Dead Girl Walking

Chapter 43

"We should get up, the team will want to see you" Khol says. I'm cuddled up on his chest, I sit up and stretch.
"That sounds good" I say standing up. I head to my closet and grab some leggings and a sweatshirt and throw them on. Khol puts on his clothes and walks up and kisses me on the forehead. I'm trembling a little.
"You okay Belle?" He asks me.
"Yeah, I just don't want them to see me differently. I don't want them to think that everything I went through made me weak" I say ducking my head.
"Don't worry, they don't think that. You managed to get out of there without us, they know how strong you are" he assures me. I nod my head.
"Okay" I say and open my bedroom door. I look over the railing. I can see them already, they are gathered in the living room. But instead of just Gabby and JJ, there's someone else with them. I squint trying to figure out who it could be. He seems kind of familiar. I make my way down the stairs with Khol right behind me. As I make my towards the living room they spot me, Gabby's face lights up and JJ grins. And I recognize the other face as Kyle Langer. He waves to me and smiles. I look back at Khol.
"We'll explain" he says chuckling at my confused look. Before I can even reply I'm hit with an unseen force and then arms wrap around my waist and I get a face full of black silky hair. It's Gabby. My body wants to panic at her touch but I tell myself she won't hurt me and I hug her back tightly. Over her shoulder I see JJ tense because the last time he touched me I told him not to. I mouth that it's okay to him and he nods.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" Gabby exclaims.
"We tried so hard to get you out but..." She trails off "I'm sorry, we should of tried harder. We should have never let them take you in the first place" she says glancing down.
"Gabby it's okay, you all did everything that you could. Don't beat yourself up" I tell her. I step back from her and see JJ looking at me, I open up my arms and he doesn't hesitate. He scoops me up into a big hug and spins me around.
"Princess" he says and sets me down. I look over at Kyle.
"It's good to see you again" he says smiling.
"You too, how'd you end up back here?" I ask him.
"JJ hunted me down, I was working at one of the agency's facilities in a lab and he found me. Said he needed tech help. Said you were in danger so I went with him and I kinda joined the team" he says shrugging his shoulders. I glance over at JJ.
"We we're down a man and I needed someone to help with all the tech stuff" he says.
"How'd you enjoy my job?" I ask him raising my eyebrows at him. He smirks.
"You can keep it princess, it's not all that fun. You have no idea how bad I almost told the director to shove it up his ass when he told us to stop trying to get into that base. He wouldn't give us men and he told us to stand down and I got so pissed off but I knew I had to listen to orders. I still sent Khol in one last time after that but that came up blank and he was going to dismiss Khol from the agency if he kept disobeying orders. I don't know how you put up with that man" JJ says shaking his head.
"He's a pain. But thanks JJ for trying so hard.  And for keeping everyone safe while I was gone" I say. Everyone stood around awkwardly for a minute until I broke the silence.
"You guys want to watch a movie or play video games?" I ask everyone.
"I'd be down for a movie" JJ replies.
"Gabby you can pick" I tell her.
"Okay, how's star wars?" She asks.
"That sounds wonderful" I say as I plop on the couch.
"I'll get popcorn" Kyle announces.
"Who wants a beer?" Khol asks.
"Me!" We all ring out at once. I laugh and everyone joins in.
We spent the rest of the day on the couch watching star wars, drinking, and spending time together. And for a little while everything seemed normal.