Roulette Anyone?

Will We Be Alright?

Larissa didn't want to go to Paris. They never knew how long these jobs would take and she never liked being away from James for too long. She was involved in some dangerous shit and she never liked the thought of not being able to protect him. He always promised her he would be okay but she would always have doubts. He was laying on her chest as she ran her hands through his hair. She didn't want to leave the bed but she knew she was going to have to. "James, James wake up honey." She shook him slightly and he let out a whine of protest. She laughed lightly and tried to wiggle out from under him. After struggling for a few minutes she was finally free. She looked down at him and kissed his forehead, "Goodnight my love. I hope you sleep well and I will see you soon." Larissa watched as a small smile appeared on his lips. She smiled and grabbed her keys. She opened the door and shivered at the cold wind. It was time to head back to the base and start packing.

"Whatcha cooking in here?" Hera said as she yawned. She had finally woken up from her nap and was feeling extremely hungry. William turned around, a proud smile on his face, "Only the best ramen you have ever had!" "I have very high hopes." William pouted, "You can't say it's bad just to make me mad Hera." Hera just sighed and rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah whatever." " So how do you think Evie's gonna act when we get to Paris?", Wiliam asked after a moment of silence. Hera gave him a confused look, "What do you mean? She'll probably be happy. I know she's always wanted to go there." Hera jumped at the sound of a spoon hitting the floor. William was staring at her wide-eyed. "You mean she didn't tell you?", William whispered. Hera stood up, "Tell me what? William don't you look away from me! What did she not tell me?!" William flinched at her tone of voice but looked at her and let out a shaky sigh. "Her mother died there." Hera stood still. William continued, "Evie was supposed to visit her two days after her 16th birthday but she ended up passing away." Hera was staring at the ground, her breathing slow. William put his hand on her shoulder, "You two are so close I thought she would've told you. I didn't mean to spring this on you." "Did she tell you this?", Hera asked suddenly. She felt jealousy cloud her mind but she couldn't let it get to her. "No, I found it on the background check." Hera let out a sigh of relief. She was going to talk to Evie about this later.

The sound of a punching bag being swung at reaches Joseph's ears. He sighed as he closed the door to the gym. He rounded the corner and was met with a very tired and sweaty-looking Evie. She was swinging hard at the bag and kicking the absolute shit out of it. "You shouldn't be doing that with your injured leg." Evie jumped a little and side glanced at him. "It doesn't hurt too bad, I'm fine.", She said as she kicked the punching bag with her injured leg to prove her point. Joseph sighed again. "You always say that and then end up being sore the next day. I just don't want you to end up hurt badly Evie." She only scoffed as she landed another hard punch. "I need to train. I can't always avoid close combat. I have to learn to just fight." "But Hera is there for that. She does close combat and you do sniping. You don't need to do more especially when you're injured." Evie whipped around to look at him. "What happens when Hera isn't there?! What happens when I have to go alone?! You think Hera will always come to my rescue but I don't want that! One of these days she won't be there for me and I'm gonna have to fight my way out! Sure I have guns but you eventually run out of ammo Joseph." Joseph stared at her, his eyes watery. She looked so desperate and he hated that. Why did she feel the need to train so hard now? Joseph snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a thud onto the mat. Evie had collapsed. "Shit, shit, shit Evie. Come on get up." He ran over to help her stand as she panted heavily. He brought her over the bench and sat her down. He grabbed a water bottle and handed it to her while dabbing sweat off her face with a towel. He looked down at her knuckles and paled. Her wrap had been rubbed off and her knuckles were bleeding. He grabbed another towel and wrapped her hands in it. Joseph was worried. Why was Evie so motivated to do better? Was Larissa home? Did William make his ramen as he promised? Did Hera ever wake up from her fucking hibernation?

William did indeed make his ramen for dinner. It was really quiet at the dinner table and the tension was thick. It wasn't until William sneezed and shot noodles through his nose that everyone busted out laughing. Hera fell out of her chair and Evie was slamming her hand on the table while trying to breathe. Larissa snorted her milk, only making everyone laugh harder. Joseph was shaking his head while laughing at them. Maybe they really will be alright.