March 3rd, 2023
Specialist Derrick "Loki" Castellano
Rainbow HQ
Near Portland, OR. USA
Derrick had just arrived back at HQ with Zofia and Ela in tow. Harry was correct. Ela was very much not friendly with Zofia. Derrick and Ash sat awkwardly in the front of the Jeep as the 2 sisters occupied the back in complete silence. Derrick had tried to make small talk but Ela silenced him with a look.
"Gee, what a way to make a first impression," Derrick said very quietly. How did Lukas like this person? The both of them had spent their shift together on guard duty talking about past relationships and the fact that Derrick liked Tina and Lukas liked Ela. Derrick had a suspicion that Lukas had told Tina about this because the last couple of days, she'd been in the lab almost as much as he was and pretty much turned up wherever he happened to be whenever he wasn't in the lab. There had been a rather memorable one where Tina had seen him lifting weights in the gym without his shirt on. As usual when Derrick saw his current crush, he flinched a little and almost dropped 185lbs on his chest but thankfully Lukas had been spotting him and made it so his ribcage wasn't demolished.
"Hi Derrick," Tina had said and started her own workout. Derrick totally caught her staring at his muscles.
"Morning," Derrick answered. He swore Lukas was sniggering at him behind his back. "I was just finishing up. I'll uh...see you around..." he said and left the gym...like a complete idiot. Flirt with her, you moron. He knows how to talk to girls for Christ sake. The amount of women that used to throw themselves at him in college was ridiculous, granted he didn't really pursue relationships ever since joining the Special Recon branch of the Air Force. As he left he thought he heard Lukas say something like "Smooth." Regardless, the entire crew was now at Rainbow HQ. Zofia accompanied Ash around the Facility, getting the tour and briefed on the situation. Ela meanwhile went off on her own as usual. Derrick decided to head back to the lab and finish up the repairs on his projector. Thankfully Elena was there to help him fine tune it. He kept the same style as last time but used more state of the art holographic and AR tech than what he had used while in the Air Force. Derrick noted that the kink had pretty much worked itself out. It was still there because Derrick was very detail oriented when it came to holographic disguises and could notice slight differences. When he tested it out for the first time (he took the form of Elena), the text reading "Policia" on his chest armor was just slightly smaller. No way anyone other than Derrick would have noticed.
Back to the present time, Derrick arrived in an empty lab and began running some diagnostics on the nearby computer and began to build some Gyro Cams. Meghan had shared the plans for them with him the other day and he decided to help her out by building a few for her. A couple minutes passed and Derrick began to hear footsteps coming towards him along with someone muttering in what he thought was Polish.
"Great...those 2 are at each other's throats already. Fantastic," Derrick said to himself but it turned out he was only about half right. It was Zofia and she was muttering angrily to herself. Derrick didn't speak Polish but he definitely heard Ela's name tossed around a few times. Zofia noticed Derrick sitting there working and stopped muttering to herself. She walked over to him and held out her hand. Derrick shook it.
"Zofia, you alright?" Derrick asked, figuring Zofia would most likely not tell him.
"Yes, I'm fine. I never got a chance to speak with you back in Greece or on the way here. Your skills are most impressive," she told him. Derrick remembered reading her psych report that Harry had sent him and it said that Zofia didn't necessarily "do" small talk. Despite this, Derrick gave it a go.
"Nice flight? You seemed rather quiet on the way over," he asked her as she went over to an empty bench and began to work on her KS79 LIFELINE. Derrick had read about this as well while he was writing his own device report. It was basically a combination of a soft breach and concussion grenade launcher. He was surprised that it came from an Italian R&D team after doing a little research on it. As Derrick expected, Zofia didn't answer at first but eventually she said
"It was alright. Long...but here we are." Derrick noticed a bit of resentment in her voice and he totally knew why. Ela. Her husband and daughter were expected to arrive sometime within the next few days but he didn't want to ask. Derrick was smart enough to not bring either of those things up lest he be on the receiving end of a beatdown. So he just shut up for a few minutes and allowed her to work. To his immense surprise, he thought he heard her begin to cry silently. Again, Derrick said nothing. This turned out to be a good plan because to his great surprise, Zofia suddenly turned to him.
"How did you and Valkyrie get so close?" she asked him while quickly wiping her eyes.
