A/N: As some of my mutuals know, this is something I was dying to have happen since the first chapter of the book. Now thanks to all my pent up stress from this week, Cecile is about to catch some hands. Literally.
Perma-note: In my playthrough, I renamed Hayden to Ben; so in my fics, if you see the name Ben, that’s Hayden
Summary: Maya has some unfinished business with Cecile
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything. Characters/canon belong to Pixelberry
“Are you sure, you’re okay?” Maya checked the hole that had burned through Damien’s shirt and inspected the burn on his side. Damien grimaced when her fingers lightly brushed against it.
“It still hurts, but I’ll be fine.” He said. “Not the first time I’ve been tased.”
“Okay, I know you think that’s gonna make me feel better but really it’s not.”
Damien grinned at her from where he was leaning against the wall. He’d needed to rest for a few minutes to recover from Cecile’s recent attack, but now he felt better enough to stand. “I’m fine, Maya. Really.”
Maya shook her head. She looked to the other side where Ben was still with Harley. Sloane knelt at his side, preparing to power him down. Alana was restraining Cecile now, having taken over for Damien in order to let him rest.
A flash of anger shot through her at the sight. Over the last few months, she’d constantly looked over her shoulder, navigating the endless limbo life had become, mending the emotional wounds Eros had inflicted on them. Carrying the guilt for not protecting Damien and her friends well enough time and again.
Technically, it was over now. Rowan was dead, Harley was being contained and Cecile was about to be arrested. But there was something about it that still felt unfinished, incomplete; something she’d been itching to do for sometime and seeing Damien standing straight, wincing every now and then, was igniting that in her.
“Wait!” Alana halted in her step and turned to Maya, who was striding up to them. Cecile noticed her approaching and smirked.
“Thought up some more last words, Maya?”
Maya simply glared at her. The woman who’d set in motion some of the most harrowing events of her life.
The one who’d tortured Damien; played mind games with him to make him doubt his own reality, used Keegan and Dames like expendable toys to hurt Damien and Maya. The one who’d tortured Ben, used his mind and circuitry to cause harm to so many innocent people.
Maya still had that flash drive the Eros messenger had given them in Paris. The one with footage of Cecile beating Damien; footage she’d deliberately taken the time to record.
And now she’d tased Damien. She’d hurt him. Again.
Maya’s furious silence only amused Cecile further and she tilted her chin up, eyeing her haughtily.
“For what it’s worth, you were right to be skeptical of Eros’ quiz. Damien truly is your perfect match. He compliments you.” Cecile sneered. “A pathetic weakling, mewling for his little girlfriend to save-”
Maya’s face contorted in rage and she whipped her hand out, delivering a slap so savage that Cecile nearly stumbled to the side and Alana nearly lost her grip.
“Maya, what the-” Alana demanded.
Unfazed, She grabbed Cecile’s chin, repositioning it in front of her, then backhanded her in the other direction with just as much force.
Though she looked a little shaken, Cecile kept up her smug expression. “Way to prove my point, Maya. Face it. In the end, you’re just a social climbing brat looking for arm candy to latch on to. That’s why you came running to Eros for matchmaking services in the first place.”
Maya almost charged forward again, but then Damien stepped in between them, narrowing his eyes at Cecile.
“At least she has people who want to latch to her, what do you have?” He squared his shoulders, glaring menacingly. “The Matches turned against you the second the scales weren’t in your favor anymore. Not to mention the man you’d been using to gain all this power is gone; even if Rowan survived and Keegan hadn’t shown up, he’d have gotten on that helicopter and left you in the dust.”
Damien allowed himself a smug grin as he specifically chose his next words. “No one is coming for you, Cecile.”
Cecile’s eye twitched, knowing fully well when she’d last used those words with him. “Listen you-” She surged forward, but was held firmly in place by Alana.
“This time, you were at the mercy of the same people you hurt.” Maya said. “Keegan could’ve snapped you in half like a twig back there and there was nothing you could’ve done about it. Damien happens to be the only reason you’re alive right now.”
She laced her fingers with Damien’s and squeezed his hand. “That doesn’t make him a weakling; that makes him honorable, courageous, decent, everything you’re not, really.”
Maya continued unapologetically, ignoring Cecile’s annoyed glare. “Did I protect him? Hell yes. And I would do it again in a heartbeat, just like he has for me countless times. ‘Cause that’s what guarantees true love; a true character, friendship, honesty, give and take fifty-fifty. Not personality tests, not your damn algorithms, not even perfection.” She stood tall as she let her final words hit home. “And you’ll never hurt the people I love ever again.”
“Ugh.” Cecile rolled her eyes, her cheeks slightly reddened from the impact of Maya’s slaps. “Yes, because that’s what this has all been about. You and your precious feelings.”
The doors to the roof opened as the backup Alana had requested from earlier arrived. Alana transferred Cecile back to Damien as she met them at the door, waving her Interpol credentials. Within minutes, she led them back to where they were standing.
“Think you’ll have to arrest Maya for assault as well, Ms. Kusuma?” Cecile drawled.
“Says the woman who conspired to assassinate the president.” Alana raised an eyebrow at that remark, then turned to Damien. “Damien did you see anything else?”
Damien shrugged. “See what? We’ve been recuperating this whole time from the attempted assault on us.”
Cecile glowered at them as the officers led her away. “You’ll regret this, Maya Park.”
“Mmmm . . .” Maya pretended to mull on that, her previous anger having dissipated into an innocent smile. Then she shrugged casually, letting out a satisfied sigh. “Doubt it.”
She was brought back to the present when Damien took her by the elbow, steering her away gently. “Maya, why did you do that?” He was frowning. “She’s not worth it.”
Maya smiled and took his face in her hands. “But you are.” Suddenly, she furrowed her eyebrows, thinking through what she’d just said. “Wait, that came out wrong. What I meant was-” She was cut off by Damien’s lips crushing against hers. His arms encircled her waist as he pressed his forehead against hers, his soft smile being more than enough of an answer.
“Of course I know what you meant,” he chuckled, his eyes twinkling. “There’s no one like you, Maya. That’s why you’re absolutely perfect for me.”
Tears of joy prickled at her eyes as she embraced him tightly, nuzzling his neck as she held him close. “So are you. You’re worth fighting for, Damien.”
And I don’t plan to stop anytime soon.