Emptying an entire magazine into a field dummy did little to ease her overworked nerves.

Even blowing up said field dummy with a cache of grenades didn't make her feel any better either.

And the silence that slowly settled over the damaged practice field only seemed to annoy her.

Giving off a heavy sigh, Sonya leaned back against the sandbag barricade behind her, before she let her body slowly slide to the ground below. Propping her arms against bent knees, she rested her head in her sore hands and tried to ignore the potential migraine that was surfacing; she could feel the familiar ache of it running through her body already.

She could hear a faint ringing in her ears, and felt a sense of knotted pressure building up behind her eyes. And having worn proper protection debunked her attempt to blame the symptoms on the grenades she had been chucking for the past hour or so.

...

She had become so focused, so hardwired on getting through the recent issues with Outworld that she couldn't detach herself from it all.

She could feel the unsettled tension already beginning to affect her physically; she could feel the way the tension tugged at her limbs- constricting her muscles and leaving behind pulled, tired aches that fractured her bones.

Even the simple act of getting up from her desk to get another cup of coffee had made her hurt all over.

The pain reminded her of the age of her body as her hips and lower back throbbed with every step.

Hell, the long walk to get to the practice field in the first place had made her feel like death. And while causing small amounts of destruction had made her feel a little better... it didn't help alleviate her overall stress in the slightest.

... It still felt like she was stuck back in her office reading report after report off of her tablet- slowly killing herself by trying to process every piece of information that had been passed on to her.

"Dare I ask what you're doing out here?"

Sonya lifted her head at the question, before she looked over her shoulder to see where Kenshi was standing on the other side of the barricade. She wasn't the least bit surprised that she didn't hear him until now- until he decided to announce himself to her. Maybe he expected her to notice him first; after all, she had no idea just how long he had been standing there. Frowning, she rubbed at her still throbbing temples before she gestured to the partly damaged practice field in front of her. "It's kind of obvious, don't you think?"

He humored her with a brief chuckle and loosely mimicked her gesture. "Yes, uh I'm quite aware that... something happened out here. But I have to admit that I'm far more curious as to why the Special Forces General herself is out causing damage so early in the morning."

His remark caught her attention and prompted her to take a quick glance at her watch; it was 0200 hour already.

"Oh for fucks sake," Sonya muttered, before she quickly decided that it wasn't worth caring about- or being surprised over. What news was it to her anyways? It wasn't like this was the first time she had pulled an all-nighter over nothing. The fact that she'd have to be up again in four hours didn't convince her that at least attempting to get any sleep would do her any good. It would just be easier for her to grind through the rest of the morning at this point. "Never mind, it doesn't matter."

"Are you so sure about that?"

She frowned again- this time at his tone. "Are you really choosing to play this game with me right now?" she retorted.

"Are you?" Kenshi replied.

If the thought of moving didn't make her feel physically ill, she might've gone over that barricade at him. But at this point, even just saying a few choice words wasn't really worth the effort needed- so she let it slide this time.

Sighing, she brushed her fingers through her loose, blonde strands, and pulled them away from her face; she briefly lingered on the noticeable amount of hair that had fallen loose and draped itself against her jaw and shoulders. Just when did she last take the time to pull her braid apart and restyle it back again anyways? Judging by the state of it alone, probably a week or two.

"What are you doing out here so late anyways?" Sonya decided to question instead. "You're rarely up at this hour."

Kenshi gave her a light shrug as he folded his arms across the top of the barricade and leaned against it. "I stayed on the base tonight because I planned on accompanying you on the convoy expedition tomorrow," he answered. "However, it's a little hard to sleep with... all the noise and worry."

... Right.

"Yeah well... sorry about that," Sonya replied, picking up on his brief gestures. It only occurred to her then that while he heard the grenades going off... he had no idea of the visual kind of damage that she had done out here.

"Any reason for all of this?" he tried once more.

