Thank you for all those who've stuck with me thus far through this series and giving it a chance. You don't know how much that means to me, you guys rock!
So at the end of the last one I did said I was going to do an Epilogue...and I apologize for going back on that. I ended up scraping for a multitude of reasons, if you'd like to know those reasons I'll be happy to tell through a PM. So I deeply apologize again for not pulling through on that. :(
Anyway with a new story comes...Disclaimers! There a ton of characters I don't own you know who they are and I take no credit for them.
For those new to my Chronicles of the Shield series, this is Episode 3 following Operation: Origins, and Operation: Chimera. This might not make sense to you if you've not read those ones yet. They're pretty fun, so check them out if you've got a chance. With that said, here we go with Operation: Cerberus. We're starting from Seth's PoV and as usual italics are people over the comms. Enjoy! :D
The Daily Grind
We waited patiently for Roman to give us the signal, well I was anyway...patience and Dean Ambrose don't even belong the same sentence. The Atlean and I looked at one another sighing, just what was Roman up to. He had intended on taking on the front of the building allowing us to take point at the roof and make our way down. The intended target was on the thirteenth where they were holding hostages at gunpoint. We were on the stairwell on the between the fourteenth going down to the target floor on this twenty-two story office building. Why did it have to be a skyscraper of all things?
I reached up to my ear piece, "What are you doing?" I asked the older man. I grew tired of his waiting, and I'm sure Dean was as well. He didn't need to say much, but the annoyed look on his face said it all. He hated waiting, and sometimes his impatience made him inadmissible to live with. They knew we were here, since Roman wasn't exactly the quietest person around especially when it came to throwing people around like they were oversized dog toys.
"The same exact thing as I was doing five minutes ago, little brother, and if you ask me again five minutes from now what I'm doing...I'm going to be still doing the exact same thing. Are you not enjoying quality time with our lunatic?" I rolled my eyes and the chuckle from Roman's end definitely said that he could imagine me doing so. Roman had stormed the front door making it clear that he meant business, while he distracted them at the front Dean and I took out the back and we'd all meet on the floor. "Oh you might want to join Dean by the way." I blinked for a second before turning to my left finally noticing a missing warmth from my left. When did he leave? How did he get by me without me noticing?
Picking up my pace again, I bolted down the staircase to where yellow painted door had been thrown open. I could quickly hear sounds of gunshots and the only thing I could do was hope to myself that Dean was safe. I was supposed to be the one watching his back, and for him to take off the way he did couldn't have been good at all. I came to see that Dean was viciously beating one of the black clad men with Ceadeus, with two more coming around the corner.
I lept for the two men batons in hand and fully extended. One of the ski masked men took the my left one across his jaw, with my intent aiming for dislocation. I dodged as the other came at me with the butt of his rifle, and he ended up with one of my knees in his gut. I slipped down grabbing one of his shoulders to use him as a shield as the other came back up, clearly angered as he tried the same with using the end of his rifle as a deadly weapon only to catch his partner. I shoved the one I used as a shield into the other flipping the switch on my right baton, illuminating it a pale blue and crackling with electricity. I drove that one in the neck of the one I shoved and the one with the dislocated jaw took a knee to the head. Both were on the floor dribbling in an unconscious state.
I caught a whistle behind causing me to nearly jump at Dean. I stopped myself with only centimeters between my baton and his head. With the way his eyes beamed I could tell he was grinning through that mask no doubt with those lady killing dimples on full display. I rolled my eyes at him too, seeing as our end was practically blown. "I swear your impatience, Dean."
"Yeah well waiting for Roman wasn't getting us anywhere, and I'm getting hungry." Another thing I learned about Dean in the last six months was that he was a bottomless pit when it came to his stomach. It was because of that hunger of his was why we were always flat broke. If it wasn't for Roman's cousin, we'd probably still have to be taking up shelter in the Pegasus training facility.
"Do you know that you guys have five minutes before we gotta pull the plug? I need a status report anyone? Reigns? Rollins? Ambrose?" Since the mission had started Randy had remained radio silent for the most part, but the complete lack of shock or worry in his voice was nothing new and us procrastinating on the final stretch of the mission wasn't anything new either. The Colonel was being equally as playful right now as we were to one another. It just went to show the amount of trust there was between the four of us, all built up in the six months we had been working with Orton.
