Radical Base

The place where the agents train, sleep and eat. Rifle, Cannon, Howitzer, Melee and Velocity all live here in their own dormitories. The base is huge, and consists of a number of buildings. The training block where there is a maze in which the agents test their shooting skills, and the main building where the canteen, presentation room, offices and dormitories are situated.


The base was rather quiet considering that it was three in the morning and was a winter's night in the month of September, the day being a Tuesday. Many of the employees at the base--the agents and crime researchers--were sleeping in their dormitories whereas the four canines were on call and were either in their offices or in the main presentation room around the huge table either playing cards or just watching the huge plasma television set up on the wall which had many different channels to suit all of the agents' tastes. The room was mainly used as the entrance hall as well as the presentation room since one would have to walk through it to reach their office.

Suddenly, the doors of the presentation room swung open violently and a man with greying hair and a rugged face trudged through them with his hand holding the arm pit of another male who was younger than the greying man. The older man was Agent Gray, the founder and head of the Radical base, and he was now in his late forties. He was a stern and serious man, but he could have his humorous moments when he wanted. Of course, he wore an FBI uniform, the full black suit with a white shirt and nametag on his right pocket. But the other man however, was wearing somewhat casual clothes. One would have probably mistaken him for a criminal.

"Let me GO, dammit!" The jet black haired older teen yelled angrily as he struggled desperately to remove himself from Gray's grasp. But to no avail, the head agent kept a firm hold on him. "I told you! I don't want anything to do with your goddamn force!" The teen added furiously, his bright blue eyes flashing as they darted around at the faces in the room who he had never seen before.

Melee lay curled up in her chair in the corner of the room, her face in the direction of the television but her eyelids were drooping from tiredness. When the doors burst open, Melee jumped and landed in a heap on the floor but made no noise even though she had banged her head quite hard on the floor. She slowly pushed herself back up into her chair, her cheeks crimson from falling over. She tidied her hair and clothing then let her eyes wander to the new comer. Her eyes lingered on his, as she was mesmerised by their colour then slowly looked away. Who was this guy, and what had he to do with them?

Velocity, who had been playing cards, looking up with a bit of a lazy expression on her face. She was rather curious, but she decided she'd wait before she said or did anything. Agent Grey never did anything stupid or ill thught out, so there must be a reason for him bringing the boy into their midst. She tossed her hand down onto the table; she wasn't going to get any more playing in.

"I'm sure we're not that bad," came a mild voice from the table, Howitzer laying down his own hand as he appraised the boy. True, he probably should have waited, but this boy may as well see the people here were friendly and relaxed, to a certain degree anyway. He contemplated saying more, but decided his sentence sounded better left where it was.

The last of the agents, Cannon, entered into the room with his usual cello case starpped to his shoulder, a scowl already on his face from the scent that he had followed into the building. Instead of voicing his disdain, though, he decided he would just keep his mouth shut and retire to watching some television, but not before setting the case down against the wall. The white-haired male had just gotten back from picking his guns up since he knew he would need them in the coming hours. He sat down on the couch and crossed one leg over the other, mussed his hair and grabbed a bottle of water that was on the table before the couch, uncaring who's it was, he drunk down the rest of it.

The mystery black haired teen glared at Howitzer as he gritted his teeth and finally managed to pull himself free from Gray in a rather disgusted manner as he shot a look at him, too. "I don't need your hospitality." He said coldly, straightening his jacket and pulling it down so the creases disappeared. His collar was pulled up so it reached the bottom of his chin. His hair was messy on top of his head, and there was a lot of it and it was slightly spiked.

Gray stared at him with his arms folded across his rather funnily enough for his age, muscular chest. His ironically enough, grey eyes studied the teen in front of him carefully before he replied to him. "I never said that I was gonna give you bed and board, sunshine. I said work." Gray said cooly with a small smirk.

"Work my ass. You call that working?" The teen nodded at the four agents around the table with a raise of an eyebrow and a slight shuffle of his feet which were wearing rather tatty black and white chucks.

"They're on call, boyo." Gray said pointedly with a small shrug as if the other agents didn't really matter at all right now. "Now do you have a name, or am I gonna have to give you one?" With the other four wolves, Gray had to name each of them himself, and he had named them after different kinds of weapons of course considering his father was in the army and he knew a thing or two about the weapons they used.

The teen scoffed and rolled his eyes, shaking his head in the process. "What am I to you? A goddamn pet?" He asked, his tone of voice rather sour.

Gray chuckled and without any hesitation at all, he slapped the teen on the back as he looked to the four wolves sitting around the table. "I like you, boyo." He nudged the teen in the shoulder and grinned. "This here's Rifle. Make him welcome, eh? One of you show him around the place or something. Make yourself useful instead of trying to win craps." The head agent waved his hand lazily, and with that, he disappeared out of the room, leaving the teen, now officially named Rifle rather stunned as he glared after him.

Melee stared almost nervously round at the others as all the talking happened between Gray and Rifle. Finally when Gray had left she got to her feet and somewhat slowly and cautiously moved towards Rifle. She stopped when she was about a metre away from him and stood silently for a few minutes, her hands fidgeting nervously by her sides. Finally she introduced herself. "I'm Melee. It's nice to meet you Rifle." she said her voice quiet.

"You better watch out. You can't trust new people. He might be some closet pervert and may steal your clothes, Melee." Cannon's foot had began to waggle slowly, a slight agitation working it's way through the somewhat hardhearted canine. "Never know. Panty bandit. Count all your bras and panties tonight."

"Don't worry about him Melee," the long-haired man assured the smaller girl as he stood and stretched, "Cannon's just paranoid." Howitzer flashed a wink at Rifle and carried on lightheartedly, "Seeing as these lot seem too lazy to move it looks like I'll be giving you the tour. Name's Howitzer."

