The next day, Jenn woke up earlier than she usually did. It was only four in the morning, and she couldn't go back to sleep. She was fully aware that she was all too nervous about her partners' arrival. Okay, to be honest, she was nervous to see him again after all the effort she had put in to avoid him for the last six months.

She knew that she was overreacting, but she couldn't help it. As ridiculous as it sounded, Ben was her weakness – not the mushy romantic kind which people would assume. It was just that Ben was the only person who knew her so well that she felt like an open book sometimes when he was around. He knew exactly how to deal with her, even when she was upset. Most of the time, he would see through her thoughts and intentions behind her actions. He was a weakness she would never admit to anyone.

And now with him around, she was going to have loads of headaches if she wanted to do things her way. For a fact, Ben would surely choose not to trust Ray because Ray had been in contact with the killer. Groaning, she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"Stop thinking about him, will you?" she scolded herself, annoyed.

She tried to clear her mind as she got off her bed. Tying her hair into a loose ponytail, she headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Then she went into the office to study the case files. She had to find something to do to pass the time somehow.

About fifteen minutes had passed when she heard a strange noise coming from outside the room. Immediately, she left her files on the table and made a dart for her pistol back in her room. Clutching her pistol now, she went back into the living area, scanning the room. The noise came from the door. Apparently, someone was trying break into the suite.

Quietly she approached the door and wrapped her fingers around the doorknob. She heard the intruder whispering from the other side of the door, arguing with someone else. She figured that there must be two of them, then.

Bracing herself, she opened the door in a flash and pointed her pistol at the intruders. She frowned when she saw who they were.

"Ben? J. Lee? What the hell are you doing?" she asked in bewilderment. "Are you actually trying to break in?"

"Uh ..." Ben eyed her pistol warily. "Can we talk without waving guns around?"

Jenn rolled her eyes at him. She lowered her pistol and stepped aside for them to enter. Ben and J. Lee carried their bags into the suite, and she shut the door behind her.

"Now talk," Jenn demanded, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Ben spoke first. "We reached here a bit too early. We thought that you were still sleeping, and we didn't want to wake you up, so we decided to let ourselves in first." He grinned sheepishly and glanced around the room. "Nice place."

She ignored his last comment and gave him a grim look before turning to J. Lee, raising her eyebrows. "What do you have to say about this?"

"He wanted to take the first flight so that he could see you sooner," J. Lee stated bluntly, wearing her usual flat expression. "Then he wanted to let ourselves in first to give you a pleasant surprise when you wake up."

Ben gaped at her, incredulous. "Did you have to quote everything I said?"

J. Lee turned to him, still expressionless, and said, "She asked."

He gave her a look of dubiety. "Can't you at least edit it a little?"

"Doesn't matter. She would have guessed it too," she stated.

Jenn laughed suddenly. "You haven't changed much, J. Lee."

"Good to see you again, Spider." J. Lee gave her a tiny smile. For her, it was considered a huge hello gesture.

"Likewise." Jenn smiled.

"Don't you feel good to see me again too?" Ben cut in as if feeling left out.

Jenn sighed. "Not really, especially when you're being unusually ridiculous right now." She wanted to call him childish for what he had said to J. Lee about arriving sooner, but she decided that she didn't want to give him the impression that she was fine with him around now. So she turned back to J. Lee. "Have you taken your breakfast yet?"

"No," J. Lee replied, throwing a quick glance at Ben. "We were in a hurry."

Hearing this, Jenn shot Ben a scowl. "You are such an inconsiderate ... person."

"Sorry, it sort of slipped my mind." He raised his hands in defence. "Plus, she didn't mention anything about being hungry just now."

Jenn decided to ignore him. Putting on a smile, she said to J. Lee, "You must be starving. Come on. I'll get you something to eat."

"Okay. Let me help you." The two girls went into the kitchen, leaving Ben alone in the room.

J. Lee offered to make toast and fried eggs, and she insisted that she could handle it alone. Jenn knew that arguing with her was pointless – her friend could be quite stubborn when she wanted to – so Jenn prepared some fruit juice and a pot of coffee. When they were done, they brought the food and drinks out to the dining table.

