– S C O R P I O N –

We were minutes from home by nightfall.

The air was crisp and didn't have the usual noise level for Sector 48. It was as if the people knew that conflict and war was on the horizon. I sighed deeply. Because now I would have to face Makayla.

Was it anger that would greet me this time? Distrust? Or maybe even just disappointment. God, I doubt I could handle that after everything today...

"Hate to intrude on your deep contemplation, Scorpion. But I believe I will take the evening for myself from here." Proximo said smoothly from beside me as we strolled through the underground network close to my home.

I waved a hand in his general direction. "Of course. You have thoroughly earned it." I commented.

He snorted. "And I hope your evening is just as... relaxing." He said with a wicked glint in his eye.

"Shouldn't you be at the Crypt by now?" I snapped halfheartedly.

He only grinned in response and drew his hood lower before sauntering off into the shadows. Even Proximo knew what would await me. I groaned as I continued my stride with the rest of my personal guard.

The doors to my home were opened and I was striding towards my bedroom in seconds. When I drew the door open however, she was nowhere to be seen. My heart dropped as I jumped through possibilities of her not coming back. I checked the bathroom, the spare rooms and even the grand hall where I usually occupy a throne. But nothing.

There was one more possibility however.

I rushed over to the lift and punched the door button closed. With the flash of my holo-screen I was flying downwards. It chimed happily letting me know I was on the training floor level. It was late now, so no one walked the halls.

I emerged on to the balcony and cast my gaze across the cavernous room. A puff of air left me in relief when I finally saw her. She was focused intently on hitting a heavy bag. Not much thought went into how the punches landed but it seemed like it was mainly just so she could hit something.

I approached with silent steps.

It wasn't until I stood on the other side of the bag that she noticed me. Her eyes widened and she miss threw a jab. I chuckled. She glared.

The standoff lasted a few seconds before I broke it.

"I'm alive." I commented.

"How fortunate." She said, dripping sarcasm.

"I probably deserve that."

"Probably?" Makayla repeated incredulously. "I tell you that my father is working with Hades and then I hear an explosion and don't get any form of communication from you until now and you think you probably deserve me giving you attitude!" She panted from the effort and her workout now.

"Possibly."

She lost what was left of her patience and went to hit me. I dodged it with half a thought. Wait--no that's not how this should go.

"Sorry. I deserve that go again." I said seriously.

She glared death at me. "You're unbelievable."

"Makayla, you can hardly blame me when I've been trained in—"

"Not that!" She shouted.

I snapped my mouth shut for once. She strode up to me and shoved me hard. "The fact that you are always disappearing without a word—" another shove, "—the fact that you don't seem to give a shit whether you live or die—", she tried to push me again but I caught both of her hands and met her eyes. She was in no mood for it however.

I didn't expect her anger. Which is why when she dipped low and slipped her leg behind mine--in the exact same move I had done to her only this morning--I lost my balance. The moment her shoulder collided into me I landed on the ground heavily and stared at the ceiling in shock.

"You really want to play this game?" I murmured from the ground in almost a growl.

She stood over me with her glare. "Sorry I can't hear you from down—"

I swiped out a leg and she jumped back before I could knock her to the floor. In another move I rolled swiftly and landed on the balls of my feet.

"Consider me impressed." I said flatly. My eyes didn't leave hers and hers levelled mine unflinchingly back. It was the closest I'd ever seen to darkness in her. And I loved it.

"Let's make it more interesting, shall we?" She said with false sweetness.

"Makayla..." I warned as she approached a weapon rack near the wall. "Do not even dare."

"Or what?" She said innocently.

I growled as she drew a dagger the size of her forearm from it. Darkness was one thing, but this was madness. She hasn't even been taught how to wield one yet.

"That's not a toy." I said in a low voice.

She twirled it like a flag before placing it back and drawing a sword. My mouth dried up as I looked at it and then at her. With an even darker smile she tossed along the floor at me as if it were no more deadly than a shoe. I flinched when it stopped near my feet.

"Makayla!" I shouted when she drew an even deadlier sword and gripped it casually in a hand. "—I am not playing games, put that down!" I said with building anxiety.

She ignored me entirely as she stalked towards me. With a quick kick and move from my boot, I flicked the grounded sword into my hand and drew into a defensive position. "I swear to god if you—"

She swept her sword out in a rapid arc at my body. I parried it a moment before it could sink into my shoulder. Wait, what? How could she possibly have skill in sword play...

"Where—"

"You think there are many sports that one can participate in, inside the confines of a tower?" Makayla said bitterly as she circled me. She then dipped into the trademark lunge of a fencer and I knew what she was talking about. I batted her blade away and mimicked her circle.

"So what, daddy, wasn't opposed to you getting a few paper cuts?" I mocked heavily as I danced away from an angry slash.

"Daddy, didn't give a shit what I did in my spare time as long as it wasn't consuming his!" She snapped, feigning a downward slash and twisting to hit my exposed side. I barely dodged in time and I felt completely at a loss. She twirled the sword much more skilfully now, as if she'd only wanted me to underestimate her earlier but now could expose her skill.

"Too bad you couldn't bring a sword to the ball. I bet you could morbidly improve Velron's face with a few flicks of the wrist." I murmured with a smirk.

Instead of the anger I expected, her expression turned contemplative. "I doubt it... he is a sight to behold in a dinner jacket." My blood froze as she gazed off as if in longing. "He was the sort of man that knew exactly how to dance and kiss—"

For the first time, I threw a swipe at her hip before she parried it and crossed our swords with both hands.

"What's wrong, Alex?" She asked between the blades, "—I just wanted you to know that he's a better ki—" I spun from the sword, disarmed her in half a heartbeat and pinned her to the ground within a blink.

"Enough." I snarled down at her.

Both of our breathing was uncontrolled and her eyes were burning with raw emotion which I couldn't pin yet. I doubt my own looked any different. But my plan to rile her out of her own darkness had spectacularly failed. I pressed her against the ground with my own body and felt every inch of heat passing through my clothes.

"Can't handle it when your opponent fights with the fire you use." She breathed out.

I bent down to her. "They usually don't live to wield it." I growled.

Her eyes continued to trace my face slowly, landing on my lips before returning to my eyes. Then she shook her head slowly. "You still do not frighten me. Not now and not before, so the threatening words are redundant."

I smiled before placing a hand under her chin. The charge between us was impossible. It was consuming everything and demanding to be released like a living thing. The words I were going to say suddenly became lost as I continued to watch her.

She stilled under me and I felt one of her hands find the back of my neck.

A moment passed before I lost the will and crashed my lips to hers. She wasn't even surprised. It was as if she would of acted if I didn't. I felt her free both her hands and start to explore my hair. My own were tracing every part of her. She shivered in response when they brushed her sides and moved down to her hips. I quickly pulled her legs up and around my waist making her gasp. I smiled into her lips as I moved.

Then I pulled her up with me and walked until I had pressed her against the wall. She moaned as the remaining distance left us and her legs held onto me like her life depended on it. The tension had exploded and consumed us both now. I wasn't sure if there was any restraint left anymore.

I felt the cloak drop from my shoulders before I realised she had undone it.

I kissed down her neck and heard her gasping in the air when I freed her lips. Her nails now dug into my back as I relentlessly went for the most sensitive parts of her neck. She then took my face back in her hands and pressed her lips back to mine hungrily.

The desire in the action alone was almost enough to make me forget where we were.

I managed to draw back an inch and look into her darkened eyes. "Not here." Is all I said.

Her reluctance made me grin back at her. But I dropped her to her feet and claimed her hand leading her back in the direction the lift.