"Ew. Okay, first of all..." Velocity stood, walking up behind Melee, patting her on the head, as if to comfort her somehow. "Don't say that word. It's so disgusting. And second of all, don't be an ass. No one likes 'em." She rolled her eyes, flipping her hair over one shoulder, as if she were brushing Cannon off. "Take good care of him Howie, wouldn't want something bad to happen." She smirked alittle, though she was kidding. Velocity would always hold a soft spot for Howitzer, even though ex's were usually sore at eachother.

"What? Panty Bandit? Or perhaps just panty? Whatever, not like you should care anyways. I'm sure you either go comando or just wear a thong." His foot had quickened, but it went to a dead stop as he slung his leg back to the ground and pushed himself up, obviously fighting back anything more as the muscles in his jaw worked as he ground his teeth together. "I'll warn you like I've warned everybody else. Don't touch that case, or I'll kill you with what's in it. Understood, Closet Pervert."

Velocity glared at Cannon, slapping the back of his head. "Geeze. Grow up." She rolled her eyes again, but didn't deny his comments on her choice of underwear. She swayed her hips as she headed for the door. "Well. I'm going out for a walk. See you guys later." She waved a hand as a good-bye salute.

Melee stared at Cannon because of his comments then turned bright red from blushing. She quickly walked back to her chair in the corner and sat, not sure if she wanted to laugh or cry. She finally just raised her hands and covered her face, to hide the embarassment.

Rifle had moved over to the door of the presentation room and had just leaned against the door frame with his arms folded as some of the agents introduced themselves to him. Honestly, he didn't really care what their names were, or who they were. But their childish conversations made him smirk as he looked at Cannon. "You help her count her underwear, huh? You obviously know a thing or two about them. Look who's the pervert now." Rifle said casually as he looked away and watched as Velocity moved past him. But again, he didn't really seem to care much that she was extremely good looking. Well, he did, but not right now. If anything, he was extremely annoyed at the fact that he had been dragged off the street after he had been sleeping quite happily in the darkness of his favourite alleyway in his German Shepherd appearance. "I can't believe that you guys would even want to work here." Rifle said quietly, more or less to himself.

Cannon flinched slightly when he was smacked on the back of the head, a slight growl catching in his throat. He looked back at the newcomer with mild interest to his breif statement, a brow quirking. "Hm? I never said I... Whatever. Say what you wish. No skin of my bones. Hm.. Chicken.. Sounds good." The agent pat his rumbling stomach and headed off, exiting out of the rom and heading up to his own quarters, having remembered that he had some legs stashed in his minifridge from the previous day.

The long haired man shook his head, mildly amused, before turning to one of the corridors into the base, having been standing practically next to Rifle for the interchange. "We all have our reasons for wanting to work here, and don't let the dingyness fool you, it's actually pretty comfy here, especially the beds. Come on, dorms are this way."

Rifle didn't budge. "And I should follow you because..?" He questioned, his voice rather cold and lifeless as he stared down at the ground with one of his eyebrows raised again. It was obvious that he was still annoyed about being at the base when he had been forced to come by Gray. "There's no point in showing me around. I won't be staying long." Rifle added cooly with a light shrug.

Melee lowered her hands from her face when she heard the two talking. She stood slowly and lifted her pistol that had been sitting beside her chair then moved towards the two. "Why won't you be staying? Is there something wrong with us?" she said quietly to Rifle as she fidgeted with the gun in her hands.

"You may as well look, then you can have a think about if you want to stay," Howitzer shrugged, "I'm not gonna make you, but it beats being homeless by a long shot, and besides, our missions are actually interesting." He paused thoughtfully, "but of course you'll know what we do here if you actually listened to Gray, I didn't either..."

"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" Rifle asked sarcastically after he scoffed a little at Howitzer's reply. "It makes me wonder why you guys would actually want to listen to him since we aren't really.. like him, are we?" He looked at the red headed man this time, and his bright blue eyes flashed slightly. But they soon moved to look at Melee who had spoken to him as well. "I'm not staying because I don't belong here. And neither do you." Rifle answered tonelessly as he practically shoved past Howitzer rather rudely. "Show me what you want. I don't care." He muttered quietly.

A small twinge of anger filled Melee. Her hand gripped more tightly on her gun. "I do belong here." She said her voice unusually strong. "This is my home." She walked past Rifle towards the bedrooms then turned. "We're only trying to help you...maybe you should think about what you say to us before you speak, some people have painful memories here..some don't have any at all." she said her voice quiet and weak again. She looked at Howitzer and smiled weakly. "I'm going to lie down for a while, just call me if you need me." she finished then turned and without one look at Rifle walked off to her room.

The man rubbed his head wearily, "Ouch, that bites. And we do belong here, more than anywhere else anyway, at least Gray treats us as people instead of monsters. This way." The man started walking, hair swaying slightly behind him with his movement, "I didn't listen the first time because I was so young, but I've never known Gray to mistreat anyone." Howitzer grinned and looked over his shoulder, "Oh, and even if you're going to leave I'm guessing you wouldn't say no to having some food first, I have some stuff in the fridge."

Rifle was just about to retort back with another cold comment until Howitzer mentioned the word 'food'. He felt that annoying ache in his stomach which had remained there for the past four days as he lived his sad life on the streets of Seattle. Food sounds good right now, I guess. But that doesn't mean that I've got to warm up to this guy. Rifle thought sourly as he shrugged again. "Whatever. But don't expect me to pay up for the grub." He murmered, looking after Melee and thinking about what she had said to him before she had left. "Some people have painful memories here.. some don't have any at all." Rifle bit his lip and he rolled his eyes. He didn't care, did he?

