Verte was sitting in Lila's office, waiting for her boss to be free so she could report to him. Lucas pretexted an emergency and left her with a written report to give to his new boss. She growled. Lucas considered her as a post officer now. She was really going to break him something if he went on getting on her nerves like that. Verte let out a frustrated sight, and pushed her back against the wall, soothed by the clinks Lila was doing on the tactile surface of her desk with her perfectly done yellow nails. To avoid falling asleed, Verte watched her from the corner of her eyes.

The secretary might have few more years than her, and her electric blue eyes didn't leave the screen a second. Her blond, straight long hair, was reverberating her small movements from her head to the tip of the blond locks. She wore a clinging skirt suit, leaving no space to imagination or mystery as the vest was directly against her porcelain skin. As usual, she wore flat ballerinas, as she thought she was too tall to wear anything to do with heels, avoiding getting up as much as possible. Verte closed her eyes, and searched for the first memory she had of Lila.

Strangely, it wasn't on her arrival to the office, but in a nightclub she met her for the first time.Lila saw her fighting with boys at the entrance and went straight to introduce herself as the office secretary from the City's Order, where Verte had applied and got her job on the same day. They quickly hit it, and Lila had been really curious about the effects of Verte's power. Said girl racked her mind, in search of an information about Lila's power, but couldn't find one. Opening her eyes, Verte turned to the secretary, still concentrated on her holographic screen.

- By the way, Lila, I don't remember your power, what did you do when you were in the field?

- My power wasn't useful in the field, answered the woman without letting go of her screen and work. Some people have a power more... let's say "domestic". Ah, Boss' office is clear, you may proceed Verte. Don't forget payday has been delayed for 24 hours this month, by the way. There has been infiltrations in the payroll system in Centercity's Order, but it should all be back in order for next month.

- Okay, thanks Lila, answered Verte, a bit stunned by her answer, forgetting that the main point had been dodged.

Verte got up and knocked three times on the boss' door before going in, not waiting for an answer. The boss never gave his name. It was just another quirk for Verte who didn't know anymore what was normal in this town.

- Please sit. I have some news for you, and it shouldn't please you. I reinforced this room so it can resist to one of your crisis, but I'd rather you control yourself and don't try the limitations of my protections reinforcements. Please, added the long purple haired man with a pleading look.

- Alright..., obeyed Verte, not without suspicion, looking around her as if the walls were going to jump at her.

- I'll begin by the easier one. As you may know already, an operative from another City is transfered in this one. Agent Lucas, who will be placed under your care from now on. Which brings us to the real bad news, he went on with a serious look.

- Agents only work in pair... , hissed Verte, astonished. You're separating me from Rose.

- She chose her affectation, I can assure that she wasn't placed with an agent against her will, or put on the sidelines. She wished to be transfered as a trainee to a governmental administrative agent from the City's management, before getting a bodyguard certification, he went on while shooting worried glances around him, looking for any suspicious cracks.

- Kaito..., sighed Verte, wiped out.

She closed her eyes, forcing herself to breathe calmly. She understood why Lucas had left without reporting with her. He wouldn't want to go through her anger. And he was right, of course, because he hadn't any control over her situation's change. In spite of all her efforts to stay calm, and her tightly closed eyes, Verte felt a tear roll down her left cheek. She grit her teeth.

- Verte, please, don't react like..., began her boss with a sympathetic look.

Verte got up, maiking her chair fall with a loud noise, and the windows exploded, before the ceiling let out some disturbing cracking noises. The Order office wasn't on the last floor of the giant tower. The carpet floor began to tear off, letting the cement flooring show under it, and a few plant pots shattered, spilling dirt everywhere. Then, Verte breathed in slowly, and the explosions stopped. A heavy silence came over the room, and Verte bowed respectively to her boss before putting the two written reports on his unscathed desk, then she left without a word.

Her boss sighed watching her leave, then touched his ear to ask Lila to put his office back on shape. Because she was the one who put those illusions, lies. Verte hadn't break anything for real, except for Lila's lies. The secretary's power, putting up all sorts of lies, was often useful. But he didn't like using it.

Verte got quickly to the ground floor of the building, deciding to go home by foot with a detour by Sentry's. Her friend's pastries always helped her feeling better. On her way, she tried to reach Lucas, then Rose, but none answered her calls. Verte stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, cursing against chicken people who didn't have the guts to confront an angry sister or friend, and tried to reach them again. She stopped cussing when she saw Lila walking fast on the other side of the old road. Piquing her curiosity, it made her forget all about her changing situation, and she followed the blonde on her own sidewalk.

Taking advantage of a sudden froze of her prey, she commed quickly Rose and Lucas to tell them what she was doing and sharing her GPS point. When she looked up from her micro-screen on her left wrist, Lila exited her sight in a perpendicular street from the one Verte was still in. She cursed and sped her walk to find her target.