She had to give him credit for being persistent, but... not irritating- a rare combination now and days. "I just... I can't sleep," Sonya admitted; she found no harm in confessing to that much. "I got myself all worked up over this Outworld business that I can't even close my eyes without seeing all of those reference numbers again."

"That sounds like you."

"You're tell me," she lightly scoffed, as she moved her hand to rub at the back of her sore neck. "I came out here thinking that maybe if I let loose some frustration, then maybe it'll calm my nerves enough to let me get some sleep tonight, but... that didn't happen- and it doesn't look like it's going to happen either."

"That's odd, considering that shooting and exploding things tends to be your M.O.," Kenshi remarked.

"Yeah well, kicking your ass is about to be part of my M.O. too."

He laughed once again before he pushed himself away from the short barricade and slowly walked around it.

She noticed that he had already dressed down for the night- having removed his heavy overcoat, and the different layers of protective armor he was normally adorn in. He still kept to the dark uniform he wore underneath all of it though, which was probably the only way to identify him from a distance; well, sans the red blindfold he was almost always wearing. She had to admit that, even though she had seen him out of his uniform plenty of times before... he still looked odd without his signature armored gear. She figured the unsettled feeling stemmed from the fact that, without all of it, he looked surprisingly normal.

It made it easier for him to blend in with the crowd when he didn't look like a swordsman living in the wrong time era.

And, as though to make her eat her words, he actually wasn't wearing his blindfold either. Although, that wasn't necessarily as unusual as it used to be; he had picked up the habit of removing it at night since he could move around without the worry of UV exposure.

She remembered him commenting from time to time how the older he got, the more the sun seemed to make his eyes hurt. In fact, it had gotten to the point where he very rarely exposed them during the day now- but he made up for lost time during the night.

...

The calming, blue glow to them looked odd, yet mesmerizing, in the darkness of the field.

He seated himself down next to her, and seemed to mimic her posture- whether or not that was his intention to do so. "Your energy's like a beacon out here, you know."

Sonya picked up on the hint of sincerity in his tone- and she had no doubt that it wasn't necessarily the noise that had driven him out here. Judging from his attire, it was pretty reasonable to say that he had probably been asleep for a couple of hours now. "Like I said, I'm a little overworked right now," she reminded, feeling just a little guilty for keeping him awake over something as frustrating as this.

"A little?" Kenshi started, before he decided not to take it further than that- which might've been the smart thing to do. The last thing she wanted to hear was someone else critiquing her on her unforgiving work ethic. "What Outworld business are you exactly concerned with?"

Smooth save, she had to give him that.

And while she highly doubted that talking more about work would relieve her of any stress... it would take some of the weight off of her shoulders. Maybe he could help her figure out what to do with all of the information that she had.

"I've been using satellite scans to keep track on the Black Dragon's movement in Outworld, as well as Kotal Kahn's army," Sonya started, as she stretched her legs out for a moment- trying to relieve an uncomfortable spasm in her hip. "They've both been on the move a lot recently, and... I got a feeling they might be working together- which is the last thing I need."

"Two birds with one stone," he offered.

"Yeah, maybe, but... it's gonna take a hellva stone to take both of them down simultaneously," she sighed. "Although, the OWIA have picked up some rumors that say Kotal Kahn can't bounce the check numbers that Kano's looking for- so it might not be a lost cause completely. The only issue that adds onto that is that Mileena can afford whatever she wants, and since Kano has no loyalties, he may start creating connections behind Kotal Kahn's back."

Kenshi nodded with her words. "How do you feel about Mileena working with Kano though?"

"I'm not worried about it," Sonya answered. "Mileena wants nothing to do with Earthrealm- I have ensured that. All she wants is to see Kotal Kahn go down in flames, which I have no problems with. I need to get rid of that blue-skinned bastard, but you know... if someone else wants to do the dirty work for me, I'm not going to complain."

