Elli sat in the truck for a moment longer, taking a steeling breath and conjuring images of things that would make her feel brave. She exhaled and pushed the door open, the chill of the morning air blowing in like a winter storm.

"Hey." Trevor smiled gently at her. "Get any sleep?"

Elli climbed from the cab, pulling her jacket closed. "Yeah, actually."

She still couldn't quite meet his eyes. She brought her hands up to blow on them and keep them warm.

"Good, I'm glad." He hauled her duffle bag out of the truck bed. "Follow me."

She trailed behind him as they headed toward the building. She could hear Samuel's heavy steps crushing frozen leaves behind them as he brought up the rear. She hid a small smile, unable to help but compare the svelte and stealthy blonde to the dark-haired man stomping around behind her. Trevor came to a halt in front of a part of the building that was marked with graffiti. Elli peered around his tall frame to study the labyrinth-like "Q" spray painted in purple on the concrete.

"Open sesame," Trevor commanded, his soft voice booming in the quiet wake of dawn.

Elli didn't know if it was more startling to hear the silence broken by such a dominant tone from her docile teacher—er, former teacher, or the fact that the wall actually began to shift like some hokey old cartoon show. She gasped in awe as a long corridor into the interior of the building was revealed, LED string lights flickering to life in the upper corners of the walls.

Trevor turned, flashing his award-winning smile.

"Welcome home."

Samuel scoffed. "Such that it is."

Trevor ignored him, speaking to Elli. "They can be a rambunctious lot, but everyone means well. You'll fit in in no time."

Elli's heart decided to resume some of its acrobatics, and she wondered if she could actually hold out being mad at Trevor for very long. Or give up all thoughts of romance like she'd vowed to do not even an hour prior.

"Come on." He ushered her into the long corridor. "I called ahead the last time we had cell signal, so breakfast should be ready. You'll get to meet everyone in the mess hall, and then we'll do a briefing with the core team."

By 'mess hall' he meant a run-down cafeteria whitewashed with mid-century décor and mismatched furniture. Elli wasn't all that reliable with directions, so by the second or third turn down near-identical semi-dark hallways she had become disoriented. She took a step into the old cafeteria, curious.

There was a spread of food and dishes laid out across three tables that had been shoved together. There was a large wooden trencher in the center filled with an assortment of loaves of bread and bagels, various jars of jams and preserves surrounded it like an oblong halo. On either side of the trencher were bowls of fresh fruit, and about 20 place settings lined the tables around the food. Elli's mouth began to water as she caught the scent of something meaty cooking nearby.

Elli turned to find Samuel and Trevor studying her for a reaction.

"Well..." she smiled, genuinely excited by the thought of food. "If I wasn't hungry, I am now!"

Samuel barked a laugh and Trevor smiled widely at her, gently ushering her over to the tables.

"Breakfast!' Samuel roared and sat a few places down from Elli's right as Trevor sat at the head of the table to her left, his blue eyes dancing with excitement.

A young woman with ebony skin and turquoise-dyed dreadlocks barreled through a set of double doors at the end of the room, her athletic frame shrouded in a stained apron.

"Who's barking for—" she gasped, stopping mid-sentence, her eyes wide.

"Sam! Trevor!" She exclaimed, a wide grin splaying across her face.

"Don't pretend you didn't know we were coming, Teal." Sam's tone held a teasing note.

The woman waved him off, glancing at Trevor. "Just a second, the hash just finished."

She swept back through the doors to what Elli could only assume was the kitchen. Moments later, she reappeared sans apron, three aluminum trays balanced in her hands and followed by a young boy struggling to hold onto one with old oven mitts. Behind them, a pale teen whose face was covered in freckles and who was wearing an ushanka-hat trailed the pair into the cafeteria holding another two trays with a towel. They set down their burden, two trays per table, and took their seats.

Teal and the boy sat down at the end of the table to her right, facing her, and the teen boy sat across from Samuel, his green eyes flashing amusement.

"Hey guys," he greeted, wriggling his eyebrows at Elli "annnnnd hello, lady."

"Ferris," Samuel growled. "It's too early, man."

"It's never too early in the morning for the pursuit of romance." The teen sighed, gazing wistfully at Elli.

A female voice in Elli's left ear nearly gave her a heart attack. "I see you've met 'Romeo.'"

Elli whipped around to meet sleepy eyes the shade of molten gold set in a tan face crowned with a messy mop of ash brown hair.

The girl looked to be about the same age as Ferris, and she stuck out her hand. "Star."

Elli cautiously took it, shaking gently. "I'm Elli."

"I know." The girl smiled, plopping down in the chair on Elli's left.