Ben was already seated at the table, studying a flower painting on the wall behind him while he was waiting.

"Breakfast is ready," Jenn announced as she sat down. There were only four seats around the square table, so she did not have much choice. She could choose either to sit beside Ben or opposite him. She chose the latter.

Her quiet friend settled down between them. She put a few slices of toast on her plate and started eating immediately. Within seconds, she managed to devour a whole slice of toast. Then she moved on to the next one, munching away.

Ben stared at her with wide eyes. "With such small bites, I'm surprised that you actually managed to finish that whole thing so fast. Are you really that hungry?"

J. Lee chewed quickly and swallowed before saying, "I'm a fast eater." Then she turned back to her toast.

"No kidding," Ben tittered. "But you're ridiculously sophisticated for a fast eater." He took a sip of his fruit juice. When J. Lee didn't make any response, he added, "I was just kidding."

J. Lee didn't take her eyes off her food. She simply replied, "I know. I don't get the punch line. That's all."

"Okay, I get it. You don't like to talk while eating. Message received," Ben said, giving up on making a conversation with her. He glanced at Jenn and made a face. In return, he earned a disapproving look from her.

Meanwhile, J. Lee merely said, "I don't like to talk. Period."

Jenn snorted. That was why she liked J. Lee so much. Her friend's bluntness could not be found in anyone else. She was truly one of a kind. Jenn took a bite of her pancake, trying to suppress the amused smile on her face but failing terribly.

She could see that Ben was trying to get along with his new partner, but he was trying way too hard. What he didn't realise was that J. Lee was very different from most people he knew. If he could just be himself, they would get along just fine.

After that, they finished breakfast in silence. There were a couple of times when Ben tried to initiate a conversation with Jenn, only to be silenced by her cold gaze. After breakfast, Ben volunteered to wash the dishes while the two girls stayed at the table, chatting for a while.

"So what were you working on before this?" Jenn asked out of curiosity.

"You mean before you summoned me here?" J. Lee muttered, causing Jenn to laugh at her choice of word. "Well, I was tracking down a couple of missing meteorites for a scientist. He claimed that they were stolen."

"How did it turn out?" Jenn asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I recovered a few of them in the basement of the national museum. The rest are still missing."

"That ought to be fun." Jenn grinned, guessing what her friend would say to that.

J. Lee stared at her. "They're just stones," the junior agent stated, still expressionless.

"From outer space," Jenn added.

"Destructive stones, then. What's your point?"

Jenn laughed, amused at her friend's perception. "Never mind."

"What's going on here?" Ray's voice came from behind them.

Jenn turned around and saw a puzzled Ray blinking at the stranger who was talking to her. Seeing his tousled hair, she guessed that he had just awakened up. Reflexively, Jenn stood up and her friend followed suit.

"Ray, remember I told you yesterday that two more agents would be coming to assist me in the investigation?" Jenn asked. Ray nodded at her, and she continued. "Well, this is Agent Leon." She gestured towards J. Lee. "The other one, Agent Warner, is in the kitchen. They'll be with us from today onwards."

J. Lee stepped forward to formally introduce herself. "I'm Agent Justine Leon, Criminal Investigation Department detective. You can address me as J. Lee or Dolphin." She extended her hand for a handshake.

Ray raised his brows at her choice of nickname. "J. Lee it is, then." He accepted the handshake hesitantly, obviously not used to this level of formality. "Uh ... I'm Ray Darce, fresh graduate from college, no title, no job – for now. You can just call me by my name, Ray." He introduced himself in a stiff voice as he let go of her hand.

Jenn covered her mouth to muffle her laughter, and even J. Lee cracked a smile. Ray, oblivious to the mirth he had caused, kept his face serious and stood straight, mirroring J. Lee's stance.

At that moment, Ben came out of the kitchen. He raised his eyebrows at Ray and gave him a once-over before asking Jenn, "Who's this?"