“…f you’re just tuning in, our top story is the recent Wailing attack at the Venator Academy, the third one in three years. After the academy was attacked by what was later dubbed a ‘Behemoth Wailing’ on 5019’s orientation day, and was attacked again at the end of that same year, the academy has seen a relative calm. Unfortunately, as of yesterday, the Venator Academy fell victim to the hands of three more Wailing, tearing up many of the campus’ facilities, as well as large chunks of the main building. For further reporting, we have Dana Montgomery on the scene.”

“Thanks, Tim. I’m standing in one of the numerous ruined classrooms in the central building of the Venator Academy. As you can see, despite the previous two attacks being much larger in scale, neither compare to the damage done in this one night alone. The dorms have also suffered a great amount of damage due to what look to be a fire, mostly likely caused by one of the Wailing.”

“As principal, I want to temper people’s expectations. The damage is severe, but the students are okay. We’ve rebuilt before, and will most likely have to again, but I believe it’s a testament to our academy’s readiness to handle these threats and only come out with infrastructural damage. With that said, we’ve recently been in talks with Senator Carmichael about the barrier being built around Detu City and extending it to our campus as well.”

“As security, our job, first and foremost, is protecting students. We’re not as well equipped as most Venator teams, but we get by and make sure they get to safety while we take those Wailing down. I also used to be a Venator, so I know how Wailing think. If you ask me, these attacks aren’t natural.”

“The Wailing were fortunately dispatched with by the security team and several other students, but it raises questions as to the campus’ readiness for any more attacks. Two’s a coincidence, three’s a pattern, so can we expect any future Wailing to take advantage of the campus’ currently weakened state? Back to you, Tim.”

“Thank you, Dana, for that report. While the infrastructural damage is the easiest to point to, the damage to morale has certainly taken its toll as well. Following this latest attack, the Head Scientist at the academy and Co-CEO of Event Horizon Manufacturing, Ryan Cecil, has stepped down from his position within the academy, with an official statement from EHM, ‘the seemingly endless attacks have made him question his safety,’ and that ‘it would be better for his health to avoid working in such a stressful environment.’ No official statement has come from Cecil himself following this news.”

“Later on in the show, we’ll be interviewing Senator Baxter on his thoughts in regards to the attack, and whether we’re doing enough to protect our future Venators from these new breeds of Wailing. Stay tune-”

“It’s such bullshit.” Burnie complained, muting the TV, before resting his head on the bar. “A third attack?”

“They shouldn’t have built it so close to the forest.” Thomas noted, taking a sip of his beer, before adjusting his glasses.

“The forest wasn’t there when they built it!” Burnie noted, slamming his hand down. “And you can’t blame the place for what the Wailing did to it. If a Wailing’s bloodthirsty enough, it’ll just charge in wherever and start killing.”

Thomas finished his drink and put the bottle down. “Mmm…I’m wondering why it took so long for a school full of Venators to take care of three Wailing. They did that much damage in one night?”

“Yeah, it’s still a Wailing. Some of them’ll thrash about while dying just to break more shit.” Burnie explained. “What, you don’t think the Venators did a good job?”

“I don’t think they’re doing very well in general, and this is merely a symptom.” Thomas clarified. “Look at the conflict as a whole. I feel like we’ve barely made a dent in the Wailing. Most Venators seem more like glory hogs than anything.”

“Hey, they’re doing some good work out there.” Burnie defended, grabbing his beer. “So what, you think they’re too vain to do the job right?”

“Don’t be reductive. That’s some of them, but…” Thomas pointed out, as Burnie started tapping his fingers on the bar.

“What? Stupidness? Ineptitude?”

“It’s…laziness! Laziness seen throughout the conflict!” Thomas argued, spinning around on his stool. “Venators have been around for centuries, why are the Wailing still a problem?”

Burnie raised five fingers. “Hey brainiac, it takes five people to match the strength of one Wailing. You can’t count the time before the team system was formed.”

“Alright, it’s still been a century then.” Thomas pointed out, pointing his bottle at Burnie. “Where’s all this progress Venators seem to be making? There’s not been a reduction in Wailing attacks.”

“Okay, you can’t expect them to handle everything though. What about the Behemoth one?” Burnie clarified. “It took the whole academy to take that thing down! You can’t just whip that many people up in an afternoon, that would have to be…like, planned or something. Like as a demonstration.”

Burnie snapped his fingers. “And the Gelatinous Wailing. Some Venators can’t even take them out if they don’t have Whils.”

“Then make it so Venator teams are required to have at least one Whil user.” Thomas noted, before grabbing the bartender’s attention. “I’m feeling frisky. Raspberry daiquiri, please.”

“You can’t just restructure the Venator system overnight. There’s always gonna be some new kinda Wailing that shows up outta nowhere. Ones that are bigger, ones that are…I dunno, fucking…armoured…or something.” Burnie let out, before spotting someone across from them at the bar, quietly drinking to himself. “Hey, guy, how well do you think Venators are doing right now?”

“…huh?” He let out, clearly not expecting to be talked to, before facing him. “Uhh…fine? Seems like they’re keeping the ship steady.”

“But shouldn’t they be making an effort to end the Wailing Conflict quicker?” Thomas butted in, leaning over Burnie.

“…well, yeah, I guess. It’s not like they’re bad at their job, right?” The guy mentioned, sitting up more. “Outside of the academy, Detu City’s barely been touched.”

“Yeah, then two years ago, we get three attacks outta nowhere. So what’s changed?” Burnie reasoned, as Thomas quietly grabbed his new drink.

The guy chuckled to himself. “If they’re getting the job done, why change anything? I say let them keep at it.”

“Keep at it…” Thomas muttered, falling back to the bar and ignoring the guy. “Keeping at it’s what’s kept the industry in a standstill for so long…”

“Standstill, schmand…schmill…” Burnie tried, before leaning down to meet his gaze. “What they need is more firepower. Something to deal with the Wailing quicker, more consistently.”

“…there’s been a few reports about an increase in Whil potency.” Thomas noted, lifting himself back up. “Some more recent Whil users have been getting stronger and stronger Whils, like some latent genetic…activation, I’d guess.”

“Ah, there we go! That’s Whilit smiling down on us!” Burnie cheered, wrapping his arm around Thomas’ neck. “Hey, somebody’s got our backs. Finally giving us the tools to deal with the conflict head on.”

Thomas just shook his head, as he went for his drink again. “…I feel sorry for the new generation of Venators. They’re coming in at history’s most dangerous point.”

