The whistle sounded and Theo was off.

We'd finally reached the final fight, after hours of watching boring fights, and of course my amazing fight, and then that one...embarrassing... You know what let's just not talk about that. It was finally time for the final fight and the blush spreading across my cheeks was not going to stop it.

I watched from above as Theo charged another rock, heading in the direction of Dagger Guy. Normally, I would've suggested sticking to defense at a time like this, but I wasn't too worried with Theo's overwhelming strength. He could easily throw Dagger Guy into the stands, which were twenty feet up.

On the other side of the ring, Dagger Guy was waiting patiently, both hands resting on the hilts of the weapons. For the final fight, they'd taken up the chain link fence in the center and were now using the whole arena.

After a few minute long walk, Theo finally met Dagger Guy. There swords clashed with calculated precision, thought the song the blade would've made was drowned out by the erupting sheers of the crowd.

Sucking in a breath, I screamed above them all, "Kick his ass, Theo!"

A few people stopped cheering to look at the 'overenthusiastic screaming criminal'. All the better. That gave the rest of Squadron five a chance to cheer above the rest. On the other side of the arena, I could make out the cheers of Dagger Guys squadron. I'd seen the mentor escorting his trainee into the arena.

My eyes drifted back to the fight. Theo's foot just landed a kick into Dagger Guy's stomach. The other guy jumped back, making space between the two. But Theo was relentless, he attacked with a swing from his left side, his dominant hand. Using all his body weight to attack with a full swing.

Dagger Guy had no choice but to block with both his daggers. Even then, the force of the sword sent him flying with his back against a rock. He landed with a thud before falling to the ground. Though it was quick, I was almost positive that he gave up.

Theo came over to the guy and offered him a hand. Dagger Guy took it, letting Theo pick him up. I was about to cheer in approval over our won fight, when Dagger Guy Landed a punch on Theo's eye knocking him to the ground.

"That son of a- You guys wait here while I go kill him."

I was about to charge off into the arena when a hand landed on my shoulder. I turned back, scowling at its red headed owner.

"Let me go Levi," I nearly growled.

He stopped for a second, probably debating over dealing with the enraged criminal or just letting me go. He went with the former, the stupider.

"Look," Mercy said, taking over for Levi, "we're all mad. Theo had either already won or was just being nice, either way it was a dirty move. Everyone can see that. But right now, it's not the time, or place, to go off killing people."

I scowled at her for a second, waiting for her to give in. She didn't.

"Fine, but don't think you can stop me from going down there."

"We weren't planning on it."

We raced down through the plastic chairs and to the stairs, taking double steps until we reached the bottom. Two guards had Theo held between them, unconscious. That's it, Dagger Guy's dead.

The two guards tossed Theo at me, stupid move. Theo was immensely heavier than me, and I nearly fell under his weight. Luckily, the combined force of Bryce and Levi was enough to keep both of us supported.

"Where should we take him?" Levi asked.

"Back to the common rooms," I replied. "I don't think it'll be anything serious, but if we can call a doctor to the room, I'd like to do that."

"I'll go get one," Mil said running off in the distance.

I motioned forth rest to follow me back to the rooms.

---

"Well," the doctor said, "at worst he'll have a bad headache and a black eye. At best a small bruise and maybe a small headache. Nothing to be concerned about."

At the moment, I was standing in the boys room, watching the doctor examine Theo who was unconsciously lying in his bed. He had a small blackish dot on the top left side of his left eye.

The others all tried to crowd in here with us, but I'd pushed them out. They were sitting out in the common room right now, waiting to get the news from me.

"When'll he wake up?"

"Shouldn't be out for more than an hour or two. If it's longer than three hours come get me, but it's like the old doctors used to say. If a patient wants to sleep, then let him sleep."

Nodding, I walked him to the door. When he was gone, I turned back to the others who were waiting with anticipation.

