GOLD [Book 2 in the JESSE series] | Completed

Chapter Eighteen: Mission Briefing

"Howdy, cowboy." You meet Jesse in the hallway.

"Howdy." He tips his hat and grins. 

"What do you have going on today Jesse?" You ask. You've been having small conversations like this in between things. You're both very busy individuals, so you don't often get the chance to chat.

"I've got general training junk, but nothing much other than that. Meet me at lunch?" He asks. 

"Sure, I'm free." You smile, and give him awkward finger guns before heading down the hallway. You see Lena, standing there, gaping at you. She blinks over to you, and grabs you by the shoulders. "What on earth happened to the two of you?" She looks confused, but excited. 

"We talked."

"That's all it took? Three years, and all you had to do was have a chat?" She exclaims loudly. She gets a few strange looks from people in the hallway. "I will never understand the two of you." She says with a giant grin on her face. She gives you a hug, and says, "I've gotta go, but we seriously need to catch up." She walks backwards away from you, and you hear her mumble something to herself before she blinks away. 

It's only been a few days since your conversation with Jesse, and you already feel like a weight has been lifted off of you. You've been talking with Hunter too, more in detail about what happened. He encouraged you to come to him if you ever needed to vent, and the day after, you gladly took up his offer. You never expected your teasing, sibling-like friendship to become much more than that, but you really feel as if Hunter were your second brother. You have a meeting with Madison to discuss the annual Gold-Upper Agent training day that the two of you started. 

You enter the glass elevator to the upper level where some of the conference rooms are. You enter one, where Madison and Commander Ana Amari sit. 

You enter wordlessly and sit. "Commander, Haal." You say, in a faux-formal tone. 

"Hey, (Y/N)." Madison says. She's loosened up a bit after leaving her position as Primary. Her responsibilities are wildly different, and she doesn't always have to set an example. She would be just as formal as before in the presence of Morrison, but the two of you know Ana well enough that you can be more casual with her, and around her.

"The plan is," she continues, "to have a demonstration round of special abilities from the Upper Agents. We have the luxury of being fancy, because we know how not to get ourselves killed." She says.

"Right, I'm sure it'll get the Lowers invested in more advanced strategies. From there, will we just pair them up like usual?" You ask.

"Yes, just for an hour or so. You know the current Golds better than anyone, would you mind listing out their skills for me so I can match them to Uppers?"

"Would it be considered nepotism if your old team gets first pick of Upper partners?" You tease her, "You know there aren't enough Uppers to partner with the Lowers."

"Reds, Blues, and Bronzes should probably have first pick, huh?" She says.

"Probably. Though I'd love to pair up Hunter with someone."

"I'd pair him up with myself and then show him what's what." She jokes.

The two of you plan until lunchtime, and you figure out all of the details of the training day. You asked the remnants of Madison's Gold Team to volunteer to sit out, and Ginger, Hunter, Alta, and a few others volunteer to sit out with you. Your job is to oversee the whole ordeal, so you'll have some company and help while you just walk in between training pairs.

Madison walks with you to lunch, and Hunter joins your small procession as he makes his way to lunch. 

"Hey Mads." He pecks her on the cheek and you swear you see her go a bit red.