Fire & Ice | Soulmate AU 1 |

chapter fifteen

I'm only back in the tower for another day when Max comes by to see me with some good news. A team out in D.C. was able to call in a few favors and figure out where Bella and Alexander are more than likely hanging out.

"It's a beach house down in seaside heights in Jersey," Max informs me, looking down and poking lightly at the bandages wrapped around my arms. "Hey, what happened here, anyway?"

I jerk my arms away with a little more force than necessary. He's just reminded me about that night all over again. I manage to forget everyone once in a while but there's always something that comes up to make me remember. I'll always remember, too, because they're going to scar pretty badly.

"Doesn't matter," I say hastily, sitting up quickly where I'm still seated in bed. "When are you guys moving in to get her?"

"Well, as soon as possible, actually, and I already know what you're gonna ask, Lake, and—" he begins, but I cut him off just like he probably expected me to.

"You gotta let me go, Max," I plead. "She's practically his kid, man."

"Yeah? And what about you? You practically his boyfriend or something?" he replies, but he says it with enough of a playful tilt to his voice that I know he's only being partially serious.

"C'mon, Max," I complain. "It's...not like that. But I'll admit that it's a personal matter." I may still be opposed to telling him the whole truth, but calling it a "personal matter" is at least a step closer to it.

Max studies my face for a second. There's a long pause where neither of us speaks. I let out a relieved breath when he finally heaves a long, defeated sigh.

"Alright," he says, giving in. "You can go. But you're out of the line of fire. You'll wait for the others to take the heavy hits and take care of any goons that may crop up. You're responsible for the kid only, got it?"

"Got it," I agree instantly.

"You're gonna take it really easy, too, okay?"

"Yes, Max, yes. Definitely. When are we leaving?"

He sighs and shakes his head again.

"As soon as we can. C'mon. The rest of the team is already suiting up."

Max leaves for mission headquarters while I take my time dragging myself to my feet. My entire body aches as I go. The bandages over the bullet wounds still have to have be changed twice a day and I make it a point to do the same for the ones on my arms. The gunshot wounds still bleed occasionally but I'm not too concerned considering I'm already moving around way more than the average person would be.

I take the elevator up to mission HQ, change into my gear at a rate slower than the highest sloth on earth would, and meet up with the rest of the team on the tower's flight deck. Only Max, JD, Cecelia, Flint, and I are going out on this particular mission.

Everyone is excited to see me up and about. I've been a sad mope of a person for the last day or so. Nightmares have been destroying any attempt at sleep I try to make. All I want to do when I'm awake is lay in bed watching old nineties cartoons or go back to sleep. I've turned over onto my opposite side to face away from anybody who's tried to get me involved with some kind of "fun" activity. I'm still not entirely sure what I'm afraid of, but I've never really had a great reaction to being injured.

JD and Flint slip into the pilot seats at the front of our team's jet. Tony would normally be here to fly but he's taken a personal day for something important so we're making do with who we have. The plane is always masked by cloaking technology provided by HoloTech. League teams are only authorized to uncloak their jet when the world's safety is at stake. The League is, after all, supposed to be a government organization that operates in the shadows. More public altercations like the one that just happened with James are far and few between when all of the undercover operations and private missions are taken into account.