There was snickering behind me, and over the radio. I suppressed my own trying to remain the level headed one but really my older brothers did make that really hard. Dean and I looked at one another and could tell we were both wearing that same infectious grin behind the mask. This was becoming dangerous once again, and it was fleeting moments like these that always reminded me of that very first day in Astros where we stopped the embezzlers. It always left the question in my mind: What did I do so right to deserve people like Roman and Dean?
"I'm coming up to the thirteenth floor now, don't worry Randy, we'll only need two minutes." There was yet again a mocking laugh over the comms from all three of us. Dean and I had already cleared out the rest of this floor it was just waiting for the big dog to come around the corner, and speak of the devil and he shall appear. The three of us met half way down the hall where the target door was in question. "We've reached the door."
I didn't even need to be in the same room as the Colonel-excuse me he's a Brigadier General now, to know that he was grinning to know we had arrived. He had praised us, and liked 'loose cannon style' as he put it. He often liked to remind us that we were different from the Special Ops teams in the past, and wanted to use us as an example to other up and coming agents about comfortability with your teammates, and it was true. From my observations other teams were not on the levels as we were as far as talking and having a good time. Being the black sheep that we were had it's benefits, in three months after The Shield had been established he had promoted Dean and I to Second Lieutenant, and Roman had been promoted to a full Colonel. He wanted us to have as much freedom and leisure without suspicions of favoritism from his superiors. Randy wanted us to have that so that we didn't let up on the bond we had grown. We don't even introduce one another as teammates anymore, only as brothers.
We waited behind the door waiting for Roman to give the count down. He reached up for that ear piece, "Release the hounds." That was the queue, that had been our queue since we declared ourselves as the Hounds of Justice. We even each added an emblem to our gear to point us out from the other Special Ops unit. All three of us had the patch sewn in on the upper left part. It consisted of a shield, with the words and just blow it was a Cerberus that looked like it was on the prowl. The three headed dog represented who we were. Three minds in control of a single unit, each functioning together. We were the Cerberus, we were Alliance bloodhounds.
Our oldest brother started off the same way he usually did when it was time to make his presence known...with a loud roar before sending the door flying backward off it's hinges. I still don't understand how he was as good as he said when he practically opened up every door with a intense primal-like roar that could rival a lion. But subtlety and Roman Reigns didn't belong in the same sentence either. The raven haired man charged in first quickly picking the door up and using it like a shield to block incoming bullets.
Next was Dean's turn, he was normally on civilian duty since he quickly treat any that were hurt, and with his seeing and hearing he could sense anything that might be a threat to the escaping hostages. He ran in after the bullets had stopped. He began to quickly check and undo the bounds on the anxious civilians with a sharpened arrowhead. Without even looking away from the civilians he jabbed an end of Ceadeus into one of the hostile men that some how managed to get around Roman. Once the black clad terrorist keeled over the last hostage scrambled out of there nearly tripping on her own legs. The middle brother of course the last to slip out to lead them the way down.
And finally, it was my turn. With gun in right hand and stun baton in left I decided on stealth to get the jump. My body now rendered intangible, I slipped in unannounced raising the gun to shoot the one Dean had been dealing with in the shoulder. I ducked to avoid the door that Roman was haphazardly swinging to knock two of the terrorists against the wall, rendering them unconscious. With the last one distracted by the big dog I took my baton that lit up like a bright beacon in the dark room and drove it into the neck of the one still standing. With three unconscious and the last nursing a bullet wound to the shoulder our end was done, they were now for the local law enforcement to deal with. For us it was now making it to the bottom floor to rendezvous with Dean on and our mission was complete.
"Hostages safe and sound, I'll be down here bandaging a few up. Do hurry down though, I'm getting pretty hungry." Roman and I exited the room looking at one another shrugging. He mentioned that earlier didn't he? It was pretty typical of the Atlean to announce when he wanted sustenance, as his brothers we were pretty sure it was an act for the most part, like his own way of saying "hurry up". Although he was a little more polite about it than usual which meant someone was in his care at the moment. We weren't sure what it was about having patients that put him at such ease.
We tip toed around the unconscious bodies like it was another typical day at the office, which it was (for us I mean, I feel terrible for the poor hard working civilians here). We got to the elevator, just pushing the down button and waited for a few minutes as the ding caught our attentions. So did the man that groaned slowly getting up from the floor. His face got to meet my knee as he slid right back down to the floor of the elevator. Roman decided to help make it less cramped by picking up the corpse and tossing it out the door before they could close on us. I pushed the button to take us to the ground floor lobby where Dean would be waiting for us.