“…yeah, those poor kids.” Burnie agreed, rubbing his neck. “You know what you’re getting into to a certain extent, but…”

“Hey, cheers.” Thomas offered, lifting his glass. “Hopefully they’ll see the end of the conflict without too much more bloodshed. At least at some point in their lifetimes.”

“And ours too.” Burnie said, clinking his bottle. “Cheers.”

———

“If you…want to call me baby, just tell me now though. And if you…want to by my lady, just tell me now though. And if you…wanna bear your soul, just tell me now though. And if you…wanna take a stroll, just tell me now though…”

Dulce kept singing to herself, stepping out of the Flash-Rail station, before it sped off back toward Detu City proper. She was carrying a small bag over her shoulder, as she started heading down the street in the direction of 22 Sunset Street.

The road was fairly quiet, virtually no activity down it, as she arrived at the front and started heading up to the front door.

“Hey.”

Lifting her head, she found Harley waving to her, sitting in front of the door with less casual gear on then she normally wore.

“Hey. How’re you holding up?” Dulce asked, as Harley started to stand up.

“Some days are better.” Harley admitted, resting her hands on her hips. “How’re things on your end?”

“Good. I’ve got some news for you guys, if you’re in the mood.” Dulce prefaced, as Harley went to open to door for her.

“Yeah, just check with the others. We’re all a bit…scattered.” Harley confessed, following her, as Dulce went inside, before finding Sola and Percy on the couch together, turning to face her.

“Hi Dulce.” Sola greeted, with Percy waving beside her, as Dulce placed her bag down by the entrance.

“What’s the situation on the leg?” Dulce asked, as Sola did her best to stand up with Percy’s help, before grabbing crouches laying on the couch.

“Okay. Should be a little over a month before it’s better.” Sola replied, getting up and hopping over, now with a much more practical jacket on, with Percy guiding her as she walked.

“Aww, babe…” Harley let out, kissing her head and pulling her over, as Dulce glanced around them.

“…is Julia here a-“

Just as Dulce said that, Julia’s door opened up, as she slowly walked out of her bedroom with a dressing gown lazily draped over her shoulders, her hands covered with washing gloves.

“Dulce, hey.” Julia let out, resting her hand on the door frame. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, uh…well, I was hoping to tell the whole team at once.” Dulce admitted, rubbing her neck. “We’ve, uh, secured your room…your dorm room. It’s safe to come back to, if you want to retrieve anything.”

A wash of silence came from the team, as Dulce felt the need to fill it.

She hid her face a bit. “There’s not much to recover, but…it might be a good thing to do…”

Julia quietly nodded, taking the news in, as she looked back at Harley, Sola and Percy. “What do you guys think?”

Harley shrugged. “Might be good closure.”

“There’s gotta be some stuff, right?” Sola suggested, as Dulce breathed in through her teeth.

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up. Your room took the brunt of the fire damage.” Dulce admitted, before snapping her fingers. “And Faller wanted a talk, at some point.”

Before Julia could speak up, Harley stepped directly in front of her and folded her arms.

“He can wait.”

Dulce threw her hands up. “No skin off my nose. I’m just the messenger here.”

Julia rested her hand on Harley’s arm, letting her know she was okay, before heading down the hall, passing by the laundry to the doorway of the repurposed study.

The lights were all off, with only a small crack of it coming through behind Julia.

“Hey…Wess…” Julia started, trying to be gentle with her voice. “…Dulce just came to tell us we can go visit the dorm room, if we want.”

The room remained silent, save for a gentle bit of breathing and rising bedsheets.

“…alright…” Wess muttered, a small bit of stirring coming from the bed, with her staring forward at nothing in particular.

Julia breathed out a little, before making a small pivot back to the laundry, subtly knocking on the door.

“Essex? Are you up? We can come back to the dorm room.” Julia called out, getting no response. “We’re gonna leave in a bit. It’s fine if you don’t wanna come.”

Julia gave it a few more seconds, still getting nothing back, before leaving the door behind.

Silently, Percy raised her hand, as the team gave her their attention.

[…if it’s okay, I might not join you.] Percy stated. [It doesn’t feel right for me to go back there right now. Sorry…]

“Don’t feel bad. You didn’t spend three years there like…” Sola started, only for the statement to hit, as she got a little emotional.

“Come here…” Harley said, hugging her to her chest, right as the front door opened again, with Milo coming in holding several bags of groceries.

“Harley? Don’t worry, it’s just me.” Milo announced, before realising everyone had congregated in the lounge room. “Oh, the whole party’s here.”

“Sir.” Dulce greeted, nodding to him, as Julia stepped forward.

“Dulce was just telling us the dorm room’s safe to come back to.” Julia explained. “Once Wess is ready, we’ll head out for a bit.”

“Okay. Did you need me to come along?” Milo offered, as Julia slowly raised her hands.

“I-It’s fine, you don’t have to.” Julia stated, as Milo sighed out and headed to the kitchen.

“Alright. Just be home before six.” Milo stated, dragging the bags with him, right as Wess stepped out of her room, her hands lying by her sides.

On top of being far less put together than normal, she’d draped herself in Graham’s coat, with her scowl coming off a lot genuine than it normally did. All this was to distract from the fact that a large scar ran over where her left eye should’ve been, incredibly visible on her face, with no real effort to hide it.

“Shall we then?” Wess asked, clearly still a bit delirious from having just gotten out of bed, as Julia led the charge to the Flash-Rail station, Dulce accompanying them on the way back.

———

The ride there was silent, for the most part. A few other passengers on the Flash-Rail chatted idly, but the group didn’t speak much. Sola had her head in Harley’s lap, while Dulce nervously tapped her foot against the floor.

They eventually arrived back at the academy, the hazard tape over the entrance to the main building still just as jarring as when they left. A few students were crowding around the massive indent the Horned Wailing had left in the ground after it fell out of the building, while the group passed by them on their way to the dorms.

“Geez…were these ones bigger too?” One student asked.

“I mean, judging by the size, I’d say do. Didn’t they say that third-year team took this one out?” Another remarked, folding their arms.

“Yeah, Vanguard. And the Gelatinous one got bodied by one of the IF’s.” A third commented. “Man, I wish I coulda seen it up and running. Bet it was awesome.”

“I’m just annoyed we didn’t get a piece of the action.” The second said, bumping their elbow into the third, as the group looked on and started making their way into the dorms.

