A/N: This chapter has some sexual themes integrated near the end with some important information, so if this makes you uncomfortable, I apologize in advance!
3
Breaking the Ice
The woman fingered an identification card in her hand while waiting to be checked in.
Although Blisk had reassured her that she would not require any cosmetic surgeries, she could hardly recognize the woman in the picture staring back at her.
The woman on the card had glowing, healthy honey colored skin and auburn eyes with a touch of mascara. Wavy brown hair cascaded over her shoulders -with highlights of caramel and blonde, her own personal touch to assuage her stylist that she, in fact, did not need more of a drastic makeover.
'Name: Annalise Kraus
Sex: F
ID VERIFICATION PIN: 101619980019
MECHANIC'
Amelia, rather, Annalise sighed, pressed the card to the gate, and nervously ran her hands over her heavily tattooed arms as she walked through the security check. She'd been here for nearly eight months and no one seemed to recognize her as the famous arsonist, but still -it was nerve wracking walking into a heavily secured Syndicate military base.
"You mean the Games, Em," she muttered to herself, chuckling. An inside joke.
"Say something?" the security guard grunted.
"No, sorry," Annalise replied quickly, gathering her keys, wallet and ID.
She bit her lip as she strode away from the confused guard, cursing herself for using her real name. It had been months, true, but she didn't feel as though she was truly Annalise Kraus just yet. Blisk had offered her a place in the games, true but Season One was already headily underway at the time, and she would have to wait. While she waited, he suggested that she work and live in the Games as a mechanic -hailing back to her earlier days as a mere fire fighter- and also allowing herself to grow familiar with the Legends and the world of Solace. Her tasks mainly consisted of fixing mechanical issues in the arena, or helping Legends such as Pathfinder or Octane with their gear. She didn't know if it was the charm of Blisk or the charm of her own stylist to transform her into a likeable woman, but the Syndicate was friendly enough and let her into the Games with open arms.
Opening up her locker, she shimmied out of her daily clothes, and into her working ones; oddly enough, she felt more comfortable in her jumpsuit than the designer clothes that her closets were filled to the brim with. Perhaps it was because it reminded her of her old life.
Strapping her harness tightly around her waist, she tapped the e-paper pad on her left wrist, scanning the arena for problems. A pack of dropships were experiencing an issue where they weren't allowing a Legend to redeploy, and a few respawn beacons would not allow Legends to successfully scan their squad mate's banner in and call for the redeploy ship -all integral parts of the Apex Games.
"Goddamnit Blisk, I know you have money," Annalise growled. "Fix this shit in your Games yourself."
Sighing, she tied her hair up into a messy French braid and plugged her headphones into her ears, keeping one eye on the upper monitor which was playing today's Games. She had no desire to work on the dropships, and so for today, she would be working inside the arena -however, that meant waiting for the last minutes of today's matches to end.
The final two squads were down to the second to last ring -then it would be a race to whoever could heal fastest. Wattson was the one to save her squad, which consisted of Caustic and Wraith. Annalise scratched her neck absentmindedly. That Pylon of hers was a real problem. It eliminated Gibraltar's last-minute throw of his bombardment, zapping the bombs away as Caustic bunkered up their positioning with his gas traps. Annalise bunched her nose as she watched Pathfinder submit to that corrosive gas of his, as Wraith deftly took out Lifeline and Gibraltar. Not only were Wattson's traps a problem, Caustic's gas traps were even harder to deal with. Watching the doctor stand with his squad as they were named champion, Annalise pursed her lips. Dying like that to the gas would be the worst way to go, especially during a ranked match.
Settling into a special dropship made for maintenance workers, Annalise watched as the underground world changed into the arena of King's Canyon; an arena she would soon have to familiarize herself with. With her limited knowledge of gun skill, and not much control over her mutation, she didn't have a lot of time left to train until the next season of the games. Blisk hadn't even let her know about when she would be released to the public eye as a new name in the games, and she wasn't sure if the legends knew much about her joining them.
