Viper

        “ well, y’ won’t be hearin’ any complaints from me, then. ”  he grinned that signature mischievous grin of his and gave her hips a little squeeze.  “ less work for me. ”  he chuckled as his hands ventured up higher, eventually moving from her body to grab her face instead and pull her down for a quick kiss.

       “ oi! ”  the moment she started moving her leg off of him, he was reaching out to pull it back down.  “ now, now. don’t go puttin’ words in my mouth. ”  he had a sly smirk on his face, holding her in place.  “ you stay right here. ”

       “ jesus christ, girl. ”  he laughed as she sat on top of him, still dressed besides the undergarments that were now tossed aside.  “ just a few seconds ago you were dozin’ off. ”  not that he was complaining. his hands settled on her hips and he was grinning right back up at her.  “ now you’re tearin’ up my clothes. ”

      it was hilarious to him how much more eager she could be compared to him when it came to their more intimate moments. he was just that good, apparently. always served to inflate his ego. the kiss was anything but soft as well since, clearly, neither of them were just here for simple pecks. it was deep and passionate, though he always held back just a touch to have her craving more. 

       “ i think you already got a plan in mind given the smirk on your face. ”  he smirked right back, though he’d had that look on his face since the kiss she’d just given him.  “ c’mere. ”  it was all he said before reaching up and putting his hand on the back of her head before gently bringing her back down for a kiss.

      “ y’ better not ‘cause if you leave m’ to eat this dinner all alone, you’re an ass. ”  he joked, reaching over to brush back some of her hair.  “ an’ i’ll just eat all the pizza myself. ”  with that, he grinned wide enough to show his imperfect teeth and even let out another chuckle.  “ you still got that bath to take too. ”

       “ that’s what happens when you have no shame. ”  he laughed, leaning back to so he could lie down with her.  “ but, aye, i remember. that was a good breakfast – ”  he made no mention of the night before though, if only to tease her some more. when he took a better look at her, he could tell how comfortable she looked.  “ don’t you go sleepin’ before dinner even gets here. ”

       the mattress of the bed bounced a bit in reaction to her dropping on top of it, which only made him laugh. he put the remote down on the bed beside him and turned to look at her.  “ hope you’re cozy, then. ”  he teased, now focused on her rather than the television and whatever was playing on the channel he’d picked.  “ food should be here in forty-five minutes. ”

        he gave her a smirk before reaching out for the phone once she left to go grab her smokes and make way towards the balcony.  “ alright, go on then. ”  he playfully shooed her off as he dialed room service, setting an order for a pizza and making sure they had they box he left with them earlier so it could be brought up with their dinner. all that was missing was some champagne. or wine. ugh, he missed booze. once he was finished, he made way towards the bed to sit on the edge, flipping through the channels on the large television while waiting for koshka to return.  

In retrospect, perhaps it was a good thing that she decided to take her medical weed at the time she did. Hopefully, it would placate her reaction for what she was in for, during dinner. But she had no clue about Zach’s plan, so she smoked away calmly and enjoyed the sight of the beach and the Aegean, painted orange and pink from the sunset, stretching out as far as the eye could see. It was peaceful, beautiful, worthy of the many philosophers and poets who lived and died in these lands. 

       she could only hope, really, because that’s all she had. she had to hope koshka would pull through and get her out of here. hope that thaniel still wanted any part of her after all this shit. hope that she’d actually get a chance to live her life again and be happy. it’s the only thing that kept her going. made her want to keep fighting despite all of zach’s methods to break her down. he didn’t have koshka to distract him anymore and he was like a dog being sent out without a leash. he threw everything at her for the sake of boredom now. 

still, she kept up her willpower to keep going. keep fighting. he wasn’t going to break her because she was stubborn too. he should know her endurance. they were raised together. trained together. she’d fight with her dying breath and she wanted him to know that. and all she could do was hope that he wouldn’t send her that far.

Finding Nathaniel wasn’t hard. Firstly, because Koshka was trained to locate people; secondly, because the man was known throughout most of Detroit. Had a lot of street cred. A mere couple of hours after arriving in the crumbling city, she was at his doorstep in a trailer park. She was impressed by how colossal he was, both in height and constitution, AND she was used to Zach. Her first impression of Shel’s secret lover was that if there was someone capable of going against her fiance in single combat and win, it was the man in front of her.

