Love and Betrayal

Chapter five

    ‘ She is even more stunning in person.’ Aaron thought to himself. He hadn’t expected Kajika to show up when he had. He must have gotten word about what was going on. The fact that agent Cross wasn’t attacking Kajika now was a testament to the bond the two had. Javier cleared his throat and looked sheepish. “ Dani, this is..”, “ Rogue agent Aaron Keener.” Dani finished for Javier with an unreadable expression. She looked as though she still wanted to attack him. It was clear she didn’t trust Keener, at least not yet. Aaron smirked at her and butterflies erupted in her belly. She had heard of him. He was the boogeyman just like her. “ Keener, I left as soon as I saw Cross on the streetlight video feed. I wanted to try to talk to her before I took her out.” Javier explained and Keener had to admit he liked the fact that Cross didn’t even flinch at the words. “ What would you have done Kajika, if she’d tried to take you out?” Aaron asked. Her reaction surprised him again. A look of pure repulsion crossed her delicate features. “ I would never kill Kajika. I would kill for him, he’s my brother, I would die for him!” she said fiercely. Respect for her loyalty raced through Aaron and he nodded his head. She would be a fierce ally to friends or family and a deadly foe to her enemies. “ Your reputation precedes you Reaper.” Keener said. “ I hate that f*****g nickname,” Dani grumbled under her breath and Aaron smiled. “ As does yours Keener.” She said louder than her last comment. It was clear she didn’t trust him and he couldn’t blame her. She’d been told he’d gone rogue and that he was killing other agents indiscriminately. “ Welcome to our stronghold, please come have some coffee and some food.” He said. Kajika smiled and grabbed Dani’s hand, pulling her into the cafeteria. 

Dani was surprised when she walked into the cafeteria. There were families there. Kids eating and laughing with their friends and families and she felt something inside of her chest tighten. Dani had never had a family. She grew up in the foster system. She’d been alone and had to fend for herself until she met Javier. He'd been a few years older than her and had lost his parents to some thugs who’d broken into their house. They had been inseparable since day one when Dani sucker punched an older kid in the mouth for disrespecting Javier. When Dani was 14, she joined the Division, lying about her age to get her in. That was 10 years ago. Kajika had gone into the army. Dani trained hard for the entire time that Kajika was gone. He joined the Division with her when his tours were done. “ Come on Dani, let's eat and then we have a lot to talk about. I need you to know what’s going on. What’s really going on.” He said and she nodded. Dani got a lot of curious looks as she sat down with Kajika and Keener. She didn’t touch her food but sipped her coffee while her eyes scanned everywhere. She was always alert, even on down time. A commotion on the other side of the room caught Dani’s attention and she put her cup down. She recognized the small guy from the day she and Kelso had arrived. It wasn’t until now that she realized the guy she thought was a man was actually a teenager. A bigger guy snatched something off of the kids tray. “ Hey man, give that back, I was gonna eat that!” the kid said incensed. The bigger guy laughed. “ Not anymore, that was the last sandwich and now it’s mine.” he said and shoved the kid back. The kid hit the table and some of the other trays were pushed back.

Aaron saw Dani tense up as she watched the altercation across the room. He perked up right away and Kajika grew serious. “ I’ve been having some problems with Drake since he joined us. I’ve gotten complaints of him bullying the smaller guys and not accepting no when the girls tell him they're not interested.” Javier said with a soft growl. After Javier said that, Drake pulled back and punched the kid, sending him sprawling. Without a word, Dani got up and shoved her chair backwards. She picked the apple off of her own tray and whipped it across the room. The apple hit Drake right in the side of his head. Gasps erupted around her. She hated bullies, didn’t tolerate them. Dani walked right over to the two and helped the kid up. He gasped when he saw who she was. “ Hey kid, you okay?” she asked, never taking her eyes off Drake. “ Yeah, I’m alright.” He said surprised. He wiped blood from his nose and backed away when she nodded. “ Hey sweet cheeks. That little twerp isn’t worth the effort.” Drake said and Dani’s face hardened and  she stretched the muscles in her neck. She pointed back in the way of Kajika and told the boy to go. Javier sat back with a smile as Nate ran over and sat down in Dani’s chair. “ Aren’t you going to put a stop to this?” Aaron asked and Javier shook his head. “ Nope, Dani’s going to put that f*****g roidhead in his place and I’m going to enjoy the show.” Javier said.