The next morning at breakfast I'm halfway done with what these people call food when Theo slides into the bench beside me. He doesn't say a word. This doesn't bug me. He's not a talkative person, never was and never will be. And I don't expect him to change- I don't want him to change. But the rest of our table went quiet and I felt the tension.

Everyone can feel Theo is not in a good mood, and they are waiting for someone to break the tension. He won't speak first. He never does. But I feel my stomach twist. I look down at my food trying to hide my blush and smile. He could have sat anywhere, yet he chose to sit beside me. And I can feel his knee press against mine under the table.

I can tell by his body language something is bothering him. He won't talk about it right now. So I find something else to say. I can feel the rest of our units eyes on us. I guess they all know we're something more then leader and second in command. We haven't made anything public. But the girls know. If assume the boys do too. I can feel the eyes flick back and forth. I'm not sure what they expect. We are not a very public displays of affection type people. But for the sake of conversation I try.

"I see you have been permotted again." I said. I nudge his elbow. As he's taking a bite of toast, I see the big black communicuff on his wrist again.

He makes some kind of noise in his throat. He lowers his hand and clenches his fist. He glares at the black watch. He sits stiff and on edge. After a few more minutes his shoulders finally drop and he exhales. Shaking his head. I leave it. He finishes eating. The table slowly goes back to the random chit chat.

"Are you done eating?" He asks me quietly.

"Ya. I can't get this stuff down. It's disgusting." I reply pushing the tray away.

He nods, picks up our trays and gets up from the table. Christina, Brenda, Sonya Harriet, Tori and Kat all watch his back and then they slowly, one at a time flick to me. All asking a silent question.

I shrug, not knowing, but I got up to follow. Brenda reached out and placed a hand in mine. I stilled and looked at her.

"You're good for him." She said quietly.

I feel the blush on my cheeks.

"I think it's cute. Monster has a soft spot." Kat said with a sly grin.

"I didn't think it would ever happen." Christina said. She shivered, "he still scares the crap of me."

"Well good thing I'm not you, then." I answer. I turn from the table and quickly follow Theo out the door. I see him slow down and wait for me. I slid up beside him.

"What's going on?" I ask quietly.

I can feel him deflate. He slides his hand into mine. He's quiet for a few minutes.

"I was reinstated, because they wanted someone to keep an eye on you."

"Wait." I say, frowning. I stop walking and look hard at Theo. "What?"

He also stopped walking and turns towards me. His face is hard. His lips pressed into a tight line and his dark eyes are stormy.

"You heard me, Ray." He sighs. He runs a hand through his hair and then down his neck. "They want someone with you at all times, to make sure nothing like...the other night happens. Again. Coin wanted a full detail. Jorge talked her down to just me."

"Oh..." I say. I frown, pulling my eyebrows together and cock my head slightly. "That a bad thing? To be with me all the time?"

I feel hurt rising in me. I clench my jaw and blink rapidly keeping the sting of tears at bay. Theo's face softens and he steps closer.

"Ray..." He sighs.

I step back, the hurt turns to anger. "We wouldn't want Mr Important to have to be forced to be around the girl he likes." I hiss. I can feel the sting of hurt tears now threatening to fall. My throat is tight with emotion. I step back again  "You seem annoyed you have to babysit the face of the revolution."

"You don't understand." His voice is quiet and even. He steps forward everytime I step back. My back bumps into the wall. Theo slams both hands on the wall. I clench my jaw, keeping the squeak trapped inside. I force myself to hold his gaze. He has me trapped.

"You seem to miss understand me, Raya Turner." He whispers.

"Then enlighten me, Captain Theo Jan-."

"They want tabs on you." He cuts me off. "They want to know what you're doing, who you're with, where you're going. They want to know when you eat, when you go to the bathroom...they want tabs..." He hisses. He leans closer, his arms flexing. He's so close his nose just about touches mine. I feel his breath fanning my face. I open and close my mouth a few times, still confused, unsure what to say.

"It's just as bad here, if not worse then back in WICKED. At least there I know how to keep you safe and how to play it. Here? I don't know these people, Ray. Jorge and I are doing our best. He's working with Vince and Paylor right now to get us out."

"Oh." I squeak. My heart is slamming into my chest. I knew I felt uncomfortable here, but now with this new information I feel even more unsettled. It also doesn't help that Theo is even closer now. His intense eyes are drilling into me. He's so steady and sure of himself, it makes my knees weak and my stomach tumble over itself.

"It's not spending my day tailing my girl. It's having to report your every move to people I don't trust. It's...what they will do with that information. It's also, how they treated you in the film studio, after you said you weren't a dancing monkey."

"What do we do?" I whisper.

"I'm working on it. Head up and eyes open soldier. You need to trust me."

"With my life apparently."

