Chapter Text
The room was blurry slightly but it didn’t matter since the only woman she desired was walking up to her with a predatory grin. The soldier moved backwards until she was cornered. Her breath caught in her throat with excitement as Loba’s dress was falling off of her shoulders as she moved.
“My sweet Annie, now that I have you where I want, what am I going to do with you hmm?” She asked, hungrily taking in Anita’s form.
“I have 6 ideas for you Lo,” Anita chuckled as she lifted the bottom of her shirt up again to reveal her cut abs.
“Oh Annie! How could I be with anyone else when you are so perfect.” Loba purred tracing a warm hand over Anita’s stomach.
“It’s ok baby I forgive you. Now are you ready for new heights?” Anita drew the thief into her arms and leaned down. Loba gasped but the sound was dull in the soldier’s ears.
“Are you taking me to floor 15?” Loba whispered, their lips were so close now.
“You know it baby,” Anita growled as she dipped her head to seal the deal but the sound of a door closing jolted her awake from her dream. Anita sat up, blinking rapidly as the threads of the dream world gave way to her groggy reality.
“No,” the soldier whimpered, “We were going to go to floor 15!” She pulled down her tank top angrily, her own hand had clearly been mirroring dream Loba’s actions. Anita sighed, grabbing her phone as she got out of bed. The smell of coffee wafted through her door, momentarily disrupting her grumpy awakening.
“That better be black coffee Blasey.” The soldier continued to mutter unhappily as she opened the door to reveal a freshly showered Renee cradling a cup of black coffee.
“Coffee’s in the kitchen,” The dark haired woman offered as she tried not to laugh at the absolute scowl on the soldier’s face.
“Thanks,” Anita said gruffly as she made her way to coffee.The Skirmisher laughed softly.
“I see someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Anita narrowed her eyes at Renee as she took her place on the sofa. Over time the soldier had gotten quite good at not lashing out at her partner. However, perhaps the Skirmisher was getting too comfortable, Anita thought as she took a long sip of her coffee. The bitter liquid soothed her thoughts and the soldier sighed happily; then again there was no need for violence so early in the morning.
“Any word from Nat since last night?" The soldier asked as she inhaled the rest of her caffeine.
“Not yet but I think we can leave the ball in her court. Anything from Loba?" Renee replied, shifting to sit more comfortably.
Anita opened up her phone to scan through her messages until she saw one.
“Oh god.” Anita froze as the night’s events flooded back to her. “We danced.”
“Yes we did," The Skirmisher laughed. "I can’t believe that I knew how to dance in my past life. That’s one answer I wasn’t expecting.” Renee said, drinking her coffee with a smile.
“Uh yeah, funny what a leap of faith can reveal,” Anita laughed somewhat nervously, glancing at her friend.
“Why are you being weird, did Loba message?" The soldier shook her head to rid her of the nervous relief and to relay the negative answer.
"No, it's much worse than that. Ajay has signed me up to teach dance class later."
"Damn." Renee said in astonishment, "I thought she was joking about that yesterday."
"It's my fault for being so talented. This is my curse to bear!" The soldier lamented as she sank into the sofa and Renee burst out laughing.
"You aren't supposed to be laughing...at least not that hard." Anita scolded her partner.
"Sorry, you make it too easy," Renee chuckled and Anita smiled back.
"That’s ok, I forgive you moon pie!" Renee groaned at the awful nickname. "Please never call me that again," The Skirmisher pleaded, it had served its purpose in making Natalie jealous but Renee was afraid Anita wasn’t going to stop any time soon.
"I'll stop when we're with the people we want! We deserve to reach floor 15!" Anita announced passionately as she recalled her interrupted dream. A hand unconsciously rubbing her stomach.
"Uh, whatever you say babe. So are you going to actually teach dance classes?" Renee questioned trying to focus her partner away from whatever weird metaphor she was referring to.
“Ajay’s trying to sell it to me as a way to make more money though she wants a cut for the Frontier Corps.” Anita answered as she read through more of the text.
“Naturally,” Renee said with a smile.
“If I move a few things in my schedule I can make it work like before and I can always use the money. Surely it won’t be that popular once people get over the hype right?” Anita asked, looking to Renee for reassurance.
“Like before?” Renee quizzed. Anita’s dance skills were clearly news to everyone but was this something she did regularly?
“Uh I mean when I was back with the IMC,” The soldier batted away the comment and Renee seemed satisfied for now. It was a new side to the soldier and if Renee had a choice in the matter she would choose daner Anita over angry Anita any day. Angry Anita had held her at knife point. Twice!
“I’m sure the hype will wear off as long as you keep your top on sure.” Renee smirked.