"Course not, I did say I was offering it," Howitzer commented. Rifle didn't seem so bad, he seemed like a wilder version of himself, and he wasn't going to let anyone back out into that hungry. Besides, it might incite him to stay. "The woman who you were looking at earlier is called Velocity by the way. She was pretty adamant about not joining too. Ah, here we go, my little piece of the base." The oldest of the agents opened his door and held it open for the boy before heading to the fridge and pulling out two ready meals of what seemed to be chili con carne to put in the microwave. If he was going to feed the guy he'd do it properly. "Feel free to look around, but if you're looking at the guns I suggest you're careful, they can be quite sensitive and we have to pay to repair our walls."

Rifle didn't tread near the guns at all as he eyed them carefully in Howitzer's room. He had seen Melee's Colt, and honestly, his whole body had tensed when he had. He hated them. When he rolled back the sleeve of his black jacket on his right hand, he bit his lipand looked down at his wrist where the was a white scar which looked as if it was slicing his hand and wrist in two. "I don't do weapons." Rifle said low, covering his wrist again. But he did do food, and his nose sniffed out the scent of the chili extremely well as he felt the familiar ache in his stomach. Rifle stared around the room, but he didn't appear to be that impressed. Despite being out on the streets for years, at the end of the day, it really was just a room to him.

"Fair enough," came the relaxed reply "Just water to drink then." A series of short beeps announced the food was finished as the rice, then the sauce and meat was tipped onto their respective plates before being carried to the table with knife and fork. "There, eat up." The long-haired man was so tempted so ask a question about the boy, but couldn't think of anything that would be non-invasive, and besides, the boy might appreciate the companionable silence.

Rifle didn't say anything as he moved over to the table and pulled up the chair roughly. He sat himself in it and rested one of his elbows on the table while his other hand picked up the fork next to the plates. Instead of just eating from each plate, Rifle quite simply tipped all of the ingredients together onto one plate and didn't seem to care much at all when some of the rice spilled onto the table. The black haired teen stabbed his fork into the meat, his eyes looking hungry as he felt his mouth water when he stuffed the food into it. It was good. Really good. Rifle hadn't had a meal for days, and this was certainly making up for it. He looked around at Howitzer's place again, and his eyes traced the walls as he studied them.

Howitzer kept his rice and meat on separate sides of the plate, mixing them together at the middle before moving the next lot in. "There are serious advantages to having a job and a place to stay, do you want to hear more about what we do before you decide if you want to stay?" Howitzer waited for the boy to answer, smiling happily as he dug in, oh how he loved quick ready meals, especially when he added a bit of spice, of course he hadn't added any to Rifle's, that would just be cruel...

Again, Rifle didn't say anything, and it certainly wasn't out of politeness because he had his mouth full of food which he chewed quickly and hungrily like the contents between his teeth would disappear in a heartbeat. He simply wasn't a talkative person, so he just shrugged as a somewhat physical reply to Howitzer's question. But it was easy to tell that Rifle didn't care much.

"Fine, just a tad so I don't bore you," Howitzer replied, "We're not tied down to any one thing, we investigate pretty much anything you care to name as long as it's suspicious enough to catch our attention or no-one else can handle it. Yeah it has rough times, but it's never boring, and it's something only people like us can do." He grinned and started eating his own food before it went cold, and once he'd finished he grinned, "If you do come back I'm guessing you'll be in the dorm across and up two from me, so it won't be too hard for you to find. Anything you want to ask?"

Rifle looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah." He stood and scooped up his plates, one on top of the other in one hand with the knife and fork set on top of them neatly. "Where's the sink?" It seemed that Rifle had been listening to what Howitzer had told him, but again, he didn't care at all. He wanted to be free with no worries at all, not stuck inside working for some police force.

"Over by the microwave," the man replied, jerking his thumb back over his shoulder, "If it counts for anything I'd like you to come back, you seem to have more of a sense of humour than the others, 'cept velocity of course." He stood and took his own plate over and put it on the side. "Right, want to see some more of the base or go off and think about if you want to join us?"

---

"Cannon's such an ass," Velocity mumbled to herself, her hands placed pointedly on her hips as she walked along the halls, no particular destination in mind. "And Rifle... He's certainly interesting.." She lifted a hand to run a finger across her lower lip, delving deep into her thoughts. "Hmm..."

Melee popped her head out of her bedroom door when she heard footsteps. "Velocity?" She called her voice quiet. She had went to her room to lie down but in the end had ended up just sitting thinking to herself.

Velocity stopped and smiled, putting her thoughts on the backburner to give Melee all her attention. "Hey girlie," Velocity said kindly, heading back towards the girl's room. Velocity wasn't one to be overly sentimently, or too kind, but... She felt a special bond with Melee. In fact, Melee was the only acception to her "act tough around everyone" rule.

"What do you think of the new guy?" Melee asked quietly as if afraid Rifle could be standing around the corner.

Veolicty scoffed. "He's an outsider." She moved, leaning her shoulder against the wall next to Melee's door. "I don't trust him. He's too.." She gestured with her hands, trying to find the right word. "... I don't know. He's unrully, I suppose." She paused. "Why?"

"No reason, I was just curious as to what your opinion was of him. I think we all need to get to know one another better, then maybe he will stop being so harsh about us. I do not think he is a bad person, he has just been badly treated. I think he will be a great friend to have." Melee replied watching Velocity.

Velocity shrugged, her eyes wandering. She sighed. "I just don't know Melee..." she murmured.

"Maybe we should go and make him feel more welcome, it can't be easy just being thrown into a place like this. Maybe we could ask Cannon to help as well. If the whole group was nice to Rifle..." Melee gently replied.

