BECA HEARD the door slam before she felt it rock through the large apartment- a cool and brutal sweep of air moving against the warm current that the girl was curled up in. She had a knit blanket wrapped around her shoulder- one that she had kept since she was a little girl. It smelled like her in every right, fingers wrapped around the fabric as she struggled to ignore the dull ache against her cheek.

A bag of frozen green beans was on the glass coffee table in front of her, collecting a thin layer of droplets as they thawed out. She had held them close enough to the lesion on her cheekbone before it grew numb and cold to the touch. Now she was just thinking- thinking about what Gail had said and how much exhaustion really wracked her body.

"Shawshank!" The accented voice rang out, Beca pausing the documentary about the cartel that she was balls deep in. She had zoned out through most of it, the soothing voice of the narrator pulling her to a drowsy calm. "We brought take-out."

Beca perked up at that, letting the blanket drop around her shoulders a bit as she stared over at her two friends. They indeed were bringing in large plastic bags that wafted with the scent of Chinese food- the shorter blonde carrying a toothy grin as she set it on the nearest counter.

The loft was a large one; it was an open floor plan, a dull glow moving through the wall of factory windows that was located right across from the front door. This place used to be part of a mill- one that the city converted to apartments instead of tearing it down. It had such a rustic and sleek vibe, one all three girls fell in love with almost instantly.

"Oh, some new battle scars?" Stacie said, the leggy brunette lifting the chain of the door as she slid it into place. She had pulled the edges of her button-down from her brown belt, letting the maroon fabric pool over the leather.

"Did you get pot stickers?" Beca asked, rolling her eyes at her friends looming concern as Amy placed the bags on the counter, quick to shed her jacket from her shoulders. She gave the smaller girl a dark stare. "I mean, Hi, how was work? Did you get pot stickers?"

Stacie scoffed, placing her over the shoulder bag onto the floor as Beca began to pull little white boxes from the brown paper sacks, the scent of soy sauce and rice making her stomach clench in an undeniable hunger. It almost made her feel nauseous.

"Left bag," Amy said, turning her back to the pair as she grasped three glasses from the cabinet. They had a nice routine going, usually, Beca would have dinner made and served at this point, but after the morning she had she called in a favor towards her roommates. "And work was fine, Gail was a lot calmer after you got those files back-"

"Mm," Stacie shoved a snap pea into her mouth as she shoved the rest of the contents onto three separate plates. "We've been working on a way to reinstate failed neurons. There might be more at stake then soma, dendrites, and axons. At least we thought there was more. Some people have-"

The brunette trickled off as she caught a look at the two women who had dumbfounded looks on their faces. She knew that explaining her role at L-Corp was futile. The whole entire company was an exclusive way to improve National city. Only the best minds got a chance at their reinks, and Stacie was lucky enough to shadow one of the brightest scientific minds in history.

"I'm making brain function better." She deadpanned.

"Oh,"

"See, that makes sense," Beca spoke at the same time as Amy. "It's better than getting into fist fights in alleys… I mean, you'd think bad guys would pick a better place to run. Maybe a bath and body work's or something. But it's the same old."

"You want hired criminals to lead you to a soap store?" Stacie passed a plate Beca's way before graciously accepting a glass of water that Amy handed her way, licking her lips at the sight of food after a long and tedious day.

"Well, maybe not a soap store." Beca shoved a fork-full of rice into her mouth as she chewed slowly, revealing in the taste. "Just not some trash coated alley. I never knew this city had so many of them."

"Mm," Amy hummed in agreement as the three girls fell into a comfortable silence, the sound of metal against glass was enough to drown out their overwhelming thoughts- Beca raising her glass to her lips, not taking a sip, but speaking into it instead.

"How's Chloe?"

The blonde stopped mid-chew, cocking her head to the side. The two of them worked at Barden together, Amy was the tech girl, she came into a lot more contact with the spunky brunette than Beca ever did. Still, if the shorter girl made more effort than she would talk to Chloe more than once a month.

"I'm not answering that question," Amy said, shifting her position at the counter.

"What? Why?" Beca squeaked, feigning offense.

"You've been pining for this girl for months now." Stacie cut into the conversation. "Amy is not some Australian watchdog for your love life."

"A dingo."

"What?" Stacie furrowed her brow, waving her hand in front of her face as the shorter woman gulped down some of her water, placing the half-empty cup onto the counter. "Never mind… I just, talk to her."

"For your information, I did talk to her." Beca pointed the edge of her fork at the two, straightening her back. "Today actually. She gave me ice."

"She always gives you ice." Amy pointed out "Which is a lot because you can't stay out of trouble for one damn minute."

"I'm the head of Gail's security detail." She shrugged her stiff shoulders. "If I don't get hurt I'm not doing my job. Besides, I've got a thick skull."

"You're not kidding." Amy scoffed "Shorty, I'm pretty sure Chloe Beale is just some normal timid girl who goes home to a cat after she gets off work. That doesn't change. She's the same every single day. Has been since she started working at Barden."

"Two,"

"What?" Beca asked, knitting her eyebrows together.

"I bet she has two cats," Stacie shrugged, holding up her fingers in a peace sign "Two."