Blindly Faithful

Beauty's Demand

Each team had their strengths. The Warriors, with the most members, were pretty much exactly what they sounded like: glorified soldiers. Although, personally, I respected what they stood for, most found them to be righteous assholes. They did not care much for us Rangers, viewing us as assassins without honor or nobility, willing to turn on our team members if necessary. However, they could probably beat any of us on a battlefield. Warriors were made to do battle. They had the strategic head and soldier's heart, but they saw things in two dimensions. Combat and protection was all they knew. The Beauties, which Bianca led, were politicians. They were made to be irresistibly beautiful and prim. They spoke eloquently when they needed to. They had access to the most lavish of clothes. They were probably the only ones of us that could accurately distinguish a salad fork from a fish fork. They were not fighters as much as the rest of us. They relied on seduction and surprise. Although, the Warriors were convinced that we were the assassins, more often than not, the Beauties were called to do that kind of work.

Then you had my group, the Rangers. There were three of us, and we were essentially jacks of all trades. We could do it all. We couldn't always sweet talk as well as Beauties or battle as well as Warriors, but we could hold our own. We were the best single fighters, save for Axel, and as a group, we could go anywhere we wanted without being detected. We were made to have something that Beauties and Warriors were not permitted to have: an imagination. We were thinkers. We saw outside the box, and possibilities were endless for us. That was what we were. Our minds were our assets, and Warriors and Beauties simply couldn't see that they were lacking.

"Then I suppose," the blonde said after an unreasonable amount of silence, "I'll leave it in your capable hands." It was the dismissal we were waiting for. We stepped back into the hallway, slinking against the side of the wall to wait for everyone to exit the room. The Beauties came first, giggling and gossiping with their sultry strides, offering us disdainful glances as they passed. We ignored them, but one of them, a blonde stepped to the side. I felt my mouth thin as I recognized the beautiful woman as the leader of the Beauties. She obviously had something to say, and I didn't particularly want to hear about it. Her eyes met mine as the Warriors stomped in their military fashion into the hallway. There was a loathing in it. One that, while I did not enjoy the woman in the least bit, I did not reciprocate. I was pretty sure the woman would gladly roast me in a pit and dance to my screams if she was given the opportunity.

I nodded at my team, whose eyes had turned to me for guidance, to start questioning the Warriors. I would be the best equipped to deal with her. Jasper and Kim were good, but there were very few that could deal with Bianca effectively.

She clicked her way to me in her ridiculously tall heels. Her short pleaded "school-girl" skirt swaying a bit with her hips. It was a light gray, just a few shades darker than white with "WBR" stitched into the lower right in bright red that matched her skin-tight vest that was left open over a white button up blouse. It was the Beauty's uniform. They usually wore white stockings and black heels with it as well, but Bianca hated covering her legs. I tugged subtly at my own uniform, very different from the blonde's. Ranger uniforms were made of a thick, durable material that served as a light weight armor. Our pants were tight with strands of flexible Kevlar wound into the black fabric. Our shirts were long sleeved and built similarly as the pants just a different color. We also had boots, light weight and designed for quick, silent movements tied tightly over the bottom of our pant legs. In the facility, we were not supposed to carry weapons, so our holsters were left in our rooms, but usually, we would have those on as well.

I let my gaze go towards my team members as they spoke with the Warriors. There uniforms were bulky, heavy, but a lot more protective than ours. They were also more colorful. The Warriors wore a deep blue color. Rangers stayed in the neutrals, gray, and black color range. It was better for blending in. I stayed watching over my team as Bianca came to a stop before me, and I waited, patiently.

This was a contest that we did quite frequently. Bianca hated being the first person to speak in a conversation. She felt like if I spoke first, or whoever she was speaking with, it would mean that she wasn't the one seeking the conversation, thus giving her more authority in the meeting. I knew that trick. It was taught to the Beauties as well as the Rangers, but Bianca was one of the few that actually seemed to take to it as much as she did. The others would only use it if they felt like they needed to.

She cleared her throat daintily, and I turned my gaze to her, offering a slight smirk, but still keeping the silence. Silence was something that I was used to. It was comfortable for me, so I knew that she would be the first to break it. She always was the first to break it. Finally, with a flip of her shoulder-length, golden princess curls and a great sigh, she opened her mouth, "I'm coming with you," she said shortly, her tone confident with a touch of annoyance, and while her voice was beautiful and bell-like, her words pulled any amusement out of my head.

I decided to not buy it, so I started to turn around, not paying her comment any attention. There was no way she was going on this trip. She would be a huge risk to the mission, and I doubted we could stay at the same space for very long without ripping each other apart. We were polar opposites. Where she was short and blonde, I was tall with black hair. Where her frame was all soft curves over toned muscling, mine was pure power. Where she was loud and obsessed with beauty, I was quiet and reserved. We couldn't work together if we were the last two people alive.

"It's not a request, Leilani," she said as her tone became harsher. She gripped at my upper arm to prevent me from turning away completely, and I went still. Every muscle tensed, ready to fight as I looked her in the eye. In an instant, the pressure was gone, and I could see the edge of fear in those teddy-bear brown eyes, but she was pretty good at hiding it, "I know him," she continued as if nothing had happened. "He'll listen to me," she hissed persistently at my unimpressed look. I believed her, but I also knew that she was not being honest with me, either. She seemed a bit desperate, and that was not like Bianca. For a second, I believed that she actually cared about what happened to Axel, but I knew the woman far too well to entertain that thought for very long.

However, before I could tell her what she could do with the offer, a tall, lithe figure slipped through the doors of the room we'd just been in, "Leilani," called the dark woman from the center table as she silently moved towards me. I bowed deeply out of respect before meeting her dark gaze. She was an inch or two taller than me in her heels and built like a jungle cat with long lithe limbs, a powerful core, eyes so dark they could be considered black, hair a glossy mahogany despite the wildness of her curls, and skin as dark as the richest chocolate. Every time I met those wild eyes, I swore it was a panther living in a woman's skin. No human could move with that grace. No human could see as much. No human was as beautiful and deadly even wrapped in a black halter top and long, wide-legged pants that billowed out to show her strappy heels.

While in training, many believed her to be the woman who donated the egg they used to make me. I sometimes questioned it myself, but I doubted it. Even with the technology the Scientists had available to them, I couldn't believe that she was half of the genetic code used to create me. I was tall, freakishly so, like she was, and yes, my build was similar to hers, but as dark as her skin was, mine was just as pale. Even though our hair was a similar shade, hers held a bit more brown than my raven black hair, and when studying our faces, it was clear to me that we were not related. Still, I knew that they were comparing ability more than genetics, and that was the highest compliment a Ranger could get.

"Bianca is not lying," she said as she sent the blonde a deadly look, "She will be accompanying you on this mission." I felt my jaw tighten at the order, and I felt the nagging sense that something else was at play, and they were keeping me in the dark about it. I was known around the world for my control. It was why I was the leader of the Rangers. Emotions were great in certain circumstances, but when it came to missions, they were best left out of it, but my control was slipping. Anger was rising along with frustration.

But the insult didn't stop there. The dark woman gave me a humorless smirk, "Also, when you find and detain Axel," she continued, her tone implying her disapproval of the situation, "Bianca takes control of the op."