Preparing for the war
While Min Li was still training and while Nerissa was recovering, the war came closer and closer. Ling brought his daughter Ai and some of his younger half-sisters to Central City where they would be protected while Tsar Ivan followed the example and brought his wife and his son to the Amestrian capital where everything would be coordinated. Olivier looked paler and paler with every passing day because this was her war to fight and she was incredibly happy when the former Fuhrer and his wife returned from their retirement. Roy started to create escape plans for his family and friends just in case that everything would go wrong and Central City would fall into the enemy's hands. Jade and Jun Li started to prepare the alchemists and Alkahestry users for the war even though both women didn't want the war to come any closer.
"Considering the current amount of supplies we are buying, the war will be there very soon," Timms said as he visited Stevens who was still in the hospital. "If I was you, I would stay here for another three weeks because I don't think that it would take Amestris more time to win the war. Armstrong, Grumman and Llewellyn are worlds better than Bradley and his old crew when it comes to strategy."
"I am still concerned about my country," Stevens said while her scarred face formed a worried expression. "We haven't been in war since Ishbal … and this was a rather one-sided fight. This time, our army is going up against a high-trained army which will be more of a problem than the Ishbalan civilians who didn't even know what hit them. Furthermore … this time, we are in the defence which is a completely new situation for our soldiers … just like it is to fight alongside the Drachman, Aerugian, Xingese and Cretan armies instead of against them."
"And you are sure that you don't want to join the strategy command, precious rose?" Timms asked.
"What I am stating here and now is nothing but mere facts any idiot should be able to see," she replied with a huff. "Sure, since I used to be part of a high command before, I would be more than qualified to join them in the high command but I see no reason to involve myself with this war as long as it hasn't even started. Maybe I will change my opinion later on when it looks like we are losing but for now, I have more than enough to do with my own recovery."
Timms looked at her and for a moment, he wondered if he should talk to her doctors and ask them to speed up her healing process with better medicine and better treatments before he remembered that his beautiful lily was already treated with the best stuff available because the chancellor felt indebted to her because she had managed to retrieve the antidote that had stabilized the situation of Victoria, the chancellor's daughter. The agent pitied his old partner. She had been a brilliant agent and the idea that she would waste away her days of youth in a hospital out of bitterness over her failure made him sick. It wasn't the right thing for her. She had deserved far more than this but fate had punished her severely for attempting to rise over her own limitations.
Suddenly, the door swung open and eight persons walked into the hospital room, ignoring the nurse who tried to tell them that the patient needed rest in order to recover before a certain redhead shut her up with an angry glare. Stevens had a hard time to believe what her eyes were showing her. It was nearly impossible that the three oldest children of the chancellor had come alongside with their respective girlfriend and boyfriends and two friends just to visit her who was merely an agent.
"Sorry that it took us so long to stop by," the blond girl announced as she sat down on a chair.
"Yeah, we had to break into Serena's office first to get the data who you are and in which hospital you are recovering," her brother added with a serious nod. "But we got Jun Li to distract Serena for a moment and Laila and Cai retrieved the files we needed … so, here we are."
"I am very sorry that you got injured on the mission that dealt with getting the antidote for the poison in my body," the red-haired girl went on as she lowered her head. "I hate it when people get hurt just because they try to help me … Jade was there before … I am so, so sorry…"
"Vicky, don't apologise for what happened to Miss Jade," the tall young man behind her sighed as he rubbed her shoulders. "You were a baby when this happened, remember? You could do nothing."
"Please, don't be sorry for what happened to me," Stevens said as she bit her lower lip. "I will recover."
"According to these files here, you should have recovered a long time ago," the girl with the buns next to her ears said as she lowered the folder she had been flipping through. "I am no doctor but I can see that the real doctors are wondering why you didn't recover yet." She looked up while her eyes narrowed. "On the other hand … your chi is blocked on countless points. It looks worse than mine after training with Chen … and that means something. Maybe the recovery would speed up if we would unlock the flow of chi in your body … it would be good again the constant pain in any case, Miss."
