November 1st, 2023
Specialist Derrick "Loki" Castellano
West Coast Rainbow HQ
Portland OR. USA
Derrick and Tina pulled up to the motor pool in the Jeep they had borrowed for Derrick's vacation. Both got out and looked towards the Facility. One of the recruits greeted Derrick.
"Hey man, welcome back," he said and shook Derrick's hand. "Elena's waiting for you in the cafe I think." Derrick nodded and turned to Tina.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Thanks for taking care of me," he said. Tina pecked his cheek.
"You're welcome sweetie. It's what I'm supposed to do," she responded. Derrick had been cleared by Harry and his therapist to return to work on the first day of November. Derrick had improved drastically since his breakdown in late August. The time at home with Tina was a big help even if they had argued every so often. He'd actually followed his father's advice about not going to bed angry those times too. He himself didn't feel quite ready for field work but he had been told that either Elena, Meghan, Tina or Lukas would be there with him acting as his backup. He also wasn't allowed in the firing range alone for a few days as well which was fine with him. He felt that everyone was just looking out for him and didn't want him to hurt himself. Derrick had also officially joined Time Warp and he had recorded a new cover album with them consisting of some of the new songs they played in September. There were also talks of putting out an album of original songs too. As for concerts, they hadn't played again as Lukas had been extremely busy dealing with the White Masks. Apparently, Derrick and Elena were going to start working on more bulletproof tech as well as a bunch of fancy new toys for the Operators to play with. Tina saw him standing there doing nothing and nudged him slightly.
"Don't you wanna drop your stuff off before getting to work? You know how feisty your new boss is," she said with a sly smile. Derrick cleared his throat and motioned towards the recruits with his head. They were busy talking to each other to even notice anyway.
"Wonder if anyone else knows I'm back yet," Derrick said and walked towards the door with his bag. Tina smiled as she followed him.
"Come on sweetie, I know you love surprises," she said. Derrick grinned.
"Is Meghan in her room or the lab?" he asked.
"I think she's in the firing range when I left," Tina responded as they entered. "I'll be in the lab today with you too. Then I have to go to the East Coast tomorrow to assist Castle's team with something."
"Aw man!" Derrick said and pretended to pout again. Tina smiled.
"Are you gonna miss me?" she asked.
"I mean, my aim probably sucks now so yeah," Derrick responded at once. Tina rolled her eyes.
"You wanted to be a couple Teen," Derrick continued as the pair of them rounded a corner on the way to the cafe.
"I know, I don't regret it at all. I'll see you in a minute," she said, pecked him on the cheek quickly and walked off. She had already eaten breakfast but Derrick hadn't. She had been at the base since yesterday and had gone to pick him up early this morning. He went off to drop his bag in his dorm room as well as take care of something else on the way back. He was a tad nervous about returning to see everyone. They had all visited him and Tina at his condo as they had promised but still, he was nervous about being back here as the last time he was, he was angry at them all for no reason. Derrick took a deep breath and walked into the cafe. Meghan, Elena, Monika and Lukas were there talking to each other and hadn't noticed him at first. Meghan once again had her back to the door. He grabbed a quick breakfast from Kate the line cook and made his way over to the table. Lukas looked up and spotted him standing there. Monika followed his gaze and smiled. Derrick put his finger to his lips and snuck behind Meghan to give her a jumpstart after putting his plate on a nearby table. Meghan squeaked and jumped off the seat a few inches before she turned to see who it was. Derrick was pointing at Elena.
"She did it, I saw her," he said. Meghan went to speak to Elena before she realized who said it, got up and hugged him.
"Hi little bro," Meghan said.
"There he is," Lukas said as Derrick sat down next to Meghan and Elena.
"You're late," Elena said, pretending to be angry at him before she patted him on the shoulder
"No Elena, I'm Derrick, remember?" he said. Elena chuckled. So did Lukas.
"Oh COME ON, that wasn't even that funny!" Derrick continued as Meghan rolled her eyes. "I hear talk we've got a lot of new shit to develop now don't we?" Elena nodded.
"I was waiting for Harry to clear you so we can work on a Threat Sensor because I know you're good with designing tech. No one messed with your projector while you were away either. I heard you had some new designs for it too," she explained.
"Oooh! So the threat sensor would shoot out some kind of radar pulse and highlight threats for everyone to see via some kind of AR Tech?" Derrick asked.
"Not quite. But I like that idea! I'm glad you're back, Derrick," Elena said.
"You can thank Megs and Skywalker for that one," Derrick said as Meghan gave him another pat on the shoulder before she got up.
"Welp, I need to hit the shower before running drills with you guys today minus you, Tina and Elena Derrick," she said and left the room. Lukas and Monika followed suit. Derrick and Elena were now alone in the cafe. Elena waited for Derrick to finish eating before the pair of them got up to walk to the lab. Tina joined them a few seconds later. Derrick felt the need to say it as they walked down the hallways. He stopped and Elena and Tina did too.
"Yes?" she asked him "Are you ok?"
"Hey Elena...thanks for being here for me and adding me to your team. And I'm really sorry I yelled at you back in August. You only wanted to help me and I…" Derrick began before Elena silenced him with a comforting hug.
"It's ok. You sort of made up for that one or two nights during your vacation didn't you?" she whispered and squeezed his ass quickly. Tina gave Derrick that sly smile again that he could see over Elena's shoulder.
"More like four…" Derrick responded as Elena quickly pecked his cheek as well. It was a little hard for her to do so considering she was about 5 inches shorter than Derrick but she managed. They continued to make their way to the lab.
"Carmen keeps asking me if you're single. Told her that you weren't, so don't worry. Plus she's also insanely jealous of me because I get to work with you now. Are you still sleeping ok?" she asked him as they walked in the lab and began to get to work. Derrick nodded.
