It Takes Two...

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

The words fell on her like lances, and she was falling.
Madeleine's hand tightened over her mouth as Kira said this.
No... no... no... oh God, no...
It wasn't true. It couldn't be true. If it was true...
And Kira kept going. And with each word, Madeleine kept falling, faster and faster and -
"He called you beautiful," Kira said quietly. "He called you beautiful- and called himself stupid- inadequate. That you were way out of his league. How- how could you give that up?"
She was going to be sick. She was going to cry. Her hand over her mouth would cut off her oxygen supply. She was going to do a million impossible things.
She rounded on Kira, her eyes wild, mad and dangerous. "You're lying," she said, her voice edged with danger, anger and hurt.
She was so lucky that she wasn't facing a mirror. Because if she had been, she would have saw her brother's expression staring right back at her.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"No-one wishes more than I do that I am," Kira said fiercely, taking a step closer again. "Wouldn't that be better- if all of this was just a piece of vindictive fiction on my part?"
Funny how the fire that ran in her blood could leave her fearless. Madeleine looked at her now- angered; perhaps even hurt. But Kira wasn't frightened by this. It told Kira that she had the power in this conversation. She was winning this one for Lee. She was letting everything spiteful thought she'd ever had for Madeleine- every little bit of resentment she had explode forth. She was doing what Lee should've done a long time ago.
She was telling it like it was.
She'd probably done enough. To push it as far as she was going to could be a big mistake- but she didn't care. She wouldn't stay silent. She wanted to make sure Madeleine knew exactly what she thought of her...
"Tell me, Madeleine," she said, meeting her friend's clear blue eyes with an ice cold stare. "If your brother's watching you now, how do you think he feels? Do you think he's proud of having a little sister whose nothing more than another notch on Levi Ryder's belt?"

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Before she even knew what she was doing, Madeleine's other hand had flown from her side, reaching forward, the palm of it slamming into the side of Kira's face.
Not especially hard, but hard enough.
Her breathing was harsh and ragged, and a lump of anger was rising in her throat. No words that were in Madeleine's head could possibly sum up the amount of hatred for Kira she was feeling now, or what she thought of Kira right now.
And this wasn't about Lee anymore. Kira had no right - no right to bring Shaun into this. This had nothing to do with him. Nothing.
And no matter what Kira said, Shaun would never turn his back on her.
But the very thought of it filled her with panic of the worst kind, blinding and black and asphyxiating. Hatred of herself to the very extreme.
And anger. Fiery, white hot anger.
"How dare you," Madeleine growled in a low, deep, terrifying lion's growl of a voice. ""How... dare you."
It wasn't loud - on the contrary, it was so quiet that Kira couldn't hear it without straining, but it was scary. If Kira had any sense she'd leave.
Now.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira raised her hand to touch her stinging cheek gently. It was almost a shock, even though she'd seen it coming. It hurt. A lot. But Kira knew that she'd hurt Madeleine far more. Her old friend's pale, panic-stricken eyes told her as much. Perhaps she'd deserved that slap.
Kira moved her jaw slowly, checking nothing had been broken. It'd been a hard hit, but she was okay. Catching sight of herself in the mirror across the room, she saw that one of her pale cheeks had turned fiery red. Could you get bruises from slaps? Kira could swear she could feel one forming. She made a mental note to ask Will for healing later.
Or maybe she shouldn't. Maybe she should wear it like a medal- make sure people know exactly how she got it-
Except that wasn't fair to Lee.
For Lee's sake, and Lee's alone, she wouldn't do it.
Kira sighed, and turned on her heel. She'd done enough. Well, almost. Pausing at the door, she paused to look at Madeleine once more as she'd seen her. Once upon a time, Kira had had nothing but the deepest respect for Madeleine. Once upon a time, Kira had looked up to her- been impressed by her skills as Head and awed by the legends of her heroics on the field. But it wasn't just that...
Madeleine had been one of her closest friends- someone she could trust almost as much as Lee. She'd confided in Madeleine about her aunt, and about Deron.
To see her as she once saw her...
Had it all just been an illusion?
It was that illusion- that pretty, pathetic little fantasy that saw nothing but good in Madeleine- was the reason that she'd pushed it. The reason that she had to come- and scream at Madeleine. If she hadn't, she wouldn't have been able to forgive herself.
Seize the day.
This hadn't just been for Lee- she'd be a fool to think it. This had been for Kira, and all who ever had the misfortune to fall under Madeleine's malicious spell ever again.
"Funny thing is..." Kira said softly, almost to herself as she pulled open the door. "I told him to give you two a chance. I told him to try harder- to talk about it, and work it out." She stopped, and shook herself, almost as if to rid herself of any of her old, almost-laughable delusions. "Everyone makes mistakes."
And as the door shut behind her, the ensuing silence hurt far more than any slap ever would.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

The words cut through Madeleine, sharper than her silver sword ever was.
"You... you..." she started angrily, her voice cracking - with temper or sadness she wasn't entirely sure.
The back of her hand was pressing more firmly against her mouth. And still all that was going through her mind was Oh God, why?
Kira was lying. She had to be lying.
At least, that was what Madeleine was going to tell herself...