"So what do you plan on doing then?"

She mulled his question over.

If she had the answer to that, than she certainly wouldn't be out here wasting her fucking time. For now, she could only answer him with a short sigh and a shrug. "Haven't decided yet," she replied. "I might sit back and let Kotal Kahn and Mileena snuff each other out first, and then go through and clean shop on the Black Dragons. Maybe Kotal Kahn will realize that he's getting played, and they'll all three wipe each other out. Or maybe Mileena will use Kano to destroy Kotal Kahn's forces, and then turn around and kill him to cement her power over Outworld. I just... I don't know. It feels too early to tell, but I can't sit around and wait until it's too late either."

He answered with silence this time.

Which didn't surprise her.

What business did he have trying to sort this kind of shit out? He wasn't much of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy; he would much rather be in the heart of the action rather than on the political side of it. She was the one who sorted through the mess and tried to figure out the best route to take- and when, or if, she did... she would send him out to close the deal. That was how it worked. Nothing more. Nothing less.

"Any thoughts on the matter?" Sonya asked, figuring it was worth a shot anyways; he always found ways to surprise her after all. "Or at least any words of advice?"

"You need to stop thinking about work," Kenshi answered.

Sonya scoffed lightly and moved to toy with her dog tags, flipping them back and forth between her fingers. "As if it was that easy."

"Are you sure you're just not... complicating it for yourself?"

A short, dry laugh escaped her now, as she briefly pinched the bridge of her nose. Had it been anyone other than him who said that kind of remark to her, she would've knocked them flat on their ass, and out of their mind. Of course, that would've been more on her though. Had anyone else said it, she would've taken the remark as being condescending and judgmental- which she got enough of on a daily basis.

Still, she knew he was just... he was just concerned- an emotion he wore on his sleeve more times than he was willing to admit. "You're lucky we've worked together for as long as we have," Sonya remarked.

"Yes well... because we've worked together for so long, I know how you work; and I know that you feel the need to do everything on your own," Kenshi started. "You have the entire Earthrealm force at your fingertips and yet... you think you're the only person who can do this."

"I can't trust anyone else to do it," she pressed. This wasn't the first time she had been accused of such- she had had this kind of conversation plenty of times before. Hell, she practically had this conversation with every single person she knew. The sad thing was he just tended to last the longest in the debate, although that didn't necessarily mean that he ever won. "Need I remind you that a majority of the other seated Generals don't even know what Z'unkahrah is- let alone even know where it's located."

"I don't think you're giving them the credit they deserve," he continued, "it's not like they were handed those positions, you know. They earned those titles just like you earned yours- and maybe they don't have the same kind of experience you do, but... you shouldn't be so quick to write them off."

...

She hated when he reminded her of that.

Because it was true.

None of the other Generals had the same kind of experience dealing with the realms like she did, but... they did have experiences that made them worthy of their titles and stripes. She had no issues having them deal with the international Black Dragon crisis, but the inter-realm business needed to be under her name- and her name only. She couldn't risk having too many Generals working on one topic- they wouldn't get anywhere.

Still... it wasn't as though she had really let them try to get involved.

She normally just shot the idea down the moment someone brought it up.

"I don't know," Sonya muttered, as she lightly tugged on her dog tags in thought, "... maybe you're right."

...

She was still plagued by the ongoing issues that were now freshly running through her head again, but... some of the unsettled tension in her muscles had let go. As little of a change that it was, it was still something worth noticing.

Somehow just simply being around him was enough to slowly burn her out of her work-induced stress.

He was always in this odd state of calmness, no matter where he was or what was happening. Even out on the field, when he was focused on the objective at hand, he always followed through with it in a steady, consistent manner- never once losing his cool or temperament over something. She guessed it was because his powers were sensitive and demanded a lot of concentration; one slip, and he could lose control over them, and Gods knows what the result of that could be.