It was immediately apparent which room was theirs once they arrived, with more hazard tape and burn marks running up the walls and ceiling. Fortunately, they already got to thank Chops for quelling the fire on the night. Dulce had found her nearby, coughing up smoke after putting out most of it, before she was taken to the infirmary where Team Valiant was before getting moved to Julia’s house. Her recovery was quicker, of course.

Harley was the first to step inside, lifting the tape up for the others, as they filtered in and took in the damage to the place. Everything was charred black and was near impossible to make anything out. The room had held together, but the beds, lounge area and kitchen were all non-existent at this point.

There were still signs of Essex and Rosalind’s scrap too, with large cuts in the wall and the sliced-in-half fridge. Wess noticed pieces of the broken fish tank scattered across the floor in the direction of the balcony. She already knew it wouldn’t survive the fire, but there was part of her hoping it still could’ve.

Sola was out on the balcony, next to the plant pot that had held their audrey ficus she’d mistakenly named Aubrey. Gone, obviously, as she lifted up an ashy leaf, before it crumbled to her touch.

Sola could feel herself starting to cry, as she did her best to hurry back over to Harley for comfort, as Harley immediately reciprocated with a hug.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Harley assured, watching as Julia slowly approached what remained of her bed.

The sheets had burned.

All the Team Spectrum posters she’d brought from home were gone.

The remains of…Maxie…could be barely made out on the floor.

Julia tried her best to hold strong, wanting to put on a brave face for the others, before she felt a hand rest on her back, as Wess joined her side and rested her head on her.

That was enough for Julia to burst into tears, as she couldn’t hold back her sadness anymore. She turned to embrace Wess deeply, as Wess found herself welling up as well, her scar stinging as tears fell onto Julia.

Harley and Sola quickly came over and embraced her as well, as they took that moment for themselves, just to remind each other of what they still had. Dulce stood outside the room as they did, shedding a tear as well, and insuring they wouldn’t be interrupted.

———

Percy clicked her tongue.

“Something up, Percy?” Milo asked, sipping his hot chocolate.

Percy shook her head, before signing. [This isn’t right. I shouldn’t even be here.]

“Hey, come on now.” Milo replied, leaning over the kitchen counter. [Don’t say it. You’re hardly an imposition.]

[I’m still taking up a bed.] Percy admitted, occasionally stirring her hot chocolate. [I’m not a member of the team, and you didn’t even know me until a week ago.]

Milo tilted his head. “Okay, I’ll be honest…a lot of what was explained to me didn’t make sense.” Milo confessed. “Julia did her best, but all the…Wicker and Cecil and EHM and Organisation…I thought she was just doing her regular studies…but from everything she said, what I got was that you were anything but a problem.”

Percy stood up in anguish. [I’m the reason the academy got attacked! If I wasn’t there, Wicker wouldn’t have found me, he wouldn’t have sent the Wailing, and they wouldn’t have gotten hurt! I was just a beacon for all this terrible shit!]

Percy started crying, as her hands began shaking, before Milo got up in response.

“Alright, come here.” Milo said, opening up his arms, before bringing Percy into a hug. “You can’t put that all on yourself. You’re not the reason Wicker’s a bad person.”

Percy kept sniffing, trying to stop herself from crying. “And for what it’s worth, he sounds pretty gung-ho with those Wailing attacks. My guess is that was gonna happen regardless of whether you were there or not.”

Percy took a few more moments to just appreciate the hug, before breaking it and wiping her tears away.

[Thank you…] She let out. […I still feel like it’s my fault though. I didn’t have to take shelter with them.]

Milo grimaced a bit, before sitting back down. “Well hey, as long as you need to stay here, you’re welcome to. Julia may complain I’m stretching myself thin, but don’t believe her. For what you guys have done for her, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to pay you back.”

Percy threw her hands up in embarrassment. [Y-You should save that for the others. I’ve barely done anything…]

Right as she finished signing, the front door opened up, with Julia and the others stepping through, visibly exhausted from their trip back.

Milo went to ask about it, before registering the mood and realising he probably shouldn’t, right as Julia passed by the kitchen.

“Hey. You feeling alright?” Milo asked, as Julia lifted her head. “If you need to talk about anything, just let me know.”

Julia raised her hand. “Thanks, dad.”

She walked off again, heading straight back into her bedroom, leaving Milo to groan and shake his head.

“Of course…” He muttered, as Percy got up to make sure Sola was comfortable on the couch. “…just let me in…”

———

MEANWHILE, ON THE NIGHT OF FIRESIDE…

“…et him in the infirmary! He’s lost a lot of blood already!”

“Boss? You’re still with us, right? Come on, that wasn’t enough to getya!” Salaire encouraged, slapping the side of Wicker’s face as they reached the elevator.

“Stop hitting him, fuckstick. I’m only holding him with one arm…you drop him, you’re dragging him.” Rosalind argued, as they rode the elevator down to one of the lower levels of EHM, immediately being greeted by Marcus and a few grunts the moment the doors opened.

“What happened?”

“One of those Valiant bitches nearly killed him. Stopped his heart…” Rosalind explained, as Marcus and the grunts helped to carry him, taking him off to the infirmary, leaving Salaire to fall to the ground and Rosalind to fall back onto the wall.

Having caught a lot of the commotion in the hallways outside his room, Florey left his Wailing for a second and spotted Marcus running down the hall, holding Wicker in his arms.

“Cecil?” Florey let out, running up to check on him, only for Marcus to shove him away.

“Kid, what’re you doing?! You shouldn’t be here!” Marcus yelled, as Florey struggled to give an answer.

“I-I’m…the Wailing a-autop-“

“Back to the upper floors NOW. Don’t make me repeat myself.” Marcus demanded, before continuing back in the direction of the infirmary, as Florey stumbled back to his feet, right as Rosalind dragged herself to Florey’s side

“He can be such a prick…” She let out, before staring down at Florey and resting her arm on her hip. “I’ll keep an eye on the Wailing. You better avoided coming back down here for now.”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“I-Is Cec…” Florey started, only to now realise Rosalind was keeling over, and that her left arm was missing. “W-Wait, w-what happened to your arm?”

“I’m not talking about it…” Rosalind insisted, visibly sweating, before checking her wound and noticing the bleeding starting up again. “Shit…”

Rosalind forced herself to follow Marcus toward the infirmary, as Florey could feel his stress levels rising and his breathing getting heavy, before talking a second to breathe, focus…and eventually head in the direction of the elevator.

———

…Florey worked diligently in his lab, putting every second he could into perfectly his formula for the Wailing autopsy. Still no breakthroughs, but one of the good things about the commotion around Cecil’s condition meant no one was really keeping tabs on him.

