There’s an immediate, ringing silence in my apartment.

Aiden nibbles his lip, then looks to me. I know that he doesn’t like to give quick, unexamined answers to anything, let alone the extremely complicated question that Calla just asked us.

She’s standing there silently, waiting for a response, and Aiden is clearly hoping that I’ll take over.

But I’m at a loss, too. I didn’t anticipate that Calla would show up again, much less in my apartment, unannounced, asking us to help her steal something. I have a feeling that if I try to answer that question right now, I’m going to stammer out a very stupid response.

I think that Aiden and I both need a moment to recover.

“You want a cup of tea, Calla?” is what I end up saying.

Finally, I’ve managed to catch her by surprise, not the other way around. She blinks, then lets out a raspy laugh, watching me bend over to plug in the strand of lights around my makeshift Christmas tree.

“A cup of tea and some Christmas lights to plan a crime by?” she asks, as I straighten up. “Isn’t it traditionally a whiskey neat and a single, flickering lightbulb?”

“Not in this apartment,” I answer, shrugging off my jacket. “We’ve got a sober one on the team, and one of our best buddies is an electrician, so no flickering lights, either - can you take off your shoes, if you’re gonna be standing on my rug?”

Calla closes her eyes and rubs her temples, trying to gather herself together. This gives me a moment to take a better look at her, and I can see now that she looks - exhausted, actually. Shadowy circles bruise the skin around her eyes, and her shoulders are drooping. Her movements are slower than I remember, her expression less guarded.

She seems all ready to point out that we have more pressing things to discuss. Instead, she sighs deeply, pulls off her heavy work boots, and puts them aside, careful not to set them on my rug.

“This is ridiculous,” she grumbles, following me into the kitchen.

Aiden silently joins us at the kitchen counter. When I pass behind him, headed to the cabinet where I keep the tea bags, he snags my hand in his, gives it a little squeeze.

This moment of contact between us was badly needed, at least by me. My heart is still racing from the shock of coming home to find an uninvited, unexpected guest in my living room. Aiden can tell. He catches my eye, and his calm blue gaze steadies me out.

I take a deep breath, and only then does Aiden release my hand.

Calla’s eyes flick to our briefly intertwined fingers, but she doesn’t look surprised. She did see us come stumbling in with our hands all over each other, after all. Which reminds me -

“If we’re helping you, Calla, there’s a ground rule I’d like to establish," I tell her. "No more breaking into my apartment, please. For obvious reasons.”

"To be fair, I didn't realize you two were gonna come crashing in quite like that." Calla tips her head to the side. “And I'd already worked out that you two are together, if that's what you're worried about. Like, way before tonight."

“What?” I stop with a box of tea bags in my hands, looking at her across the countertop. “When did you sort that one out? At the restaurant?”

“No. At the police station.” Calla nods at Aiden, but keeps her eyes on me. “Your man gave it away, James. I saw how worried he was, when he had to leave you alone with me.”

Aiden blushes, indignant. I look over at him, suddenly fighting back a smile. My Companion Plant is a worrier, and I knew that already. But apparently he was so worried about me that Calla picked up on it during the rushed, seconds-long interaction she had with us in Callejo’s office.

“I would have figured it out, even if that hadn't happened,” Calla informs me. “I mean. You’ve seen the way he looks at you, right?”

“Okay, that’s so not the point!” Aiden says, the blush across his cheeks turning darker. “The point is, it’s not nice to break into people’s homes!”

“Yeah, Calla,” I jump in. “Next time I’m gonna need you to just knock, okay?”

Calla is willing to make that concession, it would appear. She nods, just once.

“Okay, good. Thanks.” I gaze around at my place, checking to see if anything’s been moved. “Have you been in here all night, going through my stuff?”

“Nope. Just waiting for you.” She arches an eyebrow. “I did notice that you have both a Farmers' Almanac and a ouija board, though. Interesting combination. Are you worried about - demon farmers, or something?”

“No, we just-” I struggle for an explanation, my cheeks starting to burn, too. “The Farmers' Almanac is the best way to know when to plant things, alright? And believe me, I wish we didn’t have that ouija board in here, I do not mess with demons, definitely not with demon farmers, whatever that is-”

“Okay, okay,” Aiden cuts in, before we can get too far off track. “We should be the ones asking the questions, Calla.”

“Yeah, I thought you were a team of one,” I add. “Don’t you work alone, every time?”

Calla breathes out another deep sigh, like she very much wishes that were possible.

