That night I ate dinner with Caboose and Minnesota. They didn't have much food in the fridge or pantry. I did learn how to make instant ramen in the microwave, though. Pathetic, huh? Caboose is pretty much just a child trapped in an adult body. He just seems to want a friend and he lets everyone in. I don't think I want to see the day when his spirit becomes crushed.

I couldn't sleep at all. I kept tossing and turning, hoping that eventually my mind would shut off, but it didn't. I went to grab my helmet to check the time. To my surprise, it was already two a.m. I usually wake up at around that time. I even made sure to get in bed by eight thirty p.m. I held my helmet in front of me and just decided to go out for a walk. That's all I needed, right? Just some time to get used to my surroundings. It's a new place. Of course it would take forever to fall asleep! I cracked my door open to make sure no one was outside. When the coast was clear, I opened the door as much as needed and slid out of it. After closing the door behind me, I just took a stroll through the hallways. So many thoughts of both mine and Zeta's filled my head. I didn't know what to do. I was just too tired. I was just too scared. Clank! The sound of metal on metal reverberated throughout the hallway. I winced as I waited for the sound to go quiet. When I opened my eyes, I saw a white light shining at me and a light blue wall of armor.

"Agent Tennessee?" It was Church, "Dang, you're short." He laughed. Now's probably not a good time to mention it, but when I mentioned my hight in previous chapters, I included the extra five to six inches that the armor gives off.

"Agent Arizona said the same thing when he met me." I sighed, trying to bypass the leader of this team.

"And you seem a little young to be a Freelancer." He snarked.

"No need to be an ass about it. Minnesota is only a few months older."

"Well sorry for being surprised. Your voice makes you seem like you're in your early twenties."

"Good night, Church." I walked away from him. Honestly, at this point, I wouldn't have been surprised if he followed me. It was actually surprising that he didn't. I guess that a woman needs her space.

I walked up to the roof of the base. A light breezed flowed through my hair. The stars where beautiful. Believe it or not, you aren't really able to see this in space. You need a planet in order to be able to gather the beautiful scenery. I sat down, letting my feet dangle off the edge of the base and resting my back on a pillar. It was serene. Only the repetitive sound of some bugs batting their wings filled the air. Without knowing, I started to hum a song that I thought I had forgetting. Once I realized what I was doing, the words just started escaping my lips.

"You and I were in a dream. You'd follow close wherever I'd lead." I sung quietly, "My steps you'd echo one and all. You'd catch me safe if ever I'd fall." My eyelids went heavy, but I was still not able to sleep, "Your hand in mine we walked along. No hill too high, no road was too long. To stay with you, my only dream. To share your life, whatever it be." I let some tears stream down my cheeks, since no one was there to watch, "I knew you'd have to go away. My love for you could not help you stay. You drifted off, day by day. I cherished every breath that remained. In my arms, close to me, your body broke, your soul was set free. You left this world, my treasured friend. A chapter closed, but love has no end." My breath got slower, "Farewell my angel. You're with me always. Just close your eyes now. Next time we meet is forever."

"Hey, Tennessee." A calming voice sat next to me, "The sun's up, so you should be up." I felt something shaking me.

"I don't want to get up, Alaska." I groaned and turned to my side.

"Who's Alaska?" The voice spoke again, more clearly. I sprung awake to find Caboose.

"Good morning." I looked at the older boy with messy blonde hair and blue eyes. Had he just woken up?

"What are you doing up here? Everyone's looking for you."

I slowly stood up, "I'm sorry to make you guys worried." I rubbed my eyes and stretched my arms.

"It's also time for breakfast." He smiled, as if he had been looking forward to the meal I had promised him last night.

"Oh yeah? Don't think I forgot about that." I started walking, "Let's get going, then. I'm sure there's at least some Bisquick or something somewhere in that cabinet of ramen noodles."

"I found her!" Caboose cheered and ran inside the base. I guess he saw someone.

"Where was she?" I heard Kaito's voice. I turned the corner and walked down to ramp.

"The roof." I sighed, holding my helmet underneath my right arm. I noticed Tucker had been staring at me, "What?"

"You're young." Tucker tried to laugh it off.

"Alright. I guess the past," I looked into my helmet to check the time. It was just about six a.m. "four hours have been a time for the whole blue team to point something out 'bout me. Caboose, it's you're turn now." I glared at the boy in blonde.

"Umm... let me think." He actually took my words literally? "You're hair is really pretty, and your eyes are like emeralds." Or he's just an idiot.

"Thanks?" I shifted my weight to one foot. My eyes shifted to my feet where Junior had been looking back up at me.

"Blarg." It just stared at me.

"It's hungry." Kaito turned to Tucker.

"Anyone else want to feed him?" Tucker backed away a bit, "I'd like to keep the half a gallon of blood it'll take."

"I'm almost positive that I need that half a gallon in order to stay alive." I, too, backed away from the monstrosity, but it just followed me.

"What do you mean think?" Kaito laughed.

"You know about my blood issue, right Minnesota?" I took another step back, "Because now's not a good time to make fun of it." Kaito knelt down and held out his arm. Junior ran up to him and just dug right in.

"What did you say about a blood issue?" Tucker pointed out.

"It's none of your business." I started walking, "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me. I promised Caboose breakfast."

