Meadow sat in her office, spinning her beloved shuriken around in her hand. She contemplated stabbing the paperwork while imagening it being human skin, but gathered all the effort not to. She had been in a foul mood, irritated and hypervigilant all day and it had gotten worse. The flash in her sight going black and then white made her feel uneasy and she looked our her window. Was that a movement? She stood up, put on her black coat, loaded on her weapons and dashed out of the dark room.

Scanning the hallways and making sure they were cleared she bolted outside and took a very long walk. Lost in her state of distress she tried reminding herself to count to 10 and take long and deep breaths. She usually did her most to avoid any people on her ‘bad days’ - or what people and even herself would claim as bad days, because she and anyone really did not know any better at all. Obviously she was well aware that something wrong with her, but she had kept it to herself in fear of getting shunned. 

She knew it all too well. First came the distrust. Meadow smiled smugly. She had it all figured out. She knew what was coming for her. They were coming for her. They were coming soon. They were there. They were here. The thing in her chest got louder and more painful. The pressure would kill her, she was sure of it. Gasping for air she went into a dark alley. Was it her heart?

“Don’t let them see.. don’t. Don’t see. No see.” Meadow muttered. She heard the sirens too. Loud and excruciating, the shrieking sound that felt like it sat right in the entrance of her ears, piercing her drums. She covered her ears but to no avail because the sound did not come from the outside, it did not come from the road or from the police or from the gunshots and the enemy. 

She tried grounding herself by rocking back and forth. The flashes of her past haunting her. The dark room she sat in cold and scary.

She shook her head to snap out of it. 

“Meadow,” the man said. “Meadow!” Her hands were shaking. She used her left to claw down her right hand. She looked down to the dead body of her twin sister. Meadow reached out to brush away the hair on her face, but regretted it when she saw the wounds. The small childlike fingers she used to move the hair with felt weird and wrong. The blood between her nails and the scratched up wounds felt so wrong on such a small hand.

“This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This isn’t real.” The same sentence was said over and over. She could not breathe. She was the one saying it. She laughed psychotically as she heard a cat meowing. The dark alley formed again. Meadow stared back at the cat eyes staring at her. She felt relieved as she leaned back up against the wall while keeping the eye contact.

“I’ve gone batshit crazy now, haven’t I?” The cat was practically nodding as it elegantly, soundlessly and carefully made its way over to her. It took a while for it to come closer than 2 metres away, but they happened to enjoy each others company and the silence and peace it brought. After sitting there for God know’s how long, she tried her luck with extending her hand out to the cat for her to come closer. The whiskers appeared to be moving as it walked over to her and smelled her. Meadow felt dizzy and closed her eyes. She could feel the rough tongue licking her bloody outstreched hand. 

“Now that is something,” she smiled as she gently petted its head before pulling it together and standing up, before leaving the cat in the alley. The dark starlit sky appeared to get lighter as she walked back towards the HQ. With the occasional safety check around her, she noticed the black cat following her but decided to ignore it. She knew she could not barely take care of herself, so having to deal with a cat would be no good. The meowing still ringed in her ears as she walked into the HQ, the small tang of guilt panging in her chest. She walked into the kitched and looked at the freshly brewed coffee as poured herself a cup and wondered who was up. Yet another abandonement, a lotta more guilt and a shit ton of things to get sorted for the day. 

“I’m definitely gonna need a drink later.”

Meadow woke up to a ton of surprises and stuff to do. She had just been told she would be moving over to her own headquarters and run her own operation but the move had her terrified. She kept thinking of all the things there had happened. The raid, the episodes, the black cat she met. Taking a look in the mirror before setting her mind to go visit some friends in their own business’ she put on her coat and walked out through the door.

“Today is a great, great day!” Meadow sighed as she squinted her eyes going out of the headquarters. With her main bodyguard by her side, they ventured together towards the Business District of LA. The walk felt like a temporary cure to her restlessnes which was why she insisted, besides she was eager to see if she could spot the black cat if they took a detour. She eyed her bodyguard Yuzi, and underneath his black security armour she noticed a little bag of treats sticking out. Raising her eyebrows, she could not help the smile.

”What have you got going there?” She asked, reaching out to grab it. He quickly swerved out of her reach while continuing walking. “Respectfully, none of your business.” He said with a sly smile. She rolled her eyes but kept eyeing him the entire way, which did not even seem to bother him.

”Thank you for looking out for me.” She said seriously. All jokes and banter aside, he was there doing his job perfectly.. perhaps even better than he was supposed to with his job description but whenever she tried talking to him about it, he would avoid. 

“I would give my life for you,” he said while looking almost angry, but she sure could see it in his eyes. Smiling, she nodded and kept quiet. The rest of the way she kept on her own silly lookout while Yuzi was on his to keep them both safe. She had made a list of who to visit, and a list of what shiny new weapons to get. She knew he would not mind either. Excited they ventured into the first business. And to the second. And then the third. But by the time they got to the fourth, she was exhausted. Meadow took a look around while deep in her thoughts. She did not notice Yuzi speaking to her, before he yelled something and pushed her to the ground. Perhaps he said down?

The room went all quiet, she thought as she tried to take a glimpse but could not because of her safety mountain pinning her down. It was a bang, she thought soon after. The room felt as if it were in slowmotion. She closed her eyes while the rest came as a blur. Yuzi speaking security with someone and then him getting the two of them out, in a car and then home. 

***

She did not even get to see the stupid black cat.

Corvo watched as his new boss Meadow broke through her mental barriers and come back to the present. He saw in her eyes the loss she had suffered and vowed in his mind, "I will follow you until my life is forfeit. Any battle mental or physical that you are in, I will join you in mind, spirit and body. This I swear." He turned silently and walked out the side door back to HQ. None of the other guards saw him leave as he disappeared into the shadows without a trace.