Ashen

Part Four

Where we left off:

Captain Ross tossed them one final smile, with a clap on the arm for Jasper. "Welcome to the team." For a second, the new partners found each other's gaze, still processing the reveal. Jasper, who'd harbored a yet unrealized fear that his new partner might slow him down, gifted her an honest half-smile that tripped her heart into missing a beat. With the accurate instinct that this was a rare sight for a stranger to see upon the man's face, she responded sweetly with a grin that's bashful sincerity was uncommon in its own right.

Next!

Breaking the moment, Rudy and Mac approached the couple, Rudy brandishing a wide smirk. "Ringers, huh?"

October sighed with a shrug. "I guess so."

"You must be good," Mac placed a hand on her hip above her black cargo pants. "I haven't seen the Captain that excited since his promotion."

The other woman answered with a nod, as if accepting the challenge. "I'll try my best to live up to the hype."

Urging his partner and the recruits to follow him back into the bullpen, Rudy began the first-day-explanations.

"I don't know how much you guys have been briefed on how things work around here, but we'll show you the basics. First things first, confrontational work versus non-confrontational." He motioned to the open room, buzzing with activity and almost entirely occupied by humans. "As you can see, we have far more people working on the non-confrontational end, considering they have a wider range of jobs to cover. They study the patterns of the Diseased, tell us when to move out, coordinate with the EMTs and crime-scene techs, and take care of bystanders and other affected by the attacks." At the last thought, the guide glanced toward Jasper's red eyes, but quickly moved on. "Sergeant Colby runs point, and she's the one who gives us our assignments." Across the room, the tall blonde was leaning over someone else's desk, putting the finishing touches on five separate reports at the same time. Rudy called her over. "Colby." Her chin lifted at the sound, her soft, attentive gaze following it over the room. She scribbled a few final notes, then went to speak to her new subordinates.

"Hey, guys." An easy smile breezed across her face.

"Meet our new dream team." Mac tilted her head in the pair's direction.

"Dream team?" Colby raised a single brow.

"The Captain called them ringers and apparently they 'have the capabilities to become the best we've ever had in the field'."

The Sergeant, who had already heard some whisperings from the other Officers along those lines, looked between the recruits. "That's a lot to live up to." Then, to October. "But you are Captain Haunting's daughter, after all. Guess we can't expect anything less. As for Drolden," Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "can you really run that fast?"

All four stared at Jasper expectantly until his deep voice provided. "As long as I'm not wounded too badly."

The three Hunters seemed to remember the unfortunate fact at the same time while Rudy hissed. "Shit, that's right. Thin skin." Jasper looked so incredibly Ashen, it had slipped their minds that Turned lacked their nearly impenetrable skin, with only their shared accelerated healing to make up for it. Rudy patted his shoulder blade. "You better be careful out there."

Jasper shrugged, poker face cementing his noble features. "Nothing I haven't come face-to-face with before."

Crossing her arms, Colby let only a bit of her constant admiration for the other kind slip through. "Well, sounds like you guys are pretty tough for newbies. As for today, we've had a slow morning. Haven't even had a false alarm."