Issy raises her hand to his cheek and pulls his jaw in her direction. "Eric I'm not going anywhere." Eric's lips twitch into a small smile but he doesn't look like he believes her. Issy leans closer, her hand sliding into the short strands of his hair. She presses their foreheads together and Eric sighs. "I'm not going anywhere."
Eric's hand runs through her hair, pressing her closer until their noses brush. "You're not going anywhere." He presses his lips to hers seconds after and Issy can feel his desperation to believe it.
The added presence of Emmett looms over the girls of the group. Now, if they need to go anywhere, they travel in packs with a few of the guys just in case. The guys on Issy's squad have become increasingly protective and borderline possessive of Rainbow and Issy, straight out refusing for them to go alone anywhere. At one-point Issy got so annoyed with the lack of freedom that Issy forced her squad into the common room after a patrol and forced them to tell her exactly what happened last time.
Billy glanced around. "We know you've read Emmett's file Issy, what more do you want?"
"Billy, don't make me kick your ass." Issy glared at them all. "I want to know why I can't go from the garage to the S.W.A.L.T room by myself? It's not like he's got access to the damned garage!" The looks that are swapped between them say otherwise. "He has access to the garage?" Issy shouts and they all wince.
"Max wants the fucker in a normal environment and back to where he was before Emmett got sent away." Hec says. "Max thinks that if he's just living and not watched constantly then he'll not fuck shit up."
"And what was he doing before he was basically exiled?" Issy asks.
The whole room winces again. "Training to be in a squadron."
"Are you shitting me?" Issy sighs. "For fuck sake. Do all the Leaders know about this?"
"Only Max and Harrison."
Issy sighs louder and she closes her eyes. Eric's gonna throw an absolute shit fit, she knows it. She opens her eyes and some flinch away at the whiteish-gold hue that glares at them. "No one tells Eric." When Red opens his mouth, she turns on him. "No one. If Max or Harrison felt like he needed to know then they would have told him. Anyone tells him and I'm signing you up on volunteering in the Day-care, do I make myself clear?"
Heads duck as they hid from her glare. "Yes Beta." They say simultaneously.
xXx
Issy sees Emmett around the garage after that point. The guys stopped chaperoning her throughout the garage and Issy realises that they must have learnt his schedule so they didn't run into each other. Every time Issy spots him around Emmett's eyes are on her but Issy ignores him.
It's another week before Harrison pulls some of the Captains into a meeting. When Issy gets to the conference room, she's surprised to see nearly twenty Captains in the room already. Though Issy grins when she spots Duncan in the corner of the room and she moves to stand next to him. Duncan greets Issy with a smile, congratulating her on the promotion and she grins back. Looking through the room, she's not surprised to see very few females and her jaw clenches as a few of the guys send leery grins in her direction.
It's not long before Harrison walks in and looks around the room. "We're all here. Good." He sets a stack of papers down on the desk. "As some of you know, the system for new recruits has changed. The all train together, getting ranked before choosing which squad they would like to be a part of. I asked you here today as you are the squads that have been chosen by the new recruits. Some of you will only have a couple whereas others will have a large grouping. How you train them is up to your own standards. Though, you all have a month off from the rota and by the end of that, I expect each of you to have a new member." Issy sighs, annoyance running through her. They had just got back into the rota for fucks sake! "As you leave I will give you lists about the recruits that have chosen. It will include their personal details, rankings from their initiation and jobs since then if they've had any. There will also be a paragraph on what the recruit is like." Harrison begins to call a captain up at a time, they collect their list and then leave. As the group dwindles down, something doesn't feel right. Soon it's just down to her and Harrison.
Issy steps up and holds out a hand for her list. She frowned as Harrison hesitated before handing it to her. "What?" Issy asks before her eyes casted down to the pack. She flips through them, barely registering them until her eyes find one name right at the back of the pack. Issy grits her teeth. "Does Eric know?"
"Not yet." Harrison winces. "If you need any help, ask."
"Thanks." She smiles sarcastically. "Try not to die when Eric finds out."
Harrison snorts as she starts to leave. "I'll try."
xXx
Beta sits in the common room, the patrol alarm set and probably disturbing the rest of the squad from their evening. The pack sits in front of her and she hasn't touched it since Issy threw it on the table an hour ago. Slowly her squad trickle in and they start frowning when they focus on how fed up Beta looks.
"Beta?" Red asks. She surprised he didn't say Beta or even Cap'n. its be a while since any of them – excluding Hector – had called her Issy. "What's a matter?"
"We're being pulled from the rota, like many other squadrons, for a month to train the new recruits that have chosen us." Issy fights back the tears threatening to spill. She will not cry. Life just wasn't being fair. Beta pushes the side of the pile until it's all spread out like a fan.
"Oh shit!" Someone hisses but her eyes are glued to one name in particular.
Emmett Henley
I don't know how long it's going to be until another chapter of GF, I've got outtakes to write once again. Max's will be soon and then Eric's straight after.