[Sarah]

The sound of the elevator dinging had you glancing up from your paperwork. You watched Jericho enter the makeshift office space. “Cute scarf,” you said. His eyes had been on you the moment he departed the elevator.

“Where were you this morning?” he asked. You huffed a laugh and refocused on your paperwork.

“Here,” you answered before he could think you were ignoring him. You heard his mouth open, no doubt to chastise you. “I called you. It’s not my fault you smashed your phone,” you said. Jericho shifted but you paid him no mind.

[Sarah]

Digitizing paperwork might’ve made things easier. You had to admit you liked the paper in paperwork. Was that strange? Maybe. Did it mean you sat at your desk all day because your peers knew you didn’t mind? Yes. You were behind on paperwork because everyone else had given you theirs. That was why you were in the office so early.

“Want some help?” Jericho asked. His mouth was right next to your ear. You took a steadying breath and tried to pretend like he had not wholly startled you. Thankfully you were well trained in a steady hand and your pen had not gone across the page. You turned slightly to look at him and found he had not moved his face even a little bit away from your own. Your tongue trailed over your bottom lip as you moved further until you were breathing the same air.

[Sarah]

“No. Thank you,” you said, and you let just a little bit of attitude into your voice. Jericho’s eyes flicked from your lips to your eyes and you saw you’d amused him. Good. You couldn’t help your small smile at the revelation. Jericho’s eyes moved back to your lips and then lower, trailing down and back up your body as he leaned forward and planted his hands on the armrests of your chair. You were about to clear your throat to get his eyes back on your own when the moment was broken by an outsider.

[Sarah]

“Malta!” Penny called from the end of the long table. Jericho’s eyes met yours and you refused to acknowledge his hunger, or that the feeling was reflected within you. You did clear your throat when Jericho didn’t back off, and he moved away slowly. There was a glint in his eye that you barely caught because once you had the space you were on your feet and trailing after the director. His look was one that was only made dangerous if you acknowledged it.

[Sarah]

“If this has anything to do with color being gone, I can’t say I know anything about it,” you said lightly. You hadn’t even noticed the shift. One moment the world was saturated and then it wasn’t. You couldn’t even say whether or not the shift was instantaneous or over time. Penny probably didn’t care about what you thought on the matter.

“You need to stop talking to Jericho.”

You’d made it up the stairs when she turned on you. You took a step back, stunned by the venom in her tone. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” you said loudly. She’d taken you out of easy earshot, but you did not care for subtlety.

[Sarah]

Her expression somehow turned more sour and she handed you the file she’d been carrying. You opened it and frowned at what you found inside. It was your file with a red TERMINATED stamp across the middle. You glanced back up, about to say something, but Penny was gone. Fear twisted in your stomach and settled as a hard, uncomfortable stone.

Jericho was sat where you’d left him once you returned from your abrupt chat with Penny. “What is this?” you asked. You slapped the file onto the table for good measure. Jericho’s eyes raised lazily from the folder to you. You met his eye contact with your own harsh gaze. His body said disinterested but there was a fire in his eyes. Any other day you wouldn’t be able to bring yourself to agitate him. Today? Today you’d square up against the president if that’s what it took.

[Sarah]

“It’s your termination,” Jericho said calmly, lowly. So, he did know. His fingers trailed over the file almost longingly. You chose not to read into what that might mean. Had he felt anything positive for you over the past months this would not be happening. Only one person could enact your termination and they knew the consequences of you ending up on the streets. Jericho knew and he’d done all this anyway. He was crueler than you’d given him credit for.

[Sarah]

Everyone had told you he was too damaged to commit, to even feign interest, yet you’d fallen for him anyway. “Why?” You didn’t hide the heartbreak in your voice, nor did you lower it. You were entitled to make a scene.  Although it had not escaped your attention when many of the workers had vacated the office space upon your re-entering. “I am a sharpened blade, a honed weapon, you are not allowed to throw me away. I have done nothing to earn what this termination will mean,” you said. You were pleading for your job, your sense of belonging. You were pleading for your life. Anger would get you nowhere, but you had access to sorrow and pain beyond imagining.

[Sarah]

Jericho’s eyes never left yours but where there had been anger there was now a softness. He stood abruptly and his hands planted harshly on his desk. You flinched back unconsciously and recognized he was testing you. Tears sprung to your eyes at the realization that he did not trust you enough to believe you were in danger on your own. Still… you would take this cruelty to what would find you on the streets. You swallowed the burning in your eyes.

[Sarah]

Jericho rounded the table and invaded your personal space. His expression was blank, and you struggled to comprehend his motivations. You took a step away, your eyes averted, and he kept pushing you backwards with just his presence until your back flattened against a wall. He moved closer still until his lips were next to your ear and when he opened his mouth to speak you shuddered. With his body essentially pressed up against your own, your movement did not go unnoticed, nor did the hitch in your breath. Silently you cursed yourself for giving in to him so easily when he was writing your death warrant. The scattered remains of your preconditioned will laughed at you.

[Color Harvested]

[Sarah]

Strong hands gripped your hips and you let out an audible gasp. Your eyes refocused after being momentarily dazed by your own confusing lust and you saw Jericho had pulled away just enough to look you over. “Do you really think I’d let you go that easily?” he asked. His tone firm but not cruel. Tears pooled once more in your eyes from the overwhelming emotions and your legs threatened to fail you. Fear and hope twisted within you. Through your swimming eyesight you saw Jericho raise a brow. He expected an answer.

[Sarah]

“I don’t know,” you replied wetly. The revelation illuminated just how little you trusted the man you were meant to trust most in the world. Well – turnabout was fair play.

One of Jericho’s hands reached up to trail fingers across the ugly lines your tears were drawing down your face. “Who gave you the file?” he asked. A simple enough question but the calculation in his eyes betrayed him. What was he thinking? He knew, surely, the person that gave you the file.

“Penny,” you sniffed. Jericho scoffed a sardonic laugh and shook his head. Penny hated you – it was common knowledge – but she was still a professional. You dared a glance up the stairs, but the office and the upper hallway were vacant. Jericho’s hand cradled your cheek and he used it to return your gaze to him.

[Sarah]

He was still shaking his head slightly when he said, “the termination is fake. The team wanted –“ he stopped himself, “I wanted to draw out the people that hurt you and make sure they couldn’t hurt you again.” Your tears broke down into sobs. When you clutched at Jericho for support, he let you. His arms wrapped around your shoulders and he drew you closer to him, so your head was nestled into his chest. Sobs wracked your body, but you refused to give in fully to your weakened emotional state. You hated to even be crying in front of him. You were tired and scared, and in this moment Jericho’s offered comfort meant something.

[Sarah]

“What can I do?” you asked as soon as you’d calmed enough to regain speech. Jericho didn’t pull away immediately. Instead he hummed a noncommittal sound and rested his head atop your own. You relaxed into him, enjoying the sound of his heart beating in your ear. Since he was permitting you physical affection you were going to enjoy it for all it was worth. His guard would surely go up again soon and you’d be back to happily admiring him from afar. He was an easy person to fall into infatuation with.

[Sarah]

“Wont they be easier to draw out with me as bait?” you questioned. Jericho pulled away so he could look at you and you spared him a glance. There was conflict in his expression.

“I’m not putting you in harm’s way,” he said firmly, and your eyes flicked to his in surprise. The conflict did not leave his features and you raised a questioning brow. “Stay with me?” he asked. “Just until we can apprehend your abusers,” he added at what had to have been your clear reluctance.