The Perfect Soldier

Siebenundzwanzig

We stared up at sunset in silence for quite a while just admiring the colors and I heard him lift his dog tags up to play with them.

I looked over and saw that he still had the tag of Adelaide's that I gave him. I blinked a few times and looked back up to the sky.

"You kept it on..."

He glanced down at them and nodded. His voice was a bit softer this time when he spoke.

"Ja... I kept it on."

A smile tugged at my lip as I let out a soft chuckle.

"Didn't think you would... Figured you put it in a drawer or something after that night..."

His thumb ran over her name as he kept looking up.

"... I keep it with me at all times now... She's protected me just like you said she would..."

I nodded slightly as I looked at my own. I blinked slowly and brought it to my chest.

"... I'm gonna need something of yours eventually..."

I turned my head to look at him. I saw his face get red under his hood as I looked back to the sky.

"I think I could find something..."

A soft smile grew on my lips and I nodded.

Something in me was happy with how we were. Laughing, picking on each other, how he took care of me while I was healing... All of it.

I didn't want to feel like I was rushing into anything with him, or using him as a rebound after Adelaide's death. But there was definitely something about him that I loved... I just couldn't put my finger on it...

I heard him sigh next to me as I kept my eyes on the now pink and purple sky.

"Can I... ask you something?"

His voice was timid but also had a sense of confidence in it.

"Sure."

I was tempted to look over at him again but I decided not to.

"What did you really think of me when we first met?..."

My brows furrowed for a brief second before relaxing.

"I was terrified... but when you bent down and looked at my dog tags I thought something was off with you... I didn't think your voice fit your body... You were intimidating for sure..."

I heard him chuckling quietly and it caused me to smile a bit. He turned his head to the side and shrugged slightly.

"Ja, that makes sense... I've been told that a lot...Do you still think I'm intimidating?"

I shook my head and frowned.

"No... I think it would take a lot for you to actually intimidate me. I know just how soft you actually are."

His cheeks grew red again as we both turned to look at each other.

"Do you really think I'm that soft?"

I shrugged and stared into his bright blue eyes.

"I think you can be... Obviously you're a Colonel in the military so you can be strict and yell at people but... I know you can be really sweet and caring too..."

I saw his eyes shift down to different parts of my face as he thought of the next thing to say... or, trying to build up the courage to say it...

"How can you be so confident about what you say about me..."

I smiled softly and my brows sank.

"It's easy to be confident when speaking the truth..."

He blinked a few times as he brought his head to face the sky again with a sigh.

"Why did you try to get to know me when I first got here... I was this cold and emotionless person to you...You asked so many questions and even though I couldn't answer them honestly, you still kept trying to get to know me...Why?"

I turned on my side as I wanted to give him my full attention.

"Because... I wanted to try and understand why you were so robotic and emotionless. I wasn't expecting you to answer any of my questions. I was just curious..."

I nodded as I thought back on that day...

"When you read my notebook about everything that happened at the org... We didn't talk for a week... I thought you hated me, or that I traumatized you from everything written down..."

My words were less of a question, and a terrible attempt at an apology...

"I should have talked to you..."

He seemed almost disappointed in himself as he spoke...

"Then... When I sat at your table for breakfast the day before we got the chip removed... I thought you were gonna yell at me for sitting with you... but... you were quite... I kept telling myself to say something... I guess I felt ashamed and embarrassed that you read it..."

I turned and laid on my back again as I stared up at the purple and blue sky...

"I didn't know what to say...I felt like I had pushed you too hard... When you told me to leave you alone, I didn't know what to do..."

His voice was softer and sad...

"I was stupid for yelling at you... I had too many emotions built up and once I let them out I couldn't stop it... I'm sorry König..."

He turned his head to face me and sighed

"Don't apologize... I was too persistent. I should have known when enough was enough and just left you be a little bit..."

I looked down as I played with my dog tags...

It felt nice to finally get all of this off my chest... and he was understanding about it...

"König..."

His head turned to look at me again as I started up at the sky.

"I should be cleared from medical leave tomorrow... I think I'm ready to confront them... Davis and the Scourger...."

His head lifted a bit and I could tell he was definitely a bit anxious...

"Do you have a plan?..."

I took in a deep breath and let it out between clenched teeth.

"No... I'll probably just go to their cells and... I don't know..."

He propped himself up on his elbow as he looked down at me... I could tell he was angry just from my mention of them.

"You are going to let me come with you... right?"

I sighed as I sat up and looked at him.

"König... You're not gonna want to see me that way... I'm gonna do things I've never thought I could do to another person...It could change how you see me..."

He sat up with me and got a serious look in his eyes...

"I can deal with it... Let me be the one to make that decision...You are not going down there alone..."

I looked down and nodded, realizing there was no point in trying to argue over this.

He looked up to the now darkened sky and took in a breath.

"It's getting kinda late, we should probably start heading back to the barracks..."

I looked up as well and nodded slowly... Tomorrow was gonna be a long day...

He stood up and dusted himself off and extended his hand out to me.

I grabbed it and as he helped me stand I kept ahold his hand, interlocking my fingers in his as we made our way back to the barracks...