Maurice stayed silent but sneaked a glance at Benjamin who acknowledged him. It felt strange but satisfying. Rohan continued: “We grant people’s wishes. We help them fight against the injustice of the world. The money we earn? Just a way for us to continue doing this. And since we have been sitting at the top of Houston? No more disorganized crimes. Everything is as clean as possible for all of us.”

“That… makes sense.”

“Of course it does. It’s the heat and exhaustion that made me suggest an outlandish thing earlier. The others agreed as a joke. Do not worry.”

“I see. Sorry for doubting your integrity.”

“No, I apologize for making you uncomfortable.” Rohan seemed so remorseful, Maurice could not help but put a hand on his shoulder as a genuine gesture of affection. “We might be jaded with violence, or have a morbid sense of humour, but we all know where we stand.” Rohan looked at the rest of the crew before speaking a little louder: “Right?”

“Y-Yeah!” “...right.” “Close enough.” “Good way of putting it.” “Well said, Rohan.”

That last comment by Benjamin made Rohan glimmer with pride. He had learned well. Especially now that Maurice seemed genuinely relaxed. It felt good to be listened to.

“Dude, you scared the crap out of me.”

This was Dora whispering to him. Rohan was not sure what she meant by that so he shrugged in response. She still looked nervous but dropped the subject.

As Maurice caught sight of more people parkouring around the city, he lamented: “They got it so easy...”

“For sure. Hell, I would give anything to be able to bypass traffic this way.” 

“At least we awakened, that’s something.” Dora interjected, before internally cursing herself for having forgotten Blair...again. “Sorry.”

“That’s fine, dear. I’m only here because of this fool.” joked Blair as she poked at her husband who was madly blushing in response.

To get his mind off the teasing, Benjamin recounted a pleasant memory: “You know, before the injury I was actually able to jump from road to road.” 

The following minutes were filled with genuine wonder and laughter from all of the passengers as Benjamin told them stories from years ago. Even the known ones got a genuine laugh out of everyone. 

Everyone?

Well not really. Ingrid would have fought them on these stupid notions, but she felt too peaceful against Oscar to ruin it by fighting. Maybe later… 

Later… yeah that sounded nice…

When they arrived in the parking lot of the diner, they took slightly longer than most people to fully get out. On the handicapped spot, Benjamin had to get his crutch out first, before even helping get Dora’s wheelchair in place. It was a pleasant surprise to witness that people in this day and age were still parking on handicapped spots badly enough it nullified the benefits of having them in the first place. 

Oh well.

Nothing a little super strength couldn’t handle. Hopefully whoever was parked there didn’t mind having their car turned into a submarine for earth… an earthmarine.

The mental image made Benjamin chuckle before he ‘gently’ put the other car down.

A few minutes later, everyone started to head into the diner, except… “Oscar, you gotta wake Ingrid.” Benjamin found them in the trunk still snuggling. His first apprentice seemed pretty reluctant.

“It’s rare to see her this peaceful.”

“It shouldn’t be,” replied Benjamin before shifting his gaze from her to him, “Listen boy, I know you care about her a lot. However…”

“I know, Jefe, I know,” Oscar sighed, “this is not sustainable.” He started to pat her head while trying to not knock her headband off. “She’s improving though!”

“Oscar, she kept insulting Dora and Maurice throughout the trip, did not apologize even once, and was partially responsible for completely botching your mission last week.”

“No that was-”

“Yes. You. That was you and your morals… I already know your arguments by heart.”

Oscar tensed up. He tried to stand up and failed due to Ingrid’s subconscious grip over him. “And Dora-”

“Dora is nineteen and only has a year of work under her belt. Ingrid is twenty-six and has been with us for three. Do you not see the problem?” asked Benjamin as he helped his disciple.

“Jefe, I-” “I think the problem is bitching about people like they’re not here.”

Benjamin groaned and seriously considered just shutting the trunk while she was still inside. “Ingrid you’re on thin ice already, don’t-”

“I’m on thin ice? Are you serious right now? You begged me to join you and now you slander me!” Her words sounded a lot less threatening when she was also struggling to get out of her seat thanks to some cramp.

