[Disclaimer: This chapter contains light sexual content at the end of the chapter. It is nothing too explicit, but I prefer leaving this disclaimer to anyone who might be uncomfortable with this type of content. Thank you!]
"Hahaha! Let's celebrate!"
Slash sure is in a good mood. He somehow convinced the whole team to celebrate our win. Most of them seem down for a party. I wouldn't say I am. Nor is Jab, as far as I can tell. I'm with him on this. I just don't see how we can barely fight for our lives and then come here to drink and celebrate.
"Come on, man! Cheer up!"
"Why would I?"
"We won!"
"Did we? We won nothing. We just didn't die."
"Don't be like that. You're always drinking anyway. Why not drink for victory?"
"I don't drink in the name of glory or praise. I never did."
"Alright, alright. We won't force you."
Looks like they failed to win him over.
"It's not for glory. It's not for a false sense of victory either. It's for sanity."
I guess now Ace wants her turn on this. She moved over to sit next to him. Everybody else seems to be moving on from their conversation.
"What are you talking about?"
"Well. This is all pretty fucked, huh? The Foundation as a whole, I mean. I'm saying you need things like these to stay sane. Somewhat sane, at least. You won't be able to keep up if you don't try to relax a little."
"Hm. Maybe. Maybe not. I'm doing fine."
"Are you?"
"I am. My anger is enough to keep me going."
"For now. But you never know what hatred can do to you with time. If you let it pester for too long, you'll rot."
"I'm already rotten."
"So that's how you see yourself, huh? As for me, I don't think you're a lost cause just yet."
"Is that so?"
I don't think I should keep listening in on them. I don't really care either. But I guess she's right. That's why people are still able to smile, to laugh. Even with death surrounding them. I guess happiness really can survive through the darkness. Maybe that's the only real way to make it out of this hell. It's just hard for me to understand it.
Despite all that, looks like Jab and I aren't alone in this. Mute is keeping to himself. He always is. Well, he doesn't have much of a choice, but even then, from the very little I saw him before he took the injection, he seemed like the quiet type. I guess we're pretty much the same when it comes to this.
I don't know how he's doing it. I know I couldn't. Hearing everything. Everybody. All the talking. All the laughing. All the crying. I have enough of my own thoughts. They're loud enough already, I couldn't handle more. I just don't know how he can keep going like this. He must be pretty strong.
More than me, probably. Even in battle. I feel like I'm pretty useless. All I do is stand there until my body decides to take over. And even then, I don't do much. I'm mostly inactive. Though, I still survive. Hollows don't seem to be able to do much to me. It's such a weird feeling. I am terrified by them. They look like they can kill me in an instant. They can. They can kill anybody with a simple slash.
And yet, I don't die. Every time, I flinch. Every time, I think I'm going to die. But I never do. Still, I can't shake off the idea that, at some point, I will. I'm going to think I can withstand their attacks like I always did, but this time, I won't. There's going to be this time, this precise moment, their claws will cut right through me. That's why I'm always scared, despite still not having been proven wrong. I just know it will happen.
Well, until then, I guess I'll try my best. Maybe I should train. But I wouldn't make much progress on my own. I should probably ask somebody for help. But who? Based on how I fight, I don't think Ace or Slash would be very suited. Blue would probably be a safer bet. Though, I'm not sure she will accept. Either way, I should probably still take my shot and ask. It couldn't hurt. Well, with her I don't know if that's entirely true.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They've been celebrating for a while now. Slash is always so loud. But it looks like things have died out. Rouge seems to be leaving.
"Sorry guys. I gotta go."
"Nooo! Really?"
"I am glad you would miss my divine presence so much Spike, but I have something to do. So, peace out."
"See ya."
"I have to go anyway."
"Hahaha! Sounds like it's time to take my leave too! I have to go do a lame report to Doc. But this was the perfect bonding experience for Team Slash!"
"Wait, what? You still haven't reported yet? You said you were going to!"
"Hahaha, what are you saying, Ace? I'm going to go report right now like I said I would!"