Just as he was about to retrieve some samples from the autopsy room, he heard a hearty knock at the entrance to the lab, before a well-dressed bearded man with a corny smile made his way in, attempting to look amicable.

“Florey, hi. How’re you holding up?” Salaire asked.

Florey eyed him up curiously, unsure what he was doing or how to address him, as Salaire slapped his forehead.

“Right, you probably don’t know me.” He realised, before taking his hand out of his pocket to wave. “Salaire. I’m in the accounting department, so we haven’t had a chance to meet.”

“O-Oh, right.” Florey let out, before sticking his hand out, as Salaire gave a single, efficient shake.

“I work pretty closely with Cecil, so I wan-“

“Do you know what happened to him?” Florey interrupted, getting close to him. “I-I saw you with him when he came back. Did he get hurt?”

Salaire raised his hands to surrender. “That’s why I’m here. I got asked to inform you on what happened.”

Salaire indicated for Florey to take a seat on a nearby stool, as Florey quickly sat down and paid attention.

“I’m sure you saw on the news that the Venator Academy was attacked again by Wailing last week.” Salaire said, as Florey nodded. “Basically, Cecil got caught in the crossfire and was hurt. He’s been in a coma recovering ever since.”

Florey nearly fell back on his stool, before gripping it and moving back forward.

“…o-okay…why was I kept out of the loop until now?”

“Well…truth be told, this isn’t public knowledge.” Salaire admitted, rolling on his ankles. “We had to get the story straight on our end a-“

“Can’t you just tell people he was attacked by the Wailing?” Florey questioned, catching Salaire a bit off guard.

“R-Right, it’s…just we have to keep up a public image for investors.” Salaire clarified, spinning his hand. “It wouldn’t look good if the person responsible for the barrier around Detu City was attacked by the things he’s meant to hold off. Comes off as careless, or weak.”

“…that makes sense.” Florey let out, still processing everything in his mind. “Can I see him now? Just…put my mind at ease a little?”

Salaire nodded politely, before holding his hand out to the door. “Right this way.”

“…there he is.” Salaire stated, the duo looking through an open window to an infirmary, having made their way down to the lower floors. “No movement yet.”

Florey stared in shock at Cecil laying in the bed, several tubes coming out of him and a heart monitor beside his bed. He lightly breathed under his blanket, but other than that, there was almost no life to him.

“Yeeeah…not great to be the money guy at the moment.” Salaire joked, before immediately getting a disapproving glare from Florey. “…sorry, tryna lighten the mood.”

“How long have they said?” Florey asked, as Salaire stretched his neck.

“A few more weeks? If…you know, if he recovers.” Salaire admitted, closing his fingers together. “There’s…still that slim chance he might not make it.”

Florey covered his mouth with his hand, before spinning back around to Salaire. “A-And how’s Rosalind? Is she fine too?”

“She’s okay, don’t worry. She’s come back from worse.” Salaire posited, before pointing to his arms. “You’ve seen the scars across her body.”

“I-Is she recovering too?”

Salaire scoffed. “Barely. She’s keeping her promise and looking over your Wailing. She just stole some pain killers from the infirmary and took up shop in your makeshift office.”

Glancing around them, Salaire made the effort to get down on one knee to address Florey. “For the record, Marcus still hasn’t said you can come down here yet, so keep this between us, alright? We’ll wait for Cecil to get better, then he can vouch for you.”

Florey nodded in understanding, before staring back through the window, as Salaire rested a hand on his back.

“Hey, cheer up buddy. I’m sure he wouldn’t want you worrying about him.” Salaire admitted. “He told me about your little Wailing project. That sounds pretty cool.”

Florey nodded silently, before splitting off with no warning and heading back down the hallway, leaving Salaire to his own devices.

“…geez, Wicker. Coulda picked a more social one.” Salaire grumbled.

———

“…pretty nice day out, hey?”

“Yeah, not too bad. Best weather we’ve had this week.”

“Has it been quiet out here?”

“Not really. Cars are actually pretty loud down this street.”

Dulce nodded along, as she took a bite of her sandwich. “Sorry, by the way…for not coming earlier.”

Harley waved her hand. “Don’t sweat it.”

“I meant to show up a week ago when you guys got here, but I needed to secure the academy.” Dulce clarified, waving her sandwich around. “Who knew if Wicker had any more Wailing kicking around, waiting in the wings.”

Harley leaned back on the front door. “It’s good, actually. It feels good knowing I get to guard the place.”

“So you’ve just been sitting out here all week?”

“Pretty much. I duck in for food, or to sleep every few days.” Harley clarified, folding her arms. “Someone’s gotta be on the lookout for Rosalind, or whatever else Wicker’s gonna throw at us.”

Dulce grinned. “Well, at least you get some time off now. I’ll be posted here for the foreseeable future. Get some good bed rest.”

Harley smirked, before shaking her head and snickering.

“…no thanks.” Harley noted, as Dulce stopped mid-bite. “I can’t do that.”

Dulce squinted in confusion, as Harley turned to face her. “I have to protect them, because I can. That’s my job.”

Harley started pointing to herself. “I’m the only one who didn’t get hurt during that whole shitshow. I’m the tank. I’m meant to take the hits the team can’t. And I couldn’t do that.”

Harley pointed right back at the house. “Wess got hurt protecting me. Sola got hurt protecting me. I wasn’t with Julia, Essex or Percy when they needed my help. That shit doesn’t sit well with me.”

Harley breathed out, before going to lean back on the door, folding her arms again. “I know it’ll be different when we’re out in the industry, but for now, I need to have their backs, even if it means I’m getting the scars.”

Dulce made a point to finish her sandwich, before skooching back so she could sit next to Harley.

“…you know, being your team’s martyr really sounds like an attractive idea, but it’s rarely a good one in practice.” Dulce insisted, slapping her chest. “Hell, look at me. I did the same thing when I was a Venator, and…”

Dulce leaned over, before rolling up her pant leg, showing off a massive, gnarled scar running across her whole leg. “…it nearly cost me my leg.”

Harley stared blankly down at the leg, as Dulce sat up. “And it wouldn’t have been the better outcome for me to get hurt instead of them, cause one of us still would’ve been maimed at the end of the day.”

Dulce pointed at the house as well. “They made the decision. Wess didn’t lose her eye cause you failed at your job, she fought a Wailing to save you and Sola. Whether she looks at that wound as a point of pride is up to her, but you don’t get to whine that you’re the one who got out unscathed. You get to thank her for that.”