Velocity's nose wrinkled at the thought, then said, "Well, we might as well see what the bugger is up to.." she forced her form from the wall, spinning once before taking a step towards the hall. "Comin'?" She turned, looking at Melee.

Melee nodded then followed Velocity after making sure the door to her room was securely shut. "Do you think Cannon will help us?"

"I doubt it..." Velocity stated, dragging her feet slightly as she walked, chewing upon her lower lip in thought. "I mean geeze. The guy's an asshole." She rolled her eyes at the thought.

"You shouldn't say things like that about people." Melee said quietly as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Cannon just...likes to say whats on his mind. We shouldn't isolate him for just being honest." It took a lot for Melee to think wrongly of anyone, she always seemed to find the good in everyone and if they ever did bad, she had an explaination for it.

Velocity rolled her eyes again, but said nothing. She didn't want to upset Melee. Cannon... Although good looking, Velocity wasn't sure if he was... Naw. She wouldn't even think like that.

Melee continued walking until she came to the door of Cannon's room. She knocked it lightly then stood nervously waiting for him to answer.

Velocity leaned against the wall again, shaking her head to remove her long strands of hair from her face. She tapped her foot on the ground; impatientce was taking over her.

The sounds of a fridge door shutting, a water bottle cap being twisted off and foot steps came from within the room, a few moments later the inhabitant opened the door and looked out at the two female agents. "Hm.. Yo. Either of ya' thirsty?" Cannon asked, lifting the bottle to his lips and taking a drink of it.

"No, actually.." Velocity said, pushing herself from the wall and running her hands through her hair, pulling it up and letting it fall around her shoulders again with a yawn.

"Well then, if there is no relevance to this encounter, I'm going to shut the door. Is there anything imparticular that you wished to ask or request?" The agent asked with vague interest, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe and staring down at the youngest of the three currenti nhabitants of the hallway.

Melee glanced at Cannon then quickly at the floor, his gaze making her uncomfortable. "Well...I was just uh...um..I was wondering if you...if you would help us." She stammered, blushing with embarassment. "I was thinking if we welcome Rifle a little better, he might stay." she finished finally lifting her eyes from the ground to look at Cannon once more.

Cannon, having retreated back into his room after the question had been asked, though he kept the door open as if he were only retreasting for a few moments... which he was. After grabbing his coat and tossing the box of chicken bones into the trash, the agent walked back to the door, patting Melee on the head. "As long as I don't have to interact with him, I'd be willing to go with you two."

Melee smiled brightly. "Thanks!" She said feeling more confident now. She took a step back then looked up and down the corridor, taking a large inhale of air. "They're in the kitchen. Let's go!" she said looking at both Velocity and Cannon before taking off towards the kitchen.

velocity sauntered after Melee, having almost a cat-like waltz to her steps as she padded along the carpet. She hummed lightly, tossing her hair over one shoulder.

"Like I said, I'm not planning on staying around for long." Rifle said simply, moving over to the microwave like Howitzer had pointed out. He slipped the plates and cutlery into the sink next to it silently, and then gave a short, brief glance at the red headed agent across the room from him. "Thanks for the food." Rifle said, but he looked away and walked straight out of the room before Howitzer could answer him. As he walked however, Rifle suddenly sensed something. Or someone. It was three more wolves, and he recognised one of them as Velocity since he had gotten a good waft of her scent when she had walked past him earlier. "Great.." He mumbled sarcastically, but he carried on walking with his hands stuffed in his pockets as his bright blue eyes found the floor. But since he was looking away, and not in front of him, he walked directly into Melee. "Sorry." Rifle murmered, rubbing the back of his neck and moving aside to walk past her and Velocity and Cannon.

Melee stumbled backwards then steadied herself quickly. "Oh sorry..." she said feeling embarassed. "We were just on our way to find you. I thought we could help you settle in to the base." she said watching Rifle to see what his reaction would be.

Rifle just carried on walking at a steady speed, showing no signs of slowing down or speeding up at all. "No thanks." He answered shortly without turning to look at either of the wolves. "That guy already tried to. Nothing came out of it." Rifle added, jutting a thumb in the direction of Howitzer's room as he carried on walking.

"You think you're tough, don't you?" Velocity stretched out against the wall, a habbit of hers. She watched him with careful eyes. "Think you can fend for yourself out there, don't you?" She scoffed, shaking her head. "You got a lot to learn buddy."

"Please Rifle..." Melee said quietly as she glanced at Velocity as she took a step towards Rifle. 

Rifle seemed to ignore Melee as he turned slightly and looked directly at Velocity, his bright blue eyes studying hers just as carefully as she was watching him. "What? And you're going to teach me the ways of the city?" He then smiled. A slightly mocking smile, though, but it still made him look somewhat pleasant. Good looking, maybe. "You can try to if you really think you can, but I doubt you'll be able to put up with me for long." Rifle paused as he still watched her. "Since.. I'm not like you after all." He raised an eyebrow as he still stood there, hands in pockets, his body slightly turned.

"How do you know? All you've done is sulk and try to act tough ever since you got here. Why should I give you a chance when you haven't even considered giving us one?" She pushed herself lazily from the wall, trying to not let it show on her face that she was looking him over. He's not entirely bad looking.. But still an outsider. Her hiding worked fairly well.

Rifle scoffed and rolled his eyes. He smiled mockingly again and shook his head as he did the opposite to what Velocity did by leaning against the wall with one foot up against it. He looked at her, but he didn't move his head upwards in any way, so when he looked at her, he looked rather mysterious and shady. "Would you give someone who dragged you in off the street a chance? I was happy. I told him that." Rifle explained, obviously referring to Agent Gray. "So you're telling me, that when he invited you here with welcome arms, you ran to him like a sick little puppy? Instead of being who you really are and hiding away from the world in this dump of a place?" He then looked at Melee. "You're growing up in a bad place. You'll be surrounded by things which you won't think are real anymore." Rifle said quietly, his tone serious, but not threatening.

