Brenna=Aphrodite
"I think the boss found our next target." Robert said, as he circled Weston cautiously, hands up in a defensive stance. He eyed Weston, who was simply standing in the middle of a boxing ring, hands in his pockets, as if he could give two shits.
"Yeah, good for him. And how does he plan on getting to him, or her? Going to attack him and set fire to a building for saying no?" He asked as he eyed Robert, just waiting for him to throw some kind of punch.
"He hasn't given me any details. Really, the only reason I think he's found his next recruit is because he was talking to that tree again." Robert replied. Suddenly, he launched himself at Weston, winding up his arms in a haymaker fashion. Which, of course, was a dumb move on his part, but hey, he might get lucky this time.
Weston only sighed in annoyance as the punch came in, ducking underneath with ease before delivering two quick strikes, just common punches, one to Robert's ribcage and the other making its way underneath and striking right below the neck. The force of both blows in such rapid succession was enough to sent him stumbling back.
"And no, before you ask, I didn't see a tree lady. All I saw was the tree, so either the boss is crazy, or only he can see the bitch." Robert said, wincing as he felt his ribs.
"Yeah, well, he doesn't pay me to point out how stupid this whole thing is. He pays me to do the team carrying, both metaphorically and sometimes physically." Weston replied as he shook his hands a bit, quickly getting over the feeling of making such brute contact with someone. "Plus, I think I'll just be rooming with Ash anyway. We're slowly working things out and don't have to worry about destroying each others' things."
"How many times have we said we're sorry?" Robert replied, slightly annoyed.
"He's not trusting you guys, but he trusts me, so it's a win-win situation. Plus, he technically forgives you, but he refuses to work in the same area as you."
"Great. What about the boss? How's Asher dealing with him?"
"The same principle applies, and he now has a strict, 'no-juuling' rule in his lab. Don't tell me that Emperor Palpatine's lightning-bitch was doing that in front of him.."
"I wouldn't know. He kinda knocked me out, remember?"
The door to the room opened, and Chris walked in.
"If the two of you are done, let's go. You need to get ready." Chris said, as he looked at the two with a bored expression. "Fortunately for you, I'll be coming along this time, so you guys won't fuck it up."
"Again, things got out of hand. We-"
"-don't have time for you to make excuses. Now, go get ready."
"Get ready for what exactly? Are we dropping Syria?" Weston asked somewhat too enthusiastically, yet with major hints of sarcasm.
"No. But you ain't going to this event if you don't even look the part. I've already pulled a lot of strings so that y'all could get in, if her dad sees you like this, it reflects badly on me. So get moving." With that, Chris walked out of the room. Weston and Robert looked at each other.
"We're gonna have to wear suits, aren't we?"
"Apparently. Must be a very formal event. I'm sure we can do something like that for maybe an hour or two."
"The two of us, maybe. But Diana hates anything that constricts her movement, and Emily's got a bad habit of getting drunk and burning these sort of events down."
Weston sighs before then beginning to walk towards the exit of the ring. "Well, then you'll have to most likely keep them under control, unless you want Asher to deal with them. Trust me, he treats people like he treats a lot of his drones. You'd be surprised what effect he can have on people."
Robert shook his head. "I think I'll just take care of it myself."
2 hours later.
"If he was the one who was so fucking insistent, then why the fuck isn't the boss here?" Robert muttered, as the group exited the limo. He pulled on the collar of his tux, trying to breath.
Robert, seriously, quit complaining. I can barely fucking breath in this thing." Diana replied, as she fidgeted with her dress sleeves. "How do people wear this shit?"
"It's the way they live. You won't catch me complaining as long as they have something to drink." Emily said.
"Oh, no. You heard what he said about not fucking it up, You're going sober tonight." Diana said as she grabbed Emily's arm. She then dragged the girl away, despite Emily's protest.
"Oh, come on, I look better than usual for once, you guys do as well." Weston said as he adjusted his own suit, stepping out of the limousine with a bright smile.
"Did you actually just compliment us?" Robert asked.
"Don't push it. Also, heard Asher was also here, but don't expect him to speak if you try talking to him."
'I'm surprised Asher even considered coming. Unless the host is one of his many benefactors. Which, in that case, it's not surprising. Now, where is the boss? Thought he said he was coming along."
"Would you two quit standing around like morons and mingle. Act like you know what your doing, and Robert, don't steal anything." Diana's voice came in through the earpieces each of the teens were wearing.
"Got it, but next time at least test the volume to make sure that this doesn't destroy my eardrums." Weston replied with a bit of a sigh, adjusting his earpiece so that the next message wasn't too loud.
"I agree with him. Keep your voice down, both with and without comms active." Asher's voice suddenly interrupted Weston as he noticed the man in the familiar greyscale coat and suit underneath it.
"How did you manage to-" Diana began as she also looked over to Asher in the distance, also being interrupted.