"Well, from what I gathered, apparently I was on the smaller side when I was a baby/toddler and my mom had told Meghan to watch out for me. She took that literally and started to protect me while we were growing up," he answered. His heart began to race as well. Zofia was opening up to him. This apparently never happened.
"I meant now. She doesn't hate you for something out of your control. It's not my fault my father favored me," she told him. Derrick noticed she had mentioned her father and he knew that the man apparently committed suicide.
"You watched over her while growing up right?" Derrick answered.
"I did. I was very protective of her much like Meghan was with you or so Ash tells me but the difference is that you don't hate Meghan. Why?" Zofia said. She still looked upset.
"She's my family. I love her," Derrick answered as he heard someone enter from the other doorway, he didn't have time to look though. That and the person had quickly left the room too.
"And Ela is mine. She hasn't even asked me about my husband or daughter. They're supposed to be coming to live nearby too," Zofia continued. Holy shit, this is for real happening. Why me though? I'm the new guy, Derrick thought to himself but answered Zofia.
"There's still time. I know it's cliche, but time heals all wounds. I know you don't really like to talk about your father or immediate family so we can drop the subject. How about this, would you like me to talk to Ela? I'm the younger sibling too. Perhaps I can get more out of her due to the fact that we both have overprotective sisters that love us," Derrick added the last comment because he figured that the person that entered and left was indeed Meghan. He confirmed this because he had heard Meghan sniff from the hallway. Zofia turned to Derrick and gave him an extremely rare smile. Derrick took that as a yes and left her to her own devices and went to leave as the computer finished running it's diagnostics. Plus he'd already built a few Gyro Cams. As expected he ran into Meghan in the hallway right outside the door. She was leading against the wall with her arms crossed.
"I assume you heard that?" he asked her.
"Love you too little bro," Meghan answered and pinched his cheek. She entered the lab and started speaking to Zofia about shit that Derrick didn't really need to hear about at the moment and turned to walk away...only to become face to face with Tina. He flinched slightly and he saw her smile at him.
"Hi Derrick. Anything fun planned today," she asked him. This time, Derrick didn't run away like a scared teenager, took out his phone and pretended to look at it. He channeled Jim Carrey a little as he spoke
"Let's see, 4 o'clock replace toothpaste in the bathroom with cream cheese. 4:30, stop laughing at previously mentioned prank. 5 o'clock, solve World Hunger but tell NO ONE. 5:30 attach life like tarantula sicker onto one of Meghan's camera lenses. 6 o'clock, Dinner with me. I can't cancel that again! I'm BOOKED!" he rattled off. Tina chuckled as he spoke. That made Derrick all tingly inside...as if he was a scared teenager about to ask the cute nerdy girl to prom.
"Sounds like a pretty eventful day. You don't really plan on changing the toothpaste in the bathrooms do you?" Tina asked him. Derrick smirked.
"Ah yes, I may have lied about that one as well as the timestamps," he said slyly. He glanced over Tina's shoulder and to his relief, no one else was making their way down the hallway.
"What do you-"
"AHHHHH!...OH JESUS CHRIST DERRICK!" Meghan's voice sounded from the lab.
"Bye Tina, if Megs doesn't kill me, I'll see you later in the cafe!" Derrick said and ran full speed down the hallway laughing to himself. THAT, was for the bouillon cube shower Megs, he thought to himself as he ran. There was also a part of him that was sure that Tina also harbored feelings for him as well as he had seen how she was looking at him. Almost as if she really wanted to see and feel his muscles up close. Speaking of dudes with muscles, Derrick ran right into Lukas after turning a corner.
"My bad man," Derrick said and helped Lukas to his feet. Lukas had been writing on a notepad and humming to himself before Derrick bowled him over.
"What did you do to Meghan this time?" Lukas asked him.
"You heard that?" Derrick said, glancing back the way he came for signs of Meghan. Luckily she wasn't coming...but he did just remember that Tina had entered the lab and Meghan was most likely getting her revenge by revealing a lot of personal details about him to his crush.
"No duh I heard that. We all did. What was it? Powdered juice mix again?" Lukas asked and tried to hide what was written on his notepad.
"Tarantula sicker right in front of her camera lens," Derrick answered, still looking to see if Meghan was after him. "What are you writing Cool Hand?" he added as Lukas chuckled.
"Uh...nothing," Lukas lied quickly. Derrick pretended to put on a pair of glasses and put one of his hands under his chin as if he was a detective.