"He'll be fine." A wave of relief flooded the room as the others relaxed back into their seats.

Smiling lightly, I turned back to the door and headed out.

"Hold on a second," Mercy called from behind me. "Where exactly do you think you're going?"

"Got some important um...stuff...to do. So-yeah I' be back in a few."

"Not so fast."

I was lifted off the ground from under my arms. I turned as best I could to see Bryce smirking at me.

"Hold on a second, what're you doing?" I started struggling, waving my arms and kicking rapidly. I would've made a below the belt hit if Levi hadn't come over and grabbed onto my feet.

I was being moved, I realized. They were carrying me like a hammock to the girls room. Mila was already opening the door for them. How kind...

"I swear to god if you don't put me down now, you'll all be screwed in the next practice session!" I saw the expression they made when I threatened them, but they didn't give up. "Don't you dare throw me! I'll make everyday miserable if you dare throw me in there."

Making everyday miserable seemed to work when they carried me inside my room. Setting me on the ground, they held my hands an ankles down and counted down from three. When they hit zero, they were off, running to the door with me on their tails.

Unfortunately, right before I could get out the door, innocent Mila, how apparently wasn't so innocent, slammed the door in my face. Backing up, I took an angry punch at the door.

"I-I'm sorry," Mila cried from the other side of the door. "That sounded painful... Both of them. Is your nose bleeding? Did you hurt yourself when you punched the door? Or did you kick it? No, wait, that sounded like a punch. That doesn't matter. Did-"

"Shut up," I heard Mercy say. "You especially shouldn't talk to her. She'll get to you until she tricks you into letting her out. And we all know how that's gonna end."

Sighing, I slid down against the door.

"How long do you guys plan on keeping me here?" I asked.

"Until Theo wakes up so we can get him to calm you down."

"What? Why him? I'm sure if you let Mila in, she could do...something."

"No. I'm not opening that door until Theo wakes up or until I'm convinced you won't kill anyone. You know what, better wait for both."

"But that could take hours."

"Better get comfortable then."

"What if I get hungry?"

"We'll get to that when the time comes."

"I'm hungry."

"No youre not."

"How do you know that?"

There was no reply.

"Okay, how about if I promise that I won't kill him?"

"Then I'll let you out and you'll go beat the shit outta him. Either way, I'm not letting you out."

Levi's voice came up now. "I'm sorry Angel, but this is for the best. If you wish, I could come in there with you. Maybe then you won't be so lonely."

"Ugh, I'd rather starve."

And that's how it went.

---

Watching the clock, I've been in this room for two hours. I tried the air vent on the ceiling that lead outside, but I didn't have anything strong enough to pry it open. If I had a screwdriver, I could've probably found a way to break through the door, or the air vents at that. I actually preferred the air vents. That way I could get out and find that other guy.

"Theo!' Mila's voice called from outside. "You're awake."

Oh thank the gods. I thought I was gonna die of boredom in this stupid room.

"Where's Shadow?" I heard him ask.

"They trapped me in a room!" I shouted. "Listen carefully. They betrayed me. Take them all out, starting with Mercy, she's the ring master here."

"Oh shut it," Mercy shouted back at me. By now, I had my ear pressed against the white wooden door. "Can you go talk to her or something? She's hell-bent on taking out the bastard who gave you that bruise in the fight."

I assumed he'd nodded, because the next thing I knew, they were asking me to stand back. Yeah, like I was gonna do that. I held onto my top bunk and put my feet on Mila's. Slowly but surely, the door opened, and I readied myself to run.

Just as I was about to make it out of the door frame, I was met with an immoveable force. Next thing I knew, I had Theo's arms wrapped around my back and I was being lifted off the ground.

"Let me go!" I screeched. "I swear I won't kill him. Just...majorly injure."

"You mean traumatize," Theo answered, setting me down on the floor in front of Mercy's bed.

"Terrorize, more like."