- If she's just going home, I understand why she never puts on heels, that's a marathon she's doing right now... grumbled Verte in her teeth.

The secretary's blond hair was swaying in rythm with her steps' quick pace, and after a dozen minutes, Verte noticed they were going out of town. By foot! Rolling her eyes, Verte sent anoter comm, only to her new partner this time. So he could meet up with her as soon as possible, with transportation. Then, she sent reluctantly a comm to Rose, asking for Kaito's contact, because she needed him. Her sister answered instantly and Verte called the blue haired man right away. She wasn't surprised to hear her sister's voice behind when he answered her call.

- Verte, what can I do for you?

- Hi. I won't take too much of your time, could you please find me information about Lila Iarkovitch ? I'm following her, and someone going Outside by foot is extremely suspicious. And she hid her power from me from the beginning, even if she knows details about mine and Rose's. I'm beginning to find this kind of dangerous, with this rumour of snitch in our office.

- I'll find you those and call you back.

- Perfect, thanks. I'll wait for your call. If I don't take you, please send a comm. Sometimes, tailing someone needs silence.

Verte cut the call right when a hovering cycle stopped next to Lila to take her and drive her away to the Outside. The green haired woman was doing a complete inventory of her favourite curses when a hand touched her wrist gently. Lucas dodged skillfully the round kick she sent him before recognizing her partner, then she grumbled an apology before smiling upon his hovercycle.

- Yes, I thought maybe my new partner would need transportation ?

- With pleasure! Get on, she just left.

- Madam's desires are orders, but may I inquire why we're tailing the secretary?

- We'll get the answer by following her. For now, it's just intuition. And I trust my instincts, I'm usually right.

Lucas rolled his eyes, mocking her openly, but stayed silent and sat comfortably behind her on the vehicle, sliding his hands on her belly without showing any reaction. Verte looked down on his entertwined fingers on her belly, and closed her eyes. Breathed in. Slowly. She shouldn't explode now. But she would have a few words with her partner later.

Verte kicked off the engine and drove to Lila's direction. She saw a tiny spot going south, to the hot and moisty regions of their tiny country, and Verte congratulated herself a second time for her outfit, even if it was dangerous to drive without protection, because she already was hot in her boots, but her small shirt and miniskirt were perfect for the tropical climate south of Centercity. Lucas had changed his clothes after going home to Kaito's, and his bermuda and short sleeved shirt were strangely adapted to their destination.

His fingers moved a bit against her skin, and their bike made a sidejump.

- Hey, the fuck are you doing?!?

- Why did you make a jump like that? Asked Lucas, surprised.

- Because you moved your hands ! I'm not used to be touched, okay? So put your hands someplace and DON'T FRIGGIN' MOVE A HAIR, UNDERSTOOD?!?!

- Yes, yes, I get it alright, please look where you're going!

Lucas, just surprised by her overreaction, got closer to her and slid both his arms in front of her belly, holding himself against her to avoid making her freak out again. They finally got to a jungle frontier, where Lila got down from her hover which went away without delay, without seeing Verte and Lucas rendered invisible by him. They copied her by getting down from their bike, hiding it in the bushes, but something happened. Lila changed appearance suddenly.

Her face changed, her suit lost a lot of parts, transforming into a strange outfit only made with strands of blackcloth perfectly indecent, a really short pleated miniskirt and really high thigh high black and yellow boots being the most covering piece on her. Then, mechanical transparent yellowish wings got out of her shoulder blades. Lucas put suddenly his arms around Verte, blocking her mouth and making her invisible with him. A split second before Lila turned to their hiding spot. Verte barely managed to not growl, but Lucas felt her tremble and prudently removed his hand from her mouth.

Lila brushed her right ear, making a call.

- Yes, I'm at the entrance.

- Of course no one followed, you'd think I'd have seen them, in this naked landscape!

Verte felt relieved Lila didn't really know what was Lucas' power and relaxed, waiting for what was next.

- You're sure the line is secure?

- Yeah, yeah, alright! Don't react like that, remember you're as much as a maniac as I am about this, the difference being only our motivations. So. I almost finished getting all bank information on my side. You?

- How, you're under surveillance? But yesterday you told me you were free!!

- WHAT ?!?! GOVERNMENT ?? How so ?

- Wait, you know what? Open the path, we'll discuss that inside, so I can hit you if it's really what I'm thinking. We have a deal, and I intend to make you respect it until the end, got it? See you inside.

Lila brushed her ear a second time, cutting the communication. Then, her mechanical wings began moving, and she jumped with grace. Then, she disappeared right before hitting a tree. Verte cursed in her head, then wait. After a few minutes, seeing she wasn't coming back, she let it go and came back to the present reality. And to Lucas' arms still around her.

