“I don’t know who he thinks we’d turn him into, the General and I aren’t exactly in close cahoots.”
“We’re in pretty good graces with the Commander, though. Did you see her face earlier?” And she gestured up to the grimace currently in place.
Huffing a breath past the reluctant amusement bubbling up, Lee redirected the last of his tension into the hard plastic of the chair, before sinking down into it once more and clearing away some of the extra holofiles he’d left open before them. They could both probably use a break by this point.
The whole idea behind having that additional clearance right now was sending his mind through a black hole of endless possibilities. None of which were too appealing, they were already juggling enough as it was.
He watched as a couple of Ultra cadets sat down at the table next to theirs, carelessly dreaming of their next raid out, very likely without surprise clearances about to show up on their raider hub.
“What were you planning with this, Nolan?” Lee dipped his head down against the table.
“I wonder…” Kat began.
When he lifted his head again, he found her peering across the far side of the Hideaway, where their favorite long-haired cadet had just ambled through the doors.
Whistler grinned when he spotted them, the double red-brown buns going down his head bouncing as he carved his way towards them.
“Yo, yo! My team!”
Even Lee couldn’t help the grin that slipped to his face as he sat back, some of the stress evaporating at the Gamma’s approach.
“Just the one we were hoping to see,” Kat said.
“Moi?” Whistler gestured dramatically, stealing a chair from a couple tables over and collapsing into it with a swoon.
Waving the dramatics aside, Lee ran his tongue over his teeth. “Have you checked out the status of your security clearance as of late?”
Any lighthearted teasing slipped from Whistler’s face as he leaned both arms down onto the table. “Yeah, actually. I wanted to talk to you guys about that... I noticed it a couple of raids back. Ciela didn’t think much of my—advantage, thank thevoid. But it did come in handy.” Whistler didn’t add more about his co-squadron lead as his hazel eyes glanced from Lee to Kat. “With the way you’re looking at me, I’m guessing you both still have it too?”
“We do.” Lee scraped at a groove in the table. But if all three of them had the additional clearance to their names, there was a high chance that—
“Hey, Zaney boy,” Kat called out as the celebrated foe crossed into the Hideaway. His dark eyes narrowed in on Kat first at her derisive tone—as if daring her to try that again. He actually looked as if he might turn right back around, before he took in the rest of them sitting there together.
With a grimace and a near-death glare, Zane rolled his shoulders back and strode towards them. He didn’t sit. But Lee wouldn’t have expected him to. Not as Zane turned a leveled stare to him.
“We learned something interesting when we were preparing for our raid this morning—Kat caught it actually,” he said, Zane’s hard gaze dipping reluctantly towards her.
“What are you talking about?”
“Apparently the additional clearance we were given to check outArgoslast term was never revoked,” Lee said, clearing his throat.
“Void,” Zane cursed under his breath, rubbing golden-brown fingertips into his temple. “And you all still have it?”
“I discovered mine by accident several weeks back,” Whistler admitted, lifting his shoulders dismissively. “I didn’t think much of it. More information is always a plus. But now…”
“I’ll check it out tonight,” Zane finally said, a sagging weight seeming to settle over his shoulders. His eyes strayed around the Hideaway as if looking for an exit. Lee knew that disconcertion well. It was the same look he’d worn this morning going in for their raid briefing. The same one he wore before every raid now.
A workout and a quick shower later, with his holoblock tucked under one arm and his chin still stinging from the invisible nick despite his careful strokes under the water spout minutes before, Lee knocked on Kat’s portal door.
He didn’t know why he’d swung back to grab his holoblock, he didn’t expect to hear back from Zane so soon—even if he did, he didn’t know what he would do with that knowledge. And after this morning, they had more than enough to go on for their raid tomorrow. For many raids; they apparently had an entire database at their disposal.
He shifted the holoblock under his arm. Maybe he was reading too much into this, old habits resurfacing. And here he was, allowing it to barge into his and Kat’s world.
He still couldn’t believe he was lucky enough to have any sort of claim over her affections.
As if on cue, the goddess herself appeared at the door. She wore his hoodie with a pair of very small shorts. Tiny water droplets clung to the ends of her wet hair like glittering flecks of starlight, a flaming star, fresh into his orbit. Flashing him an irreverent smile as usual, she waved him in with her hairbrush.
Lee offloaded his holoblock onto her desk amid the clutter, sinking down into her chair, while she picked around some things in her closet.
