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Maggie is hauled out of her cell to meet someone.
"Who the hell-?" Maggie growls at the guard and spots the person in question. She frowns, confused why she, of all people, would want to visit her.
Bronze eyes quickly glance over to Maggie. Loba motions for her to sit from across the table.
"Hello, how are y-"
"Cut to the chase; I ain't got all day." Maggie snaps at her and simply stands.
Loba quirks her eyebrow in irritation and has a strained smile. "Why, is your schedule full?"
Infuriated by her snarky comment, Maggie slams her fists on the table. Loba flinches back with a grimace.
"Don't try me pigtails. Say your piece and leave." Maggie looms over her while baring her teeth.
Loba reconsiders if talking to her will help, but then again, this is precisely what she needs. "I need your cooperation to pretend to be my lover. I will-"
"BAWAHAHAHA! No." Maggie couldn't believe what she is hearing and starts to walk away.
"Let me finish! You like what I say next." Loba raises her voice to get Maggie to stop.
"Unbloody likely-" Maggie sneers at her.
"I will help your rebels in exchange for your cooperation," Loba says in a hurry.
This stops Maggie in her tracks, and she spins on her heels to walk back to Loba. "You got my attention. Question is, what for?"
Victorious in getting Maggie interested, Loba explains, "You know the red simulacrum. He targeting people close to me-"
"I'm the bait," Maggie smirks. Of course, pretending to be hers wouldn't be easy.
"In a way, yes. Long enough until I can figure a way to subdue him without," Loba laughs bitterly. "Killing him."
Maggie tilts her head. "Wouldn't it be better just to kill him? Although not sure how since he gets a new body every time he becomes scrap metal."
"I used to have his source code. Suppose I destroy that he would have died long ago. But he wants death so he can be at peace and not suffer anymore. I will give him the opposite because he doesn't deserve to be at peace for killing my parents."
"Hah, let me get this right. You want him to suffer at the expense of the people close to you by putting them in danger by letting him live." Maggie gives her a bemused look.
Anger and pain streak across Loba's face. "That's not-"
"I'm all about sticking it to the people who deserve it to suffer a while longer. But not at the expense of my people's safety. What is wrong with you?" Maggie shakes her head in disbelief.
"Look here! I'm offering YOU a chance to help your people. How I handle him is my business!" Loba stands up and shouts at her. Maggie's words make more sense than she cares to admit. Some anger is directed at herself because she knows her selfishness leads to this desperate moment.
"Right, offering," Maggie gives her a bitter smile. "Because I'm already a dead woman walking, no risk in using me. Still, I want a guarantee you'll help my rebels before agreeing to this."
A twinge of guilt twists Loba's gut, but she ignores it. "I'll have reports from your people delivered to you in jail. Give me enough time, and I'll have you walking about more freely to make us a convincing couple. Do we have a deal?" She extends her hand out to Maggie.
Maggie mulls over the deal in her mind. Never the one to turn down an opportunity to be free, even if the leash happens to be in the hands of an opportunist who intends on making her life more dangerous. Meh, what is one more killer in line to take their shot at her? Ultimately, she grabs Loba's hand in a vice grip, making her wince for a moment.
"You got yourself a deal. I've got nothing else to lose." Maggie lightly chuckles at her upcoming demise. It seems like it'll come sooner with the robotic assassin.
Loba smiles sharply through the momentary pain when she feels her rough hand and returns a firm shake. "It's nothing personal. It's just business."
"Heh, you telling me that or trying to convince yourself to get rid of the guilt," Maggie gives her a harsh smirk.
Loba narrows her bronze eyes at her. "We need to act like lovers. So stop antagonizing me."
Maggie grits her teeth when she takes a long look at her. "That's gonna be tough; you ain't exactly my type."
Loba's jaw drops in shock. "I'm everyone's type. Do you know how people want to have the chance to be with me?"
"I dunno; for me, dating you is a death sentence, which I'm already serving. So two for one deal...hah, I'm such a lucky woman." Maggie gives her a crooked smile.
