They stopped as they all noticed you walk towards them.

"Um, everything okay?" You asked, trying to cover up your nervousness by being cheerful. Are they talking about what they were earlier? Your question hung in the air, no one taking the bait. They stared at you as if they were caught talking about someone, or was that your imagination? "...What's for lunch?"

"Well, uh, we haven't started it yet, but we will," Engie broke the silence, clearing his throat. The mercs moved away from him, so it was as if he were a spotlight. He clapped his hands. "So boys, what are we feelin'?" He looked back and forth between each man.

"Fried chicken!" Scout abruptly shouted. He nervously laughed as the mercs looked at him. You chuckled slightly.

"I guess I wouldn't mind that. Maybe I'll get why Scout likes it so much," you gestured towards him, causing his laugh to be more genuine.

"Yeah! It's amazin'! No food has evah been betta!"

"I could list a few..." Spy muttered, smoke drifting off of the cigarette in his mouth.

"Whatja say ya shapeshiftin' rat?" Scout used two fingers to point at him.

"Excuse me?" Spy raised his voice.

"You heard what I said!" Scout crossed his arms. "And afta what ya said about-"

Heavy roughly placed a hand over Scout's mouth to shut him up.

"We do not talk about this now," He looked Scout dead in the eye, and Scout responded with fear in his eyes, nodding. Heavy gently let him go.

"Talk about what?" You questioned, fearing it was about what was said earlier.

"N-Nothin'! Nothin' Strats..." Scout trailed off, eyeing Heavy.

"You know I'm not stupid, right?" You crossed your arms and cocked your head.

"Very avare," Medic nodded, followed by agreements from your teammates.

"And you know we can talk things out, right?"

"That's where Oi'm not too sure, Sheila," Sniper, who usually doesn't join group conversations, butt in.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," He rubbed the back of his neck, looking increasingly awkward as the eyes of the mercs fell on him. "What we were discussion', Oi mean, it didn't really... concern ya."

"But it was about me?" You felt your eyes narrow, but fought against it. You didn't want Sniper to feel more out of place than he already did.

"Roight."

"So that means it concerns me." Sniper stopped for a second.

"Oi guess I meant we didn't want ta involve ya yet in tha conversation."

"But surely if it concerned me, you would want my input, right?" Sniper shut down, not responding. You sighed, feeling guilty for pressuring him. "Look, uh, I'm sorry that I made you all feel as if you couldn't talk to me-"

"Oh darlin', it's not that at all!" Engie cut you short. "We just, uh, Ah can't seem ta find the words to it... Help me, boys." The mercs all started to speak over each other, trying to find the words Engie couldn't. Heavy sighed.

"Heavy does not feel that this is place for leetle girl," Heavy put plainly, cutting through the noise. I knew it.

"May I ask why?" You asked tentatively, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"It's just...," Engie took a deep breath. "Darlin'," he rubbed the back of his neck, "Since ya got here, things haven't been the best for ya. Ah mean, heck, that mess with yer Dad probably made ya feel worse about it!"

"Not to mention 'ou 'ave been a blubbering mess zis entire time," Spy looked away, as if he didn't want to see your reaction to his words.

"Okay...," you took your turn to speak, processing what was said. Yes, what Spy said hurt. You knew you were basically a crybaby, but it hurt to have someone say it so... plainly. Why does that hurt? But what Engie said, that didn't feel right. "I have to admit that yes, I get overwhelmed by emotions fairly easily. I cry a lot. It's my natural reaction to an overload of stress and outside elements, but calling me a 'blubbering mess' doesn't fit right. Once I figure something out, I'm still very much a functional human, and with what just happened with my Dad, that was closure for me. It feels better now that I know he never really... cared." You crossed your arms, looking away from Spy in particular. "Maybe that's not the exact right word, but it's how it feels right now."

"Functional?" Spy spoke before the others finished thinking. "'Ou have made nothing but a mess for all of us, running away from 'our problems or hiding away in your room." You felt your pride make you get defensive. You took a deep breath to calm down.

"Have you ever been an overworked high school student who was thrust into a new environment with new people to just live with?" You started getting defensive again, so you stopped yourself. "I meant to say, you're not me. You don't know the stress I've been through within a short time. It feels wrong for you to make such a harsh judgment against someone you've only known for about two and a half weeks."

"I thought 'ou, ze person our boss hired, would be able to handle ze changes."

"And I would have been able to if other things didn't interfere or inhibit that. Have you ever sat down and thought about everything that's happened in the past two weeks? That's a lot, and things didn't exactly go to plan."

"Still, 'ou should 'ave been able to navigate it better."

"Though I agree and wish I had, I feel like that's unfair. I'm literally still in the phase of life where I'm just trying to figure everything out, and now I'm here with all of you. My plan was to go to college and study, and now I'm a mercenary. I made the decision in one day, and of course I'm going to react the way I did to such a sudden world change!" The mercs were silent, taking the conversation in. "What I'm trying to say is that I can and will stay here. I don't have to prove that to you, but you'll see it anyway. I was chosen for a reason. I chose to be here, and now I'm going to do everything I can to do my damn best. That means something to me," you took a second to look your teammates in the eyes, "and personally? It doesn't matter to me if it means anything to you."

Silence hung in the air. There wasn't tension. It was just a void. You filled it by taking in a deep breath. Surprisingly, Spy smirked and nodded.

"See? I hate to admit it, but Scout was right?" Spy shrugged and took a puff of his cigarette.

"Hate to admit it? You'll be admittin' it for a while, so get used to it," Scout slapped you on the shoulder, laughing. Ow? What's happening?

"Uh, can someone explain, please?" You asked the mercs.

"I just had to clear any suspicions doubting 'our capabilities. Zat iz all," Spy blew the smoke from his lips. Taking a sign from the others looking back and forth from each other, you believed him.

"I see. Well, is everyone good now?"

"Aye, except fer one thing, lass," Demo answered. "Will ya be okay after that nasty run-in wit tha BLUs?"

"Honestly?" You started, giving yourself a second to consider it. "I haven't really had the chance to process it after all of this the past few days. I can't guarantee that I'll be one-hundred percent, but I won't let any hiccups stop me from getting back at that bitch." You winked at him, and he smiled, seeming reassured. "Besides, if anything does happen, I'm happy to admit that I have all of you, which is something I wasn't able to say like a week ago, so..." You shrugged and chuckled.

The mood now lifted, your team all crammed into the kitchen to make fried chicken, mainly for Scout. He tried to help, but eventually got kicked out for burning the chicken while cooking it. You helped Engie with the breading, and when Spy made some sly comment, he threw some at his suit. This caused Spy to yelp and run out of the kitchen to join Scout in the living room.

There you all were, sitting around the kitchen table eating slightly burnt fried chicken. It was content.