Her only few interactions with the legends had been Mirage and Pathfinder, along with quite a few visits from Octane. Mirage obviously had wanted her number as the new girl and drawing from what he mentioned about how many times workers had come in and out of the facility -her being the longest any worker had stayed in the arena- he had genuinely wanted to befriend her. Flipping through her phone, she hesitated on his ID.
Perhaps he could be one to help her...
A violent shake of the dropship jolted her out of her thoughts, and she unstrapped herself from the safety restraints.
"Are you ready to deploy into King's Canyon, Ms. Kraus?" the MRVN on her ship asked cheerfully.
She smiled at the childlike happiness of the MRVN, oblivious to everything around it. "Yeah, Marvin, I'm ready to go."
"Superb! I've alerted the captain of your desire to deploy," the MRVN replied as the hatch doors opened. "Once you have finished your task, I'll be more than happy to assist you back home!"
"Thanks Marvin," Annalise called out from behind her shoulder as she stepped out onto the hard, dirt of King's Canyon. She waited to move forward, waving back at the MRVN as the dropship pulled away and blasted off into the distance.
Taking a deep breath, she squinted in the hot sun and recognized immediately where she was. This was Skull Town, notorious for its hot drops beginning of the match. Blisk might've been an asshole, but thanks to him hooking her up with a job inside the arena, she knew the area better than most would. Reaching under the respawn beacon, Annalise found the energy power hatch, and quickly typed in her access code, powering down the beacons in the arena. Stretching, the woman cracked her back, raised the volume on her headphones, and began swaying her body to the music, getting to work.
If she hadn't been wrapped around the respawn beacon in such an awkward position, she might've missed the girl peering around the chain link fence. She snorted softly in amusement and continued her work, pretending not to see.
Annalise knew full well who it was observing her. Wattson tended to watch her silently while she worked day to day after the games, obviously curious about Annalise, but still had that childish demure about her person. Annalise assumed Wattson's curiosity was peaked merely by the fact that she was working on her arena which the girl had worked so hard to build -anyone would be worried and take any measure of care to ensure that it was done correctly. Wattson didn't have anything to worry about, however. Annalise knew what she was doing; she'd started out as a mechanic when she was 17 at the fire station.
Placing the last knob in place, Annalise pressed the hatch back and scooted out of her back-breaking position on the beacon. Glancing up at Wattson, the girl started in surprise and retreated back into a darker spot behind the fence. Annalise smiled as she placed one of her headphones back into her pocket. Wattson might've created the arena but the girl was cute, she'd give her that.
Feigning ignorance, she called out, "Hey, wanna help me power up this thing?"
Wattson slowly crept out from her hiding spot. "Je suis vraiment désolé! I didn't mean to make it seem-"
"Like you were watching me?" Annalise chuckled as the younger woman got closer. "I know you've been watching me for months, Wattson, it's okay. I get it."
"What do you mean?" Wattson asked, playing with her shoes shyly.
"I know you built this place," Annalise replied, wiping sweat off her brow. "It's like your baby. You want to make sure I'm doing it justice."
"So you are a scientist as well?" Wattson almost jumped into Annalise's arms out of excitement. "You understand how important it is?"
"I-I'm not a scientist," Annalise said, holding the girl at arm's length. Wow. When she gets passionate about something, all that shyness is gone. She really doesn't have a sense of distance with people when she gets this way. "I'm only a mechanic. I get the attachments to projects."
Wattson seemed to suddenly realize how close she was to the other woman and retreated, blushing slightly. "All the same, I'm happy that you realize the importance of this arena to me and are trying to do it justice."
Annalise studied the younger woman for a moment. She hadn't realized since she hadn't been this close to her, but Wattson wore almost no makeup, save a thick winged liner on her eyeline, highlighting the bright blue in her eyes. "You gonna help me power this thing up, or what?"
"Yes of course!" Wattson said, rubbing her hands together to conduct electricity.
Her tech was extraordinary. There was a reason the girl had never come into Annalise's own lab for repairs, this stuff was astounding. She could clearly tell that Wattson had combined her knowledge of mechanics and electricity to create the perfect pylon. Seeing up this close attached to her back made the older woman appreciate the mind of the electrician more and more.