"Let's see, when I ran into you, I could hear you humming to yourself. Now you told me that you played music while going through school and you still do now because I can hear you playing through the walls. You also told me that you write your own songs in your spare time AND have let slip that you have a small little crush on one of our new arrivals. The one with the green hair to be more specific. Now if I were to put 2 and 2 together, it'd equal 4, BUT you were writing a new song about Ela weren't you?" Derrick said in a British accent.
"Well yes and no. I wasn't writing about her, that's pretty douchey isn't it? But she has inspired me to write my own stuff again. Apparently, she spent some time in Berlin studying Fine Arts," Lukas answered.
"Rad. Cause believe me, I saw that 'write song for a girl' tactic a lot in college. Usually didn't work. I myself just played songs I knew and the girls typically threw themselves at me," Derrick said. Lukas looked at him quizzically.
"You play too?" he asked.
"Yeah. Mainly bass. I'll bring it next time I come back from my apartment and we can jam. Now- AHH!" Derrick said before he felt someone's hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Meghan looking at him pretty contently.
"Hi Lukas, I need to speak with Derrick." she said, tightening her grip on his shoulder. Lukas nodded and walked off still humming to himself.
"Alright, how much trouble am I in?"
"Relax, I'm not here about that. You got Zofia to laugh so I'm gonna forgive that one," she said.
"So...what did you need to speak with me about?" Derrick asked, breathing a sigh of relief in the meantime.
"Ash and I were alerted to a potential White Mask Base over in Seattle. We decided that we are going to send a small team of 2 to infiltrate and figure out what they're doing while I provide overwatch as usual. I meant to tell you about it back in the lab but Tina said you ran off this way,"
"Sounds like a job for this guy! When am I going and who am I going with?" Derrick answered enthusiastically.
"A week from now but there's a briefing about it in 2 days. Ash was called away until then, and as to who you're partnered with? Well, this person has told me that you're really handsome," Meghan answered.
"Pfft, that could be ANYBODY," Derrick said but Meghan continued to smirk at him. Derrick's face fell but Meghan's perked up.
"Aww how sweet, Derrick gets to go on a mission with Tina again."
"You...you did that didn't you?" Derrick asked. Meghan pinched his cheek again.
"Oh no, Tina specifically requested you."
March 5th, 2023
Specialist Derrick "Loki" Castellano
Rainbow HQ
Near Portland, OR. USA
Derrick began to see a lot more of Tina following the revelation that they were to be going on a mission together in the near future. She kept popping up behind Derrick over the last 2 days whenever he was in the lab, shooting range, cafeteria and when he was air guitaring along to some tunes while he left the bathroom after taking a shower. Every time he saw her, she gave him that smirk that Derrick took to mean "hi handsome." Why didn't he ask her out already? Well, the fact that he was now a high level clearance CTU operator on an international team consisting of many others kept popping up. Derrick decided to not act on his feelings quite yet. Perhaps after their mission together he'd tell her. What didn't help was the constant sniggering of his 2 best friends (Meghan and Lukas) whenever he and Tina had a few moments to talk. He had grabbed his bass from his apartment the previous day and was currently tuning it while sitting in his room. There hadn't been much excitement around the base since that hostage situation about a week ago save for Derrick's practical jokes on his comrades. He'd gotten Thermite the other day by drawing dark lines around the eye sockets of his goggles with artist charcoal. Thankfully Thermite didn't yell "Jesus Christ Derrick" but laughed it off with Blackbeard. Derrick finished tuning the bass and played a little lick at a low volume. Satisfied, he leaned the guitar up against the wall and got up from his bed and walked towards the door...only to be smacked in the face by some saran wrap stretched at his eye level. Derrick stumbled backwards and heard laughing coming from the hallway.
"Nice, real nice. Can't beat the classics," Derrick said to Blackbeard, who had been the culprit. Blackbeard stopped laughing and addressed Derrick.
"I heard you got to Zofia a little bit. Meghan told me. You got her to open up about her family. How?" he asked. Derrick shrugged.
"Don't know. She did it on her own," he answered. "Meghan set you up to the saran wrap door did she?"
"Nah, that one was for Jordan. I'd keep the pranks on the DL for a little though. Trust me, you do not want to see Ash mad. She comes back today after all," Blackbeard told him. Derrick nodded.
