The Opposed Alliance

~Six

Jaxson
"Jaxson?" the girl says, my name sounding foreign coming from her mouth.

"The one and only," I say in reply.

She merely nods.

I glance in front of me to check on the jerk that lies unconscious in a pool of broken glass. He is beginning to stir. Well, that's our queue to get out of here!

"C'mon, he's waking up," I say, and grab the girl's' hand, helping her up.

I start to run, and expect her to follow along, but find her several paces behind; restricted by a slight limp. Rolling my eyes with a sigh, I jog backwards and sweep her off her feet and up into my arms, cradling her like you would a baby or a bride, and then continue to run.

"Where are you taking me?" she asks, wincing in pain. I'm not meaning to hurt her, but I guess the jostling around in my arms is too much for injuries. If I recall correctly, I think she hit her head at the club when that a-hole slid her across the floor into the bar.

"To safety," I huff, still running.

"What about Alejandro? Jaxson, we need to find Alejandro! We have to go back!" The girl squirms violently in my arms, trying to get down. So, naturally, I tighten my hold on her.

"Is he that dude you were talking to at the club?"

"Yes, though it's creep you know I was talking to him." She goes rigid in my arms for whatever reason.

"Sore topic?" I chuckle. "Someone got a boyfriend? Should I put you down before I get beat up like you almost did in there?"

"No, I don't have a boyfriend, though I hardly see how that is relevant. Now put me down or I will beat you up myself."

"Fine then. Somebody's feisty!" I grumble under my breath and I slow down to a walk and then stop in the middle of the sidewalk. She swings down from my arms and haughtily brushes herself off, as if I had thrown her down a mountain of dirt and she was trying to get a grip on her dignity.

"Now where," she says with pulsing venom enlaced in her words, "is Alejandro?"

I sigh, trying not to let my growing impatience break through my cracking calm veneer. "Mike told him to meet us at The Hub. He wants to talk to me there, but we can't just leave you two anywhere, it seems, without you both starting a bar fight or something."

"Shut up!" she grumbles and begins to walk quickly away from me with her head held impossibly high, and it is extremely clear that she is trying to cover up her limp with her equally impossible pride. This girl herself just seems impossible. However, I am known for trying to solve impossible cases. In fact, they are my favorite.

Needless to say, I follow her. I walk a few paces behind her, watching the moonlight fall on her hypnotizing bright blonde hair, sparkling off her thick rings and pale porcelain skin. The way she walks with confidence, swinging her arms mechanically by her side in such a fluid manner it is making my eyes melt right out of my head and land in a puddle on the hard, uneven pavement. Well, there goes my most dazzling feature. My charming purple eyes.

I shake my head with a crooked smile and fall into step beside her. My fists are jammed into the front pockets of my jeans. I look at her through the corner of my eye, behind my shield of shaggy curls. She catches me looking at her and looks the other way. Well. I see how it is going to be. Two can play that game. I'm a great actor; let's see how long I can lead her on.

"I, um... I never caught your name," I say, trying my best to sound like a meek, innocent little boy. I'm quite good at that one.

"Celine."

"Ah." I nod. She rolls her eyes. Man, she's pretty good at this game, isn't she? I wonder if she's as great an actress as I am an actor.

"Okay, Jaxson," Celine says, turning to me with a sudden anger burning behind her eyes. She spits out my name as if the words burned her mouth.

"Yes, Celine?"

"I'm not dumb," she says with a laugh. Not the good kind of laugh, though. One of those disappointed laughs people usually muster right after they find their significant other's flirty texts to another person. Almost full of disbelief, but maybe not quite...

"I didn't say you were."

"But I can feel you thinking it."

"Uhm, I thought no such thing. Don't put words in my mouth. Or my head."

"I'm just saying. I could have saved myself back there. I didn't really need your help."

"Celine, are you joking? You almost died. You totally needed my help. And I came willingly to your rescue. No big deal though, no biggie at all." I brush my shoulders with my hands pretending there is dirty on them. Wow I have a big ego.

"You're welcome by the way. Glad to know you're so gracious." I shout at her, my innocent persona shattering and falling to the pavement, left behind with me with the puddle of my purple eyes. (It's okay, I grew a new pair. Like a starfish. In case you were wondering.)

Celine rolls her eyes with another one of those incredulous exhales that some people call laughs.

"Whatever. I could have beaten his ass if I wanted to. But I know what you're doing here, Jaxson." This time it's her turn to glare at me accusingly from behind her wall of hair.

"Right."

"I see what you're trying to do here, Jaxson. Now you're just trying to hit on me and play the whole 'I saved your life and you will forever be indebted to me' card. But I'm not buying it. I don't need anybody to save me, and I especially don't need it to be you." Celine storms ahead as we approach The Hub, and she leads the way inside to Mike's office upstairs.

"You know," I call after her, my hands cupped around my mouth. "That really would have hurt if I had a heart, but lucky for you, I don't."

I follow her footsteps upstairs to find her sitting in front of a closed door, labeled "ENTER AND DIE" in fake yellow caution tape across the front wood panel.

I lower myself beside her to sit and smile tightly at her. She only glares ferociously and moves a few feet away from me, turning back only once to bare her teeth in a "bite me" signal.

Just to get on her nerves, I wink flirtatiously at her.

It's silent.

We just sit there. Waiting. Waiting for Mike to arrive with Alejandro. If they even do arrive at all.

This waiting period is going to be such great fun.

Yay.

-Claire