Chapter Three

"Aquatic powers? We'll have to take her down from a distance, then. Getting close would be too dangerous," Lacee said, eyes fixed on the files in front of her, skimming through the information once more.

Duthie hid a yawn behind his hand, the voices of his new teammates blending together to form a monotonous hum, doing nothing to help on his tiredness. It was too early. Way, way too early. He wasn't sure how the others were able to be this awake after four hours of sleep, but he honestly didn't care at the moment. All he wanted was the chance to get some sleep, but as long as the others kept talking, that probably wasn't going to happen.

"A bullet could solve that problem," Harry suggested. "Her powers aren't that unusual. If we can't take her down in another way, we might have to kill her instead."

"But they want her alive," Raine disagreed, hand pointing at something in the files, but Duthie was too tired to care what it was, or if it had anything to do with him. "Her power might be common, but it's still useful."

"Alive, unless we don't have a choice," Harry corrected. "You know how much havoc elementals cause. They're hard to take down."

"Which is why we'll try to take her down from a distance first," Lacee said, efficiently cutting through their argument. Grey eyes rested for a moment on her teammates, then turned to Duthie. "How close do you have to be to take her out?"

Duthie looked up, the sudden question dragging him out of his half-unconscious state, and he blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

Lacee's eyes narrowed in annoyance at the boy. "I said, how close do you have to be to take her out? Pay attention, Duthie - you have a job to do."

Duthie blinked, taken aback by her annoyance, and it took a moment before his mind was able to register the question and think up a suitable reply.

"I don't know for sure how close I have to be," he finally admitted with a small sigh. "I haven't really used them that much, but...it kind of fades out. Thirty feet, I think, and then...any further away, and I'm not sure how strong it will be."

A quick look exchanged between the other three, and Raine looked down. "Great...he doesn't even have any training with his powers," she mumbled. "Fucking great."

This time Duthie looked vaguely annoyed, but before he had the chance to comment on it, the others continued their discussion, planning with the ease that came only with months of practice and left Duthie feeling hopelessly stupid in comparison.

"Can we distract her in some way, then?" Lacee suggested. "I need to get just as close if I want to use my poison, and being on the streets, it's doubtful there'll be anything you can work with, Harry."

"No...no, we can't," Raine replied. "According to the file, she's a street kid. And street kids that let themselves be distracted won't survive for long."

"A gun, then?" Harry again, and Raine looked up, turning her attention to him instead. "A bullet in the leg won't kill her, but it'll keep her in too much pain to use her powers. Shoot her, and then have the kid take her out."

Lacee frowned, a thoughtful look crossing her face as she considered the option, mentally weighing the pros and cons. It was the best plan they'd managed to come up with so far, but still...if they were unlucky, the bullet would sever an artery, and the target would bleed to death before they could get her back to the base. On the other hand, it wasn't like they had much of a choice. Sedatives would take too long to work and in the time it took, they'd be vulnerable to attacks. And since the new kid would only be useful at a short distance...

Yeah.

She nodded slowly. It could work - the pain of a gunshot wound combined with Duthie's powers would incapacitate the target, and they'd be able to sedate her and bring her back without too much trouble.

"Sounds like a plan to me," she admitted. "Raine?"

The girl tilted her hear slightly, thoughtfully, considering the information they had on the target. "I think it'll work. She's used to her powers and use them pretty well, but I don't think she has much experience in using them while in pain. And if that isn't enough, the shock should stun her for long enough to get close to her and let Duthie do his job."

"Great. It's settled, then," Lacee decided. "Let's get some sleep before we leave, I think we need it."

There was a general agreement as Raine and Harry got up, neither allowing their tiredness to show, but still very much aware that they could use the rest. They could both make due with very little rest, especially Harry, but still...who knew when they'd be back again?

Duthie hesitated for a moment, but stayed where he was, watching Lacee carefully. Finally the other looked up, a vaguely annoyed look on her face. "What?"

