𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨

eruption.

//TW - angst, hints towards psychological abuse and manipulation

six months before skye's inprisonment, two years before her deployment on glacis

the contract that wren and sparrow signed up on was nothing more than a sting operation, a bait to capture the two and face justice. after the jig was up, the two escaped with only their lives.

even so, the tension that was in the air aboard wren's ship was high, even long after the sting operation. The two only had to lick their wounds for the next contract while on the run. wren was at the terminal, looking over the details of the contract, as it hit him. that being said, she turned to skye, clearly irritated. "why couldn't you tell me that this whole contract was a set-up?" he uttered out, demanding an answer from his unwilling partner-in-crime. the cyanette said nothing, as she kept checking her weapon to make sure it functions properly, not paying any mind to him, she didn't want to add fuel to the fire. she already felt like the blame would somehow fall on her for something out of the duo's hands, like usual. she was still in her armor and had her helmet on, to tuck away the emotions she had.

"i asked you a question." the man uttered out, now fully turning in his chair to face skye, glaring at her, rubbing his knuckles, as he couldn't stand still even until now. he was still tense, even after they returned to the ship.

"i don't know, you tell me. you're the one who took the contract. if you weren't so blinded by the payout, then we wouldn't have gotten into that situation in the first place." the young woman spat out, still not bothering to even look up at him, clearly fed up with his antics. she was gripping the weapon tightly, as her leg was bouncing while she was seated on the opposite side of the room. that reply just lit the already short fuse of wren, before slamming his hand on the desk and jumped up to his feet, causing skye to instantly look up at wren.

"THIS WAS THE ONLY PROMISING CONTRACT WE HAD IN A WHILE, AND YOU KNOW IT! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LOW WE ARE ON SUPPLIES OVERALL?!" wren snapped, his voice booming all around the ship, pointing his finger at the cyanette as he was pacing around, glaring daggers at her. "EVER SINCE THE FIXERS MARKED US AS ROGUE AND CUT US OUT FROM THE NETWORK WE'VE BASICALLY BEEN SURVIVING OFF BLACK CONTRACTS WHILE ALSO KEEPING BOUNTY HUNTERS OFF OUR BACKS, SO DON'T TELL ME ABOUT WHAT CONTRACTS WE SHOULD OR SHOULDN'T TAKE!"

"AT LEAST DON'T DRAG ME INTO THIS WHILE YOU'RE TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED! I SWEAR, IT'S LIKE YOU'VE GOT A DEATH WISH OR SOMETHING, CAYDE... AND I TRY TO STOP YOU, EXCEPT YOU DON'T LISTEN! YOU DON'T LISTEN TO ANYONE BUT YOURSELF! SO WHY BOTHER HOLDING ME AROUND?!" skye growled, before jumping up on her feet and walking right up to him, looking completely unafraid of him, despite the height difference, she stood tall regardless. But in all honestly, her heart was racing, as that adrenaline came back to her all at once the second she got to the man.

"BECAUSE YOU OWE ME FOR KARBOLD! IF IT WEREN'T FOR ME YOU WOULDN'T HAVE SURVIVED! IF YOU'RE UNABLE TO HOLD YOUR OWN, THEN HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TRUST THE IDEA OF YOU WORKING ON YOUR OWN?!" cayde yelled, as skye's blood boiled, gripping her weapon tightly, before she stepped back and aimed her laser bolt blaster at her partner's head, another gesture that wasn't well received by him.

"you know... i can just shoot you right now... i mean, for all the sh×t you did to me... i should've just pulled the trigger a long time ago... but i though that 'maybe things will be different this time', or 'he's going to find the right path soon enough'... but it never came. i can hardly recognize you anymore..." she uttered out, already prepared to fire, moving her index from above the trigger guard to the trigger.

"and then what? you're just going to leave this all behind? as if the rangers will let you off that easy. after you kill me, you'll be facing a firing squad by the end of the week. don't you get it? you NEED me to survive out here, skye. but i see you've already made up your mind. so, if you're going to take a shot, then you better pray i don't get up." wren uttered out, basically challenging skye to follow through with her decision. with each passing second, the previously firm hand that held the blaster began to tremble more and more as his words sunk in. after several seconds of high tension, that hand lowered, but in that moment, wren also disarmed skye, swiftly snatching her blaster, before shoving her away from him.

"i knew you didn't have the stones to shoot me. i mean, if you hate me so much, it should've been easier than shooting that witness, right? if you're always going to be so hesitant on shooting anyone, then why did you become a fixer in the first place? hell, why even carry weapons? you're clearly not cut out for this..." the man continued, though his tone was a rather condescending one, holding up her blaster in a mocking manner, before looking at her with an unimpressed look on his face as that sent skye over the edge with that last act.

"F×CK YOU, CAYDE! F×CK. YOU!" the cyanette lunged at him with a right hook. in that moment, he felt all those months of rage that skye's bottled up right in his left cheek, causing him to stumble back, propping himself up on the wall behind him as to not fall down. he was a little stunned, as he tried to make sense as to what just happened. he placed his hand on the place, where he just got punched, to see a bit of red on his fingers after we went to check if he was bleeding. he glared daggers at skye, who stepped back once she realized what she's done, but he chose not to retaliate. as he opened the door behind him leading to his quarters, and he went inside, turning around to give the woman a one last look for the day.

"we're done for today. now sort yourself out, or i'll do that for you." cayde uttered out, giving skye one last instruction, albeit ominous, before closing the door to his quarters, leaving skye all by herself at the ship's bridge. the girl felt dizzy with all the anger that she bottled up as the decided to get a grip by gripping the edge of the nearby desk, but not after she removed her helmet, feeling like even that became a burden to wear. that revealed her messy cyan hair, her flushed red face, and those icy blue eyes. she walked over to her quarters and locked the door behind her. the moment she was in her room, she leaned her back against the door, before slumping down against it, until reaching a sitting position. being overloaded with emotions, it resulted in skye beginning to let it all out, sobbing quietly to herself, covering her face. she couldn't take much more of this and she knew it. but she believed his words regardless, as she never had the confidence in her own capabilites.

-

that day... was when i realized how much of an effect did cayde have on me. how he brought out the worst in me. if my parents would've seen me like that... then they wouldn't have believed that girl was actually their own daughter... despite everything bad i have done while i was with wren, they still forgave me... they still... loved me.