"I could never recover in such a room," the blonde added. "Maybe we should try something there…"
"I think that we should let Min Li unlock the flow of chi first before we try anything else," the little boy who clung to the red-haired girl's arm smiled. "I am sorry, Laila, but that is a serious matter."
"The flow of chi is difficult to reconstruct but Min Li is a true genius when it comes to this. She can feel the flow of chi and therefore easily recreate a smooth and easy flow," the older Xingese boy smiled. "It will take her a few minutes to unblock the flow if you allow her to do so, Miss Stevens."
"Thank you, Miss Stevens," the blue-eyed girl said as she stepped closer to the bed after the young woman had nodded. "Could you please sit up and turn your back in my direction? It would make it easier for me to free the chi because that would speed up your recovery considerably."
Stevens looked at the young girl in the yellow dress with the black leggings and the two buns. She was surely a lovely young lady even though she looked younger than she was with her hairstyle. "Thank you very much for helping me," she said carefully before she felt how the girl poked into her back and her shoulders which hurt slightly before she felt how new energy was released.
"And now, the chi flows beautifully," the boy said with a smile. "It feels much … clearer now and far more pure than before. Min Li, you really know what you are doing."
"To unlock the chi is something Chen was teaching me before he started to teach me how to lock it," she said calmly as she stepped back. "He said that he wouldn't hand me the poison before I have the antidote for it because well … it is very dangerous to seal chi, Fu, and I don't want to go too far."
"Well, if it's like this…" the blonde smirked as she clapped her hands. "Miss Stevens, we are going to make you feel really, really pretty because I think that you would recover faster if you feel well in your own skill … at least Nessa always sends me showering and dressing up when I don't feel good…"
Olivier felt strange as she looked into the mirror. Her long hair was still was golden as it used to be eight years ago when she had been summoned into the high command by her father-in-law but somehow, she felt like she looked younger now than she had looked when she had taken place on one of the red chairs in the circular office for the first time. Bendix had mentioned the same thing – that she was just like his mother, looking older than she was in her youth and looking younger than she was the older she get. He had never called her old because he knew that she would always remind him that he was only one day younger than her.
Still, it had to be her new hairstyle that made her feel younger than she actually was and she smirked at her reflection. Laila wasn't only a genius when it came to houses and other buildings but she was also very good in helping other people to find a style that made them look good without trying to look like someone the person would never be. Other people would have tried to force Victoria into frilly pale dresses, probably lavender or even pink, but Olivier had always been surprised about the respect and the understanding the blond girl had for her sister's fierce personality which would clash with the soft colours. And just like Laila made sure that Victoria had her armour made of black and purple, she had given Olivier the advice to bind her hair into a smooth bun at the back of her head.
"Olivier," Bendix said as he appeared in the doorway. He looked as handsome as before with his golden hair and his green eyes which were currently veiled with worry. He wasn't happy about the nearing war but just like everyone else, he had accepted it as part of the price they had to pay for their country's happiness. "Ling called … he is attending the summit tonight as well. Lan Fan and Jun Li will be there as well, so you don't have to worry about a lack of support."
It had taken the combined persuasion of Lan Fan, Ling, Chao and Lei to talk Jun Li into reclaiming her position as general in the Xingese society. Jun Li had been expelled from the Society of the Ten Generals after she had 'defected' and ran off to Amestris but as emperor, Ling had made sure that she had been reinstated – just to be faced with her usual stubbornness and her attempt to get away from her responsibility … but as clan head of one of the most prestigious warrior clans, she had had no other choice but to obey the orders she had gotten from her emperor. She had cursed her brother-in-law but her family meant too much to her. She hadn't want to risk disownment even though that hadn't been likely seeing that her only sister was the emperor's wife but Jun Li had raised this high without help from any higher-ranking relatives and even though her husband was a prince, she had never taken any advantage of this fact. It had been part of the reason why she had broken up with him in her youth that she hadn't want any rumours about her sleeping her way into her position at the time.