Loba picks up on her lighter tone and plays along. "What can I say? I'm a giver. Live long enough, and you'll reap all sorts of benefits." She bats her eyelashes at her.
Maggie laughs bitterly.
"Hahahaaa." Maggie slowly looks at her. "Guess that's that then. You use me, and I use you."
Loba nods. "Yes, it's in our best self-interest."
"Hmm, see you later, Wolf." Maggie grins and walks away.
Even though it is her idea, Loba can't help but feel a little uneasy about using her. She keeps repeating to herself that she is already on death row and will help Maggie's rebels in return. She sighs and leaves the jail, the knot in her stomach lingers.
***
Over time Loba slowly distances herself from her favorite people and spends more time with Maggie. As promised, she is able to get her more leeway to leave the jail so they can put on a more convincing act of being lovers. Fans have been following their relationship with shock, saying how their love is doomed since Maggie is slated to die. The publicity has been a whirlwind for Maggie, who is not used to such public attention outside of being with her rebels.
Loba has Maggie at one of her favorite bars. Photographers are trying to sneak in shots of the couple.
"Urgh, they're such a pain." Maggie groans as she leans back on a table and turns her head to Loba sitting at the side of the table.
Loba merely chuckles. "They're a necessary inconvenience." She takes a sip of her drink.
"I can shoot my-"
"No"
"Just to scare-"
"No"
Maggie huffs with frustration. "You're no fun."
Loba's bronze eyes twinkle with amusement. "My fun is much more enjoyable than what you were going to do."
"Oh?" Maggie turns around to face her. "What kind of fun?"
"Come with me to find out," Loba teases her with a wink. She gets up to leave with Maggie following close behind her.
When they get there, Maggie grumbles in disappointment. "Really?! A fancy clothing store?"
"What? Were you expecting us to go to a beach and see me in a bikini?" Loba smirks at her.
"Nah, I wanted to steal shit." Maggie knows her craft and is hoping they will in the future so she can give to her people and cause mayhem in the meanwhile.
Loba blinks, then lightly laughs. "That would be more fun for you. No, not this time. Right now, we need to bring your style to my level." She stares pointedly at her clothes.
"My clothes are-" Maggie protests.
"A disaster. But don't worry, I never leave my lovers looking like-" Loba motions her hand to Maggie. "Whatever that is."
Before Maggie can say anything, Loba grabs her hand and goes into the store. Much to Maggie's relief, Loba picks out clothes that are not lacey or dresses. In fact, Loba pulls out some leather jackets and pants that wouldn't be a pain to wear. Loba gently shoves Maggie into a dressing room with new clothes to try out.
"Try them out," Loba says and closes the door before Maggie can escape.
Maggie runs her hand through her hair, annoyed being told what to do. She looks at the clothes with a frown. She shrugs off her clothes, thinking the faster she does, the quicker she can leave. The jacket fits nicely, showing off some of her back and tattoos. The pants are surprisingly comfortable when she puts them on. She walks out the door, mildly impressed with Loba's choice of clothes for her.
"Not too bad-" Maggie says as she leaves the dressing room.
Loba sits there mildly stunned at how good Maggie looks, her bronze eye appreciating Maggie's yellow snakeskin jacket showing off tone abs and tasteful tattoos. It takes all of her willpower not to reach out and touch every exposed skin of Maggie's body.
"Ay, stop looking at me like a slab of meat." Maggie playfully says when she notices Loba's heated gaze roaming over her.
Loba snaps out of it with a faint blush. She coughs to clear her throat. "What can I say? You're quite- delicious to look at." She lets out a growl unintentionally, then turns her head away. She was confused about how much she wanted to have her way with Maggie.
"I see you itching to have a piece of me. Take your shot, ravenous Wolf. Can't promise I won't bite, though." Maggie stalks her way over to Loba with a wicked grin, then stops in her personal space.
Desire and control wars inside of Loba. By all means, she wants to but feels like she is too excited? The longer she stares, the less willpower to hold back. She caves in, lightly tracing her nails on the tattoo, and sees Maggie shiver.
