Phoenix

Briefing With a Hint of Friendship

A wave of cold air hit me as I climbed out of the hole in the bathroom. I shivered and looked at my teammates. On the way back to the gas station Buck had filled them all in on what we had found down in the sewers. I was glad to be out of the sewers, and I was desperate for a hot shower.

Once Buck climbed out of the sewers, Hibana left the room and spoke from the main room. "Harry is waiting for us back at the base, so we need to get going."

I quietly sighed and followed the woman. "Let me guess, he wants to brief us about something?"

She nodded, "Yes. But it won't take very long."

I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. The last thing I wanted to do was go to a briefing. I had nothing against doing a quick briefing, but after walking around in the sewers I wanted to take a little break. The thought of taking a break quickly left my mind as I looked over at everyone else in my team. Jager was standing by Hibana and quietly whispered to her. Part of me would like to know what they were whispering about, but I decided to go outside to the car.

The later afternoon sun hit my face along with a winter breeze. I took a deep breath and looked around the area. Nothing was different, everything was in its place. A few cars drove down a highway not too far from the abandoned area. I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to live in an abandoned area like this, or in a small town with little to no people.

"You okay Phoenix?" Caveira asked as she walked out of the building.

I turned to look at her and quickly nodded. "Yeah I am. Why do you ask?"

The woman walked over to me and looked at me. "You just look really stressed that's all."

Caveira had a point. I was stressed out, even though I was trying not to show it. "Well this job can be very stressful." I said as I looked away from Caveira.

"You're not wrong." She paused "How about we go for a little walk to relax a little bit."

I quickly glanced over at the woman. I was surprised that she wanted to do something with me. Caveira wasn't the type of person that would ask anyone to go on a walk. Let alone someone she doesn't really know. "Um sure." I replied.

Caveira and I walked down the road that led to the gas station. It was nice going for a little walk even though it was quiet. Something about the cool weather and peacefulness made me feel relaxed and happy. I took a deep breath and glanced over at Caveira. The woman was fiddling with a necklace that she wore. I could tell that she was either stressed or nervous.

"Can I ask you a question?" Caveira asked.

I looked over at the woman. "I don't see why not." Part of me was surprised that she wanted to ask me a question, but I knew that we were slowly becoming friends.

Caveira was quiet for a few seconds before she spoke. "How do you know if someone is right for you?" She looked over at me with unsurntinty in her eyes.

"That's a tough question to answer." I said. It took me a few seconds to think of an answer. There were many different ways I could answer the question, and some of them were more complex than others. "I asked myself that question a long time ago, and I had to ask myself a lot of other questions as well just to answer that one quetion."

She looked over at me with a confused look in her eyes. "What do you mean?"

I looked over at her and spoke, "Questions like, Do you enjoy being around that person? Do you get along with their friends and family? Does that person go out of their way to make you happy or comfortable? And most importantly are you willing to spend your life with that person?"