RISK & REWARD ✔️

75 | 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦

I WAKE up to a face-full of fleece. The stuff's in my mouth, up my nose; my breath comes out muffled, and I try to lift an arm to push it away from me only to find my arm pinned down.

Uh oh.

I try to lift my head; stuck. More fleece. I'm stuck in place, stuck, and when I try to call for Slade, my words are just a jumble of seriously-muffled sound that gets stopped right at the entrance of my mouth.

I can't breathe. I can't breathe. Starting to panic, I try to bend my legs; they're cranked up against my body, and my knee hits my chest as I find something solid to try and push off of.

I push, and it snarls. It snarls, and in a tone that's low and dangerous and directed away from me, it says "back off."

"Slade, if you'd—"

"Back off." The snarling voice comes again, and now it clicks that the voice belongs to Slade. Slade, who, if I'm thinking right, is right in front of me. "Go away. Now."

"You've got this wrong. Just breathe and let me explain."

Sasha?

"I'm not lettin' you do shit," Slade replies, fleece pushing harder against me, "'till you get these bastards out of my face and off this fuckin' train."

"I can't...just let me talk. They're not here for—!"

"I don't give a shit why they're 'sposed to be here." The fleece grinds into me; something slender and hard pushes into me, and a moment later I hear the rustle of cloth, followed by the clink of metal.

"Slade, listen. Listen, don't—!"

"Back off." The hard, slender thing disappears, and I hear the quick shuffle of feet. "Back off, now. I'll use this."

I'm confused. I'm so confused; I'm groggy as I try to free my arms. Someone's here who shouldn't be. Sasha's with someone who shouldn't be here? I don't know; I want to find out, but Slade's locked-in-place frame keeps me from doing that.

"We know you will." This isn't Sasha or Slade; it's a new voice, smooth and oily, but the minute I hear it I freeze.

I know that voice.

I know it well.

"An' you're still standin' there?" Slade's cynical bark of laughter is anything but funny. "Seems like you don't take me seriously anymore, an' I have to fix that."

"No. No, you don't. Stop it. Let me explain." This voice is Sasha's; the body beneath the fleece ripples as Slade's focus assumably turns and her weight grinds back, pushing me slightly aside. Hair tickles my nose.

"You too. Get out." God, Slade sounds scary, voice barbed and reminiscent of a predator waiting to attack. "Get out before I do."

"You're not—!"

"I'm not gonna listen to someone who brought them to me." Slade's voice is harsh. "Get out."

Silence.

Someone laughs. "Who's behind you?"

Uh oh. I freeze; a shot of dull pain lances through me as Slade suddenly slams her weight back, and what I assume is the back of her shoulder slams into my mouth.

"Get out." Something light and sharp whistles in the air; there's a muscle flexing under me. "Back off or I'm gonna use it."

Someone, I think Sasha, sighs. "If you'd let me talk—"

"I'm not."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But you're wrong about—!"

"I don't care. Get out."