"Maul, watch your back for your own sake and the others. You nearly stepped on Grifter. Warblade, remember defense as well as offense," Zealot called out to the young recruits. She placed her hand over her eyes. Spartan viewed the practice session solemnly.

"How do you expect to succeed against the Cabal?"

"We have to do the best with what we have, Zealot. Warblade and Maul are improving at amazing speed."

"I fear it may not be enough. You observe. I am going to go in there and work on them personally."

The Kherubim warrior walked away sword in hand. Spartan had a lot more faith in his fledgeling team than Zealot did. Zealot had been born into combat and her partner has known it for most of his life. He was thankful for the assistance of such a skilled warrior but her impatience and frustration was becoming tiresome. He hoped his recruits would surprise her. It would please him greatly if one of them took the woman down a peg. As he pondered the chances of that he saw Warblade hit a wall at great speed, propelled by the Majestrix.

Warblade got up and made eye contact with Maul. Zealot faced off against Warblade again. She noticed the signal but waited for them to make their move. Warblade attempted to push her back with a full forward attack. As she attempted to maintain her ground Maul was waiting to take her down when Warblade dropped back. She was able to roll out of harm's way before he connected with her but it was a step in the right direction.

"Very good, Warblade, Maul, if you can learn to exploit the abilities of the others we may all survive yet." She sheathed her sword. "All right, let's do this again."

Spartan heard someone enter and turned to see Grifter coming in from the simulator.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Out to have a smoke. What's the problem?"

"We all must put in some time-"

"Look, Spartan, Zealot's my partner, not my master. I know my duties and I know that your people need the training more than I do. I can hold my own against that woman and the Cabal. Can you say the same?"

"I have-" As Spartan started his statement Grifter was already out the door. If they were going to work together there was a long ways to go.

Grifter lit his cigarette in the cool night air. He stood on the steps of the HALO building pondering if he had time to hit a bar. He exhaled while he watched the crowds walk past on the sidewalk.

"How's it going, Cole?" Grifter looked down to see Marlowe standing nearby.

"Hey, Jake. Escaping boot camp out here too?"

"No, just like to step out of the building periodically to things into perspective. Two years ago I was living on the streets. Everything in life is temporary. I try not to forget that. Has Zealot injured my people too badly yet?"

"Not yet, but the night is still young. They are coming along. I doubt we'll be prepared up to Zealot's standards by the time we strike."

"That's the problem in this business. Nothing ever seems to go according to plan. It's always one crisis or another."

"We may pull this off. Z and I were going to do it solo. I told her it was suicide but that woman never listens."

"I can see that."

Grifter took another hit off his cigarette. " I'm headin' over to the store for a six pack."

"Y'know, you just have to put in the request with Stansfield and he would grab it for you."

"It's all right. I prefer to handle things myself." Grifter stubbed out his cigarette as he walked out into the cold night.

"Suit yourself."

When Grifter returned to their room Zealot was in the shower. He put his beer in the fridge taking one out for himself and kicked back in front of the television. That was one thing he was thankful Marlowe had: cable. He heard the door open and saw her step out wrapped in a towel.

"I didn't think you would be back so soon, Cole."

"I'm here. Want a beer?" Grifter braced for the inevitable lecture about preparedness and clarity of mind she was sure to deliver.

"Yes, I would."

She walked to the dresser and grabbed a few clothes. He watched her make her way back to the bathroom. The towel barely covered her long lean frame leaving a generous view of her toned legs. He waited for her to close the door. She simply dropped the towel and pulled a long nightshirt over her head. Grifter nearly spit out his beer at the flash of nudity. He looked back at the television with eyes wide. Some days he swore she simply was trying to see how far she could push him before he shoved her up against a wall and reclaimed her body. She walked to the fridge in her sock feet and grabbed a beer. After a moment of perusing the contents in the fridge she walked back to sit beside him on the loveseat.

"Warblade and Maul have much potential. There are so few Gifted Ones but Emp did well in locating those two. They will be quite the asset towards combating unification. I just wish we had more time to prepare them and Voodoo as well."

"Uh-huh." This was the view of Zealot he would get as her trusted partner: night shirt, socks and little else.

"They don't have the skills we possess, but their powers may prove advantageous to us. Void is definitely a useful asset as well. The Lord Emp has proven he is not taking his role in this war lightly."

"Uh- huh." She really needed to learn a few things. Like how to appreciate premium movie networks, the rules to football and not try to talk to him when her body was highly exposed. Modesty was something Zealot was never very concerned with. That didn't bother him when he had the right to touch and hold her at will. Now it was just frustrating.

"We have the element of surprise as well as I suspect the Cabal has no knowledge of Emp's team. We can do a two pronged attack-"

"Zealot, I'm going to go wash up."

"Okay."

"When I come out one of two things will have occurred."

"What are those, Cole?"

"Either you are covered up more…or you're willing to share that bed the way two consenting adults should be sharing a bed."

"Oh." Zealot looked away from him. "Cole, I can't..I mean.."

"No worries. One cold shower, coming up."

Just as he was turning to head towards the bathroom Zealot's cell started vibrating. She glanced towards the table to see a text message had come through.

"No time, we have a meeting at Savant's SoHo loft."

Voodoo walked along the New York street marveling at the sheer size of everything. She had slipped out after Zealot and Grifter left. She knew they would have followed her if they had known she was out. Even though she had never been to New York she found she felt like she belonged. She had been issued a HALO credit card to pick up a few clothes and looked forward to shopping in the metropolis.

"Hey, you shouldn't be out here alone," she heard behind her just as she was about to round the corner.

She rolled her eyes and turned. She was relieved it was just Jeremy. He was dressed down in a wool coat and jeans. "Did Zealot send you?"

"No...but Jake did. There's a lot of people who are looking for your right now. It's not safe out on your own."

"I seriously doubt any shadowy criminal organizations are going to follow me to The Gap."

"You never know. I know you don't like the cloak and dagger routine. Go shop. I'll just pretend I'm a poor whipped guy rather than a highly trained covert agent being assigned to keep my eye on you. Believe me, it's not every day I get paid to keep watch over a beautiful woman."

Voodoo smiled.

"All right, but just know I'm used to men flattering me. I don't need a bunch of cheesy lines being hurled at me all evening." Maul fell in step with her.

"Would you prefer I just stood silently? Do that strong, silent type thing? I could probably increase my mass another fifty pounds before I get all purple."

"No, you're fine," she replied. "Though.. I am going to make you hold my purse."

"Marlowe better pay me extra. I signed up to fight killer, blood-thirsty aliens out for world domination, not to be emasculated," he said casually.

"It won't be that bad."

"We'll see about that," he said putting his hands in his coat pockets. He flashed a smile at her and she shook her head at him as they walked towards the nearest shopping district.