"Don't ask questions you don't want long answers to. You have a job to do, so do it, just don't screw up so I have to fix it."
"Whatever you say. How do we know what we're looking for?" Emily asked as the group walked into the main room.
Robert whistled. "Hot damn. So much I could steal. If we ever come back here, it's for a heist."
Diana sighed. "Which is why you'll never be coming back here. To answer your question, Emily, we're here to scout the territory. Make sure that there aren't complications for when he arrives."
"Just how rich is the boss anyway? This room is the fucking definition of a stereotypical rich party."
"Rich enough. Now, if he would just do what he said he was going to do." Diana replied. "And remember, don't-"
"It'll be hard to approach the recruit if we don't know who we're looking for." Emily muttered as she stood near the refreshments table.
"I was gonna say, don't attract attention, but that too." Diana said as she looked down from the second story.
Suddenly, the chattering stopped. All eyes turned to the stairwell. Robert whistled. "I think I know who we're looking for."
On the top of the stairs was a girl of about 16. She had blonde hair, brown eyes, and the brightest smile any of them had ever seen. Her skin was lightly tanned, and she wore a red, sleeveless dress that went down to her knees. Robert summed up what everyone was thinking.
"Holy shit, she's hot."
"You've met her, haven't you?" Weston asked, as he looked at the girl. "That's Brenna, the one that goes to our school."
"I'm not in school a lot, remember?"
The conversation was cut short when Brenna asked, "Dad, where is he?"
One of the older men, who had walked down the stairs with her, cleared his throat. "Brenna, darling, I'm not sure. When I spoke to his father, he-"
"You told me he would be here!" Brenna interrupted, crossing her arms and glaring at her dad. "It's the only reason I agreed to be here tonight!"
"I'll ask around. Maybe he's lurking around like he usually does," With that, her father walked off, muttering, "Why the son of such a wealthy man would act like a commoner is beyond me…"
The group all looked at each other from across the room.
"Well, we've found who we're looking for. What now?" Robert asked.
"We wait for…"
Before Diana could finish her sentence, a commotion was heard at the front door. Everyone turned and looked.
"So why the fuck didn't he have to dress fancy?" Robert asked.
Chris stood in the doorway, smoking a cigar. His chest was bare, revealing a devil tattoo that covered his left shoulder. The only things he wore were black sports pants and a black baseball cap facing backward. He looked at the guest with a bored expression, until a squeal was heard from the stairwell. Brenna raced towards Chris and wrapped him in a hug. "You made it!"
Chris laughed. "Of course I did. I promised, didn't I? Was I supposed to dress formally? Don't believe I got the memo about that."
"No. You're fine. C'mon! We have some catching up to do!"
"Weston, remind me to fill out resignation papers." Asher said over the comms, Weston sighing as he then replied.
"You're not alone." The younger man responded to Asher before addressing the others. "Please tell me I'm in some kind of weird dream."
"Unless we're all dreaming the same dream, then no. Chris apparently knows the recruit." Robert said. "And of course, she looks like she has the hots for him."
"Wait. What resignation papers? I don't think we were given those." Diana said.
"Then I feel really bad for all of you." Asher responded through the earpiece before deciding to strike up a conversation with Brenna's father, who was one of his many employers.
"Let's at least focus on why we're here. Recruitment, so, one of us will have to talk to her about it. Unless Palpatine's unwanted child wants to do that for us." Weston said semi-sarcastically as he was mainly keeping an eye out for anyone that looked like security.
"Palpatine's unwanted child, huh? That's new." Chris's voice was heard through the intercom. "Glad to see none of you have fucked anything up yet."
"It helps that we've managed to keep Emily sober," Diana commented.
"It's so fucking boring, though." Emily retorted.
"Emily, you can get drunk when we head back. Until then, stay away from the bottle. Capiche?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, yeah. " Emily muttered. "No drinking. Whatever."
"What's the plan?" Robert asked as he glanced around the room.
Upon glancing over at Asher, Robert noticed a small, mechanical creature slip from Asher's sleeve to Brenna's father's arm. It rapidly crawled up his sleeve and clearly attached somewhere that made the man suddenly stand at attention, as a soldier would. The young engineer glanced back at Robert and nodded before then speaking through the earpiece, walking away to get something to drink.
"You have fun convincing her to join. If it doesn't work, I can get her father to tell her it is alright." The man said with a seemingly cold tone to his voice.
"I'm just gonna be glad you're on our side."
"I'm just going to be glad this won't take long. Just talk to her about it and get it done."
"Asher here seems to be the only idea of how these things work. You're getting extra in the next paycheck. Weston, for now, you're my bodyguard. Follow me, and see if anyone comes near me or Brenna. If that happens, take him or her out, quickly and quietly. Diana, your my eyes in the sky. Get to an elevated position and be ready to start shooting if you need to. Asher, keep doing what you're doing." Chris addressed to the team.