"Do you honestly think that anyone of the leaders would want to mess with me or the country I am standing for?" Olivier asked as she pinned her decorations onto her uniform. She was still slightly bitter that Jade had more decorations but then again, the black-haired woman had been Bradley's little puppet for a time to protect her brother and her cousin and Olivier didn't envy her for the pain she had suffered during this time of her life. Even today, eight years after the nightmare had been over, she flinched whenever someone mentioned the wrathful homunculus.
"Nope, I don't think so," Bendix smirked. "Anyway, Laura and Lars are asking if their mother is going to beat up mean people and I told them that you are creating the plan and let other people do the beating up. I think that you just became a hero in their eyes."
"This war … it will be hell for everyone involved … and I pity Vic's boyfriend," Olivier said as she closed her eyes and looked outside where the autumn sun painted yellow spots onto the floor. "I can still see Alex' face in front of me when I close my eyes … the war will ruin so many young people, people with dreams and hopes … so many things will be crushed by this war…"
"But in times of despair, new dreams will be created and usually, people are getting more creative."
"I hope that this will happen this time as well … because the last thing Amestris needs right now would be Victoria losing her cool – and she will throw a fit when something happens to her boyfriend."
"You know her just too well," Bendix said as he took his own uniform jacket and followed her as she left the room and walked down the stairs, passing their children's bedrooms where Lars and Laura played peacefully. Usually, Olivier would have checked what they were doing but not this time because it would probably weaken her resolve and she needed to make the others see her point.
"She is just like me at the age," Olivier said quietly as she looked up to the sky. "Brilliant yet unable to do something because she is just too young … and right now, she takes her hope from her love. And therefore I know that she will be destroyed if something happens to Owen. She is strong yet weak."
"So, you believe that even the girl who inherited the strongest defence after Briggs from her mother can break once she loses the man she loves?" Bendix asked while he thought of Lynn who had been many things but never one to let down her guard easily. She had been nicknamed the Shield Alchemist by many soldiers of the western area because despite her strong offence, she had had the best defence after her younger sister and only a few people had managed to get behind her wall.
"Just like I said: she can guard her mind and her body … but she will never be able to guard her heart … I believe that I start to understand Lynn now … she said that she named her daughter well … and while Kay had a strong offence, she never managed to cut all the ties between her mind and her heart. And I … despite seeming hard and unforgiving, I love and just like Kay and Lynn, I would have sacrificed myself to protect the ones I love. It is the flaw we share and that makes us human."
Jun Li looked tired and older than the world as she returned from the meeting. She threw her kunai and her katana into the corner of the room and took the sake her daughter had left for her on the counter of the bar. "This is getting more complicated than I expected," she muttered. "Hell, I never wanted to raise this high because I never wanted to fall and now…? I have no clue where to start!"
"You should know by now that the person who brought down the huge mountains started to carry away pebbles," the gruff voice of Chen Bo, her cook, came from being her where he stood in the doorway with another bowl of sake. "But you are too much like your grandmother, Jun Li, too impatient and too easily frustrated when something doesn't go the way you want it to go."
She sighed deeply as she rested her forehead on her palm. "Chen Bo," she sighed as she closed her eyes for a moment. "You were just as hot-headed as I still am, right? So, what would you do in my place?"
"I never made it general, I am sorry," he said with a soft smile. "But I believe that I would drink a cup of tea because tea washes away all the sorrow we face in our lives. Jun Li, you are strong and stubborn like no other woman I've ever met. Whenever you had your mind set on something, you did everything to get it but this time, things are different and even you with the strength to force down a mountain need an ocean of wisdom and inner peace."
