Beware of the Shadow - König x Fem Reader

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Image credit @toxooz

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Days have passed since the shooting test and today was finally the day to head for a "real" mission, one with guns, gears, adrenaline and... yet, another briefing.

And so here I was, sat in the meeting room, waiting for the mandatory reunion to begin. My knee jumped on its own as excitement blended with anticipation into a nice melting pot. While I was trying to gain control of my own impatience, someone suddenly plopped down onto the seat next to me, making me flinch in surprise. It wasn't unusual for my colleagues to have the subtlety of a sledgehammer, but still.

I shot an immediate glare at the boor who so rudely interrupted my self therapy session, only to be greeted by the sight of the Austrian I hadn't seen since the shooting test. König, on the other hand, wasn't even addressing a glance toward me, appearing completely indifferent to my presence. I was about to open my mouth when someone else grabbed everyone's attention to start the meeting.

I exhaled as I crossed my arms on my chest, choosing to focus rather on what was at hand for now. The mission was going to be a reconnaissance one. Nothing thrilling, but any intel was valuable at this point if I understood correctly.

After the meeting, everyone got to their assigned tasks. My team hit the road, going there by the wheels. König remained silent, occasionally glancing in my direction, but whenever our eyes met he swiftly averted his gaze.

Before long, we reached our intended location. We split up to cover the area, maintaining vigilance despite the place looking indeed deserted.

As I approached some abandoned buildings with my gun in hand, an eerie feeling crept over me—as if something or someone was trailing behind. A quick glance over my shoulder revealed König, following me while keeping a cautious distance.

Should I say something? But, is he even really following me? After contemplating the matter, I chose to continue on my route, allowing events to unfold naturally.

König trailed silently behind me, his boots making subdued sounds on the packed dirt. I entered the first vacant building and began my inspection.

He stayed outside and looked around before eventually catching up to me.

"All clear?" he asked.

I lifted my gaze to observe him standing by the main door frame; his helmet almost reached its apex, his imposing figure nearly filling the entire space. In that fleeting moment, I couldn't help but marvel at the wonders nature could create on this earth; even though it occurred to me that König might have taken more lives than contributed to it whatsoever.

"Almost, I still need to check upstairs if it's clear too." I replied.

König nodded and shifted his gaze to the ceiling behind me, then returned his look, seemingly raising an eyebrow.

"Do you need help?" he inquired.

Confused, I turned around and noticed that the stairs were in rather poor condition. Also, the next floor also appeared somewhat distant from the ground. Considering both of our stature, it was obvious who had to climb up. Unperturbed by this conclusion, I headed myself towards the opening in the ceiling.

"Yes, give me a hand please."

König nodded and approached. Using his hands, he created a step for my foot and provided a boost, keeping a close eye on me as I climbed up.

Once upstairs, I explored the area. However, I found nothing of significance: the place had some mundane, discarded items here and there as some scattering of cigarette butts.

After confirming the emptiness of the second floor, I retraced my steps to the opening and bent down in front of it.

"It's all clear, I'm going down." I warned.

König glanced up as I promptly settled myself on the edge of the hole, ready to jump downstairs. However, doing so made me realize how far up I was. Jumping down on my own was not a good idea after all.

"Erm... Can you catch me?" I asked hesitantly, "I'd rather not hurt myself on my first mission."

König met my gaze before his arms extended in my direction. As he spoke, his voice tinged with a touch of amusement.

"You should consider yourself lucky I'm the one here and not Kevin. I can't imagine how he would have taken advantage of the situation."

A bit surprised with the sudden mention of my nemesis, I chuckled.

"Don't get me started, I would leap off a 10-story building rather than seek his help!" I jested with a grain of truth.

König had his hands raised just below me, ready to catch me, so I dropped down. He effortlessly gripped my waist, his large hands fully cupping it. While I expected him to set me down, I instead noticed his eyes narrowing as a smile probably grew on his lips. Instead of placing me on the ground immediately, he raised me slightly as to make his point.

"I would catch you even if you fell from a 10-story building," he stated like a matter of fact. He finally lowered me to the ground rather softly, his gaze fixed on mine.

"Sure you could!" I chuckled, "But let's hope we'll never need to come to such desperate measures."

König stood back up fully, making his imposing figure a stark contrast to mine again. We resumed our thorough examination of every building in our area. Occasionally, we engaged in casual chit chat. While not being a particularly extensive talker, König still shared some context about the overall mission.

After inspecting the last building, silence settled between us again as we made our way back to our vehicles. My eyes fell onto König's gloved hand and I could almost see the biting mark through it. At first, I thought about what I could say to tease him, but the prospect of having to fight against him again was in fact not a very appealing one.

"Uhm, you know, I'd like to properly apologize for biting you last time—it wasn't really bright of me to do" I finally said as I wanted to make sure there wasn't any bad blood left between us.

König remained silent for a bit. Having spent some time with him now, I found it less unsettling than before. He sighed as he looked down at me. His blue eyes remained cold, yet they held hints of content.

"You're still thinking about that?" he asked with a shrug. "You have nothing to apologize for," he added after a moment of pause. "If anything, I should have been the one to be more careful."

It still felt a bit surreal to be able to communicate together without being at each other's throats, like we hadn't fought for our lives merely days ago. I guess we really just got off on the wrong foot.

"So, we're good? Off to best buddies now?" I chuckled with a cheeky smile.

As we continued walking, he spoke up with the most relaxed tone I've heard from him so far.

"Yeah, we're good," he said as he turned his face toward mine, "as long as you don't try to sink your teeth into me again," he added jokingly.

"As long as you don't duel me again," I retorted, "or else I might really start to think you enjoyed it."

His eyebrows shot upward and he let out a hearty chuckle.

"Don't tempt me."

König then got silent as he looked straight ahead. After a few more moments, his tone became solemn once again.

"I'm not a big fan of showing emotions," he confessed, "but I have to admit: I appreciate having someone around who knows how to keep things interesting."

He then continued to walk toward our vehicle without another word, effectively closing the conversation. For the first time in a while, I found myself at a loss for words, so I trailed behind him in silence.

What an interesting development indeed, I thought.

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