"No problem, now, go ahead and talk to her. If she says no, ask what he dad thinks about it." Asher said before seemingly clenching his fist as if crushing a small object in his hand and pulling it across his chest. Brenna's dad seemed to lurch towards Asher, almost as if being pulled by strings.
Weston only nodded for a second before Chris had finished giving his orders. "Silent isn't a strong suit of mine, but alright." Your turn.
Diana swiftly found her way to one of the gargoyles overlooking the room. "I'm in position boss."
"Good. Now, let's get started."
With that, Chris and Brenna walked into a back room, Weston following close behind.
"You know I hate it when you pull things like that." Brenna said, as she turned and looked at Chris.
"What, that? Oh, come on, Brenna, you find it as funny as I do." Chris said, sitting down on a couch facing the door.
"I meant making me wait. I barely see you anymore." Brenna said, sitting down opposite of Chris. "That itself is weird, considering the partnership between our dads."
"I know. I've been meeting to stop by, but I've had my hands full as of late." Chris said, as he looked at Weston, who was standing in the doorway. Instantly, Brenna had a knife in her hand and had the knife at Weston's neck.
"Who the fuck…"
"Easy, Brenna. He's a friend." Chris said, smiling. Brenna stepped back and put away her knife. Weston looked at the two, an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, it's more of the fact he doesn't want me pounding you into the concrete." Weston replied to her.
"Chris. Explain." Brenna said, walking back to the chair and sitting down.
"Apparently, we're reincarnations of the Greek Gods. New Olympians, if you will."
Brenna arched an eyebrow. She looked at Weston, then back at Chris.
"And you came up with this how?"
"I found out about a year and a half ago. I had to learn everything I could about the myths before I could start looking. The fuckin' tree lady-"
"Tree lady?"
"Unimportant. I had to find everyone. You were one of the easiest to figure out. If i'm right, and I haven't been wrong so far, you're Aphrodite."
Brenna sat back. "You flatter me, Chris."
"You're welcome."
"So who would he be?" Brenna asked, gesturing towards Weston.
"Apparently Ares, God of War. So far, I think it's complete bullshit, but it's something interesting."
"He pays you, doesn't he?" Brenna asked, pulling out her knife and twirling it.
"It keeps him in line." Chris said. "So, are you in?"
Brenna thought for a moment, Weston chipping in as he remembered something. "Would you like your dad to decide?"
"Nah, you already brainwashed him. Well, it's not like I have anything better to do. I'll come along, but only because I trust you, Chris."
Chris smiled. "Great. Now, let's get outta here."
"We pulling out yet, boss?" Diana asked through the intercom.
"Yeah, thankfully, without any-"
"Cause we need to go. Emily got drunk and Robert has started pickpocketing people. Again."
Brenna looked at Chris. "Are they your other recruits?"
Chris groaned and slapped his forehead. "Asher, would you sedate them, please?"
"On it." That was the only thing that came over Asher's earpiece before the team soon froze, almost like statues and then began marching behind him as he entered the room. They were all in perfect synchronization, all following the motions of Asher's hand as they had entered the room and lined up.
"Guessing this is the new recruit?" Asher questioned as he glanced over Brenna, really not that impressed.
"The one and only." Chris replied. "Make Robert return all the stuff, then let's go."
Asher seemed to gently tap his fingers with his thumb before then pointing to the door again. "Return." And just like that, Robert marched out of the room to return the stolen goods.
"Remind me to double your salary, Asher."
"I could just make you do that anyway, but thank you."
"Now, is everyone ready? Good. Let's go." Chris said. The teens then exited the building.
Asher snapped his fingers as Chris left, following behind as the others have finally returned to consciousness. Of course, the man had to let out a bit of a laugh with it, as it was pretty fun to do that. The others followed out, mostly pissed at how Asher had practically taken over their brains to control them for that brief moment. Weston followed the group, still not too sure about Brenna joining them.
"Gotta say Asher…" Weston began as the group left the large structure. "...Your skill with drones and mechanics is amazing. You really sure you want to keep the lab at your place?"
The drone-handler turned to face Weston, being two inches taller, and only just now noticing since they were directly in front of each other. "I insist, it would be better if I kept my laboratory at my home. But, come to think of it, your team would make some interesting… How should I say-" He then glanced over to the new recruit, Brenna. "Guinea pigs."
"Well, aren't you a ray of sunshine.." Brenna responded under her breath as she walked past the two, joining the rest of the group.
"I mean, I guess, just don't go locking drones to me, okay?" Weston said to Asher as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, the older man folding his arms behind his back.
"Agreed. However, I will require quite a bit to sustain my level of research and standard of living." The drone-handler responded before looking towards Chris. "And I suppose you and I can discuss that either now or later. But it will happen eventually."
"Just let me know what you need. I have a way of getting materials needed."
