Chapter 10 - Stripling

Fourteen days.

During those fourteen days, Denver was able to figure out who killed Cala's parents. Turns out that Romanyuk was the one who had ordered the men, so all the team could do, was finish off the rest of Olek's squad.

During those fourteen days, Denver had planned, in detail, the squad's execution. They would isolate it from Sequi, then let Cala finish them off herself, the rest of the team watching from the outskirts, making sure they didn't miss anyone.

Cala was getting geared up, throwing on the same trench coat, strapping on the same multi-gun belt, the same double sword holster, the same knife holder. The way she had fought off the men in Mongolia had impressed Daeus, and the team had learned her style of fighting. She was a brutally violent one.

The team had managed to infiltrate Sequi, and were now headed to corner off Romanyuk's group. The teams this time were different from the ones they had a few months ago. Cala was teamed up with Daeus, Arc and Arsenic were teamed up, and Shunsuke was alone, as always. Franz was monitoring.

Marching down the hallways, Cala held up two guns at her sides, shooting without even bothering to turn her head, taking down officials with single precise bullets. Daeus covered her front, whereas Arsenic and Arc covered her back, teaming up to finish those. They kept advancing, their pace never faltering, Shunsuke walking behind them, making sure they had created as many casualties as possible.

By the time they reached Olek's group, Cala's ammo had run out. She decided that she would execute the rest of his squad with her blades. As soon as she stepped into their wing, the other four took their positions, covering the entrance to the hallway. Daeus was facing Cala, ready to shoot someone if needed, while Arsenic, Arc and Shunsuke guarded the rest of the hallways.

"Hey," Cala barked, getting their attention. She held three knives in each hand, ready to put up a fight.

"Miss Brogs, it's nice to see you again," one of the men in front of her said, taking a step forward. He seemed to be the second in command, well, the first, now that Olek was dead.

She didn't even flinch. "Do you want to kill me too? Just like my parents?"

"Absolutely, malady." He took another step, reaching for a gun hidden in his coat.

Cala didn't waste her time. She flung one of the knives at him. It landed square in his forehead, killing him. "I don't think you should try."

The rest of the group was quick to realize that they had to put up a fight as well. She dropped some knives purposely, now holding one in each hand. She swung at the men, swiftly killing them one by one.

When she got sick of her blades, she threw those aside and pulled out her swords. She fought with those for a while, until she realized that she was more of a blades and guns person. Crouching down to pick one up, she glared at her final enemy.

But unfortunately, finishing him wouldn't be as easy, for he had snatched one of her blades, and was also a skilled fighter. A swipe here, a swipe there, Cala was winning. Then, the man did something that made Cala question herself.

He aimed for her stomach. Instead of rounding her back to make some distance between her flesh and his blade, her arm shot up and wrapped itself around her hips, forcing the man to cut her arm instead. She stumbled backwards, not knowing what kind of instinct was taking over, but knowing that it wasn't good for fighting.

Why did she try to protect her stomach? Was she going crazy? She forgot about her opponent, turning to face her team. Daeus took this as his chance to shoot the man, since her guard was down. Taking a good look at him, Cala started piecing things together.

Long wavy blonde hair that would constantly get tangled in her fingers. Pale purple eyes that couldn't be ignored. Soft lips that always managed to sweep her off her feet. Gentle hands that got her high sometimes. A strong body that would never stop. They had gotten carried away, twice now, but did something else happen?

If she didn't check, she would go mad. She ignored her arm, ignored her team and walked past them, being the first to leave, oblivious to the small amounts of guards that were still around and were still trying to kill her.

ABOUT THREE HOURS LATER

Cala had just finished sampling. She placed the stick on her bathroom counter and waited.

Two minutes went by. Two minutes of stress before it beeped. She wasn't exactly ready to see her result. Yes, she's been exhausted lately, yes, she's been craving certain foods, and no, she didn't get her cycle that month.