"Heh, so you just want to tickle me? Not nearly as bold as I thought. Such a meek Wolf." Maggie teases her, placing a crooked finger under her chin to make Loba look at her.
Loba didn't like her pride being challenged. She grabs Maggie's jacket and pushes her until the back of her legs hits a lounge chair. Maggie falls back on it with Loba on top of her.
"Don't mistake my self-control for meek," Loba murmurs in her ear, then her hands travel down Maggie's chest to her tone abs. Her hands glide up to push the bandage shirt out of the way to see how far Maggie's tattoo goes on her body.
"Hahaha, I like it when you're rough. But what was the point of dressing me up if you were only going to take my clothes off a minute later?" Maggie growls against Loba's throat, feeling her pulse race.
Loba softly hisses when Maggie gently bites her neck. "Hmmm, I- oooh- wasn't expecting you to look sooo- good in that outfit."
Maggie grins, then hears something above them, alerting Loba as well. In one quick movement, Maggie shoots her riot drill in the ceiling. Loba gets off and whips out her handgun. A metallic roar erupts when hit with scorching fire, and the ceiling collapse. Maggie dodges out of the way, but the fallen simulacrum manages to cut her arm before Loba puts a bullet in his head.
Store employees and security come to see what is happening. Loba apologizes for the mess but notes the poor security that should have prevented this from happening. The store responds by giving her all the clothes for Maggie for free and future discounts to keep doing business with her. They move the couple to another room to clean the mess and sort out details for Loba.
"That was fun." Maggie chuckles as she tears the bottom of her old shirt and wraps it around her cut arm.
"Hey, let's go to the hospital." Loba gently touches her arm in concern. Although upset they didn't get to explore each other further, she is more worried about Maggie's wound.
Maggie raises her eyebrow in confusion. "Uh, he's scrap metal, at least for now until he gets to a new body. You can stop pretending to care when he is out of the way." Since he is gone for the moment, they could stop acting like lovers.
Her words sting Loba, making her grimace when she remembers that them being together is just an act. When did she start caring so much for her? It's only been a few weeks at most, but the time they spend together, the more she learns about Maggie's life with the rebels, made Loba more...sympathetic?
Loba couldn't let Maggie think she forgot, so she says, "I'm not pretending to care. You need a doctor to stitch that up and prevent it from getting infected. I need you at full strength to survive longer."
"Hah, I'll be fine. I've been in worse scrapes than this." Maggie uses her teeth to grab one end of the torn fabric and uses her other hand to tie it. She looks over to Loba with a sly grin.
"That was some pretty convincing performance you put on there. Nearly got me thinking you were really into it." Maggie chuckles light-heartedly. Because there is no way a woman like her can stand a rough woman like herself.
Loba struggles to keep a neutral face. "Hah, you wish- but really, you make it easy to not that I was-"
Maggie's smile grows as Loba trips over her words. She is amused that her sauve partner in crime has trouble denying that she was into it. So she slides her arm around Loba's waist, causing her voice to hitch.
"What's the matter, Wolf," Maggie growls teasingly in her ear, feeling the woman shudder. She stares into those surprised bronze eyes with mixed feelings. Perhaps she is taking it too far, so she retreats away with a laugh.
"Hahaha, you should look at your face. Priceless." Maggie says with a crooked smile.
Loba's heart slows down when Maggie steps away from her. Peeved of being teased by this woman, she crossed her arms.
"It's dangerous to mess with a woman's heart," Loba states with a huff.
"Meh, I live for the danger and haven't died yet." Maggie shrugs, making Loba scowl at her.
"You're so- urgh," Loba turns away from her and heads out the door.
"Oh, come on, Wolf. Why so- mmhhh?!" Maggie puts her arm around Loba's shoulders and feels herself get shoved against the door.
Done with words, Loba decides to let her actions speak for her by roughly pressing her lips to Maggie's lips. Loba feels her smile and part her lips, letting her in. Maggie's hands grab Loba's thighs to lift her onto Maggie's hips. Lost in the moment, a knock on the door interrupts them.