"But it's already been so long! Doc is probabl- You know what. Sure, yeah. You planned to go after partying this entire time anyway, didn't you? Well, as long as you go I'm fine."
Well, I guess pretty much everybody is leaving by now. Ace and Jab seem to be staying a bit longer though. But I'll probably just go too.
"Aren't you gonna follow them?"
"Nah, I'm good. I still got some fun time left in me."
"Right."
"Plus, you owe me a night. Remember?"
"Huh?"
"Last time, we played our drinking game. I won my bet when I brought you back to your room and everything."
"Hm, sure man. You could just be making shit up at this point, I was way too drunk."
"Oh come on."
"And what tells you that I would be free tonight, huh?"
"Well, are you?"
"Actually, I was going somewhere, so."
"Wow, okay. My bad. Didn't know you had plans."
"But if you really insist on this, you can tag along. "
"Oh? Really? You're inviting me out?"
"If that's how you see it."
"Where we going?"
"You'll see."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sorry to ask you out of the blue like this."
"No worries. It's no problem at all."
The air was dusty, the dim lighting creating an opaque atmosphere in the room. While the sight of this abandoned medical room appeared sinister at first, it became a calming haven for Rouge. The overwhelming quietness was soothing for her. Venom's presence was also welcoming, and her reliance appeasing.
While only have done this once prior, a routine seems to have already taken place. Methodically, Rouge took place on the creaky bed Venom tried to keep as clean as she could. The Mad Scientist logged in to the chamber's AI through the UI projected in front of her. She then proceeded to install various medical devices on the young woman's arm and head to read her metabolism's activities and draw her blood.
"So, how did it go?"
"Hm?"
"Your vials, did they work?"
"Yeah. Better than I thought?"
"Really? That's good."
"Yeah."
"I still can't believe this. This is just so crazy to me. Do you mind if I take a sample for myself again?"
"No, it's ok. But it must be crazy if it can impress even you. I guess I'm just that special."
"You sure are. But jokes apart, this is truly phenomenal."
"How so? You always say that, but you never say why."
"I know. I'm sorry. I just. I can't tell you. Not yet."
"Why not? I'm smarter than I look. And I know more than you think."
"I'm sure you do. That's not the problem. You might not believe me, but it's for your own safety. There's a reason why we have to keep coming to this shitty place."
"Hm, right. By the way, what even is this place?"
"It's a long story."
As she said that, Rouge noticed the voyage Venom was brought to, remembering her life for a quick instant, her eyes faintly looking into her memories. The sudden beep of the monitor brought her back into the moment.
"Well, not really. This place used to be my huh… my mentor's, if I can call him that. That was his lab, that's where he taught me most of what I know."
"Your mentor, huh? So why was he hiding here, outside?"
"I guess he wanted to help out Outsiders, who don't have access to medical treatment other than the cheap pills they can get, as you know. And he knew Doc wouldn't be too hot about that idea so, he came out here and built this."
"So that's why you try to keep this a secret, then? So you can keep this place running and help people?"
"Oh, haha, no. I'm not as good of a person as my teacher was. I don't use this place at all, nor do I help anybody out here."
"I see."
"You can say that I'm more of a believer of the end justify the mean. Or maybe it makes me feel better about the horrible shit I do to think it's all worth it."
"I don't see how you'd be able to do anything bad like that. You don't seem the type."
"I wasn't. I just became the type with time. And by being an abeyant bystander. Giving myself grace for not getting my own hands dirty, while I let these horrors happen and benefit from them."
"..."
"Sorry. I shouldn't be ranting about that shit to you."
"It's ok. It sounds like you need to."
"Yeah. Thanks. But still. We're not here to ease my conscience, are we? I'll help you replenish the vials you used up, it shouldn't take long. You can start focusing on whichever you want to start with."
"Actually, I'd also like to try new types. If that's ok."
"Yeah, that's ok. What did you have in mind?"
"Well, I don't really know. But during my mission, I was able to boost myself naturally."
"Really? That's a huge step."