"It's the same thing with you."

I smirked at him.

"Theo!" Mercy called from outside the door. "We're gonna go to the cafeteria and get some food. We'll be back in an hour or so. Good luck."

I heard the outer door closing as the others left the main room.

"I have a feeling Mercy was looking forward to locking us in a room together," Theo mumbled, glaring at the white door.

"Oh yeah," I commented, "what gave it away?"

His glare turned to me. I just smiled at him, feigning innocence.

"What now?" He asked, glancing at me.

"I guess you're supposed to calm me down, or something."

"And how in the hells am I supposed to do that? It's not like I can stop you when you decide on something. You're like a raging bull. Ah, I didn't mean anything bad by that, it's just, you know."

"I get what you mean. In case you haven't noticed, I can be pretty smart."

"Yeah, so what's with that? You know things that make people think that you've been to school. But, from what I've gotten on you, it doesn't seem like you're had any real education."

"Oh, trying to pry again?"

"So you caught that?"

I laughed a little. "Well, I'm not stupid, that's for sure. But I'll tell you this, I did go to school, for a few years actually."

"Really?"

"Yep, but that has nothing to do with how smart I am. I ditched most days, cause I didn't feel like going. School wasn't...right for me, I guess you could say. I'm more of the 'learn as you go' type of person."

"So I've noticed. So, while I've got you talking, feel like telling me how old you are?"

I laughed at that. "Out of all the questions you could've asked, you go with 'how old are you?' I'm positive I already answered that."

"Well, I could ask something more personal I you want. I would've too, but the last time I did, you didn't answer any of my questions. Besides, I want to confirm it."

"I told you about the bullet in my shoulder."

"No, you didn't tell me about the bullet in your shoulder. You told me you had a bullet in your shoulder. At some point in your life, and I'm not even sure how long that is. As far as I know, you could be a forty year old lady inside a seventeen year olds body. I don't know if your a good liar or not, either."

"For the sake of not being called old, I'll confirm that I'm twenty. And for your other question, I was shot somewhere between the age of eight and twelve. And what about you? While you try prying into my personal life, I know nothing about the mysterious Theodore... See, I don't even know your last name."

He smirked at me. "Fair enough. My full name's Theodore West, which I'm pretty sure you've heard before. More than once, at that. Me and my family are from Rosemary, lived here for my whole life."

"And how long, exactly, is that?"

"Same as you, twenty years."

"I see, I see. And what does your family do?"

"What's with this new tone of voice?" He was giving me his signature lopsided smile.

"Well, I like how it sounds. It's all official like."

"I guess. But, anyways, my family's made of all chefs. They cook for the top, most of the nobles request their services for their extravagant parties."

"How'd you end up in this business, then? I mean, it sounds like you had t pretty easy."

"Yeah, that's what most people ask. Honestly, I hated the sheltered life of being some rich families heir. So, I left. I decided that the best place I could get a taste of the real world was in this line of work, so I joined up when I was sixteen. You probably guess this, but my family wasn't too big on the idea. They got mad when I told them I signed up for the academy."

"No one supported you?"

"Well, my little sister did, but she was only ten back then. I'm sure you can imagine how far that got me."

"You have a sister?"

"Yep, little Francesca West. We call her Frenchie, for short. What about you? Any family waiting for you back home?"

"Nope. I haven't seen my family for a long time. Years, actually."

He gave me a sympathetic look. "Are they..."

"Don't know," which was pretty true. The file said my Mercy survived the attack, not if she was still alive. "Like I said, it's been a long time since I've seen them."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ask anything that brings back bad memories."

"Don't worry. I haven't talked about this with anyone in a while. I hear it's not healthy to hold all that in, right? Or something like that."

Theo's arms wrapped around me, making me jump.

"You know, you can talk to me about anything, right?"

Taking a second to breath, I wrapped my arms around his back and took in his warm body and fresh scent.

"I know."