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The Ghosts have been in between missions for far too long, people were restless, fights had broken out in the barracks, the fact that this entire month had been spent in the bowels of a ship, didn’t help.
Even in Gaunt’s quarters, he was agitated, pacing around like a moth under glass, Leta was only adding to it.
“Just let me train to join the Scouts, I have the skills you know I do.” She leaned against his desk, playing with her knife “I’m small..I’m quiet, I’m good at stealt-”
“I already said no.”
“Because I’m not good enough?”
“Because I like having you where I can keep an eye on you.”
She scoffed, “What happened to no special treatment?”
“You broke Rawne’s nose just last week..”
“We were sparring!” She waved her knife in his direction, and when she realized it wasn’t helping her case, set it down on the desk “And he grabbed my ass.”
“And calling him a cunt was part of that?”
“I’ve said worse, he was just pissed off I beat him..”
“He’s still a Major..”
“You’re telling me to respect Rawne? Of all people?”
“You were also caught setting a fire in the showers..And were caught stealing…and trying to lockpick your way into the supply storage..”
“I wanted to see if we had eggs.”
He stopped pacing and turned to look at her “Leta you can’t just…you have to follow rules.”
She rolled her eyes “So it's do as I say not how I do?”
“What?”
“You break rules all the time!” She waved her hands to gesture to herself.
“Thats different.”
“Why? Because you're Colonel-Commissar and I’m just a Trooper?”
“Yes.”
“Bastard.” She spat the word “So I’m just a trooper?”
“I didn’t mean that-”
“You obviously did…so I’m Leta when you want me to warm your bed but I’m Middenlocke when it comes to anything else..”
She picked up her knife
“Don’t be ridiculous..”
“I am not being ridiculous!”
She knew the knife, it cut through the air, passed his shoulder and into the bookcase behind him.
“Do not tell me I’m being ridiculous!”
“You just threw a fucking knife at me!” He pointed to her knife, sticking out of the book shelf, buried deep enough in the wood that if it had hit him, it would properly have pierced his heart.
“I missed!”
“Not the point!”
He was angry, voice was thunder, the only times he got this angry, someone ended up either knocked out or dead.
“I don’t believe you…You want to be a Scout and then you throw a knife at your commanding officer..” He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, messing it up rather than smoothing it down “You do not work well under anyone else’s command, Rawne is the only one who can handle you!”
She snarled, and walked towards him, as she walked passed, she hit him with her shoulder
“Maybe I’ll go fuck the Major then!” She glanced back, just in time to see Gaunt narrow his eyes “Maybe he’ll see me as a soldier and not some doll to protect..”
It was a low blow, she didn’t even mean it, she was just annoyed.
She reached the bookcase, and pulled her knife from its place, she placed it back in its sheath.
“Commissar-Colonel Gaunt..”
“Middenlocke.”
His tone was cold, it almost broke her heart, she’d almost would have preferred he did hit her.
She walked to the elevator, and as the doors closed, she expected to see him stop them, to apologize, or should it be her saying sorry?
Fuck why was she so angry? Not his fault they’d been stuck here for a fucking month.
She pressed the button for the barracks.
She wasn’t going to say sorry, not yet, She didn’t want to anger him further.
He’d calm down, she’d calm down, She’d be stealing sips of his whiskey by breakfast.
She hoped.