N-701124 {b. barnes}

IV

May 28, 1965

Midnight leaned on the wall, sending a fierce glare to her partner. He wore a smirk, sending a fierce glare right back.

They were supposed to be training together, but neither of them had made a move towards the other. 

She held eye contact with him for a few minutes. He wasn't backing down, but neither was she. 

Even though neither of them were supposed to have weapons, she could see the outline of a knife in his pocket. She exhaled thought her nose, both as a snort and a laugh. 

How pathetic. He could do better than that, she knew he could.

She looked over at him again, only to find him staring at her. A smirk tugged on the corners of her lips. 

She lunged for him, catching him off guard and knocking him to the floor. He shoved her off and scrambled away from her, getting back to his feet. He reached for the knife in his pocket.

She stood up and tilted her head slightly, admiring the knife she held in her hand. She looked over at him, an innocent smile forming on her lips. 

His face fell.

She strolled over to him, slowly turning the knife over in her hands. He took a few steps backwards, then bumped into the wall.

He looked down at the floor, keeping his gaze focused on a spot in front of him. She gently used the tip of the blade to tilt his head up. When he still kept his eyes on the floor, she dug the blade into the skin of his jaw, causing a thin trail of blood to trickle down his neck.

His eyes darted up to meet hers. 

"Who broke you?" She kicked him behind the knee, causing him to stumble forward and land on the floor.

His knees slammed into the ground and he hung his head.

She chuckled. 

How pathetic. Was this really the same man who used to fight and taunt her? The same man who would mock and hurt her?

"You're pathetic." She knelt down next to him and used the blade of the knife to tilt his head up. "What's gotten into you?"

He didn't answer. He kept his eyes fixed on the knife.

It was almost as if he was waiting for something.

"I see now." She murmured. "I have what you want, don't I?"

She lightly touched the blade to his jaw, chuckling to herself when she saw the blood on his neck from a few minutes ago.

She dug the blade into his chin, forcing him to look up at her. He tensed up, inhaling sharply. His body trembled and he refused to meet her eyes.

She knelt down and gently brushed the hair from his face. He shrank back, flinching away from her touch.

"How does it feeling knowing what you did to me? I may have forgotten what you've done, but I can't forget how you made me feel." She murmured.

She grabbed his collar and pulled him to her, so close to where they were almost nose-to-nose. He refused to move his gaze up from the floor.

She let go of him. He stumbled back and sat on the floor, staring down at his lap. She slowly walked up behind him, turning the knife over in her hands. She looked at him for a few seconds and knelt down behind him, lightly touching his back.