He smirks at me. He hummus. He finally closed the distance between us, and brushes his lips against mine. I place my hands on his chest. As he presses closer, and deepens the kiss. My eyes flutter closed. I feel him move a hand from the wall, he now holds the side of my face. He kisses me until I can't breath. When he breaks the kiss he pulls me into his chest instead and just holds me close. I press my face into his shoulder. Breathing in his familiar scent my muscles relax. My mind has associated his scent with safety. I feel a small smile form on my lips. I can feel his forehead leaning on my head. He's content to just hold me close. I'm happy to just stay.

"Will you write that down on your daily reports? Kissed Rebel leader at O nine hundred?" I whisper, a tease in my voice.

I hear him snort in dirision. "They'd have a hay day with that." He replies.

"Are we keeping us quiet then?" I ask, pulling away to see him.

"I'm not announcing it from the pit."

I humm and nod. The hurt must have flashed in my eyes because he cups my face with both hands. And he speaks again. "But I'm not going to deny us either."

"So your my big bad protective boyfriend bodyguard now?"

"Yes." He growls. "But I thought I was already?"

"Hmmm. I just like the way it sounds." I smirk back at him. It falters and skids off.
"I've....I've never had a boyfriend before. What do we do?"

"No idea. But I'm sure we'll figure it out. But right now...your needed in Special Defenses for something and I need to escort you." He says and pulls away, sliding his hand back into mine and tugs me down the hall towards the elevator.

"Doesn't that sound romantic. First date...weapons training in Special Defenses." I say.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." He raised an eyebrow.

I grin at him, and bat my eyelashes, "then you don't know me at all Theo."

He matches my wicked grin.

•×•

Special Defense level is situated almost as far down as I think the centre of the earth would be. It's a beehive of rooms full of computers, labs, research equipment, and testing ranges.

When Theo asks for a man named Beetee, we're directed through the maze until we reach an enormous plate-glass window. Inside is the first beautiful thing I've seen in the District 13 compound: a replication of a meadow, filled with real trees and flowering plants, and alive with hummingbirds.

Beetee sits motionless in a wheelchair at the center of the meadow, watching a spring-green bird hover in midair as it sips nectar from a large orange blossom. His eyes follow the bird as it darts away, and he catches sight of us. He gives a friendly wave for us to join him inside. I push the door open immediately. I miss the outdoors.

The air's cool and breathable, not humid and muggy as I'd expected. From all sides comes the whir of tiny wings. I have to wonder what sort of fluke allowed such a pleasing place to be built here.

Beetee looks thin and rather sickly, his eyes are a bit wild in that mad scientist kind of way. His wheelchair looks state of the art with all kids off contraptions stuck to it. Behind his thick rimmed glasses, his eyes are alight with excitement.

"Aren't they magnificent? Thirteen has been studying their aerodynamics here for years. Forward and backward flight, and speeds up to sixty miles per hour. If only I could build you wings like these, Dark Fox!" He turns his chair to face me. He's now looking at me with a scientific longing.

"Doubt I could manage them." I chuckled nervously, as I watch another bird flit back and forth.

"Here one second, gone the next. Can you bring a hummingbird down with a signal shot?" he asks. He seems to know who we are and some of our history. He uses my code name, which was also unexpected.

"I've never tried. I've never seen a real hummingbird in the Scorch before. And... theres not much meat on them," I answer. "I've never had a reason to kill a bird, never mind one so beautiful."

"No. And you're not one to kill for sport," he says, finally turning to look at me. "I bet they'd be hard to shoot, though."

"You could snare them maybe," Theo says thoughtfully. His face takes on that distant look it wears when he's working something out. "Take a net with a very fine mesh. Enclose an area and leave a mouth of a couple square feet. Bait the inside with nectar flowers. While they're feeding, snap the mouth shut. They'd fly away from the noise but only encounter the far side of the net."

"Would that work?" asks Beetee.

"I don't know. Just an idea," says Theo "They might outsmart it."

"They might. But you're playing on their natural instincts to flee danger. Thinking like your prey...that's where you find their vulnerabilities," says Beetee. "I see why they made you Captain of Ghost Recon at such a young age, Monster."

I can see Theo stiffen slightly and his eyes flash dangerously. But if Beetee saw the warning, it didn't phase him.

"We did something similar to a group of Past Gone cranks. They were terrorizing a small village. Baited them into an enclosed space. It wasn't pretty...but it worked, Playing on their natural instincts." I say.

Theo was nodded, "similar situation. But Cranks don't flee. They fight until their dead."

Beetee is looking at us intently, slowly nodding along, he has a far away look and I see his eyes glaze over. I glance at Theo. He has his hands clasped behind his back, his feet planted and just waits. So I follow his lead and wait. Theo eventually clears his throat.

"Beetee, Command Centre said you had something for Fox."

"Right. I do. Your new bow." He presses a hand control on the arm of the chair and wheels out of the room. I glance at Theo, who has placed a possessive hand on my lower back and guiding me after Beetee.

