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  Gaitune-67, Safe house, Common area

  “They’re back!” Paige’s shoes clipped excitedly across the open-plan common area and out to the foyer of the safe house.

  “Molly! They’re here!” she called excitedly.

  Molly emerged from the kitchen, cup of mocha in hand. She placed it down on the table in the living space, and ambled towards the door.

  Brock emerged from downstairs, too. “Guess they’re here!” he laughed. “You know, that girl would make a great early warning system!”

  Molly grinned.

  Paige ran back in, in full Labrador mode. She hadn’t opened the outside door yet. “They’re just coming out now. Oh my ancestors… it’s been so quiet around here without the full pack.” She was beaming.

  Molly tried to calm her a little. “It’s okay, Paige. They’re back now. Give them a chance. And leave the door closed until they’re here. We don’t want to be clearing out asteroid for the next month.”

  Paige waved a hand, indicating what Molly was saying wasn’t important, and clip-clopped back out to the foyer to greet the rest of the team.

  “Oh, my stars!” she exclaimed. Brock had gone out to join her. Molly, now marginally intrigued wandered over to stand in the doorway to the foyer. There she saw both Brock and Paige with their noses pressed against the outside glass, watching the boys lug their packs in.

  “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Paige was asking Brock.

  Brock, in a somewhat distant tone, responded. “Girlfriend, I am most definitely seeing what you’re seeing…”

  “I saw him first!” Paige asserted.

  Brock looked at her out of the corner of his eye, one eyebrow now arched flirtatiously. “But if the boy prefers something else… who am I to deny him?”

  Paige giggled and smacked him playfully on his arm with the back of her hand.

  Molly rolled her eyes and wandered back into the common room to retrieve her mocha.

  At least the troops are amused, she thought to herself.

  Finally, they must have reached the door, because Molly felt the pressure drop; even despite the second door being sealed. Eventually the hub of activity spilled into the main building, with shouting and laughing and squeals of delight (mostly from Paige).

  Joel was the last one through the door, but as he shuffled in, as fast at the crowd of team members would let him, he looked for Molly. Seeing her sitting on the main sofa in the communal living room, he raised his big hand in the air high above the heads of the others and waved to her with a big smile.

  She waved back and mouthed, “Welcome home.” She didn’t move though. That kind of excitement and activity was just a little… overwhelming for her. She continued instead to nurse her mocha and wait for the hubbub to subside.

  Neechie had sensed a disturbance in the force, and emerged from goodness knows where. He wandered over to Molly, hopped up on the sofa next to her, and settled with his chin on her thigh.

  “Hey, boy,” she said, looking down at him. “It’s okay, we’ll just hang here for a bit. It’s going to be okay.” She stroked him gently from his head down his spine.

  Paige’s voice cut through the general chatter. “Oh my ancestors… And we found the best curry place while you were away!”

  Joel laughed. “Well anything that isn’t pizza sounds good right now.”

  Pieter and Crash imploded in a chuckle and an exchange of knowing glances. Molly couldn’t help but wonder if they had an inside joke going. She made a mental note to ask about that at some point.

  “How about we get take out?” Paige was saying. “Brock and I can go fetch it while you guys get washed up and unpacked.”

  Pieter’s eyes lit up suddenly. “I’d quite like to see the asteroid, actually. Can I come with?”

  Paige looked at Brock as if asking permission. Brock nodded. “Of course, my friend. I’m Brock by the way…” He held out his hand to shake it, and Paige made her own introduction.

  It seemed decided. Pieter’s gear was abandoned against the nearest wall, and the three of them left together, Paige leading the way. “So this is your first time on an asteroid, then?” she started. Brock followed them out of the front door again, shaking his head smiling.

  The crowd somewhat thinned, Crash waved to Molly and mumbled something about going to shower the space out of his pores.

  Joel chuckled as he watched him head out down the corridor to the quarters. He placed his pack down next to Pieter’s abandoned gear, and then ambled over to where Molly was sitting. Exhausted but smiling, he plunked himself down on the sofa next to her.

  “So, what’ve I missed?” he asked, starting the conversation.

  Molly shook her head, and looked into her mocha. “Not much. Heard you saved the planet?”

  Joel chuckled. “Well, slight exaggeration. It was more just the city.” He paused, remembering something. “And even then, I didn’t really. I stopped the decoy. It was your friend Sean who stopped the actual attack, much later; once we thought we were done, and ready to come home!”