“But why was I the only one?” Harley insisted, as Dulce threw her hands up.

“Life’s cruel, I dunno!” Dulce insisted. “But wishing to get hurt like that is selfish! And it leads to reckless behaviour in the future where you throw yourself into danger cause you’re scared your team can’t handle themselves.”

Harley bit her tongue, trying to think of a decent response, before just throwing her head back in frustration.

“…I hate seeing them hurt.”

“They’d hate seeing you hurt too.” Dulce pointed out, shrugging. “No one’s invincible, so stop pretending you can be.”

Harley breathed out, before standing back up to pace.

“…still, next time I see Wicker, I’m knocking his lights out.” Harley declared, punching her hands together. “Throat punch to shut him up, couple in his ankles to make sure he can’t get away.”

Dulce snapped her fingers. “Better yet, go for the balls. Twist ‘em up real good, he’ll be begging for mercy quick after that.”

Harley smiled. “That’s way better. Just a clean jab right into ‘em. Won’t be walking much too.”

Feeling slightly better, Harley’s attention drifted to the house again, admiring the nice weather again, right as Julia entered the kitchen inside and started work on a light lunch for herself and the others.

She headed for the fridge to grab last night’s salad from dinner, taking the bowl out and grabbing some pieces of bread as well.

Quietly, she reached for the utensil draw and pulled out a spoon for the salad, taking a scoop of the salad and placing it on one of the slices. Still a bit in her own head, she went for another, before missing the spoon slightly and banging it against the bowl, accidentally dropping it.

Julia instinctively reached out her hand to use her Whil and slow it down, before realising what she was doing, panicking and yelping out, pulling her hand right back and over her mouth, as the spoon clattered to the floor.

Having fallen back onto the counter, she started breathing heavily, holding herself up and failing to calm her heart, as she stared down at her hand in worry.

“Julia! What’s wrong?” Sola called out, rushing in on her crouches from outside, as Julia attempted to indicate what had happened.

“It…I was…I dropped it, a-and…” Julia tried, showing off her hands, as Sola put two-and-two together and wrapped her hands around Julia’s.

“It’s alright. No one got hurt.” Sola assured, smiling up at her. “That’s why you’ve got the gloves, remember?”

Julia started nodding, trying to reassure herself now, as Sola did her best to help her back onto her feet.

“Just take a quick breath.” Sola suggested, moving Julia over to a nearby stool. “You know, I can help you get used to your Whil again. You did the same for me when we first met, it only seems fair.”

Julia shook her head frantically, before standing back up and going back to the sandwiches. “N-No, no, thank you, Sola, but not right now. I…I need to focus on getting better first, my Whil can wait.”

Julia grabbed another spoon out, before whipping up a couple more sandwiches, deliberately avoiding facing Sola, as Sola waited, before sighing out, taking up the stool herself and letting Julia work at her own pace.

Once Julia finished a couple, she hurried over to the bedrooms and left one outside of Essex’s room, before pivoting over to Wess’ room.

Right as she was about to leave it by the open door, Wess emerged out from the room’s darkness, surprising Julia suddenly.

“Wess! S-Sorry, didn’t see you.” Julia let out, laughing a bit, before holding up the plate. “I made lunch. I didn’t know if you’d eaten or not.”

Wess looked down at the sandwich, before carefully reaching out to grab the plate.

“…thank you.” Wess let out, not really looking at Julia, before swivelling back into her room, leaving Julia without much fanfare.

Wess went straight back to her bed, laying the sandwich down at the foot of it, before wrapping herself back up in her blankets and staring out, still not comfortable enough to sleep.

She tossed around for a bit, only to end up on her back, staring directly up at the ceiling, before throwing the covers off again.

She splayed out, focusing on her breathing, as her vision failed to focus on the featureless ceiling, leaving her to keep staring at nothing.

Julia waited a second to see if Wess would say anything else, before spinning back around. “A-Alright. You can come eat with us if y-“

Julia was cut off by Essex’s door closing behind her, the sandwich now missing, as Julia stood in stunned silence, before lamenting the fact she’d missed Essex again.

Should I…? Julia wondered, almost reaching for her door, before convincing herself otherwise and walking back to the kitchen. …some other time.

Essex worked her way through the slightly cluttered laundry, before finding her bed again and sitting down, staring across at the washer and dryer.

She took a few quick bites of the sandwich, almost feeling bad for enjoying the taste, before taking a second and putting it back down. She sat over the bed’s edge, as her scythe lay against the window, the curtains drawn.

Bracing herself, she looked back down at her right arm, still reeling from the fact her hand just…wasn’t there. Missing. She’d lost it.

The wound was still bandaged, but the image was just as visceral to Essex herself.

Her eyes, naturally, started to drift to her other hand, and the pair of teeth marks that ran around it, almost lining up with the end of her right arm.

She lay back down on the bed, having let her hair down, even as she felt the burnt patches of it under her back.

She breathed out quietly, trying to steel her mind.

Nothing was going to change, she worried.

“…t’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” Dulce confessed. “I know I make it look easy, but leading security’s stressful. I’ve become pretty fast friends with Pather after I started taking counselling with her.”

“Pather’s good. She does good work.” Harley agreed, right as one of the cars passing their street started pulling up to the front of the house, slowing down in front of them.

Harley’s immediately sprung to action, grabbing her Buster Knuckles out of a nearby bush and gearing up, only for Faller to emerge from the car, with Ferris jumping out of the driver’s seat.

Harley slowed down, putting her gauntlets back in, but her good mood didn’t return.

“You’ve gotta lot of nerve showing up.” Harley insisted, as Faller lifted his head and started walking up.

He turned to Dulce. “Did you let them know I was coming?”

“Yeah, but they weren’t happy about it.” Dulce explained, resting her hands on her hips. “You wanna save it for a few weeks from now?”

“I’m just keeping everyone in the loop.” Faller excused, as Harley kept blocking him off. “…is Julia doing better?”

“…hard to say.” Harley admitted, folding her arms. “You know, if you hadn’t roped her into all thi-“

“I know, I…I know, trust me.” Faller confided, genuine remorse in his eyes. “I just want to catch her up on what we’re doing. It’s the least I owe her, and it might put her mind at ease.”

Harley gave it a moment to consider, before sighing heavily and stepping out of the way of the door.

“Thank you.” Faller let out, stepping inside and finding Julia and Sola in the kitchen, visibly surprised at his sudden appearance.

