SUAW Workbook

Board game: Space 14

Prompt: Write a 600 word romance scene using two characters in third person on a bad date that has a scary end.

Zev clenched his fists under the table, raising an eyebrow in annoyance as he watched Ed's eyes continue to wander around the small coffee shop. It was the only "normal" piece of civilization within the organization's borders, so it was a no-brainer as to why Ed chose it.

"Well?" he finally snapped. "You didn't call me here for a simple chat. That's not something we do anymore."

Ed's attention whipped back to him, and he could visibly see Ed schooling his features into something neutral. It was only the subtle twitch of Ed's cheek or the slight furrow of his brow, but Zev knew the other too well at this point. Ed couldn't hide his anger from him.

Always the pacifist, he thought bitterly.

"I wasn't aware you wanted it to be," Ed said civilly, which only served to piss him off further.

"Oh, don't be a dick about it! If this is still about whether or not I've been conditioned to—"

"You were fifteen, Zev! Harry and Lou were even younger! You have an out, and I don't understand why none of you take it!"

"You don't need to understand anything." Because you never will. Zev grit his teeth. "We know this is something that should've never happened. We didn't ask to become killers. But the organization is our family! Even while Guarin was at the head, the rest of them still took care of us. Hell, Aleck and Lyrian would've adopted us if we still had records of us existing."

"But they're not keeping you there, either! You could actually become a doctor. Harry could be a chef and Lou a teacher. You've all told me what you wished to be if you weren't so occupied with missions and risking your lives every other day. Zev, you and I could live a normal life if it weren't for this!"

Ed's words stung him more than he cared to admit, and something inside him broke. He didn't want to think about what it was.

"Then why are we here? Did we start this, only for you to want me to change?" He hated how vulnerable he sounded at that moment, and he hated how Ed still refused to listen. "No matter how many times I've told you—tried explaining to you why we choose to be assassins—you keep going back to this. We're not like you; we weren't raised to see the good side of life. We've seen and lived through hell, and it's not something we like to talk about. But that still doesn't make us broken. When we first entered the organization, it wasn't by choice. Not by a long shot. And we would've never chosen it, but we're choosing it now. There's so much shit in this world that the only way to clean it up is to fight back using their own methods. You know this."

Ed's expression still hadn't changed. "Is that the same way you thought when you murdered Fleur's family?"

Zev then stood, his chair screeching against the vinyl floors and nearly toppling over. No one else was around to see it, but he wouldn't have cared either way. He could practically feel the tattered, blood-stained blue ribbon he kept in his pocket burn through the fabric and into his thigh as a harsh reminder of what he had lost.

"Don't—" He breathed heavily, trying to keep himself from screaming. "Don't you dare use her name against me."

He didn't wait for Ed to respond. Instead, he turned on his heel and made a b-line towards the door, shoving it open hard enough for the glass to wobble dangerously when it hit the stopper. He didn't want to think about how his chest ached when he didn't hear footsteps go after him or even a call for his name.

He continued to march forward, his mind void of a destination. This was something he brought on himself, he knew. What did he think would happen? To pursue a pointless relationship with someone who wanted him to be something he wasn't, only to be thrown aside when he couldn't.

Something drilled into his right shoulder blade, and his legs buckled beneath him before he could do anything about it.

The last thing he remembered was being carried into a van, taken by four or five others before his consciousness abandoned him.