Melee stared at Rifle then sighed. "I would rather be here than on the streets were I was found. You think that you have had a hard life, well at least you remember your past, I remember nothing from just before Howitzer found me when I was thirteen. I have no recollection of my family...or anything like that. This place is all I have...what do you say to that now?" she finished as she fought back the urge to let a few tears spill down her cheeks.

Velocity glared at Rifle, wrapping Melee in her arms. "Hey, don't cry now.." She said softly, giving Rifle a look that seemed to shout, "How could you make such a sweet innocent thing cry? You bastard you!" She gently put her chin atop Melee's head.

Rifle raised his head this time, and he let out a heavy sigh through his nose before he pushed himself off the wall and started off on his way down the hall again. He walked slowly for a moment, and eventually stopped in his tracks. His eyes looked to the side, but he didn't look at the female agents behind him. "You don't want me here with you. I'll bring bad memories into your life, kid, trust me. Bad things happen whenever I'm around. Which is why I have to be on my own." Rifle said, his voice sounding unusually soft, and perhaps delicate. Then, he started off on his way again down the hall.

Melee glanced at Howitzer, Cannon and Velocity before she pulled herself from her friends arms. She cleared her throat to give some time for her voice to steady. "I'm going out for some fresh air." she said giving a weak smile. "Don't be hard on him...he...he just needs to adjust." she said quietly then walked off in the opposite direction of Rifle.

Cannon refrained from saying anything, although he wished to voice his disdain at how easily the newcomer had drug bad memories from Melee's recent past. With a low sigh that seemed to be mixed with a groan or a growl, he pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning against and headed off after the young female, slipping his free hand into his pocket and twisting the cap off of his bottle with his teeth, spitting it out onto the ground and taking a drink of the spring water. "I'll join you." Obviously making up his mind and would not be persuaded otherwise.

Velocity closed her eyes for a moment in a silent sigh, then opened them to look at Howitzer. She smiled a little. He was a constant comfort to her, and part of her missed being with him. The other, more domiant part found it easier to be his close friend.

Melee glanced up towards Cannon but said nothing. She slowly tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear then walked to the front door. "You don't have to come just because i'm a little upset." she said finally as she stopped before opening it.

"Melee, which do you prefer; Cannon being an ass, or Cannon being somewhat human...?" He asked rather bluntly. "And besides, I said I would tag along with you so long as I did not have to interact with what's his lips. I feel I accomplished nothing, not being able to wring his neck for almost making you cry, so until I satisfy my own needs then I'm not leaving your side. Plain and simple. I may not like your kind, but it doesn't mean you're not apart of the agent family, right?"

Melee smiled at Cannon. "Thank you." she said quietly then did something she knew he would hate and make her very embarassed, she hugged him.

Cannon let out a low, mock groan, rolling his eyes, but he nonetheless wrapped his arms around her dainty form. "I didn't say you could touch me, did I? Come on, let's go get the fresh air. I think the fumes from the cleaning supplies are messing with my brain, frying it even more." He released her quickly, pulling away from her as if he had just realized her touch buned his skin.

Melee stepped backwards, smiling as she did but her cheeks still pink from embarassment. "Yeah let's get some air..." she said as she pulled her gun from a secret pocket inside her jacket. She checked the amount of bullets in it then returned it back to the pocket. Melee knew she was probably the only girl of her young age who knew how to handle a gun as good as she did. She didn't know of many other 15 year olds who evened possessed that sort of weapon. She gave a final glance at Cannon then stepped outside.

Howitzer, who had poked his head out of his room to watch the interchange thoughtfully as he leant back against his wall next to the door. Bad things happen around him eh? All the more reason to bring him into the fold, they could deal with bad things, heck, make that dealt, and as he was like them he had few doubts about what those bad things might be. The redhead frowned slightly and pushed up his glasses so that they briefly caught the light. He didn't like the sound of this one bit.

Cannon retreated quickly to the lounge, so to speak, to grab his cello case, not trusting going out without his guns. But, it took him only a few moments to return to the door, the black case strapped to his back as always and both his hand slid in his pocket, the other holding the bottle of water still. Why do I have a feeling something's going to happen..? Without a second thought, he walked out after Melee.

---

Melee pulled herself from Rifle and stumbled to a chair where she sat down quickly. "Can you please get Velocity so she can help stitch me up..." she said quietly not looking at Rifle, her eyes staying focused on the floor.

Rifle slung her coat which was once over his shoulder onto the arm of the chair she was sitting on, and he then shrugged while stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Kid, I don't know where her room is. I'm a newbie remember?" He asked in a matter of fact tone. "Ask him." One of his thumbs jutted in the direction of Cannon.

Melee looked slowly at Cannon. "Cannon....velocity...please..." she said pausing between each word as if it was a challenge to say them. She rested her head on the arm of the chair and closed her eyes. "So tired..." she whispered.

"No. You're so ready to die already, go ahead and fall asleep. I promise you'll get your wish." He muttered snipidly, lying the female body down on the couch before removing the cello case from his back, walking over to the corner and setting it there. "Both Rifle and I have already told you this morning; If you're unable to protect yourself then you're useless. You may as well just die now. And don't tell me it's because you're so young that you can't protect yourself, because protecting one's self is a lot easier than weilding a firearm." Cannon had said all of his little lecture in an even tone, not really upset, not really relieved, but somewhat content with the situation. He kneeled down and opened the compartment for his gun, pulling it out and letting the magazine fall into his hand, a small sigh coming from him. Gotta get more made already.. Sheesh. He reached into the cello case from the small opening and grabbed another magazine, noticing the bullets by feel, they being the explosive ones. With a small hum, he slid the magazine into the gun, placed the salt mixed bullets in the spot which once held the fire bullets, and then placed his gun back into the case before shutting the door.

