GATHER THE GARDE

CHAPTER 2

As soon as the first streams of light fought their way through the windows of Nine's spacious penthouse, the Garde in addition to their human ally, Sarah, assembled to discuss their next steps. The room was filled with familiar faces and some new ones, each contributing to the charged atmosphere. John paced around the living room, his mind still wrestling with the added responsibilities. Nine lounged comfortably on one of the armchairs, looking more relaxed than anyone else in the room. Five, having joined them a few minutes earlier, stood near the window, her back turned to her comrades to avoid looking at John, whose pacing was clearly making everyone uncomfortable.

Six, who was standing off to the side, cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. She had been watching John for quite some time, and the way he avoided eye contact with her earlier was not lost on her, only adding to her growing unease. Her eyes flickered briefly towards Five, who turned from the window, her expression serious. She briefly nodded to the other woman as if expressing her gratitude.

"Let's get this over with," Six said tersely. "I'm tired of waiting around."

"Alright," John began, breaking the heavily pregnant silence. "This might seem too soon, but I suggested we meet to discuss how to help Five unlock her legacies. She's mentioned she wants to simulate a real fight to trigger them, but I want to see if anyone else has any ideas regarding the issue."

Five nodded as if to agree. "From what Six said, it seems like the best way to unlock my legacies is through real necessity, something that could mean life or death for me. I can't help but think it might be the way to go."

Nine's usually carefree demeanour was slightly strained as he joined the conversation at once. "I want to help, but if we go too far, we could seriously hurt Five. If you think there is no other way.... If you're really ready for that, then I'm ready to stop holding back."

Five nodded, her expression resolute. "I'm ready. I need to push myself and I want all of you to push me. I'm tired of standing around and leaving all the fun to you guys."

The last part was meant to lighten the mood, but none of the others were having it.

Nine exhaled and adjusted his expression, though he couldn't completely mask his worry. "Yeah, sure. I'll do my best to push you just the right amount. It seems to be my speciality. And besides, can't have our newest recruit getting seriously injured before she even gets a chance to prove herself."

Marina and Ella exchanged glances, both suddenly becoming aware of the tension between her friends. Marina cleared her throat, trying to shift the focus. "Maybe we should start training as a team. We need to be able to offer backup during a real fight, and for that to happen we need to get to know each other's fighting styles. "

"Right," Eight said, both eager to support Marina and start some real training. "We need to set up the equipment and get back to training. I'm excited to see where everyone stands fighting-wise."

Ella, who had been quietly listening, spoke up. "I'm pretty much useless, that much you already know."

Five turned her head sharply to look at the youngest Garde, noting how deflated and defeated she looked. She knew, of course, that some sort of freakish nightmares/prophetic dreams had tormented her ever since they got back from Dulce, but Marina seemed to be handling those quite well. At least, that's what she had thought.

"Do your nightmares still bother you, El?"

Ella just nodded and continued to stare down at her lap.

Five turned to Marina. "Maybe we should take turns sleeping in her room. You could probably use some rest," the woman suggested. If the look of pure relief on Marina's face was anything to go by, Five figured she appreciated the support.

As the discussion moved to the technical side, Six spoke up. "We also need to talk about the old computer equipment. I know we're not tech geniuses, but my Cepan might have used some of that software for monitoring. We should try to start it back up."

John nodded. "That's a good point. We should at least check if it's still functional. Nine, can you help her with that one?"

The man in question shrugged, then nodded. "I can only try. I'm not exactly a tech whiz either, and I'd always preferred to leave that nerdy stuff to Sandor."

Five laughed, a real laugh that surprised everyone in the room. Tension was slowly lifting, whether Five's reaction had something to do with it or not wasn't all that important. Maybe they were starting to come together and were slowly figuring out how to relax in each other's presence. "Call me a pick-me girl, but I actually want to help. I just don't think I can."

Even Ella cracked a smile at that.

"Oh, I would pick you anytime, darling," Nine said, amusement dancing in his orbs.

"Okay, enough. You should at least take her out first," John couldn't help but laugh, too.

"Alright, Johhny boy. You know the best. Meet me at the Lecture Hall at seven p.m. sharp. The three of us will be in Sandor's workshop in the meantime, doing all the heavy lifting."

"Everyone dismissed."

Nine's P.o.V.

Just as I had suspected, I was the least helpful person in the room. Six didn't seem to appreciate my humour as much, but at least I was making Five laugh occasionally. However, I wasn't sure if the entire purpose of her humouring me was actually preventing Six from strangling me on the spot or something else.

"It's not that I don't enjoy seeing you bending down like that, but maybe...," I actually bit my tongue when the two women turned around simultaneously to glare at me. Okay, so that comment was entirely uncalled for. I just couldn't help myself, I was hardly the one to hold back.

"Get us some coffee before I squeeze the life out of you," Six hissed at me, and that was more than enough. She was obviously not the one to mess with, and I wouldn't be trying to prove otherwise.

With two cups of coffee in each of my hands, and balancing a third on my left forearm, I slowly started making my way back to Lecture Hall, the thoughts of the dark-haired Garde invading my mind. We didn't know where she came from, and neither did she. I couldn't deny her beauty, nor did her quick wit and her service-oriented nature go unnoticed by me. She appeared trustworthy and was cleared of suspicion that she was working for Mogs fairly quickly, but I couldn't help but remember the girl who sold me and Sandor out. If Five, whom we resorted to calling that instead of her human name, was indeed working for Mogs, we would be dead as soon as we stepped inside the base. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get rid of all of us, all together and basically helpless.

"Here it comes! Consider this my peace offering," I said.

Five was under the table with some cables gripped in her hands, looking from one to the other in confusion; while Six was leaning her weight on a desk, watching a monitor they apparently got working again while I was gone.

"Plug it in," Six directed.

Five nodded, even though Six couldn't see her. Nothing changed, the other two monitors remained unresponsive, and I could see Six frowning from the corner of my eye.

"Nothing happened. Is there anything else to try down there?"

"No, don't think so," Five replied from her crouched position under the table.

I approached the two women, eager to show that I could be helpful as well.

"We can make do with one computer for the time being," I suggested, not knowing what else to say or do. I wish Sandor was here with us, or that I paid more attention to his work when I had the chance.

"Well, we don't have a choice," Six replied, sitting down on one of the two office chairs.

Ignoring Six' comment, I checked the time. I saw it was half past six already, and clapped my hands excitedly. The two women now turned to look at me in wonder.

"Drink up, girls. It's time to start training."

Five tried to mask her sigh by blowing on her coffee, while Six grinned mischievously. We are back in the game, baby. Mogs better be ready, because we are finally together, and I for one, can't wait to feel their ash on my skin.