For a moment Victoria had thought that Luke would have just simply tried and ignored her, something she was more than capable of dealing with with. The Oceanic's towering height and abrasive voice were well suited to getting a point across in combination with her abrasively accented swearing. Failing that, a liberal application of brute force directed at someone's skull was a good way to get them to listen. Something told her that Jean would be less than pleased with her if that's how she ended up handling the situation, but she couldn't give less of a fuck about what he thought. She would keep an eye on him sure, for Marathon, and follow his orders, but she was a firm believer in the policy of asking for forgiveness instead of permission.

God, he looked like such an asshole! Leaning against the side of the building seemingly without a care in the world, inhaling his fucking cigarette smoke like everything was perfectly alright. And the way he sighed and fixed her with that sidelong glance, it was taking all her self-control to not stub out his smoke in his eyes. At least he looked suitably cowed by her presence, rubbing his neck and avoiding her hateful gaze like a beaten dog. Bullies never did like it when they were cornered by someone bigger than them, and he was no different than the ones she had known back home. Victoria was going to whip him twice in one day, this time physically instead of in a competition. 

Or at least she had planning to. The fiercely protective soldier was all set to deck the bastard in the mouth but then he just had to go and start speaking. He claimed that he had snapped, a weak excuse, but Victoria couldn't ignore the guilt in his expression. Had it really been done out of pure malice like she had thought? It would be so much simpler if it was, it had been some cartoonish expression of evil or foul-temper. Victoria had dealt with her fair share of people who were assholes for the sake of being assholes, she could handle them with no sweat. But when they expressed genuine remorse like Luke was solutions were messy and hard to work out. 

She managed to keep a sneer on her face while she took in his explanation, well versed in acting she didn't give a shit about anyone or anything when she very much did. And what she heard worried her greatly. Luke's words about how he didn't care about other people's opinions of him, the way he was obviously spoiling for a fight, it reminded her of herself and the other transient thugs that had roamed the streets. Young, stupid, wasting their lives. She had seen firsthand where that road led, a bitter struggle with alcoholism and raising a kid for her, death or prison for many of them. Whether she made it out of the war or not, her life was over. She had no skills, no real friends, her family was scattered to the wind. She'd be stuck in the military until she was forced into retirement by old age or a bullet. 

It was all she could do. She had fucked up and dug herself into a pit she couldn't climb out of, it didn't matter if she dug herself deeper. It was painful to admit, but that was the truth. But she didn't want anyone else to make the same mistakes that she had. There was hope for Luke still, if he survived he could still become a doctor or lawyer or teacher or anything that was more than a violent street kid who had been assigned a uniform and a rifle. She wanted him to succeed, to be someone that she could point at and show Elizabeth that she didn't have to grow up to be like her mother. 

All at once Victoria unclenched her fists and relaxed her tensed shoulders, the fight leaving her body as she began to toy with the brass locket at her neck. [color=#4F97A3]"I'm not going to hit you, although you certainly deserve it."[/color] she said tiredly.  [color=#4F97A3]"I just don't want you to end up going down a bad road. Luke, trust me, you don't want to end up alienating everyone around you. You can make something out of yourself, after all this shit blows over. You're not a fuck-up like I am."[/color] The young woman paused her spiel to retrieve her metal flask, the foul scent of cheap liquor pouring out as she opened it and took a swing. [color=#4F97A3]"You should really cut back on your drinking as well."[/color] she suggested, apparently immune to irony.

Her free hand removed her necklace and opened it, showing Luke the photo of little Elizabeth. [color=#4F97A3]"I was kicked out from home when I was fourteen and became a full time thug. I drink so much that I have trouble remembering any of my life before I was ten. I killed a person at fifteen and fell in love with a con artist that left me penniless and alone when I got pregnant. Now I'll wasting my life in the OEF because I don't know how to do anything but fight for my life. You can do much better than that."[/color]