"When Tina's with me, yes. Haven't had a lot of bad dreams either. Still got the doc on speed dial when I need him though," he responded. Elena smiled at him and he felt the hands of a Beautiful Canadian Mechanical Engineer wrap around him from behind and the same person whisper "I love you" in his ear. He turned to see that Tina was the one behind the hug.
"Oh so now you think you're Batman or something? Appearing behind me all the time?" he asked her. Tina let go of him.
"That makes you Catwoman doesn't it?" she asked. Elena started laughing.
"Don't think I wouldn't wear a skin tight leather suit like that! I WOULD LOOK SO FUCKING HOT!" he said, folding his arms in defiance. Tina and Elena looked as though they were indeed picturing him wearing that outfit. "Megs is in the shower right?" Tina nodded.
"Why?" she asked.
"No reason," he said quickly, trying to hide what he had done. It didn't work. Partly because a female voice had just shouted "JESUS. FUCKING. CHRIST DERRICK!" from the showers. Derrick pumped his fist.
"I'M FUCKING BACK BABY! WOOOOO!" Derrick shouted as the other 2 women laughed.
Later that same day, Eliza had stopped by to see him as she clearly heard he was back after Meghan's rant about his stupid pranks. Derrick had swapped Meghan's shampoo with ranch dressing. Meghan was currently glaring at him while she worked in the lab after completing her drills. Lukas and Ela were in the gym. Criag and Zofia were with their respective families. Eliza and Jordan were scheduled to be on duty tonight. Derrick was grinning at his sister as Eliza stood behind him examining what he had been working on all day after she chuckled at Derrick's latest prank.
"It's NOT funny!" she said at Derrick.
"Dunno, those 2 laughed. I laughed. Eliza laughed after I just told her. That's 4 against one. I think they laughed at the reaction more than what I did. I can and have done better," Derrick told her, tossing her a Gyro Cam. "Take a look at that for me and tell me what you think. I was working on an improvement. Seriously, no jokes." Meghan connected the cam to her phone and examined the image. She looked over at Derrick.
"What did you do? It doesn't look all that different," Meghan said, not noticing that the camera was now completely camouflaged. Derrick pointed this out. Meghan recoiled before her eyes widened.
"Used some of my holo tech knowledge on your cams that way they're harder to spot. Still gotta figure out a way to not have it shine blue though. That's a prototype," Derrick explained. Meghan gave him a smile.
"There it is. Happy Meghan is the best Meghan," he said. Eliza, who was examining a sensor grenade that Derrick had been working on, spoke to him.
"How come you never prank Elena as much as the rest of us?" she said in a low voice that only he could hear.
"Wait for it…" Derrick said and pointed at Elena who had just lifted a bottle of Coke to her mouth and took a sip. She immediately spit it out and started cursing in Spanish. She then smelled the top of the bottle before glaring at Derrick, who was giving her his heart gesture. She sighed before smiling at him and got back to what she was working on. Eliza laughed.
"Soy sauce Sprite right?" she asked him before lifting her own bottle of soda...that she stupidly left near Derrick. She took a sip and she too spat it out and started swearing in Hebrew. Meghan and Elena laughed.
"Gee E, I don't know, was it?" Derrick asked, chuckling himself and handing Eliza her actual bottle of Coke.
"You are so lucky that you're cute Derrick," Eliza said before turning red. Derrick cocked an eyebrow at her as Elena nodded in agreement before Meghan caught her doing so.
"OOP! I'M TELLING JORDAN! YOU ALL HEARD THAT!" Derrick said loudly to the others in the room. Elena caught Eliza's eye and smirked before she started talking to Monika who just arrived.
"Well...I'm...glad you're back Derrick….please don't…" Eliza began.
"E, relax," Derrick said in a low voice. "He told me he has something planned for you tonight anyway." Eliza walked out of the lab with a small smile on her face. Meghan appeared behind him and gave him a hug too.
"I'm glad you're back too little bro," she said into his ear.
"I. Killed. Mufasa." Derrick whispered back.
"You are such a clown," Meghan responded.
"Well now that's rude! Elena! She's calling me names! I'm UPSET!" Derrick said as if he was a little kid. Elena walked over to them while Monika giggled from the corner.
"Are you making fun of my staff Valkyrie," Elena asked in a menacing voice but ruined it by smiling.
"YEAH! BUTTHEAD!" Derrick said loudly.
"Derrick, you're relieved. Good work today. I hear that Tina wants to watch a movie or something with you tonight as she's off too," Elena told him. Tina appeared behind Derrick and hugged him.
"Coo, mayhaps Megs and Mon will join us too," Derrick said. Meghan turned a little red but Monika smiled.
"Come on Meghan, I know you want to. Who's gonna judge you? Me? What did I tell you when you were a teenager, hmm?" Derrick said to her. Meghan looked from Elena to Monika to Tina.
"Go Meghan. I just need to finish up some reports and then I'm off tonight myself," Elena said, winking at Derrick. Derrick pretended to not notice but Tina did and she smirked at Derrick again.
"Come on Meg, Luke and Ela are joining us too. I think Derrick and Luke are gonna arm wrestle for the honor of picking something," Tina told her.
"O...ok," Meghan said. "It better be something action packed." Monika walked over to join the 3 of them.
"If I win, it's Commando. If Luke wins, it's X-Men 2. Must be because Nightcrawler's in that one," Derrick explained.
"Dorks," Meghan, Monika and Tina said.
"Yes, I know," Derrick said.
"I don't think we'd have it any other way," Meghan told him. And with that, the 4 of them left the lab.
"No matter where you go in life there's always going to be the one person that wants to bring you down, so stay strong and face your problems instead of running away."
-Superman
