"For the last time, we are not just going to kill Mallory in her sleep!" Michael exclaims from behind his desk as he circles around it.

"I don't see why not!" I protest as I circle the desk opposite Michael.

"God, why do you have to be so problematic?" Michael shouts as he leans over the desk while continuing to circle it.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" I retort as I lean over the desk as well, matching his energy.  "Is it really that hard to just kill her?  Just destroy her soul as you did to all those other witches in the coven!"

"It's not that simple!" he complains.  "Cordelia must be prepared for me to try to destroy her soul; she probably has some spell cast on Mallory to stop me from doing so!"

"Maybe she doesn't!  We'll never know unless we try!"

"If I'm correct, we'll fuck everything up because we'll completely trigger Mallory's powers and she'll try to attack us!"

"You're the fucking Antichrist; how the hell is she able to hurt you?"

"Those witches are not to be underestimated; they were able to kill the one woman I ever cared for-"

"Yeah, Ms. Mead, I know!" I cut him off.  "Who the fuck reincarnates their caregiver as a robot?  There are much healthier coping mechanisms!"

"Like what?  I was only five years old!"

"You weren't mentally!  Maybe you could've just grieved and let it go like a normal person!"

"I can't believe you're the one lecturing me on this," he scoffs as he backs away from the desk.

"Excuse me?"

"You murdered the guy who attempted to drug you!  How's that for a healthy coping mechanism?"

"That is not the same thing!  The bitch had it coming!  God, your toxic masculinity is showing," I scoff as I back away.

I gasp as I fly into the wall and feel my airway constrict.  "I am tired of your attitude," Michael states as he stares me down.  "Drop it now or I am not going to be dropping you from the wall."

It takes everything in me to not use my newfound powers to lash back at him; I already decided last night that I would hide those from him for as long as possible so I could use them to my advantage if need be.

After feeling that his point has gotten across, Michael lowers his arm and I fall to the ground.  I gasp on the ground as I regain my breath.

When I stand back up, Michael is leaning against his desk, trying to calm himself.  I walk up to him, eyes ablaze.  "Go to hell, asshole," I spit as I backhand him.  

Michael holds a hand to his cheek as he stares in disbelief.  I storm out of the room, his angry glare following me.

I slam the door behind me and turn just to see Ms. Venable walking down the hallway.  Great, now I'm about to get lectured by this bitch while I'm already worked up from my argument with Michael.

She stops upon seeing me, her usual cold demeanor seeming slightly unsettled.  However, she quickly puts her emotionless mask back on.  "Good afternoon, Ms. Callistra," she states coldly.  "I was wondering if I was ever going to see your face again."

"What do you mean?" I ask as she approaches me, doing my best to appear calm.

"You've been missing from meals for the past two nights and nobody has seen you.  Mr. Langdon excused you both nights, and he also said that I am not to punish you for the stunt you pulled two days ago."

I suddenly get an idea.  Michael is listening in on our conversation right now, so this is the perfect time to piss him off.  And what better way to piss him off than making him jealous?

"Ms. Venable, I am surprised that you'd want to punish me for that," I say almost mockingly as I walk up to her until we are feet apart.  I stand in front of her for a few seconds as I pick up a strand of her hair that is coming out of her perfect updo.  I twirl it in my finger before pushing it behind her ear.  "Would you want to punish me if I did it again?" I whisper.

Venable stares at me almost in shock, seemingly unable to decide whether to stop and chastise me for my behavior or let me continue.  She opens her mouth to respond, but no words come out.  I press my lips to hers, and almost as soon as they touch, Michael slams the doors to his office open.

"Ms. Callistra," he states, his eyes on fire.  "A word."

I smirk as I release Ms. Venable.  She stares in shock as I back away from her and walk toward Michael.  As soon as I enter the office, he slams the door behind me and grabs me by the neck.  "What the hell are you playing at?" he asks through gritted teeth.

"What, don't like it when I match your game?" I taunt.

His eyes narrow as he glares at me.  "If I see you kissing anybody again, I will not hesitate to snap their neck on site."

"Murder is a serious crime," I mock, quoting what he said to me in my interview. I watch as his anger only grows at the sight of the playful look on my face. Oh, he hates to see me know exactly how to get under his skin. "My oh my, Langdon, you better be careful or else I might think you're jealous."

His grip on me tightens.  "Are you trying to press my buttons?" he asks, his voice turning on threatening.

"Wow, great deduction skills. Are these smarts the reason you've been so successful in killing Mallory?" I retort sarcastically.

