Monthly Bonus Content #2 — Book One, Chapter Two (Patreon)

(Takes place after Rebecca has left and told Unit Bravo who they'll be protecting. Oddly for me, I actually have about three different ideas for how this aftermath scene could play out, but this is the strongest candidate! :D)

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The door to the office shuts with a small click as Rebecca leaves, plunging the room into an intense quiet.

The silence that falls over Unit Bravo is usually a comfortable one. A stable one. One that falls over a group of people who have known each other long enough that not everything that needs to be said needs to be spoken aloud.

But Felix really, really thinks this needs to be said aloud.

“Did you know she had a kid?” he blurts out.

The question hangs in the air like an odour the team can’t disperse.

Nat rubs at her chin before sighing.

Ava stares at the ground with a frown that burrows into her brow even deeper than usual.

And Mason…well, Mason is Mason and doesn’t look like he even bothered to process the question.

“No,” Nat finally answers. “At least, I didn’t.” She looks to Ava for her response.

The team commander shakes her head. “I had no idea.”

“I don’t care if she does or not,” Mason grumbles when everyone waits for his response.

“You will now seeing as we have to watch over them,” Felix adds with a growing grin. “Wonder what they’re like?”

“Who they are or what they are like matters little. We will do our job and keep them safe, without them compromising our task.” Ava gives a curt nod, apparently having decided this the moment Rebecca handed them the task of protectors.

Felix tips back in his chair, tilting it back onto two legs with expert balance. “Oh, come on. You’re not even a little bit curious? Rebecca—impressively even more stuck up in her emotions then you are—” Ava’s lips purse at the comment. “Has a kid. And no one even knew! And that kid has some super awesome blood. How does that not pique your curiosity? Even a little bit?”

“Because I am professional,” Ava responds.

Felix scoffs. “Because you’re boring.”

“Felix is right,” Nat adds.

Both of them whips their heads around to her with wide eyes.

Nat sighs. “I mean about Rebecca’s child, not about you being boring.”

Ava’s shoulders drop a little from their knotted tension.

“You have to admit it was a little bit of a surprise,” Nat continues. “How long have we known Rebecca now? We trust her with her lives, but…it makes you realise just how little we know about her. Far less than the other handlers we’ve had.”

“Because knowing our handlers lives made things so much better,” Mason snaps. “Didn’t help us save our last one, did it?”

Another silence—thick and tense with emotion—clouds the room at the comment.

Felix tips his chair back forward and stands. “Well, Rebecca is the only handler I’ve had, and I like her. Even with as stiff and formal as she is, she has our backs. Always. So I think it’s fair we return the favour.”

“How do you plan to do that?” Mason asks with a tilt of his head. His expression is obscured by a stream of thick cigarette smoke, but Felix can guess that it’s wrinkled into annoyance.

“By keeping her kid safe. The safest we’ve ever kept anyone.” Felix places a hand on his hip with a nod.

Nat smiles, eyes warm with a return of her usual optimism. “I’m with Felix. And who knows? We may even enjoy the couple of weeks we have to spend with them.”

“Let’s hope it does not last more than a couple of weeks,” Ava states before stabbing a finger at the door. “We should get going and see just who it is we’re dealing with.”

The team mobilise quickly, streaming through the door with the silence of shadows.

Felix glances back over his shoulder to the room where so much had just been revealed and can’t help but smile.

For some reason, it feels as though something’s shifted.

As though something’s just begun.

“Are you coming, Felix?” Nat calls from down the stairwell.

Felix shakes the feeling away and springs down the steps in a few bounds after the rest of his family.