A little while later, the four DCL Variants and I found ourselves in a large hanger with dozens of other agents as we prepped for the assignment.

There was a chance that LACE was long gone from the base however, we were going in hot with everyone heavily armed and ready. I, naturally, was without a firearm since they still didn't trust me with a real weapon. They did provide me a military grade bulletproof vest laced with carbon fiber for protection which I thankfully took.

I leaned against a set of crates surveying the hanger with mild interest. Some of the human agents offered us curious looks upon passing and often spoke in hushed tones, thinking I couldn't hear them.

The other Variants talked amicably amongst each other, either ignoring the stares or not noticing, as I stood at the edge of the group. There was less tension between us now that we had come to a quiet alliance but that didn't make us friends.

Royce suddenly walked towards me with his eyes set upon a kevlar vest that sat idly to my left. He seemed to be lost in thought as he gently picked up the vest and removed his black DCL jacket. As he shrugged off the clothing, a thick bandage wrapped around his toned shoulder was revealed.

It was the same shoulder that had taken the impact after I slammed him into that brick wall back in the alleyway. An uncommon urge to apologize poked me in the ribs as the doctor grimaced while struggling to get the vest over his injured shoulder.

I opened my mouth to say something but hesitated.

"I-uh, sorry about that," I said quickly and scratched the back of my neck before gesturing to his shoulder.

Royce snapped out of his thoughts and met my gaze with a puzzled expression before glancing at his bandaged shoulder.

He looked just as unsure as I felt.

"Oh, it's ok. N-no worries," He replied just as quickly and offered a nervous grin.

I nodded once before he left and recontinued his conversation with Dakota.

Perhaps I wasn't the only socially inept person present.

I glanced blankly at my hands before looking towards Saratoga who was checking the magazine of a black glock. Her hard features were focused and determined as she diligently placed the gun in her hip holster.

I took a deep breath and approached her with false confidence.

"Say Saratoga, you wouldn't mind giving me a run down here would you?" I asked her as I stood with my arms crossed over my chest.

She paused briefly from loading the clip into a second gun to look up at me and automatically narrowed her icy blue eyes.

"Director Chandler already did that for you," She noted quickly, her tone defensive but not unfriendly.

"That he did but he only told me their names. I want to know their abilities, what they can actually do, who they really are." I replied sturdily, sounding unintentionally conceited.

Saratoga didn't let it go. "Why do you need to know?"

I sighed, my shoulders loosening.

"Isn't this what normal people do?"

Her stiff brows lifted.

Don't misunderstand, I certainly picked up social skills while being a LACE agent but those skills were designed to give my target a false sense of security. They were meant to be fake and deceiving.

Being genuine was different.

"And, you seem the most likely to be honest and give a straightforward answer," I added

Saratoga gave a complacent shrug with a small grin tugging at her lips.

"Well, you're not wrong," She claimed as her eyes and stiff shoulders relaxed

She cleared her throat before gesturing towards Teddy.

"First off, you have Teddy Melbourne. An idiot in my professional personal opinion." She began as we looked towards Teddy who gently placed his sniper rifle in a case.

For an idiot, he seemed rather capable.

"But even if he is kind of a lunatic, he is down right the best sharp shooter I know. That man never misses his mark. His twitch speeds are just off the chart and he's a former marine," Saratoga listed off.

Former marine?

I wondered what made him leave.

"What happened to his arm?"I asked.

Saratoga made a small glance to Teddy's badly scarred arm that shone like wax under the fluorescent lights.

"A mine, I think. Some sort of bomb. It happened while he was on tour in Afghanistan. He doesn't talk about it much," Saratoga told me in a hushed voice.

I nodded in quiet understanding. Teddy was obviously only a minor Variant. Heightened senses and twitch speed but nothing truly special.

"Then there's Royce of course," Saratoga started. Royce was standing directly across from us as he tied up his thick dreadlocks into a low ponytail. He had a friendly grin on his face as he chatted with Dakota who listened quietly. "He may seem all bad ass with his energy projections and all but really, he is a complete nerd. Not that there's anything wrong with being a nerd but I'm pretty sure that man could learn how to be a surgeon in a month or two. He's already got three different medical specialty certifications."

My brows furrowed in disbelief " You're kidding?" I asked.

I figured he was smart but Royce looked better suited to be a wide receiver for a football team with his long arms and fast legs rather than being a doctor or surgeon. However, while it isn't considered a genuine Variant capability, high intelligence isn't uncommon amongst Variants. And in Royce's case, extremely high intelligence.

Saratoga shook her head "Not at all. Astrophysics, engineering, even Psychology, he knows it all, He is literally like a bonafide Dr. Brown, just he isn't really old and crazy or into time travel," Sara explained. I nodded in agreement but quickly realized I had no idea who Dr. Brown was.

"Next we have Dakota Eugene Gray, our ever stoic hybrid combat expert," Saratoga said as Dakota sat on top of a crate lacing up his grey cargo boots.

My nose wrinkled. "Eugene?" I asked. I always figured geeks with bad acne and thick glasses were named Eugene. Not good looking, martial art experts like Dakota.