“F-Faller.” Julia got out, as he bowed his head. “…what are you doing here?”

“…have you seen the recent news reports?” Faller asked, as Sola got up and moved to Julia’s side.

“Julia finds them stressful. I’ve been watching them instead.” Sola admitted, resting her hand on Julia. “Even though they’re super boring.”

“Okay…” Faller muttered, right as the back door opened, with Percy coming inside.

She stared at the three of them in curiosity, before Faller lifted his head.

“…Julia, do you mind if we have a chat in private?” Faller asked, as Julia briefly panicked, before Sola calmed her somewhat.

“I-I do-“

“Why?” Sola asked, leaning on her crouches and folding her arms to imitate Harley, as Faller found himself grasping at straws.

“Look, she’s done more to help find Wicker than anyone else, I just want to let her know where we’re at right now.” Faller insisted, facing Julia in a sort of desperate panic. “I’m not asking you to do anything, and I’ll be out before I overstay my welcome.”

Taking in the information, Julia rested her hand back on Sola, before nodding and stepping forward, indicating to her bedroom.

“…alright. Just a quick chat.” Julia stated, as Faller quietly followed her in, with Percy joining Sola’s side once they left.

Percy looked to Sola. [Was Faller trying to avoid me?]

Sola shrugged. “He’s hard to read. He could just be uncomfortable here.”

Percy silently nodded, looking back to Julia’s room, before feeling that pang of guilt run through her body again.

Julia closed the door, as Faller ended up sitting on the edge of Harley’s bed.

“Have you been doing well?” Faller quickly asked, facing her again, as Julia found herself caught off guard again.

“…relatively.” Julia admitted.

“Okay. We’ve hired a therapist, just to let you know. I explained it to your team when they were in the infirmary, but…we only had the money for one of you to receive sessions. Your team insisted you should have it, if…” Faller explained, only now noticing the gloves. “Were you cleaning?”

Julia shook her head. “…my Whil…I don’t trust it right now…” Julia confessed, taking a seat on her bed. “The gloves make it so I can’t use it, even by accident.”

Faller nodded quietly, before resettling to address Julia proper.

“…right…” Faller started. “I’ll…keep it simple. Wicker managed to get away and return to EHM. We don’t know what his condition is at the moment, but the company’s made a statement saying he’s quit his position at the academy due to stress from the attacks.”

Julia rubbed her hands together, as Faller continued. “Since we don’t have a recorded confession, and the security footage was destroyed on the night, there’s nothing to accuse him with, so…we’re at the impasse. We know who Wicker is now, at least, and have thrown some suspicion towards the attacks on the academy, but that’s all we can really do for the moment, unless we want a proxy war with EHM.”

Faller finished it there, expecting a response from Julia, as she simply sat and processed it.

“…okay.” Julia let out. “Is that all?”

“…well, I’ll see what information I can spread to my contacts, but…yeah.” Faller admitted.

“…easy enough.” Julia said, standing back up. “Thanks for keeping me in the loop.”

She indicated to the door, as Faller was surprised at her dictating the situation, before getting up to respect her wishes and do so.

Right as he reached the door, he gripped the handle, before turning around suddenly.

“…it…wouldn’t have done anything.” Faller stated, facing Julia again. “Killing Wicker.”

Julia’s pupils shrank.

“He’s got an entire…organisation behind him, and the strength of EHM. Even if you did manage to kill him, someone else would just take his place, or he’d have a successor to take over. He’s not the first Wicker, just the latest.” Faller informed. “Make of that what you will. I know you hate me right now, and you’re completely justified for that. But I promise not to bother you with this again.”

Faller left out the door, as Julia sat in place, running through the numerous thoughts in her mind, none of them calming her down or making things any easier.

…he just had to go and make things complicated again…

———

Percy sighed deeply.

She didn’t want to do this. No part of her really wanted to make this decision. Once again, even without his involvement, Wicker was forcing her hand.

She’d done her best to keep it secret, reasoning ‘we’ll find a new place soon, so there’s no need for me to unpack my bags,’ keeping her suitcase at the base of her bed in Milo’s room, still packed and ready to go.

Once it was clear, she could finally stop being a burden to them. They wouldn’t have to worry about her anymore.

“Knock knock knock.” Joleicia rang out, knocking on the open front door, as Julia popped her head up from across the room and Sola got up from the couch. “How’s my second favourite team doing?”

“Jojo! Hey!” Sola let out, attempting to hug her quickly, before falling back onto her crouches. “Ow, I really shouldn’t do that.”

“I dunno, I liked it.” Joleicia chimed, as she realised Julia was knocking on the laundry door, leaving a plate of tonight’s dinner outside of it.

“…it’s fine if you don’t wanna see anyone.” Julia muttered through the door. “I get…not really trusting yourself to do anything right. I won’t say something trite like ‘everything’s going to be okay,’ cause I don’t know if it will be.”

Julia took a moment, before resting her head against the door.

“…but we’d really like to know how you’re doing.”

Still getting no response, Julia left the food there again, as Essex lifted her head off the other side of the door, wiping away a few tears that had formed while Julia was talking.

Lying back onto it, she started to realise just how cramped she was in the room, lacking any of the personal touches of their old study.

That wasn’t something she could take back, but the least she could do was keep herself from the others. It was dangerous for her to be around them, and frankly, she didn’t deserve any pity.

It would be better if she just stayed away.

Again.

“…”

Julia pivoted to go greet Joleicia, who had politely been talking with Sola to avoid overhearing Julia’s plea to Essex.

“The rest of Vanguard wanted to come too, but they’re really ramping up assignments this time of year. So I just brought some cookies as an excuse to check up on you.” Joleicia admitted, showing off a box of them, right as Sola happily took one.

Julia smiled, before taking them from her and leaving them in the kitchen. “Thanks. I still don’t think I’ve thanked you enough for everything.”

Joleicia waved her hands nonchalantly. “We’re friends. That’s enough of a reason.”

Julia grinned a little, before subtly feeling her gaze sink to the floor again, as Joleicia quickly noticed and leaned down to Sola.

“Hey, just a heads up…I brought two batches.” Joleicia confessed, before nodding to the cookies in the kitchen. “So if you wanna finish those of-“

“You did?! I love you!” Sola exclaimed, before running to the kitchen to do just that, as Joleicia chuckled a little and turned to Julia.

“Hey Julia?” Joleicia asked, as Julia jumped a little. “You feel like a little private talk?”