A small gasp falls from my lips as his hand cuts off my air supply, but I do my best to hide my reaction. "Don't bring that witch up right now. Right now, we are talking about why you should be grateful that I have enough self-control to let go before you asphyxiate. Because I'll tell you what, the thought of just killing you now sounds so much easier than putting up with this bullshit of yours any longer."

He tightens his grip for a split second to cause a sharp pain in my neck before letting go altogether. I suck in a large breath of air, turning away in the slightest to not give him the satisfaction of seeing my weakness. He watches me condescendingly from behind as my back moves up and down from catching my breath.

Once I feel like I've recovered enough, I turn to him angrily. "You know, almost killing me is a total overreaction to me simply kissing Venable."

"It's not about the kissing Venable - it's about the trouble you cause everywhere you go. The more chaos you cause, the more I have to cover for you to stop your ass from getting killed."

"So?  What's the problem with that?" I ask exasperatedly.

"The others are starting to get suspicious that we're working together," he states as he walks over to his desk.  "You've been MIA for the last two days, and I've been the only person to see you.  I hope you know that Venable would not hesitate to kill you if it got her one step closer to the Sanctuary."

"I'm entirely aware," I state condescendingly as I walk over to the desk and sit against the edge.  "However, you're far more powerful than her, and you seem to not want me to die for whatever reason."

"My father doesn't want you to die," he corrects.  "You're so insufferable that I'm only a few minor inconveniences away from going against his will and killing you myself."

"Please do," I roll my eyes.  "Put us all out of our misery."

"How do the others in this outpost not hate your guts?"

"What do you mean?  I'm pretty sure they all hate me."

He shakes his head.  "Coco loves you, Gallant thinks you're fun, Dinah respects you, and Andre says that you're 'a stone-cold bitch but a likable one at that,' whatever the hell that's supposed to mean.  The only one that hated you was Evie, but it seems that everyone in this damn outpost hated her guts."

"You seem to have left Venable out," I remark, knowing that he did so because he's jealous of our kiss.

He rolls his eyes.  "She says you're an 'unpredictable hothead with diabolical smarts, constantly manipulating the other residents of the outpost to your every whim.'"

I shrug as I lean back.  "Sounds about accurate."

He walks around the desk towards me.  "I entirely agree with her, although I think she forgot to add on incessant and petty bitch."

"Thank you, I was afraid you were going to forget my two favorite personality traits," I retort sarcastically.

He sighs defeatedly as he sits in his chair.  "How the hell are you so unaffected by me?" he asks as he throws his arms out.

"Unaffected?" I question.

"Psychological manipulation, mind games, all that," he sighs.  "So far it seems that I got a slight emotional response from my attempt to point out your weakness, but your walls immediately went right back up.  Even when I sent my demon after you, you went on like normal after I brought you back to consciousness."

"Awe, are you upset because your psychological torture tactics don't work on me?" I mock.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?  Are you sociopathic?"

I shrug.  "I block out my emotions so I don't get hurt again, simple as that."

"Why would you admit that?" he questions.

I chuckle.  "What, do you think you're going to be able to use that information against me?  The truth is that I am not going to be letting those emotions back in any time soon, so you may as well give up on your little mind games."

He scoffs as he watches me begin to walk away.  As I go to open the door, he appears in front of me.  "Will you stop with the teleportation shit?" I state condescendingly.

I try to push past him but he grabs my arm and I quickly look up at him.  He's only an inch taller than me, but it feels like he's trying to make himself taller.  "Transmutation," he corrects.

I roll my eyes.

"Someway, somehow, I am going to make you feel those emotions," he states.

"Nice try," I roll my eyes.  "Then what, use them against me to manipulate me?  Good luck with that."

He smirks amusedly.  "Maybe.  Or maybe I'll actually have grown to like you by then."

I scoff as I push his hand off my arm.  "Doubt it."

He chuckles as he opens his door.  "You see, I'd like to think my father chose you for a reason, however strange that reason must be."

"Personally, I think your father must be a fool to think we're a good pair," I retort, walking out the door.

He rolls his eyes.  "I doubt that it is wise to call Satan a fool."

I shrug as I turn around in the hallway to face him.  "I'm past the stage of trying to be wise, if you couldn't tell by my instigating you while you had me in a chokehold."

"Such a pleasure, as always," he says mockingly, his tone laced with sarcasm.  "Until next time you decide to test my will to not kill you, Ms. Callistra."

I roll my eyes as I turn away and begin to walk down the hallway.  "Whatever, Langdon."