“Up until now, yes,” she answers. “But not everything is a one-person job, unfortunately. And this one needs three.”

~~~~

It turns out that Calla is a whole lot less intimidating when she’s curled up in my armchair, her hands wrapped around a cup of lavender tea.

She clearly wasn’t exaggerating when she said that she always works alone, because she seems uneasy, unused to discussing this kind of thing with other people. She keeps plucking at the sleeves of her flint-grey coveralls, her eyes darting between me and Aiden.

I’m not used to seeing her so nervous. I also suspect that she didn’t plan to take her shoes off, or I don’t think she would have worn socks with little embroidered pineapples on them. They look cozy and soft, possibly homemade.

All of this serves to make the scales feel more balanced. We’ve always been several steps behind Calla, known next to nothing about her. It feels good to be on more equal footing, for once.

I snuggle up close to Aiden, take comfort in his warm, steadying presence. He shifts to make room for me against his side, adjusting his grip on the cup of lime flower tea I made for him. It’s one of his favorites, I’ve noticed, so I started keeping a box of it here. The steam from the cup has a scent to it, bright and sunny and sweet, something like honeysuckle. It mixes with the foresty smell of vetiver that perpetually emanates from Aiden.

Just a few deep breaths of this fragrant air soothes my ragged nerves, helps me focus.

Aiden and I both look at Calla, waiting for her to speak. Through the windows behind her, snow is still falling hard and fast, blustered around by the wind.

“You guys are a lot less thrown than I expected you to be,” Calla observes. “Given that I asked you to help me steal something.”

“We’ve… got some experience,” Aiden answers. “Believe it or not.”

The Bratton Collection flashes through my mind, followed swiftly by the FIC. And Will’s pocket watch, which Aiden and I stole from ourselves.

We’ve got more than a little experience, now that I think about it.

Calla’s eyes narrow in confusion, and she lets out another rasping laugh. “You two are full of surprises, aren’t you?”

“Look who’s talking,” I answer.

Calla bites her lip. “James-”

“You can just call me Jamie, by the way. Everybody does.”

Calla nods, then falls quiet for a moment. She chews the inside of her cheek, reluctant to keep talking.

“Why us?” Aiden asks suddenly, breaking the silence.

Calla shrugs, her lips twisting to the side.

“Because you’ve had multiple opportunities to turn me into the cops, and you haven’t taken any of them. And because you already know that I have a - connection, let’s say, to the Botswick case.”

“We’re stealing something connected to the Botswick case?” I ask.

Calla’s eyes flit to me. “Yes.”

I glance at Aiden, who is already looking at me. I think we both suspected that this upcoming theft would have something to do with John Botswick, but to hear the confirmation from Calla is something else.

She blows out a heavy sigh before she continues.

“I’ve destroyed all the copies of the case files, but - this whole thing is turning into a shitstorm. The cops are looking for answers about the Botswick case again, after all this goddamn time, and there’s some - some evidence that they might track down, get their hands on. I’d like to negate that threat before it can turn into a real problem.”

Oh, man. I should have summoned Kasey and Will before we sat down for this talk. It’s too late now. We can fill them in later, but I wish I could have seen the looks on their faces. I can’t even imagine the look on mine.

Calla just freely admitted to us that there’s still existing evidence from the Botswick case.

“Where’s the evidence?” The deep rumble of Aiden’s voice is steady and even. He's doing a much better job acting calm about this news than I am. “Somewhere secure, I’m guessing, if you need our help to steal it?”

Calla sets her cup down on the table, sits forward, and puts her elbows on her knees. She laces her fingers together, looks at us with very serious eyes.

Sensing that we’re getting down to business, I sit forward, too. Aiden does the same.

Regardless of the tea and the Christmas lights, this all starts to feel very conspiratorial.

“The cops,” Calla begins. “They have warehouses where they store evidence, and confiscated contraband, shit like that. These places are scattered and secretive and difficult as fuck to find, but I tracked down the one that’s got the remaining evidence from the Botswick case.”

“You did?” I'm impressed, but also baffled. “How?”

Calla shrugs, all innocent.

“Definitely not by committing any cybercrimes or doing any digital trespassing, so don’t worry about that.” She pauses to rub her eyes, then yawns deeply. “Jesus, I’m so fucking tired. Been staring at my computer for way too long.”

Aiden quirks an eyebrow. “And that’s totally unrelated to what we were just talking about, I’m guessing?”

Another innocent shrug from Calla. “Yep. Unrelated.”