Melee's eyes closed slowly but she had heard every word Cannon had said. "I'm...sorry...if I caused you trouble...Your right....I...I don't deserve to be here...I am...use...useless..." she said softly her voice growing fainter with each word. Finally her eyes drooped close and her breathing became very shallow.

With little thought, Cannon stood up and walked to the hallway, heading to his room in a quick saunter, his hand balling at his side into a tight fist. He walked into the room and headed for his desk, opening a drawr and pulling out his own medical kit which he only used once or twice. Shutting the drawr with his knee and heading over to his bed to grab a small throw blanket for her, he was reminded that his own little pet had not been fed recently. I'll feed him later. The canine headed back out of his room and shut the door, the knob already locked, heading back to where the teen was currently dying.

With little hesitation, Cannon lifted Melee up from her seat and walked her over to the couch, lying her on it, opposite end since the already dead body took up half of the piece of furniture. He removed her shirt and used it to wipe up the dripping blood, not very gently either, before tossing it to the ground and going through his first-aid kit only to find the supplies he needed; a needle already threaded with stitching thread, alcohol wipes and bandages. He went to work on the agents shoulder, hardly caring if he hurt her anymore than she already was. Pain is a good teacher.

After he finished each stitch he broke the thread and wiped up the needle with an alcohol wipe before tossing it back into the medical kit. He also took the alcohol wipe and used it to clean up around the newly stitched wound on the girl. Cannon opened the roll of wrap and began to wrap Melee's shoulder with it, a small sigh coming from him when he realized he had to buy new medical supplies already. "Stupid girl." He tied the ends of the guaze at her back, dropping the roll of wrap into the medical kit and tossing the blanket over her form to cover her near-nakedness and to keep her blood-drained body warm. With that, he grabbed his kit and headed over to a chair to take a seat and watch a bit of television.

Melee flinched everytime Cannon hurt her. When he had finished and covered her with the blanket, her breathing slowly returned to normal and finally it just seemed like she was in a deep sleep. She curled up underneath the blanket and never before had she looked more like an innocent child, fast asleep.

Rifle had watched Cannon's handiwork, and honestly, he was quite relieved when Melee fell asleep and was somewhat better than what she was just a few minutes before. He sighed lightly and then moved across the room with a casual step, his hands still stuffed in his pockets. When he paused, Rifle's bright blue eyes moved up to look at the notice board on the wall next to the door of the presentation room which led down to the dormitories. As he read each poster on the board, his eyes slowly began to narrow, and he frowned slightly. "Mysterious disappearances of female teens." "Have you seen this man?" "Man slaughters eight women in one night!" Rifle's teeth showed slightly as he read the posters, and he seemed to remember each story within them from the news reports on the televisions in the electrical store whenever he would pass it as he walked along the streets. "What the hell..?" He breathed quietly and his eyes moved to look at the sleeping Melee once he had re-read the poster about the disappearances of female teens. Rifle then looked at Cannon, raising his head slightly as he stepped past him and moved over to Melee where he crouched down in front of her, and simply watched her sleeping form. That poster.. on the board.. That's why you shouldn't be going out on your own. Rifle thought, not really wanting to say what he was thinking out loud in case Cannon would hear him. That way, he might have seemed weak. But still, Rifle reached out his hand and gently pulled up the blanket a little more over the young teen's body, his eyes, now extremely soft, watched her closed ones as he did so.

Velocity had heard all the ruckus from her room, and had been scmapering, running down the halls to get to where Melee was. She skidded and slipped going round a corner, then threw herself into the door with her shoulder to open it, her teeth bared and eyes as narrow as slits. "WHAT HAPPENED!?" She growled at Rifle, grabbing him by his shirt and shaking him a bit. So stupid, so stupid! How could I have let Melee go with these morons? If she's hurt because of them, I swear to God and all that is holy....

"Easy!" Rifle barked low, his eyes flashing as he grabbed her hand, but didn't exactly rip it away from his jacket. "She'll be okay, trust me. She just needs time to recover." He said softly, keeping his voice down as to not wake Melee as his eyes moved to look at her again to check that she was still sleeping. "We were attacked in the library." Rifle added, his hand still absently holding Velocity's on his jacket as he watched Melee.

"Why are you being so loud? Obviously raising your voice will just wake her up, coax her to sit up to try to stopo you from being mean to him and hurt her. Do you want to hurt her anymore than she already is?" Cannon asked, peeking at the two out of the corner of his eyes, then to the female body toe to toe with Melee. With a small sigh, he pushed himself up and headed back over to the couch, staring down at the body as if examining her for any other wounds. "Think you can persuade Howitzer to unlock the door for me to leave?" He asked over his shoulder, obviously asking Velocity.

Velocity glared at Cannon, growling a bit, her hands still on Rifle. "And why would I do favors for you, Cannon? How could you let her get hurt, huh?! She's just a kid for fuck's sakes." She sighed, her voice lowered to barely over a hush. Her brow unfurrowed as she glanced at Melee.

With a small shake of his head, Cannon walked around the couch and headed back to the hallway, shutting the door behind him softly. With a small yawn, the agent headed to his room, removing the key from his pocket and unlocking the door. He shut the door behind him and laid down on his bed, reaching down and opening the cage door so that he could pick up his baby owl, which he did.