"Yeah. I didn't quite know what I was doing, but I guess my instinct kinda took over. And during that moment I noticed Spike and how she was able to basically withstand everything."
"Oh, yeah. Spike. I remember her. She gave us a scare when she blew up during training, right?"
"Yep, that's her. That's why now that I'm thinking back on it, it might have been a better solution to be more resilient instead of what I ended up doing. I just gave myself a basic speed and strength boost, which was risky. I could have still got wounded pretty bad."
"Yeah. So now you're trying to see if you can enhance your durability?"
"Yeah."
"Hm."
Slowly, they both parted into a deep silence. Venom was trying to think of a way to make that happen, and so was Rouge.
Durability through blood is hard to achieve. Even impossible now that I think about it. The harder parts found in the blood would be the platelets, but even if they accumulate in grand numbers, they aren't strong enough to prevent deep wounds altogether. Though, if I'm thinking out of the box here, iron might be able to help. If I can somehow control the protein in my blood that transports iron in my body…
Wait. I'm still not thinking out of the box. I need to think even further than that. Would I be able to change my blood's property and state of matter? If I can harden my blood completely, that might create a shield strong enough to protect my insides, though my skin could still get cut. But, that would still be risky. Completely hardening all of my blood at the same time would either cause heavy damage or even just death at this point. But if I only harden the part I need to at the right time, I might get away with minor cases of thrombosis. Hm…
"You might be able to do it, but you're probably gonna need my help."
"Hm?"
"You might hurt yourself by hardening your blood."
Rouge was surprised, they seemed to have both come up with the same conclusion.
"How would you be able to help me?"
"I kinda told you before that my power resembles yours. I can't control my blood, but I can control other things. So I might be able to give you a way to reduce the danger of solidifying your blood."
"Wait, so you mean you can help cure thrombosis?"
"What?"
Venom's impromptu answer scared her a little. She didn't realize she slipped up.
"How do you know what thrombosis is?"
"I- Um.."
She made a mistake and she had to fix it somehow.
"I mean, I don't really remember. It was probably when I was training as a Rookie."
"I highly doubt that. Not only is that way too specific to be taught to Rookies, but I doubt even the person training you would know about that."
"Well.."
The lie was totally impossible to believe. Both Rouge and Venom knew that. But the Commander noticed the extreme discomfort in the young woman's expression, and her medical readings. Her heart rate was rapidly increasing. The Mad Scientist felt bad for her and quickly tried to settle her sudden panic.
"It's ok. I get it. I'm sorry. You do know more than I thought after all, huh? Well, it wouldn't be fair for me to ask you why is that or how much you know when I, myself, am hiding stuff from you. Don't worry, I won't pry you about it."
"... Thanks."
"Though, I guess that will make things easier. I don't think I need to continue to hold off anything I thought might be too difficult for you to understand, do I?"
"Yeah."
"Alright. Let's get to it then."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You still haven't told me why I had to bring these with me."
"You'll see when we get there. But I need to do a small detour before that."
"Alright."
Ace and Jab were slowly roaming through the serenity of the subterranean scenery. A serenity both soothing and daunting was engulfing them. Carrying light luggage comprised of clothes and towels, the amputated young man was leading the walk, with the Commander peacefully following him.
She found herself staring at him. The empty sleeve resting at his side stood out to her. She randomly felt a baseless sense of embarrassment catching herself eying him from behind. She quickly began to look around her, noticing the Outside area slowly disappearing; shelters were becoming scarce, and so was the light.
Suddenly, an abandoned hut appeared to them. After slowly approaching it, Jab broke the strange quietness he adopted this entire time.
"Just wait here, it won't take long."
"It's fine, I don't mind a detour. I'll follow."
"I'd really like it if you waited for me here."
His surprisingly sorrowful tone affected her, and so did his mourning eye.
"O-Oh, ok. Yeah, of course."
Ace awkwardly watched him walk away in the direction of the desolated habitation. It has been a while since he visited. He fought through the painful squeeze restraining his heart and headed to the side of his foster home. Waiting for him was a decrypted rock, rising up from the earth. His stroll companion was watching him from afar in the corner of her eyes.