Julia was caught off guard, but was at least more willing to chat with her than Faller. She nodded and headed to her room again, as Joleicia took a second to inspect the place.

“Is there anything you wanted to discuss?” Julia asked, sitting on her bed, as Joleicia wandered around.

“Well…to me, it seemed like you wanted to get something off your chest.” Joleicia admitted, as Julia found she couldn’t deny that. “It might’ve been awkward with the others, but you’re fine to talk with me. Leader to leader.”

Julia found she was at a loss for words, as she rubbed her neck. “…I…I don’t really know what you want me to say. I feel like we’ve all gone through a lo-“

“I didn’t ask about the others, I asked about you.” Joleicia insisted, stepping forward, before wrapping her hands around Julia’s gloves. “Don’t think I didn’t notice these coming in. You weren’t wearing gloves when you left the academy.”

Julia quickly pulled her hands away, before rubbing them slightly, as Joleicia sighed out and sat down at the other end of the bed.

“…to be honest, I’ve been spending the last week worried sick about you.” Joleicia let out. “Faller says it’s not safe for you to stay on campus, and you offer up your house to the others. Like, that’s a lot of pressure you’re putting on yourself.”

“…I would’ve done that regardless.” Julia admitted, as Joleicia shrugged.

“Still…it was so stressful to have to drag you to the infirmary…” Joleicia admitted, rubbing her arms uncomfortably. “You just passed out, and we didn’t know…”

Joleicia shook her head and faced Julia again, before nervously laughing. “Then I realised what had happened with Wess and Essex…it seems like you guys got out with all the scars.”

“…we’re Venators.” Julia let out, lowering her head. “That’s the job, right?”

Joleicia bit her tongue. “It didn’t look like that on our end…”

Surprising Julia again, Joleicia rested her hand on her leg. “But what I noticed most was that once you were up and running, you put all your energy into taking care of everyone else. Wess needs water, Sola’s cast is itchy, Percy’s having trouble sleeping.”

“I-I…can’t help it if I care about them.” Julia insisted, looking somewhat impassioned. “That makes me feel better, knowing they’re better.”

“But where was the time for you?” Joleicia declared. “I’m worried you spent all your energy on the others. You look like a small breeze could knock you over.”

Julia didn’t want to admit she was right, as she shook her head and pushed it into her lap, trying to block her out.

Joleicia left her to think, giving Julia the space she needed to realise what she was ignoring, as Julia’s frazzled state slowed down.

“…I…I-I need to…ask you something…about that night.”

Joleicia went to skooch closer to Julia on the bed.

Julia tightly gripped her hands together, clearly attempting to work some stress out.

“…were…” Julia started, right as she locked eyes with Joleicia. “…were you ready?”

Joleicia blinked in confusion.

“…to take Wicker’s life?”

Joleicia inhaled and went to talk, before stopping herself and resettling, trying to get into the right headspace to answer properly.

“…in all honesty, yes.” Joleicia replied, facing Julia confidently.

“Wha…h-how…?” Julia started, only to end the statement there, as Joleicia rubbed her head.

“…during that moment, when…I came in to find him abusing Percy, with you terrified and exhausted after everything you’d gone through…the fact he’d lied to us for years, using the Wailing against us like that…” Joleicia explained, gripping her arm, before confidently facing Julia again. “I knew what I was doing. To me, he was no worse than any Wailing we’d hunted before.”

Julia tried to agree, nodding along in order to fool herself, before finding herself stopping, as her hands shook again.

“…th-then…”

She faced Joleicia with tears streaming down her face.

“…w-why do I hate myself…? F-For…”

Julia broke down into tears again, as Joleicia brought her in for a hug, comforting her as Julia cried over her shoulder, weeping at this point.

“W-Where did this hate come f-from...?” Julia struggled, shrinking into herself. “How c-could I ever do that...? I-I-I nearly killed him…I w-would’ve if they didn’t…”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s okay…” Joleicia comforted, rubbing her hair. “We were all under a lot of pressure. I took the shot, remember? I’m just as much to blame.”

“…b-but I never knew…” Julia said, breaking the hug, before splaying out her hands. “My Whil could kill someone! I could kill someone if I l-lose control again! I-I never knew I could even d-do that…”

Joleicia met her eye level, before bringing her in for an embrace again.

“You’re right.” Joleicia agreed. “For a profession like ours, we hold a lot of power, and it’s up to us how we exercise that power. But it’s something you have to figure out on your own.”

Joleicia rested her hand on Julia’s shoulder. “I know where my line is. And I’ve come to terms with that. It may change in the future, but I’m confident in it now.”

Joleicia linked her other hand with one of Julia’s. “If you need to wear those gloves to feel in control, then that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with that. Just make sure you aren’t wearing them cause you can’t face not wearing them, make sure it’s cause you chose to keep them on. Don’t be scared of it, learn to use it well and exercise restraint.”

Joleicia smiled back at her. “Guns have a safety trigger for a reason.”

Julia found herself in awe, before wiping her nose with her glove and leaving it snotty, as she recoiled a little, before Joleicia laughed again.

“I’ll get a tissue.” She offered, reaching beside the bed. “Feel better?”

“…kinda.” Julia admitted, cleaning her glove while looking back up at her. “Crying actually helped a lot.”

“It usually does. People don’t really cry for bad reasons.” Joleicia pointed out, before standing back up. “Okay, that’s the hour. I’ll send you my bill before our next session.”

Julia laughed a bit, as Joleicia offered her a hand to get up.

“Now, I know what we just talked about, but I do wanna check on the others too.” Joleicia said, resting her hands on her waist. “Actually, where’s Percy at?”

…this is it… Percy realised, glancing outside of her room. I’ll get past Sola, then sneak out the back. Harley should come in for dinner soon, that’s when I leave.

Percy quickly went to retrieve her suitcase, gripping the handle, as she found herself hesitating again, finding no will to move.

She shook her head in frustration, before berating herself.

You idiot. Just leave already…

Still paralysed with fear, Percy’s felt a jolt go through her spine as a small knock came from the open door.

“You good in here?”

Percy turned to find Harley leaning on the doorframe, watching as she struggled with the suitcase, as Harley’s expression clearly read that she knew what Percy was up to.

“…I was kinda worried you’d do this.” Harley admitted, somewhat blocking the way out, as Percy’s arms fell to her side. “You know the attack wasn’t your fault, right?”

[I know!] Percy insisted. [People keep telling me that, and I don’t believe them! Wicker sent the Wailing to distract security and take me. I-I’m why Wess lost her eye!]

