Rogue (Under Rewriting)

Chapter Five

New York, 2012, a week later

"Hey, AJ!" Bailey exclaimed, jumping off the couch when Alex entered the apartment.

"AJ?"

"Yeah, AJ. You know, Alex Jordan. AJ. Kinda makes sense. If you don't like I can always find you a new nickname." Bailey continued to ramble.

"No, I like it. No one has ever given me a nickname other than Alex and that's just because it's easier to say." Alex gave the girl a smile as she sat down the groceries that she had gotten.

"Now you have to make one for me. Is that macaroni?" Bailey asked quickly changing the subject to the food she seemed to like so much.

"Yeah, you little monster." Alex patted the girl's head as she walked into the dining room. She got out the files that she had placed in the bottom drawer of the cabinet that stood against the wall. She heard Bailey shuffling around in the kitchen making herself a snack.

She looked through the files before glancing up at the clanging noise that came from in front of her. She looked down at the bowl in front of her and then at Bailey.

"What is this?" Her question caused the teen to pause with her spoon in midair.

"What?"

"What is this," Alex repeated, her eyebrow raised. Her eyes left the teen in front of her and went back to the file in her hands.

"It's macaroni. It's a type of food made from pasta, cheese-"

"I know what macaroni is." Alex gave the girl a flat stare. "Why is it in front of me?"

It was Bailey's turn to give Alex a flat stare. "So you can eat it? I figured you were probably hungry so I made you a bowl too."

"Oh," Alex suppressed her shock as she took the spoon in her hand and took a bite. "Thanks."

"No problem," the teen answered with a smile.

They sat in silence as they ate the macaroni that Bailey had made. Alex would take a bite every so often before returning to her files. She flipped through a few pages before she noticed a pair of eyes looking in her direction. Ignoring the teen, the blonde took another spoonful of pasta as she flipped the page. Bailey raised her fist to cover her mouth as she released a forced cough. After a few seconds and Alex still not looking up from her pages, she coughed again.

Alex sighed, "are you okay?"

"Hmm? Me? Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask," The teen asked, acting as if she hadn't been trying to gain the older woman's attention.

One of Alex's eyebrows involuntarily rose as she gave the teen a look before going back to her files. "If you say so."

Barely another minute passed before Bailey had made another sound. It sounded less like a cough this time and more like she was clearing her throat. Alex closed the file she was trying to go over and tossed it down on the table. Crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair she observed the brunette.

"Are you okay?" This time it was the teen who had questioned the older woman. Bailey slid her finished bowl of macaroni beside her before resting her elbows on the table and lacing her finger together. She fidgeted with her arms and hands a few times before finally deciding to cross them and rest her forearms against the edge of the table. Subconsciously, Alex's blank stare was very intimidating.

The blonde let out a hum in response. "Are you okay?"

"I'm great." It was a lie but Bailey was stubborn. However, her stubbornness was nothing compared to Alex's interrogation tactics. "Actually, now that you asked and I've had time to think about it, I'm quite bored."

"So go do something. Boredom solved." Alex uncrossed her arms and stood from her seat. She leaned across the table to grab the bowls and walked into the kitchen.

Bailey let out a small cheer as Alex rinsed both bowls and the pot out before setting them in the dishwasher. "That is such a great idea. What do you want to do?"

"You could go out shopping," Alex suggested as she moved past the teen to the dining room table to put her files away.

"Oo, that's a good idea! Few small hiccups, however." Alex shut the drawer to the cabinet before leaning against it and crossing her arms. After seeing the look she was getting, Bailey continued, "well, you see. I have no money. That, and uh, well, I'm a teenager. People are gonna look and wonder why I'm alone or why I'm not in school."

Alex hummed. "So, why don't you go to school?"

Bailey moved to the couch as if she didn't hear the blonde. She laid back, swinging her feet up to the table. "Here's an idea that I just came up with. Why don't we go together?"

"You want to go shopping together," she questioned slowly. Despite being trained for many types of scenarios, shopping with a teenager that broke into her house was not one of them. Being a teenager in Russia over ten years ago was a lot different than being a teenager in New York now.

Then again, was Alex ever really a teenager? She never went to school. She never made friends. She had never even been in a relationship. Alex was never allowed to be a real teenager. Could she even be considered a human? Sure, she was flesh, blood, and bones. Is that what made you human? Or was it the emotions she forced away and faked to complete a job?

It was like Bailey's simple request had flipped a switch in the blonde's head. The wall in her mind that kept her emotions in the dark cracked with every hit of the imaginary wrecking ball connected to the switch. Every second that passed as Alex sat in her chair was another hit to the wall.

"Alex?" The blonde slowly blinked as her name rang through the air. "You okay? You kinda zoned out."

Alex only nodded in response before standing and walking into her room. She crouched in front of her closet before digging in a black duffle bag that was stuffed against the back wall. She grabbed a few twenties before moving to a different bag and grabbing one of her smaller guns. Standing, she placed the weapon between the waistband and her skin. She almost sighed at the familiar feeling of cold metal on warm skin.

She walked to the kitchen, placed the bills down, and grabbed her keys. "There's some money. I'll be back late tonight."

Alex had no idea why she felt the need to tell the young girl when she would be back. She had no idea why she was feeling all these different feelings. She wasn't supposed to feel. She wasn't raised to feel. If He could see her now, she would be in shackles bloodied by her own blood. All at once, the scars on her body ached with memories of their maker. Her head was spinning with the wave of emotion that was crashing against the cracked wall. She needed to fix that if she wanted any shot at completing her mission.