belladonna | alejandro vargas ✓

【Chapter 15】

Beadie rose to her feet, her rifle hanging loosely from her shoulder on the strap. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"Soap?" she asked softly, her tone wavering.

He looked like hell. He was covered in blood and mud, the rain washing it down in streaks. His left hand clutched his right bicep, blood oozing between his fingers. And he had a slight limp.

Out of reflex, she moved his way to help him but he took a step back, eyes narrowing at her. He looked at her like a hurt animal would and it broke her heart.

"Stay there," his voice rasped out, jaw clenching.

Beadie raised her hands in the air, showing him that she had no intention of hurting him. But his eyes still held the same hurt and distrust.

"I don't want to hurt you," Beadie said slowly. Soap scoffed at her, shaking his head. "Listen, I got betrayed just as much-"

"The hell you did!" he hissed at her, pointing a finger at her. "You're a bloody Shadow!"

He spat out the last word like it was poison, making her flinch.

"I had no idea about any of this!" Beadie pleaded, her tone getting slightly louder with desperation. "I swear. Graves didn't tell me any of this. And I'm sorry about everything that happened."

Soap pursed his lips together and looked down, shaking his head again. Beadie's eyes started to tear up as she lost more and more hope in trying to convince him.

"Please, Soap," her words came out in a hushed tone, barely above a whisper. "I didn't know. If I did I'd never let this happen."

His face softened ever so slightly at the sight of her distress. She had no idea what else to say to him, but she was ready to plead on her knees for his forgiveness. Maybe they didn't know each other that well, but she took a liking to him the minute they talked. He was always so warm and open with everyone, it hurt how he acted now. But she could totally understand his reasons.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Soap asked, clearly not convinced. But the fact that he was willing to talk to her and didn't just jump and cut her throat.

"You can have my gun," the blonde offered hesitantly, not really sure where that came from. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her, but she just got more sure. "Yeah, take my gun."

"This could be a trap," Soap pondered, but he took a step closer, stepping into the light more. Now she could see that he was a little pale, probably because of blood loss.

"You can take my life if it is."

Soap held her gaze for a few more tense seconds before he nodded, the sigh of relief leaving her. But still, she felt like she had a lot to make up for what happened.

"Can I have a look?" she nodded towards his injured arm, his hand coming back to hold it.

"I'll manage," was Soap's answer, making the blonde frown. Clearly, he wasn't alright but who was she to argue with him. So Beadie just shrugged her shoulder and let him be. "Why are you alone?"

"My partner is checking out a store at the end of the road," Beadie replied nonchalantly, seeing no point in lying to him. Frankly, she didn't want to. "But he probably will be back soon, so we should hurry up."

"There's no we, blondie," Soap chuckled dryly. "I'm on my own."

"Ghost got away, too," Beadie sat down on the couch, feeling like it would be a long time to get through him. But seemingly, the mention of his friend was enough to finally get him interested.