Ambivalence

Prologue

Darkness had fallen, though a sliver of sunlight still gleamed in the west. The rain beat in flurries outside, pattering softly against the thick glass of the window, and the ashen-grey clouds of the tempest raging over the sea cast an ominous shadow that stretched miles across the city.

Victoria sat on the floor by the expansive window in her room, her back propped against the wall and her legs stretched out lazily in front of her. Her mind was too preoccupied for sleep, so she settled for watching the storm turn the sky grey and the water into a black mass of violent, thrashing waves.

Most days, she spent her time with Diana. They would read together, spend hours talking and exchanging stories - those were mostly done on Diana's end - or even just sit in each other's company in mutually understood and accepted silence. Victoria cherished those moments. Though it was never spoken, she knew that Diana thought of and loved her as a daughter. She, in return, loved Diana as a mother.

There were also days, however, during which Diana was kept busy with her job. Sometimes, Victoria wished she could listen to her and 47 working together. But at the same time, the thought of the two arranging for or executing assassinations stayed her curiosity. From the stories Diana told her at night of the previous missions she oversaw, Victoria supposed that sometimes the targets deserved their deaths. Other times, though, she wasn't sure that they did. She was still trying to decide whether or not she should try to justify it at all.

Tonight was different. Diana had been awake in the middle of the night. She had run to her office, completely oblivious to the girl half awake in the kitchen pouring herself a glass of water. Curious, Victoria had soundlessly trailed her. She peeked through the small gap between the door and the doorframe and was able to catch a brief glimpse of a computer monitor littered with lines of text and codes. Sensing Diana's approaching form, Victoria swiftly leapt to the side as the door closed completely with a sharp click of the lock that resounded in the air.

Upon realizing that she wasn't going to be able to learn anything from her side of the soundproof door, Victoria had slowly trodden back to her room. There, she heard the precursory rumblings of an impending storm and settled herself down by the window to watch it pass.

Now utterly exhausted, Victoria let her forehead rest against the cold glass pane. Her warm breath fogged up the window as she relaxed and let her eyes slowly droop shut. Only when she felt the tugs of sleep slowly begin to draw her into a peaceful rest did she dismiss any worries or thoughts of what might be happening behind closed doors and succumb to the darkness. She sat there, letting the shadows of the room close about her like comforting arms.