He looked tired and weary, like someone who hadn’t slept decently in days and was surviving on coffee alone. From inside she could sense the acrid smell of cigarettes and booze, both too familiar. At first, he looked at the blonde with a glint of mad hope in his dark blue eyes, before it disappeared a second later and got replaced with a hostile expression that clearly stated ‘fuck off’. Even so, with barely contained anger, he calmly asked if she needed something, and she replied:

“ My name is Koshka. I’m a friend of Shel’s. ”

       her answer to what to have for dinner got a smile out of him that was for sure. he brought the menu closer to him, putting it back in the spot it’d originally been in, and glanced back to her once more.  “ a woman after my own heart. ”  he chuckled.  “ i’ll ring room service an’ they’ll be up in an hour or so. ”

     “ runnin’ around those ruins gave y’ an appetite, eh? ”  he teased, pushing the menu towards her. since they were in a pretty fancy hotel the food was still unique in the way that zach would never think to eat it if he were just looking for some comfort food. but, it wasn’t as fancy as some of the other stuff they’d been eating.  “ lemme know when you’re done lookin’. ”

        to koshka’s comment, she said nothing. couldn’t bring herself to. all the shit she’d been through… all the thoughts stuck in her head only getting worse and worse. she was just so tired. she wanted to go home. wanted to know she was safe and loved. 

as her chin was picked up, it would be clear to see the way her eyes became a bit red. though, she was adamant enough not to break down in front of her friend she was damn well close to it.  “ tell him i love him. ”  she managed to get out softly.  “ even if he does hate me or never wants to see me again please… just tell him that. ”

“ I will, miy druh. Don’t worry. ” Her thumb rubbed her friend’s cheek soothingly and she even leaned in to place a sisterly-like kiss on Shel’s forehead. “ Hold on tight, okay? Just a little longer. ” And with that last request, she let go of the brunette, picked up her things and turned around to leave the room, even if it made what was left of her heart hurt. Back to the upper levels, she put her emotions aside and began to think. She needed an excuse to go to Michigan, a convincing one. Had to make it sound like it was urgent, so urgent that she had to get on the first plane available and there was no time for goodbyes. No one could know about her plans. Not even Jake. She didn’t trust him that much.

       “ we’re on vacation, may as well be on my best behavior. ”  he tossed a smirk her way as he let her enter first. once they were both inside, he shut the door behind him and kicked off his shoes the first moment he was able.  “ should have a room service menu over on th’ desk by the phone. can look at it whenever you start gettin’ hungry an’ i’ll order some food. ”

        she’d never been happier to see a burger in her life, and she wasn’t even the biggest fan of them to begin with. but, she had no place to be picky about anything right now. she was so grateful for everything she was getting from koshka. 

she hardly complained as her wounds were tended to. as long as she got fixed up she’d be happy. her fingers getting set back in place hurt like hell but not as much as the process of getting them broken in the first place. though, she’d been weakened down enough to complain a bit to the pain through sharp hisses of air through her teeth and a few moaned complaints.  “ there’s a guy. ”  she started while taking in a deep breath of air.  “ thaniel. nathaniel lemos. i need you to get in contact with him. i don’t care how just… please. he’s gotta know i’m okay. that i’m tryin’ my best to come back. he’s in michigan. detroit. close by where i transferred to. ”

she ducked her head and bit down slightly on her busted lip.  “ fuck, he probably hates me. ”  this was, after all, the second time she’s gone completely silent on him. she’d even promised not to do it again. she wouldn’t blame him for not wanting any part of her anymore after this. she shook her head.  “ i don’t care. i just need him to know i wanna come home to him. i’m not leaving him behind again. ”  

She gave Shel a curious look. There was a running rumor in the Company that she had asked for transference because of a guy, and Koshka had ruled out that possibility as just that; a rumor. Perhaps that rumor was more truthful than she’d previously thought. “ Nathaniel Lemos, ” she repeated to make sure she memorized the name. “ Detroit, Michigan. Got it. I’ll find him. ”

      “ aye. be too distracted dealin’ with the children i call agents to worry about booze, eh? ”  a joke that was actually sort of true given the whole… turning kids into weapons thing. besides the point.  “ ‘sides, fancy food is more your thing. i’m good with th’ simple things in life. ”  once they finally made it to the hotel and towards their door, zach pulled out the keycard from his pocket and opened it up.  “ ladies first. ”

       “ you’re lucky i’m starving. ”  she hadn’t eaten since yesterday at least. even then it wasn’t a lot. it took no hesitation for her to eat the food given to her, though she ate it at a slow pace no matter how much she wanted to eat it all as fast as she could.  “ and exhausted, or else i’d worry more. ”  but, koshka was right. her energy needed to be spent on more important things.

after getting some food in her system and drinking some juice, she felt a bit better. her entire body ached but at least now she didn’t feel like her stomach was trying to eat itself.  “ i would. ”  she admitted without hesitation. however, the more time koshka stayed in here, the more anxious she grew. at any second zach could march through the door and it made her heart race.  “ k… i need to ask you a favor. like, a really big favor. ”

When the biscuits were gone, Koshka risked feeding Shel something a bit more consistent: a cheeseburger. Still warm and everything. “ I know what I’m doing, ” she repeated a little more firmly. She truly didn’t want the brunette to worry over what couldn’t be fixed. “ And we shan’t speak more of it. ”