Octagon Project 3: Zachary McHall

~-17-~

Weeks had passed and Zack was getting impatient with how slow things were moving along. Particularly since he'd been cooped up in the house the whole time. Roy would either take the missions alone, or bring someone else with him instead. And McHall still didn't trust Zack enough to let him take a mission by himself. Not even with the new tracker in place. He paced his room, tossed more ideas into his trash bin, and tampered with his situated piles of technology scraps more in one week than he ever had before. That was when his new phone the Octagon gave him dinged in his pocket. He fished it out eagerly and read the short message McHall sent before snatching his leather jacket, putting his newly loaded weapon at the back of his pants, and rushing out into the kitchen. He snatched the motorcycle keys right off the kitchen counter before moving to the cupboard near the TV and pulling out a spare magazine that was fully loaded.

"Where-"

"Mission!" Zack held up his phone as he dashed out of the house.

"I've never seen him so excited to kill someone," Roy commented dryly as he walked down the hall without his shirt and raided the fridge and cabinets for ingredients.

"That's probably because you haven't let him leave the house in three and a half weeks." Dean stated as he came around to wash up his coffee mug. "Can't blame him for being happy to finally get some fresh air."

"I'm not putting my life in the hands of that psychopath. For all I know I'm his next target."

"I thought you were beyond caring at this point." Kaylee grumbled as she exited her bedroom and plopped over the armrest onto the couch. Roy clenched his jaw at that.

"Well he's cooking again, so that's got to be a sign of hope." Dean smirked, sticking his finger in the pancake batter and backing away as Roy tried to swat him with the pan he just grabbed. "He hasn't cooked since..." Dean trailed off in thought and shook his head, "yeah I don't even remember."

"Yeah and I see you're back to your childish ways." Roy barked back.

"Well I don't have to be the depressed one anymore now that Zack is back. He's enough to fill the whole house with gloom." Dean shrugged, grabbing the controller from next to the TV and sitting on the portion of the couch Kaylee wasn't taking up. She rolled her eyes and grudgingly got up to sneak the first few pancakes.

"Good to know the newbies are still sane enough to be able to sleep in." She sighed.

"I'd have to sleep in the first place to sleep in." Mel commented, stretching as she entered the kitchen and plopped onto a stool at the kitchen island counter. Folding her arms, she buried her face into them tiredly. "I haven't slept in over six years..." She groaned. 

"Yeah, welcome to the club." Roy put a plate of steaming pancakes in front of her and she lifted her head to gaze at them in making the decision to eat them or not. Snatching one of them, she held it in her mouth as she began to pour herself a fresh cup of coffee. Roy watched her for a long moment before chuckling to himself and turning back to the batter he was pouring onto the hot pan. Kaylee watched Roy curiously for a short minute and claimed the plate of pancakes Mel left for herself.

"So where are you from, Lisa?" Kaylee asked, pouring the sticky liquid sugar over her fluffy pancakes.

"Can't say." Mel shrugged as she sat back down on the stool diagonal from her sister. "Being underground we move a lot."

"Do you think your crew has moved again?" She asked. "After your disappearance."

"Most likely." Mel stared down sadly into her coffee and nodded. "We lost another member a few days before I was kidnapped, so they've probably spooked."