We made it to the ground floor taking time to step around the law enforcement and out of their way. We were eyed occasionally by the officers but their eyes only beamed in delight, and the occasional thanks thrown our way. I looked down trying to hide my own emotions, it's not often are we thanked for our efforts. It's not that I didn't appreciate their thanks, but really it was just our job.
We the main entrance to finally find Dean who was kneeling at the bottom of the steps with a little girl sitting in front of him, and his mask sitting at the top of his head. He was smiling and ever so often speaking in a very calm and relaxed manner. I felt a hand on my chest when I looked up at Roman who was shaking his head. We just observed the scene from a distance. The first thing I noticed was that the child looked beyond terrified with the way her body was quaking and reaching up occasionally to wipe the tears from her face. Then there was the Atlean who very slowly and as usual carefully was wrapping up the child's elbow. He reached down for a smaller sized sling and slipped it over her head and gently shifted her arm into it adjusting it to her size.
Even after all this time working with him, I'd be used to his instant personality switches but still he amazed me. I watch him pick up the small child cradling her in his arms and taking her over to one of the paramedics standing around. I watched him mutter something to the child which caused her blue eyes to sparkle in happiness. With one last swipe to her face with his thumb he died the last of her tears, before hand her to the paramedic with out stretched arms. He took a moment to have one last goodbye giving her a wave as she reached up her good arm and energetically waved farewell to him with a huge smile on her face.
Finally Roman gave the okay to walk down the steps and meet up with Dean. We both lifted our masks to sit on top of our heads. "You seem pleased with yourself," I told him truthfully. We looked around to see that the civilians and news reporters started to clear out. Finally did we decide to move and head down the street, at this point procrastinating around was something we did rather than just call for an extraction. Orton didn't seem to mind so as long as he knows the mission was complete. "Leviathan seems to be acting up more and more lately."
Roman placed a hand on his chin to think. He's dealt with them before, so maybe he might be able to shed some light on this whole situation. Lately, in the last month our missions have been to clear out another Leviathan hold out. They are somehow scrambled all across the city, and it's been this way since Lorken's detainment. I didn't want to think the two were related but, there was that chance since Mizanin was also working with them at the time as well. "Probably using the recent media attention as a means to get heard. But these have been small groups lately. Their attacks seem to have no real direction lately other than just a public place. The Colonel-"
"Brigadier General." corrected Dean wearing a typical smug smile.
The raven haired man just chuckled at his correction, "The Brigadier General, has been looking into this. But he can't quite pinpoint a motive. The attacks are so sporadic no real direction. Until investigations get to the bottom of this, the only thing we can do is stop the attacks. Our duty is to the people first. Isn't that right Second Lieutenant Ambrose?"
Dean looked away looking annoyed, which only caused the playful grin on Roman's face to grow wider. He knew the Atlean hated to have his rank thrown in his face, because it was a constant reminder that he was an Alliance soldier. "I'm a medic, of course I'm dedicated to the people. Isn't that why I'm civilian duty?" We continued walking down the blocked off street until we reached the very end where a helicopter was waiting for us. I finally gave the first yawn of the night signifying that I was exhausted.
This had become a daily routine for us. Once sometimes twice a week in the last six months there was some sort of small investigation or attack on the city that needed to be quelled. We accepted every mission with no complains, and completed every single one with no botches. We began earning the praises of our superiors, and calling us the heart of Special Ops. We tried to think not much of it, and thought we were just being good soldiers. With no one breathing down our throats we had hoped that eventually one of our missions would give us a lead on the missing test subject that destroyed Ursa Minor.
The helicopter as usual dropped us off at clearing on the south end of Cassiopeia. From here we hiked up the small hill where our current lodging was. We came to a large white mansion brightly lit up against the chilling night time late autumn air (we probably should start considering gear with long sleeves). As usual we hopped the small wall to get in from the sliding glass back door. The noises of the helicopter taking off was our signal that our activities for the night had come to a close. It was finally time to relax.
The mansion that served as our current housing belonged to Roman's older cousin who was hardly ever home, so he let us use it. It had the same white walls as the outside, and finely polished light colored hardwood flooring. It was so spacious it had good acoustics that often times Dean forgot about, even though we had been living here for four months he wasn't used to living in such a large home. The kitchen and the living room were one room separated by a long breakfast bar, with every counter top and cabinets complimented by fine dark cherry wood polished to perfection.