Saratoga nodded with a smirk as we peered at him like a pair of gossiping teenagers. "He's alright once you get to know him."

I shook my head in vague agreement. "And he's like your captain right? The field leader?"

"You got it," She said. "He was the first member followed by Teddy."

"Why is he so serious all the time?" I asked with an involuntary glance to Dakota who just so happened to be looking directly at me in that second. He quickly looked away and I mirrored his actions.

"Rough childhood. Tough family and all," Sara answered. "But he joined the DCL straight out of college - much to his father's disapproval."

"Disapproval?" I asked with a small cock of my head.

She nodded in confirmation. "I've never met him but I've heard his dad is a real hard ass. They aren't very close. I don't think he has much other family but thankfully, he has the team and I."

My mouth twitched curiously.

"You guys are almost like a little family" I noted with an inadvertent tone to my voice

The shorter woman quirked a brow.

"And?" She asked, the defensive lilt returning as she noticed my tone.

"Well, it's a uh, a liability during assignments is it not?" I fumbled. "Your personal connections that is."

"There's nothing wrong with working alongside friends," She replied confidently. A hint of pride in her words.

I considered the prospect. The idea of being a part of a real team of close individuals was alien to me. Teams are meant to be flexible and even expandable.

At least to LACE they are.

Such personal connections could create complications which might endanger a mission. And the mission always came first.

"I mean, you were friends with some of the LACE agents weren't you?" Saratoga asked.

I automatically scoffed at the absurd suggestion. "Definitely not. Humane relations were not allowed within LACE," I explained.

She wasn't convinced. "What about that hybrid kid? I heard you talk about him with Dakota, you said you were his 'trainor'," Saratoga pointed out.

"I was his trainor yes, but only temporarily. I got him in trouble and he was punished and then transferred to a new trainor who was far worse than I," I told her quietly. "We were never friends, we couldn't be."

"So you've never had friends?" Saratoga asked with a specific emotion in her voice that still I couldn't label.

I shook my head.

"No. Not really."

She nodded slowly in understanding. "Having friends in the worst of circumstances is just a human thing to do," She said. "Even if we are Variants, we are still human,"

There was a brief pause of silence as I pondered over the claim. I could understand her logic yet I couldn't apply it to myself. I may have been human, but I'd never been a normal human, or even a normal Variant, in the slightest.

But just because I didn't understand the concept of having friends in a fight didn't mean it was wrong.

"What about you Sara? Who are you really?" I asked, changing the subject.

Sara's eyes widened before she gestured to herself. "Me?" She asked. "I'm just Saratoga Davidson. Proud Canadian and even prouder Bruins fan."

My brows furrowed at the narrow synonposis and not just because I didn't know who the Bruins were.

"Anything else?" I asked looking down at her hands. Up close I could now clearly see that her nails were a pure silver color, similar to stainless steel. And certainly not acrylic or false.

She glanced down at her hands as if just noticing that they were there. "Oh yeah, my ability gives me extendable talons tipped with Platinum. Got a healing effect as well."

I hummed thoughtfully. "Really? How well does that work?"

I knew a few people at LACE with the same effect. During the experimentation period, all of the scientists typically attempted to trigger that gene but similar to the telekinetic gene, they were rarely successful in doing so. It took remarkable skill and precision to draw out the latent abilities.

And Dr.Ortega was the best at it.

"Uhm, well about a year ago, I healed from a gunshot wound to the shoulder in just two days," She said as she absently scratched her neck where a brown birthmark was. While this should have been an impressive feat, I knew an agent who could completely heal from a gunshot wound in just over a minute. "Oh and this one time, I got a papercut and it was completely gone in just three minutes."

"Shoot, forget being a telepath, that oughta be the most useful power so far," I replied without hesitation. My tone unintentionally inferred that I was being completely forthcoming and not entirely sarcastic.

Saratoga let out a small, hesitant chuckle which turned into a laugh. I paused before joining her reaction but then realized what I was doing and suddenly felt oddly out of place. It almost felt like I was joking around with an old friend that I hadn't seen in a few years.

But how could I know what that was like?

I didn't have any old friends.

Teddy strolled up beside us with his hands in the pockets of the dark green cargo pants he wore.

"I see ya' two are getting long' well," He noted casually. He hid it well, but I could sense a subtle scent of distrust coming from him. It lingered faintly but was undeniable.

Saratoga's expresion turned sardonic.

"That's right Ted, and I already like her more than you," Saratoga replied smoothly.

Teddy didn't look the least bit taken back by her remark.

"You actually like me? That's new."

"I know right? It's surprising," She replied playfully.

Teddy put a hand on his chest dramatically "Words do hurt, Sara," He said with false hurt.

Royce appeared right beside Teddy a second later with his long arms crossed loosely over his chest. I shifted uncomfortably at the sudden proximity of the three.

"Won't you two ever get along?" Royce asked amicably. "You've been working together for the past three years now."

A gleam of amusement shone in his jade green eyes. He seemed far more comfortable talking with his friends than with me. Which made sense.

