Bree's POV
Bree is sat on the floor of Issy's apartment between Noah's legs. Issy's bottle of whiskey sat on the table and Bree had told Hugo that Issy wouldn't allow it. Dec, Josh and Kayden talk quietly amongst themselves as the others add their opinions now and then. It had been Bree and Sam's idea to celebrate Issy and Hec finally finishing their training. It hadn't been hard to organize it without either of them knowing as they were both too wrapped up in their training to truly notice anything. Originally, Eric wasn't going to come. As soon as Bree had found out she had marched straight to his office and layed into him, not caring that he was a Leader or that Max watched them smugly.
A rattle on the other side of the door made them all freeze. It was silent on both sides until the rattling started again and the door opened. Nearly all of them roared happily, lifting their drinks in acknowledgement.
Issy blushed, laughing lightly as she stepped in and leaned against the door as it shut. "What the hell?"
Most laugh and Bree notices the soft smile on Eric's face as Issy looks to Hugo and Josh. Bree catches his gaze with a knowing look and he rolls his eyes half heartedly at her.
"We're celebrating the fact that you and Hec have finished your training!" Josh answers, holding his bottle back up in her direction again.
Issy unclipped her keys from her belt and threw them lightly into the bowl by the door. As she walked across the room, she pulled her hair out of its bun. Bree could see the small celebration in Hugo's and Dec's eyes until Issy stopped suddenly and everyone froze. A moment later and Issy had taken her whiskey back, shouting at Hugo as she goes to the kitchen. Issy's brothers groan and Bree laughs triumphantly.
"Told you!" Bree sang, laughing after Hugo stick his tongue out at her. Bree shivers slightly when Noah's fingers gently graze the back of her neck and she leans back into him as he traces patterns into her skin.
Hugo pouts when Issy leaves to her room. "That was a good bottle of whiskey that." He looks up to where Issy placed it and Dec pats his knee.
"I wouldn't think about it brother, you know how Issy reacts when someone messes with what's hers."
"Bitch," Hugo rubs his arm slowly before looking up at the rest of them. "Once Issy had this box back in Erudite but none of our family knew what was in it so I decided to have a look. I managed to distract her with some mad idea for a prank, which I knew wouldn't would work because I had tried it before, and I excused myself for the toilet. Anyway, I had managed to get to her room but before I could get to it there was this red holographic knife just hovering in front of me and then it flew forward and cut my arm. I can remember being so confused and when I turned around Issy was just stood there, looking so angry that I literally ran out of her room." He pauses when his brothers laugh at him and Josh looks at him.
"Is it the same scar that you had me tattoo a hawk over."
"That's it."
"Hey, guys!" Luke calls out. "Have you heard of that new tattooing method that Erudite have created?"
Instantly a small argument is started between Luke and Josh. Alec and Flare argued against Josh while Bree shook her head, quietly agreeing to what Josh says. Issy came back into the living room halfway through the conversation in leggings and a loose knitted jumper with fluffy red socks. She sat between Bree and Dec on the floor and Bree winked at her before turning back to the conversation.
"I have to agree with Josh on this." Disapproval was clear on the faces of Luke, Flare and Alec as Issy spoke up. Josh pointed in her direction with pride as she carried on. "And, by what I've gathered so far, these computers will need to be very close to the chairs meaning probably at least half of the current stations in the room having to be scraped so the computers are spaced so they won't over heat and die." Issy picked up a bottle of beer in front of her and took a sip.
Cody nods his head at Issy's words. "They'd also have to transfer all of the designs of the books onto a shared system that would take a lot of time up."
"And," Josh beamed, shaking his finger at the trio. "In that time we could lose customers because of the lack of stations and within that time."
"But they're quicker!" Luke argued. "And less –"
Issy's irises flare golden so suddenly that Luke stopped talking and Bree snickered into her hand. "I'm sorry but if someone doesn't want any pain then don't get a fucking tattoo." Issy grins slightly as Josh fist pumps the air and raises his other hand to high five her. "Or just get a better tolerance to pain."
