Derek parked his old but trusty truck beside Marvin's jeep. He couldn't get over the fact they were inside Mount Elbert. He and Marvin had come here as kids with their dads, and there had not been a private underground parking lot, mind you, an entire facility inside the mountain back then. At least not that they ever saw.

Bright LED lights glowed from panels in the relatively low ceiling. Men dressed in black combat gear were marching towards the now parked trucks, guns upfront and in everyone's view to see.

Well, they are about as subtle as a thong on a fat lady, thought Derek, as he smirked to himself.

If people only knew half the shit he didn't say out loud, they would understand why he was always grinning like an idiot.

He shot a look at Aiya, who had climbed out of Marvin's Jeep beside him. The tank had to be left at the bottom of the mountain, unfortunately, well, unfortunately for Errend. Derek didn't mind.

He'd hoped that Aiya would end up with him for the drive, but she had mumbled something about needing to talk to Marvin before ditching him with a very sullen and quiet Errend.

Derek liked Errend. He did. The guy was solid and would never let you down but Aiya's strange fixation with him lately just rubbed him the wrong way.

Deep down, Derek knew he had no chance with the woman. She would always be his best friend's older sister, and she would always see him as that annoying kid who never shut up when he came over to play with her brother.

But what he had said that day at The Sloppy Dish was true. He'd given his heart away a long time ago. Thankfully his balls were still his.

He heard himself chuckle. He was the funniest person he knew. Aiya shot him a look that said, "You ok weirdo?" which just made him smirk at her.

"How's it hanging, Aiya? A little to the left or the right?"

Aiya stared blankly at him. She was used to him at least, even if she wasn't amused or impressed. Yet as Derek looked back at her, his smirk slowly faded. He realized something was off. Usually, she had quick comebacks, laughing at him and cracking off at his expense, but her eyes seemed haunted today.

Dark circles hung under her gorgeous ice-blue eyes, and her warm olive skin had a greyish hue to it today. Was she sick?

"Hey, you all right?"

The sincerity in his voice must have startled her as her eyes suddenly focused on him properly, and he saw her whole body flinch slightly. Whatever was bothering her was all-consuming.

"Yea... Fuck no, I am not. I will be, though." Aiya answered almost robotically as her gaze went to her feet for a moment, her forehead wrinkled in worry.

Had Derek been a person to think before he acted, he wouldn't do 99% of the shit he did. And that would have made his life boring, like Errend kind of boring. Yet even he was shocked to feel himself reach out, place an arm around Aiya's shoulders and bring her in for a hug. No one ever hugged the woman. She needed a big hug.

He felt her hesitate, then she buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his back, her five-foot-six frame tucking in under his chin as she let herself be hugged. Derek felt some tension leave her shoulders, and she left out a heavy sigh.

What felt like forever but was honestly less than a minute ended with Aiya stepping back and giving Derek a strange look.

"Derek..." she shook her head, a small smile appearing under her tired but beautiful eyes, "Just when I think you can't surprise me. Thank you. I forgot how good a hug could feel. I think I needed that."

Before Derek, feeling stunned and a little dry in the mouth from the intense gaze from the crazy and amazing woman still half in his arms could reply, clanking boots came stomping up to them.

Aiya abruptly stepped to the side, assuming what looked like a relaxed posture that Derek knew as her "ready to kick some ass" stance. She didn't trust Grayson or his promises, but for some reason, she had agreed to come anyways when Errend told her he had to come here.

From the corner of his eye, Derek saw Grayson approaching from the far left, walking the line of vehicles now parked in the middle of the strange cave-like parking lot. Derek assumed his position hoping for some entertainment.

He leaned back against Marvin's jeep and almost squealed like a girl when Marvin himself placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Fuck man! Forget monsters. Your ass is going to kill me!" Derek had a hand over his racing heart as he half chortled and half cursed himself for not seeing his friend.

"So that was weird," Marvin whispered close to Derek's ear as the guards lined up in front of the newcomers, apparently waiting for Grayson.

"What?" Derek shot him a curious look over his shoulder.

"You and Aiya. I haven't seen her hug anyone... Well, in years." Marvin absently scratched his head like he was trying to think through a profound mystery.

"Oh. Yea, well, even superheroes need a hug once and while, I guess." Derek gave Marvin his best cocky grin and shrugged before continuing, "Or maybe she finally realized how unbelievably sexy I am." Derek waggled his eyebrows for emphasis as he tried not to laugh at his friend's face.

"You are an asshole, man." The words sounded harsh as Marvin whispered them, but he was smiling, and his eyes were laughing.

Marvin shook his head and patted Derek on then back. For a second, Derek wondered if his friend knew the truth about his feelings for Aiya, but just as Marvin was about to open his mouth to say more, Grayson spoke loudly to the guards still standing in front of everyone.

"Furgeson, what the hell are you morons doing!?" Grayson's voice was loud, commanding and cracked like a whip through the men.

Derek watched with a keen eye and noticed the only man who didn't flinch at Grayson's disproving tone was a tall, lanky fellow standing off to the right, set a little apart from the rest.

While Grayson stood staring at a man in front of him, presumably Furgeson, the man to the right took his time assessing Grayson from head to toe.

Just before Grayson was about to lose his cool and snap at the poor bastard before him, the skinny fellow finally broke his stance and walked towards Grayson, saying, "Grayson, sir, Furgeson and the other men are following my orders. And my orders are to detain all of you until I feel confident that no one here is a threat to this facility or the people inside."

The man's voice held no inflection, and Derek got the feeling the guy didn't care if anyone got hurt. He was just "doing his job," as the saying went.

Derek felt his face smirk. He swore sometimes he had zero control over what it did. But this was funny. Poor Grayson, staring at these men with murder in his eyes and the guy in charge just didn't give a shit. If Derek were lucky, Grayson would blow a fuse and provide a real show.

"And you are?" Grayson drawled put the words making it clear the lanky fellow wouldn't impress him no matter what he said.

"Daniels, sir. I am currently in charge of ground-level security. I am sure you can appreciate the need to take my position seriously, being in charge of making sure zero threats enter the facility on my watch."

The lanky man, or Daniels, held a challenge in his words and a gloating look in his eyes. Grayson's face didn't show any reaction to what could have only been some kind of jibe at him, except for an almost imperceptible twitch of his left eye.

Aiya must have seen it too. Derek admired that most about her. The woman was almost as impulsive as him, but he was sure she saw twice as much as anyone else, including himself, and her instincts were amazing.

"Well, this is great and all, but I have had to pee since we left the train, and the idea of running water instead of prickly bush has made me hold it too long. Can we speed this up somehow? What is it you need Daniels to move this along?"

The man turned his head and assessed Aiya in such a way that Derek was tempted to throat punch the man.

"Well, to start, you can hand over all your weapons." The man's cold eyes, seeming like he had no soul behind them, stared hard at Aiya, waiting for her reaction. This was a test if Derek ever saw one.

Aiya, as usual, did the one thing no one expected. She burst out laughing. Finally, after a minute and holding her side from laughing so hard, she gasped out one word.

"No."