"Righto, I didn't have any ideas at the moment anyway. Plus I need to focus on Operation...whatever they called it. Emerald City?" Derrick said. Blackbeard nodded.
"Ah yes, you, Meghan and Tina are on that job right?" he asked.
"Yes," Derrick answered quickly. Blackbeard most likely sensed his nervousness to be working alongside 2 women he really cared about.
"Just be yourself and get the job done. I recruited you for a reason. Just don't commando dive out a window again alright? Even if it was really cool," Blackbeard said.
Later, Derrick was sitting in the lounge listening to some music on his phone while relaxing with his eyes closed. He heard someone approach and sit down in another empty chair. Derrick opened his eyes to see Ela sitting there and she was sketching something. She also hadn't noticed Derrick sitting there either. Derrick stealthily glanced at Ela's sketch to see that it looked like a portrait of a very handsome German man that he knew quite well.
"Artist too huh?" Derrick said. Ela jumped and attempted to hide the sketch while speaking rapid Polish. She saw Derrick sitting there and frowned.
"If you must know, yes. I do it from time to time. I'm not allowed to have hobbies?" she asked bitterly. Oh boy, she was even worse than Zofia when it came to small talk.
"Either way, it's quite good," Derrick said quickly. He could tell Ela was getting pissed at him and he needed to do something. Afterall, he'd told Zofia that he'd talk to Ela about what was keeping her from speaking with Zofia. Ela sniffed.
"Thanks. I was watching you during that Tournament. Impressive stuff," she told him. Surprisingly she hadn't stormed away as Derrick thought she would.
"Thanks, Meghan thought so too," Derrick said.
"I don't get how you don't hate her," Ela said. Yes! The comment about Meghan worked! Derrick thought to himself. Luckily, he had some stuff prepared for this very moment.
"Like how you hate your only sister?" Derrick said bravely. As expected, Ela's eyes bore into him with anger.
"Don't," she warned him but Derrick pressed on.
"Ela, she is your sister. You don't necessarily need to be best friends with her, but she is still your sister," Derrick said but Ela still wasn't happy.
"AND?"
"Who else do you have? Family wise?" Derrick said, folding his arms. That seemed to have worked a bit.
"Well...no one…but father still favored her over me," she said.
"And? My dad is a Colonel who had to deal with a son that goofed off 50% of the time while his daughter took her schooling very seriously. Who do you think he favored? Meghan was over protective of me too. It just means that she loves me. Plus you know Meghan; overachiever, stubborn, outrageously unfunny. I don't let who she is bother me all that much." Derrick said. Ela remained silent so Derrick decided to continue.
"Do you even know the name of your niece?" he asked. Ela shook her head as Derrick figured she would.
"But...but why now? Why not before dad died? I just wanted to be me and not deal with his rules and her special treatment,"
"Zofia must want to make amends for how your childhood went. Again, you don't have to be like me and Megs or Lukas and Monika but maybe try and bring up the subject of your niece. Parents LOVE talking about their kids. Plus it may show that you have stopped holding on to your rebellious ways when you were growing up. You were both selected for GROM and Rainbow so she definitely knows you have skills," Derrick said. Ela looked up at him again and he could see that she was no longer angry with him.
"I'm the younger sibling too. I know how it feels to have an overprotective sister. Half the time, I hated it just like you but I soon realized that Megs cared about me more than anyone else. Think about it ok? You guys are going to be here for a while anyway. You'll have time. You'll also have time to speak with my giant German friend about making portraits of him," Derrick said. Ela smiled when Derrick mentioned Lukas. Oh-ho-ho! Lukas, Lukas, Lukas. Payback is a BITCH my friend, Derrick thought.
"Oh yeah, he's the younger sibling too even though the guy is built like a tank. He tells me he has 3 siblings and the oldest ones are 10 years older than him while Monika is 5 years older. Feel free to talk to him too, I'm sure he'd listen to you. There's a rumor that he thinks you're cute but you didn't hear it from me," Derrick told her. Ela nodded and got up.
"Thanks." she said.
"Anytime," Derrick answered and leaned back in his chair as she walked away muttering to herself. Derrick began to congratulate himself before remembering something vastly important. The briefing. He got up and sprinted to the lab.
Luckily, he wasn't late. But rather 15 minutes early. Tina was in there already drinking from a bowl of what looked like soup.