Elli stared in the direction of the door as more characters entered the room from the same door she had. A tall, androgynous person with milky white skin led in a man twice as large as any person she had ever seen. Behind the odd pair, an aloof-looking young woman with auburn hair sauntered in with a striking woman with olive skin and the palest shade of blue hair. Her eyelashes looked like captured snowflakes over dark eyes. She was clutching the shirt hem of a younger teen girl with brown hair who was stumbling half asleep.

The group settled in around the table and Elli, a loud mess of colorful people and loud voices. Elli couldn't help but stare, it was such an exotic mix of people.

"Everyone," Trevor's voice ascended the clatter, and everyone grew silent, their attention was drawn to the blonde.

He gestured toward Elli, and she wanted to melt right into the chair she was sitting in as all the eyes of the room fell on her.

"I'd like to introduce our newest recruit, Elli Dasek." Trevor smiled. "She's going to be staying here for a while, and she just discovered her gift so go easy. Let's start with introductions—"

A unanimous groan sounded.

"Keep it short and sweet," Trevor laughed. "So we can eat. Okay?"

The girl with the auburn hair and the giant who had settled next to Trevor on his left side stood.

"I'm Magenta." She grinned. "And this big guy's Wolf. Don't say much, but watch his temper."

They moved to sit back down, but Trevor cleared his throat. "Gifts too, Mage."

Magenta rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'm an empath, and he's a berserker."

They sat down, and Elli wondered what that meant. Being an empath would make the girl some kind of psychic too, but what did a berserker do?

The teen boy, Ferris, jumped up enthusiastically. "I'm Ferris, all out geek, and tech supreme."

Elli quirked an eyebrow. That was even more ambiguous.

The girl with gold eyes, Star, leaned in to whisper to her. "He's magnetic, or something."

Ferris pouted. "The correct term, oh Celestial Goddess, is 'technophile,' master manipulator of Machinery."

"That's not a thing." Star snorted. "You manipulate metal, yeah. With it, you can build and modify machinery."

Ferris blinked, confused. "That's what I said."

The tall androgynous figure sitting on Ferris' left cleared their throat and stood, gently pushing on the teen boy's hat so that he sat back down.

"My name is Armon." Their soft voice lilted with a faint accent. "I am a shapeshifter."

"For real?!" Elli exclaimed before thinking.

"For real." Armon's near colorless eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Oh no." Ferris rolled his eyes. "Here we go."

Armon's form shifted, their features distorted as if trying to see a face through a glass, their body following the same strange distortion for a moment, and then Elli blinked. When her eyes refocused, a perfect, albeit a taller copy of Ferris stood in Armon's place.

"Whoa." Elli squeaked, her brain struggling to accept the vision before her.

"Short an' sweet, remember?" Teal clucked. "Food will get cold if you show off too long."

Ferris' doppelganger grinned and sat down, his form shifting again into the pale Armon before their butt hit the seat.

"Better?" they purred.

"Much." The cook stood. "I'm Teal, I have a sonic gift."

She smiled, nodding to the small boy who'd followed her from the kitchen. "That's my son, Mattie. He's show'n signs of telekinesis."

Another teenager with dark hair Elli hadn't noticed walk in stood up across the table from Teal. His appearance seemed off, but Elli couldn't place it.

"I'm Steve," he began in a low tenor. "I can dream walk—"

"Damn it, Steve," Samuel growled. "Get your actual ass in here."

The teen sighed. "Fine."

Then, he disappeared. Elli rubbed her eyes, the lights going out in her brain. She stared at the empty chair pushed back from the table as if the boy would rematerialize just as quickly. Her heart started to pound. Shapeshifting, vanishing into thin air... it was a bit much.

"Excuse Steve." The sleepy brunette grumbled from her spot next to the now empty chair. "He's kind of an ass. I'm Hailey, I'm a mender—I guess you could simplify my gift as healing. Though I can only mend physical stuff. I can't fix stupid or crazy."

The Pale-haired woman sitting on the other side of Samuel chuckled.

She stood, flipping her long locks over her shoulder and piercing Elli with her exotic dark gaze. "My name is Domina, also known as Shockwave. I can manipulate electricity in almost any form, including electric transmutation. Was that everyone?"

"Hey," Star grumbled. "I didn't get to tell her my gift yet."

She looked at Elli with her molten gaze. "I'm pyrokinetic."

"This girl is on fire!" Ferris whooped.

"Shut up, Ferris!" Star glared over the table.

She groaned. "Ironically that was the song playing during Homecoming when my gift manifested. The world has a screwed up sense of humor."

"Sorry, but that's kind of funny, Star." Ferris' tone wasn't apologetic at all.

Star leaned over to Elli, whispering. "One day I'm going to set his stupid hat on fire."