Unleash Me (a Shatter Me fanfiction)

Dissension - Juliette's P.O.V.

The moment we made it back to our room, Aaron disappeared into his office. I touched his elbow, a questioning look on my face, but he only paused to tell me, "I'll only be a moment, love. Wait out here for me."

So, doing as he asked, I sat down on his bed -- our bed, really, since I've slept in it for long enough now -- and fiddled with a piece of the coverlet. I was so engrossed in my mindless task that I didn't notice that Aaron had reemerged until he said, "If you don't like it, I could always get a new one."

Startled, I looked up, and noticed instantly his playful smile. Those dimples that always managed to make my heart stutter in my chest. "No, I like it," I returned with a small smile of my own. "I was just... passing the time I guess." My eyes had somehow become interested in the carpeted floor.

I felt the bed shift as Aaron sat down next to me. I don't know when I started thinking of him by his first name -- ever since I had met him, it had always been Warner -- but something between us had changed. Become more... intimate, I suppose, since the day I killed his father. He was only Aaron to me now, kind, gentle Aaron, the one who had saved me from countless things. The one who had saved me from myself.

There wasn't anything in the world that would be enough to repay him for what he had done for me. I could give him the universe and it wouldn't amount to the gratitude that I feel. And yet... I'd never thanked him for it.

"Aaron," I murmured.

"Yes, love," he answered, and the simple words meant more: I'm here for you, whenever you need me. Anything you want, you can have it. So many things he didn't say but I knew were hidden behind those beautiful green eyes of his.

The eyes that I met now, searched for any hint that he was distant. But they were open, welcoming, so different from the first time I'd met him, when every action was guarded. When he was still so wary of others' intentions toward him.

"I love you," I said. "And I never got to properly thank you for doing what you did, for saving me when I thought there was no hope left. You were the one who brought me back from the dark place I had fallen into, the one who believed in me even when I couldn't. And for that... for chasing away those demons that had plagued me for so long... there are no words, no gestures, that can show you how grateful to you I am."

For one moment, his eyes were filled with wonder and pain before he pulled me close against him, wrapping me in his arms. "No, love. You've already done enough to repay me for whatever it is you think I've done for you." His voice was rough with emotion. "You've done so much for me, love, more than you could ever realize. You brought me back to life when I thought there was no point in living. You saved the entire world -- me included -- from my father. If you think that what you've done isn't enough, that it somehow doesn't amount to --"

Suddenly, he was cut off by the pinging of the elevator as it announced its arrival. Aaron released me in surprise and stood, his hand immediately going to his waistband, where I presume his gun is hidden from view. I watched, silent, as he crossed the room to the door that opened out into his office and stood on one side of the door, close against the wall. He motioned for me to hide myself from view, but I shook my head, moving to the other side of the door. Please don't argue, I shot at him with a look. For some reason, he didn't.

A voice from the other side of the door said: "I'm sorry for alarming you, sir, but there has been a recent development that I thought you would want to be informed of. Pardon my unannounced entrance."

Aaron breathed a sigh of relief, tucking his gun back into its holster as he opened the door. Delalieu stood on the other side, calm despite walking into the room of someone who could have shot him for intruding unexpectedly. At least the blond-haired boy next to me was less likely to shoot first before making sure he wasn't facing a friend instead of a foe. So much has changed for both of us since we first met.

"What is it?" Aaron asked, back in the role of commander. Those moments when we are alone are the only time he lets his true self show.

"News from Sector 37." I remembered this sector as the one that Aaron had mentioned during our meeting with the others earlier, one of the three he was worried about. I urged my ears to capture every word, my mind to remember them. "The Regent Commander has placed all citizens under lock-down, and every soldier in the sector has been implanted with a tracking device so they cannot leave. There are rumors that the device can also incapacitate them if they try to revolt or leave, and even more rumors that Commander Pierce is preparing to implant the civilians with the device as well."

Horror flooded my system at his words. "How many--" I choked, and Aaron turned to me with a concerned look in his eyes. "How many people are there in that sector?"

"Last I know of it, one hundred thousand or more, many of them soldiers. The remainder are women and a few children, families of those with higher rank." 

Women and children, who would soon be implanted with a device that took away what little free will they had. Soldiers who already had it. How many of them truly want to be there, and have they already tried to leave? Is that why the Regent Commander took this measure? One hundred thousand people, still enslaved despite what my friends and I had done mere days ago to free them.

I couldn't just allow something like this to happen. Not when I had the power to stop it.

Aaron had dismissed Delalieu once he had given his report, and turned to me now, his expression worried. "Love," he began warily. "What are you planning?"

My face must have given me away, but it was too late now for me to care. "We have to do something about this, Aaron. I can't just stand by while people under my protection are suffering. We went to war four days ago to save them, and allowing one commander to do something like this is not going to set a good example for the rest. I will not just stand by and watch the injustice; not anymore."

He looked inclined to argue, but nodded solemnly. "I understand. But we can't operate the same way we did here, since we won't be able to get the soldiers on our side with those devices in the way."

"I know," I murmured. Then a smile graced my lips as a thought came to me. "But I think I might know a way around that."