"Aren't you going to ask for my opinion?" Duthie asked, faint hurt and annoyance tainting the words. He was part of the team, too, right? Wasn't he supposed to have something to say in this?

"No, I'm not," Lacee replied. "Because quite frankly, you're nothing but a problem right now. You don't have any training, you can't use your powers from long distances, and you have no clue what's going on. Until you do, you shut up and do as you're told. Got it?"

Duthie blinked, surprised flickering across his face at her harsh words. He wasn't used to that, wasn't used to having people snap at him or dismiss him so easily. "But-"

Lacee raised an eyebrow. "Can you at least use a gun?" she asked, cutting off his objections before he could continue.

Duthie looked down for a moment, then sighed. "No," he admitted. "I've never really..."

"Knives?" Lacee asked with a frown, slowly realizing that yes, Raine's initial verdict had indeed been right, and they really should have learned to trust her skills by now. "Any kind of weapon?"

"No," Duthie replied, and this time Lacee heard the resignation in his voice as he too realized that no, there wasn't much he could contribute with and no, this wasn't a good situation at all, especially not for him.

For a long moment Lacee watched him, weighing her options when it came to the boy and their situation in general, then sighed. "When we get back, you need to practice with your powers. We need you to be able to take someone out from a long distance, and..." Another pause as she watched Duthie. "A gun. You need to learn how to use a gun. I'll teach you."

The boy shifted uneasily, obviously not at all comfortable with the thought of a gun, but already knowing better than to argue about it. It was obvious that Lacee was more or less in charge of the group, and following orders would probably be the best option, even if he weren't exactly used to that. Obeying authorities had never been a favorite past time of his.

Another moment passed, and then Lacee expression softened ever so slightly, and Duthie felt himself relax a bit. "Just try to get out of this mission alive. We'll worry about your training when we get back. Just...do your best, and try not to get killed."

Duthie nodded, oddly reassured by the words. They were people just like him...if they could survive it, so could he. He'd survived worse.

Yeah, usually influenced by alcohol or worse, his mind added, but Duthie pointedly ignored that little fact. The point wasn't that he occasionally did stupid things when he was drunk, the point was that he'd survived, and he'd damn well survive this as well.

"Go get some rest. Just be up again an hour before we leave," Lacee said, and Duthie sent her a pale smile, thankful for the chance to get some more sleep. He was used to staying out at night, and sleeping in at day, and this little sleep didn't agree with him, especially not after the past couple of days. He needed rest, no doubt about that.

A tired nod, the back of a hand hiding a yawn, and Duthie left the room in search of his bed, leaving Lacee behind, gray eyes following the boy as he left.

"He needs training."

Lacee spun around, surprised by the voice, and found Major Bancroft standing behind her, face as impassive as ever. "He does," she agreed and her voice changed from the harsh tone she'd used with Duthie to a more submissive one, her respect for the man obvious. "I'll take care of it when we get back, sir." She paused, then continued a bit hesitant. "Will you be coming with us, sir?"

A flicker of amusement in the light blue eyes. "It's a beginner's mission, private. You should be able to handle that yourself." And in truth, it was. They were usually given harder tasks than this, but obvious someone in charge had showed enough common sense to realize that until the latest addition to the group had gotten some training, it would be limited how much they'd be able to accomplish.

A small sigh from the girl, and she nodded. "Yes, sir."

The man frowned slightly, eyes resting briefly on the door Duthie had left from. "He has a certain potential," he noted thoughtfully.

"If he survives, sir," Lacee pointed out. "He's...he can learn it in time, but that won't help if he gets killed on his first mission."

The major raised an eyebrow. "Then make sure he stays alive, private. He's your teammate now, and you should treat him as such."

Lacee sighed again, not at all happy with the prospect of playing babysitter for a kid like Duthie, but knew better than to argue. "Yes, sir."

Bancroft nodded. "Good luck, Taylor," he said, real concern for his team shining through for a brief moment, before it faded, leaving only the stern military attitude behind. "Dismissed."