"Uh...did you want a spoon?" Derrick asked. Really? THAT was what came out of his mouth right now?
"I thought you'd never ask," she answered. Derrick stared at her. Had...had she just said that? Like had she thought Derrick had just asked her to spoon? Like in a bed? Tina seemed to realize what she said, and rushed off. She may have gone to compose herself...but Derrick thought he saw her smirk before leaving the room. Meanwhile, Derrick continued to stare at the spot Tina just vacated before shaking his head.
"Well...that was a thing that just happened," he said to himself before hearing an all too familiar snigger from off to his right. Sure enough, there was Meghan, sitting there, arms folded and with a grin on her face.
"I'm gonna...gonna go that way now. Yeah, sounds good," he said and pointed in a random direction.
"Aww, wittle Derrick has a crush on Tina," Meghan said in a mocking tone.
"Pfft! PFFT! No!" Derrick lied quickly. Meghan began to sniff the air.
"Smell that Derrick? Your pants are burning. I saw how you acted around her in Greece. Kind of like a lovable dork. You like her don't you?" Meghan asked. Derrick looked around the room before he nodded.
"I thought her eyes were pretty when I helped you guys the first time and then I met her for real in Greece. God, she's...well she's beautiful-...she is also standing right behind me isnt she? And heard what I just said?" Derrick said. Meghan pointed and Derrick turned to see Tina standing there, now with a spoon in her bowl of soup, grinning at him.
"Uh..well...I...um," he began
"Are you always this articulate?" Tina asked him.
"Not usually. He typically has a bad joke ready," Meghan said, still grinning at Derrick. Oh these 2 crafty women had totally planned this encounter and Derrick knew it.
"Ok, not helping..." Derrick said and covered his face with his hands. Tina set her bowl down and removed his hands from his face.
"The feeling's mutual Derrick. Why do you think I requested to work with you for this operation?" she whispered. That nearly made Derrick babble like a complete moron. She had just told him to his face that she liked him.
"You...uh...you off tonight? We could catch a movie or dinner. Portland's pretty much my stomping ground," Derrick managed to ask confidently. Tina nodded.
"I am. We'll talk after the briefing, ok? Lucky for you, I have a thing for Handsome American Pilots" she whispered again so Meghan couldn't hear. She was too busy typing on the computer anyway but she was still grinning. Derrick gave Tina a smile and she returned it before she squeezed one of his hands.
"Later, alright? We're at work," she said again as Ash walked in.
"Derrick, what's this I hear from Jordan about artist charcoal on his goggles?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow but she still looked pretty amused.
"Craig already got me back for that one ma'am. Gotta lighten the mood around here y'know," Derrick answered. He felt a lot less nervous around Tina now that he had asked her out and had said yes.
"Can't beat the classics," Ash told him before pulling up a building plan and other schematics on one of the large screens in the lab. Derrick listened as Ash and Meghan explained what the plan was while he and Tina took notes. Apparently, this time he and Tina were tasked with infiltrating the base and retrieving any intel they could. Planned attacks, info on lieutenants, prisoner locations, anything that was useful. They were to leave in 7 days. Derrick was going to act as the pilot of a 2 seater plane while Meghan was going to be monitoring the cams from HQ after Derrick hacked them (if the base had any that is) as well as her own Gyro Cams that they were tasked with placing throughout the building.
"Any questions?" Ash asked them when she finished. Her eyes lingered on Derrick as if she was waiting for a joke but again, Derrick knew that this was not the time. Neither of them had any questions.
"Great, dismissed. Oh and Derrick," Ash began. Derrick turned in her direction.
"Ma'am?" he asked.
"Good luck. And I don't just mean on this mission," she said to him and winked.
March 5th, 2023
Specialist Lukas "Amp" Weiss
Rainbow HQ
Near Portland, OR. USA
Lukas was in the middle of playing his guitar in his room. He didn't have anything to do that day. He'd already played a few of his favorites over the past 45 minutes. Lukas began to play the opening riff of a song he had heard around 2013 on a pop punk station. The band was American and he had no idea why he had decided to play this particular song right now, his hands had just told him that it was now the time. The notes came back to him as if he played this song everyday. As he began to sing the lyrics softly, he remembered why he knew this song so well. It was one of the songs that was on repeat after he and Monika had their little falling out. He even remembered the changes he made to the lyrics, even now. He finished the song about 3 minutes later, holding the last chord a bit longer than the original recording did. He sensed movement and turned to see his own crush, Ela leaning against the doorway.