"You didn't ask me why I feel like I am breaking apart this time," she muttered as she looked at him.
"Because I anticipated this to happen since the day I heard that another war was coming and Xing became the comrade of Amestris and the other countries around this country. You were asked to command the third division of the Xingese army but at the same time, someone else asked you to be in charge of the alkahestry users … and now you don't know what to do."
"Yeah," she muttered. "It's exactly like that … I don't know how I am supposed to decide this time…"
"The third division was traditionally led by the Wei-family and seeing that you are the head of this clan, I see where the idea is coming from but…" he shook his head. "I don't think that you would be happy with this decision. I know that your father wanted you to lead this team one day but…"
She stayed silent but her eyes were focused on him as she listened.
"And like many things is good tea just not as sweet when it is given with ill intend while bad tea tastes good when it comes from a friend," Chen continued. "I don't mean any harm but I can hardly imagine that the council of the Wei-clan is happy with you as clan head … and therefore, they want to get rid of you. To pressure you to take a position that doesn't harmonise with your being is nothing but the nicer version of sending you straight into a battle without any weapons." He shook his head. "They try to flatter you in order to make you take the position as leader of the third division but they want to kill you. So it is a sweet tea given with ill intend."
"So, you tell me that it would be wiser to take the other position?" Jun Li asked as she looked up.
"Wise … this isn't a matter of wisdom, little Jun Li. This is a matter of politics and while it would be surely better for your health to take the position as leader of the alkahestry users, it would improve your standing in your clan to take the other job," he said. "It isn't always black or white, little one, and sometimes, you have to dance with the shadows to achieve the peace you want for your family."
She growled as she downed the rest of her sake before she poured more into her bowl. "But I want it to happen now!" she said stubbornly as always. "I need to heal the wounds the past left in my family!"
"That you of all people say something like this…" he shook his head as he smiled. "See, Jun Li, you were always a fool but a wise one. You kept your own family under your control while you freed other people because even as a child, you knew were the real danger was coming from: it was your own family. I should have followed your example and maybe, there would be more members of my clan left. My father was right when he said that it is easier to reign over a country than over a family."
"I heard what happened…" she said as she shuddered. It was rare that whole clans, especially whole warrior clans, in Xing disappeared but the Bo-clan had nearly vanished and Chen was one of the last ones left. The only reason why Jun Li knew about the event was that she had overheard other guards back in the palace talking with each other. The massacre had hit the Bo-clan unprepared and nearly everyone had died. Chen had been able to survive because he had been underestimated due to his age and he had managed to save his grandson who had left to take revenge for his slaughtered kinsmen and according to his grandfather, his skill was on par with his anger about his family's death.
Jun Li had been downright terrorised when she had heard what had happened because the Bo-clan was the only clan who could compete with the Wei-clan in their hometown and for a few months, she had feared that her own clan would share the tragic fate. But weeks had passed without an attack on her family at home and soon afterwards, she had left Xing and three months later, Chen had appeared, asking for a job as cook and while she had been eternally grateful that her grandfather's best friend hadn't been murdered as well, she wondered if it would have been better for him to die along with his relatives because he had to suffer terribly under the incident.
"I don't think that harder training could have prevented the massacre," Jun Li said carefully and once more, she was happy that she was a very skilled liar because in reality she thought that the massacre would have been less bloody and terrible if the Bo-clan hadn't softened since the last war in Xing. But there was no way in hell that she would insult the former clan head's feelings by telling him this.
"It is nice that you try to make me feel better, Jun Li, but I know that we were weak when we were killed," the old man said as he stroked his beard. "Our training lacked and while I agree with my grandson that we were most likely betrayed by a member of our own clan, the main reason why nearly everyone was slaughtered was that we didn't react fast enough. Sure, we were never a match for fighter who specialised in long range because our techniques require a small distance but this isn't an excuse for all the great heroes of the war who died like the flies."
