When I awoke next, I was surrounded by my squadmates, all of whom were looking at me with mixed looks.

  Love looked worried.

  Edge looked less pissed than he had, more upset.

  Wolf looked sad.

  I opened my mouth but Edge put a hand over it to prevent me from speaking, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to get so upset with you, just because we want to leave Houska doesn't mean we want to abandon you."

  The words visibly relaxed me, it must have shown because everyone unclenched, I hadnt noticed they had been coiled like a spring in anticipation of some sort of violence until I saw them unfurl.

  Edge looks at Wolf who nods, they had practiced this.

  "Now..." Says Wolf, "we're going to let you up, and then we'll share our names with eachother, ok? Our real names."

  I nod and Edge's hand leaves my mouth, I sit up, "Jack."

  Edge chuckles, rolling his shoulders as he says it, "Blaine."

  Love sighs as if this is a big weight off her shoulders, "Emma."

  Wolf closed her eyes, "Anna."

  We linked hands, we knew each other now, really knew one another.

  We were no longer just Agents, no longer Team Sigma, we were us.

  And I think thats something I can't really communicate, the feeling of being human again after 919, something we felt was impossible.

  I blink as everyone lets go, "So...do we call one another by those names or..."

  Wolf shrugged, "Well we'd like to...but it'll take some getting used to..."

  It hit me just then that we HAD spent more time in...here, than free.

  "Damn...ok then I'll start it, fuck you, Blaine!" I push Edge off the bed and he busts out laughing, grabbing a pillow that fell off with him and leaping on top of me from the floor, "Eat shit, Jack!!"

  Love pulled Wolf into a kiss, "C'mere Anna...mmmm..."

  Wolf let out an exaggeratedly aroused gasp, "Emma! Mmmmm..."

  This began a cavalcade of sexually charged roughhousing that kept us rolling with laughter until the PA system ripped our ears a new one.

  //TEAM SIGMA REPORT TO ADMINISTRATION FOR MISSION BRIEFING//

  we began to suit up, I pulled on my pants and did my belt, both of which I never left separate. as I pulled on my button up shirt, Edge looked at me, "dude why do you always leave your belt in your pants?"

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  I shrug as I pull on my trench coat, "It's faster? What you just wanna loop your belt every time?"

  He gestures to his waist where his belt sat firmly in its loops, "It's easier on my pants AND my belt."

  Wolf smacked us both in the heads as she started for the door, "we'll be late."

  We finished getting ready and as we headed for the door, Love picked both Edge and me up unexpectedly, rushing after Wolf as we hightailed it to the admin office.

  Upon arrival, Benz greeted us with Singleton and MAL standing there next to him, "Ah! There they are, my slayers!" With an enthusiasm that told me he wanted us to forget the fact that he was threatening to have us killed not 4 days ago.

  Love set Edge and I down and we all sat at Benz's desk, "boy oh boy do I have a mission for you." His smile was forced and his tone was exhausted.

  I didn't like the sound of that, but kept quiet as he continued, his fake joviality falling away as he delivered the news, "You four are going to school."

  My team and I let out a weak chuckle but Benz's expression remained firm, "that wasn't a joke, you're going to Pampa Texas, reports from the local PD have been...harrowing to say the least...a proper dossier of all information available will be dispensed to Agent Edge before you leave."

  Wolf looked at us and then at Benz, "Ok so it's a mission to Pampa, why are we going to school?"

  Benz smirked, "This is a deep cover mission, you're each 15 years old, and the best cover for a mission of this nature would be to have you at school...which will also function as a perfect Rumor mill to pinpoint odd occurrences in the town....and on top of that, I hear you four have just re-learned your real names, this could also be a good opportunity to use them."

  This made the others in my team brighten up, but my heart sank into my stomach.

  This was going to be difficult, for me probably more than them, I wasnt really sure why, I had done my best to acclimate to the new name situation, but my real name filled me with a sense of dread, that fear of being abandoned, even though they'd said they wouldn't.

  Benz continued, looking at us and taking in our reactions, "alright, with the mission accepted, I want to let you know that Singleton will not be your handler this mission."

  I looked at Singleton, who looked away from me, "Then why is he here?"

  Benz's smile became malevolent, "So that he can hand over your care-book."

  Edge blinked, "Care-book??"

  It was then that we all caught a familiar whiff of burning cinnamon as the door behind us opened, "Reporting for duty."

  We turned in shock to see Doctor Sharp standing in the doorway, that grin, that shit-eating grin playing across his lips, his white hat concealing his eyes, "Heya kids."

  We all stood at once, ready to pounce, but Benz swung a fist and destroyed his desk, splitting it in half and sending both halves flying towards opposite walls from each other, splinters, a nameplate, and a hail of pens and paperwork flying everywhere, his eyes livid as he looked at us, "YOU WILL ALL SIT DOWN!"

  We immediately sat back down, with Doctor Sharp sitting in a 5th chair none of us had seen directly next to me, all of us completely shocked at Benz's reaction and his sheer strength, "Doctor Sharp has been exonerated of all wrongdoing by our investigative team...and he's the one to call on for these sort of clandestine missions, you WILL cooperate, you WILL be civil or I WILL have you all punished to the full extent of my power!!"

  The response came automatically from all of us, Doctor Sharp mirrored us as we each nodded our heads, lest we suffer the same fate as the desk, "Yes sir!"

  "Good..." Benz huffed, "Good...and my threat extends to you as well, Sharp! Don't you dare do anything to fracture the delicate-" he grabbed the Doctor by the front of his lab coat, pulling him out of the chair, getting in his face, "-DELICATE trust I have in you, or I will personally skin you alive."

  Doctor Sharp's smile faltered, the churro drooping, "Yes sir..."

  And like that, we were put into a moving truck with a crap ton of furniture, we were given the chance to ride with Doctor Sharp in his car, but none of us wanted to for obvious reasons.