Max stared at the shadow that had just appeared at the window. Her heart slowly began to beat faster as anxiety filled her body. She didn't know who it was, but if they so much as made a move to harm Josh, she'd kill them without hesitation. Her eyes watched them cautiously as they knocked on the glass in a rhythmic fashion.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Then a pause.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
S, S, that's what the knocks said. There wasn't any danger, it was just "Otacon".
She sighed and shifted in the bed, causing Josh's eyes to flutter open.
"What's wrong...?" He mumbled, his arms wrapping around the female.
"It's nothing, cutie." She told him, a sweet smile on her face as she gave him a peck on the cheek. "Just go back to sleep..." Josh's eyes closed seconds later. Max softly pulled out Josh's earbuds from his jacket pocket and placed them into his ears, hoping it would muffle the sound of her movements.
She slowly got out of bed and walked over to the window, unlocking it as quietly as possible and slipping out onto the balcony. "Otacon" wasn't in his normal FBI uniform, but instead was wearing civilian clothing. He had on a brown bomber jacket with a red and white striped shirt underneath, along with semi-faded blue jeans.
"What's going on, Otacon?" She asked.
"We don't need to go by codenames right now," He mentioned. "we're fellow assassins. Let's go by our real names."
"Oh uh, alright then. I'm Max Thurman."
"I'm Kennedy Moss." The two shook hands before staring down at the nearly empty streets below. The bright streetlamps illuminated the roads, which had no cars. It was so quiet outside, the only thing they could hear was each other's breathing. It was eerie. Max had never seen the city so quiet before. Something felt... Wrong.
Kennedy cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. "The Templars and Prime_Eight are getting serious now."
"Is that why they've been silent?"
"Yeah. They're planning something big. Their plans are locked up tight. Not even your program was able to penetrate the code, however, I did get a small bit of what is to come from some members I passed by on the street."
"What'd you find?" Kennedy hesitated before sighing deeply.
"...They're planning systematic killings of DedSec members. An entire mass murdering of the gang until there's no one left. It's sickening seeing some of the emails they've sent each other about the plans."
"W-wh... What?!" Max was in complete disbelief. That's so despicable, so violent. It's something way too fucked up for a rival hacker gang to pull off. "Th-there's no fucking way they'd do that."
"I told you I have the emails of them saying it."
"So why haven't you shown your FBI buddies the emails?"
"I have, but we only have the plans and nothing else. It doesn't seem like enough evidence to warrant the arrest of every Prime_Eight member."
"The hell?! Kennedy, they're gonna commit mass murder!"
"I know!" He said, biting his lip with frustration. "The best we can do is slow their plans down. I've recruited a team of assassins for a risky mission to find enough evidence to arrest the Prime_Eight members, maybe even stop their plans entirely."
"Who's in the team?"
"You, me, Aiden Pearce and the Raven, Courtney Thurman."
"Wait, you recruited my Mom?"
"Why wouldn't I? She's the best assassin out there."
"She's also being hunted by the Templars right now. A Templar told me."
"Well, she willingly volunteered herself for the mission." Max gave a harsh sigh, thinking about seeing her Mom. It was weird. They hadn't seen each other in a few months, and they'd only be meeting on business. Then, she'd probably disappear again. She hated how easy her Mom was ready to sacrifice her freedom, but that's what made her one of the best assassins in the Brotherhood. "When are we going to discuss things as a team?"
"Tomorrow. The murders are planned to start on Wednesday."
Both of their eyes suddenly darted towards a shuffling sound. They glanced at the balcony to their right that lead into the living room, seeing it close softly. The two of them looked at each other before sneaking back inside, footsteps barely making a sound as they walked past Josh, who was still sleeping. When they exited to the living room, they were greeted by the shadowy figure of Pete. Max and Kennedy took a defensive stance, with Kennedy activating his hidden blades and Max raising her fists. Pete took a step back cautiously.
"Let's not get too carried away." said Pete quietly, holding his hands up with a sly smile on his face. "Your boyfriend is in the other room. You wouldn't want to wake him up, right?~"
"What the hell do you want, Pete?" whispered Max, gritting her teeth slightly.
"You always ask that question. Maybe I just wanted to say hi to my ex-girlfriend~" He teased.
"Yeah right, quit playing ignorant." growled Kennedy low, making Pete glare at him.
"Fine, you caught me!" said Pete exasperated. "I'm sure you already know what I'm here for, Moss. You've figured out a little too much, haven't you?" Kennedy didn't answer. Him and Max were watching his movements closely, knowing full well that Pete was getting ready to engage in combat with them. He just needed an opportunity to. "No answer? How rude!" He complained.
Kennedy moved his foot one step forward before dashing over to Pete, the two colliding for a moment with their hidden blades as Max came up from behind Kennedy to strike as well. All of them were careful to avoid the furniture and make as little noise as possible. Pete pulled himself away from the duo as Max tried to sweep his feet. She didn't know where to go with this fight, but the moment he tried to go near Josh, she'd kill him on the spot.
Max pulled away as Kennedy lurched forward to stab Pete, only for him to counter by grabbing his arm and attempt to break it. Kennedy punched him in the face so his arm would be released, and the two exchanged blows, but were never close to stabbing the other with their hidden blade. Pete growled at Kennedy, bearing his teeth like some animal. Max's back hit the door of her bedroom, which suddenly flung open.
She stumbled back for a moment before quickly turning around, seeing Josh staring blankly at the air. She tried her best to cover his view as he stared, his lips moving but no words coming out.
