<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="color: #80BF00">Karra Lee Micheals</span></span></div><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #80BF00">Captain Micheals</span></div><br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><a class="postlink" href="http://i1343.photobucket.com/albums/o793/Galvin_Fugazi/d8d8d07d-bef1-4b12-bb9c-4a8ccbe576b0_zps6c4f5818.jpg">[ img ]</a></div><br/><br/><div style="text-align: justify;">She had been surprised when Tom sat next to her, pulling her closer to his side. She leaned in some out of habit, feeling comforted by just his proximity alone. He seemed worn out and she was too. <br/><br/><span style="color: #FF8000"> “Why did you never tell me, Karra?...“</span> Tom asked. Karra had looked down to the floor; why hadn't she told him? She had just been too ashamed, didn't want anyone to ever know what had happened to her, to know that she hadn't been able to protect herself. It was something she rarely acknowledged to herself, much less to anyone else. <span style="color: #80BF00">"It was easier to just bicker than it was to remember the things in my past. It's difficult to sit in the quiet, difficult to let myself be happy. It's far easier to be angry, to puff up and threaten and scream and yell than it is to let others in. People are dangerous, Tom--and I'm scared of them. When your commander, the one you should be able to put all your trust in, is the one who betrays and hurts you the most--when you can't fight back hard enough...you just die a little everyday,“</span> she explained as she rest her chin on her knees, still unable to look at him fully in the eye. <br/><br/><span style="color: #80BF00">"And you did help me, Tom. Two years ago when we were paired up, it was the best thing to happen to me. I started to feel better about myself, better about people in general--I could trust again, at least a little bit. My nightmares started to fade, it was easier to laugh and joke, I could trust men enough again to be with them intimately--,“</span> she took a moment to think, and snorted, <span style="color: #80BF00">"Still can't hold a relationship worth shit, though I think that has more to do with me never being satisfied because the guys weren't you...but the point is, I felt safe enough again to do things I had abandoned. I still get scared sometimes, I still have mood swings, I still become very depressed when I am alone in my apartment, and I'm still scared of the dark...but I'm better than I was, and that's meant the whole world to me." </span><br/><br/><span style="color: #80BF00">"I go back and forth between wanting to live to see if I'll ever get better and wanting to die because I know it will never go away--what happened will never be erased. Hell, being held captive felt like a walk in the park compared to being around my commander and that was because at least then I knew those were the bad guys, those were the guys who shouldn't be trusted. I knew what was coming when I was being held, but him...I had no idea until he shoved me in a dark room. I felt like trash and I felt so helpless." </span><br/><br/><span style="color: #FF8000">"...what shall I do with you, Karra? I guess beating up won't help in your case.“</span> At that Karra looked up, only to see Tom turn his own head. Soon his lips were on her, but it was different from the angry, demanding kiss he had given to her earlier against the crates. No, this one was soft and she found herself leaning into it, her right hand coming down to the floor to keep balance, while her left found his cheek to hold. <br/><br/>When they finally parted, she spoke, <span style="color: #80BF00">"I am sorry I never told you before. I just...I never wanted anyone to know. I thought I would be able to get away from him and forget the whole thing, thought I could get better on my own. You are the first person I ever told...“</span> she admitted, her voice soft and quiet. Her eyes were staring into his and she realized she had been foolish. Her lips found his again in effort to relay all she felt for him and all she was sorry for.</div>