"And your grandson? He was just three years old … how could he survive when everyone else died?"
"He was smart," Chen replied. "He hid well and this saved his life. I couldn't take him with me to Amestris and so he stayed in Xing where he is currently planning his revenge."
"Didn't you try to stop him? It has to hurt that one of the few kinsmen of yours who survived the Crimson Night of Yuèyá Quán wants revenge for what has happened to his family…"
"His older sister was killed right in front of him … of course he wants revenge," the man said with barely hidden bitterness in his voice. "Still, I told him that I would have to prepare two graves when he would go through with his revenge … and he didn't care."
"He is a fool like everyone is a fool at the age of … sixteen," Jun Li said softly.
"I just don't want to lose my grandson," the old man said quietly.
"You won't lose him when we find him in time among the soldiers."
Chen looked at his best friend's rebellious granddaughter and once more he wondered why Fu had never understood why this woman had never been the right one for a golden cage. Jun Li was like a bird and she needed to decide where she went without the input of anyone else. Chen knew just too well that his best friend had never understood that his granddaughter wasn't her father and therefore not a puppet that would do whatever its master would order. He watched how she got up and smiled at her. "Did you make a decision?" he asked as she turned to leave.
"Yeah," she smiled. "I am going to command the alkahestry users. The elders will have to hand their peace contract written in poisonous ink to someone else. I am going to be my own person."
"…I just hope that Jun Li makes the right decision," Lan Fan yawned as she sat down on the couch and removed the gold and the gems from her hair and her neck because they were just too heavy. "Those Wei-elders can be real bastards and Jun Li … her position in the clan could be better than it is."
Her husband nodded as he sat down next to her and massaged her head. He knew that she had a terrible headache from the meeting because one of the Fei-elders had seriously tried to doubt her expertise when it came to weapons and she was pretty much annoyed. "Jun Li is one of the smartest women I know and this was the reason why I called her back to the Ten Generals," Ling said before he shrugged. "Anyway, can you remember what happened to the Bo-clan? I missed their representative during the last few meetings…"
The bodyguard next to the door flinched and after Lan Fan frowned slightly in his direction, he started to speak. "The Bo-clan was nearly fully annihilated, Your Highnesses," he said. "I am one of the few survivors. After the attack, my family lost the clan-status and disbanded. My grandfather left to fulfil a promise he gave a dying woman and I stayed to take revenge for my slaughtered kinsmen one day."
"How was it possible to slaughter the whole clan?" Lan Fan asked in shock. She had known the Bo-clan since he grandfather had been friends with the clan head of the other clan and therefore she was aware of the incredible skills this family had possessed. To imagine that all of them had been killed was nearly impossible for her.
"My grandfather said that the reason was that he didn't listen to Lady Wei," the guard said softly as his hand covered the right part of his mask. "No one blames the Wei-clan but I still wonder what he meant by this because it was the only thing he ever said."
"Lady Wei … my older sister…" Lan Fan exhaled slowly as she remembered the Jun Li who had left Xing when she had been twenty-two … depressed, empty and utterly annoyed by everything in life but also the harshest task mistress their clan had ever seen with her constant orders to train harder than any other clan. But Lan Fan who had been put through the same torture had to admit that it had left the members of her own clan very skilled and always careful. And she was also very sure that none of her own kinsmen would have failed to cut off his own arm in order to protect Ling. She was also very sure that Jun Li would have been able to cut off both arms and to return in four months.
"The harshest lady of Yuèyá Quán, the first female Dragon Warrior and therefore one of the strongest female warriors Xing has ever seen, tenderly nicknamed the Iron Lady: Jun Li from the Wei-clan," Ling said with a hint of admiration in his voice as he mentioned his sister-in-law. He could still remember the first time he had met her and part of the reason why he had trained so hard had been the dream of being able to defeat her one day.