"C''est magnifique! The beacon is ready to go!" Wattson clapped her hands together.
"Thanks, I appreciate it," Annalise pressed a button on her e-paper pad, notifying her MRVN that she required a ride home.
"All these months watching you and I never learned your name," Wattson said, slowly. "It's almost embarrassing to ask, but what is your name?"
"Cray," Annalise said, almost automatically, and then stopped short. Shit. Had she realized-?
The confused, innocent look on Wattson's face confirmed that the girl had not made the connection.
"Sorry," Annalise chuckled nervously. "Old habits die hard, I guess. That was a, uh, nickname. At my old job. My name's Annalise."
"Annalise! What a pretty name," Wattson beamed longingly. "I wish I had a name like yours."
The girl's enthusiasm couldn't help but bring a small smile to the mechanic's face.
"Please, call me Natalie!" Wattson grasped her hand with a twinkle in her eyes. "I'm happy to have made a new friend!"
"A- alright. Watt- Natalie," Annalise said, hesitant. It was going to take a minute to get used to calling Legends by their first names. She wasn't here to play friends. Her face darkened for a minute.
Wattson looked confused, trying to read the older woman's face. "Did I overstep?"
Yes. Annalise was here to survive the Games and her own past chasing after her, but there was more she wanted. Smiling, she brushed off Wattson's questions of if she was alright and stepped into the dropship.
"Ah, Ms. Paquette will be joining you today?" the MRVN asked cheerfully, oblivious once again to the energy surrounded the two women.
"Yeah Marvin. Take us back to base," Annalise said quietly, watching the retreating King's Canyon from the window, ignoring Wattson's blue eyes trained on her.
xxx
That damn girl! She was too nice.
Frustrated, Annalise took another aggressive sip of her drink. She was not working for the Syndicate and being Blisk's pawn for nothing. Play nice with the Legends, yes, she could do that. But she wasn't there to make friends, and definitely not any hindering attachments that could come in the way if she didn't watch out. What she had planned would destroy Wattson's beloved arena, and now she didn't even know if she could do that.
I'm not the bad guy.
But destroying something that someone else loved for selfish reasons would. She couldn't go that far.
You're trapped. You're doing this for a good reason, to save yourself—
Annalise cursed herself for calling out to the younger woman when she could've played dumb like always and ignored the shy thing.
"Mirage," she growled, and the holographic trickster jumped in surprise. She had called him tonight for one thing and one thing only. "Get me another fucking drink."
"I-I think you've had enough there, young lady!" Mirage feigned authority. "I think it's time to wrap it up!"
"Don't police me," she said, taking a sip of the Negroni he passed her despite his pleas for her to stop drinking. "I'm far from finished."
He chuckled nervously. Good. You intimidate him.
"So," he started. "Is this like a date? Like is this just a bro thing or do you like, like like me?"
"Mirage," Annalise groaned. "I called you here tonight for one thing. I know you're good at drinking. And I know you know the party scene around here, plus you got me a free pass into one of the most exclusive nightclubs."
He pursed his lips and tried to feign a smile. "Oh, uh, so you just used me, huh?"
She regretted saying what she had immediately after she saw the hurt on his face. "Mirage, I'm sorry-"
"Nah, nah I get it," he stood up to leave. "I know I can be a little overbearing at times, but in the few months we've known each other, I really didn't read you as someone who used others for their fame." His tone grew bitter. "I even asked you to call me Elliot about a bajillion times already. See you later, Annalise."
She chewed the inside of her mouth. Damnit all!
She grabbed the sleeve of his shirt as he looked at her with his sad puppy eyes. "Look... Elliot. I'm sorry. The alcohol is making me more aggressive than I should be. But that's not an excuse, I shouldn't have said that because that's not how it is." She dug her nails in her leg, not believing she was telling the Legend this, but it was the only honest thing she'd said to him all night. "That wasn't true, what I said about you, by the way. I called you here tonight because I had kind of a tough time at work. And you're the closest thing to a friend I've got here, at the Syndicate."
His face broke out into a smile. "You mean that, Anna?"
