Traitors

Morning comes way too soon. I wake up to grunts coming from the training room. I hear a faint giggle and know it's Quela and Hunter back to work again. I roll over feeling how chilled Fierce's hand is. His face is wan and he doesn't move when I graze my thumb over the twenty one tattoo on his cheek. I slowly sit up carefully watching to make sure he's breathing. I see the slow rise and fall of his chest and feel a little relaxed. I sigh crawling over him and quietly leave the room.

I wander down the hall securing my hair into a ponytail. I glance at the clock and see it's almost noon. A few people in the plant say hi to me as I walk by them. I return the greeting with a smile heading for Gabe's office door. He has it firmly shut but the stupid blinds he installed are still open. I get my eye roll out of the way before I knock on his door. He glances up and sees it's me with an ugly smirk on his face. He yells for me to come in, but to close the door behind me. I follow his instructions, but remain standing at the door with my arms folded across my chest. He stops typing on his computer giving me his full attention.

"Fierce and I were invited to his father's celebration tomorrow night. His brother made it pretty clear we have to be there." I state trying to keep any sass or attitude out of my voice. He leans his elbows onto his desk.

"Fierce will go. You won't."

"He can't go alone. What if it's a trap?" I point out, but Gabe doesn't seem phased.

"He'll take an earpiece with him in case something goes wrong." He says nonchalantly. "Mayor Fierce has the same party every year. He probably has some big announcement which is why he wants Fierce there." He starts to walk away from his desk and over to me. "Thanks for letting me know." He flashes a fake smile reaching for the doorknob and opening the door for me. I shake my head slamming it shut.

"I'm going." I fight back.

"Oh really?"

"Yes." I plainly state. "You honestly want to send him there alone without any backup at all?"

"He's a big boy. He can take care of himself." He rolls his eyes. "But seeing as though you are going to ignore me anyway, I might as well give you permission to go." He sighs. "This doesn't change what happened yesterday. You two are to remain as colleagues. Nothing more." I reach for the door, but he stops me. "That being said, I'll have a word with Fierce regarding last night." He steps closer to me. "As for you, Detope. I would like to clarify that we are all devoted to winning back our freedom which means risking our lives." He keeps a hard stare locked on me. "I don't care who you are, what you do, or who you're fucking." He growls. "Anyone can burn down a building. We don't need you as much as you need us." I force his office door open and slam it shut.

People watch as I storm out of the plant and back down the hall. I slip back into my room where Fierce is still passed out. I fumble through his sweatshirt pocket nabbing one of his cigarettes. I pull on my hoodie and head for the back door. I wedge the cigarette between my lips as I climb a few stairs. I sit on the edge of the step gripping onto my lighter and igniting the butt of the cigarette. The smoke burns the back of my throat, but somewhat relaxes me. The wind wildly blows my bangs around. I get a shiver after a minute of sitting outside. The air is freezing which makes my exposed skin burn with pain and numbness.

The door stutters open and Fierce peeks his head out. He takes in the scene slightly puzzled but snickers. He joins me outside sitting next to me on the step. I offer him my cigarette and he happily takes a drag. He hands it back to me wrapping his arm around me bringing me closer to him. I take one last puff before I toss the cigarette onto the ground and stomp it out.

"Stealin' my cigs, Detope?" He jokes rubbing my arm.

"I needed one." I rest my head on his shoulder. "I talked to Brestion this morning." I feel his shoulders fall.

"Yeah, I always need one after I talk to him, too." He sighs forcing himself up. He pulls me up onto my feet leading me back inside.

He directs me to the training room handing me off to Hunter who works on my leg again. Today is a little easier than yesterday, but still hurts like hell. Quela stands outside the room whispering to Fierce occasionally glancing in my direction. She hisses something angrily before storming away from him. He rubs the nape of his neck before disappearing down the hall. I look at Hunter who is also just as intrigued as I am. We hear the backdoor open then slam shut. We stare at the hall for a few minutes waiting for something else to happen, but nothing does. Hunter finally tugs my leg down patting my calf letting me know we're done for the day.

