Triss sat on the corner of Reno's desk, leaning heavily on her boyfriend's shoulder and wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. Then Tseng walked in the room and she let out a shrieking cackle and fell to the floor.

"I suppose you're responsible for this?" Tseng shouted above the loud laughter of every Turk in the room.

Triss crawled to her knees and opened her mouth as she peered over Reno's desk to respond, but, instead let out a snort and collapsed on the floor again.

"I should kill you for this, or, at the very least, beat you," the Wutaian man said, as he stood over the girl.

Reno laughed and looked up at the director, "Yeah, boss, ya should, but we all know you ain't gonna! You oughta be impressed! She snuck up on you and pulled it off without you even noticin'! 'Sides, ya like her too much."

Tseng chuckled as he carefully removed the crown of flowers from his head and placed it on Triss's because, indeed, even he had grown fond of the young girl. In fact, much to everyone's surprise, he was one of the first members to "adopt" her. She had run paperwork for him a few times before they were properly introduced, and, upon introduction, he told Reno that she was the best secretary he'd found and that, if Reno ruined that, he would die.

The black haired man was glad to have Triss around, she was the "normal" person the Turks needed to stay grounded. It certainly wasn't easy to stay sane when your job increasingly consisted of more assasinations and less kidnappings. Things had begun to spiral out of control, and then this raven haired girl had stepped in one evening, declaring, "I come bearing gifts of pizza and booze!" and, instantly, the atmosphere lightened.

She was also a therapist of sorts for the group. Her cynicism and child-like honesty made for some startling advice, but it always seemed to be what needed to be said.

Just a few days ago, Escopeta had spoken with her, confessing that she was beginning to regret her decision to join the Turks, that she felt like she didn't fit in.

Triss had replied, "Well, you're a Turk, aren't you? You do the same work they do. Why wouldn't you fit in?"

And Escopeta had blinked at her as she absorbed what the girl had said, then smiled. "You're right!" she'd laughed and walked back inside.

Then the orders came down from "the bastards above," as a certain redhead called them. Veld had cursed under his breath as he read them, then passed them to Tseng saying, "I don't like it, but Reno's the best one for the job." And, as Tseng read the orders, he cursed as well. The most surprising reaction, though, was Reno's. The director had expected him to rant and rave, but instead the redhead immediately began arranging for Triss to move into his home.

"Well, she won't have anywhere else to stay, boss."

The Turks had expected Triss's reaction least of all. When the surveillence tapes of Reno and Rude's apartments were watched (and all of the Turks had watched from the moment Rude brought her in), Triss was in shock and quite upset, but not for the reasons they had thought.

Upon questioning, she had expressed little concern for her brother. "He's a dumbass and he deserves a bullet to the head, especially if he was stupid enough to get caught." But she was horrified at the prospect of losing her home.

"What'm I gonna do?"

Rude had smiled softly and pulled her close.

"Don't you worry. We take of our own."