I can’t believe I’m really back in Colombia. It’s almost surreal.

Sam and Sebastian had arrived at the doorstep to Renzo’s apartment, both letting out a collective sigh of relief as they eased their bags off of their shoulders and let some cooler air hit their sweating backs. Sam swore she’d never miss the heat and humidity before, but this time around however, it seemed more like a part of life than a total nuisance. That was, of course, until she remembered the need to change her hairstyle routine, pulling stuck strands of her bangs off of her forehead with a swipe of her wrist.

To think about how scared I was when I got here, and how much I hated almost everything about it at first sight…

It’s even crazier to think how much my life… well, no… how much I’ve changed since then. I feel… safer here than I’ve felt since this whole rollercoaster ride began.

Sebastian started to snicker. “I forget how long your hair used to be, and always tied in, um-”

“Yeah, oh well,” Sam resigned to the reality of her mistake in letting her hair hang loose, giving in by reaching for a pin from her bag to clip her bangs back at the very least. “At least I won’t ever have to deal with helmet hair like before.”

Right, helmet hair… she thought as she laughed to herself, holding back memories of her experiences with Kerry that were associated with that one line. But it also brought up another often reoccurring urge to check back into camp back in Singapore where she could start back her Antares training in hopes for seat time with the Arondight, something she was still yet to lay proper eyes on.

Whatever. I got other things about to go on right now.

She then looked down at her watch once more, noting it was still eight thirty. “We’re awfully early.”

“I know. I said around ten or eleven but I never thought we will arrive this fast.” He reached over to the key pad of the doorway, which in itself was a relic compared to what Sam had long been accustomed to where simple face scans did the work. The apartment complex was older, likely from the post-war turn of the century (roughly 2090 - 2110), but it was clean and well kept.

“I guess he won’t mind. Did he ever answer you from earlier?”

“No, never did,” Sebastian answered as he finished inputting the code, hearing the lock open. He then opened the door and gestured her in with a reassuring smile. “But he said already to go inside, so...”

They made their way inside the narrow entry and into the open kitchen/dining area as Sebastian reached for the light switch. Sam was instead focused on the sound he heard coming from deeper within the apartment as if someone was stumbling around. Concern grew within as she couldn’t tell if that was a thief they walked in on, or Renzo was falling over and possibly injuring himself. The latter made her smirk unintentionally as the lights came on.

“Renzo?!” Sebastian called out as he set his bag on the bench just behind him against the wall. Noticing Renzo’s belongings on the breakfast table and in several of the chairs, which were all in addition to the lights being left off, he too let out a chuckle as he realized this was as far from a welcome sign as it could get. “Sorry,” he then spoke to Sam with a hand behind his head in slightly embarrassed fashion. “He’s usually more, ahn, he has more hospitality than-”

He was cut off by the light suddenly cutting on, immediately followed by the storming in of a half-undressed Kaylen into the area. “¡¿Ustedes dos gatos?!” She barked the moment she saw it was Sebastian standing there, coming to a halt. As much as it shocked Sebastian, it was two-fold for Sam, causing her to fumble around clumsily trying to get her earpiece activated.

What in the ever living- is that… Kaylen Rodgers?!

“¡¿Que mierda hacen atroden y quien fue el forro que los dejo entrar?! Barderos del orto?” Kaylen continued in her high paced, insult-ridden shouting barrage.

“Hey! Stop!” Sebastian roared back in a full-frowned attempt to not only defuse the horribly confusing and unexpected turn of events, but because Sam had to have been more jarred than anyone in the room. “English, please!”

Sam couldn’t even start to form her reaction as she finally got her earpiece on and translation services running, now noticing Kaylen may not have had much of anything on underneath the oversized T-shirt she wore and nothing else.

[The hell I will!] Kaylen bolted back at Sebastian, now stepping towards him with a condemning finger pointed as she never took well to being stared at like a lunatic. [You don’t just strut in like you own the fucking place! You had me thinking you were- were some kind of-] She cut herself off mid-sentence with a hand over her tilted-back head, turning away.

“Hey, woah,” Sam finally found the words as she started up: “Can we, like-”

Kaylen wasn’t listening as she abruptly started on a new tangent: [-You dumbasses realize I have to move around while staying low, right?! You knew my place in the whole scheme of things- How the fuck did you think I’d react!?]

[What the hell, Kaylen?!] They all heard Renzo shout from behind as he headed their way. [Damn, it’s just Bas and Cruella! Stop all the shouting! Shit!]

[Wait, what?!] Sebastian finally realized what was going on, seeing Renzo’s appearance much more disheveled than usual. [No, no way!?]

Both he and Sam were in sync, mouth agape, gawking at the two in a moment of awkward silence.

.

Outside on Renzo’s balcony facing the courtyard, the two brothers finished their conversation, albeit much more hushed than just then. [Us two- I mean, forget me and Sam! What the hell are you doing with her? Since when did you… really!?]

[Says the guy who hadn’t been on a date in years and suddenly hooks up with a foreigner pilot who fell from the sky,] Renzo fired back before quickly changing gears to avoid what would be a futile stand-off. [Look, we had been working together and sometimes we just got bored. It’s nothing serious- I mean, you know how I am, and she has her needs, too, you know. Blow off some steam, you know. Why is this such a big deal, anyhow?]

[I met her, too. It’s not that you don’t have your freedom, it’s just… I wouldn’t expect you and her to… you get what I’m saying? You know who she is-]

[-Yeah yeah. The former pilot of the Apollyon, the massacre this massacre that- brother, she’s a human being like the rest of us,] Renzo emphasized in rare form, not one to defend someone that wasn’t his family or in his inner circle like that.