I sit up resting my arms on my knees. The room suddenly floods with people fired up to train for the evening. I rise to my feet and leave the room walking directly passed Lia. Her eyes follow me as she attempts to understand why I'm skipping out on training. Gabe watches me carefully as I brush passed him heading down the hall toward my room. His yell echoes in the hallway hurting my ears. I turn around and see him heading toward me with wild eyes. He towers over me making me feel intimidated, but I don't let it show.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He screams in my face. "You train with everyone else!" He spits. "Get your ass back there and get to work." I keep my feet planted refusing to budge. He grips onto my arm and drags me back to the training room. He throws me onto a mat and tells everyone to step back. "You have some fuckin' nerve. This is the last time you ignore an order from me. So let's settle this." He takes his stance ready to fight me. I huff in frustration rising to my feet slowly.

He wastes no time charging toward me, but I easily dodge his forceful swing. I cautiously watch his movements as I maneuver around the room avoiding his aggressive arms. I let him tire himself out before I jab my fist into his stomach. Gabe has a lot of power, but he's not as agile as me. His foot work is off tonight and he doesn't seem like he's trying to win, he just wants to prove he's still in charge around here.

He whirls his leg up hitting my shoulder catching me off guard. I fumble into the wall and quickly duck down as his fist comes in contact with the wall. I roll forward and onto my feet swinging my leg around to throw him off balance. He trips, but keeps himself from falling. He grunts as he regains his footing and lands a solid punch to my nose. I feel his knuckles crack as I stumble backward and lean against a support post. Blood drips from my nose as I reach my hand up to keep it from spilling. His grin shows satisfaction, but quickly fades when I slam my foot into his ribs.

He clutches his side attempting to think of his next move. I keep my hand up at my nose thinking I'll have to continue this fight with one hand. He stutters forward looking slightly defeated, but quickly kicks my thigh. The room falls dead silent knowing it was a low blow and cruel. Out of retaliation, my hand flings forward and claws at anything it can come into contact with. He yelps jumping away from me and all eyes widen. I stare down at my hand unsure if the blood staining my fingers is mine or his.

"What the fuck is going on in here?" Fierce's voice shocks my ears. He looks at me and then at Gabe huddled in the corner. "Detope! Brestion! I was gone for a half hour! Are you telling me you can't go that long without trying to kill each other?" His voice is powerful and enraged which is making him more attractive to me. Gabe stands up covering half his face with his hand as blood bleeds through his fingers.

"It appears that way, sir." Everyone glances in my direction with warning looks like I shouldn't have said anything. He shoots a terrifying glare my way and I return one back to him. I didn't back down from Gabe, why would I back down from Fierce?

"Someone get Brestion patched up." He barks. "Make sure she didn't get his retina." A couple people help Gabe out of the room and toward the locker room. "You." He growls at me. "Out." He points his finger to the door.

"I --"

"I don't want to hear it, Detope!" I swallow hard. "Move." He demands.

I drag my feet across the room leaving a blood trail behind me. Fierce yells orders in the training room before he catches up to me in the hall. He pulls me to my room and closes the door behind him. The anger in his eyes is no longer present. He moves my hand away from my nose and studies the damage. He sighs rubbing his eyes tiredly. He grabs an old rag from the shelf in the closet and wets it with water from the water bottle on the dresser. He places it gently against my nose then puts some pressure onto it before sitting me down on the bed.

"What the hell happened, Phoe?" He sighs. I try to hide the smirk forming on my face. I love hearing my first name coming from his lips. "What did he do?"

"He dragged me to the training room and said he's tired of me defying him." He removes the rag and situates a different part of it back onto my nose. "He knows about last night. He's really not happy about this." I wag my finger back and forth between us. He sighs before lifting my hand up to replace his on the rag.

"I don't give a fuck." He kisses my forehead. "I'm going to see how bad the damage is, but you definitely scratched his eye." He tries to hide a smirk.

"He kicked my thigh. That scratch is a blessing compared to what I really wanted to do." He cracks a smile and lets a snicker escape from his nose.

"That's my girl." He chuckles heading toward the door.

"Hey Logan!" He turns his head slightly stunned to hear his first name coming from me. "You're hot when you take charge." He can't help but laugh.

"Shut up, Detope." He leaves the room closing the door gently behind him.