Zero.

Chapter Twenty-Five

AGENT ZERO
THIS WASN’T the first time Agent One and I had fought. But this was the first time we were actually trying to hurt each other. In the past we sparred, but never went further than superficial flesh wounds. Now, I was sporting a black eye, possible bruised rib and whatever damage she’d done when she stabbed me in the thigh.
From the blood covering her face and the limp she had, I could tell she wasn’t doing any better.
I’d lost count of punches and kicks. It was tiering trying to keep up when each punch I threw she matched. I knew we were equal fighters, but this was borderline ridiculous.
I attempted to catch her off guard with a kick to the side, but she caught it before it made contact and sent the same kick to my opposite side.
I caught it.
So we were legitimacy holding onto the other’s leg and glaring at each other. We dropped our holds at the same time.
At one point we punched and ended up colliding knuckles when we noticed too late that we had the same idea.
It was almost like fighting a mirror. Almost, because although we were equaled, I couldn’t deny that she was a bit more skilled in areas that I lacked, and vise versa. Where I excelled in speed, she made up for in strength. Sure, I could dodge her punches, but the one’s I couldn’t resulted in more damage than her petite frame should be capable of producing.
It wasn’t until she gave up hand to hand combat and picked up her gun she had earlier that I realized this had gotten further than intended.
I knew she would show up ready to fight, but I had hoped that I would be able to show her the files and talk her down before it came down to that.
It was petty, but my resolve had been shaken when she slapped me with the wooden leg.
But still, though she was bloody and bruised, I didn’t believe that she would actually shoot me.
“Really? A gun?” I panted lifting my hands. The strain on my lungs proved that my rib was probably a bit more than bruised, but that was a problem I would worry about when she didn’t have a gun pointed at me.
“Why not? It’s not like fighting is getting us anywhere.”
“And I thought we were bonding.” I joked.
Despite the tense moment, I saw her lip quiver as she tried to hold back the smile.
She eyed me for a moment before dropping the gun to the floor.
“I didn’t load it anyway.”
I nodded in understanding, dropping my hands.
“I figured.”
“You figured? Then why’d you flip me into a table!” She yelled
“I said I figured it wasn’t loaded! There was a chance that it was.” I defended.
She let out an irritated breath, wiping the matted hair from her face.
“You were waiting for me, weren’t you.” She stated
“Yep. Took you long enough.”
“Why the theatrics then? Why go through all this crap, Zee? Why not just be honest with me from the beginning!” she yelled, and I winced because I knew her words were true. I couldn’t even begin to apologize for being dishonest to her, but I didn’t know how to explain myself.
“I didn’t want to drag you down with me, in case I was wrong.” I mumbled.
“You barely gave me a chance to be dragged down! You should have come to me. Zee, it’s me. You could have trusted me with anything, but instead you lied and went behind my back. I had no choice but to believe that you had went rogue.”
“I know, and it was stupid. I was stupid. I thought that you wouldn’t understand, I didn’t want you to be involved and risk something happening to you because of me.” I plead. I realized that I wanted her to trust me again, I needed her to understand that I never meant to go behind her back and hurt her.
“Oh, that’s bull and you know it. I’m fully capable of making my own decisions and taking care of myself. It didn’t have to come to this”- her words were cut off abruptly and I looked up to see her eyes swimming with tears. A single tear fell, leaving a clear streak down her bloody face.
She was my family. The only person in the world that I had.
Don’t get me wrong, we were definitely a dysfunctional family, but that was besides the point.
One and I weren’t big huggers, but I couldn’t think of another way to express how I felt. So I limped over to her and squeezed her with everything I had. I hoped she understood the words I couldn’t find a way to say.
“I’m so sorry.” I mumbled into her shirt.
After a moment, she hugged me back.
“I’m supposed to bring you back to Chief.” she responded.
I laughed, pulling back so she could see me
“And when have you ever listened to Chief?”
She laughed with me, wiping the last of her tears, before her face sobered.
“Zee, I came here to understand. I want to be on your side, but you have to tell me everything. I know you have answers, and I want them.”
My eyes swept her face. The serious look in her eyes was tinged with something like desperation.
“You want to know why I called you Cynthia?” I guessed.
Her jaw clenched at the name, but she nodded once.
I walked away from her and grabbed the drive with everything Lee had stolen from Chief.
Plugging it into my computer, I stopped for a moment.
“Once you see this, you won’t be able to come back from it. This changes everything.” I warned
I thought she would take the time to think over my words but she didn’t even hesitate before answering.
“Show me.”