Her blood boiled, and while the nearer trees split with a loud end of world sound, she violently smashed her elbow on his ribs, then hammered her knee on Lucas' nose. Growling in pain, he fell on the ground, his watering red eyes full of incomprehension. Verte didn't bother to look at him and jumped from a foot to the other, before sending flying kicks, fists and elbow hits in the air, jumping from a place to another to dodge an invisible threat, then went back to attacking again.

The woman took out her frustration in the air for a long time, minutes going by while Lucas suffered and watched her. The more he looked at her, the more she attracted him. The fact she was absurdly violent with an awful character didn't change anything. She stopped moving precisely when the pain began to draw back a little, allowing him to sit, his face perfectly clean. He breathed in slowly, copying her breathing rythm, then finally got up, the pain in his ribs or nose failing to disappear. She nodded, seeing him move, and talked before him.

- You have to stop pushing me on the edge like that. I'll end up really breaking your bones. Or worst, making a mistake in exploding you while I hit the trees. Which you wouldn't be able to rend invisible. Ah, the call I was waiting for, said Verte while brushing her ear to take Kaito's call.

Lucas shrugged and got near her prudently.

- Yes ? Did you find something?

Verte took Lucas' arm and glued his ear to hers to add him to the call.

- Well, in fact, I found nothing. Which highly bothered me, I mean, I have access to literally every information in the world, even most important people from the government. And now, nothing. Not even a previous job, or a home. And there's no trace of her in an educative building, whichever City I looked into. And she didn't exist before being the secretary for your office, Verte. At least not in this City. I'll change files and mission orders, and we'll go, all four of us, to Eastcity and then Westcity. I have to find her.

- You'll mobilize us officially to look through an unofficial matter? I'm beginning to really like you Kaito, you know?

- Thank you Verte, as strange as it may seem, I know you mean it. You should get back, it's going to get dark soon, and you wouldn't be able to go into Centercity...

- Aaaaaand... no, I'll take that back. Mother hen. At worst, if we're stuck Outside, I'm sure you have the means to get us in nevertheless, isn't that right mister-I'd-like-to-be-your-brother-in-law ?

- Very funny. I can, but I'd like to avoid this as much as I can. Bye.

Communication cut on Verte's mocking smile. Lucas, on his side, was thinking while drying his face off with a handkerchief full of blood.

- It could be that, what Lila's accomplice meant by "governmental watch". If there's no trace of her, it means they manipulated data. And that they watch that closely. They might have noticed Kaito's intrusion in the system.

- Well yes, that's a possi... hey, what is this tissue for? You're still bleeding! Show me, if your nose is broken and crooked, we have to put it back before it heals like that, declared Verte seriously.

- Maybe it will distract people from my scar? Tried Lucas to laugh it off.

But, seeing Verte's stubborn and a bit guilty look, he gave up and stopped his power completely. She opened slightly her mouth, seeing his bloody mess of a nose, but shook herself quickly and, taking the tissue from his hands, began to check his wound. She let out a relieved sight seeing he just had weak blood vessels, and his nose hadn't moved a millimeter.

She gave him back his handkerchief, and, without a word, she opened quickly his shirt, not noticing his astonished look. She put gently a hand right in the middle of his chest, while the other brushed against the place she hit him with her elbow. He held his breath, blushing madly without his invisibility power activated, while Verte moved her fingers on the red bruise on his skin, almost like a caress. She hoped he wouldn't have broken ribs, and she put her hand flat on the spot, trying to push lightly. The heat of her hand made him shiver strangely, but he didn't react any other way, and she put it on the open shirt with temperature beginning to go down, so she didn't mention it.

She buttoned him back, not feeling his mad heartbeat in his chest, failing to hear his long sight when he began to breathe again. She thought about the information they had on Lila for now, and noticed she forgot to tell Kaito about the blonde's mechanical wings. She hoped she'll remember the next day, and turned to Lucas' who still hadn't moved. Or activated his power. She could still see blood traces on his face, the really bad scar crossing half his face... And the strange red spread on his skin. He understood, a little late, that he got noticed, and reactivated his power. But all that happened between them came back at Verte at the same time. And she thought maybe his kiss during the double date might not be that unintended.

- Later.

- Excuse-me? Asked Lucas with a shaking voice.

- We'll deal with that later. For now, we have to get back, rest, and try to understand what Lila and her accomplice are doing. You drive to go home?

- Errr... all right Ma'am.

- Good. An Lucas ?

- Yes ?

- Please try and talk to me in a more familiar way.

Verte sighed and rubbed her face with her hands, feeling really tired. Lucas shook himself in his mind, he would have to stay focused while driving, knowing she would touch him willingly. He would need every available part of his brain to concentrate. Gulping with difficulty while she got behind him on the bike, he couldn't suppress a shiver as she slipped her arms around him, then hugged him from behind, letting her head rest on his shoulder blade.

- Come on, let's not letting you catch a cold with all this shivering, grumbled Verte, far from guessing the cause of those shivers.