"I know that song, you changed the lyrics a bit didn't you?" she asked him.
"Yeah. You heard that?" he asked. Lukas looked puzzled before he saw that his headphones weren't even plugged into the guitar amp. That explained why the guitar sounded a bit muffled for the past 45 minutes. Ela chuckled at Lukas's expression.
"More like we heard it. Your sister was also sitting outside your room, just like on the floor. Listening to you play. She began crying when you played that last one. I think she needed a moment to herself," Ela said. Lukas meanwhile grinned and closed his eyes in reminiscence. Monika used to sit outside his room while they were growing up and just listened to him play. She used to tell him that it was the only way she kept focused when she did her homework.
"Was it because of the changed lyrics?" Ela asked which brought Lukas back to the present.
"Wha? Oh yeah, I began to listen to that song and a few others around the time Monika and I had a bit of a falling out," Lukas answered. Ela looked surprised at this.
"Really? You two seemed so close. At least that's what I heard," she said, walked in the room and sat on the foot of Lukas's bed.
"Yeah, It was years ago when I was in my early 20s and she still kept treating me like a baby or a little kid. She was really against me joining the Federal Police. She confronted me around Christmas one year and I basically yelled at her and told her to fuck off. I didn't even show up for Christmas Day,"
"Sounds like me and Zofia," Ela muttered.
"What's with that if you don't mind me asking?" Lukas asked bravely and began to play random licks on the guitar out of habit. To his immense surprise, Ela explained to him why she and Zofia's relationship was so strained, stemming from childhood into young adulthood into adulthood.
"I see. As evidenced by me and Monika, time can heal all wounds, no matter how deep they are," Lukas said.
"That's what your buddy Derrick basically said about 30 minutes ago," Ela told him.
"Trust me, it's always better to have your siblings as your friends rather than your enemies. They're usually the ones that have your back no matter what," Lukas said, retuning his guitar so it was no longer in Drop D and played a basic G Chord. Ela smiled as the chord rang out.
"You're alright Weiss-enheimer," she told him while smirking.
"Ah, you know about that don't you?" Lukas asked. Ela nodded.
"I was next to Monika during the Tournament and she was telling Meghan about you and how you used to be in a band in college so I looked you up. You were way skinnier back then and far less...uh, what's the word?"
"Derrick says 'jacked', I think it means 'well built.' Dunno, American slang is a bit weird. But yeah, I've always been taller and decided to work on my physique if I was to be a Federal Police Officer," Lukas explained.
"You look much better now," Ela said. Lukas nearly dropped the guitar.
"Uh well thanks," he said.
"Still a man of few words. C'mon, continue playing. I was enjoying listening to you," she told him. Lukas's heart began beating rather fast but he composed himself and began to play. Ela closed her eyes, leaned back and listened to him play. Mainly instrumental versions of soft rock songs where Lukas also played the vocal part on the guitar. Lukas glanced over towards his door where he saw Monika standing there with Zofia. Monika was smiling at him a little teary eyed and Zofia even managed to give him a smile. Ela kept her eyes closed so she didn't notice. Both of them stood there and listened to him play. Zofia eventually walked off, probably to get dinner and Ela did the same after she had listened to about 4 or 5 songs.
"Thanks for that. I'm gonna go grab some dinner, see you around Luke," she told him and patted him on the shoulder before leaving. Lukas leaned his guitar on its stand but was nearly knocked to the ground by Monika in a bear hug. Lukas returned the hug.
"You...you...those lyrics...never knew," she stammered.
"What? You thought I was proud of what I said back then? That I didn't regret it immediately?" he said and gently patted her on the back. He felt that she was shaking a little.
"But I was...I was.."
"Harmonica, it was my fault, not yours. You were just worried about me like any older sibling would be," Lukas began and Monika IMMEDIATELY began to sob. Lukas used to call her that name when he was really little. He held her gently as she let it out.
"So am I allowed to be with the pretty green haired one? Or does she just like me for my looks?" Lukas asked her. Monika stopped crying and looked at him.