Melee slowly opened her eyes and gave a quiet yawn before looking at Rifle and Velocity who stood beside her. "Are you guys ok?" she asked, her voice hoarse, from her throat being dry.

Rifle looked at Melee, his mouth slightly open and his eyes suddenly snapped down to look at where his hand still was. He let go of Velocity's hand in a flash and he cleared his throat, looking back at Melee again. "Yeah. Rest." Rifle murmered, raising from his crouching position and standing where he put a hand to the back of his head and ruffled his black, messy hair. His amulet was visible through the flaps of his black shirt which he was wearing beneath his jacket. Although his jacket was black, there was still some damp patches on it where Melee's blood was.

Velosity rushed to Melee's side, kneeling beside the girl. "Are you alright? Are you okay?.." Velosity rambled out the questions, brushing Melee's hair from her eyes.

Melee glanced up at Rifle then back at Velocity a weak smile on her face. "I'm fine...if it hadn't been for Rifle bringing me back here and Cannon stitching me up, then I probably would have died...they're my heroes." she said her smile broadening slightly.

Rifle's hand lowered from his head and it found his pocket as he looked away from Melee. "Heroes? I wouldn't say that." He said low, looking towards the notice board, but without any real interest in it. "A 'thank you' would be enough for me." Rifle shrugged.

Melee slowly sat up, wincing from the pain in her shoulder and when she realised her top now lay on the floor, wrapped the blanket tightly round her shoulders. She looked at Velocity then sighed. "This is all my fault anyway.." she said quietly.

"Guys, what the hell's this racket and why the hell can I smell Melee's blood from my room?" came the mildly annoyed tone of someone who's just been woken up from a good (if unintentional) nap. Howitzer blinked at Melee and sighed, wondering just how much mess they could get themselves into in the short time they'd not been under his eye.

Melee clutched the blanket tightly around her shoulders as she glanced at Howitzer the way a child would look to its parent when it knows its guilty of a crime. "I had a small accident when I was out for a walk...the accident being that I ran into a demon..." she said quietly.

Howitzer tilted his head for a moment to think, "Well that's better than what I was expecting, are you ok now?" As an afterthought he added, "and should we go investigate this demon if it's attacking people?"

"No." Rifle answered first, his voice extremely firm, yet toneless at the same time as he stood with his back to all of them, hands in pockets. His eyes were looking towards the notice board again, but really, they looked as if they were staring into nothing.

"Howitzer," Cannon called out from his new place at the door of the hallway with his owl on his shoulder, having found that he had absolutely no food for it. "open the door." He ordered rather coldly, his gaze straying from the long-haired male agent to the corpse on the couch.

"Like you need my help to get out, as shown by this little incident" the male agent retorted, lifting Melee's top half slightly to slide himself under and let her lie on his lap, that way he could check her discreetly himself and Melee would have some extra warmth. "Besides look, I'm comfortable now," he added with a grin at Cannon, glasses flashing briefly as he lifted his head.

Melee lay down beside Howitzer, her head on his knee. She clutched the blanket that was around her shoulders tightly, afraid that he would be mad if he saw the huge gash and all the stitcheson her shoulder. Howitzer to Melee, was her big brother.

"If Melee's fine, I'm going." Velosity turned, and she crossed her arms, heading for the door. Her hair swung as she pushed open the door that lead out into the hall.

"I don't care what you lot think happened." Cannon muttered with a small snort. "I've never cared what you thought. And I could care less if that corpse rots on the couch. But you know full well that you and the old man are the only two who can unlock the doors; my owl hasn't had food for a couple of days and he'll be asleep when dawn approaches. Now you either unlock the door or I'll knock you out with chloroform and let him feast on your flesh." His lips had pulled back in a silent snarl, his eyes narrowing slightly as he glared at the long-haired male agent, his tone being full well serious with his threat.

"And here I thought owls could get out of windows." Howitzer drawled, not particularly in the mood for dealing with Cannon. "Not to mention Melee is most certainly alive." With a slight jingle he pulled the key out of his pocket and tossed it to Cannon. "Get it back to me by dawn. Now go knock yourself out..."
That done the red haired agent focussed his attention back onto the girl on his lap. "May I see?" he asked gently, hand on the blanket.

Melee nodded nervously, knowing that Howitzer would want to check the wound properly. She loosened her grip on the blanket so he could look at her shoulder.

Howitzer gently removed the blanket and raised an eyebrow at the bandage. The bandage was fairly good, but the sheer size of it made him wonder if it was a big wound or a long narrow one. Whichever it was Melee was plainly frightened of his disapproval, so he'd better be careful how he probed for information. "That's a pretty big wound," he commented, moving the blanket so he could check to see if there were any more, "I know you said it was a demon, but how did they fight? Rifle, if you can help answer my questions it would be handy too."

"You don't need to know that just yet. Not until she comes back." Rifle said low. "Just make sure that she gets that wound healed. Fast." He added, nodding to Melee's shoulder once and then looking away out through the main doors, wondering whether or not to run at them and smash the glass so he could escape. You can't. You promised Melee, remember? Rifle sighed lightly and his eyes found the floor.

Cannon stuffed the keys into his pocket and walked over to the couch, grabbing the light-haired female corpse and lifting it up from the couch, glaring slightly at Howitzer. "He's still only a baby. A cat could get him." He muttered his disdain, walking out of the room and to the main door of the base, unlocking it once he fished the keys out of his pocket and walking out, kicking the door shut as he walked off in the general direction of the city cemetary.

"Yes, we DO need to know it," Howitzer replied calmly, "We need to know what we're up against, and there won't be time to explain it in a fight," the man gently lifted the blanket back over Melee, then returned his gaze to Rifle. "I don't know what you take us for, but we are NOT children to be cosseted. Just because I said Gray had never been unkind doesn't mean we've had it easy, none of us have. We're just like you. Now, are you going to let us know what we're up against or make it that bit harder?"