Benjamin looked at her with scorn before closing the trunk once she fully left it. “If healers weren’t so dire to come by, your usefulness would drastically be outweighed by your attitude.”

“Is that it then? A power set is all I am to you?!” If he had been perfectly honest, Benjamin would have agreed to this statement. However it would have only worsened the situation. In his eyes, all of them were power sets before even being humans.

“Ingrid just calm down.”

“No! No I won’t Oz,” yelled Ingrid as she slapped away the hand of her confidant, “You can understand how I feel, right? You get it, right?!”

“Don’t make me choose.” Despite the mask covering the lower-half of his face, Oscar’s eyes showcased a pain so intense none of his two interlocutors could doubt his sincerity.

Still, it hurts to not be someone’s number one. “I’m not asking that! I just… This asshole…” plead Ingrid while she was making a vague gesture towards Benjamin, short of breath and of tears.

“Listen Ingrid, you’re ill, you need to-”

“You need to cut that parental bullshit!” retorted Ingrid while she tried to walk away from this conversation. “You’re not my dad, you’re certainly not my mother, and I’m twenty-six! I get to decide what to do with myself.”

Benjamin reached to grab her arm: “Ingrid-”

“Let go!” However, she was having none of it. After a brief moment of consideration, Ingrid turned around and stared down Benjamin. “Seriously, who fucking cares about your past glory? We’re stuck in this shitty middle-ground. We do not have the luxury of being civilians. No one’s coming to save us. We sure as hell aren't useful enough to actually go and save people… or even be paid for anything besides crimes. We suck, that’s all! Just accept it Benjie!”

Although he stayed silent, Oscar could notice their leader was restraining himself as much as possible. A simple look at the man’s fist was enough to tell where the conversation would go if it continued. After taking a long breath, he asked: “Are you done?”

“Fuck you.”

“For god’s sake…” The pause Benjamin took before continuing his sentence was enough to get his employees tensed up. Even then, neither thought he’d yell: “All of your missions ended in failure, Ingrid!”

“Hey Jefe, it’s-” Oscar tried to step in-between the two of them, but Benjamin grabbed his arm and yanked him to his side.

“Do you know how many times Oscar almost got caught trying to fix your bullshit?!”

This was true. Everything Benjamin said about Ingrid was correct. However, Oscar couldn’t bear to see her broken. She stayed silent. Her face was deforming by the minute from her repressed emotions.

“Trust me if my boy wasn’t so devoted to you, I would have fired you ages ago!” continued Benjamin as he closed the distance. “Ingrid you’re a fucking dis-”

“Stop Jefe.” This time, Oscar was the one who gripped Benjamin’s arm. “You’ve said enough.” 

The younger man knew that the look on his mentor was one akin to confusion more than regret. However, the heart he lacked was compensated by his rationality. Once he calmed down, he froze. Is that my fault Ingrid is so distraught? He couldn’t feel the regret, but he could acknowledge his faults. “Sorry, I… It’s rare for me to…”

Oscar nodded. He knew. Anger is a scary thing. Mental illness too. It’s always easier to yell at someone until they stop feeling like shit and lashing out. He knew. He was on both sides of this.

Instead of judging either, he tried his best to help. The young man crouched next to the sobbing mess in the parking lot. The Czech girl he fell for was falling in pieces. This was okay. They just needed to pick them back up.

The next few minutes created a painful atmosphere consisting of sobs that cut through a heavy silence, punctuated by the distasteful smell of oil, smoke and fuel. The awkwardness got worse when they realized Maurice had been standing in the corner of the diner, staring at them for an obviously long time. He even got jumpy when they actively noticed him. 

“The… the others wanted to know why you were taking so long,” he said while scratching the back of his head, “Do… do you want me to go back?”

“No, that’s fine. You can stay.” answered Benjamin. In the meantime he had opened the trunk of his car once more and gestured to everyone to sit with him in there. Everyone complied, even Ingrid who was shouldered by Oscar.

Speaking of him, during another heavy silence, he started to eye Maurice. In an attempt to change the subject he commented: “You really should put on more muscles dude, you’re like a 7ft tall black dude. Nobody would make you a gopher if you just had more confidence in yourself.”

