That one girl (book 2)

Chapter 6

The base didn't look any different from 5 years ago. The entrance was the same, the hallways where the same, the cafeteria, the dorms, they all look the same. I would have thought they would at least repaint parts of it, but no. It just looks like the same boring base I had lived in for a short period of time. I had managed to get to my old door room before our arrival was announced. On my way here, I hadn't spotted any familiar faces, which was weird since the base used to be packed with people.

Jax got the room next to mine, it seems. Well, that's what Sledge said anyways. He was doing the same thing I was, which was unpacking. I had all the guns and money in my room for now until we could get together and organize who gets what.

My room didn't look like it was even touched in the past five years. The amount of dust on the furniture surprised me. You would think they would still clean this place even if they thought I was dead. As I placed my clothes in designated spots, I heard a knock at my door.

"Come in!" I yelled over my shoulder.

The door opened, making a small sound, revelling Jax standing in the doorway. He still looked depressed and sad. That would be something I'm would need to change somehow. Once I show him how nice everyone is, he should be happy again right?

"Have you finished unpacking yet?" he said, the sadness clear in his voice.

"No, not yet. Have you?" I asked.

"Yeah" he answered.

Silence surrounded us for a moment as we both thought of what to say to keep the conversation alive.

"Would you like to have a tour of the base?" I asked him.

"It's not like I have anything better to do" he muttered.

I placed down the shirt I was holding and walked towards him. Maybe this will cheer him up, who knows? We both exited my room. I started walking towards one part of the base with Jax tailing behind me. The lounge might be a good place to start. I hadn't check it out myself yet.

Again, I noticed the eerie silence that filled the halls of the base. There wasn't usually this much silence. When I was living here, there was always the sound of recruits training outside or a conversation going on in the halls, but today there was nothing.

As we rounded to corner to enter the lounge, I spotted something I hadn't seen in a long time. Actually, multiple somethings and multiple someones. My drawings that I had made were lined up next to each other on the walls of the lounge, circling around the entire room.

In the middle of the room, I spotted a lot of familiar faces. The operators had all gathered in the lounge and seemed to have prepared a welcome party. I was shocked and the only thing I could do was watch as they started saying 'Welcome back' in unison. They even had a sign!

'What. The. Fuck' started repeating in my head.

A familiar face broke from the crowd and walked towards me, wearing a big smile.

"I'm glad to see you alive again" Mute said.

"Me too" I said.

The background chanting died down and the sign was lowered to the floor. One by one, operators came to me saying hello and asking how I was doing. A couple new faces introduced themselves. After a while, I noticed Jax trying to slip away from the conversation.

"Guys, meet Jax. Without him, I don't think I would have made it back scratch free" I say.

Jax looked up at me, his eyebrows drawn low. He stood at the entrance of the lounge as he was bombarded by question.

'What have you done?' he asked through the mental link.

'There our new family. You need to met them' I explained.

A tug on my hoodie had me looking away from the chaos surrounding Jax. Lily had a bright smile on her face, and she was practically jumping up and down. The amount of energy radiating off of her was enough to make me happy.

"Omg you're alive!" she squealed.

Seconds later, she was of the ground and in my arms. I was amazed at how small she still was. It's like she never grew! Wonder why she's still here tho.

"What are you doing here?" I ask her once I let her go.

"They took me in! I'm a nurse now!" she said.

"That's great! Now I get to see you every day!" I said.

"Could I get everyone's attention?" yelled an unfamiliar male voice.

I turned around to see who had interrupted our welcome back party. Three unfamiliar silhouettes were standing there and glancing over the crowd of operators.

"As most of you know, we have new operators join Rainbow as of today. Meet Kali and Wamai. They are operators of Nighthaven, a private military owned and started by Kali. I hope you can all get along" said one the man.

The crowd parted away from Jax to greet the new operators. Lily and I followed them and Jax followed the crowd as well.

"Jax! I'm so happy to see you again!" said Lily as she ran towards him.

Jax was significantly caught off guard and wasn't ready when Lily tried to hug him in mid-air. They ended up falling to the ground and causing the others to look their way. Lily laughed as she tried to move off of Jax, which made others laugh with her.

"Already causing chaos, I see" I tell her between chuckles.

She gave me a grin and helped Jax back unto his feet. I spotted the man that had addressed the crowd move towards me.

"You must be Amelia. I'm Six and I'm delighted to meet you. Would you like to be called Amelia or Spitfire?" he asked.

'So this is the new Six. Interesting'

"Spitfire sounds better" I say.

"Great! Welcome home Spitfire"