"That's easier said than done in all fairness." Kayden interjects with a sheepish look that is odd for him but it quickly shifts into something more feral as he looks to Issy. "But its not like you could do anything about helping with tolerance, could you Erudite?" A laugh bursts from Alec and he quickly slaps a hand over his mouth as Issy leans forward slightly, her own wicked grin on her face with a small layer of amusement and joking floating between the group.
"Come at me Amity and find out." She taunts and Declan drives his elbow into his sister's ribs the same time Flare smacks Kayden's thigh. She turns to her brother with a carefree grin and a small laugh as he watches her with raised eyebrows.
"No fighting children." He points at them and Eric chuckles behind him when she and Kayden pout in response.
Its not long before Zeke, Uri and Hec walk in, shouting about food and Bree lets Noah get something for the both of them. Most of the others get up too and Bree turns to talk to Lilah about her training when Bree hears a small burst of laughter from Issy. Both Bree and Lilah turn to her, sharing a smirk when they spot Eric standing close to Issy as she tries to compose herself. Eric gently pushes her away when Dec joins them. Issy comes back and sits where Hugo had sat when the others sit down around them. Bree watches her carefully as Issy lift a bottle up to her lips, her eyes drifting over to the Pedrad brothers. She chokes on her drink, drawing all eyes towards her. Issy brings the back of her hand against her mouth as she swallows and bursts out laughing. Eric's shoulder shake slightly next to Issy as he laughs quietly, grinning behind his hand.
"That damn image!" Issy cried, pushing at Eric's shoulders and he laughed louder while Dec watched them both with a hint of worry.
He turned to look up to Eric as his sister continued to rotate between laughing and choking. "Eric I think you've broken Issy."
Bree looked between Dec to Eric to Issy and back again. She stared at Eric, shaking her head at him before she stood up and took her sister by the elbow and guided her from the room. Bree pushed Issy onto the bed and Bree sat on the end. Just end Issy was going to calm down a bit, she just burst out laughing again. It took Issy a while to finally calm down enough to talk.
"Right, okay," Issy swiped the tears away from her eyes. "Do you remember when I said that Uri accidentally pushed me into one of the fences and it collapsed after he pulled me away from it?"
Bree scowled. "Yeah, I'm still pissed about that actually."
She nodded her head. "Well, when Zeke and Uri put the food down on the island they both reached for my bottle of whiskey and I threatened to tell Dec about it adding that he and Eric tend to be attached to the hip most days. Anyway, as they disappeared Eric came over. Thankfully he didn't hear anything but he said that it seemed that I just threatened to hang them by their nuts off of the chasm and spin them about like a fan."
Bree stopped and stared at Issy for a moment, holding up a finger and silently walking out of the room. She walked into the living room with a neutral face that had everyone stopping what they were doing. They look at Bree silently. Bree looks back. Her eyes shift to Eric who quirks an eyebrow at her and her lips twitch up into a small smile. Then her eyes shift to the Pedrad brothers and the image appears in her mind. She bursts out laughing then, holding her stomach from how much it hurts. Eric winks at her knowingly as she turned back around and she headed back to Issy's room with tears in her eyes. She set Issy off again, nodding in agreement.
They carried on laughing for a while when they heard a door opened. They looked up at Noah through the tears in their eyes. He looked at them for a moment before he pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of them. Finally, once they had calmed down again, Noah showed them the photo. They were leaned against each other, mouths open mid laugh and their eyes shining with joyful tears. Golden blue and hazelnut brown looking up to the camera. Bree still had the ends of her dark brown hair dyed red and settled below her shoulders. Issy has hers coming out of her side braid. Their heads are leaned against each other and their hands are clasped.
"That's going on the wall." Noah says with a smile as he takes a step back towards the door. "Issy, Hec wanted said you should be going soon, its nearly twenty past six." She nodded her head in thanks and he left the room.