It was a nice day in spring and the whole town was a single chaos because the former and now retired emperor, Jun Yao who was also called the Golden Dragon, had returned to Yuèyá Quán where he had been born. Prince Ling, grandson of the aforementioned emperor, was on his way to his daily training when he spotted two adults on the training ground of the Wei-family where he usually trained because his trainer was a Wei. Despite the distance, he recognised Chao Wei, a master with any weapon he was given and a worthy heir for the title as clan head. The second fighter, however, was merely a blur of black and red – definitively a member of the Imperial Bodyguards who were nicknamed Dragon Warriors. As her movements stilled for a moment, he could see the golden dragon on her back and the crimson stripes on her uniform. She was certainly another master warrior from the Wei-family even though her style seemed harder and faster than everything he usually saw.
"This is Jun Li from the Wei-clan," an old man said behind the prince. "She just recovered from a terrible injury and right now, she is working hard to regain her old strength in order to protect her master."
"And she trains with Chao?" Ling asked in disbelief.
"Even he respects her abilities and knows that she is a great fighter once she truly wants to win," the old man said calmly. "Jun Li is a warrior of the Golden Dragon and she knows what the people expect from her … so don't underestimate her. She is far stronger than she looks."
"But this is Chao – the strongest from his clan! The one I need to beat when I want to be the strongest fighter of this town one day!" Ling exclaimed as he stared at the woman who landed quite some punches on his idol while she gracefully dodged everything he threw at her.
"Chao will never be the strongest fighter this town created," the old man said as he patted the prince's shoulder. "Jun Li … she is different from him. She is a warrior to the core and she would rather die than to allow anything to stain our country's honour. She is truly a … formidable woman."
"But how can she be stronger than Chao when everyone says that no man can beat him?"
"Jun Li … she paid a great price for her abilities and her current position," the old man said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. "In order to gain her place at the court, she cut her ties with her family … and while she claims that she doesn't regret this step, I know her well enough to see the pain in her eyes. She hates being here … because she lost so many things while she was here the last time."
For a moment, the woman's movements stilled as she threw away her sweaty jacket. Her form was clearly visible with the rough bindings around her chest but Ling somehow wondered why Chao, his idol, looked this pained at the sight of this woman. When he heard how the old man sucked in a breath, he turned around to see that it was no one other than his grandfather but his attempt to bow was quickly intercepted by the old man who looked down at his most trusted bodyguard and allowed himself to show his grief for a moment. "Oh, Jun Li…" he sighed as he shook his head. "You keep paying the price to atone a sin you never committed. You are just as wise as foolish."
"What are you talking about, Your Highness?" Ling asked respectfully.
"Jun Li … she … her injury wasn't truly an injury and to see her like this, I begin to see the truth my own village tried to hide from me before but … I fear that it is too late to save her this time around. Her foolish pride completely destroyed her in the end…" the emperor shook his head. "To your information: Jun Li gave birth to a child … to a grandchild of mine."
"How can you be this sure, Your Highness?" the young prince asked as he stared at the woman down there on the training ground while she pulled another katana from the sheath on her side.
"Because I am not as senile as you and the others might think," the old man replied as he closed his eyes. "Oh, a part of me wants to strangle her for putting herself through all of this but I am not sure if that would be the right thing to do," he added. "Jun Li is by far the most stubborn and most interesting woman I have ever met and I know that punishment was never the right way to deal with her."
"You are honestly joining the alkahestry team, Mei?" Edward asked as he looked at his sister-in-law.
"I have a duty to my country," the princess said calmly as she rubbed her temples. "And I know who is going to command the unit. I can work with her because I worked with her before. The Iron Lady is a truly amazing woman and I truly wonder why everything has changed this much."
"You are talking about Agent Wei, don't you?" Winry asked as she looked up from a battle automail she was creating for Phil who would need it sooner than anyone had expected. "What about her?"
