The elevator doors opened with an elongated, but quiet, 'swish'. I took a deep breath as I entered the main lobby of the WATCH Tower, on the second floor. I cast a large glance around the room. A few officers were lingering around, drinking coffee, eating doughnuts, talking, and rushing around with piles of paperwork stuffed into their arms. I continued to briefly scan the room before setting my eyes on the door beside me, labelled 'Operations'. I hesitated slightly, ambling to the door; clenching my fists, and putting them in my pockets as I did so. I pushed the door open with the side of my arm and stepped in, closing it behind me. Once again, I looked around, no one was inside, just me, and the nerving sound of beeping and buzzing coming from the generators nearby.
I lowered my head and opened my mouth to let out a sigh of relief but shut my mouth rather quickly as I was cut off by a low, gravelly voice coming from behind me, "Lionheart."
My eyes widened slightly as I immediately turned to face the voice's body, taking my hands from my pockets as I did so. I now looked at the man. He was tall, muscular, his hair; muted and mid-brown, and his eyes were green; scarily vivid, too. He wore a navy WATCH uniform, fitted perfectly to expose his arm's shape, along with a utility belt with a pistol, taser, and a pair of handcuffs. He seemed to be an extremely composed man at first glance, but oh, he most certainly was not if you knew him personally.
I finally replied, sputtering my words, "Yes, Cornw- Sir!" I shook my head slightly, correcting myself, "Yes- Sir?"
"I assume you received the letter?" Cornwall queried, raising a brow as he glared at me.
"Uh- I did- sir-" I answered, sounding slightly uneasy now.
The man nodded, giving a warm smile, "Alright, come, walk with me," He referenced to the door leading outside.
I walked slightly faster than him to the door, opening it for him as I arrived; He continued ahead, smiling slightly. I followed after him until he came to a halt a few seconds later. The area was now completely quiet, only the conversations that could be heard from the street broke it. He veered to face me. His genial smile had sunk, and he looked a hell of a lot more angry and serious than I had seen him before. He glared at me as I simply just stood there, in silence. I locked eye contact with him, watching each other closely for the next move.
Cornwall now slowly turned over to the right towards the balcony, breaking the eye contact that we had held. I took an attentive step back, still looking at him. The atmosphere was now tenser and much more nerving than before, nonetheless, I still stood my ground. The man reeled his arm back, and pivoted back to me, slamming his fist into my nose. I stumbled back, slightly startled. I held my nose as it began to bleed. For a moment, my vision had gone completely haywire and I had gotten a sharp stinging sensation down the centre of my face; though it was nothing I wasn't used to, so I was seemingly unbothered. The man took a step away. I lowered my head, attempting to process what had just happened. A few footsteps approaching could be heard from a few metres away now, a small group of men, I predicted. I took my hand from my nose. The footsteps stopped in front of me. I sighed. Before I could even consider looking up at the newcomers, I got a knee to my stomach from one of them and a baton swiping the back of my legs from the other. I fell back with a yelp, striking my head on the concrete below.
I brought my hands to both the back of my head and my stomach, one of which was now rapidly bleeding. I slowly sat up and glanced up to Cornwall, who had landed the first hit, then looked away towards the floor. He slowly walked towards me and knelt beside me. The other men stood, behind him, looking intimidating as always. He reached his hand out toward my face. I flinched slightly. He cupped my chin with a smirk and guided my head back to face him. Once again, we locked eye contact. "Remember, Lionheart, you took the deal," Cornwall spoke softer now, "You work for us." He released his hand from my chin as he stood, towering over me. He now began to walk back the way we came from, the other men followed after him with the click of his fingers.