glitched | ✔️

t h i r t y

Amara POV

Chelsie carried the last box into the apartment, panting.

I ran over, taking it from her. "You shouldn't be exerting yourself so much." I said with worry.

She laughed, rolling her eyes. "Really, Amara, I'm fine."

I gaze her a skeptical look as I walked over to her room and set down the box.
"How'd it go? Breaking the news to Yulia?"

"So much better than I thought it would. At first she vowed to murder Theo, but once I had informed her that he was already dead she calmed, instead hugging me and telling me it wasn't the first time something like this happened, and that Liberty for the Bounded would help me through it all."

"That's great- you didn't tell her about me though?"

Chelsie shook her head. "I just told the story we had thought up. Peter had been tracking down one of the enemy organizations enemies and it just happened to be Theo who was next on his list. I'm sure she believed me."

"Wonderful," I murmured absently, fiddling with the edge of a box.
Chelsie sat on the bed, tilting her head at me.
"What is it?"

I smiled, forcing a laugh.
"Its nothing, just thinking."
No need to worry her with my love life, she already was dealing with so much.

"If you say so. I'm making us lunch... do whatever you do." Chelsie left the room and I collapsed back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Peter hadn't come to see me in nearly a week, and I couldn't help but wonder where he was now, what he was doing. If he was safe.

Unable to sit still any longer I got off the bed, slipped past Chelsie who was working in the kitchen, and exited the apartment.
Just to explore.

•••

Peter POV

"You what?!" Anastasia screeched, her eyes blazing.

I sighed.
"I trained her."

Anastasia was quivering with anger. "You know how important she is to the future of this organization- the future of the world!"

"Which is all the more reason to train her! And she's good, Anastasia, she's really good."

"That's the problem, Peter! The last thing we need is a temperamental, deadly teenage girl running around poking her nose in everything and trying to be the hero!"

I clenched my jaw.
"Just hear me out. What if we make her an agent? A field agent?"

"Out of the question. You're the deadliest operative we have, and even sometimes you have trouble getting out of sticky situations. How is putting a girl out there in the game a good idea? Especially Amara!"

"Think about it, Anastasia. She learns faster than the average person, and she's immune to the machine's workings- even more so than many of us. True, she needs a little more work, but what if she's the puzzle piece we need, what if she's the key?"

Anastasia scoffed.
"Of course she's the key, Peter. Which is why we are keeping her here, under heavy protection."

"Which is why you are imprisoning her here, under heavy guard you mean." I snapped, my patience wearing thin.
They treated her like she was some kind of exotic creature, like she was a bomb a few ticks away from going off.
If they knew her they would know that she was much more.
They wouldn't underestimate her.