"As you know, she worked for my grandfather," the black-haired girl said carefully. "I hardly knew her when she was still in Xing because she was far older than I and when the Golden Dragon disappeared, I was a mere child … just not important enough to be noticed by her. I have to admit: I used to hate her because she was a guard and yet she had the emperor's full attention whenever she suggested something while I was a princess and my word was left unheard whenever I tried to speak to the crowd. I hated her because whatever she did, she did with the grace of a queen that was absolutely unbecoming for a mere guardian … and yet I wasn't surprised when I found out that she was the granddaughter of Princess Lan Li Ming and that she had born a daughter of noble blood from both sides. She was good at hiding it, I have to admit this, but one day, I sneaked into the guardian's hot spring and when she left the water, it was obvious to me that she had born a child … even though it was likely that this child had been taken from her to keep the family's name clean."
"How do you know this much about the ways of a warrior clan?" Alphonse asked softly.
"It's because in the end, every family in Xing has the same values and would do everything to keep this values intact," his wife replied carefully. "And especially the warrior clans are very keen on keeping their honour intact because they would be ruined if they wouldn't do this."
"I am sure that Jun Li knew what she was doing," Edward shrugged.
"She risked more than her own life," Mei said darkly. "She was happy that Chao took the blame in her place because it would have been the end of her career as Imperial Guard. She would have been forced to leave the capital … and maybe she would have been murdered as well."
The doors closed behind Jane Stevens and for a moment, she turned around to gaze at the hospital she had just left – hopefully for good – before her attention returned to the man who waited for her at the car. Paul Timms was her only real friend and therefore, he had been the only one to understand why she felt indebted to the chancellor and his family. Stevens smiled a slightly bitter smile as she spotted her old teammate and without truly thinking about it, she allowed him to hug her tightly for once.
Timms smiled into her newly darkened hair as he held her for a moment. His precious flower was maybe harsh and sometimes rude with her words but he had known her far too long to be impressed by her words. He knew that she didn't care at all about his car or the money he had which was great because he never had much to spend but he knew that even if he would be richer than the Armstrong-family, it wouldn't matter at all to her which was part of the reason why he liked her this much. But the main reason was that she liked him for himself and not because he looked nearly as handsome as Jean Havoc and because he was more charming than Roy Mustang. She saw him as a normal person, just like she saw everyone else as well. She saw his faults, indecisions and insecure moments but she also saw the way he tried to be a better person.
She didn't care that he hang out with the great guys like Kain Fuery or even that Xingese Weapon Wonder – Timms was nearly sure that his name was Chao but he wasn't sure because the scary black-haired woman who had introduced the newcomer to the team had mentioned the name just once and he didn't want to ask. It always amazed him how sharp his teammate's eyes were and how she looked straight through every mask he tried to put onto his face to protect himself. So she didn't care that he wasn't a great singer or that there were more handsome man than him. She liked him because he was the way he was – just like he liked her for being herself. He knew that she had never been as beautiful as Jade Mustang and with the scars, she would never be able to compete against the black-haired lady but he thought that her scars added to her character and therefore, he liked them.
He still didn't get why she had asked Miss Hawkeye, the head of security, to allow him to stay her partner because he knew just too well that she had so many great talents and he could hardly believe that someone like her actually wanted to be around him. Maybe there was something he had never noticed before because it was invisible.
"Hey, Timms," she smirked as she winked at him. "Thanks for being with me in this one as well. I really appreciate this, partner. I need too much time to get used to a new partner."
He suppressed the urge to snort. He knew better than anyone else that Jane Stevens got along with most of the other agents because she wasn't the kind of woman who wanted trouble with her fellow agents. The idea that she would need more than a few minutes to get used to a new partner was strange but this was her way to tell her partner that she could never be as successful without him and that he wasn't only respected but also appreciated for the things he did for her.
"Don't worry," he said. "You won't get rid of me that fast."
"That's good to hear," she smirked as they reached the car.