“Wait. I didn’t take my top off completely last night did I?” Anita bemoaned, it did sound like something she would do but who could blame her? Her abs liked to sight see.
“Nah but you’ve been rubbing your stomach since you sat down. Should I leave you for some personal time?” The Skirmisher laughed as Anita immediately removed her hand from her precious abs.
"I'm going to find Ajay to talk dance class. What are your plans?" The soldier asked, missing the warmth of her hand on her stomach but she refrained so as to not give Renee more ammo to throw at her.
"Gym I guess. Shall we meet later to go over more research?" The Skirmisher contemplated.
"Sounds good, partner!" Anita announced as she got up to start the day.
--
The door to Anita’s apartment opened and a pair of eyes widened in excitement. They watched as the soldier and the Skirmisher exited together but part ways with a brief fist bump behind green leaves.
"Sexy spy to sparky fox, targets are on the move. Separately. Please advise on next steps." Mirage spoke into his scarf where he had awkwardly hid his phone to fit with his new assignment.
"They’re not going to the same place? Interesting." Loba’s voice answered over the phone.
"You have more rapport with Renee. Approach her and ask subtly what their plans are," Natalie followed up as she and Loba sat from inside the thief's bunk to keep out of sight. Of course Loba could have investigated but it would be far too obvious. So for now the pair were relying on Mirage to learn more about the true nature of Anita’s and Renee’s relationship.
"Rodger sparky fox. Sexy spy on the move!" Mirage sprang from his cover behind the plant plot and after the shortest Legend.
"Remember to be subtle Eilliot!" Loba hissed and the trickster laughed, loudly over the speaker.
"Pullleaaase, deception is my box! Or is it bag? Whatever, don't worry, Mirage is on the case!" He boasted as he spotted Renee rounding the corner just ahead. Chuckling Mirage broke into a quick walk and followed his target, overly confident in his sneaking abilities. The trickster rounded the same corner to find the walkway empty. Mirage looked round in confusion, failing to hear the swirling void above him.
"Boo," Renee deadpanned from her portal, dropping smoothly in front of her friend. Mirage screamed, destroying the misplaced trust both Natalie and Loba had bestowed upon him.
"Aaaahaa! There you are Renee! I found you and most definitely wasn't caught off guard!" The trickster spluttered, trying to recover something from the situation and Natalie and Loba groaned in his ear.
"Sure. What can I do for someone tailing me so well?" Renee asked but her eyes flashed as Voidwalker whispered there were more ears listening to them.
"I uh wanna hang out! I haven't seen much of you since you started seeing Bangs." Mirage answered rather honestly and a pang of guilt hit the Skirmisher but she shook it off. Voidwalker mentioned their conversation wasn’t private and there was a very short list of people who were interested in her and Anita, bar the media of course.
Renee scanned Mirage’s appearance trying to pinpoint what was off about it. His scarf wasn’t as neat but that could have loosened when the Legend screamed. There was a light sheen of sweat on his forehead which was odd. Either he had ran to catch up with her or he was nervous. When they originally joined the games Mirage would sweat around her sure but it was a habit he had kicked by like season 7.
"Well that's what happens when you’re partners right?" Renee spoke, trying to bait a response. Natalie let out an indignant squeak that Loba quickly muffled with her hand for fear of the protest carrying over the phone. "It's not too different from Nat or Loba really." Loba’s eyebrow twitched as she resisted the urge to tut as the Skirmisher’s words. They were ringing very similarly to Ajay’s message last night.
"Yeah I suppose but where is Sergeant Shuffles anyway?" Mirage quickly diverted the conversation back to his mission. Renee chuckled at the nickname, logging it away to annoy Anita with it later.
"She's actually getting ready for dance class. I'm just running some errands but l'll be there if you or your friends are interested?" Renee held Mirage’s gaze just long enough to make him squirm.
"Friends? I don't have friends!" He laughed still nervously pulling at his scarf. The shorter Legend smirked. So he was wearing a bug.
"Well come make some. I hear dancing is good for the core, maybe it’ll help you get abs like Anita’s!" With that Renee jumped through another void leaving the trickster alone in the dropship.
“There’s nothing wrong with my abs!” Mirage yelled to the inky void with a pout. Loba growled as she removed her hand from Natalie’s mouth. Anita’s abs weren’t an unusual sight, especially at the gym but there was something about the way Renee spoke about them that made her blood boil. Ever since last night, Loba hadn’t stopped thinking about how the soldier’s muscles felt under her hand. The thief didn’t want that power, those scars or warmth to be anyone else’s.
"Thank you for your efforts Elliot. We’ll take it from here.” Loba ended the call and turned to her companion.
“Call Tae Joon, we’re going dancing.”