There actually was a bag of Bisquick in the cabinet. Originally, I was joking, but holy shit. It was actually there. I couldn't find a stove though. That seemed to be the only hard part. What confused me even more was that there was a skillet but no stove or oven to be seen. Guess fire will have to do. I grabbed a large bowl, the pancake mix, a few bottles of water, a whisk, and the skillet then headed outside. I hadn't thought it completely through, I guess. There were no trees, and therefore no firewood. Any papers I would've found could only be useful for tinder, since it burns out fast. What else could I use? Coal? Idiots like these guys probably wouldn't have that stuff available. It took the memory of a cake recipe to make me think of a good idea. It was a cake in a cup recipe that Alaska always used for our birthdays, and only our birthdays. I could do that, right? Just make pancakes in mugs and double the recipe.(You may want to use this at home if ever you need a quick breakfast or cake.) First, for every three tablespoons for mix, you add two tablespoons. After all ingredients are mixed, put that mug in the microwave for a minute. If doubling the recipe, add an extra thirty seconds.

"Zeta? You haven't been talking to me for a while. Everything alright?" I mumbled as I stirred the batter.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"I just said. You haven't been talking."

"I've just been thinking."

"That explains why I seem to hear your thoughts a bit more often then usual." I poured the batter to the one third mark of five mugs, knowing the monster won't eat anything that wasn't blood... or meat in that case. Maybe I should give it a hospital for it's next birthday. There's plenty of blood there. He'll be the new leaching. I somehow got all the mugs in the microwave and set the timer for two minutes. That should be enough, right?

"Hey! Where are the utensils?!" I yelled toward the hallway.

"Third drawer on the left!" I heard Tucker yell back, "It's probably too late to mention now, but Church might still be asleep, so don't yell!"

"Don't be a hypocrite!" I yelled back louder than before.

"WILL ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" Church yelled then a door slammed. I couldn't stop laughing.

"Well he's pissed." I looked back at the microwave then grabbed five forks and a knife. Ding! The microwave went off then I pulled the mugs out two by two, set them down on the counter, chopped up some butter, and finally left the fork in the golden deliciousness. I found a large plate, nested the mugs on it, and carried the plate with both hands into the living room, "Anyone ready for breakfast?" I smiled.

"We're not having cake for breakfast, are we?" Kaito caught on as he sat on the couch, crutching his head with his hand.

"If you consider pancakes as cake, then yeah. There's no stove... or fire wood... so I thought I might as well try the microwave. If it's too doughy, let me know."

"I haven't had pancakes in years!" Caboose cheered as he took two mugs and gave one to Minnesota.

"Really? There easy to make." I couldn't hold back my laughter.

"Yeah," Tucker grabbed a mug for himself, "if you have some way of heating it. We wouldn't have thought about using that old microwave."

"Glad you like it. I'm going to take the initiative of waking up Mr. Grouch. Anyone wanna wish me good luck?"

"Good luck." Tucker and Caboose said in unison, as if they already knew what was going to happen. I walked up to Church's bedroom door, already afraid of what was going to happen. If Tucker and Caboose already know how this is going to turn out, what is he going to do? Shoot me in the foot? Shove a knife through my hand? There's no way he could be that violent, right? I knocked on the door.

"GOD DAMNIT, CABOOSE! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?!" He yelled through the door.

"Sorry to interrupt your sleep, Sir," My voice got shaky all of a sudden, "but I made you some breakfast." There was probably thirty seconds of silence.

"Come on in." He huffed, as if I had already become a burden to him.

"Well, you're a bit of a grouch today." I sighed as I opened the door. His black hair was a mess as he was glaring daggers at me. I handed him his mug.

"What the hell is this?" He asked in such a snarky attitude.

"Pancakes. If you don't like it, then go ahead and throw it away, but if you do throw it away, I'm not making anything else."

"Pancakes, huh?" He prodded the meal with his fork, "It's been a while."

"Years, right? Your team talked about that." I picked up my mug and held the plate underneath my arm, "You seem a bit moody. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Maybe you could talk about it with Caboose. He was the one who kept me up all night. I only got two hours of sleep." He took a bite of his meal, then stared down at it as if in shock.

"If Caboose bothers you so much at night, why not lock your door?"

"Why do you ask that? Does your door actually have a lock?"

"No. I was just sure that you would've wanted a room with a lock. You are the leader here."

"None of the rooms have locks. Even if they did, he'd just sit outside and scratch at the door as if he were some cat."

"I'm sure I'm going to eventually regret this," I sighed, "but why not send him to my room."

"Yeah, you will regret that."

I played around with the pat of butter in my mug for a minute, "I'm guessing the funding for blue team's pretty low."

"How'd you guess?" He said in a sarcastic tone.

"Well, there's no stove, no oven, no firewood, and you guys seem to love your instant meals. I swear, I'd spent my own money on you guys if I weren't afraid it would be a waste."

"What kind of money do you even get?"

"Let's say I have enough to get a TV the size of a billboard and then some," I grinned, plopping some food into my mouth, "and that's just my birthday money."

"Then what the fuck are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you here instead of buying a mansion? I understand you're still a kid, but come on."

"I'm here because I want to be here. Do you think they give out missions and say that you must take it or else? We have a choice."

"No. I mean why are you even still in Project Freelancer?" I looked down at my food, simply saying an I don't know in a solemn voice.

"Maybe it's because Project Freelancer saved my sanity... or that I still have something to fight for." I escorted myself out. I was just about to close the door until Church spoke up.

"That song you sung last night." Crap. I didn't think anyone heard me.

"What about it?"

"You seemed emotionally attached to it. It seemed like the meaning you hold for yourself would've faded if you stopped. What's so special about that song to you?"

"Let's just say it reminds me of my mother." I felt tears well up in my eyes and I closed the door. I walked to my room, still carrying the plate, and just sat down how I usually sit when there's no chair near by. Squatting down, back against the wall hands in-between my legs. I just sat there and let the tears drip off my chin into a mug that once held a meal.