“Oh no, that’s fine. I don’t mind,” said Maurice while fiddling with his fingers. “Besides… I’m an F-rank sniper. Anything besides cardio wouldn’t really contribute much, you know?” This time he forced a laughter by it just led into another silence. Goddamit, cursed Benjamin in his mind, why is this so much harder than killing monsters? We really suck at social work.

“Hey, speaking of which, what contracts do we even have next?”

Nice change in topic Oscar. This might be it! Ingrid should have the time to calm down while we discuss this. “Apparently there is a creep recording people’s secrets and blackmailing them with it. We need to investigate it. There might also be another gang running amok. Oh, and there’s a Martial Artist somebody wants dead or alive.”

“Dead or alive? Why?”

“Something something revenge.”

“Oh god. Why did you even accept so many contracts? We’re still recovering.” Benjamin stared blankly at Oscar who felt extremely guilty in an instant. 

“Right… the spending issue.” He faked a cough but Benjamin was not that pissed. After all, who knew clothes, music instruments and vinyls could prevent you from paying taxes? Certainly not a twenty-eight year old.

“We’re so screwed.” said Ingrid who turned a hopeless cry into a strange laugh.

Maurice smiled at this sight. Although, he tried to remain professional: “By the way, M’sieur, what will the team compositions be?”

“For you, you’ll get with Rohan and try to gather as much information as possible regarding the Martial Artist and how to beat her.”  

Maurice nodded alongside the explanation like a young puppy.

“He’s already getting the opportunity to direct a mission?!”

“Yes, because I actually trust him, Ingrid. However,” Benjamin got closer to her as an awkward attempt at showing support, “you will also get the opportunity to direct an investigation.”

“Oh. Okay. Better than nothing…”

“Yes. You will try to find more information regarding that Spy alongside Dora-”

“Alongside that cunt?! Hell no-”

Ingrid’s yells were cut short by Oscar putting his currently only valid hand around her. “Can you do this for me? This will be a one time thing until I recover.”

“...fine… better be one.” 

“What about the gang activities,” asked Maurice, “Do we have any info on them?”

“Not really. To be frank, there is a lot of stuff going on in the underworld right now. Rumors of a cult, a veteran going insane… I’m just trying to narrow the focus to the most immediate danger we could potentially face in the future. Oscar, you’re either with me and Blair or you’re resting.”

“Wait.” interrupted Ingrid. Her voice was not very loud, in fact she coughed as soon as she tried to be louder, but her sudden resolve captivated the others. “Thanks, and sorry…Benjie.”

“Tell that to Dora and Maurice.”

“Right… right.” Ingrid casted a glance at Maurice but couldn’t bring herself to repeat those same words. Her face and mouth contorted strangely, as if her guilt was physically crushing her lips. Maurice just smiled.

“Perfect.” “Cool.” “All right.”

Before things could get too awkward, Maurice spoke up: “We should… probably join with the others” prompting everyone to finally leave the car’s trunk.

“Good idea, newbie! I’m starving.” laughed Ingrid as she went back to her own pace, rapidly distancing the others.

Oscar quickly caught her though: “Thought you were thirsting given how much you hoggled me.”

“Geez, don’t push your luck.” She nudged him in response and both laughed. It was a beautiful melody.

Maurice stayed behind to whisper to Benjamin: “It’s amazing how you never falter during an exchange, M’sieur. How do you do that?”

“Try thirty-six years on the job. It’ll do that to you.”

This was fine, thought Benjamin, the holes in our relations could be mended.

Inside the diner, everyone’s order was already prepared. Dora had stuffed her face with rolls, yet  somehow she could still be understood: “What took you guys so lon-” Unfortunately for her, she almost choked when Ingrid hugged her. “Ah?”

“My b.” Well apologies gotta start somewhere…

Dora was bright red either from almost dying or just physical contact. “That’s fine?!”

“Aw, little Dora is nervous?”

“N… no. I’m just surprised you care! …cunt.” 

Not ideal but the smiles of both of their faces will have to do tonight.

Our unity must never be lost,

We cannot harm the Invaders,

But we can make the most,

At worst, we fight killers,

Since our targets will only ever be humans after all,

And at night a massacre can start with a simple call.