Hardcore Love

The Dinner

Marc POV

I was setting the table when Axel headed out to greet the Shadows. My mind was swirling thanks to Ghost. She was the one that I connected with the most despite the lack of information. All of my brothers wanted to know her past so we could help her heal. She was the one out of all of them that you could see that someone has hurt her in a significant way. Out of all of them, she has the most trust issues. They were not easily healed like the others would be if they let us in. Kota nudged my arm noticing that I was out of it. "What's wrong?" he asked me as we got back to work. "Ghost and her scars" I replied in response. "What do you mean her scars?" was the curious concern response I got. "You see when they get up here. She is different from the others but is the most guarded. You don't guard yourself the way she does without something significant event that changed her forever" was all I could explain when the door opened. Kota looked at all of them, trying to pinpoint who was Ghost.  He stepped forward and greeted all of them. Ghost was just nodding as her greeting compared to her teammates who were shaking hands. The only one that I didn't recognize grabbed her hand and give her a quick squeeze for what I didn't know. Mr. Blackbourne was using his formal tone of voice when he greeted them. He was wondering who was who when Axel looked at me. "Hey guys, it's been a while. Giant, how are you doing?" Giant who was tall but had lots of muscles stepped to greet me. Giant was wearing a white shirt with jeans with red converse that sported ghost flames on them.  He also sported black hair with blond highlights with very tan skin.  As Sparky was heading towards the kitchen. Corey was on it with Sparky "Sparky, can you please sit down and we will serve dinner?" One of the most stubborn women we know was wearing her typical button-up shirt with skinny jeans with tan color sandals. Completed with a decorative belt that was multicolored with lace on top. Her sandy hair was in a messy bun that was tan compared to her pale skin. Following her was Echo to the table. Echo was the quiet strength but not like Ghost. Echo wearing her Avengers tee shirt that Corey likes along with skinny jeans that had black lace on the edges paired with garnet red vans with a black line. Echo's red curly hair with silver and copper highlights was put into a braid with her light brown skin showing off her ear piercings. Giant thankfully introduced everyone else but Ghost and Shadow.  Lockhart was wearing his nerd look that consisted of a patterned button-up shirt with tan slacks with converse that had book quotes on them in cursive. His red hair that had copper and blond highlights were neat and clean-cut matched with his medium tan skin. Techno was wearing an Indian shirt with black jeans and combat boots. To top all of that a black leather jacket. His blond hair that was streaked with red and blue stood out with his mocha skin tone. His eyebrow piercing shining through on his face. Heartwood standing nearby Ghost. She was wearing an off the shoulder top that had flowers on it that were paired with dark crop jeans matched with gladiator sandals. Her brown to blond ombre hair with purple highlights was down that was nicely paired with her light tan skin. Apollo was wearing a red tee with beige cargo pants with boots.  His espresso curly hair with light gold highlights was paired with his tan skin. 