Harley kept her serious expression, unmoving. “…no, Wess lost her eye because she chose to be a Venator. Venators fight Wailing, and Venators get hurt fighting Wailing.”

Percy grit her teeth, as she avoided looking at Harley.

“…look, it’s okay to feel guilty.” Harley reasoned, surprising Percy. “I do too. I keep blaming myself for the others getting hurt as well.”

Harley threw her hands up. “But that wallowing isn’t gonna help anyone. You’re not a burden. In the end, we chose to have you stay with us, you didn’t force our hand.”

[…I still gave you the option.] Percy admitted, as Harley scoffed.

“Okay, and? It’s not like you had much choice on your end.” Harley reasoned, before stepping out of the way.

Percy was a bit caught off guard, as Harley nodded her head.

“If you’re really set on leaving, I won’t stop you. We’re not gonna force you to stay.” Harley clarified. “But we think you’re really cool, so even if you’re not staying with us, we’re gonna worry about you.”

Worry? Percy reiterated in her head, as she found herself hesitating again, standing still with her hand off the bag.

Harley noticed and started to smile. “Don’t really want to leave, huh?”

Percy started to get embarrassed and hid her face, as Harley threw her hands up and started walking away. “Remember, Wicker’s not here to force you to do anything. It’s up to you now.”

Percy let those words sink in, as she stood in the room alone, registering the empty space and just how warm it looked outside of it.

…maybe I…do deserve this…

“Still nothing? Poor girl…” Joleicia muttered, staring down the hall, as she and Julia left Julia’s room. “Is she recovering, at least?”

“I wish I could say.” Julia admitted, before pointing to the open door to Wess’ room. “Wess isn’t much better, but we can at least see her.”

“That’s good.” Joleicia said, heading off to Wess’ room, only for Sola to ring out.

“Hey! I just had an idea!” Sola suggested, waving to the duo. “Let’s have dinner together! I wanna repay Jojo for the cookies, and I’m sick of only eating with Harley.”

Julia found herself smiling and nodding back. “That’s a lovely idea, Sola. What about you, Joleicia?”

Joleicia gave an energetic thumbs up. “Why not? I’ll stick around for good food!”

“Cool! I’ll set up the table!” Sola offered, grabbing plates and attempting to use her crouches at the same time, as Julia quickly intervened.

“U-Uhh, I’ll…help with that.” Julia corrected, grabbing a few of the plates too, as Joleicia smiled and hopped off to Wess’ room.

She knocked on the door. “Hey, Wess. How’re you holding up?”

“…I’ve…been better.” Wess admitted, rubbing her eye after having just woken up. “…Joleicia?”

“Yep, it’s me.” Joleicia said. “Well, we’re having dinner, if you wanna join.”

“…I’ll see how I am.” Wess stated, as Joleicia gave another thumbs up and left right after, as Wess found herself falling back to the bed.

Right as Sola went to grab the utensils, she found Harley coming out of Milo and Percy’s room. “Hey babe! You wanna join us for dinner?”

“Us?” Harley asked, before peering down to the table and seeing Julia and Joleicia setting the table. “Uh, yeah, that sounds great.”

Right as she said that, Percy followed right behind her, taking a second to steel herself, before seeing the dinner prep and looking back at Sola.

“You want some pasta bake?” Sola offered, holding up a plate of it. “Let Julia’s magic cooking hypnotise your tastebuds…razmataz!”

“You little goober.” Harley let out, patting her head as he walked by, as Percy blinked a few times, before stepping forward and grabbing the plate, almost crying again just from touching it.

She quickly stopped herself and pivoted to the table to join the others, as they sat down and started spooning out dinner.

“It’s been a bit since we’ve done this.” Julia realised, before bringing over another seat. “I’ll leave one spare for Wess.”

Right as she went to sit down, she noticed someone standing at the other end of the kitchen, as Essex shied away somewhat, not looking anyone in the eye.

Just as the others noticed, she held up the bowl Julia had already gotten her.

“W-Would I…be an imposition?”

They stared at her standing, before Julia quickly shook her head. “N-No, of course not. I’ll grab you a seat.”

Essex bowed slightly, before heading over and taking the seat Julia offered, as Harley and Sola skooched over to her.

“You doing alright?” Harley asked, as Essex hid herself.

“…for now.” Essex confessed, as Sola grabbed her free hand.

“You can sleep on the couch, if you want.” Sola offered, before getting looks from them both. “Oh, s-sorry, I meant since I’m on the couch too…that sounded weirdly rude.”

“…can I visit the dorm?” Essex asked, as they both nodded, before hugging her sides.

“Of course you can. We’ll come with, too.” Harley offered, as Essex let herself be held, while Julia and Joleicia served themselves.

“More pasta, m’lady?” Joleicia offered, as Julia chuckled into her hand.

“At once, peasant! Spoon it to me!” Julia joked, while Joleicia played it up, right as she noticed Wess standing by where Essex was a second ago, still rubbing her eye. “Wess, hey.”

The others turned to her happily, as she gave an incidental wave.

“Apologies. I heard the commotion and didn’t want to be left out.” Wess admitted, making her way over, before nearly running into Percy’s chair. “Shit.”

Joleicia quickly got up and led her to her seat. “It’s cool. I can help.”

“Thank you, Joleicia.” Wess said, only to notice Essex out of her room and share a glance with her. “…dear, it’s been a minute.”

“That it has.” Essex agreed, right as Percy decided to raise her glass and clink her fork to it.

She held it out in the middle of the table, as the others quickly realised what she wanted and raised theirs as well, clinking it to hers.

The only one left was Julia, simply caught up in her own head, before registering everyone staring at her.

“O-Oh, oops.” She let out, getting a few laughs, as she grabbed her glass, before staring around at the others, finding them all in surprisingly good spirits.

Once again, despite everything, they were okay.

Things may have gotten worse, and would never be the same again, but they were okay, and that’s what mattered.

Julia found herself smiling.

“Cheers.”

Milo stared in from the front door, only just peeking through as he arrived back from his late shift at work.

He’d caught them mid-conversation, all laughing up a storm and enjoying each other’s company, before deciding to close the door and leave them to their business, sitting against it and staring up at the stars.

“…maybe it’s just not me…” Milo admitted, sighing out as he felt sorry for himself. “…she looks so much more open with them…”

Shaking his head, he leaned back, before smiling. “I guess that’s all anyone really needs. Good people.”

The night sent a small chill to him, as he started to get comfortable.

“That’s what love is, huh?”