Chapter Four

"The heck!" Lerow exclaimed. She shook her head, fingering the white streak in her hair. "I know some people change in looks, but this…" She shook her head. She was alone in a restroom on the Sub. Shade had been told what had happened already. He still had a poker face on, but a small bit of agitation could be seen.

She pulled her hand away and walked out of the small room, into fluorescent lights of the hallway. "I'm guessing this wasn't expected," Ninde observed. She had been waiting outside the door for Lerow.

"No, it wasn't, really." She chuckled nervously and shook her head again. "But I suppose what happens and has happened is out of our reach. At least this is accompanied by a Change talent that could help us out, no?" She sighed.

"True. Shade wants to see you on your own for some reason. Go on; we'll wait for you in the kitchen." The camouflage-clad girl nodded and walked to the room where they usually talked to Shade face-to-face.

She closed the door behind her and sat on the couch, one eyebrow raised. "Yes, Shade? What is it?" she asked. The flash that signaled the arrival of his hologram appeared and dimmed.

He leaned forward on the desk slightly, eyeing the streak in her hair. "I wanted you to explain to me exactly what happened, Lerow. You breezed through it when the others were here. I want it piece by piece." She shrugged and complied.

When she was done he nodded thoughtfully. "Good. But was there anything else out of the ordinary? I'm not just talking about on this mission, either. Ever since the Overlords came, have you felt this sort of thing? Or anything else. Tell me if you have."

"Not really." She paused, furrowing her brows in thought. "Well, there was that one time…. It was like all of my senses were heightened for a moment. I was really fast, too. It was right when everyone else got agitated. So, when the Overlords first came. But that's it, I think."

Shade nodded again. "That's not uncommon. It seems we've found your Change talent, my dear. You will notify me if this happens again?"

"Sure."

"Very good."

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"What was that about?" Gold-Eye asked when she had gotten back to the kitchen. He raised an eyebrow and started to pour himself some cold water from a pitcher.

"Not much. He wanted to go over everything again. Other than that, there wasn't really anything. Have you already eaten?" He shook his head and opened a cabinet.

"There isn't really much here other than dried food, but what can you expect?" Ninde shrugged to herself. Lerow half-smiled.

"Can't be worse than an MRE," she replied. She looked to the two kids sitting on the counter patiently as if she had only just noticed them. She hesitated and walked over to the two. They raised their heads in curiosity. "So, did you have fun while we were gone? I'll bet Shade gave you two plenty of things you could do."

Ella grinned in recollection. "Yep," she said. "He let us draw and color and he gave us a couple snacks." Drum nodded in agreement.

Gold-Eye and Ninde exchanged amused glances. It seemed their new team-member had a bit of a way with kids. That was good. They were also glad Shade had taken good care of their children.

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NOTE

It's very, very short, but it's been so long I thought that really didn't matter. I'm very sorry for the wait, but things have been awfully hectic here with plenty of different things.

Please review!