Predator

24. October, 10 pm

"Wake up," I whispered as I shook her sleeping form gently. Her eyes fluttered open.

She yawned widely and shifted in her bed. "What's going on?" she mumbled sleepily.

A wide grin spread across my face. "I saw Luise," I told her.

She sat up slowly and rubbed her tired face with the back of her hand. "What are you talking about?"

My smile grew wider at her confusion. "I saw Luise," I repeated slowly, "She looked as pretty as I remember."

Cora's eyes widened and her hands flew to cover her mouth. A small, disbelieving laugh bubbled out of her throat. "You talked to her?"

"Not exactly but we did almost make eye contact," I said as I let out a loving sigh.

"That's great," She said as she turned away from me and pulled her covers over her head. "Good night."

"Calius was there too."  I continued, ignoring the way she stiffened up.

"How was he?" She mumbled under the covers.

"I don't know, I wasn't looking at him,"  I replied.

There were several tense moments after that before she rolled her blanket off of her head and sat up fully. "So what happened?" she asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Oh, nothing. I just saw them." I responded.

"Aster... It's 2 in the morning. Couldn't this have waited till tomorrow then?" She sighed.

"Charlotte is most likely pissed that I left the battlefield, it's unlikely that you will see me soon," I told her quietly.

I reached out and took her hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. "I'll visit you as soon as I get the chance."

Her eyes softened and a faint smile stretched across her lips as she squeezed back. "Promise?"

"I promise." I smiled as I leaned over her and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "Sweet dreams, Cora."

"Night, Aster."

__________________________________

I dragged my feet down the hallway as I made my way towards Charlotte's office. Usually, she would be asleep at this time but she never misses an opportunity to punish me for my misbehavior.  As I pushed open the door, I could hear her shouting at another soldier.

"You could have gotten everyone killed!" She yelled at the man standing next to her desk. I could tell she was trying to keep herself from exploding. "Now you must think carefully before you take unnecessary risks! This mission could very well be your last one here!"

He nodded quickly and tried to hide his nervousness by shifting from foot to foot.

Charlotte glanced over at me. "You're late." She announced without preamble, though her voice still carried the underlying threat it normally did whenever she spoke to me. 

"My bad." I shrugged and walked slowly across the room towards her.

"I thought you had better sense than to disobey me," She said as she folded her arms across her chest.

My lips curved into a smirk. "Well, I guess my good sense has left me."

"You're dismissed." She said to the soldier who hurriedly left the room.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?"  She snapped as she spun around to face me.

"I'm sure you'll tell me," I answered calmly as I watched her face pale slightly.