Chapter Text
Three months ago, you were left bloody and beaten in an ally way. Abandoned and forgotten about by people you thought you could trust. You thought you would die right there, alone, and cold in the dark of night.
As you saw the light, suddenly a voice called out from above you.
“Are you okay, miss?” a rough, deep voice echoed out.
You remember looking through your bloody, swollen eyes and seeing a tall, slender figure standing over you with a hand out. It was a man named Silco. An industrialist who runs most of the undercity, alongside his found-family crew.
That night is much of a blur now, but you knew Silco saved you; took you into his care, and nursed you back to health, even though you were a stranger. Ever since then, you have been living at a housing residence Silco owns, most of his found family there as well. There were some that stay every now again and there are others that are more permanent, like you. His daughter, a teenager named Jinx, came around most often but never really talked to you much, usually just to gossip.
The only other person that was around more was Silco’s secondhand, a woman named Sevika.
From what you have gathered, she joined the crew many years ago and lost her arm trying to save Silco’s life. Over the time you’ve been with him, you have gotten to know Sevika pretty well. She lives in the same building as you, just a few rooms down. You two were acquaintances at the least; you wouldn’t really describe your relationship as “friends” yet.
Seeing her on a pretty regular basis has made you develop a slight crush on the intimidating woman. Sometimes she doesn’t acknowledge you at all, while other times she talks to you like a friend. You could never figure out where you lay with her. When she was around, sometimes you would just admire her features, silently staring at her while she worked. But until you two get closer, you just try your best to stay on her good side.
Before you met Silco, you were an informant; a messenger for a powerful merchant, the same one who ordered your near-death experience the night you were found. So, when you joined Silco’s crew you did the same type of things. Snuck around and listened to conversations, stole trinkets every now and again, and sent messages to other businessmen when needed.
Today you were swinging by The Last Drop to meet Silco, assuming he was going to send you on a mission of some sort. It was a nice, sunny day as you walked into the big building.
“Hey Therium!” you call out to the man at the bar.
“Oh, hey y/n, how you doing miss?”
“Pretty good, thanks for asking. Silco in his office?”
“Yep.”
You nod your head in reply as you walk across the room, reaching the stairs that head to his office. Once you get there, you do your special knock on the door to let them know who is there.
“Come in, dear,” you hear Silco call out from inside the room.
You turn the knob and push open the heavy door to the familiar room. Your eyes find Silco first, sitting at his desk chair holding a paper in one hand and a pen in the other. Once you see him, your eyes flick over to see there’s another person in the room. Sevika was sitting on the red couch, nursing a glass of liquor in her organic hand.
“Hey guys,” you say to them, a cheerful smile on your face as you close the door behind you.
“Hello, y/n. I know you probably think you’re here for an assignment, but I have other plans for today,” Silco says in his low, gravelly voice.
You step farther into the room as he talks, eventually stopping about six feet in front of his desk, Sevika directly to your left now. Her eyes followed you as you walked through the room, you noticed her red cape was on, something she usually goes without when she’s around Silco.
“You’ve been a real asset to this team these past few months. Not just your informant skills, but we’ve all enjoyed your company as well,” he pauses, looking over to Sevika for a moment, “but I am worried about your capability in battle. Being able to fight and defend yourself is something a person on my crew needs to be able to do.”
You had to admit you were the scrawniest (besides Jinx, of course) among the crew. Hand-on-hand combat has never been your strong suit. What was Silco planning on doing about this though?
“Okay, so I should… train more?” you ask, slightly confused as to how you were supposed to respond.
He chuckles at your words for a moment, looking back at Sevika again.
“Well, that’s actually why I called you here, I want you to start training twice a week from now on, Sevika will be your trainer,” he declares.
Your eyebrows spring up in surprise, looking over at Sevika, an unreadable look on her face. Before you have the chance to speak, Silco continues.
“You two can work out the details on your own. But she will help train you for at least five hours a week. How does that sound?” he asks, making you turn your gaze to him again.
You smile again, nodding your head slightly, “That sounds like a great idea. I could definitely use more combat training.”
He hums in satisfaction, standing up from his chair at the desk.
“Perfect. Sevika, if you could show y/n the training room, I’d greatly appreciate it,” he says, turning to Sevika to speak to her directly.
