However Long The Night

ONE: The time comes, when it must all end

PART I: SUNSET

"It isn't like any normal raid we done befo'."

"You say that before every raid. They're all the same."

"I'm serious this time."

"You're serious all the time. There's a permanent wrinkle in your forehead from it."

"Rosario."

Rosario closed her mouth, taking the use of her full first name as a warning sign to not say another word. It was rarely ever used, thus its impact never failed to render her speechless. Oliver paced around the designated living space in the cottage, retelling the plan they've gone over with everybody a million times because it never changes for any raid. Rosario has stopped listening by now, instead thinking of how she's going to get any sleep when she knows they'll be invaded by her friends after the actual raid is done. Oliver doesn't seem to notice her lack of attention through his fit of worry. He's a brilliant man and has never failed, why he makes himself anxious is beyond her.

Oliver turned to her, the full force of his attention pinning her to her seat. She felt compelled to look away. Rosario never liked it when Oliver looked at her like that, as if nothing could scare and puzzle him so much and at the same time. As if he feared she'd somehow turn to dust and be gone.

"You're going to be glued to my side for this one."

Her eyes went wide a second before she shot up from the creaky sofa. "What? Why are you changin' the plan?"

"If they come—"

"The Military Police are a bunch of incompetent fools," she dismissed.

"Not 'em."

"Then who?"

He didn't say a word, but she's been raised by the man. She knew him as well as he knew her, meaning they were open books to each other. The thoughts on his mind were so clear to her that his head could have been easily made of glass, letting her read them right off his brain. And they were so absurd that she had to laugh. "The Scout Regiment? You're joking." The look on his face did not change. "You're not joking? Come on, Oliver, the Scouts are more than likely getting themselves killed somewhere. They don't have the time to be guarding castle supplies."

Oliver's eyes flare at her dismissal. "And if they do? That self-assurance of yours is going to get ya killed, Rosie. They're on'o us."

Rosario spread her arms wide, giving a stance that proved just how unafraid she was of the uptight fools. "And we can take 'em. It wouldn't be the first time. Are you going to backtrack now? Those supplies are worth the food we need for half a year. You're the benevolent one, think of the starving children."

"I am! That's why yer partnering with me. I need you." But the words were a blatant lie. He's never needed her by his side. She's always been muscle. She enjoyed being muscle. It was the only thing that made raids worth it, apart from the food they got.

Rosario crossed her arms. "I don't need you to babysit me, Oliver. I've done this my whole life. Are you not confident enough in what you taught me?"

"We never dealt with Scouts. You have to be a tough son of a bitch to go and face 'em monsters willingly."

"And we never will." She tried her best to reason with him. Now Rosario paced, flailing her arms and trying to explain how ridiculous he was being. "Scouts only get hard-ons for Titans. We're not even on their radar."

Oliver sat on the wooden chair beside their dining table, releasing a long and dramatic sigh the whole way down. "Alas. I'm not asking you, Rosie. I'm telling ya. Yer with me."