The Deadly (Part 3 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 3- Sweathshirts

Allegra:

We really weren't back to our old routine. I was starting to accept that nothing would ever take us completely back to the way it was over a year ago, before Japan. Finishing off Tanner Stone brought a source of normalcy, but the hope that it would help us forget what happened? It was slowly diminishing.

A whole week had passed, and the house wasn't as quiet as it was before, just a little... listless. We spent our days in different ways. Daitan was reworking my earpiece so that it could fit on the tiniest spot of my ear, making it essentially invisible. She was good at creating things, but Nyoka had gotten surprisingly good at hacking into them. It made her one of our best researchers, she could dig up dirt on our targets, and sometimes even those who contracted us if we weren't sure that we could trust them yet. Nyoka just liked understanding how things worked, probably why she ended up becoming a certified EMT and was working on medical qualifications on the side. Daitan sometimes did research for us as well, but she liked creating new things much more, her own original inventions.

Phoenix was an expert in weapons, she had a great memory and she knew how to make modifications that fit our needs perfectly. It helped that she had educated herself in almost every possible topic and she was a great researcher. This past week, she had been spending more time out of her room and in the conference area on the computer, searching for leads on any of the other human trafficking rings that might be connected. She had dug up some names and she thought she was getting close, but after a whole week of looking without any definitive leads or a new mission, I think she was getting a little discouraged.

The four of us were sitting around one of our conference rooms tables, discussing what we had dug up in turn, but it wasn't promising. I would have felt more productive downstairs in our small shooting range, getting some extra hours in or maybe going on a run.

At least I was in better shape than Daitan, who had her head laying against the dark wood table, "Can't you turn down the lights more?"

"Babe, they're off," Nyoka reminded her, also rubbing her temples. "That's the screen."

They had decided to take a break from work the night before and go out to a bar nearby, I hadn't even heard them come home. Good on them for finally taking some time for themselves, but they hadn't drank enough water before bed, it seemed. You'd think two adults would know better by this age, but here they were, squinting at the screen Phoenix was presenting information on.

We were all obviously not in the right mental space, so I just shook my head. "Let's take a break this morning. We're not focusing well, and I don't think it's going to get better. You two should go drink some tomato juice or sprite.... Maybe go get a greasy burger."

Nyoka wrinkled her nose at the thought, but Daitan groaned, still not lifting her head so that her voice was muffled, "No one is serving lunch yet."

"There are bacon and egg sandwiches, same thing," Phoenix shrugged. She set down her folder and stood up to crack her back, "Come one, get in the car and I'll drive you to that place down the street that you like."

Nyoka raised an eyebrow, "They have great mimosas."

"Don't even joke about that," Daitan grimaced, finally looking up with a pale pallor. "I'll vomit on you."

No matter how awful they felt, their playful banter didn't stop. I wasn't sure how I didn't see their relationship coming when I first met them, but they had always been such fast friends that it made sense to me. They worked well together, too. Their friendship taught them early on how to compromise and disagree in healthy ways, which gave them a good building block for their romantic relationship. They had started dating a couple months before Forte and I did, back when we were still in our years of training, but they were such a solid and organic couple that it was hard to believe they weren't always together as long as I'd known them.