"Yo. It's been a while."
As he spoke to the mineral standing in for the soul resting under it, he pulled out a bottle he purchased before leaving the bar. Too far to discern what he was saying, Ace was only able to notice his gestures. She watched him open the bottle and take a sip. He then proceeded to pour some of it on what she figured was a grave. As the liquid began to splash the tombstone, she looked away out of respect, giving him the intimacy he wanted.
"Things have been pretty wild lately. I've got pretty fucked up. If only you could see me. Not that you care anyway. Honestly, I don't know why I keep coming back to talk to you. I don't think you deserve my sympathy. But anyway, I have better places to be than conversing with your dead carcass. I don't know if I'll ever come back, so. Here."
Carefully, Jab closed the bottle, which still had some liquid left, and placed it next to the stone. He slowly turned back and walked toward Ace. She looked at him, uneasy.
"I'm sorry. I'm not too good at that kind of stuff. I'm sorry for your loss."
"It's fine. Let's just go. We're almost there."
She expected him to be even more silent than earlier. Surprisingly, he grew more talkative. It seems he let go of whatever was troubling him, she thought. He told her how he used to play around here as a kid. That's how he found the secret spot in the first place.
That's what he kept calling it. A secret spot. He never showed or talked about this place to anyone before. No one knew about it; he wanted to keep it that away. That was until now. She couldn't help but feel a little bit special.
"I'm a lucky girl, aren't I? You're more of a player than I thought. I'm impressed."
"It's nothing like that. I was gonna come here to relax anyway. Until you said I owed you or whatever. Even if I don't remember, I'm a man of my word, so."
"I don't know, man. Sounds pretty suspicious to me. Inviting a pretty woman like me, alone, in your little secret place."
"You can think whatever you want, just don't get your hopes up."
"Too late for that."
"Whatever. We're here. Just need to get through this and.."
While looking like a dead end at first, only a veteran would know the secret tunnel hidden behind the rocks. After getting past the huge stones and squeezing through the claustrophobic gap formed by newly damp walls, the destination finally appeared.
A mauve tint is illuminating the ceiling and the walls of the hidden cave, repeatedly interrupted by the reflection of water. Covering most of the area, a tranquil bed of water rests. Heated by the Earth's deep fiery essence, the natural hot spring was warming the enclosed site.
Ace was utterly charmed by the place. It felt heartwarming and peaceful. Safe. When she was pulled back into the moment, the young man accompanying her already put away his baggage. He began to remove most of his clothes before moving on with the thick layers of bandages covering his shoulder.
She watched the fabric stripes slowly cascade to the ground until none left covered his skin. She couldn't help but notice his well-cut body, trailing her gaze around the well-defined muscles mounting him. Jab then walked into the water, his body steadily plunging deeper into the warm water, until his severed limb was fully immersed.
Forcing a slight grimace and a painful groan at first, it slowly began to feel relieving. Soon enough, he was swimming loosely, looking over to see what his superior was up to. He quickly noticed she had picked up on his actions and followed his lead.
He watched her as she carefully began to remove her attire. Suddenly very nervous, he innocently looked away and sank most of his face underwater. Completely aware of what she was doing, she was keeping him in her peripheral. Noticing him shy away, she chuckled to herself and finished removing her outer layers.
"Don't be shy now, you don't have to look away."
Her flirty voice made him flutter, splashing the surface of the water. He moved his head a little to set his eye on her, his heart was palpitating. In her aquamarine undergarments, she delicately approached the water, her feet rapidly breaking the surface of the water.
Jab was torn apart by feelings he couldn't control: curiosity, guilt, envy. His nose was breathing heavily above the water, staring at her silhouette. Briefly, he found himself mesmerized by her forms and her pale skin. Realizing his hopeless demeanor, he shook his head and looked away.
Gracefully, she dove into the hot spring, resurfacing not long after a little closer to him. Just a little closer. She energetically exhaled, reinvigorated, as she brought her hands to her gentle face, moving aside the freshly damp hair.
"Woah. This really hits the spot."