It was a safe trait to keep around though- one she certainly utilized to keep herself from snapping under common day stress.

"Or maybe they're all idiots."

He didn't even try to hide the laugh that went with her finishing remark- and she got the feeling that he wasn't surprised by it; if anything, he was probably expecting it. "Come on General," Kenshi started, as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. "I don't think you should stay out here any longer than necessary- or any longer than you already have."

She watched him offer a hand back to her, and briefly considered not taking it; she still wasn't sure if she really wanted to go back to her office, but... it beat sitting out here until dawn. Giving a brief sigh, she reached up and took his hand, before she let him pull her to her feet. It wasn't a complicated gesture by any means, but he still did it with ease and grace- he managed to avoid aggravating the consistent throbbing in her back and hips with it, which she appreciated.

Dusting herself off, she glanced over the damaged practice field once more, before she turned her attention back to him- noting that his blue eyes remained locked on her. Not that it necessarily meant anything, but the impression of it was enough.

He wore a lot of things on his sleeve- more than he was willing to confess to.

She lightly smiled and moved her hand to rest against his jaw, feeling the subtle warmth of his skin beneath her touch. "Don't you think you should be getting to bed too, old man?" she teased.

"More like back to bed," he corrected, "but the least I could do is walk you back to your office- and make sure you don't stress yourself into a stroke."

"Are you kidding me?" she scoffed, as she tugged lightly on his beard, before she stepped around him and started walking off of the field. "At this point, I hope I do have one. It'll be about as close to a vacation as I can get." she heard him laugh quietly behind her, before he slowly moved to follow her steps; he eventually caught up to her and walked close to her side as they worked their way back onto the main base.

...

It was surprisingly quiet at this time of night.

And it wasn't hard to guess why the night watch were suddenly silent in place of their usual late night conversations. While mindful of their duties, and careful at the top of the watch towers, the men could get loud as they debated back and forth between units. But lately, the noise level between them had been cut down, and sometimes it was hard to tell if there were even men out on watch in the first place.

Still, she knew the reason for the change, and while she normally would've reprimanded them for being off-duty... she simply wasn't in the mood to enforce it right now.

So much as a short burst of anger felt like it would trigger a brain aneurism.

As non-conspicious as the men tried to be... it was pretty easy to tell that they had broken out the deck of cards for the night and were enthralled in a game. The silence alone told her that there must've been some risky prizes on the table tonight, and everyone wanted a piece.

For now, she would just wait to catch them at a later date- after all, she couldn't let them think that they were pulling a fast one on her.

Returning to her office, she pushed the door aside and stepped in- vaguely remembering that she had left in such a rut earlier that she had forgotten to lock it behind her. Not that it mattered really. No one on base so much as got near her office unless they had called ahead of time, or there was an ongoing emergency. And judging by the quiet night, neither of those excuses were likely to occur any time soon.

Giving out a long sigh, Sonya slowly unzipped her jacket and tugged it off, before she tossed it aside- barely getting it to land on the back of her chair. Out of habit, she walked over to her desk and picked up her tablet once more- and immediately began to check for updates. She wasn't surprised to find that several more reports had popped in while she was gone and were waiting for her approval.

Before she could so much as open the files, she felt the device get pulled out of her grasp.

"We were just discussing this," Kenshi reminded, as he kept the tablet levitating out of her reach.

Part of her wanted to get mad that he would interfere with her work... and yet, she couldn't quite muster the anger to do so. And she didn't want to either- after all, it wasn't like he was wrong. "You act like you don't even know me," Sonya replied, "you should've seen this coming."

"For your sake, I'll ignore the wise crack."

She chuckled lightly and leaned back against her desk- unable to shake the feeling that he somehow seemed even stranger standing in her office out of uniform. It made him almost look vulnerable. "You can take it back with you if you don't trust me around it."

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's just... that I know you too well," he started, "and I know exactly what will happen once I leave."

"Alright so... don't leave."