Bree stayed with her and pulled out a thick pair of dark grey jeans with in-built holsters to pull over her leggings. The jeans were unlike the stiff trousers that was a part of her uniform. As Issy slipped the jeans on and laced up a pair of black sneakers, Bree looked through Issy's draws and threw a fitted long sleeved top, one of Issy's thinner hoodies that are the same colour as her jeans. Bree continued to shuffle through the drawers as Issy changed, her fingers drumming on the wood.
"Do you know what you'll be doing tonight?"
"Nope." Issy paused as she pulled the hoodie over her head. "Captain said that is some kind of tradition and Red said it'll be fun but other than that, no one will tell us anything."
"Hmm." Bree fingered through Issy's clothes until she found exactly what she was looking for. "Aha!" Bree grinned as she pulled out Eric's jacket. Bree only knows this as she caught Eric and Dec exchanging jackets but they didn't see her. Bree though it was adorable that Issy still thought it was Dec's and it was even more adorable to see Eric's smug grin when he caught her wearing it. Issy paused, a frown gracing her lips. "Exactly what I was looking for." Issy takes it from Bree, slipping her arms into it. With the added layers it doesn't hang off of her as much and when she lifts the collar to her nose, she smiles as she breathes in the familiar scent of mint and coffee mixed in with a woodland scent. "Now where do you keep your weapons?" Issy laughs lightly, waving Bree to follow. Issy threw all of the clothing off of her bed and onto the floor. She hooked her hand under the frame at the end of her bed and pushed a button. There was a quiet click and slowly, the mattress rose to reveal a hidden storage compartment which she had filled with weapons, mostly knives, guns and ammo for the gun ordered in size and neatly. Bree's jaw dropped and Issy smirked. 'What the actual fuck?' Bree stared at her sister who wore a pleased grin. "I know you once said you like to be prepared, but damn girl, this is a whole new level."
Issy nodded her head as she slid her hand gun into the holster on her right thigh, another hand gun inside her jacket and picked five knives, four similar to the ones they used in initiation and another smaller one with its sheath. She hid two knives in a hidden sheath on the outer sides of her calves, another two on the outer left side of her thigh. The final knife she left out on the side as she pulled her hair out of its braid. Bree watched in fascination as Issy redid her braid and somehow braided the small sheath into the upper, thicker part of it. Bree gently touched the hilt as if it would unravel and glanced to Issy.
"You need to teach me how to do that."
"Rainbow taught me just how to do this braid but I'll ask her if you want and she can teach both of us how to do other styles." Issy picked up her watch and strapped it onto her left wrist.
"I'd like that."
Bree lead the way back into the front room and was surprised to see it all tidy a part from the amount of bottle scattered across the table.
"Oh Hugo!" Issy calls out. "While I remember, I need one of those tracker thingys, like, by tonight please?"
Hugo turns to her confused. "Do I want to know why?"
"You'll find out relatively soon."
Hugo still looks confused but nods his head anyway.
Bree stands with Issy for a moment, smirking as Hec did a double take at Issy.
"Why is it when you're in the most laid back clothing ever that you look the most deadly?" Hec asks and Issy just shrugs. "Even in your patrol gear you don't look that badass."
Bree looks at Issy with wide eyes and shakes her head. "Unless it's an emergency or we're on high alert, do not ask." Bree snorts as she glances at Uri and pats Eric on the shoulder as she passes him. "That's a lovely image, thank you." Eric grins back.
"So baso," Hugo starts. "You have an armoury somewhere in this apartment?"
Issy huffs as eyes turn to her curiously. "Not an armoury." She picks up her phone from the table and slips it in an inner pocket of her jacket, missing the smirk and wink Dec gives Eric as she walks to Hec. "Don't go looking for it either." Issy warns lightly as she takes her keys and clips it on her belt loop.
"Odds on it being hidden in her underwear draw." Luke offers up as Hec opens the door and gestures for her to go first.
"Eric!" Zeke yells as Issy takes a step out of the door. "You're up!"
