Octagon Project 3: Zachary McHall

~-13-~

"Should we wake them up yet?"

"It's almost noon! Of course we should wake them up!"

"They're so cute though!"

"Guys, get the hell out of there! What are you doing?!"

Zack's eyebrows furrowed as he heard voices before his eyes slowly began to open and he jolted into wakefulness with the unfamiliarity of his surroundings. Had Mel not been curled up on top of one of his arms and legs, he'd have sprung out of the bed and grabbed his gun.

"Oh, he's awake!"

"Of course he's awake! You idiots probably woke him up!"

Laying there for a moment, Zack sighed and rubbed his eyes until his heart stopped pounding and the voices went quiet.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty." Knight said from where he stood with his arms crossed in the doorway.

"We hope you slept well!" Blaze chimed. Zack propped himself up on his free arm and squinted his eyes from the bright light that came in from the doorway, outlining Knight's broad figure in a warm glow.

"What-" He ran a hand over his face. "What the hell are you guys doing in here?" He asked; his voice groggy and deeper than usual from sleep.

"I was wondering the same thing." Rocker said from just outside the door. Only the back of his shoulder could be seen from where he was leaning against the wall out in the hall. Blaze looked toward the door for a brief moment and turned back to Zack with her lips pursed in a thin line almost apologetically.

"We came to wake you guys up." She said. "We'd knocked a few times and since you guys didn't answer, we thought we'd come in and check since Helix is notorious for disappearing on us like that." Zack glanced down at Mel that was sound asleep. How she hadn't woken up from the inconsiderably loud conversation going on in the room was beyond him.

"You guys must've been really tired to sleep in." Knight commented.

"Uh, yeah," Zack rubbed his eyes again, "we've been a few weeks without sleep. What time is it?"

"About noon, man." Knight answered. Zack froze as his eyes opened widely. Gently sliding his arm out from under Mel, he reached over to the nightstand and snatched his phone. 12 missed calls and three voicemails from Rex.

"Argh, God damn it..." Zack groaned as he pressed his face into his hands for a brief moment.

"Did you have somewhere to be?" Rocker asked, finally appearing in the doorway.

"I asked a contact to meet and exchange some classified information at ten this morning..."

"Yeah, don't worry, he's downstairs." Rocker jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "Guess it's a good thing I tapped your phone."

"Wait, you tapped a member's phone?" Blaze spun slowly on her heal to face the tall blond.

"I didn't trust him." Rocker shrugged. "But I do now. We're good." With that, he started to walk away. "Rex is waiting for you in the kitchen." He called out. Shaking her head, Blaze began to push Knight out of the room.

"We'll leave you be. Come on downstairs whenever you're ready." She shut the door behind her and Zack plopped back down onto his back with his hands above his head. Things just kept getting more and more complicated. Mel stirred next to him and he rested his head on his elbow to get a higher elevation than what the fluffy pillow was offering him. With the awkward angle Mel's head was tilted, Zack smiled to himself as he nestled his head in between her shoulder and neck and softly kissed her there. She stirred again softly and he smiled as he trailed kisses along her neck and jaw line.