Sean POV

When the Shadows entered the apartment, I was trying to figure out who was it that needed to be saved. As Marc greeted the biggest one who was Giant. The name fitted him with his size who rivaled Silas, North, and Raven.  One of the four females was heading to the kitchen, I assume to help out was redirected to the table. Sparky was her name and I wondered why she was called Sparky. Giant introduces the others one by one until there were two left. Echo was quiet as she headed to the table but was calm that reminded me of Silas. Maybe that was why she was called Echo? Lockhart was a bigger version than Kota with defined muscles but a complete nerd look. Maybe he kept the team on track as Kota did? Maybe that was how he got that name? Techno was looking like he was going to be like Brandon and North? So why Techno? Heartwood was standing with the last female, who I assume was Ghost. She looked like she was the life of the party that brought in the outsiders. Maybe that's why she is Heartwood? Apollo looked like a mechanic who loved to be in the garage with his looks. Is it possible he did something for Nasa to be called Apollo?  The last two had to be Ghost and Shadow. Shadow was wearing a bright colored graphic tee with jeans that were paired with boots. His hair was similar to Ghost with being black but with different shades of blues highlighted though paired with his very tan skin. I spotted a couple of tattoos on all of them but Shadow was second place. He spoke just like Owen did, "I'm Shadow and this is Ghost." As he was pointing towards Ghost, my breath was caught as her beauty was more gorgeous than any woman I had seen before. She was wearing a long sleeve tee that had sported a black cat with a ball of yarn on the pocket on her shirt. Her dark jeans had metallic lace on the edges as the pockets had paw prints that faded towards the knee. Along with tall black boots that I spotted a couple of knives that were hidden. Her black wavy hair that was highlighted with metallic colors was put into a french braid. Her very tan skin was the perfect accent. The shadows in both of their eyes caught my attention as I reexamine them for physical scars that might tell a tale. As did her nose piercings that were located on each side of her nose. Instead, I found none due to their movements and clothing choices. When we all were settled at the table, we starting gathering food and calm chatter filled the table. Ghost was quiet as she got her food and dug in. Shadow did the same, just listening to everyone. Now I was beginning to see why Axel and the others wanted to know more about this mysterious beautiful girl. Owen caught my glaze and he shared my opinion on Ghost. What surprised me was that he wanted to get to know all of them. I shouldn't be surprised seeing that they all have very similar behaviors that lean to some sort of pain. Studying them, I was trying to detect certain signs that would indicate what has happened to them? I believe that they know what we were doing because they hid all the obvious indications. Soon though they started to eye speak with each other. Echo surprisingly spoke first, "So what do you all do for a living outside of the Academy?" I noticed the smile that she had on her face that was similar to Luke when he was planning something. What were they planning now?

Kota POV

Dinner consisted of hamburgers and toppings with mustard potato salad and 4 cheese mac and cheese. While it looked delicious, I was watching Ghost and the others. Something in me was telling me that I knew one of them. But who and why was drawn to one of the girls? Something was off but I couldn't sense that they were bad people. They were just people with secrets and by the looks of them, lots of secrets. In particular, Ghost and Shadow with their looks that just scream that something happened to them. Those two looked that they had the majority of the secrets with how silent they were. So far, Giant spoke 52 words while Sparky spoke 27 words. Echo has spoken 17 words with Lockhart who spoke 46 words. Techno was talking with Victor and Corey using 38 words, Heartwood was speaking to Brandon and North using 56 words. Apollo was signing to Luke and Sean but was talking to Raven using 49 words. However, both Shadow and Ghost have spoken 0 words which made me notice how similar they were. It almost seems like they are siblings who stuck together when times got tough. Echo brought me out of my study when she asked everyone "So what do you all do for a living outside of the Academy?" The silence was the sound of the room as the question went out as everyone was coming up with an answer. Apollo looks at us with a raised eyebrow when he stated this. "So you don't have outside lives as Axel does? Is the Academy really that time consuming or you have something coming up?" Axel and the rest of the Toma team was nudging us to answer. So they must have gone through with this question too at some point. Mr. B spoke up for us thankfully speaking for everyone. "Depends on the mission. I assume you all know that well. We are busy being a family and spending as a family. Do you all have people to return home too?" Sneaky man, but I understood why he asked that question. Who else do they have in their lives that might be able to provide us with some answers to our growing number of questions. All of the were smirking at us, almost like they excepted it. With a catty grin, Ghost spoke for the first time. "Why, of course, we do but you want answers. I assume answers to who and what happened to us? Or is it to get to know who we are people? You want to know where to look so you can get answers about us. If you really want to know, how about you gain our trust first and reelevate after that?" Everyone, except the Shadows, was confused as to how she knows that and why so bluntly pointed out?  Shadow spoke up then when he was done sharing a look with Ghost. "You want their trust? You have to work for it without resorting to the computer, Victor and Corey. No punching, Brandon, Raven, and North. You can ask questions, Kota, Owen, Marc, and Axel. If you are going to spy, please be wise with how Luke and Gabriel. Of course, we do advocate for those who observe, Silas and Sean. Nathan, it will be interesting to see how you go about it." You could hear a pin drop with how quickly they had shut us up. My thoughts swirled in my head as the questions that just formed was at the forefront. How do we gain the trust of Ghost and the others when they set the playing field uneven? So why did Shadow exclude himself?