"What's wrong, honey?" she asked, placing her hands on his cheek. He mumbled something about wondering where she was, his eyes never moving from where they were staring. They looked a little glossy, like he was-- "Josh, you're sleepwalking. Just go back to sleep, okay?" He hummed low and rubbed his eyes, nodding and heading back into her room. She closed the door behind him and sighed. She had never slept with him before, so she didn't know his sleeping habits, but luckily she was able to catch on to the fact that he was just sleepwalking.
Meanwhile, Kennedy and Pete had continued to tussle behind her. Neither of them noticed Josh. Max didn't know how this fight was going to end, or what to even do. All she wanted was to comfort Josh, not deal with Pete again. She gritted her teeth, her mind slowly becoming more and more violent. She was beginning to imagine his dead body in a pool of blood on the floor, his screaming being drowned out by her hands around his neck. Doitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoit--
Kill him.
Fucking kill him!
But the once dark thought that invaded her mind went away once that voice came back again. It didn't sound like they were very happy about how violent that thought was.
You're better than this. Just end things quickly.
You're right. She thought to the voice. She just needed to get things over with.
Her eyes narrowed on Pete before she interjected, pushing the two of them away from each other for a moment before grabbing Pete by the neck, walking over towards the main door.
"Whoa, hey, didn't know you were into choking~" he joked, which Max completely ignored. "H-hey, where are we going?"
"Outside, I'm tired of dealing with you." Pete's feet tried touching the ground, but Max was able to keep him up in the air. He was also just as tiny as her, so it wasn't much of a struggle to keep him that way.
"Oh, what are we going to do out there?" he asked, a smile on his face as he struggled against her grip. She walked out of the apartment with him, her grip only getting tighter by the second. His hidden blade activated to counter her, but she quickly dropped him and kicked his arm against the railing behind him, bending it at an odd angle. Pete let out a strained grunt as his free hand grabbed at his arm. She was doing the same thing from the alleyway, showing him no mercy when that wasn't like her at all. Before he could even react, she grabbed his throat again and held him halfway off the railing.
"If you fucking try anything, I'll break all of your bones and throw you over the railing like the goddamn fucking useless piece of shit human being you are." growled Max as she started cutting off Pete's oxygen.
There was a battle going on inside her head as she watched her body act on its own. She couldn't let go of Pete, but if she didn't stop him and Prime_Eight, they'd kill Josh.
They'd kill Josh.
Josh, her only happiness...?
My only happiness.
...
...
...
...I need him.
...I NEED HIM.
Max let out a frustrated growl as she pushed most of his body off the railing, his fate now entirely up to her. If she dropped him, he'd plummet to his death. Pete tried to choke out some sort of plea, but all that came out was gasping and coughing.
"If you or any of your buddies come near Josh, I'll gut each and every one of you myself. Understand?"
This was the angriest Max had ever been since the incident between her, Pete and Joseph. In that moment, she truly did want to kill him, and she didn't care if anyone saw. He deserved it. He fucking deserved it.
...
No, people don't deserve to die.
Even horrible people like him don't deserve it.
What was I thinking?!
As much as she wanted to end things, she just couldn't. She couldn't let him go so easily. "Forget it, you're not worth my time." She said, a defeated tone in her voice. She fought back her anger, the feeling eventually turning into sorrow. She pulled him back onto the walkway and let go of him. He held his throat and coughed, taking deep breaths before finally coming to his senses. He looked up at Max with a sick smile on his face, grabbing onto her boot and begging for her to choke him again. Revolted by the request, she kicked him in the face before retreating back inside her apartment.
Kennedy had been watching through the peephole the whole time.
"You're really just going to let him leave?" he said with disbelief.
"He's an awful person, but people don't deserve to have their life taken away from them."
"That's... Well, that's honorable, but mercy will only lead to violence in the future. Not everyone is as good as you."
"I know, but now wasn't the time to kill him. It'll happen eventually. It might be by my hand, it might not be..."
The two swiftly exchanged goodbyes. Max checked to see if Pete was still outside, but she saw nothing. She gave a heavy sigh, her forehead pressing against the door as she looked at the time. It was nearly 4 am. How long was she even up?
She quietly slipped into the bedroom, observing Josh's sleeping figure with a smile. She got in bed with him gently, and as a reaction, he wrapped his arms around her, cuddling up and resting his head against her shoulder. She removed his earbuds and kissed his forehead, her eyes tearing up as she admired how innocent he was in all of this. She dragged him into a sick game, and she wouldn't forgive herself if he died.
He couldn't die.
He couldn't die.
He couldn't...
-----
Max didn't get as much sleep as she wanted. It was around 9 am when Josh woke up. He stirred awake with a groan and tried not to move so Max could still sleep, but her eyes practically shot open when she heard him make a sound.
"Did I wake you?" he asked.
"N-no, I didn't sleep very good." she confessed with a small smile on her face.
"You don't look so good. Your eyes are red."
"Hm?" She pulled out her phone and looked at her reflection. He was right, they were really red. "O-oh, I see. You don't need to worry." He frowned slightly at her, making her feel guilty for not telling him the truth. "Please, don't worry about me, okay?" She gave him another kiss on the cheek and hugged him tightly.
"Okay... I hope you've been honest with me."
"Of course I have."
"You promise?"
"I promise." She pulled away from him and planted a soft kiss on his lips. She petted his head to make him relax, watching him press his head against her hand as he closed his eyes and hummed softly.
This is what I want.
I want to keep you safe.
She felt her mind becoming an endless cycle of the same obsessive thoughts to keep Josh safe, kill Pete, kill Joseph, repeat, repeat, repeat and repeat like gears making a machine do the same tasks over and over again.
Over and over.
Over and over.
Until one day he's safe and all
Mine...
She reflected on those words for a moment and felt that disgusted feeling fill up her chest once again. She couldn't turn out like them.
She wouldn't.
(Title song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiCsxn-0AFU)
(ハグルマ by KANA-BOON)