Eric laughs, waving them off as Issy rolls her eyes. She turns to face the guys, looking at them from under her lashes, winking at Eric. "Don't threaten him with a good time." She says with her voice just above a whisper. Lilah and Bree burst out laughing as a light blush dusts Eric's cheeks and the guys start choking either on air or on their drinks. Hec takes that as his queue to push Issy out of the door, shutting it behind them.
xXx
Bree was determined as she walked into the Pit looking for a person in particular. Bree was worried for Issy. Her morning shifts had just started and Bree knew that Issy wasn't getting any sleep, Bree also knew that Issy got little sleep while she was doing day shifts. Issy might throw out a happy smile and a laugh now and then but Bree watched Issy's expression deflate when she was sure no one was watching. No one but Bree. Many times Bree had caught Issy's eye, silently questioning her if there was anything she could do and Issy would tiredly shake her head. Bree didn't know what to do and that's why she was searching for Dec.
She spotted him on one of the tables on the balcony overlooking the Pit and she made her way up the stairs. As she got closer Bree noticed that Eric and Josh sat with him. Dec grinned at her happily, obviously slightly buzzed. Eric nodded his head at her and Josh winked.
"Hey Bree!" Dec grinned, leaning back in his chair. "What can we do for you?"
Bree bit her lip before looking up at him. "Do you know what's wrong with Issy?"
"Issy? Nothings wrong with Issy. Issy is fine." He smiled up at her gently and Bree looked at him in confusion.
A sudden burst of anger went through her. She wraps her arms around her waist to hide how her hands trembled with anger. She tries to resist the urge to smack him across the face. How could he not notice how knackered Issy was looking just recently. "Are you serious?" She asked in disbelief, looking from Declan to Eric to Josh and back again. "You're her brother," Bree turns on Josh. "And so are you! How the fuck have none of you noticed that Issy has nearly been collapsing in exhaustion each night? One fake smile and laugh your way and you just overlook it?!" She barks out a humourless laugh at Declan's red face and shakes her head. "I really thought you were better than that."
Within seconds Declan is on his feet, his glass slamming onto the table top, making Eric and Josh jump in surprise. "I love my sister but I don't watch her every second of the day. Haven't you thought that I might be busy –"
"Too busy for family?" Bree cuts across him and he growls lowly.
"And why are you ripping into me and Josh? What about Eric?" Eric shoots him a glare as Declan lets his anger fuel his mouth.
Bree simply waves him away. "He's excused." This time Eric shoots her a confused look.
"Excused? What do you mean he's excused? Excused how?"
Bree tuts lightly. "Declan, I'd like to make a few things clear. Issy tells me everything and if she says he's excused then Eric is excused." Bree stares him down until Declan looks away, overwhelmed by the disappointment on her face. "After everything she's been through I would have thought you'd be the first to notice. . ." She trails off sadly, nodding once to Eric and Josh before leaving them without another word.
xXx
Bree stands in front of the mirror in her apartment. Her mind is still on Issy from the conversation she had with Declan. Her eyes are so unfocused that she doesn't notice Noah wrap his arms around her waist and lean his chin on her shoulder.
"You still thinking of Issy?"
Bree meets his eyes in the mirror and sighs. "I don't know what to do for her. Sometimes I think that Issy's still keeping everything in because she doesn't want to be a burden but others I think she's trying to drift away. I just –" Bree wipes a tear away as Noah shushes her, rocking them gently.
"Have you ever though that Issy's not used to having this many people knowing her problems? I mean from the sounds of it she only really told Alec anything." Noah presses a kiss to her neck as she processes his words. "After these next two weeks Issy is off for two weeks so how about you and her just have a day together. Get out of the compound, go somewhere, maybe Navy pier and just talk things out."
She nods, turning to smile up at him. "What would I do without you?" She pecks his lips lightly causing him to smirk down at her.
"I don't know but do you what I do know?"
"What?"
Noah grins down at her mischievously. "We're going to bed." And with that, Noah throws her over his shoulder and walks to their bedroom, Bree laughing loudly all the way.