Rifle looked up, and his eyes found Howitzer's straight away. "You aren't like me. You aren't like me at all." He said tonelessly, yet it still sounded somewhat firm. "So don't say that you are. I'm only staying here because I keep my word." His eyes moved and they looked at Melee briefly for a moment before the looked back through the doors where rain began to fall heavily. A cold breeze swept through the ajar doors, and Rifle instantly moved over to them and shut them closed. It wasn't the same cold which he had felt in the library, though. It was just weather. "Get Melee to bed. She needs to sleep in a warmer place." Rifle said, his eyes staring out into the city while his hands remained stuffed in his pockets.

Howitzer shook his head slightly. He'd learn. There were only so many ways a human could be part animal, and had he not realised they had ALL been given a weapon name? Well if he was smart enough he'd get it. he gently stood, lifting Melee bridal Style so as not to disturb her. "Much as she needs to sleep in a warm place I don't want to leave her or the entrance unwatched. I think I'd better ask Velocity to take care of her or come out here to join you." The long-haired agent said, partly to himself.

"I don't need anyone to take care of me...i'm fine." Melee said to Howtizer as she clung to him as he carried her.

"Whatever, I'll stay here and watch the entrance. Just get her to bed, no matter how much she protests. She'll thank you tomorrow for helping her when she feels better." Rifle said low without looking away from the city outside. He sighed a little so his breath appeared on the glass of the door which he was standing in front of. He took a hand from one of his pockets and he began to write in the condensation which had appeared on the glass. With his index finger, he wrote, 'Rifle'. The black haired canine simply stared at it for a moment until he raised one of his eyebrows and scoffed at it, eventually wiping it away and going back to his city gazing. I'm not a pet.

"You might not need someone to take care of you if the night stays calm, however I don't entirely trust the night to be calm, so I'm going to ask velocity to let you sleep in her room." Howitzer replied as he came to the woman's door and (seeing as his hands were full) lifted a foot and tapped on the door a few times in what passed as a knock, accompanied by a, "Velocity? Special delivery courtesy of Howitzer and co."

Velosity opened her door, earbuds in her ears, a sports bra and short shorts for clothes on her body. She was drentched in sweat, apparently having opened her door after working out a bit. She pulled one of her earbuds out as she took deep, even breaths. "She need somewhere to sleep tonight?"

"Yeah, apparently there was a run in with a demon, but none of them were entirely descriptive." the red-headed agent replied, "Melee needs somewhere warm and protected to sleep and I need to keep an eye on the front door for when Cannon comes back or if they go after her again." Howitzer smiled at Melee and held her out so Velocity could take her.

"But it wasn't me the demon was interested in....it was Cannon." Melee looked at Howitzer quickly. "We shouldn't have let him go out by himself...he won't be able to kill her, only a female can kill her and she has the ability to possess people...that corpse was her last body...she'll be searching for a new one...Cannon could be in danger!"

"Perhaps, but in your current state you're not good for much of anything expect for bleeding all over the place. So-" Velosity took Melee, so that the girl's head could rest on her shoulder. "you're going to stay here with me. And if anything too terrible happens, I'll go out and save his irresponsible ass. Okay?" Velosity smiled at her, then looked to Howitzer. "Thanks Howie," she said softly, smiling a little at the nickname.

"Well that was some information I didn't have before," he said with a chuckle, "I'll have a chat to Rifle about it, he seems to know more than he's letting on too. If it comes to the worst I'll follow his scent, 'kay Melee?"

"And do what? Get attacked as well! Only a female can kill a female demon, the same as only a male can kill a male demon." Melee replied not really enjoying the fact she was being passed round from person to person like a rag doll.

"Now who said I was going to attack?" Howitzer asked with a grin, "Right now we're playing defensive until we know what we're up against and we can come up with a plan against it first. Of course, if we get ordered to take it on as a mission in the meantime it's all good."

Velosity chuckled. "Don't worry. I'll kill her if need be Melee."

Howitzer smiled, "Now get some rest and heal up, I need to go and talk to our newest friend." With that he lifted his hand in a 'cya' gesture and wandered back along the corridor to the main room. "Rifle?"

Rifle sighed quietly, and with his back turned to Howitzer, he rolled his eyes. Why couldn't they just leave him in peace? He was still looking out of the window at the city outside. "What is it?" He asked blankly without turning. "Is Melee resting yet or does she need an extra pair of hands to get her to go into her room?"

"Relax, I was just going to ask if you'd seen anything. As for Melee, she's with Velocity now and should be fine." The red headed agent replied as he sat down, long limbs draping themselves haphazardly as he too looked out the window. If this mess hadn't happened he could have been watching the stars and the ocean...

Rifle didn't move at all from his spot as he replied. "What I've seen? That depends. It depends on if you will believe me, or if you really want to know what's out there." He said low, his eyes still on the city outside.

"I'd say both," Howitzer replied with a grin, "We deal with the supernatural and the crime on a daily basis, I don't think much is beyond belief. As I'm a curious person I want to know what's really out there too."

Rifle looked away from the city finally and his eyes fell on Howitzer, one of his eyebrows raised. "Then why don't you look out there yourself?" He questioned. "Instead of asking me when you're the agent out of the two of us?"

"Because you see things differently," Howitzer said simply, standing and walking to stand next to Rifle, "and I want to know what you think because you look at things I don't. For example I look at how people react or the way a setting could be used if it came to a fight whereas you might ignore the crowds and focus on the shadows at the edges." The red-headed agent grinned, "That's why people work in a team."



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