New Team

3am Tea

We arrived back at the house, and I immediately went to bed. At 3am I woke up again, and went downstairs. When I got there Cody was awake, and had two cups of tea out. Wordlessly I sat next to him, and he slid one of the mugs to me. I took a sip, and leaned back in the chair. 

"You ok?" I turned to him with a stocic face. 

He just nodded, still looking ahead. 

"I know it's weird to watch someone get hurt."

He chuckled and looked at me, "No. It's weird watching someone get tortured and hearing them laugh about it." 

Fair enough, "Every laugh was just me covering up a sound of pain. I couldn't show him he was hurting me."

"How's your leg?" 

I shrugged, "Fucking hurts. I don't know why, but I didn't expect it to hurt so badly when he took it out and put it back over and over again." 

Cody smiled, and so did I. We sat in silence for a few seconds, and then he spoke up again. 

"Your brothers name is Hunter?" 

I nodded, "Yup." 

"How come you didn't use his name until today?" 

I set my mug down, "I don't like his name. It reminds me of everything that he did, and he knows that. So he knows he should worry when I use it." 

"Please Hunter!" I begged. 

He just laughed in my face, "Begging doesn't suit you sister." 

I shook my head frantically, "Come on Hunter! You're my brother, you can't do this!" 

He just laughed again, and slashed the blade across her neck.

"How do you look at him?" 

I shook away my thoughts, "What do you mean?" 

He looked away from me, "You said he killed your sister, so how do you look at him? How to you act so calm around him?" 

"Years of practice?" I shrugged a little, "He can't know how much I hate him. He can't know that he hurt me. He can't know shit about my emotions, so I've learned to reel it in." 

"Seems hard." 

I chuckled a little, "It is. Everytime I see him I want to strap him to a chair, and slit his throat. Sadly I can't, somewhere deep down he's still my brother. Plus we were outgunned tonight." 

Cody let out another chuckle, and looked back at me. 

"How long have you known Tennessee?" 

"Forever."

"Was she part of your original team?" 

I answered without hesitation, "No." 

His eyes searched my face for something, but fell short. The air was odd between us. There was a comfortable silence, and also an awkward one. 

"How come you're up?" I quested while grabbing my mug again. 

He sighed, "Couldn't sleep. I just kept seeing him jab that blade into your leg." 

I finished off my tea. "Sorry." 

"You don't need to be.... are you sure you're ok?" 

I stood up with a small nod, "I just need to give some blood samples to Elijah, and he can figure out what's in my system. Then, we can continue our hunt for this girl." 

I left him with a small thank you, and locked myself in my room. I sat on my bed, and pealed the bandage off my leg. Underneath it there was a large, deep, red gash. The edges were a nasty color, and I knew whatever was in my leg wasn't from the agency. It could be a variant of something, but nothing direct. This shit hurt like hell, and I could almost feel it coursing through my blood. I put the bandage back on, and fell back on my bed. The "minor" pain in my leg almost made me throw up a few times throughout the night. 

When morning came around there was a slight limp in my step, and I knew it wouldn't go unnoticed by the others. I carefully changed all the bandages, got dressed, and joined them downstairs. They all watched as I walked into the kitchen and made myself eggs. 

"Are you sure you should be walking?" Sam was the first to question. 

Elijah followed her, "Yeah, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be on your leg." 

"I'm fine. In the office there should be a thing filled with medical, and science supplies. I'm gonna need you to figure out what's in my blood." I didn't have to turn to have them know I was talking to Elijah. 

"Right, of course.... but I'll only do it if you sit down."

I rolled my eyes, "Can I finish making myself breakfast first?" 

"No. Sam can finish it for you." 

Next thing I knew Sam was taking my spatula from me, and Elijah was helping me to the couch. 

"I'm perfectly capable of walking on my own." I grumbled, as he placed me down. 

Elijah decided to ignore this comment, and go get the stuff he needed. Cody was just smirking to himself on an armchair. 

"Anything new on this mastermind?" 

He shook his head, "Not really. I knew one of the agents that took us. His name is Case, and he's only been at the agency for a few months." 

I feel like I've heard that name. I chewed on my lower lip, trying to remember where I heard that. 

Oh. 

"Did he just lose a team member?" 

Cody nodded, and I cursed under my breath. 

"He hates me." 

Cody just chuckled like he wasn't surprised. "I don't even want to know why." 

Sam brought me my plate, and I thanked her. I ate while Sam and Cody talked about my brother. They would ask me questions here, and there but I stayed out of it for the most part. 

"Does he have a wife, or something?" 

I turned to Sam, "He does, but she's off limits." 

Sam frowned, "Why?" 

I set my fork down, "She doesn't need to be a part of this." 

Cody scoffed, "We need anyone we can get Alora." 

I shot my head to him, "She. doesn't. need. this." 

He shook his head, "You're outnumbered Alora, sorry. What's her name?" 

I stayed silent, and just glared at Cody. Cody glared back, and raised his brows just waiting. 

After a few seconds I caved, "Billie Herren." 

I ran a hand down my face, and in my pocket my phone went off. I grabbed it, and a lump formed in my throat. 

Strike three! You're fucking dead to me Alora 

Not dead enough to use my real name though. 

I looked up to the two, "So, I just a very loving strike three text. I don't know what the hell's gonna happen, but something is gonna happen." 

"Like what?" Sam looked worried. 

I sighed, "No fucking clue."