Sparks Beneath the Surface.

ＳＥＶＥＮＴＥＥＮ- Same Old Tricks.

We return to the Bureau, somewhat demoralized but looking professional, no longer in our Christmas onesies. We shuffle into the Den with a range of sighs and groans.

"Okay, so, what was so important your Dad had to drag us back here so early?" Benji asks, leaning over a table on his elbows.

Lilah shrugs, "Wouldn't give me more than we have to come back. That's my dad for you, incredibly vague but always so clear when it comes to ruining your plans to do anything resembling living a life.

Elian picks up the docket laying neatly on one of the tables and skims through it, "Ah. Our contact in Tech got word that Octurna has taken control of a pharma lab on the northern outskirts of Grand Marais. They've got the scientists under siege and are forcing them to work, threatening to kill them and their family members if they don't comply, already garnered a few bodies."

"Do we know what they have them working on?" Kiyo asks.

"Mm, no. Doesn't say anything, so I'm guessing Mr. Blanchard wants to head there in person and find out ourselves." Eli replies, swiping the docket onto the screen and the information appears in front of all of us in a blue shimmering tech-y font.

"So, we're doing this, yeah?" Kami asks.

"Whatever gets us back to the chateau quicker." Clarke sighs.

"I mean, in theory, it shouldn't take too long. Simple rescue and gather intel mission, right?" I ask.

"Yeah, but that's if we're factoring out," Zade swipes the screen to show a photo of the Essentials, "them."

"Well, we've faced them before. We're not scared of them, are we?"

"Nooo, but it would prolong the process and make it more of a headache." Orion sighs.

"We can handle headaches." Ivy says, patting him on the back.

"Alright, so, we're doing this, no debate. We go in, do we what we need to, stay alert. Let's suit up and maybe we can make it all the way back to Frostpine sooner than later."

"And if not, there's always our New Years Eve rager to look forward to." Kiyo smiles.

"Wait, NYE rager? When?"

"Pretty self-explanatory, I think. Kiyo and I host one every year," Zade explains, "and you are coming. No exceptions."

I scoff, "Like there was any chance in hell you were gonna keep me away from a party!"

The mellow conversation about the party and new year continues as we suit up. Since I technically still don't have one (Kiyo and I have been designing one for like, ever), I just put on an orange cloak and a mask. Once we're done, Zade conjures the portal, and we soon arrive in Grand Marais. I sigh at the sight before me. The research center stood in the misty fog, almost frozen in time, or place, and that eerie feeling seemed to just carry into the inside of the building the research, along with a smell in the air that was a lot like antiseptic and fear. My boots made a hollow sound on tile that felt too clean for what had happened here. Elian's voice comes through my earpiece—calm, clipped.

"Team, you know what to do and what we're here for, perimeter sweep in two. Danielle, Magnolia, you're on evac. Others, contain and neutralize. No lethal force unless I call it."

I tighten my fingers around the heat at my palms and nod stupidly even though he can't see me. Ivy's presence at my side is like a warm, green pulse—quiet, steady. We make our way through the halls as quietly as possible and that's when she signals for me to stop. There's some scientists clustered in Lab B, terrified and small. Okay, so, I guess we start here. I just need to remember that my job is to get them out without turning the place into a furnace, which is a lot easier said than done.