Octagon Project 3: Zachary McHall

~-21-~

"Hello, morning glory." Roy chimed as Zack made his way into the kitchen rubbing the back of his head and squinting from the bright sun shining through the windows. Everyone turned to look Zack up and down.

"I have a very serious question to ask you," Justin began from where he sat closest to Zack, "for having usually flat hair, how the hell do you manage to wake up with such a bad bedhead?!"

"Morning to you too." Zack groaned with a groggy voice, sitting down on one of the free stools in the kitchen. He sniffed, feeling that his cold may have only gotten worse now that his nose was slightly stuffy too. He may have grown up half of his life in hospitals and labs, but he hadn't been sick with a cold since he was a kid. Dean placed a cup of coffee in front of him then with a gentle, almost understanding smile. As Zack stared into the deep brown abyss, his memory hit him like a train and he was on his feet.

"Amber," he muttered, turning to run in the direction of his old room closest to the kitchen that Amber was now staying in. Roy quickly stopped him.

"Chill man, she's in the shower right now. She already ate breakfast and everything, so relax." Zack stared up at his friend with a shocked expression that shook Roy internally. He'd never seen an expression like that on Zack before. Was it surprise or relief? Or both?

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kaylee gave Zack a concerned look as she came to stand next to Roy. "You overslept, I actually had to complete a mission for you a few hours ago, ya'know." Zack only stared at her blankly for a long moment before sneezing. Roy laughed at that and led Zack back to his stool at the island counter.

"Don't unload on him so much, Kay." Roy chuckled. "I think he's finally getting used to the quirks of being a human."

"I've been a human my whole life..." Zack grumbled as he gripped the dark red mug in his left hand and took a sip; setting it down again quickly after its heat nearly singed his tongue.

"And since when have you used your left hand to do things?" Justin announced. Everyone looked at Zack confused now that they all grew aware of an out-of-character behavior he acted upon. Vanessa stared with furrowed brows. She'd never thought on it too much since the last year she's only witnessed him use his right hand; but the time she had first been recruited, she witnessed Zack perform his own kind of surgery to replace a dead artificial nerve in his thigh. She hadn't taken into account the fact that he did all the intricate work such as sewing himself back up with his left hand.

"I'm ambidextrous, so what?"

"No, you're not." A light voice spoke from behind as an elbow rested heavily on Zack's shoulder. "You got careless and got called out. So stop trying to hide it. He did the same thing to us back in our old Division." Amber said, straightening herself. "McHall tried to fix his left-handedness cuz he believed it's more powerful to use the right hand. So while Zack could be considered ambidextrous, he is by far, left hand dominant."

"Did you have to say it that way?" Zack grumbled, taking a drink of his coffee with seething frustration; the heat not bothering him anymore. Amber has no idea how much he's been trying to keep secret for so long. Now part of his origin is discovered because Mel got caught up in her persona, and Amber doesn't realize how much the others really don't know. He'd have to discuss that with her later if he gets the chance. No one had noticed that Mel left the kitchen until she set Zack's medication down in front of him. Staring at it for a long moment, he sighed and looked up at her with a frustrated but exhausted face. Then he sneezed again. Mel smirked and walked around the island to rummage the cupboards with an almost satisfactory expression. As the chatter rose back up and a few got dressed for missions, Zack's phone buzzed on the counter in front of him. Gazing at the screen a long moment, Zack's demeanor grew tense and dark before he stood and turned back towards the hallway.