slips out of the room leaving us alone.

He continues to shake his head which only makes me laugh. I give Lia a call asking her to grab the sweatpants and shirt I keep in my locker at The Tunnel and bring them to the hospital. Fierce tells her to have Hunter and Quela drive his car over and have them go back to The Tunnel together. Mae drops by quickly and leaves me a cane to use for the first few days. She attempts to embarrass Fierce again, but it only irritates him. I'm not sure why he's never mentioned her. Even though she seems to get on his nerves, I can see he truly cares for her just like any brother should.

Fierce is far too quiet for comfort and shifts in his seat every few minutes. He can sense I'm still pissed about everything that happened, but when it comes down to it, he did enter a burning building to get me out. Whether I like it or not, I owe him that. He avoids looking in my direction, but winces every time the bandage wrapped around his arm slightly touches the arm of the chair.

"What happened to your arm?" I catch his attention as I point to the gauze. He glances down and pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Oh," he sighs, "I, uhh, got burned." His voice is gruff. "It happened before I got to you." I look down feeling a little guilty. "I didn't even feel it."

"Wish I could say the same." I grumble under my breath, but judging by Fierce's reaction, he heard it. "I'm sorry," I offer, "I didn't mean to --"

"I think I should be saying that to you." He admits finally looking in my direction. "I should've done more. I knew Brestion was up to something and I didn't put a stop to it. Detope, I don't even know how to describe how I feel right now."

"Really?" I snap my head to the side. "Because I can list off every emotion I'm feeling: upset, hurt, betrayed, but how about I start with how pissed off I am that I'm not even a valuable asset to the rebellion. That I'm expendable, not important."

"You know that's not true."

"Not true? I heard Brestion say it!" I raise my voice. "Don't sit there and lie to me."

"I'm not lying." He gets up from the chair and walks toward me. "And I don't give a fuck what Brestion said, you are important to the rebellion." I roll my eyes at him. "Don't." He growls through his teeth. "You know you're the only one capable of doing the arson jobs. We'd be lost without you."

"I don't think he sees it that way."

"Yeah, but I do." He sits on the edge of the bed. "Phoenix, I'm really sorry. I never wanted any of this to happen. If I had it my way, I never would've let you go into that building in the first place. I should've fought Brestion harder on the matter, but he shut me down every time I opened my mouth. I'm apparently becoming too emotionally compromised."

"Meaning what?" I ask lessening my aggressive tone.

"Meaning everything is different," he pauses, "when it comes to you." He looks at me with sincerity. "We almost lost you today and it scared the hell out of me. The thought of losing you --" He cuts himself off. "I've never felt anything like that. And the idea of you hating me as your final thought is --"

"If this is about what I said in the car," I bite my lip, "I didn't mean it." He shakes his head, laughing under his breath.

"I know you pretty well, Detope. I could hear it in your voice, you did mean it." I forgot he was a human lie detector. "I deserved it. I deserved feeling like that. I betrayed your trust and allowed you to walk into that building knowing Brestion was lying to you. I let this happen and if you never forgive me for this, I wouldn't blame you." He looks away from me, rubbing the nape of his neck.

"Shut the fuck up, Fierce." I whisper to him. His glance quickly moves up to my eyes, wondering if he heard me correctly. "The only thing I blame you for is not kissing me when you had the chance." He stares at me stunned unsure of how to respond.

The corner of my lips rise into a smile and I release a small giggle. He returns a smile at me before inching closer to me. He's never this close to me and although it's slightly intimidating, it's also intriguing and new. Everything about him is alluring to me and has been for the past two years.

My heart is pounding against my chest begging to be released from captivity. His nose brushes against mine drawing me in closer to him. Sitting so still hurts every inch of me, but I'm scared if I move or even breathe he'll back away. He hesitates before his lips graze over mine. I cave and move into him. His lips on mine feels right and perfect. He teases me giving my bottom lip a nibble pulling me in for more. I feel him giggle enjoying the fact I want him as much as he wants me.

I hear the door to the room open. My eyes widen and I pull away from him. We quickly glance at the door as Mae walks in tilting her head to the side and folding her arms across her chest. I stare up at Fierce who is frozen in shock. Mae looks between the two of us before clearing her throat.

"Visiting hours are over."