"Very funny. I've worked alongside her for years and have never seen or heard her open up like that to anyone else. I think so. You know the rules though. Keep it private. Plus Derrick finally asked Tina out," Monika said. Lukas took out his phone where a message from Derrick read "Dude...bit the bullet and did it. She said yes. I am shaking right now man…" Lukas grinned before taking out his wallet.
"How much did I owe you? 5 bucks? You won the pool right?"
March 11th, 2023
Specialist Lukas "Amp" Weiss
Rainbow HQ
Near Portland, OR. USA
Lukas was stationed in the guard tower along with Derrick during their scheduled time as the 2nd shift guards. It was around 11pm and they still had about an hour left in their shift. They had been talking about Derrick's dates with Tina the previous few nights for most of the night as well. He and Tina had gone out 3 times already and this was the second of 2 nights that Derrick was on duty before his mission the following afternoon.
"So she's pretty much infatuated with you by now?" Lukas asked him after a few minutes of silence.
"I think so. Hopefully, we'll still be on our A-game for Operation Emerald City," Derrick answered leaning back in the chair he was sitting in.
"Nice man, told you she liked you. I had a feeling she did while we were still in Greece,"
"According to her, I made a good impression on her during my original mission with her and that Buck guy. Come to think of it, I remember her being the more talkative one," Derrick said.
"That's what I've heard her say while she's in the lab talking with Mon or Meghan," Lukas explained.
"Oh? I thought you listen to music while working as it helps you focus,"
"Well yeah, but I did hear her talking to Meghan about what you 2 did last night earlier today. You took her to the drive-in to see that movie you heard her mention over the last few weeks didn't you?" Lukas asked. Derrick nodded.
"Borrowed one of the Jeeps for that. Don't tell Ash I did that though. I don't think that was OK,"
"No problem buddy," Lukas said and clapped him on the shoulder...a little too hard. Derrick fell out of the chair onto the floor.
"Dude. Uncool," he exclaimed as Lukas chuckled. Derrick got back into the chair and took out his binoculars and began to scan the surrounding area. As usual, it remained quiet. He turned to face Lukas, who was doing the same in the opposite direction.
"I heard you talked to Ela too," Derrick said.
"Yeah, she apparently was listening to me play the other day along with Monika," Lukas answered. He kept replaying that encounter in his mind, adding a scene where Ela had started to kiss him instead of leaving for dinner. Lukas was crushing pretty hard on Ela but, for some reason, he couldn't muster up the courage to ask her out. He felt he lacked the charisma and likeability of his buddy Derrick.
"I might have had something to do with that," Derrick said, keeping his eyes on the surrounding area.
"Did you?" Lukas asked as his heart began to race. What did Derrick tell her about him? His fears? His deepest secrets? The fact that he still listened to the Spice Girls' first album from time to time?
"I didn't tell her anything personal, man. Just that you're also the younger sibling of an overprotective sister and that you think she's cute,"
"Ahh, that explains why she was open with me without me having to pry like you did," Lukas said. He was a little annoyed that Derrick spilled the beans on his underlying feelings...but he had told Tina about Derrick's so it felt warranted.
"That explains a lot," a crisp female voice with a Polish accent suddenly said from the doorway. Lukas gulped and turned to see Zofia standing there. Derrick fell out of his chair again.
"Zofia...uh...I…" Lukas began but Zofia cut him off.
"Derrick, may I have a word with Lukas here?" she asked Derrick, who was still on the floor.
"Sure, I gotta run to the bathroom anyway," Derrick said and left the guard tower.
"So, you got through to Ela about our childhood?" Zofia asked him.
"Uh, not intentionally. It sort of just came up," Lukas answered. He couldn't tell if he was about to get punched or not.
"Relax, Weiss. I'm not angry with you. I know Ela. Derrick is right, she does seem to have taken a liking to you. After she found out that you were also stationed here, she stopped shouting at me when I told her about this whole arrangement," Zofia explained and took Derrick's seat.
"So uh, what did you want to speak with me about?" Lukas asked.
"I wanted to hear more about your history with Monika. I've been trying to reconcile with Ela for years but she's always ignored me. She didn't come to my wedding or know about my daughter until she was 2. How did you and Monika remain so close over the years," Zofia asked. It was literally the last thing Lukas expected to be asked at the moment. He'd expected something more work related rather than something personal like this. Regardless, Lukas began to tell Zofia his and Monika's story. How she had been his favorite sister when he was a kid, how she taught him pretty much everything he knew, how they remained so close even after moving out of their parents' house. He even told Zofia about the falling out they had, figuring it would be relatable. Zofia listened intently as Lukas told her about how angry with himself he was.