As she resurrected a somewhat normal conversation, Jab could form words again.
"Yeah. It really does."
"I never saw a place like this before. And to know you kept this place all to yourself, huh?"
"Well, now you'll be able to come here as much as you want because of me, so. You're welcome."
"That is true."
Ace delicately swam to the edge of the authentic hot tub, near where Jab was resting. He tried to furtively move a few millimeters away from her. She then crossed her arms on the humid rocks and rested her chin on her hands, sighting in relief. She stayed silent for a while, relaxing. Meditating. She couldn't remember a time when she felt this much at ease.
Time passed. They did not converse. They didn't need to.
All they did was enjoy the moment, this well-deserved stay, the pleasant warmness of the water caressing them. After a while, she tilted her head to rest the side of her face on her hands, now looking at Jab. She noticed his agitated eye, trying its hardest to look anywhere but in her location; she could easily tell he was nervous. That made her smile. She decided to play into it a little.
"You nervous?"
"W- What do you mean?"
"Are you?"
"Maybe a little. Why?"
"I don't know. You're usually pretty lousy. But you look quite flustered right now. I think it's cute."
"What's your plan here? You having fun teasing me?"
"Very much so. Why is your face so red?"
"I don't know, man. The water's pretty hot."
"The water is, huh? Nothing else around could be making you blush like that?"
"I- What do you even want me to say to this?"
It's as though Jab's face kept sinking deeper and deeper underwater as the embarrassment kept growing. Ace straightened up and began to walk toward him. As he noticed her elegantly approaching him, he froze in distress.
"You know, I saw you stare at me earlier."
"That's..."
"Don't worry. I didn't say that was a bad thing. Did you like what you saw?"
"Why are you doing this to me right now."
She was now standing in front of him. Her upper body was out of the water, she was towering over him. He was shily sulking under the water, his look avoiding her.
"Why don't you try and look at me, hm?"
"Why?"
"Come on. Try."
"Hm."
His emerald iris looked in front of him, slowly rising upward, moving over her chest before meeting with her eyes. Only now did he take the time to notice their deep mint color.
"Thank you."
"What does that mean?"
"It makes me happy that you're looking at me."
"Why would it?"
"Because I'm glad someone like you would look my way."
"That's stupid. I'm worth nothing. It shouldn't matter what I think."
"It makes me sad that you think that. And I disagree with you."
"What would you know? You barely know me. We've only met recently."
"I know. But I feel like I got to know a lot about you. During our trainings. Our missions. Our night at the bar."
"That's barely anything. That would be the only reason why you could think any good of me."
"I don't think it matters too much for me right now. I quite like the very little I saw of you."
"... I don't know what to say to that."
"It's ok. You don't have to say anything. Though, it would be quite nice to know if you like what you saw too."
"I mean, I do."
"I'm glad then."
"I just… I don't know anything about that kind of stuff."
"What kind of stuff?"
"Shut up. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Whatever you're trying to make happen right now."
"Haha, don't stress about it. To start, why don't you try getting up?"
"... Sure."
Anxious, he awkwardly rose from the water, now at her level; they were practically the same height. He felt her ardent gaze, but, yet again, he couldn't look directly at her. While overcome by sheer nervousness, a profound anguish submerged.
"Why."
"Why what?"
"Why all of this? Why me? Why now?"
"Why not?"
"How is that even an answer? I don't see why you'd want anything to do with me. Even less this."
"I don't think it needs to be complicated."
"Still. Where did this even come from?"
"It happened. I think you're quite attractive. And I like you. That's it. For now, that's all I know. And all I need to know. I don't think there's anything wrong with enjoying ourselves."
"How could you like me? How could you like any of what you're seeing? And I told you. I have nothing to offer. I don't think I'm even capable of… affection… anymore."
"I'm sure that's not true. And if anything, I can help you with that."
"Even then, I already told you I suck at any of that stuff."
"Oh? Is that so? Well, I think you're pretty slick with it. I mean. Look where we are. You brought me here. Just us. To a place important to you. That nobody knows about. If you genuinely didn't plan any of that, then I mean, you're a true natural at this."
