[A/N: Sorry for the wait!!!]
Dax's POV
"I bought my ticket from the long way round.
2 bottles of whiskey for the way...
Da da daii doo do doo "
"What's whiskey?" I whispered to Eustace as Domo continued to hum the song. "It's an alcoholic drink" she replied.
Alcohol?
I nodded and continued facing forward in the black jeep we were sitting in.
Not a word from Tyro or King in 2 days, after we came back from the 'battle royale' as they call it, we were sent straight home with no more than "get some rest" from some guards escorting us.
He was a very nice guard though.
We got a message the next day from Blake saying we were needed at HQ (headquarters) the next day, for a briefing of some sort.
Another mission, I suspect.
But that's thing. I'm not sure. No one is.
Heavy tension hangs in the air, baring down on us all harder than gravity. I feel like a sitting duck, and something is going to go –
BANG!
We jolted forwards suddenly and the driver let out a series of curses as he got out of the car to assess the damage. He had hit something, but no one could tell what it was through the thick cloud of grey smoke raising out of the front.
"Maybe I should assist them, I could fix the damages" Amo voiced, about to step out the car when Domo clutched his biceps tightly and shook her head.
She feels it too. The suffocating tension, the crushing feeling of foreboding.
After slamming down the hood aggressively, the driver ambles back to the driver side and flings open the door, unknowingly letting the foul smoke into the cramped space. "It will get us there" he mumbles to himself before starting the engine and driving off, ignoring the quivering of the car and the concerning cries of the engine.
We arrived at HQ and quickly evacuated the car. At moments, notice it could turn into a pillar of smoke and fire.
"Ah there you are, my recruits, Dakari and Eustace follow me, Domonic and Amour follow my assistant" Blake greeted as we walked in. We did as we were told and followed our respective guides.
Eustace and I sat in a room that looked much like the types in movies, used for interrogating people. This furthered the discomfort I was feeling, but I thought nothing of it. Not yet at least. "I have a mission for you..." he started, hands folded together and eyes constantly switching between us.
Something is on his mind. He is hiding something.
Eustace sees it too.
He continued to explain this mission, going into details – far too many, almost irrelevant. He is lying about something. He emphasised the importance of secrecy on this mission.
The first 3 times made me feel like I was special, like Eustace and I were finally given a key role in the team. It made me feel needed and wanted for my skills. But after the next 4 times, the daunting realisation of what he was asking drowned out my giddy feelings, turning it into suspicion.
He wanted us to keep it secret from the team. From everyone.
How strange.
We were to go to an island where they suspected someone essential to Perfide's plans was hiding. We were the ones going because he wanted it to be 100% covert and absolutely no fighting. Eustace was to use her skills to infiltrate a club as a worker and draw as much information from the suspect and I was to hack every surveillance camera and his phone. Sending back messages constantly, keeping HQ up to date.
Don't get me started on all the random details he told us that could have been omitted, but maybe he was anxious we knew he was hiding something.
Eustace and I accepted the mission and walked out the room, not before side-eyeing a mumbling Blake, biting his fingernails, almost making himself bleed.
We walked out of the building and saw King and Tyro being realised from black handcuffs, made out of a strange material.
Don't tell him I said this, but I really missed them. You can tell King, but certainly not Tyro.
"Hey!" Eustace screeched, overjoyed, and throwing her arms around King, who laughed and hugged her back. Tyro stood off the side looking awkward as King tried to drag him into the hug.
"How have you guys been?" I asked them, genuinely curious about the repercussions of their actions. King was about to say something when Tyro nudged her with his elbow, "we've been good" he answered for them.
Why is everyone acting so weird?
Domo and Amo exited the building and saw the dangerous duo. They both screeched and ran up to hug Tyro and King.
That's right. Tyro too.
Tyro pushed Amo off him with a murderous glint in his eyes, but Amo simply blew him an air kiss which was met with an eye roll. Like brother's, adorable.
I wonder if I have siblings.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The house was once again lively, filled with chatter and laughter over the dining room table. No one asked King and Tyro what happened to them again.
"So, they just wanted to brief Amo and I about our weapons and they wanted Amo to make some weapons for them, and me to try them out, cool right?" Domo announced, with a smile on her face when Eustace asked what happened in HQ.
But now it was our turn to answer the question.
The table fell silent as they awaited our response. I peeked at Eustace, who was already looking at me with a begging look in her eyes.
She wants to tell them. Despite us both being sworn to secrecy.
Oh well.
I nodded discreetly and Eustace commenced, telling them every little detail of the encounter. Every eye twitch, any lip bite, any eye shakiness. She is very observant. She recounted the story perfectly, I felt like I was there again.
The smiles vanished, along with the jolly atmosphere. Eustace told the story too perfectly and now everyone could feel the unease that we both felt.
"He is lying" Amo voiced, we all nodded in unison – coming to the same conclusion. "Amo, you know that thing I wanted you to make, have you done that yet?" Tyro asked, looking over at his friend with a raised eyebrow. "Only got 2 so far" Amo replied, and Tyro nodded and whispered 'enough'.
We all gathered in Amo's room, I had never seen it before, but it was exactly as I expected it to be. I felt like I had been here before – or maybe it's PTSD from my upbringing. Test tubes, conical flask – they littered the shelves. Syringes, titration, vials of unknown substances littering the desk.
I started to hyperventilate as the memories that I had pushed to the furthest part of my minds slowly started to seep through the wall I had built. Before anyone knew what had happened, I threw up the same vile substance that had plagued my insides since I got here. It had significantly reduced, but not stopped.
I heard some shouting before the darkness, I found so comforting, embraced me tenderly.
When I woke up, I was in my bed and Eustace was sitting next to me, with the rest of the team surrounding us.
"Long story short, we put a chip in your back molars that uses magnetic waves and is undetectable by sensors so we can track you on your trip" Amo said, smiling as he wrote something on a clipboard he was holding.
Is he purposely trying to trigger my PTSD. "Also Dax, I found out what that substance you were vomiting is, and I know how to neutralise it so you can stop" he continued, putting the clipboard down as he noticed my shallow breaths as I looked at it.
I know scientist are meant to be my enemies, but Amo is my friend, he wouldn't hurt me. Right?
He handed me a pill bottle and inside were only 2 pills. "Take one now and the other tomorrow. It will neutralise the acid inside you, but you have to wait for one to... flush out before you take the other." Amo explained.
"If you sense you are in danger on the mission, clench your jaw very hard twice and this will send a homing signal to us and your location" Tyro voiced, "we will come and find you no matter what" Domo added, whilst King nodded with a soft smile on her face.
Her scar had gotten lighter, but the distinct shape of a lightning bolt was still etched in her skin but not it looked cool instead of painful.
These are my friends; they wouldn't hurt me.
I peered at Eustace beside me and smiled at her.
Why do I still feel like a sitting duck?