I did promise to come back, didn't I? This chapter's short as heck, but it's a filler in for the next arc which I promised (and failed to actually do) that it would kick off soon. But hey, at least I'm still here and writing the next chapter... :D

As a side note: My writing style changed a lot over the year I was absent. My old writing style, which you can find on this ch since it was written a long time ago, was heavily influenced by a certain writer I met on FF net. But after wandering around a bit, I realised that their writing style was, well, a bit too convenient for FF net, altering the line breaks and conversation flows to accommodate the style of this site. And I learned that it didn't suit me as an author. Not really. So, everything abt my writing might have changed in future chapters. Some may notice it, some may not.

What I want to say really, is that I'm back, with hopefully better writing-

-and a lot of love and passion for GG.

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I left Preston and Nick behind me, carefully shutting the door and watching the clouds streak past us. I and my friends were boarded on the jet, Preston driving with Grant as the copilot.

Everyone was quietly talking to each other or sleeping, including Shade who was still in her peaceful sleep.

"Zach, what are you doing?" Except for Nick, apparently. Nick's lips were pursed, and a tense line was set on his eyebrows. Tiredness flashed from his face, which I knew was mirrored in my own expression.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He narrowed his eyes, crossing the distance between us in two long strides. I had just changed seats with Jonas so that my chair was nearest to the cockpit so that I'd be able to swap with Grant if necessary. Nick was on the opposite side of the passenger seat, but he was now right in front of me, stormy grey eyes flashing.

"You know what I mean." His voice dipped down a pitch, so low that I could barely hear his voice over the slow whirling of the engine.

"I don't. Did I do something wrong?"

Nick sounded cross as he gave Mallory, who was snoring softly, a sidelong glance. "Who is Mallory?" I saw this coming, but I wasn't really able to hide the wince.

"She's one of the contacts I know." A huge understatement, but nobody had to know it.

"Zachary." Nick's tone left no room for arguments. He crossed his arms and stared at me firmly, an eyebrow arched up. I tried to stare him down, but since he was equally as tall as me, it didn't really work.

"I really don't want to talk about this now, Nick." A small pleading tone entered my voice. I was tired, anxious, and fed up with everything. Nick was definitely not someone I wanted to talk to about my past with.

Especially not now, since we were preparing for one of the biggest missions we had recently.

I tried not to remember how the most recent biggest mission for us ended a year ago. Trust me when I say it, it wasn't pretty.

"You know you have to tell me one day." He said after a short silence, leaning back on the chair and sipping on a bottle of water. Nick looked so relaxed as if we weren't going on a dangerous mission and were just having a vacation.

"...I'll tell you when I'm ready."

"When exactly will you be ready?"

A ghost of a smile curled on my lips. "Never might be a good time, actually."

With a huff, Nick shook his head and screwed his bottle shut, clicking it down on the side table and standing up. Cracks filled up my ears as his arms and legs stretched out.

"Okay, okay. I'm always open for talking, that's all I wanted to say." I snagged the bottle off the table and took a wide swing from it, receiving an eye roll from him. The water felt cool on my dried lips, and it relaxed my tense stance a bit.

"As I said, some things are better left unsaid."

Nick walked over to Macey with a shrug, casually fidgeting with a pocketknife on his palm. "Whatever you say, sir."

He probably didn't see me flipping a finger at his back.

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I sat on my chair and rescanned the hacked blueprints of the Korea base. It was only a few hours until arriving, and Bex was booking a hotel room with Grant.

"Zach, can't we-" Jonas tried one more time, glaring at the ceiling frustratedly.

I didn't even look up from my papers. "Jonas, you know we can't."

"But-"

Liz lifted her head from the tablet, carefully dislodging a tangled cable from her feet. "Jonas, we have no choice okay?"

He was extremely displeased with having to use the hotel network, and I understood him totally. However, we didn't have a safe house in Korea, so as Liz said, we had no choice.

"Fine. Sorry, Zach, I'm just nervous to operate somewhere so far from where we used to be." Jonas made a face. "Especially in a fricking hotel room."

Liz sighed and pulled out a small cell phone from her pocket, handing it to her boyfriend.

"Everyone's nervous. Calm down and go check our reservations."

Right on time, Preston's voice echoed out from the speaker.

"We'll arrive at the private airport in a few minutes, prepare for landing."

A light silence settled around the jet, only the sound of me tapping my hand on the window breaking the peace. Everyone was absently looking at each other or outside the window, while Mallory was simply dozing off.

I couldn't erase the thought that this was only calm before the storm.