"Huh. Even if I had planned it, or even if I'm a natural, I'm afraid that's as far as my luck goes. It's not like I have any experience with anything else."
"It's ok. I'll help you."
"I don't know how you can stay this calm. I feel like I will pass out."
"Give me your hand."
"What?"
She didn't respond. All she did was place her hand in between them, asking for his. His heart was pounding in his ears, turning the tip of them bright red. Unsure, he slowly moved his hand close to hers. She grabbed it; it was bigger than hers. She gently pulled it and softly pressed it on her chest, in between her breasts.
Jab had difficulty breathing normally. He was looking at his hand, her chest. He was overwhelmed. However, his nerves quickly settled for a moment. Her heartbeat, he could feel it. It was pounding fast. He gradually looked up at her, now peeking into her eyes. While they were confident and assertive, her cheeks, however, were revealing something else. They had a vibrant rose tint to them.
"I don't want to think. I don't need to think. It doesn't have to mean anything. Even if it's just a random thing, and it never happens again. That's ok. I want it. I want you."
"I…"
"Do you want me?"
Her voice was like a hypnotic murmur.
"I think so."
"I won't push you any further if you're not sure you don't want this. Really it's ok, don't feel like you have to say yes."
"No. I'm sure. I want you."
"Ok. Thank you."
Ace approached closer to him, his hand still pressing against her. She quickly looked back and forth between his eye and his lips. He, however, could not take his eye off of hers. He was profoundly looking into their sparkling light green. She liked that. She felt seen. Loved. Even if it was momentary or ephemeral, she wanted it. And she was going to seize it. Taking control, she leaned in to kiss him. Not knowing how to respond, he was stunned. Rapidly, he let himself go, accepting her embrace.
She instinctively slid her hands across his body and reached his jaw, holding him fondly. His hand naturally slid down her stomach, reaching her side from under the water. As their kiss grew in passion, her fingers mingled faintly with his damp hair. Impulsively, Ace steadily mounted him, her thighs probing for support from his hips. His hand brushed her skin up to her back, supporting her as he slowly straightened up.
The Commander abruptly moved back, rapidly pushing back her hair that had gotten in the way, before reuniting her lips with his. She had clear dominance over the situation, but he didn't care. He appreciated it. Suddenly, she moved away to kiss his jaw and his neck before backing up once more. She used her core strength, helped by the water, to stay wrapped around his waist. She brought her hands behind her back and fidgeted with the strap of her bra.
Ace quickly undone the catch and let it fall on the water between them, now slowly floating away. Jab moved away from her irises to lower his vision. Has he contemplated her body, she gently grabbed his hand holding her back and brought it in front of her, placing it lightly where she wanted it to be. Nervously, he took the time to tenderly feel her breasts. She chuckled before bending in for another kiss.
As they continued their heartfelt embrace, they unconsciously made their way out of the hot spring. Her thighs around him and her arms around his neck, Jab lifted her and began to walk out of the water. He then intuitively walked them toward his luggage, where he was able to crouch low enough to reach for his bag. Blinded by his lustful passenger, his hand was clumsily reaching into his baggage and pulled out a towel.
He then kneeled as he tried to lay it down as best he could. Without breaking out their kiss, she tried to reach her hands from behind her back to strengthen the fabric evenly on the rough ground. Jab leaned slowly and gently laid his partner down. As he was now kneeling before her, she extended her arms around him, her soft skin brushing his neck, and dragged him down on top of her. They continued to make out with one another, this time their hands being more adventurous.
He proceeded to help her remove the only piece of clothing covering her. Though the intensity of the moment was carrying him, his nerves were still pulling on his heart. As though connected by a force stronger than both of them, she could perfectly read his emotion.
"It's ok. I'll guide you."
Too nervous to say a word, he nodded. She smiled warmly, before tenderly tucking his rebellious strand of hair behind his ear. Affectionately guided by Ace, they spent the remaining of the night sharing their intimacy, bonding through fervid desire for one another.