Roman's cousin was hardly ever home, since we started living here we may have met him maybe four times and only for a couple of days. He was quite fond of us, and treated us like family. He had a very comforting smile, and when he was here he insisted on cooking for us. His mannerisms and sense of humor matched that of his cousins and they acted a lot like brothers. I could tell that the big dog and his cousin Dwayne were quite close. I began to wonder if he was like that with the rest of his family.
Before running up the stairs to change into something more comfortable I heard a loud grunt that snapped my attentions back to my brothers. I caught myself from laughing out loud when I saw Roman standing there eye twitching as he stared down the pile of papers and books Dean left on the dining table. Most of the time when we weren't out on a mission or exercising he was sitting with a book in hand and piles of research papers. He often didn't clean up when he was done, most of the time we'd catch him in the morning using the same pile of papers as a pillow. This was pretty common, Roman was quite a neat person where Dean seemingly didn't care where he left his mess.
As our big brother began his lecture about not turning his cousin's house into complete shambles, that laugh I was holding back came out. The two turned their attentions to me and I knew that meant trouble. I tried to bolt for the stairs but was quickly caught and tackled to the ground by the two larger men. I struggled to throw the mass of weight off me but to no avail, but that didn't keep me from squirming.
With enough shifting and jostling around, I managed to slip out from underneath and it was now Dean and I pinning our older brother down, but of course that's impossible. He flips both of us with one arm each now being the one pinning us down. Now Dean and I had to work together. Nodding at one another, we each grabbed an arm and slipped out from underneath him. Still holding one of Roman's arms each we shifted to wrench his arms behind his back pinning him stomach first to the floor. The wide open spaced room echoed in a fit of boisterous laughter and the rough housing of three grown men acting like teenagers.
The wrestling on the ground continued until we were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat entering from the foyer of the mansion. He looked like he was getting a laugh himself seeing us roll around on the ground like children. He was always quite an intimidating presence. He was larger than Roman in both height and muscle mass, and had a similar tribal tattoo like the big dog's that covered his bicep on his left arm and the tattoo of a bull head on the opposite. Both were on display, peaking out from under his tight back shirt, after hanging his thick jacket in the closet by the front door. He had a heart warming smile as his brown eyes scanned the room.
"Well at least nothing is broken," he said holding out an arm to help us up. I took a hand of his hand first as he was able to help me up like I was a feather to him. I've known Roman to do that too, but I always thought it was because of his super strength, Dwayne was just a naturally strong person as well. Eventually all three of us were hoisted off the floor.
"What's up, Uce?" exclaimed Roman giving his older cousin a hug. None of us had expected him home, since he was normally out all the time. None of us really knew what he did other than that he was famous, his likeness often featured on magazines and other media especially here in Cassiopeia and Astros.
Of course I was not without my manners, "Welcome home, Dwayne." I greeted him with a small bow of my head. I couldn't quite get over my old habits of how I was raised. Especially since I was a guest in this home. He raised an eyebrow at me, I don't quite he was used to my mannerisms but he appreciated them nonetheless.
His charming smile never seemed to fade as he started acting like our older brother. "Seeing as you guys have yet to change out of your gear, I'm assuming you guys just got back as well." He made his way to the kitchen and with no room to argue started just pulling things from the fridge and the pantry. I frown a bit since he beat me to cooking dinner. "Do whatever it is you guys do to relax." I often that thought that Dwayne spoiled us just a little, but he liked to remind us that as long as Dean and I were Roman's brothers he'd treat us like family as well. He was a good man, and hoped one day I could repay him.
"Dean your research." said the raven haired man as he pointed to the pile of papers still remaining on the glass top dining table. The middle man frowned like a child before collecting his papers and books and headed up the stairs to his own room. The sounds of showers and heavy footsteps began to echo throughout the large abode, as each of us had our own ways of unwinding and relaxing especially after a mission.
I had a small safe kept in my quarters for my gear since they were one of a kind and I don't think I'll ever be able to get anything like it ever again, so I did my best to take care of it. Despite how it was a constant reminder of the events of the training facility, I didn't want to count out that my gear was a miracle to have. I also kept my dogtags in there since it too was quite an important piece to me. It not only reminded me of who I was today, but I had hand etched on the back of one of them the day we declared ourselves as brothers. As I folded up my gear neatly I eyed the red journal on my desk. It hadn't moved from it's spot since we started living here, nor have I opened it up since our first mission. I locked up my gear in that small safe and changed into something more comfortable.