You turn to look at her again, the tall woman setting down her glass before getting up from her seat with a grunt.
“Will do, boss,” she replies rather sternly.
She doesn’t look at you as she walks past, opening the door and walking through it, expecting you to follow. You wave goodbye to Silco quickly before turning to follow, Sevika already far ahead of you. Walking behind her, you follow the woman as she walks down the hallway, eventually reaching the last room, somewhere you’ve never been before.
She opens the door, holding it open for you to walk in. Entering the mysterious room, you look around at it. There were windows on one wall, blue mats on the ground, and various workout equipment throughout the room. Silco had a gym here this whole time? Guess that makes sense, most of his crew is absolutely jacked.
“This is the workout room,” Sevika starts to say, making you flinch slightly as her voice booms through the small room, “We can come here whenever we want. It’s a good place to work off steam and train.”
You nod your head, eyes scanning the room as she talks.
“You work out here a lot?” you ask, glancing back at her now.
“Yeah, pretty often. That’s why Silco wanted me to train you, I spend the most time here.”
Your eyes stare into hers, blue-grey eyes making you lose your train of thought for a second.
“Mhm, what days work for you then?”
She breaks eye contact to look out the window, “Well, I really only have the time on Wednesdays and Sundays,” she replies.
Thinking for a second, you figure those days would be fine. It was a Monday, so that means Wednesday would be your first session.
“Okay, that works for me.”
She nods in reply and begins to walk to the door to leave. Before she does, you wanted to try something, try to get her to loosen up a bit around you.
“Hey, while we’re here, why don’t you show me… you’re go-to self-defense strategy. You know, a quick lesson before the real thing,” you say, a smile on your face.
She groans and rolls her eyes, but a small grin is still visible. She stares at you and doesn’t reply, a sort of Bitch, really? look on her face.
“Well, you know, unless you’re afraid I’ll win,” you tease, head tilting to the side.
Her eyebrows spring up, surprised look in her eyes.
“Oh okay, I see how it is,” she says smirking.
Her organic hand comes up to rip off her red cloak, throwing it to the side.
“Throw a few punches, let’s see what you can do.”
She puts her hands up as if to fight, you imitate her position, fists up in front of you. You have been in a few fistfights in your life, but never with someone as big as Sevika. You didn’t even think she could feel a punch from your weak fists. Biting your lip as your eyes meet hers, you push your right hand forward to “punch” her. She dodges your hand quickly.
You do the same with your other hand, throwing it forward to strike her but missing as she doges again. This time, her metal arm comes out to grab your hand by the waist, wrapping around it and pulling you forward into her. You lose your footing as the wind gets knocked out of you. Sevika yanks you forward, metal arm still wrapped around your elbow, unable to move now.
Silence fills the room as you stand there in her grasp, chest pressed to hers as she smirks down at you.
“Patience, young one. You’ll get there someday,” she says lowly, face mere inches away from yours.
Before you can even say anything, she releases you from her grasp, regaining your stature in front of her again.
“Damn, I really do need this training,” you say, chuckling slightly as you try to control your breathing.
She laughs at that, bobbing her head slightly, “Well, good thing you have me as a teacher. You’ll be an expert in no time.”
She picks her cloak up from the floor, sliding it over her head to put it back on. You smile at her as the two of you walk towards to door to leave, Sevika opening it for you to walk through. You two walk back down the hallway and stop at the stairs, assuming she would go back with Silco, and you would go back down the stairs to leave. You pause before heading down the stairs, turning to the woman to say goodbye.
“I’ll see you Wednesday then?” you ask.
“Sounds like a plan,” she relies, a soft look on her face.
“Hey, I appreciate you doing this. I know it probably wasn’t your choice to be my trainer.”
She lets out a soft chuckle, grinning slightly, “You’re right, it wasn’t. But I have a feeling it won’t be as bad as I thought,” she says.
Before you can reply, she turns away from you and walks back into Silco’s office, closing the door behind her.
It won’t be as bad as she thought? What does that mean? you think.
You stand there as you think about Sevika, realizing your crush on her is only going to get worse with these trainings.
Turning around to leave, you walk down the stairs to the exit.
Wednesday couldn’t come any faster.