It was a cool and Calm evening as Apollo wrote down his name to volunteer. It was a form that only those who had been in service for more than three months could fill, and a milestone Apollo had recently passed.

As he started on his way back home, he rubbed a bruised arm and thought of Cal. Cal was, by all means a genius, but by no means an engineer. Apollo found that out the hard way when he not so gracefully fell from a broken hammock. It was all good intentions as Cal had given it to him as an escape from his “bed.” As Apollo opened the door to his shared small apartment, he looked over the usual organized mess, and at Cal who looked out of a window.

“Ah, you're back,” Cal said in his usual high tone. “While you were gone I made a few adjustments to your current sleeping conditions. I hope you find it sufficient apology for my, uh, complete and total failure.” His voice had some guilt in it.

Apollo looked up at his bed beam. It had a crudely nailed on blanket covering it, but at least it looked a bit more comfortable.

“Sorry for being late. I signed up for volunteer work,” Apollo stated.

Cal scoffed. “Why bother? I signed up years ago, but they never use volunteers.” He smirked. “Besides, half of the people on the list can't even shoot straight.”

Apollo got flustered. “It's not my fault you shot me!”

“Well contrarily, you stepping in front of my target was not of my error! But, hey! Maybe your skill disrupted my subconscious, and it wanted to take out the competition.”

“Then that's a pretty messed up subconscious,” a low voice interrupted. Both Apollo and Cal jumped and swung their heads. It was Iris. His large image leaned against the doorframe; his purple eyes and smile gentle.

“How long have you been standing there?” Cal questioned.

“Oh, just long enough to hear you talking about knocking out my brothers eye” Iris mused.

Just as the three started a conversation, a loud rumbling noise broke out, shaking the ground slightly. This time all three jumped. Apollo and Iris were dumbfounded. But Cal's eyes contracted in stabbing fear.

It was a sound that Cal knew, and it was a sound Cal had never wished to hear.