We sat around the glass dining table enjoying the meal that Dwayne was so kind enough to cook for us. I was fading in and out of conversations as Roman talked about family with his cousin and Dean was trying to talk my ear off about some new medical procedure some doctors back in Atlas just started practicing. I really didn't understand most of the stuff he was trying to tell me so I just sat there and enjoyed the atmosphere, until the oldest man caught our attentions.
"Since I got all three of you here, I thought I might be able to let you guys know something. I've been asked to hold a dinner party here in honor of the new Prime Minister." The three of us looked at him with blank stares and jaws hung open. I think I needed to hear that one more time because I think my heart had just skipped a beat. I felt like there was more to this, before Roman ended up speaking up.
"If we're not out on a mission, we can clear out for the night if that's what you're asking." he told his other cousin with a smile. I really had hoped that was the case too. I wasn't new to the concept of dinner parties. I grew up a noble in Wyndmere and it was the most formal way we knew how to socialize and meet one another personally. I never really did like them though, Mereian nobles are very stuck up compared to the wealthy people in the Alliance.
Much to my dismay though, Dwayne slowly shook his head. I felt like whatever he had to say I don't think any of us were going to like. "There's a reason why it's being held here, Roman. She wants to meet you and your team, also a lot of the family is going to be here too." Those gray eyes of our older brother looked very disgruntled. Other than Dwayne we've not met any of Roman's relatives and since we started teaming together there were hardly days we were even apart. I looked over at Dean who also looked a little shocked. I'm pretty sure he knew nothing about formalities and probably didn't want to be surrounded by so many people.
It seemed like Roman was cornered, from how he spoke family meant everything to him. I knew that look in those gray eyes. Confliction. He was conflicted on telling his cousin that it might be a bad idea, but also not letting down his family. Slowly he nodded his head, we owed his cousin so much and I felt like this might be small for what he's done for us. Dwayne turned his attentions to both Dean and I, we had no choice. It was going to be an uncomfortable experience, but the oldest man probably wouldn't be forcing us into something we didn't want. I was meant to be hidden though, not seen in the public eye and here I was agreeing to meet a bunch of people I don't know.
My mind already started playing every scenario that could go wrong. What if we make the prime minister crossed? What if we're not what Roman's family are expecting? I felt like disaster was just reeling to be started. Also, we really didn't own anything formal enough to wear anything at a dinner party except maybe our military uniforms. My dark thoughts seem to just be seething.
I watched as Sasha happily placed our breakfasts down in front of us. It was a slow morning for the girls, as seeing that tourist season was over with early winter just around the corner. When asked the girls didn't seem to mind either, it was a chance for them to recharge their batteries, restock, and devote more of their time to the locals that came in like us. I sat there quietly just listening to the conversations. Becky and Bayley seemed to be interested on whatever Dean had to say, or they were just addicted to that charming smile and Roman seemed to be enjoying Charlotte and Sasha. I didn't feel left out, but I wasn't much in the mood to talk.
When we gathered like this with anyone, there was always one of us that wasn't in the mood, but the other two didn't seem to mind to pick up after the last. This was our daily routine after all. It was rare to get all three of us talking, the girls and even Dean and Roman knew not to push the third. He'd talk when he was ready to speak. I just sat looking out the window sipping my coffee watching the sun shimmer on the ocean. Even this close to winter the sight was as beautiful as ever just like how it looked in the spring when we arrived. I used it as a distraction as I kept having to tell myself attending this dinner party was small to what we owed Dwayne really. But meeting the new Prime Minister is what had me in all kinds of knots.
While I was focused on the ocean I didn't even notice that Bayley had come back with another cup of coffee for me, "Just the way you like it, Seth." she happily smiled before returning her attentions back to Dean. I took a sip and cracked a smile, these girls did know us too well. The small tang of cinnamon well blended with cream but not overpowering to where you couldn't taste the bitter drink. It was a recipe I taught her when we first started lodging here in Cassiopeia, brought over from one of my few fond memories in Wyndmere. It was served in every inn in every town across the small providence. A tiny piece of my culture to share with the girls, like my own hand extended in friendship. She said the recipe had become popular with almost all the regulars. It was enough to get me to concentrate on the the scenery and away from the ongoings.
