Chapter 5: Beginning of the rest of our lives

A.N. Hey guys, here's another chapter, I think this one came out okay, let me know if you find any mistakes. My laptop of 3 years actually died a few weeks ago and I just got a new one delivered, so I'm busting my ass trying to catch up on my fanfiction chapters and other work that I've needed to do (really lucky this didn't happen in the middle of the school year…). I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow, as long as I finish it in time lol.

~Ace

They got home late, having gone for a drive to get over the emotionally draining day that they just had. They were parked on the side of a road overlooking the town all they could see now were the lights below and the stars above. Kevin was leaning on the car with a six-pack next to him, just embracing the silence as he drank, letting go of the stress he had been holding onto for days before they came to Plumber HQ. The view was one that they came to when they wanted to escape, the house sometimes felt cramped and no longer moving around constantly made Kevin antsy.

Laying on the roof of the car, Nova was admiring the sky, the day went better than expected and there were no incidents. Cupping a ball of blue Mana, she manipulated its shape to her will and just as she had been practicing it took shape and solidified. Pushing it to the edge of the roof letting it roll on its own to the case of beer, the sound catching Kevin's attention. As he turns she says, "I was going to save this for your birthday but here," he picked up the glowing tennis ball holding it with wonder in his eyes. "How did you…," not finding the words he just smirked and said, "You're still finding ways to surprise me." His attention on the ball once again, a rare soft smile on his face Nova stared. She sometimes saw him wondering why she chose to stay with him the day that he found her, confusion at her seemingly random antics and even his acceptance of her non-confrontational use of her power. She never tired of observing him, even when he pocketed the gift and returned to looking out at the city below she watched him until they left for home.

Kevin POV

That morning Kevin woke up to a bright blue face smiling down at him, he couldn't help but feel as if she had been watching him for a while. Smirking up at her he asks, "Is a certain someone ready to go?" watching her speed around the room leaving little embers of mana floating around as she settled in the centre of the room above the foot of the bed. 'She's so cute,' looking around the room he saw that everyplace that had a blue ball over it was something she did before he woke up. She had set out his clothes for the day, packed an emergency bag, put what looked like toast and eggs on the bedside table and his Plumber badge was sitting in his lap. He wasn't sure how she did this, he wasn't sure how she woke up that early as he usually left her in bed in the morning but she was obviously excited with how bright she glowed. He ate the breakfast, heavily suspected that she made used the alien eggs in the fridge instead of the ones clearly marked chicken eggs but she was going to do what she wanted anyways and its not like they would hurt him.

After taking a shower and dressing in his usual ripped jeans, striped undershirt and T-shirt, he peeked into the garage to see Nova sitting in the front seat practically vibrating with energy. "I'm gonna make her sweat a bit." Sitting in the kitchen he has a cup of coffee drinking it as slow as he possibly could, ignoring the occasional roaring of the engine coming from the garage. When the engine switches off, Kevin for a second thought she was giving up on rushing him when the door to the garage flies open, blue blur speeding in. She downs his coffee in one spiteful gulp and in a less than subtle display of power, violently teleports them both into the car strapping them in, taking control of the car and speeding out of the garage and down the road.

"I had you going for a moment there," Kevin, having since taken the wheel after he agreed to stop stalling, was prodding the Anodite who had been a little miffed about his stunt at the house. She sits there pretending to not hear him making him start pulling on some of her hair, then poking her cheek in an effort to make her acknowledge him. After he starts poking her ribs, she eventually lets out a little giggle and he is pretty proud of himself, "I knew you couldn't stay mad at me." Eyes on the road he almost doesn't see her leaning over, glancing just in time for her to grab his face and plant a kiss on his cheek, "You're gonna do great." She climbed into his lap tucking her head under his chin so that she didn't block his view of the road, Kevin was used to her sometimes being overly affectionate but this was the first time she has gotten like this while he was driving. A slight blush formed on his face as he tried to focus on the road with one hand on the warm blunette in his lap, 'Max would never let me live this down.' In the past she would sometimes wrap a lock of her hair around his wrist or arm while he was driving but they usually weren't this affectionate in what Kevin considered a public place, she was rarely ever comfortable outside of the home, this was a good sign of things to come.

They pulled into the Plumber HQ Compound through the hidden entrance, flashing one of their new badges at the patrolling guards and parking. "Welcome to day one of your first ever job," Kevin snarked as they walked through the automatic doors and to the receptionist. Waiting for Max to show up they passed the time taking in their new surroundings.

Max, ever the cheerful giver came and took them to where they would be working and their co-workers. Instead of being a back room filled with busted blasters, they were taken to a huge modified area with shiny tech all around, looking up to the high ceiling they saw numerous glass walkways to some other parts of the building. Letting them have their moment of awe, Max calls over the other engineers, "Kevin, Nova, I'd like you to meet the agents you will be working with, this is Agent Fauci, he was a field agent but is now a part of the engineering department. These two are recent graduates of the academy, Nio and Gen, two former students from Galvan Prime that Azmuth recommended to us." The obvious rag-tag group of engineers were left alone to get acquainted before they start into the work for the day. Kevin found out that the hulking Piscciss Volann, had originally planned to be an engineer but after a training session on Piscciss gone wrong in his academy days he had been stuck as a guard and errand boy to Magister Patelliday constantly going from planet to planet to retrieve things for him. Nova was talking to the Galvan, Gen about the work that they had been doing for the Plumbers so far and what she got from his fast-paced rambling it seemed like they had been there for almost two years but it was in place of the normal academy system.

The work was a bit odd in that they got a mile-long list of things to repair, build or disassemble each day and only had to choose a few things to do, when they got started, Fauci and Nio were working on dismantling a set of old Plumber badges while Kevin and Nova worked with the exuberant Gen on repairing a few one-man ships. "You came at just the right time, take out that engine block, with the new headquarters, rip out that busted panel, we'll have a ton of work to do and new stuff to build." Nora seemed to have been commandeered by the Galvan as an assistant, Kevin was at the back of the vessel trying to salvage the thrusters that had been somehow crushed in various places, peeking at the two every now and then. "Geez, we're going at this thing from both ends and everything's trashed, the others like this?" Kevin asked, the small engineer had crawled through the hole in the ships hull ending up by the fuel and the amused Osmosian. "Well we do have to say that we tried, wait were these wires chewed through, when it is a lost cause we can take all the good stuff out and scrap the rest," Gen pulled at the wiring of the wreck until what looked like a piece of the control panel came out, Kevin burst out laughing pulling himself out from under the ship.

The day was eventful, Gen talking enough for all of them, Kevin laughing more at every new problem that Gen freaked out over, especially when a fuel tank he had Nova pull out was filled with Lenopan sludge and he stormed off to the break room finally calling the first ship a lost cause. After Fauci called cadets to come haul away the scrap, the other two ships were easy fixes, taking only a few hours to completely take apart, replace parts and test. The other Galvan, Nio, who they found out was mute, logged all their work for the day while their brother showed them the break room, bathroom and where to sign out. Saying goodbye to Max (and promising not to skip lunch again, they didn't even notice that they had done so) they left Plumber HQ, with spirits high.

A.N. Well there you have it, we met the new team and it's almost like the job attracts characters made of quirk, how fun.

Ta,

~Ace