Saratoga and Teddy exchanged a look that said it all.

"Probably not," Teddy shrugged.

"It's very unlikely," Sara quickly followed.

Royce looked at me with a friendly but shy smile.

"They're hopeless."

I hesitantly agreed.

Dakota came up beside us with a large duffle bag in hand. His sharp features were set into a serious mask as usual.

"The Director has given confirmation to begin our assignment. We are set to leave within the next five minutes. We should board now," He announced in his emotionless tenor.

I turned my head to see the nearby CIA agents were already loading up into their own respective air crafts. We had our own, smaller one.

"Let's hop to it then," Teddy replied as he paced away to pick up his sniper case. I nodded in agreement as I followed behind Dakota into the smaller aircraft. My boot heels clicked lightly as I walked up the slanted ramp. It still felt totally surreal that I'd woken up in a two star inn the morning before and was now, less than twenty four hours later, allied with a federal agency to neutralize a dangerous underground agency.

Saratoga was the second to last to board the plane and she paused as she passed the spot where I'd taken a seat. She looked down at me and held out a glock in her calloused hands. I looked at the weapon with mild puzzlement before looking back up at her.

"You may be all powerful with duel abilities but I don't believe in sending someone into a fight unarmed," She stated simply.

I noticed Dakota watching closely from behind but he said nothing.

I looked back down at the gun. "Are you sure you can trust me?"

She shrugged, "I'm not really sure, I've never really worked with an ex secret assassin," She replied. "But I've also never ambushed a secret league of super Variants before either."

I snorted lightly before taking the firearm into my own hand. The subtle weight and shape of the weapon seemed to fit perfectly into the curve of my hand. As if it were designed as such.

"Thank you," I said back right before she walked away and disappeared within the cockpit.

I analyzed the simple gun temporarily before looking up to see Teddy with a goofy smile on his chapped lips. I narrowed my eyes at the immature male.

"What?" I asked as Royce sat down two seats away from me and procured a small book from his pocket.

Teddy motioned towards the cockpit. "It's just that she doesn't normally warm up to people so easily," He replied with his Australian accent.

I crossed my slender legs over one another, getting into a comfortable position. "It should be surprising seeing as she has yet to warm up to you in three years"

"She got you there Ted," Royce added, not looking up as from the little book he was reading.

Teddy looked at Royce incredulously. "What are you talking about? Sara and I are best mates. Isn't that right Sara?" He asked loudly with a hopeful look.

"In your dreams," Saratoga's voice replied from within the cockpit causing most of us to smile.

Teddy shrugged and mouthed the words 'she loves me', with sarcastic swooning gestures.

I grinned faintly before glancing at Dakota who watched us all with mild curiosity. I think I might have seen a brief flicker of amusement somewhere behind his darkly colored eyes. He ran a slender hand through his black hair that had begun to cascade into his eyes.

Soon the aircraft whirred to life. I could feel the engine's hum through the seat. A moment later we lifted off into the sky and were soon flying effortlessly through the air. The aircraft grew silent as each of us mentally prepared for what was to come next.

There was no telling what might be waiting for us at LACE's home base. Drones had been sent out to clarify its position but they could not provide us with an interior vantage point. Our only real asset for attack was the element of surprise. Even with a small army, four Variants, and a super-agent, LACE would not be easily disrupted.

My index finger lightly brushed the barrel of the glock absently as I drifted off in thought. My pale brown eyes focused on a dull grey part of the ceiling.

For whatever reason, the name's of my parents came to mind. Their faces from those images swirled around my head. As did the picture of myself as a child.

It was almost beautiful how well I could besiege another's mind and uncover their memories no matter how personal they were. Yet, when it came to the memories of my own past, it was like trying to remember a dream from years ago. Almost akin to catching smoke.

Bits and pieces of it had begun to come back slowly since I had abandoned LACE. A familiar room, scent, or color might trigger a nostalgic feeling that I didn't comprehend. But they were a little less than fragments; similar to Deja Vu.

It was something, but not enough.

"Ms.Sterling?" A poised voice suddenly asked, knocking me straight out my thoughts. My eyes quickly searched for the source of the voice only to be met with Dakota's steel gaze. He sat a seat down from Teddy whose head trained downwards as he studied the back of the sniper gloves.

"Yes?"

"Might I make an inquiry?" He asked politely.

"Uh, sure" I replied as I relaxed back into my seat.

"While we were pursuing you in Carrollton, I believe you made a telepathic connection with me?" He asked curiously.

I nodded silently in response.

"So you saw my past memories?" He asked looking at me seriously.

This time I shook my head no.

"Not really. Some emotions and short term thoughts but nothing embarrassing. I was only connected for a second or two to throw you off."

He seemed satisfied with this answer, nodding once, but his facial expression didn't change much.

"Hiding something?" I asked innocently.

The corner of Dakota's mouth turned upwards. "Of course."

I quirked a brow, not averting my gaze from his.

I didn't get a chance to ask him before the small aircraft began to descend over snowy mountains.