She bit her tongue. Nicknames. You're getting closer to him. "Yeah."
Mirage slung an arm around her. "Sooo.. does that mean you'll be my date for tonight?"
"M- Elliot, I told you," she said. "I don't swing your way remember."
He pouted, jutting his lower lip out.
"But," she lowered her drink and grabbed him by the arm. "I'll be your wingman for the night."
"Hey, I've got my other me's for that!" Mirage protested.
Annalise rolled her eyes, pulling him closer towards the crowd. "Trust me, I can do a lot better than your me's can."
xxx
Mirage, or rather, Elliot, gave her a thumbs up as he happily danced next to a bombshell brunette. Annalise smirked and raised her cigarette towards him. From the first time she met him, she figured he had a thing for darker haired girls. With Elliot out of her hair for now, she could fully relax, finally being herself after months.
She leaned her body to the beat of the music, finding herself on the club floor, surrounded by hundreds of other sweaty bodies. Her body tensed as she felt pair of hands slide up her sides. Looking down in the blinking lights, she could barely make out a pair of well-manicured nails, outfitted with long red acrylics.
A husky woman's voice whispered in her ear. "So you dance as well? I've been watching you all night, beautiful."
The other woman's voice drew goosebumps on the back of Annalise's neck, but she swallowed, keeping her cool, understanding how drunk she was, but also wanting to play along to this woman's game.
"A bit," Annalise grinded her back into the other woman as she grabbed her hips. "I see you know a few moves as well."
"There isn't anything you can't do once you learn how to move in six-inch heels," the woman murmured, spinning Annalise around to face her.
The mysterious woman was stunningly beautiful. Her dark skin almost glittered in the flashing lights of the club and her eyes were lined with red eyeliner, almost appearing as though she had bloodstains on her face. Annalise was tall, but this woman was taller -or so she thought until she remembered the comment about her pumps. The woman looked familiar, but Annalise couldn't place where she had seen her. It was most likely her movie star beauty that made her look so familiar.
She forced herself not to smile. After a rough day at work, being forced to analyze herself and her true intentions, a hookup like this woman was almost a godsend.
"Like what you see?" the woman crooned, guiding Annalise's arms up, wrapping them around her shoulders.
Annalise nodded as she drew closer to the woman's lips with hooded eyes. She smiled slightly and drew close to Anna, kissing her softly. The woman slowly opened her mouth, allowing Anna to explore her mouth willingly, but not forcefully, letting her open up bit by bit. Annalise moaned in need as the woman began subtly exploring her body, slipping a hand up her shirt as their kisses grew deeper and sloppier. The other woman finally broke away, staring at Annalise with dark eyes, like a wolf would stare at her prey.
"Merda. Come with me." The woman grabbed her arm, leading her through the dense crowd and into an unoccupied bathroom.
Locking the door behind her, the woman pushed Annalise onto the sink, her lips crashing onto the others. All of Anna's worries washed away like they were never even there as she wrapped her legs around the opposite woman, letting her have her way. It had been months since she had been touched like this. The woman expertly traced a line of kisses down her collarbone, biting hard at her nipple through her bra.
Your shirt was already off? How-? That didn't matter. She cried out as the woman played with her body like clay, scratching, biting, molding her into exactly how she wanted.
"May I?" the woman murmured, fingering Annalise's belt loops.
Her hips buckled, even the way the woman whispered drew her on edge. "Yes. Please."
No. Something was wrong. As the woman moved the unzip her pants and place her mouth on the waistband of her underwear, Annalise felt something shift in her back pocket. She was being played.
Kicking up her leg, she pushed the woman against the wall with her foot. "What the fuck do you want with me?"
The woman chuckled, holding up her hands innocently. "I've got no idea what you're talking about." She placed her index finger in her mouth seductively. "You really want to ruin something that was going good for both of us, beautiful?"
"I'm not going to fall for that again," Annalise drew her hair out of her eyes, making sure to keep an eye on the woman. "You stole something from me. I'd like it back."
"Are you talking about this?" the woman drew her ID card from her sleeve.