I finally understand why Calla is being so open with us, so much more than she ever has been before now. Her guard is down, because she’s exhausted. Figuring out the location of the Botswick evidence clearly took a lot from her. It must have been no small task.

“Anyways, I scoped out the place,” she continues. “We’re looking at heavy security. Checkpoints for anyone going in or coming out. Walls that I can’t climb over without getting up close and personal with some barbed wire.”

Aiden and I wince at each other, and Calla nods in agreement.

“Suffice it to say I can’t just prance up to the entrance and slip inside.” She sits back in the armchair, her shoulders drooping in a weary, worn-out kind of way. “I have a plan, but I can’t execute it by myself. I… I need a team.”

She looks unhappy to have to say this, and she goes silent after she does.

I don’t answer, and neither does Aiden. We’re both processing everything that Calla said.

“What would you need us to do?” Aiden finally asks.

“Not much, honestly not that much.” Calla’s expression is still very serious. “All I’m asking is that you get me onto the property, and then out again when I’ve got the evidence. You won’t even be going into the building with me.”

“And - you said you’ve got a plan?” I ask. “For how we would do that?”

Calla nods, but stays quiet, waiting for a response from us. Fidgeting with a loose thread from her pineapple socks.

I look at Aiden. He’s deep in his thoughts, his blue eyes distant as he sorts through all of this.

I’m thinking hard, too.

Kasey normally handles the plans for Team Ghost Office, because she’s easily the best at it. But none of Calla’s plans have failed so far, either. If we didn’t have the ghosts on our side, we wouldn’t have even known that she’d stolen the file from the police station.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Calla blurts out suddenly.

I was thinking that we need to run this idea by the ghosts, so - “No, I really don’t think you do.”

“You’re wondering what’s in it for you.” Calla winces, closing her eyes. “The problem is, what we’re stealing has no fucking monetary value, so I can't exactly offer you a cut of the action. But-”

“Oh, my god!” I cut in, startled by the suggestion. “We weren’t thinking that!”

“No, not at all,” Aiden says, frowning at Calla. “Money has nothing to do with this. We don't expect anything in return.”

“We just want to help,” I tell her. “If your person could get in trouble because Aiden and I looked up the Botswick file, then of course we want to help. We’re just thinking through the implications of doing this, because - I mean, you know. It’s a crime.”

Calla stares at us, taken aback. She narrows her eyes, like she can’t tell if we’re joking.

“So,” she says hopefully, “You’ll do it?”

Aiden and I look at each other. We have a silent conversation with our eyes before we turn back to Calla.

“We need to think this over,” I answer.

“And we need to hear exactly what this plan is, first,” Aiden says firmly.

Calla nods slowly. There’s a lengthy silence, and then she sits forward again.

“Look, I’m too tired to be slick about this,” she sighs, “So I’m just gonna say what I mean.”

“That would be much appreciated, actually,” Aiden tells her.

Calla takes a long breath before she speaks.

“Like I said, I don’t normally work with a team. But I do know that it requires trust.” She stops for a second, looking first into Aiden’s eyes, then into mine. “I’m trusting you guys, bringing you in on this. It might be out of necessity, but I am. And I don’t give out my trust easily, so - please, please don’t fucking make me regret it. I’ll give you time to think about this, like you asked, but please don’t use that time to tell the cops what I’m planning, or to try and get the evidence without me, or-”

“Calla,” Aiden interrupts, using that inarguable voice he does so well. “We are not gonna do anything like that. We promise.”

“And we’re trusting you, too,” I put in, “So please don’t make us regret it, either.”

Calla lets out a dry, helpless little laugh, threaded through with exhaustion.

“I have nothing to gain from screwing you guys over. Honestly, I just - I just want my person safe and out of trouble. That’s all.”

Aiden blinks at her, then covertly catches my eye. I’m kind of surprised, too, to hear Calla say something so tender and sincere, so open. I’m sure that her current state of sleep deprivation is responsible for that, but still.

“Okay,” Aiden says, more gently. “So - let’s hear the plan.”

Calla hesitates for a split second longer, then nods.

“Yeah, alright. Let’s go over it.” She withdraws something from the pocket of her coveralls: a folded-up piece of paper. “I’ll show you what the property layout looks like. You guys have a small role to play in this, but you need to be precise, and fast. Once we’re past the first checkpoint, you’re gonna have an extremely limited amount of time to get me where I need to be.”

“How much time?” Aiden asks.

Calla bites her lip. “About... forty-five seconds.”

There’s another silence.

“Okay,” I finally manage. “Walk us through it, please. From the beginning.”