"A bow?" I mouth to Theo. He shrugs, just as lost as me. "I've never used a bow before!"

Four soldiers guard the entrance to the hall marked Special Weaponry. We wait as one soldier calls up to command, for reassurance while another one checks the last message from command on Theo's communicuff. These are just preliminary steps. We also have fingerprint, retinal, and DNA scans, and have to step through special metal detectors. Beetee has to leave his wheelchair outside, although they provide him with another once we're through security. I find the whole thing bizarre because I can't imagine anyone raised in District 13 being a threat the government would have to guard against.

"Have these precautions been put in place because of the recent influx of immigrants?" I whisper to Theo. He nods sharply. His dark eyes are darting around taking everything in.

"They are quite...protective of what's supposed to be shared among the people..." I mumbled.

I'm realizing more and more, these Right Arm people aren't who they say. And they have a lot of secrets.

At the door of the armory, we encounter a second round of identification checks - as if my DNA might have changed in the time it took to walk twenty yards down the hallway - and are finally allowed to enter the weapons collection. I have to admit the arsenal takes my breath away. Row upon row of firearms, launchers, explosives, armored vehicles.

"Of course, the Airborne Division is housed separately," Beetee tells us.

"Of course," I say, as if this would be self-evident. "Clearly." I try hard not to roll my eyes. Theo raised an eyebrow at me, I see the corner of his lip twitch up. I give him a small smirk and wink.

I don't know where a simple bow and arrow could possibly find a place in all this high-tech equipment, but then we come upon a wall of deadly archery weapons. I've played with a lot of the WICKED's weapons in training, but none designed for full military combat. I focus my attention on a lethal-looking bow so loaded down with scopes and gadgetry, I'm certain I can't even lift it, let alone shoot it.

"Monster, maybe you'd like to try out a few of these," says Beetee.

"Seriously?" Theo asks. His face breaks the hard stone look for a few seconds.

"You'll be issued a gun eventually for battle, of course. But if you appear as part of Fox's team in the propos, one of these would look a little showier. I thought you might like to find one that suits you," says Beetee.

"Thank you." Theo's hands close around the very bow that caught my attention a moment ago, and he hefts it onto his shoulder. He points it around the room, peering through the scope.

Beetee wheels back in with a tall, black rectangular case awkwardly positioned between his footrest and his shoulder. He comes to a halt and tilts it toward me. "For you my dear Dark Fox."

I set the case flat on the floor and undo the latches along one side. The top opens on silent hinges. Inside the case, on a bed of crushed maroon velvet, lies a stunning black bow. "Oh," I whisper in admiration. I lift it carefully into the air to admire the exquisite balance, the elegant design, and the curve and sleek sharpness of the whole thing is beautiful. There's something else. I have to hold very still to make sure I'm not imagining it. No, the bow is alive in my hands. I press it against my cheek and feel the slight hum travel through the bones of my face. "What's it doing?" I ask.

"Saying hello," explains Beetee with a grin. "It heard your voice."

"It recognizes my voice?" I ask.

"Only your voice," he tells me. "You see, they wanted me to design a bow based purely on looks. As part of your costume, you know? But I kept thinking... What a waste. I mean, what if you do need it sometime? As more than a fashion accessory? So I left the outside simple, and left the inside to my imagination."

"I've never used a bow...just WICKED's standard issue guns. Or a few knives."

"I'm sure you can figure it out. They didn't make you trainer of new initiates and second in command of Ghost Recon for nothing. They wanted a bow. I guess it's a bit more shower in screen then a gun. You will stand out amongst the guns."

"Oh...okay." I say hesitantly, still holding the vibrating bow reverently.

"Best explained in practice, though. Want to try those out?" He asks with a knowing smile.

We do. A target range has already been prepared for us. The arrows that Beetee designed are no less remarkable than the bow. It takes me some time to figure out how to use a bow. I've goofed off with one back in WICKED, but this is different. This bow felt like an extension of me. It didn't matter how I held it it seemed to fit my hand perfectly.

Between the bow and the arrows, I can shoot with accuracy over one hundred yards. The variety of arrows - razor sharp, incendiary, explosive - turn the bow into a multipurpose weapon. Each one is recognizable by a distinctive colored shaft. I have the option of voice override at any time, but have no idea why I would use it. To deactivate the bow's special properties, I need only tell it "Good night." Then it goes to sleep until the sound of my voice wakes it again. It's remarkable and I'm vibrating by the end of this training. I can't wait to use it.

"Come on. Time for supper and then Coin has her big speech."

"Wait...supper?" I ask, giving the case back to Beetee.

He hummus and nods. "We've been here all day." We get through the double checks if security and back to the elevator. As the door is skidding shut he reaches out and pulls me close, enveloping me into his chest, his arms around me.

"Best first date."

I can't help but chuckle.