  Joel was shaking his head.

  Molly’s mouth dropped open. “Why, what happened?”

  “We kinda fucked up.” Joel confessed, explaining what had gone on.

  When he was done, Molly shook her head in disbelief. “You mean Sean knew more than he was sharing with us?”

  Joel nodded solemnly. He paused a moment, then decided he needed to raise it. “So, when were you going to tell me about Sean?”

  Molly looked confused for a second, and then gasped, slapping a hand over her mouth.

  “Fuck!” she said loudly, through her hand. Her eyes were wide with horror. “Joel, I didn’t. Fucking arse! I didn’t mean to- I completely forgot to tell you about him. I just got so distr-”

  Joel waved his hands, trying to calm her. “It’s okay. It’s okay. I get it.” He paused, waiting for her to settle. “I kinda know what you’re like…” he said, smiling gently at her.

  Molly was shaking her head at herself. “I’m sooooo sorry. How did you find out?”

  Joel scratched the back of his head, a sheepish look in his eyes. “Well, erm. I…I nearly took him out.”

  Molly exploded with laughter and amazement. “Joel, he’s built like a brick shithouse! How the fuck could you take him down?!”

  Joel shrugged, secretly pleased she was impressed. “I dunno. He jumped me, and, you know… training. It just kicks in. I was secretly relieved that he turned out to be human, and not some kind of beast.”

  Molly was still laughing. “I would have loved to have seen that!” she confessed.

  Joel chuckled. “Pieter did. He can give you the low-down.”

  “Heck,” Molly stared back down at her mocha.

  Joel leaned over and put his hand around the mug. She let him take it and have a sip before handing it back.

  “Thanks,” he said, more softly than he would normally talk to her.

  Molly changed the subject. “So, this curry place they’ve gone to is pretty good.”

  Joel edged back to his section of the sofa. “So I hear,” he said, referring to Paige’s enthusiasm. “I would have offered to cook, if they weren’t so set on it. It’s something I use to ground out after an op… cooking.”

  Molly looked up from her mocha. “Really? Isn’t that just more work?”

  Joel shook his head. “Nah. It’s methodical, but creative. And then there are the smells and stuff. It’s really soothing… and normalizing after the intensity of battle and travel.”

  He paused. “Didn’t they ever mention having a post-op ritual in basic training?

  Molly took a sip of her mocha. “Nope. Although, I always find myself antsy after an op.” Her eyes were down, but Joel noticed they had widened.

  His eyes narrowed a little. “So… erm. How do you deal with that?”

  Molly didn’t respond, and took another sip of mocha.

  “Molly?” he pushed again.

  She kept her eyes fixed on the floor
in front of her. “Sex, normally. When possible.”

  Joel laughed silently, trying to restrain his disbelief.

  “So, errr, what did you do last time? Or after this op?” he asked, his eyes dancing with humor and anticipation.

  Molly put her mug down on the table, and stood up. “I’m going to get the plates out, for when they get back with food,” she announced, her voice professional and her eyes now distant.

  Joel got up too. “Great. I’ll go get my gear out of here.” He started to walk past her, and she hesitated.

  Her hand reached out to his forearm, and rested on it for a moment.

  “Hey, Joel…”

  He turned to look at her.

  She looked down.

  Then stepped closer.

  “I…”

  Joel waited, giving her time to process and say whatever she was trying to say. For a moment he could have sworn he saw something in the way she looked at him. Then in a heartbeat it was gone.

  She smiled. “It’s good to have you back.”

  She stepped away, dropping her hand from his arm.

  Joel’s heart sank.

  He smiled his teammate smile. “Good to be back,” he agreed.

  He waited for a moment, hoping to catch sight of whatever he had seen in her eyes a moment ago, and then, realizing the moment had flickered past, he strode across the room to collect his pack.

  Plates forgotten, Molly sat down again on the sofa. She slumped backwards, watching him leave. When he was safely through the double doors, she allowed her head to drop back onto the back of the sofa.

  “Fuck!” she whispered out loud to herself.

  Neechie meowed sympathetically.

  Oz started to say something. She could feel him coming online.

  Oz, don’t you even…

  He fell quiet again.

