Harry

You've got to be fucking kidding me.

Not only did the girl; whose name I couldn't force myself to memorise; in front of me show disrespect and throw a knife at me but she belongs to the base that is our worst enemy.  The black flame tattoo on her bicep brings back unwanted memories and only makes my blood boil.  It feels so wrong, it is wrong to see it here; this is my safe haven, away from them. I don't understand how could David allow her and her brother to stay, exposing all of us to danger? I intend to find that out.

Her eyes are slightly widened, but other than that, she seems unphased by the fact I discovered her. "I can explain," she says in a firm tone.

"Explain what?" I ask harshly. "Are you a bloody spy or something? I swear I won't hesitate to. . ." I pause before I can finish my threat, deciding not to let my anger to take over. "You're coming with me right away."

"Coming where?" She asks and her tone is not rude or firm, but her arms folded over her chest are telling me she's not going to obey easily.  I'm starting to think she can't follow orders. It's not surprising, she belongs to the base filled with barbaric soldiers with no mercy towards anyone, and with only one goal; power.

"You're lucky to still be alive, so I advise you not to provoke me and do as I said," I warn her. "Follow me."  I walk out of the room, not checking if she's doing it; for her own good she should.

"H!" Louis calls, my head turning in his direction. His blue eyes flick back and forth between me and the girl. "Everything okay?" He looks genuinely concerned, it's almost like he expected me to kill her.

"Go back to your duties, soldier," I order him, being on the verge.

He nods, reluctantly obeying me, but not before he looks at the girl, giving her a small encouraging smile.

"If you would just let me explain--" she starts, but I lift my hand, cutting her off.

"Follow me in silence," I say, walking down the hallway, toward the exit.

"No," she suddenly says, making me stop in my tracks. I turn around, glaring at her. "Alright, I have the flame tattoo. But I do not belong to Vortex. I never did and I never will. My brother and I are not a threat to you," she says firmly, standing her ground.

If she wasn't a spy, intruder, liar, whatever the hell she is, I'd admire that. Not many people dare to even look me in the eyes, let alone throw a fucking knife at me. I'm still shocked, to be honest.

"I don't care," I reply. "You are going to follow me silently or I'll shoot you. Trust me, I have no tolerance for Vortex soldiers. It's your choice and I'm not used to giving choices to people."

"Shoot me? As in kill me? Typical bluffing attempt."

Yeah, no shit.

"I can always shoot you in the leg," I say flatly. "I don't shoot to kill, I shoot to make a point."

"Still not a good idea," she remarks. "You'd have to carry me."

I stifle a scoff and frown in annoyance at her quick response, my hand drawing a gun from its holster. A metallic click is heard as I load it, aiming it at her. "You're right. Which shoulder, left or right?"

She frowns deeply. "Lead the way."

"Mhm, thought so," I mutter, pleased with myself.  I start walking again, tucking the gun back into the holster, throwing a harsh glance at her over my shoulder.  She follows me silently as we leave the warehouse and make our way over the patio, toward the main building.  A few soldiers on guarding duty greet me and I nod at them in response, my face void of all emotions.

"Hey, H!" A familiar voice calls, my eyes snapping toward the army building, seeing two of my closest friends making their way to me. Here we go.

"Liam," I greet him once they approach, giving a brief glance to Niall. "Busy. Talk to you later."

"I see," he says, a slight smirk appearing on his face as his eyes flick at the girl behind me before he looks back at me.  "If you need anything, you know where to find me," he says suggestively, shooting me a wink.

I internally groan at his wrong conclusion. I knew it.  If Liam is known for something in this base, it's the fact he always has a stack of condoms somewhere. No one knows how does he get them and he isn't willing to share that detail.  He knows who had sex with whom and a lot of other information about people in this base considering everyone always comes to him when it's urgent, so he takes advantage of that.

"Back to your duties," I answer. resuming my walk toward the main building, knowing the girl is following closely behind. 

"Remember, wrap it before you tap it!" Liam yells and I make a mental note to punch him in the balls next time I see him.

Once we enter the main building, I ignore the curious looks we get, only nodding to the soldiers passing by without sparing them a glance. Yes, I am well aware there is a girl behind me, I think to myself.  I make my way toward the lift, pressing the call button.

I glance at her, noticing her straight posture, not a trace of nervousness in her demeanor.  I can't tell if she really doesn't give a shit or she's just good at hiding how she feels. She's a soldier, after all, we're trained to control and hide our emotions.  Her eyes meet mine and there's something about them that makes me want to keep looking and look away at the same time.  They're a light brown colour, golden at first sight, large and expressive. I decide I don't like that, it's distracting.

"I thought you'll lock me up again," she says, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"I'd take your overly cheerful brother with us if that were the case," I reply sternly.

The doors slide open and both of us step inside, my index finger quickly pressing the top floor button.  There's immediately a shift in the atmosphere, slight tension filling the air surrounding us.  I am more aware of her presence in this limited space and that definitely goes on the list of things I don't like. It's also distracting.

I like to stay focused when I'm working, some would say I'm taking my job too seriously, that I'm too tensed and always on alert. And that's correct.  I allow myself to have only a few minutes a day to relax, otherwise, my thoughts tend to spiral too far and too deep in a twisted way, the pain and the guilt I'm trying to keep buried resurfacing as a result.

I exhale in relief when the doors open, my combat boots colliding with the white polished floor as I step outside.  I hope David's in his office, otherwise, I'll be forced to lock her and her brother up. I can't have Vortex soldiers running freely around the base I have sworn to protect. I lead her toward the office, forgetting I should knock when there are people with me. 

I open the door, nodding toward the room. "Get in," I order, watching as she hesitantly obeys, her light pink lips pressed into a tight line. I follow her inside, closing the door behind me.