I couldn't have been older than sixteen when the first guests for the party arrived. Just as I was told I was supposed to greet any and all that walked past the foyer, and was told to do my best to remember their names. Although later on in the night there were so many people I couldn't remember everything. None of the guests seemed to be offended, since it was my first time actually participating in one of my parent's events. Most of the guests liked to remind me that I was beginning to look more and more like my father. I smiled through it all, but deep down I just wanted to be somewhere else. That hollow feeling was something I could never forget. Any chance I got I slipped away to have a few minutes to myself, before making it back like nothing had happened.
One of the times I slipped away, my mother had noticed at the time. She caught me on the balcony on the second level that looked out over the trees down the hill with the mountains sitting behind them illuminated by the silver moon. Her gentle hand came down on my shoulder, I turned my attentions to her slowly giving her a shy smile. She was wearing a long flowing elegant dark blue dress that well complemented her bright blond hair. She knew I was tense, and that I was not enjoying the company.
She always knew when there was something in my mind, she'd always tell me there was a twitch on my lips when ever something was bothering me, and that same twitch never changed as my brothers now tells me the same thing. She simply smiled at me, knowing that my mind was in absolute distress. She knew every way to calm me down, it had been this way since I had started studying the journal. "Tell me what is bothering you." she asked very calmly and gently.
My lips thinned thinking on what to tell her. I didn't want to lie, she was my mother. "I don't understand why I need to remember who most of these people are. As soon as I complete father's task most of them are going to run for the hills." I leaned over the railing letting the cool night air hit my face drying the sweat that had collected on my brow. "Maybe I just don't understand any of this. Why don't we just join the Alliance?"
My mother stood behind me placing both her hands on my shoulders her long fingers massaging them gently trying to get me to relax. She leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on my hair as if she was trying to tell me everything was going to be alright, back then there was a chance she was right. All I wanted was for her to be right at the time. "This is all about moving forward, Colby. That's why you must take care of this, to show the next generation...your generation that you're not going to back down. You and I have talked about this before, the world is ready to consume us. As for the men down there,.they will run for the hills, let them...they won't survive the wolves." her last words seemed cold. It seemed she cared for them as much as I did. She knew that our riches were a veil.
I took a deep breath, the bone chilling tone that she had taken when she spoke. "Have you ever killed anyone, like father has?"
I was surprised when she shook her head no, but she was still well aware of what he did. "Before you were born, I used to help your father set up his kills. I was very good at covering my tracks which is something I'll help you learn to do as well. Come back downstairs when you're ready, we have to wish the guests a good night." I watched her walk away leaving me with my thoughts on the side. That was one of the last moments I shared with her. One of my fondest memories of my beautiful mother.
This whole idea of a dinner party was beginning to bring back many old memories I thought I had locked away, and even the coffee reminded me of them. Most of my fondest memories of Wyndmere were of my mother. Although it was my father was the one who had taught me to fight it was my mother who taught me stealth. I let out a sigh taking the last sips of my coffee, only to look up and see that everyone had been staring at me.
I gave them all a blank stare back as I put my cup down slowly. What were they all looking at? Did I miss something while I was turned out of their conversations. I picked up my fork finishing the last of my breakfast as they sat there saying nothing waiting for me to say something. "What?"
Charlotte was the first to speak, "Seth you need to dress these boys up. They seem hopeless." She had a mischievous smile on her face, while I was tuned out it seemed like they were wanting me to find a good look for Roman and Dean. It sounded like they didn't have anything dinner party worthy and it figures wearing our uniforms was out of the question.
Then again they weren't wrong either. I seemed to be the only one of the three of us with some sense of a fashion sense. Dean always wore plain shirts and jeans, while Roman tended to wear anything that clung to his figure. Now that I thought about it they really were hopeless. Who was I kidding though, we're flat broke, I mostly blame our middle brother's seemingly never ending hunger. "No money," I replied. Roman and Dean merely hung their heads at it, and just as the older brother opened his mouth to speak, "We're not borrowing from your cousin. That's not right at all and you know it." What an odd world we lived in that the youngest was the most sensible, but I guess that's why they called me "The Architect".
This was certainly an odd state of affairs we were in, but we wouldn't be The Shield without some sort of dilemma on our hands. It was all apart of our daily grind.
Thing have settled down a little, here's the daily life of The Shield. I didn't realize how many page breaks were in this one. I don't know how other people use page breaks, I use them as mostly as a change of scene as you can tell. A slow start to this one, but this one is gonna be good.
~CrisisExceed