  Gaitune-67, Safe House

  Two weeks later, Joel was walking down the corridor in his workout gear. He had his workout tunes pulsing through his auditory implant as he swiped through his holo, selecting his favorites for a new mix.

  Distracted, he reached out for the door handle to head down to the lower levels when the door flew open, and an oncoming deluge of excitement and laughter bowled him over. He hit the deck with a slap, as other bodies tumbled out and fell on top of him.

  Unable to see what had hit him, he scrambled for his holo device. Realizing his left arm was pinned by a rather muscular weight, he instead swiped at the implant, tapping it to silent.

  It was Brock’s voice he heard first. “Man, I’m so sorry.”

  “Yeah, sorry boss,” grunted Crash, pulling himself off the floor, one hand on the wall.

  Brock, still laughing his head off and shouting competitive abuse at Crash, tried to compose himself to lift himself up off Joel’s chest. Every time Joel thought he had it together, Brock cracked up in giggles again, his limbs going like jelly.

  Joel, slightly winded and shocked, couldn’t help but join in. The laughter was infectious.

  He tried to catch his breath to speak. “Do you guys realize how dangerous that was?”

  Crash had caught his breath. “Yes, sorry, boss. We’ll not run in the corridors again.”

  He sniggered.

  Joel breathed. “I’m not talking about that.” A grin spread across his face. “You do realize that I’m a highly trained, honed and toned mechanism of destruction, don’t you?”

  Brock burst with another round of laughter, this time hissing through his teeth and curling up like a child being tickled. His body still pinned Joel, the machine of devastation, to the ground. Joel was immobilized, laughing again.

  “Guys, guys…” he tried to compose himself. “Guys, what’s the hurry? What’s going on?”

  Crash had managed to get to his feet and compose himself the fastest. “We’re on our way to pitch Molly the new name for the bird… I came up with it, but Brock wants to claim credit.”

  Brock’s giggles had subsided and he’d managed to at least roll onto all fours, and steady himself for getting to his feet. “Yeah, except it was my idea.”

  Crash grinned. “In your dreams, baby! We all know who the creative genius is around here.”

  Joel, now released from Brock’s weight, sat up and started getting to his feet. “Sounds like you guys either need a tie-breaker…”

  The pair looked at each other, eyes alert with what a good idea that was.

  But Joel continued, “…or a den mother who will give you all the approval you’re seeking!”

  Brock started giggling again, but Crash, not wasting a second, started jogging sideways. “I’m going to tell her first! Laterz, asshole!”

  Joel, now on his feet, shook his head at the cavorting, and decided that this was going to be too good to miss. His workout forgotten, he followed Crash into the conference room where Molly was likely hiding out. Brock’s giggling indicated he was following behind them.

  Joel arrived in the conference room, and was holding on to the doorframe, assessing the situation. Molly was sitting close to the door, with her back to it. Crash casually made his way around the table to sit opposite her.

  She leaned back in her chair, allowing her holo screens to fade in order to see Crash. “So, tell me…” she was saying.

  Joel went in and sat on Molly’s left. She looked over at him, half-expecting him to add something to the conversation. When he crossed his arms on the table and looked over at Crash, an amused look on his face, she realized he was here to observe. The shouting and laughing in the hallway was probably the prelude to whatever was about to unfold.

  Crash started explaining. “Well, we were thinking that it needed to be catchy, but also majestic. And given that you’ve been doing all this mystical stuff with Paige-”

  Molly glanced over to Joel, who looked at her, and then quickly back at Crash. She made a mental note to find out who had been gossiping about her failed meditation attempts.

  Crash had paused, but continued when she looked back at him. “We wanted something that was, you know… of the ‘realm.”

  Brock had managed to compose himself enough to walk to the conference room. Standing in the doorway, panting, he practically fell into the room. He spoke fast and loud, trying to spill the words out before Crash could.

  “And that is why we want to call her, and fuck you, Chris Ashworth, the Phoenix Reign!”

  Crash covered his mouth in an attempt to stifle a laugh.

  Joel slammed the desk, now howling with laughter. “Fuck me! You guys are hilarious.”

  Molly who had tried to keep it together, was unable to. Now, with Brock dramatically sliding down the wall towards the floor, and even the normally well-composed and buttoned-up Crash unable to contain himself, the whole thing made her burst out laughing.

  “Phoenix Reign it is, then!” she concluded between bouts of hysterics.