My Soul to Keep

Though Matt was very uncertain how to handle the situation that just transpired, he knew that Terra was still hungry. Even if she had lost her appetite, she had to eat something. He decided that fruit would be better to pair with her turkey sandwich than chips, hopefully she'd eat just a bite of something. He hadn't wanted Terra to look at him as the enemy when he was only doing his job.

Things would go a hell of a lot smoother if she was on my side, and not fighting me everyday.

Unlike the others, he didn't want to blurt out that he was undercover to Terra. It kind of defeats the purpose of being undercover if you go around telling people. Which if she had gone her separate way, and decided that way involved her stopping off at the police department, Matt and his team would have ended up in jail for a few months for appearance. After getting out, they would have been split up and relocated. So even though it had been a great idea for him to tell her who he was, it still wasn't done in the exact way he'd wished it had been.

He passed Brian on the way out of the kitchen, stopping at the kitchen's threshold they looked at each other blankly. Brian glanced at the plate in Matt's hand and smirked.

“Dinner in her room?” He asked turning to face him head on.

“I guess so. She kind of...fell apart in here.”

“Really?” Brian's eyebrows lifted. “I didn't hear anything, what happened?”

“To be honest, I have no idea. If I had to guess it's the fact that she kind of got kidnapped.”

“Oh, jeez. We're not the bad guys here, we're trying to save her life-”

“But that doesn't make it any easier to handle. I'm sure she still feels like a prisoner here.”

“Maybe so, but she has to get over it. She can't go anywhere until we've taken care of the threat.”

“I know that Brian, but I also understand where she's coming from.”

“We've never talked about it...but...I imagine that you can identify because of...you know. The Marines.”

Matt looked over Brian's face for a moment, letting the man's words sink in until he understood what he meant. Yes. One single moment during his time in the Marines had been somewhat similar to this moment for Terra. Only the ones that had taken him didn't care for his safety or protection.

“I'm going to put this in her room and then contact Chief.”

“Zacky's already talked to him.”

“Did Zack mention Terra?” Matt asked as he turned his back to Brian.

“Yeah, he talked about her.”

“What did the chief say?”

“That we're doing the right thing. If we can keep her out of cross hairs, things will be cleaner. He also warned against getting to involved with her. He thinks that she might become attached to one or two of us, and it'll complicate the job.” Brian placed his hand on Matt's shoulder and smiled lightly. “I think he means you and I pretty boy. I mean let's face it, if she falls for Johnny she's blind.”

“No worries,” He smiled at Brian. “she fucking hates me.”

“I'm sure once she gets a bite of that gourmet sandwich of yours, she'll melt.”

“Stop fucking around and get to work dude.”

Brian chuckled as he turned his attention to the refrigerator. Matt walked out into the living room and stopped to stare at Zacky.

“Brian already told me what the chief said, thanks for briefing him.”

“Well once I saw Terra fly out of the kitchen like a bat out of hell, I remembered to brief him. What's that?”

“Oh, I made her something to eat. She said she was hungry earlier...before-”

“Before you broke her heart right?”

“What? No, she's just probably upset she's here.”

“Just remember to keep it in your pants Romeo.”

“I think this is a talk meant for Brian.” Matt began walking toward the stairs again. “He's the one that romances every woman we meet.”

“No,” Johnny said tilting his head in Matt's direction. “that title is yours. You get laid more.”

“Is that what you think?”

“That's what we know.” Zacky chimed in before looking at the TV again.

“Brian's got a higher tally than I do. Ask him about it, he loves to brag.”

“Alright, I'll do that right now.” Johnny stated as he got off the couch.

“Zack, which way did she run exactly?” he asked as he stopped in his tracks.

“She went to one of the bedrooms down here.”

Matt thought for a moment before he turned around and headed down the hallway were the bedrooms were. He paused in his stride and listened for any noise, sure enough he heard her sniffing coming from the end of the hall. He stopped at the door and knocked twice. Hearing nothing he turned the knob and walked into the room. She was sitting with her back to the door and facing the large window that over looked the backyard.

“I brought you some food, if you're still hungry.” As he sat the food down next to her, he realized he hadn't gotten her anything to drink. “I'll be back with some water.”

“Why me?” He froze in his tracks as her question landed on his ears.

Without turning around or taking another step he answered, “We don't know.”

“Tell me this is some joke you're playing?”

“I wish it were Terra...”

“Am I...in any real danger?”

“When we know something, you'll know something. Until then, let's just make the best of this situation and coexist.”

“Coexist,” she said the word as if it were foreign to her. “I can manage...”

Matt walked out briskly, he wished she'd have just been asleep. He went back to the kitchen and right to the refrigerator for a bottled water. He paused briefly after closing the door back. He turned his head slightly to the left and listened.

“That well trained ear never fails you does it?”

“If it did I'd be dead.” Matt answered as he turned around to face Zacky.

“I think you should sleep on the same level with her,” He paused to take a drag from his lit cigarette. “she might feel a bit more comfortable.”

“Like I said before, she fucking hates me.”

“No she doesn't. She mad as hell and she's scared, but she doesn't hate you.”

“She thinks I betrayed her-” Seeing a figure moving beside him, Matt stopped talking and looked over to the entrance of the kitchen. There he saw Terra with the bowl of fruit in her hand.

“I'm allergic to strawberries.” she stated as she tossed the bowl down on the island where they were gathered, took the water from his hands and left.

“Noted.” Matt muttered as he picked up a single strawberry and popped it into his mouth.