"So, even after all that? You forgave her?" Zofia asked.
"Yes. She's my big sister. I owe her everything. I was an ass for telling her those things. I nearly died before we made up too," Lukas said.
"What do you think I should do to reconcile with Ela?" Zofia asked. Lukas thought he had seen tears in her eyes but figured it was just the lighting in the room.
"Let her come to you. I was about to do so with Monika but the whole terrorist attack at the concert kinda pushed that plan into action before I was fully ready. I told Ela that time heals all wounds. She'll come around. Trust me. Us little siblings always do," Lukas said. Zofia nodded.
"You and Derrick are relieved by the way. I'm on the midnight shift but since I'm here early, you may go," Zofia said. Lukas got up from the chair and left, feeling like he too had gotten to Zofia.
He ran into Derrick and Tina pretty much immediately after reentering the Facility. Tina was pressed up against him pretty close and whispering into Derrick's ear.
"Get a room Castellano," Lukas said loudly, trying to sound different. He wasn't as good as Derrick was but Derrick still managed to jump and stumble before Tina caught him.
"Oh that's really funny there Duke Boy," Derrick said to Lukas. "Hang on a sec, what are you doing? Aren't we still on duty?"
"Zofia relieved us. Said we're free to go," Lukas answered.
"Oh really? So I get you all to myself for the rest of the night?" Tina asked.
"Uh Tina, I'm still technically on duty for about an hour. THEN I'm off until our mission tomorrow afternoon" Derrick began before she whispered something else in Derrick's ear. Derrick looked stunned for a few seconds before grabbing Tina's hand and heading off towards the exit.
"See you later Skywalker!" Derrick shouted at Lukas as he and Tina rounded a corner.
"There you go buddy, have a bit of fun before embarking on a dangerous mission," Lukas said to himself and began to walk to his room. He passed the lab on his way there and a quick glance in there revealed that Monika was still in there, and she looked pretty tired. Lukas walked in and snuck up behind her. He saw that she wasn't really doing anything important but rather organizing files on one of the computers and she kept nodding off every so often. She seemed to be doing something just to do something. Without a word, he easily lifted her from the chair and began to carry her out of the lab as she began to protest.
"Scheiße! Lukas! What are you doing! I was busy!" Monika said, trying to free herself from Lukas's grip but he was much too strong for her.
"No you weren't. You are exhausted. I can tell," Lukas answered as he carried her down the hallway.
"Let me go!" Monika protested again but Lukas didn't heed her words. She needed sleep and he was determined to make that happen. He continued to carry her to her room. Right on schedule, he felt her stop struggling and start breathing deeply and he saw that she had fallen asleep. Lukas walked into her perfectly neat bedroom and towards her made bed. She mumbled something as he lowered her onto it.
"Shh," he told her before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and left the room. As he closed the door, Ash's voice suddenly came from behind him.
"You can actually get her to sleep?" she said. Lukas turned to see her not dressed in combat gear but more casual wear. It was a bit unsettling. Lukas usually never saw Ash in casual clothes...or not wearing sunglasses. She looked far less intimidating like this.
"Yeah, one of my many talents. I'm like one of 2 people she actually listens to," Lukas answered.
"Aren't you and Derrick still scheduled to be on guard duty?" she asked, looking at her watch.
"Zofia relieved us,"
"Ah, that explains why I haven't seen her in a while...Derrick went to his apartment didn't he? I figured he'd be with you," Ash asked him.
"He did," Lukas answered. "He and Tina are working together on that mission tomorrow aren't they?" He almost told Ash where Tina was...but somehow, he thought Ash knew.
"Indeed they are, along with Meghan. He's an interesting man, Derrick. Very charismatic but still able to do his job well. Even managed to get me to laugh at a stupid prank he pulled on Jordan," she told him before beginning to walk away "Goodnight Luke."
"Goodnight ma'am," Lukas answered before walking off to his own room. What an interesting night he had just had. He too had gotten Zofia to open up. How long could good things like this happen? Perhaps he'd finally muck up the courage to ask Ela on a date at some point too.
After Mission Report:
Zofia and Ela both spoke with Derrick and Lukas separately about sibling relationships
