Steel Skin, Human Heart

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Stepping out of training with a grin of victory on your face, you saw Seamus staring at you with his mouth hanging open. "That," he said, the astonished look still on his face, "is the first time I have ever seen her look remotely happy. And she's been in Rainbow fer four years now."

"(Y/N), is it?" Zofia patted your back and looked vaguely impressed: she seemed like quite a hard person to please. "Not bad at all."

"Thanks," you replied, not really paying attention. "Where is Artemis?"

Nobody said anything.

Out of the corner of your eye you saw a familiar grumpy green-haired girl slowly walk towards you. She stopped by your left shoulder and put her lips to your ear. "Why would you care?" Ela whispered. "She is just a retarded psychopath that kills for fu..."

"Siostra!" Zofia angrily strode up to her sister and grabbed her hand. "Nie rozmawiaj z (Y/N) w ten sposób!"

"Pieprz się!" screamed Ela in response, before running to the exit and slamming the door behind her, making flakes of paint fall off of one side of the wall.

"Sorry about my sister (Y/N)," spoke Zofia. "She can be very... immature. If you really want to know," the large woman pointed to the same worn-out door Ela went through "Artemis is probably in her dorm."

"Thanks a bunch," you said, turning to Seamus. "Maybe if we just treated her like an actual person, we might find out that she's just as normal as the rest of us."

Seamus frowned and pulled a spare SAS knife and holster out of his bag. "Aye, you where always the one with the brains lad." He handed the sharp blade to you. "You've earnt it."

You pushed the knife gently away and gestured to your shoulder, specifically the six-inch blade in its sheath delicately adorned with the SAS symbol. Seamus sighed and returned the gift to his backpack as you tried not to laugh.

Mark ran up, pulled off his gas mask and gave you a cocky grin. "Go get her (Y/N)!" he exclaimed as you pulled him into a headlock and rubbed your bruised knuckles across his head.

"Once a joker, always a joker you bastard," you murmured, letting Mark go and giving him a rough handshake, before stepping through the door to the operator dorms.

You looked down at the end of the hall and saw your pile of belongings next to Room 13. As a thin bead of sweat dripped down your wrist, you heard some stifled screams of pain coming from the dorm. You sprinted the rest of the way, dumping the utility belt and vest in the ever-growing pile of your belongings.

The screaming stopped.

You slowly opened the door to see a miserable figure hunched over the side of a bed, the shaking of her right hand making shivers crawl up your spine. A dagger, illuminated by the slits of sunlight from the blinds, was in her other hand, the edge of the sharp blade covered in a blood so disgusting you found it hard not to gag.

"Are you okay?"

There was no answer.

Approaching carefully, you set down the rest of your gear down and saw that one of the training rounds was embedded in the web of her hand between the finger and thumb, the skin around the wound peeling away and exposing the veins inside.

"Here," you spoke softly. "Let me help you with that..."

"I don't need help." Her silken voice contrasted with her hostile tone in a certain way that made you feel slightly uneasy. "I've done this hundreds of times before, why would this one be any different?"

You carefully knelt below Artemis and looked straight into her beautiful blue eyes, one concealed by her long blond fringe.

"Because this time, you have me."

She looked back at you, pulled down her bandana and did that strange half-smile again.

"This looks really bad," you said while closely examining her hand. "W-why didn't you go to Gustav?"

Artemis looked at you like you were an idiot.

"Okay, okay. We all have our reasons," you murmured, not wanting to offend her as you'd probably get your throat slit. You gestured to the blade in her left hand. "Would you rather I do it?"

Artemis hesitated, then handed you the knife. Wow, you thought. She trusts me enough to give her personal weapon to me.

"You ready?" you asked, the knife menacingly poised above the wound like a heron stalking a fish. She nodded but just before the blade's edge made contact with the round, she grabbed your other wrist so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

As you pushed the knife deeper her grip on your wrist somehow tightened and you were sure you must have broken a bone. Even when you heard the dink of the training round hitting the floor, Artemis did not let go. It was only after you had fully stitched up the wound with medical supplies from your bag that she released her iron grip.

"(Y/N)?" she inquired with a curious look on her face.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you nice to me?" She was spinning the blade around in her left hand. "I tried to kill you..." Artemis looked away in guilt and set the knife on her bed.

"I'm a fucking monster."

"No," you said firmly. You zipped up the bag and gently turned her head to face you. "You're just misunderstood, that's all."

"If I was 'just misunderstood' then why does nobody want to even be near me, let alone talk to me?" she retorted, slapping your hand away.

"I-I-I do!" you stuttered as you stood up.

"Oh well that makes everything better then doesn't it?" Artemis shouted sarcastically while standing up to look you in the eye. You noticed that she was probably a good inch taller than you, but to you it felt like a thousand.

"L-look," you sighed, picking up your bag and slamming open the door to leave.

"No (Y/N), why don't you l-l-look at me?" she screamed as she mocked your stutter. "You can't even begin to imagine what the hell I've been through!"

You chucked your bag through the door and sat against the wall, head in your hands.

"I'm sorry Artemis. I really am. B-but unless you tell what the problem is then I can't do anything to help," you told her, tears brimming at the corner of your eyes, "and trust me, I really want to help you."

She looked almost heartbroken at your words as she sat down next to you.

"(Y/N), I'm sorry."

Author Note

I'm sorry this chapter took forever to be uploaded, just got a lot of stuff going on in my life right now and I'd rather have quality over quantity. Not sad things, but happy things, so that's good. I guess. Please feel free to criticise my writing as I am always looking to improve. I thank you dearly for reading this.

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