"Give it back," Annalise pushed her harder against the wall, earning a pained grunt from the other woman. "I've only got a low-level security clearance. You can't do anything with that card."
"Are you sure?" the woman grunted as Annalise shifted her foot to the woman's collarbone. "I don't think you've fully explored the potential of this card, Amelia Cray."
Annalise's face flushed hot, and then cold. "How do you know that name?"
The woman smiled. "I know a lot about you Amelia. Like how you are wanted for arson, how Hammond's experiments changed you. I also know the real reason you agreed to create a new identity to get into the Apex Games."
The real reason... How could she know?! This woman had done her research. Annalise wracked her brains to remember where she had seen the woman before. Precinct. With Chopper and Jack. She's a known thief.
"Loba Andrade," Annalise said slowly, realizing who she was dealing with here. Damn her own body! If she hadn't been aching for the touch of another woman, she wouldn't be in this situation right now.
"You're thinking if you hadn't been wanting the touch of another human being, you wouldn't be in this situation right now, aren't you?" Loba asked with a smirk, voicing her thoughts exactly.
"How are you so damn good?" Annalise growled frustrated. She wasn't getting anywhere with this woman.
"Ay querida, do you mind lowering your foot off of me now that you know I hold your life in my hands?" Loba asked, gesturing to Annalise's shoe. "You're staining my shirt."
"How do I know you're not going to run off with my story and my ID?" she demanded.
"I followed you here because I wanted to make you a deal," Loba said. "And there's no way you will refuse, I have all the information I need about you."
Annalise swallowed. Here she was again, at the mercy of another person. She really needed to get out of the habit of dealing with under the table shit.
"If you give me one more moment to scan your ID card, I'll be out of your hair, and you'll never see me again," Loba promised, her hand on her heart.
Annalise furrowed her brow. "That's really all you wanted?"
"Yes, well and you," Loba smiled coyly as Annalise blushed. "My plan was, was to get you into bed with me, and while you were asleep, to scan the card. Don't think I seduced you for nothing though, if you still want to-"
"Get on with scanning my ID and get the hell out of here," Annalise groaned reluctantly, picking her shirt up from where Loba had left it.
The woman laughed. "Too bad. I really did like you." She crouched down and inserted the card into a tiny machine that emitted a small beep as the card went through. "It'll only take a couple minutes from here."
"Why do you need my ID?" Annalise asked.
"Why do you want to kill Kuben Blisk?" Loba countered.
Annalise bit back a retort. Despite how personable she was, she had to remind herself that Loba was a dangerous woman. Added to the fact that she knew Annalise's true motivations for joining the games, there was nothing that could be said in her own defense.
"I don't blame you," Loba said suddenly, pulling the card out from the machine and returning it to her. "I hope you figure out a way to make your plan work. In my heart of hearts, I wanted to talk to you. Perhaps that was why I let my hand slip -I let you know I was grabbing your wallet. I'm not that sloppy."
Annalise took the card, confused at the thief's sudden honesty.
Loba saw the look on her face and smiled sadly, looking like she was reliving a hundred memories at once. "Hammond ruined my family's life once in another world. The Syndicate also let my family down. I hope you get what you want in the end."
"Wait, Loba-!" Annalise called as the thief made her way out the door.
"Tchau, Amelia," she smiled as she vanished into the crowd.
Shit! Another unwanted variable in her plan.
The minute after she agreed to Blisk's plan to get her into the games was the minute she decided she was going to kill him. If she could pull it off, the death of such a high sponsor would suspend the games, allowing her to walk free with the money, and her freedom, the freedom to do what she actually wanted to do. But now it wasn't only Blisk who knew her past -Loba did as well. She didn't want to kill Loba, but there was no telling what the thief would do with the information she had. For now, she would have to trust Loba on her word and wait with bated breath.
Flipping out her phone she opened it to one message from Elliot.
"Yo, your wingman skills are ON POINT! She was amazing, we gotta do this more often! I'm taking her for a drive right now, so give me a call when you want to head back."
"Goddamn it, Elliot," Annalise mumbled as she tapped on his name.