Allison walked into her 30th-floor apartment, feeling nearly sick with weariness. Her feet dragged, her head ached, and her stomach growled menacingly.
It had been a long, long day.
She trudged into the kitchen, finding herself a watery, energy-restoring fruit called a Banabaro, and biting into its sweet pink flesh. The taste flooded her mouth, rekindling a bit of her spent energy.
Her body longed to head off to her bed, but first, she needed to report back to the Wintrata Defense Agency. The WDA demanded nightly reports from their spies--Allison especially, since Venom was their top performer. Part of her despised the knowledge that she was nothing but a treasured tool--a trinket that they would be sad to lose, but not devastated. And the other part of her burned with a fierce pride--she was the best of the best. She was Wintrata's top defender. No one would dare defy her.
As she slipped into the living room, she nearly jumped out of her skin as she saw a flash of pale white hair and a concerned ex
pression lift to meet her entry.
Lohr.
"My Cat," he greeted her, standing up and laying aside a book he had been reading. "You've finally returned."
Allison flinched, a familiar wave of guilt washing over her. He didn't know where she had been, what she had been doing. She ached to tell him who she really was, let the burden fall off of her shoulders--but she couldn't. She had sworn not to. She wanted to cry as his strong, warm arms wrapped around her. She wanted to scream as his warm breath ruffled her ear.
"Where have you been?"
"Work," Allison explained lamely, untwining herself from his intimate hold. She couldn't deal with this right now. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but she cut him off. She didn't want to see the hurt in his eyes, the confusion. She didn't want to break down and tell him, like she so often longed to do. "Lohr, it's been a long day, and I need my rest. I think it's best if you go home now. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
The hurt and the confusion were there, but for entirely different reasons. And they would melt away tomorrow. He would understand. He always did.
"Okay then, Allison. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." And then he was gone, leaving her heart with that familiar twinge of regret.
Pushing it aside, Allison walked up to the monitor that hung in front of her couch. It flickered to life, showing a stern-faced woman with sharp, angular features and gray hair pulled back in a severe bun.
Before Allison could open her mouth to begin her report, the woman interrupted her. "Venom. We have a mission for you."
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