Chapter Twenty

The peace she had found as she awaited the dropship was shattered by an obnoxious voice. She ignored him, not even venturing to open her eyes. She knew he was there, as he knew she was. But she had more important things to be doing in her own head than entertaining him.

"Hey Mira! What d'you think my chances are of teaming wichyu, huh?"

He's talking to you.

She didn't need them to tell her that, she could feel his eyes on her where she was, tucked into shadow.

"Hey! You sleepin'? Man, you sure are a wild card if you can sleep now, amigo!"

Wraith kept her eyes tight shut, but her blood prickled with the need to move around, energy trickling into her system at even such a low threat as his voice. It was primal, the way the battle could take over you, people were more full of sharp edges right before a Game.

"Hey! Keep it movin', short stuff." came the only retort, Bangalore's distinctive no-nonsense tone cutting through the ruckus in the air.

"Don' go pickin' fights before a Game, would ya?" Lifeline chuckled.

"I see, I see," Octane laughed in return, "Top of the food chain gotter self some muhh-scle!"

Wraith did crack an eye open then, vaguely curious to see Bangalore's expression. If the straight-laced soldier had her issues with Mirage, what did she really make of Octane?

"If you wanna see muscle…" the tall woman retorted, threat unspoken as she eyed the speedster.

He backed away with his hands up, grin wide on his face. His eyes flicked to Wraith and if possible, the grin widened.

"I knew you were awake."

Wraith only looked back at him impassively and he turned back loudly to the crowd of other participants, joining the roar as if he'd never left it. Wraith turned her gaze to the women who'd herded him off, but neither were looking her way and she appreciated that. Bangalore had been one of the first to recognise Wraith's space and allow her it, pressing only gently for her presence at meals and activities on occasion. Lifeline did so much more frequently and firmly, ignoring many of Wraith's signals sometimes, but both knew when to leave her be.

All at once, the noise fell dramatically, as sixty PDAs buzzed and lit up, signalling the teammates they'd be entering the ship with. Wraith's screen gave no familiar faces, and she pushed off the wall to better sweep her gaze across the room.

Naturally, there were some perks to being so recognisable.

"Ms Wraith!" a voice spoke up from a face turned her way, and the owner made his way over.

A touch on the short side, he stopped beside her with barely an inch of height on her. He was young, lean but filled out with athletic muscle, and carried what looked like a compact bow slung over one shoulder. He offered a hand.

"Preston," he introduced himself as she shook politely, "but Darwyn's my Game name."

And that was when it clicked. She'd heard the name, a couple times, one of several that people had been mentioning lately as potential up-and-comers. She'd figured him a while before he turned up in one of the top-league Games, but sometimes as a solo in the open pool, you just got lucky with the assignments.

"Wraith," she said, though it was clearly not required, "I've heard. Good to have you on board."

"You'll be our JumpMaster, I assume." he answered, fiddling with his PDA before pocketing it, voice without that touch of acrid pride she'd met often enough.

First time in a Game with a lot of big names gave people something to prove. He didn't chase the statement that she'd heard of him, either. She took it for a good sign.

"If there's no real argument." she responded, and he nodded.

"Not from me, I'm here to learn today."

Wraith felt a small smile cross her face that he left out the "from the best". Unless she was very wrong, he'd do well with her today, if he wasn't dancing around like an awe-struck newbie and stroking her ego. Those were a shame, truly, because a lot of their potential was wasted when they couldn't focus.

While she couldn't empathise, having ignored the hierarchy when she played her first Game with the intent to scour abandoned computers for information, she could sympathise. She'd been unable to keep alive many a teammate who had something to prove and could have done so, if they weren't so afraid of what she might think of their performance. She did her best to keep people alive and useful, but sometimes it just wasn't possible.

Wraith shut that track down hard, because the dark thoughts of the recent squadmate she'd lost permanently would hamper her today, if she let them in.

As they made their way to the Bay doors to await entry to the dropship, they picked up their third. A little older, scrawny, shorter than them both and sporting goggles similar to Octane's, Wraith briefly wondered if he were inspired by him. He darted furtive, watery blue eyes over Darwyn at Wraith's side as he offered her a hand.

"Pleasure to be teamed with one of the Elites," he said as she shook it, and there it was; faint but undeniable, the trace of ego, "I'm Barker. You are?"

Darwyn shook his hand firmly, his smile never faltering despite the belittling nuance Wraith was already worried was going to cause issue with their harmony.

"Darwyn. I've seen you in action, good to have you with us."

Barker simply nodded as though that was to be expected, and slid his goggles over his eyes.

"I'd love to be able to say the same, but I'm afraid I haven't noticed you."

Wraith bit down the urge to hum warningly, aware that this might be something the two of them could resolve themselves without her having to make any point about being their most experienced. Cohesion was the height of importance out in the Canyon, and she didn't want to bruise any egos by assuming command, though she would if it were necessary.

"Most people don't look round much when they're climbin'." Darwyn remarked good-naturedly, "Their eyes are upward, studying the future competition."

Barker said nothing, but a crease touched his brow as he lifted his pack from the floor.

"I imagine any attempt to claim JumpMaster would be futile?" he directed to Wraith instead, and decided her.

"Afraid so." she returned quietly.

The man nodded, making no further comment to convey the displeasure she saw in his eyes, and fell into step beside her as the large metal doors finally began to creak open. Darwyn shot Wraith a look in solidarity, faint curl of amusement on his lip, and she did her best not to respond in kind. It was best all round if she didn't play favourites, she'd seen that end badly for others, but there was no denying who was looking to be more pleasant to work with.