Sebastian realized Renzo had to have been around her far more than he led on, putting his prejudices on hold. [I apologize for not knocking. I just thought it made no difference thinking you’d be up and alone.]

[Yeah, well…] He turned to look back at the kitchen area behind the closed sliding door, now letting out a lighter hearted chuckle. [Want a drink? Forget all this heavy talk, man. Haven’t seen you two in ages.]

.

Sam sat across from Kaylen, who was still leaning against the column that separated the kitchen from the dining space. The air was tense, although not as wired as it was moments ago. “So,” Kaylen started. “What gives? I thought you were reporting to Singapore next week like the plan said.”

“We are,” Sam calmly but quickly replied, knowing better why Kaylen was so upset. “Sebastian and I were in Akkadia for the weekend, and then agreed to come see his hometown for the remainder of our downtime. I had no idea you two- never mind that, sorry, but I thought Renzo would’ve told you we were coming. He knew well in advance.”

“Of course, the idiot did,” she scoffed, now reaching for something in her bag she had set behind her on the counter. “And of course, he didn’t tell me. I do leave tomorrow, though.”

Is this really the Galatine pilot I met the other day? The same one who seemed like she had so much pulled together and ready to go?

Sam shrugged off her judgments, focusing back on the conversation. “Well, I still haven’t heard anything back from Hexa about the next steps, so aren’t we in the clear to just enjoy our recovery time? I get why you have to lay low, and I apologize for our entry, but still.”

Kaylen found her cigarette case and took one out to light, reminding Sam of her experiences with the late Galeano Family’s boss. “You get to enjoy it. I don’t.” She didn’t mind the silence that followed as her head leaned back, letting out a slow, deep breath as the exiting smoke columned toward the ceiling. “Check your watch.”

“My watch?” Sam reacted the second she looked, noticing there being no signal. “I don’t get it. Why is this place jammed? Or better yet, why did you want me to know this?”

Kaylen looked back at her, cocking her head. “Your boy met with Vrey, and that’s why you two are here. I already know everything other than the fact you two arrived earlier than you were supposed to.”

Sam couldn’t tell if she was being read or mocked, choosing to keep her calm. “Yeah. Renzo is supposed to tell us what our little side mission is supposed to be while on cooldown. So, are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“I just figured why the hell not, since I already planned on it once catching up to you in Singapore.” She then turned to face the patio window where she could see Renzo now approaching the door. “Your brother is somewhere in the SAU.” Turning back, she saw her eyes grow as widely as expected, and both of them ignored Renzo entering as he headed for the refrigerator. “Did Vrey mention an informant?”

Sam had to take a moment to catch back up to reality. No way there’s already word on him this fast. There’s no way we could ever hope to get a step ahead knowing how he’s gotten us every damn time, is there? “Sorry, what? Informant?”

“Did he tell you who?”

“No, he…” Wait a second. Sam now understood the reason for the jamming, so focused on her thoughts that she didn’t notice Renzo disappearing outside with a pair of bottles in hand. “You’re… the informant?!” It then clicked a step further that next instant as she felt a certain anxiety kicking in she hadn’t felt since she met Devin that night in Manila. “You’re also with the Underground?! All this time?!”

“Look who’s talking,” Kaylen chided, taking another puff from her cigarette. “Anyone who’s anyone in our network knows you were unofficially working for Tyrus, am I right?”

“But that-…” Sam knew she was had, but her point still stood in her mind. “Does Mr. Vrey know that?”

“How else did he know how to find me so fast?” She then saw how lost Sam was by her remark. “Oh, right. Well, I’ll tell you the full story one day, but Rex wanted to find me first after hearing my skills were needed. Vrey knew he had informants here in the SAU already, and so, he used them to find me.” She then looked over to the patio window. “And Vrey used that idiot and his sister to bring me in.”

So that’s why Sebastian mentioned his brother the other day. Sam then got her mind back on track as she started to settle down, knowing she might as well get something figured out while she had a chance. “Then, you’ve been talking to Vrey since you got here about something we need to know? Is it more about my brother?”

“I really got a lot to explain to you, don’t I?” Kaylen dryly laughed, shaking her head. “No. Short version, no. He doesn’t know it’s me. He made me one unofficially after releasing me here the other day, but he can’t know which is speaking. Only messages make it to him.”

This is even more confusing than I thought, way worse than how things seemed when Devin explained things to me. “Then…”

“Look,” Kaylen spoke with a sigh as she made her way to the seat next to Sam, keeping her smoking hand away as she leaned toward her. “I got to find out just how fucked up he is in the head- and I’m speaking of that brother of yours. I don’t have the whereabouts yet, but that’s what I am off to go find out before we have to report back to Singapore. Can you hold off questions until you hear more intel? I’m real fuckin’ tired right now.”

“I see. Thanks,” Sam spoke before coughing over the wafted smoke in her face.

“Weak,” Kaylen chuckled as she stood up and backed toward her previous spot. “Digest everything you can as you need. I say we go join the boys outside for a drink.”

“Maybe for once I do need a drink,” Sam answered back rather quickly and naturally with a roll of her eyes.

At least I feel so much safer now not only being with Sebastian back in his hometown- not in the middle of a crazy mess. She then looked over at Kaylen with an amused smile as she went for the refrigerator. And as nuts as I thought this chick is, I have to admit I feel safer with her around, too. To think how literally dead I would have been without both of them showing up in my life.