David is sitting in his chair, holding a cigar in his hand and some paper in the other, puffing out a thick smoke. He takes a few seconds to eye us, noticing something is wrong. His lips envelop the tip of the cigar as he inhales another smoke before he places the cigar in an ashtray, slowly standing up.  "Okay. . ." he drags out, exhaling the smoke through his nose. "What happened?"

I silently step closer to her, pulling the hem of her sweatshirt to reveal her shoulder, my anger resurfacing at the sight of the tattoo. "Did you know about this?" I ask him, retracting my hand. "She's from fucking Vortex," I spit the word like it's burning my tongue.

"Ah, so that's the problem. I did know about that, yes," David says calmly, circling around his desk. "Don't worry about it."

"You cannot be serious," I argue, my eyes widening. "How could you let them stay? They could be spies! We're in enough shit with Vortex as it is, I won't give them the advantage in any way. Especially not in my base."  I'm angry at him, but I'm mostly angry at myself for letting this happen.  I was sure my instinct was correct and decided not to make a fuss when David let me know we had recruited two people so suddenly.

"If we wanted to spy or whatever, we wouldn't have done it in such a lousy and unprofessional way," the girl cuts in. "Trust me, you'd be dead by now if that were the case. We're here because we needed help."

"Right, and out of all bases, you came into the one Vortex is so determined to destroy?" I ask bitterly. "Sounds legit."

"Enough," David interjects, his tone laden with authority. "They are staying. End of discussion."

I glare at him. "Since when do we let psychopaths stay in Hazard?" I know I'm overreacting, but I have a good reason, too.

"No need to be so dramatic," David says, his usual authoritative demeanor fading a bit. "I don't have to explain myself, but you should know I have a favour to return. I am letting them stay because of it, besides, I would never jeopardize my soldiers, is that clear? They are not a threat, Ha--"

"A favour?  That doesn't make much of a difference to me," I interrupt him before he can pronounce my name. "You may put your trust in them so easily, but I will keep a close eye on them." I look at her significantly. 

"Expected," David sighs heavily. "Now that that's settled, you two are free to go." He shoos us with his hands. "Sadly, I have tons of paperwork to fill in, debts to pay, a base to run." He grabs the cigar again, inhaling a smoke while his lips curve in a satisfied smile.

I open my mouth to protest, but David lifts his hand. "If you plan to question my decision I suggest you better not. You're both dismissed, go on." He waves his hand casually, walking back toward his seat and plopping down on it.

I turn around and silently march out of the room, completely frustrated with the outcome. Why doesn't he understand? I can't stand having one of them so near me, let alone two.

"Hey!" The girl calls behind me and I turn, her body almost colliding with mine. I stare down at her in anger, my fists clenching. "I understand your reasoning and I would act the same way if I were you. But I swear we don't have bad intentions."

"I don't care," I say firmly. "I hate what you represent, what that mark represents." I motion toward her arm where the black flame is inked.

Its image appears before my eyes like a flash of a camera and I suddenly drift into a very vulnerable state, my throat tightening, a heavy burden weighing on my chest.  It's been a while since my last episode, but they always appear at the most inconvenient times. I manage to somehow control my breathing as my pulse quickens, my palms getting sweaty.

"We're not all the same, but it's easier to hate all of us instead of trying to understand," she mutters quietly, glancing down before her large eyes meet mine.

My fingernails painfully dig into my palms, my chest starting to fall and rise heavily. Her expression changes from what I assume was hurt to confused when she realises something is wrong with me.  Her eyes never leave mine and she steps forward, probably wanting to help. I jerk away, my back pressing against the wall as I frantically glance around as if someone might attack me. Not now. . . please.

"Oh, shit, you're having. . . shit, okay. Don't close your eyes," she orders and my widened eyes snap at her. "Look at me and keep looking. I'm here, alright? This is real."

I want to tell her to piss off and that she can only make this worse, but nothing comes out. Her mouth is moving, indicating she's speaking, but I can't hear her. I hear gunfire, shouts, and screams, the noise turning my blood into ice.

"This is real, H," I make out her muffled words, not breaking eye contact. "Stay with me."

My eyes stay focused on hers for whatever reason, my mind constantly replaying the words she said. This is real, H.  I notice her eyes have specks of green in them, swirling around her pupils, slowly blending into a hazel colour.  To my surprise, the expected agonizing flashbacks never come, the racket slowly fading.  Before I realise it, my pulse starts slowing down, every trace of my upcoming episode slowly disappearing. 

What the fuck?  Her eyes. . . her eyes are distracting.

"Is it over?" She asks, standing a bit too close for my liking.

I step away, my frown returning. How did she know what to do?  My shaky fingers run through my hair, wiping the sweat that has collected on my forehead while I let myself gain my composure, clasping my hands behind my back to prevent them from shaking.

"So you want to be a soldier?" I ask after a few moments, my voice a lot calmer than she expected obviously. "Fine, you're promoted from this moment onward. You're allowed to pack your shit and move into the army building."

Her eyebrows furrow, her eyes searching mine for any sign I'm joking. "Wait, are you serious?"

"My jokes usually suck, so yeah I'm serious," I snap, turning around to walk away. "Follow me."

"Yes, sir," she mutters, her light footsteps heard behind me.

"What's your name?" I ask her as I come to a sudden stop, looking at her warily over my shoulder. I don't like her or trust her, but she did help me, and least I can do is find out her name. I don't have it in me to say thank you, not to someone wearing that mark.

She looks at me in surprise. "Elena."

"I'm H," I mumble, shifting my gaze ahead, beginning to walk again. "But you know that already."