"Uh hello, Miss Andr-"
Maggie slams her fist on the door and growls. "Get lost; we're busy here."
There was a faint apology from outside the door, then silence except for Loba's laughter.
"Wow, you showed them," Loba smirks, looking into Maggie's brown eyes.
The gruff woman shrugs, "I hate stopping when it starts getting good."
"Hmm, but I think it's good we stopped." Loba unwraps her legs from Maggie's waist. "We need to continue this elsewhere."
"What? A fancy dressing room too shabby for you?" Maggie snickers with arms out wide.
Loba rolls her eyes with a smile. "The room is fine. However, the people don't need to be privy to what we're doing." She straightens her clothes and checks her makeup.
Maggie shrugs and picks up her clothes to change back into; only Loba stops her.
"Keep the new clothes on."
"You like them that much, huh?"
"It's, hmm, shows off your body quite nicely."
"Hahaha, understood."
When they are done, they leave for one of Loba's safe houses and continue where they left off.
***
The light from the window shines on Loba's face. She mumbles and stretches out in the bed, turning to look beside her. Bronze eyes land on the tattooed body and travel the exposed length of her body with a pleasing smile.
Loba reaches out to touch the ink, only to frown when she remembers their agreement. She sits up in bed with her head in her hands, annoyed with herself for letting it go this far. She looks over her shoulder, chin resting in her head, to stare at the woman in question.
Maggie slowly blinks her eyes open and grins when she sees Loba looking at her.
"Hmm, ready to go round- well, I lost count after three," Maggie smirks when Loba cough with a blush. She pushes up from the bed only to wince when pain shots up her arm, which was wounded when the simulacrum attacked her. "Hells forgot about that."
"Hold on; I have a medkit in the bathroom." Loba leaves to retrieve it.
Maggie sits upright on the bed and removes her makeshift bandage to reveal her wound. She grits her teeth as some of it is stuck to her skin, but she quickly takes it off to get it over and down, ignoring the pain.
"Oh, that looks terrible. You really need to see-" Loba grimaces at Maggie's arm wound while holding the medkit.
"I'll be fine. Just hand me the kit, and I'll patch myself up good as new." Maggie says nonchalantly since she had worst than this.
During the weeks they spent time together, Loba knows her stubbornness well and hands her the medkit. Kit in hand, Maggie makes quick work on cleaning, disinfecting, and wrapping up the wound in no time.
"See, done. nothing to worry your pretty head about." Maggie lightly flexes her arm with a grin.
The way Maggie bandaged herself so quickly speaks to the years of experience the warlord has been through. How often has this woman been hurt to the point that it has become a regular part of her life? How can she grin and bear the pain over and over again? Guilt has Loba in a vice grip, hardening her resolve to put an end to this farce.
"I can't do this anymore," Loba looks at Maggie with a serious expression.
"Meh, figures. Not many women can handle more than one night with me." Maggie snickers at her.
Annoyance flashed across Loba's face.
"Wha- NO- that is not what I meant, and for your information, I can handle you more than just one night." Flustered, Loba wants to ensure that is not the case.
"Uh-huh, don't worry, I'll keep this between us. Wouldn't want to embarrass ya." Maggie puts her hands together and stretches her arms upwards.
This motion catches Loba's bronze eyes as they hungrily gaze at Maggie's well-toned body. Momentarily distracted, the thief forgets her resolve and gravitates toward the warlord. She looks into Maggie's amused brown eyes and lightly touches her face. Startle by the action, Maggie freezes for a moment, not used to being handled so gently. She clears her throat and steps away from Loba's touch.
"Well, I should head back. Just so you know, I'm keeping this," Maggie grins when she finds the yellow snakeskin jacket and puts it on.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure. It was a gift anyway… Wait, I didn't explain what I meant earlier." Dazed, Loba nods to her, then remembers her resolve. She starts to grab her clothes to put on as they talk.
