FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

C H A P T E R F O R T Y-S I X

"Ha, at least I know what I was fighting for." Rampart sneered, sizing himself and slowly driving me backwards. "You, the disgraced soldier that no army wanted, are fighting to be simply known. To exist in this vast galaxy. But woe is me; since you claim to be the wiser, tell me Miss Quinn, why is your life spent all alone? You and I both know the truth and have since the very beginning: You. Are. Alone."

My shoulder blades slammed into the wall behind me. Silence choked any retaliation I could have mustered. I should have been wounded or offended...but one fundamental truth consumed the hundreds of thoughts in my mind, though, and my body chuckled amusingly.

I see now...I decrypted his harsh words. We are more alike than I had considered... My chest relaxed as I collected my final words to the vice admiral.

"You want truth? Here it is: I admire you. You have managed to sever your own head and cut all your ties—you've lost it all. And yet, even now... One day, Rampart, I think you'll reconsider what you believe is your truth, and then perhaps you'll find your own peace and security, wherever you end up. I know..." I paused to sigh through my nose. Simultaneously, Rampart slowly stepped away, allowing me to regain my balance from the wall. His light-brown eyes faintly softened when I spoke in my composed tone. "I know I am not the same woman I was when I first joined this Empire. I have discovered more about me than I think I cared to know. And one absolute truth has revealed itself to me since and that is...I am not alone."

I slowly pivoted on my heel and began walking towards the panel door. "Goodbye, Rampart. I am confident we will never meet again."

"Whatever you feel for CT-9904, do not let it expose itself." Rampart said grimly. I stopped in my tracks, contemplating if I heard him correctly. I dared not face him. He sighed behind me. "The Empire will find out and expunge your future in an instant. Like how they did to me."

He is so careful. I bit my lip, realizing what he meant by his final words. Perhaps I should have been more. We are being watched by security, and he never once revealed I was a clone... Instead, he was warning me through this presumation of romance—something that the Empire should not care two credits about... Now that I understood his reasoning of using emphasis to drive his true warning, did he make that decision out of sympathy? A one last act of chivalry? Or perhaps he believes he'd be indebted to me for visiting him under his request and I would receive nothing out of it if he didn't pardon my true identity? Whatever the incentive was, I was suddenly grateful to the former vice admiral. He and I may be similar, but if I wasn't more attentive, I would end up exactly like him...

"Perhaps," I sighed, a small smile cheeked as I glanced over my shoulder to look at him one last time. "you and I are not all that different...I mean, why should I have to beg for what everybody wants?"

I departed through the door with my head hung low and collapsed to my knees the moment it shut behind me. However, I did not hit the grated floor. Two hands caught my biceps and hoisted me back to my feet. My head popped up to find—

"Crosshair?" I gasped. My head spun in both directions and realized we were alone in the dim-lit hallway. I noticed he had replaced his armor with the dark-gray, shore-leave robes over his black bodysuit. "H-how are you here right now?"

"They said I could not join your little meeting with the vice admiral." The elite clone released my arms once I regained my stability. "They didn't say I couldn't come into the facility and stand outside his cell."

"How long have you been standing out here?"

"Not long."

"D-did you hear anything?"

Crosshair raised a brow. "Should I have heard anything?"

I rolled my eyes as he lightly smirked. "Nevermind. Come on, let's get out of here. This place gives me too much nostalgia for my comfort."

"Been detained before, have you, Bounty Hunter?" he inquired teasingly as he followed behind me.

"A couple times." I shrugged. "Occupational hazard. I will admit, though, breaking out of said detainment is quite exhilerating." I stiffled a laugh to myself. I heard Crosshair snicker, too, which made my cheeks burned. I noticed he did not press on what I spoke to Rampart about nor ask how I was feeling about the encounter afterwards—he probably grasped that it was a stressful experience based on how I'd almost fainted the instant I left the vice admiral's presence... Either way, the two of us remained silent until we reached the intersection where we would part.

"I need that long-overdue bath." I stated the obvious. "I'll...see you around." My body, however, did not move along. My mind was swimming. My feet shuffled underneath me, unsure of which direction they want to go.

"Athena?"

When Crosshair breathed my name in concern, my heart sighed. My chin hung as our kiss flashed before my eyes. If my mind wasn't processing by all that has occurred in the last twenty-four hours, I would have promptly reenacted that euphoric moment. My finger slowly gripped my shirt hem where he had done so when we embraced. I was grateful my back was towards the soldier, for my face blushed profusely and my lips tingled for his touch. I wondered if he was experiencing the same urges...

"Athena?" he said again.

"Have you ever wanted something, Crosshair," I exhaled calmly, raising my head and staring ahead down the empty, bland-gray corridor. "so badly you cannot breathe? Have you ever lo—Mmm," I hummed, scrunched my nose, and twisted my mouth into a small grin. When Crosshair did not reply, I headed on my way to my quarters with conviction. My unspoken question floated in my ears as I tucked my greasy hair behind them, accepting that I have truly passed a point of no return...

Have you ever loved someone madly?