In the Blood [ON HOLD]

"This is What I Am"

She grabbed his arm again.

She couldn't help it. The sound was just too close to home. Too real. Too painful. She smelled the blood before she saw it, and it made her grab him in an effort to shield herself.

In an effort to not admit how afraid she suddenly was.

A horrible, wet gasping sound was coming from farther in the room. A sniffling, wheezing sort of sound, like someone was trying to breathe, but couldn't quite manage it. A metallic tang in the air coated the back of her tongue.

Charlie squeezed her eyes shut, her face pressed into his shoulder so she smelled his cologne instead. He twisted his arm so that he could put his hand on her waist, pulling her forward as he turned to stand in front of her. The warmth from his body seemed to jump the small space between them, chasing away the chill.

His mouth touched her ear. "You can still walk away."

Her resolve wavered.

She could. She could walk away. Pretend like he was just some other corporate asshole with too much money, clean up any mess that came her way and not think about it so she could sleep at night.

She could do that... 

Her eyes opened to find him watching her impassively, standing so his shoulder blotted out what was happening behind him. A naked bulb dangling from the ceiling on a thin, black wire created a halo around him, which very nearly made her laugh.

It tickled at the back of her throat, almost choking her.

There were no halos to be found here.

Remi stood patiently, waiting for her answer. And part of her was quite honestly wondering why she hadn't turned around and run back out the door as soon as she heard the hit. She didn't understand the sick compulsion to see what had caused it, and who it had happened to.

The other part wondered how long she'd be here cleaning up the blood.

Like he'd read her mind, he said, "You aren't here to fix this one."

Her stomach dropped, which made her feel minimally better. She wanted to see because she wanted to help. He'd told her she couldn't, and she didn't like it.

Certainly preferable to the other option.

She nodded once.

"You're staying?" he asked, face grim.

"You're starting to make me think you don't want me around," she said, keeping her voice as flippant as possible.

"Maybe I don't."

Charlie raised an eyebrow at that, but he didn't back down from the statement. She narrowed her eyes at him, stepping around him.

What she saw immediately made her lip curl in a sneer.

This time it was Leon blocking her view. For an uncomfortable minute she was nearly thankful for the delay. But then she remembered the things he'd said to her this morning, about not being able to hack it in this world of Remi's, and she was just pissed.

And what angered her most was that she didn't know if she wanted to prove him wrong... or prove him right.

He was immaculate as ever in a black suit with a white shirt now. And he didn't spare her a glance, looking at Remi over the top of her head. "We found the money," he said.

"Where?" was Remi's curt reply and she sidestepped, not liking them talking literally over her.

Charlie had to bring a hand up to her mouth to stifle her gasp.