“And you’re bringing Kairi mon amie?” The thief nodded. “We’ll let the dance floor decide who’s a match.” In the back of Loba’s mind she was hoping for a chance to showcase her own fancy footwork. If what Anita had said about IMC personnel learning to dance was true then Kairi should be a good partner to work with.
--
Anita whistled as she stood in the fairly large hall Ajay had booked on such short notice. One side was lined with mirrors so the students could follow the soldier’s lead and there was an impressive speaker system built in as well.
“Looks great Ajay but do you really think we’ll have the numbers?” Anita called as she walked the floor, testing out the wood for any creaks.
“‘Nita my feed has been buzzing the moment people saw you and Renee dance. It’s going to be packed!” The medic twirled excitedly in the space and Anita laughed.
“Tch you’re making money off of my talents. You shouldn’t look so pleased with yourself!” The soldier chuckled as Ajay spun towards her, effortlessly.
“If the Syndicate can do it, why can’t I?” Ajay laughed as Anita shook her head. The soldier took hold of Ajay’s hands and they moved together in a few simple steps.
“Sergeant Anita Williams, Legendary dance teacher… doesn’t have a bad ring to it,” The soldier spoke as she twirled Ajay away from her so she could stretch her long limbs. Even though they still had some time before people showed up, it made sense to make use of the space before it was occupied with fumbling bodies.
“Is Renee yuh dance partner for today or yuh hoping a certain Legend will turn up instead?” Ajay questioned as she joined in with the stretches, finally satisfied with her spins.
“I didn’t know Renee could dance so wasn’t banking on her for today’s class!” Anita laughed and Ajay gawked at her.
“Yuh had no clue Renee could dance before yuh took centre stage?” The soldier shook her head, still chuckling.
“Nah just told her some nonsense that all IMC personnel had to learn how to dance and she believed me!” Ajay rubbed her forehead in disbelief as she tried to process the information.
“Maybe Silva was right, yuh were being stupid!”
“Hey now if I didn’t know how to dance that would’ve been stupid!” Anita retorted, slightly wounded Ajay had such little faith in her abilities.
“So when did you learn? Did yuh parents make you back in the day?” Ajay asked. It wasn’t unreasonable to expect military personnel to dance at formal engagements.
“Nah I started learning earlier in the year.” Anita admitted bashfully. Ajay took a moment to think on the soldier’s timeline, if Anita had started dancing earlier in the year, that would match up with when Loba joined them.
“Yuh started dance class when Loba arrived?” Ajay challenged taking a step towards the soldier.
“Oh was that earlier this year? Time flies when you’re having fun, you know?” Anita laughed nervously, running a hand through her hair as she retreated from Ajay.
“Yuh were away a lot in between those missions Loba was making us do…” Ajay’s voice turned suspicious and Anita started sweating.
“I was just taking time to relax just like you said!” The soldier said shakily. Ajay was piecing together her hobby much too quickly.
“Yuh never listen to what I say!” Ajay said in frustration. Everyone knew that Anita was the most stubborn out of the Legends; no matter how injured the soldier was she would always put up a fight against seeing a doctor unless the medic dragged her there.
Ajay narrowed her eyes at Anita, something wasn’t adding up. There were noticeable moments when the soldier was unavailable or absent in between missions. At the time Anita had explained she was digging up dirt on Loba…Ajay gasped.
“Yuh were dancing when Silva was wearing pants and almost got killed?!” The medic shouted at the guilty looking soldier.
“Uh I was confident you had it all under control!” Anita tried to defend.
“Under control my ass!” The medic stopped to rub her forehead again, “Yuh really liked Loba from the start didn’t yuh?”
Before Anita could answer her phone started buzzing, “Ah sorry Ajay gotta take this!” The soldier practically jumped to the other side of the hall. “Saved by the bell,” the soldier muttered as she saw it was Renee calling.
“Moon pie! What’s up?” Anita asked happily. The soldier caught the face Ajay pulled at the name and ignored her.
Renee smirked, despite the nickname being truly awful, it was growing on her and just like Anita’s dancing it was much preferable to Anita insulting her.
"I'm coming to your dance class and expect some extra guests too."
"How do you know that?" Anita replied, anxiety fluttering through her. Could this be the day she danced with Loba?
"Just trust me on this. How are your abs?" Renee asked. Anita raised an eyebrow and her shirt, surprising the medic from across the room.
"Cut tighter than Seer's ass." The soldier stated confidently and Renee chuckled.
"Good, I bought you an outfit that needs your abs to pull it off before Loba does." Renee stated as she studied the clothing in front of her. Their perfect plan was all coming together. Renee sighed in pride as she pictured the scene now.
"Oh moon pie you shouldn’t have!"