She took a deep breath before picking up her test stick. A small blue plus sign was plastered to the screen. She didn't believer her eyes. She tried pinching herself, telling herself that this was a dream, but it wasn't.

Was she really holding a pregnancy test that was positive? How could she know? She slowly let her eyes wander to her stomach, and started crying. A tiny human was going to start forming inside of her pretty soon.

She stumbled out of her bathroom, somehow made it out of her apartment, and to Daeus's apartment. She knocked a few times before he opened.

At the sight of her, he was immediately concerned. She looked exhausted, her face was covered with tears, she was holding a stick of sorts, and a hysterical laugh was already starting to work its way to her throat. He didn't hesitate to let her inside.

"What's up?" he asked as soon as the door was locked. She held up the stick, relief, fear and happiness mixed in her eyes. "What's this?" He took it, trying to understand what the blue plus sign meant.

"I took the test," she managed.

"This?" He wasn't good with women things, but he was certain that she'd explain.

"It's positive..."

"What's positive?" He was exercising his patience. Maybe she couldn't tell him?

She took his hand and placed it on her lower abdomen. "This little thing is getting settled."

It took him a moment for things to click. A test stick with a plus sign, positive means yes, and something's getting settled in her stom-

"Oh my god..." His eyes widened drastically, a smile coming across his face, his eyes starting to water. "You're..."

She nodded frantically. "Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes." More tears kept streaming down her face. Daeus understood that those were tears of pure joy, and pulled her over.

"Oh my god..." That was all he would say and think for the next while. His lips touched hers as he let his tears fall as well. He found her hand, took the test out of it and was glad that the trash was right beside him.

The next thing they knew, they were on his couch and in the middle of a sweet make out session. They had both decided to pull down the level of intensity, so they shared simple long soft kisses, no tongue involved, no lip-layering.

When they broke apart, Daeus almost jumped off of her, remembering something. He rushed to his bedroom, dug through a messy drawer, and pulled out a small navy blue box.

Walking back to her and sitting down next to her, he was frantically explaining something. "So, I've been meaning to give this to you for a while now, but I never got the chance... Well, more like I've been meaning to ask you a question, but whatever... And now that, well, you're... you're... heh... oh my god I still can't believe it... Anyway, now that you're, well, this... I figured I might as well give this to you now... Or tell you, no, ask you... Oh my god this is harder than I thought it would be... You know what, I'm just going to give this to you..."

He handed her the box. She gawked at it, knowing what was inside, but not wanting to believe it, just like her newly formed child. She opened it slowly and one of her hands flew up to cover her mouth. Inside the box was a beautiful golden ring, a small diamond resting in the middle, two even smaller ones on each side.

She had given him the news, and he answered with a ring. What kind of life was she living? She was barely 20, Daeus was barely 23, they had the craziest jobs, they were crazy good at them, and now she's pregnant and was just proposed to.

"I-I..."

"Cala, listen," Daeus said, wrapping an arm around her. "I fell in love with you when I first saw you... But how much I loved you then, is nothing compared to how much I love you now..."

"Yes," she whispered. Daeus didn't hear her.

"I don't care if we're the craziest couple on the face of the earth... I mean, look at us... We kill for a living... And now you're carrying a child, and I just proposed to you, and I have no idea where this is going to go, but I do know that I won't be able to live without you around..."

"Daeus..." she said, pulling him out of his daze.

"Yea baby?"

She turned to face him. "Shut up."

"What? Why?" he asked, concerned.

"You're such a dork... Your girlfriend just said yes to marrying you, and you didn't even hear her..."

He was quiet for a moment. "Thank god."

"A*****e," she said, stealing a kiss. "I fell for a suicidal psychopath, I'm carrying a suicidal psychopath's child, and now I'm marrying a suicidal psychopath..."

"Couldn't ask for better, could you?"

"You're still an idiot..." She leaned in for another kiss, a longer one this time.