“And finally, our storage,” the captain said when he led me past the staircase and turned left before the entrance hall.

He stopped next to the heavy door, showed his tag to the keypad next to it, then pressed four of his fingers on the screen above it.

“This is the only room where the tag alone isn’t enough to let you in,” he told me while the lock opened. “Let me show you why.”

He pushed the door open, using quite a lot of force in order to do so. He wouldn’t let me step in, but I could see enough from where I stood.

The room was filled with sturdy cages filled with guns and explosives.

“Yeah, I can see why,” I muttered.

“Everything is stored here. You will be given your own set of guns which you are required to take care of, and those must stay here. Your weapons will share a cage with Reid’s. Entering other cages and handling other people’s weapons without permission is strictly prohibited. You may keep your knives and such in your room, but firearms and explosives must stay here.”

“Yes, sir.”

“All right then. I’m getting hungry,” the captain said, closing and locking the door. “You hungry?”

“I… Sure,” I said, even though I wasn’t.

As we were heading back to the stairs, the front door opened, and two more alphas stepped in: a big white dude with dark hair and eyes, and only a slightly smaller black guy with golden highlights and blue eyes.

“Captain! What’s this thing about a new teammate Ash texted us a… oh.”

They spotted me behind Captain Hale and fell silent.

“It means you guys have a new teammate. This is Riley,” the captain said, nudging his head toward me. “This is Ethan Morris and Ryan O’Connor. Now you’ve met them all.”

I nodded politely as a greeting, and these two returned the gesture.

“So Ash messaged you, huh?” Captain Hale said, but then slapped his hand on his forehead. “Crap! I forgot to ask if you have your own phone,” he said to me.

“I do, yes,” I said.

“Is it new?”

“I’ve had it for three years, sir.”

“You’ll get a new one. And you need a pager. Crap… It’s been so long I’ve forgotten half of the things I need to do with you,” he said, laughing lightly. “But don’t worry. We’ll get you all set up in a few days.”

“It really has been a while. Which is why this is a… bit of a surprise,” the man named Ryan said, peering at me as we climbed upstairs. “And… well… didn’t quite expect an… uhm…”

“You know what they say,” the captain spoke. “When life gives you a skilled assassin, you fucking take it.”

“But… what about his… heats?”

The captain sighed. “Why is that the first thing everyone asks?”

“It’s quite normal, sir,” I said. “And I get it. The heats can endanger us all. But I’m on heavy medication, so you won’t detect it.”

“Oh, that’s cool.”

“But doesn’t that mean you’re ten times more likely to get cancer?” the other one, Ethan, asked.

“Details, details…” I muttered – I was more worried about the Lace in me.

“Anyway. You boys hungry? It’s dinnertime,” Captain Hale asked.

“Sure, that’s why we got back home.”

“Great! You get to help me cook,” Captain said with a smirk.

“Ugh…”

“You don’t have to, of course,” he told me.

“I don’t mind helping out,” I told him, but he shook his head.

“No, no, no, you just take it easy.”

After we entered the kitchen, and I was told to take a seat by the tables, I realized just how big of a task it was to make food for eleven people. For ten massive alphas – and one omega from now on. There were three ovens and two sets of stoves. The fridge was big enough for the largest member of our team to stand in, and Ethan kept pulling out box after box of raw chicken from it. I counted eight big boxes. It was madness.

“That’s a lot of food,” I muttered.

Captain Hale chuckled. “We do have a canteen at our disposal, but… It’s not always edible.”

“Oh, I know,” I said. “Been eating it for five years…”

“Not anymore,” the captain said reassuringly.

I nodded slowly and hid my sigh. Now that sounded awesome… Man, if I now had to go back to my old unit after seeing how things could be…

The rest of the team heard and smelled us, and one by one, all but two – Nico and Reid – joined us in the kitchen. Some helped with the food while the rest sat down to stare at me. Well, they tried to act like they weren’t staring at me. I could tell they all had questions, but it took a while before the first one found the courage to speak to me. I couldn’t remember his name. He was one of the older guys who had been there when I arrived.

“So… What do you think? About the place…? About getting in…? Do you already regret your decision?” He asked the last part jokingly.

“I’m actually impressed. This place is really awesome,” I said truthfully. “Beats my old unit, for sure… And I’m… I’m still just trying to let this sink in. I honestly didn’t think anyone would accept me. I mean. An omega.”

“It was an easy decision,” the captain said by the stove. “We used to have omegas in this unit, so this shouldn’t be anything new to anyone.”

“There’s no other omegas left?” I asked.

“Sadly, no. Many left when Stoll became the commander, and the rest followed one by one,” the captain explained quietly. “But me and my boys will make sure you’ll feel at home with us. Right, guys?”

“Of course.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Thank you,” I said, though I did have my doubts.

“So you’re an assassin?” Ethan asked. “Captain said something about that.”

I talked a little about my training and missions. They all seemed interested, and I couldn’t really detect hostility from any of them. Doubts, sure, but that was given, considering I just arrived. Could it be that these people would be fine having me with them…?

Fuck, that rising hope really sucked.

While I talked, one more person joined us in the kitchen. And it was Reid. He took his seat as far away from me as possible, and acted like he hadn’t even noticed me, even though I was the only one talking. I returned the favor and ignored him.

“I know, I know, we’ve all asked about your heats, but… Is your medication really so strong that we can’t detect it? I’m only asking out of curiosity,” Ryan asked.

“The commander himself made sure of it,” I said. “You can’t detect it.”

“When is your next heat?”

I raised my eyebrow at him. “I’m not telling you. I’ve learned that lesson already.”

“What do you mean?”

“If people know when my heats are, they can easily fake it’s bothering them,” I said.

“Oh! No, no, no, I wouldn’t do that. None of us would,” he hurried to say.

“Of course,” I said.

Another guy leaned closer to me, giving me a curious look. “So Commander Stoll finally changed his mind about taking in omegas. How did you do that?” he asked.

“I kind of… refused to take no for an answer,” I said. “Really pissed him off, but it worked, I guess.”

“For fuck’s sake, of course you didn’t…” Reid muttered, and rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “Why does that make so much fucking sense?”

“Sorry,” I said. “I think I may be a little too stubborn for my own good.”

“You think?” he asked, looking straight at me, crossing his arms while the rest chuckled quietly. “Well I’m fucked.”

“To be fair, Reid, if he didn’t take no from Commander Stoll…” the captain said and glanced at me with a smile on his face. “I think we’re all fucked.”

I gave him an apologetic shrug, then peered at Reid. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. But maybe he wasn’t so angry at me anymore. At least he was there, talking to me. Maybe that was a good sign.

Maybe there still was hope.

*****

[There are 2 new bonus chapters up for Patreon subs! In the first one, Captain Hale talks with Reid about Riley, and in the second one you get to read about the captain's little secret ;)]