Zoe, wearing a black dress that was so short it made her feel uncomfortable, walked down the street, fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist – the one studded with diamantes. Her eyes stung a little from the eyeliner she'd used around her eyes, but Aneisha had assured her that that was just because she wasn't used to wearing makeup.
Zoe felt herself gasp as two strong arms wrapped around her waist and although she was struggling, making a show of getting away from him and she couldn't see his face, she knew that she was safe, that this wasn't a KORPS agent who'd come to take her and turn her into the Mastermind; this was Dan, the most stubborn person she'd ever known in her entire life, but also the most passionate, the most determined and most loyal person she'd ever known in her entire life, simply making a show of trying to steal her bracelet.
Zoe felt him rip the bracelet off her wrist, listening to a few of the diamantes falling out, and then he was gone, the warmth and security his arms had provided gone as he took off, the bracelet clutched in one hand. Zoe after him hopelessly for a minute, but then she walked after him, hoping that the Runners had found him by the time she did.
Dan moved easily up the stairs, shoving the bracelet into his pocket as he saw someone in yellow come up behind him and another come from in front of him. Dan swallowed and moved to his left, jumping up onto the railing of the stairs and then flinging himself off it. Suddenly there were three Runners and he managed to land on the other side of all three of them, running to where the walls intersected on the other side and jumping up, using the edge of the wall for support to spin himself around and then throw himself to the floor, rolling underneath the arms of the two that tried to grab him, but he found that he'd forgotten about the third as he rolled to his feet and found his shoulders being held by the third Runner. Dan threw him off, but then he grabbed him around the waist and Dan flipped off the wall, effectively wriggling himself free of his arms. As he cartwheeled across, the remaining Runners pushed him to the ground and shoved him into the wall. Dan glanced wildly between the three Runners who now stood in a semicircle around him, blocking all exits. The one in the middle, the tallest, turned to the one on his right. "Don't just stand there."
The Runner he'd spoken to reached out and yanked Dan's collar down, revealing his face except his hair from the Runners.
"It's always the pretty boys." The taller Runner said as Dan looked between the Runners. They all looked to be roughly his own age, but apart from their height and eye colour, he knew nothing about the Runner on his far left and nothing seemed familiar about them. Dan knew the middle one's voice, eye colour and height but none of that was familiar about him. As for the one his far right, Dan only knew their height and eye colour, but he sensed from their body shape that they were female and sexist as it was, it surprised him. But Dan had the feeling that he knew those eyes, that when the girl took off that bandana masking her features, that he'd know her face. But, for now, he couldn't place her and it frustrated him to no end. His fingers itched to pull that bandana off, just to see if he was right.
The Runners' attention shifted and Dan looked to see Zoe walking up the stairs, blinking a lot more than normal. The Runners saluted and the tall one said, "Guardian Runners at your service."
"Are you serious?" Zoe asked, moving to stand beside Dan. "These are the guys you want to join?"
"Hang on. You know him?" The tall one said. Dan decided to nickname him Talkalot – he was the only one out of the three who knew how to use his vocal chords.
"We just did this to meet you," Dan said sheepishly.
"We want to do what you do." Zoe said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"So does everybody, but no." Talkalot said. "We don't take newbies!"
"Wait." The female Runner said, touching his arm to make him shut up. Zoe felt her heart sink as she watched Dan's head snap to the side at the sound of the girl's voice. She watched him straighten in anticipation as she reached up and pulled down her bandana, revealing features that could have been considered soft, if her hair wasn't covered by the bandana covering the top of her head. But she couldn't miss how the girl's eyes regarded Dan with an odd mix of appreciation and amusement, as if he was an ex-boyfriend who'd aged much better than she'd expected. At the thought, Zoe glanced wildly between Dan and the girl, desperately looking for an indication that they'd known each before roughly two minutes ago. Unfortunately, every part of their body language – both the girl's and Dan's – suggested otherwise. Dan's blue eyes were wide as saucers as he stared at the girl.
Dan sucked in a deep breath, surprise filling his features as he imagined the girl in front of him without the bandana, instead with soft brown hair the same colour as her amused deep brown eyes.
"Sky?"