"I told you, I won't say a word about-"
"NO! I'm not embarrassed-!"
"I dunno, that blush says otherwise," Maggie snickers at her.
It takes all of whatever little patience Loba has within herself not to strangle this ridiculously hot, and - nope, her mind is no longer on the rails. So Loba takes in a deep breath and ignores Maggie's knowing smirk.
"I don't want to use you as bait anymore," Loba says quickly to snap Maggie's attention.
"Why not? We can be together, and I can handle him just fine. In fact, he is the worst assassin I have ever dealt with in my life, and that's saying something. You think with as many bodies he has that he be like a super-assassin, but no. He is really easy to kill, and-" Maggie doesn't miss a beat and drags the red simulacrum's poor skills through the dirt, but the thief was not paying attention to the last part.
Loba's mind is stuck on Maggie saying they can be together.
"Wait, you knew about my- all this time- when I thought I was the only one to-" Loba's thoughts get jumbled up, not ready to believe what she heard. Perhaps she misheard that and wanted to assume that is what Maggie meant.
"I've been through my share of relationships. I would be a fool not to see the way you look at me." Maggie softly smiles at her, then crosses her arms. "Figured I let you sort that out and decide what to do when it came down to it. For a woman who has been all business before, you got quite a soft heart."
Flustered by Maggie, Loba turns her head away. "I didn't- ahem- expect you to be so- well, you were not what I was expecting." Loba thought she used a criminal to eliminate her parent's killer problem. But along the way, she discovered an incredible woman that cares about her people. See the fire in Maggie's soul that keeps her alive and still has the power to fight even when in chains. As she learned more about Maggie, the less Loba wanted to continue their charade as lovers.
Maggie raises an amused eyebrow.
"That's people for you. We are more than what the public knows about us. There is so much more to me being a Warlord. Criminal. Prisoner. I would think you of all would know that best given your profession." Maggie grins.
"Yes, well, I was wrong to think that about you," Loba says dejectedly.
"Well, with that out of the way. I don't see why not to continue our deal."
"But you'll be in danger!" Loba protests with furrowed eyebrows.
"I'm always in danger. One murder bot, a bad one at that, is barely a blip on my radar." Maggie shrugs nonchalantly.
"Still," Loba looks grim and closes her eyes for a moment, "I've sent trackers to find the runner with his source code to end it once and for all. Being with you, I've realized the...harsh reality of your words when you mention my revenge for putting the lives of my close friends in danger. More so when I started to have feelings- for you." She says the last part quietly, but Maggie hears her fine.
Maggie chuckles. "Well, aren't you a sweetheart?" She walks over to Loba on the bed and leans over to tease her.
Loba smiles and swats Maggie away. "Look, I'm trying to make up for it."
"Haha, I know. I put some of my guys on the search as well." Maggie backs up with her hands up with a grin.
"When did you have time to-?" Loba looks at her, astonished.
Maggie gives her a mischievous wink. "There is always time to cause mayhem or, in this case, look for a sim's source code. Though I do admit, that is a new one for me. I figured if I get it first and make you destroy it to get him off my back. Plus, stop him from targeting your people."
"Oh? You were going to MAKE me destroy it? Why not do it yourself without my input?" Loba looks at her, confused.
"I could, but I know what he has done to you. It's your right to decide." Maggie understands and wants to leave it up to her in a way.
"What about you making me destroy it, though?" Loba squints her bronze eyes at Maggie.
"Heh, I'm pretty sure I can convince you to do anything with enough- motivation," Maggie smirks at her.
Loba couldn't deny that as much as she wants to, so she relents. "I would have- eventually destroy him. Sooner than I thought, but it would be worth it." She stares at Maggie with sincerity that it catches her off guard.
Maggie lets out a soft sigh and smiles. "I'm worth it, am I?" She leans into Loba's space, who doesn't push her away.
A chuckle escapes Loba's lips. "Yes- you are~." She grabs the yellow jacket to pull Maggie into a searing kiss.
The momentum has Maggie on top of Loba, both happy to continue their last night's delightful affair.