Monthly Bonus Content #2—'A New Start!' (Ava/Nat/Felix/Mason Version) (Patreon)

Pink and yellow streamers scatter through the air, twirling in front of Ava’s stone-faced expression. Ringlets of colourful paper land across her tensed shoulders.

“It’s a new year!” Felix shouts, bouncing on the spot as he lets loose yet another unnecessarily bright explosive. This time it releases a spout of glitter Ava just knows she’ll not be able to wash from her clothing for weeks.

Nat laughs, poking her cardboard hat further onto her head as it begins to slide down to a jaunty angle. The tinsel spurting from the top of it twinkles in the hastily thrown up fairy lights of the facility’s common room.

Mason sits with a grimace far in the deepest shadows of the room…somewhere Ava would quite like to join him right about now.

“So what are these resolutions you lot do in this world then?” Felix asks, slumping down onto an armchair and offering a dazzling smile at an agent who makes a very slow, very inspecting walk past the open doorway.

Ava slowly shuts the door. If anyone ever saw her dusted in glitter and drowned in coloured swirls of paper…even another thousand years couldn’t save that hit to her reputation.

Nat seems to sense her unease, as the tall vampire walks over towards her with an appeasing smile. “This is his first New Year’s Eve in this world. With us. Let him have it as he wants.”

Ava lifts a brow. “Are you stating that I will not need to do this every year?”

“Well, we should at least give him a decade of them to let the novelty wear off,” Nat adds with a chuckle.

“So? What are they?” Felix insists after no one responds to his original question.

Nat turns back to the newest member of Unit Bravo. “They are kind of like promises you make to yourself. About things you will do during the upcoming year.”

“Oh! That sounds cool! Do you keep them?” he asks with bright eyes.

Mason snorts out a breath that is somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. “No. No one ever keeps them.”

Felix deflates a little. “Oh. That’s…kind of sad. You’d think of all the promises a person would make, the ones they make to themselves are the ones they’d never want to break.”

“Oh wonderful.” Mason throws his hands into the air. “This world is going to tear his optimism into tiny littles pieces.”

More of Felix’s enthusiasm seeps out of him.

Ava’s jaw tightens at the prospect. With all the darkness Unit Bravo has been plunged into these past few years, Felix cut through it with his sunny cheer and refreshing view on, well, everything.

There is no way Ava would let it be broken. No matter who she’ll have to fight to protect it.

“My new year’s resolution is that I will protect this team. Whatever it takes,” she vows.

Felix looks up at her wide-eyed from where his gaze had dropped. “Does that include me?”

“You are a part of this team, are you not?” Ava asks with a smile hinting at the corner of her lips.

“Yeah, but only for a little while. I wasn’t sure if that was enough time to count,” he confesses, tugging at his hat.

Ava glances over her gathered team. Her family. The people who have given her purpose. Given her a reason to keep going for all these numbed years.

And Felix feels like he was one missing piece of it.

After inhaling a deep, resolving breath, Ava reaches out and grabs a holographic cardboard hat and slips it onto her head.

Nat almost falls from her chair in shock. Mason rolls his eyes and glances away from the spectacle. But Felix smiles with such renewed happiness that this moment of spectacular embarrassment is completely worthwhile.

“What are your resolutions?” Ava asks.

Felix instantly erupts into a long list of ideas, bouncing in his seat, eagerly doling out who should choose what.

As the young vampire tries to get Mason involved with little success, Nat moves to Ava’s side once again.

“Thanks,” Nat says with a smile.

“I’d have done the same for any of our team.”

“I know,” Nat replies. “It’s why we respect you so much.” Then her gaze flickers up to the hat standing proud on top of Ava’s head.

She sighs. “Does it at least suit me?”

Nat breaks into a laugh. “No. It looks utterly ridiculous!”

Ava groans and sinks a little. But she knows this will be one of the rare beginnings of a new year that she’ll actually remember.