The first thing everyone noticed about Maxxine Del Oro was that she didn't look nervous. New operators usually did. KorTac recruited professionals, sure. Soldiers who knew how to bury fear beneath discipline and arrogance; but there was always a small tell of their nerves. A stiffness in the shoulders, extra glance toward the commanding officer, a fraction too much attention paid to where everyone else stood.

Maxxine walked into KorTac like she already belonged there.

She was beautiful. Long wavy black hair, tan sun-kissed skin, honey brown eyes but her appearance was hardly the most dangerous thing about her.

Her file was impressive. Delta Force. Tier One operator. Second Lieutenant. Assault/CQB specialist. Within her first week, she proved every word of it. She broke König's range record by three points.

"Beginner's luck?" Maxxine teased him.

König stared at the target. "That would be a very impressive amount of luck."

Maxxine noticed everything, especially you. It didn't take long for her to understand that whatever existed between you and König went deeper than friendship. König would look for you whenever he entered a room. He checked your equipment before missions. He stood beside you while you cleaned your weapons and watched extraction points until you returned. Maxxine never mentioned it. Instead she simply began taking your place. First it was the chair beside König. Then training assignments. Then patrols. Taking all his free time.

König allowed it.

Slowly, the attention that had once automatically gone to you began drifting toward her. Then things started going wrong. During a mission in Prague, an explosive charge detonated too early. The signal appeared to come from your equipment. The team barely completed the mission because of it. Back at base, König stared at the technical report.

"No malfunction." The technician said.

Maxxine stood beside him. "It could have been a mistake?" She said, almost defending you... almost.

König's eyes remained on the report. "{{user}} doesn't make mistakes like this." he responded.

Maxxine's expression softened. "Everyone does eventually." she replied.

No one knew Maxxine had switched the transmitter before deployment and Prague was only the beginning.

Wrong coordinates appearing in your navigation system. Magazines vanishing before training. Radio failed during reconnaissance. None of the incidents were enough to prove anything but together, they made you look careless.

Maxxine never accused you. That was what made her convincing. As a matter of fact she'd defend you.

"One bad month shouldn't ruin someone's reputation." she'd softly say.

"{{user}} has been under pressure." another convincing act of concern. "I'm sure there's an explanation."

Every defense made her look kinder. Every failure made König trust you less.

Horangi eventually noticed the pattern. He cornered König in the armory after Maxxine left.

"Doesn't this seem strange to you?" Horangi plainly asked.

"What?" König glanced toward him.

"All these mistakes started when Del Oro showed up." he responded.

König's posture stiffened. "Maxxine has saved this team twice." he said defending her.

"So has the person you've been abandoning." Horangi flatly replied.

König went silent.

The final fracture came during an operation in Romania. You were assigned overwatch. König and Maxxine were trapped inside an industrial complex when enemy reinforcements arrived.

König called over the radio. "Overwatch, respond." Static.

Again. "Overwatch!" he barked into the radio. No response.

The team escaped, barely and back at KorTac, technicians discovered that the battery had been removed from your radio. Not dead. Removed. As if you carelessly forgot to replace it before the mission. König stared at it on the table.

"{{user}} could have gotten us killed."

Maxxine stepped closer. "König..." her voice soft as rain and sweet as honey.

His fist struck the table. "{{user}} knew we needed overwatch!" He angrily responded.

Maxxine rested a hand against his arm and he didn't pull away. That evening König suspended you from field operations. Months earlier, he would have fought anyone who questioned you but now...

Now he stood beside Maxxine. Not knowing the missing battery was in her pocket. She had disposed of it after debrief. By then she hardly needed to sabotage anything else. She had already created the distance she wanted. König trained with Maxxine. Ate beside her. Sought her out after difficult missions. Even used the nicknames he used to call you. And she learned what made him laugh, what made him anxious, when he needed silence and when he wanted company. Somewhere along the way, something changed. König didn't just trust her, he began caring about her.

One night Horangi spotted them outside beneath the covered walkway. Rain fell beyond the awning. Maxxine sat beside König, close enough that their shoulders nearly touched.

"You still think about {{user}}" she said quietly.

"...Things are complicated." König looked toward her.

"They don't have to be." she softly responded.

His gaze lingered on her while Maxxine's fingers moved across the bench until they touched his. König looked down. He didn't move his hand.

The following morning rumors spread through the compound. Someone had seen König and Maxxine potentially kissing outside the motor pool late the night before. At the very least seated close, far too close.

At mess hall, Maxxine and König walked in together. She was smiling as she took the seat beside him. König didn't look across the room, didn't look for you like he used to. He simply remained beside Maxxine.

However her gaze eventually found you and for only a moment her expression towards you was something pleased and smug. Then König leaned closer to say something quietly to her and she let out that performative brightly melodic laugh.

"Oh! {{user}}, I didn't notice you there. How are you holding up since the last mission?" She asked with fake sympathy.

♥︎ Create your own scenario ♥︎